An Arkies Musings

My An Arkie's Faith column from the November 30, 2016, issue of The Mena Star My friend, Lou, passed away early Monday morning, November 14. We attended the same church together for over 25 years. We both had a passion for missions. My favorite memories of Lou are from a mission trip that we made to Belize. In 2003 Don and Minnie Johnson moved to Cove, Arkansas and started attending our church. They had spent a year living in Belize. They were passionate about the people of Belize and suggested that our church get involved there. The members of the church liked the idea and after much planning, money-raising and preparation, it culminated in a mission trip to Belize in early 2004 and the building of a church in San Pedro. My wife and I, my son, my parents, and Lou were among the seventeen members of our church that made the trip to Belize. After one week, our group had to return home, but we left with the walls of the new church in San Pedro completed. We left the bui...

In Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’”  What He meant is that a person’s love ought to reach in three directions—upward to God, outward to others, and inward to self. Most Christians agree that loving God and others is important, but is it important to love yourself? Self love or self esteem isn't considered a Christian attribute.  It’s often associated with pride and self-centeredness—and there are plenty of both in our world. However, that’s not what Jesus meant. He was saying we should recognize and appreciate our worth. God created us in His image so we could have a relationship with Him. Jesus died for us so we could be forgiven and reconciled to the Father. Since God values us so highly, shouldn't we love ourselves? I’m not talking about a boastful attitude, ...

The way we celebrate Thanksgiving in America has its roots in British Harvest Festivals and in American history.  In 1620, a group of more than 100 Puritans fleeing religious persecution, settled in a town called Plymouth in what is now Massachusetts. The Pilgrims' first winter was so harsh that fewer than 50 of the group survived the season. The next spring, Native Americans taught them how to get sap out of the maple trees and how to plant corn and other crops. The harvest was successful, and the Pilgrims had enough food for the winter. Plymouth Colony's Governor, William Bradford, decided to throw a Harvest Festival and invited the colony's Native neighbors to take part. Historians believe that this celebration took place sometime in the fall, though there are very few clues to reconstruct the feast.  All we really know about it comes from a letter Edward Winslow wrote to a friend in England: “Our harvest being ...

My An Arkie's Faith column from the November 23, 2016, issue of The Mena Star My son-in-law is an avid backpacker. In 2001 he spent six months hiking the Appalachian Trail, a 2,190-mile trail that traverses fourteen states from Mount Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia. The Appalachian Trail is the longest hiking-only footpath in the world. Only about one in four who attempt to hike the entire trail are successful. In 2007, My daughter and son-in-law vacationed in Olympic National Park in Washington state. They backpacked 27 miles of the most remote wilderness beach in America. My daughter was seven months pregnant at the time, and my two-year-old granddaughter rode on her Daddy’s shoulders. Talking about the trip, my son-in-law said, “I carried Autumn, and Cynda carried Rebekah, and the Lord carried all of us!” As a family, they have continued backpacking. My six-year-old granddaughter has a couple of trail names. She is called Louisiana Lightning, be...

In 2004 I was privileged to be part of a mission trip to Belize. I recently came across this article that I wrote about that trip along with photos of the project Seventeen members of the Mena SDA Church recently returned from a mission trip to San Pedro, Belize, Central America. During their stay they helped with the construction of a new church, helped in the New Horizon SDA School, and delivered food in Belize City. The idea for a mission trip started a year ago. In March of 2003 five couples from the Mena church went on a vacation together. On their vacation two days were spent in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It was a great vacation, but the group came away with the realization of the great need of the people in Central America. Shortly after the group returned from their vacation, Don and Minnie Johnson moved to Cove, Arkansas and started attending the Mena Church. They had spent a year living in Belize on an island called Caye Caulker. They suggested going to Belize and...