Jinna Katelyn Olvera, a graduate of Rahab’s Retreat and Ranch, was awarded a P.E.O. Program for Continuing Education Grant from the P.E.O. Sisterhood. She was sponsored by Chapter CU Mineola. She is enrolled in Tyler Junior College and began her education in August 2021 to become a licensed barber.

“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:26-27

At the start of 2021, most folks in Kilgore were looking forward to the new year ahead, hoping and praying it would be better than the last. Many hoped for a return to normalcy after the chaotic nature of 2020.

Regardless of our political affiliations, many of us have been captivated in recent weeks by the dramatic events taking place in Afghanistan, perhaps especially the American and other efforts to rescue U.S. citizens from the Taliban who were rapidly taking over the country.

My mom makes these amazingly-tender roasts in a stovetop pressure-cooker, though as a boy I was a little scared of the pressure-cooker, and a reported decline in the use of pressure-cookers is partly attributed to fear of pressure-cookers’ exploding.

Isaiah 5:20

Whether sudden or long-expected, the earthly deaths of family and friends can happen at any time, so we tell them about Jesus and pray for them to believe now.

Especially frustrating during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, or “public health emergency” declared in January of 2020 and reportedly repeatedly renewed since, are the seemingly-contradictory scientific conclusions and the resulting constantly-changing guidelines and recommendations from h…

Jeremiah 1:5

Last Sunday I enjoyed being in the audience for the Texas Shakespeare Festival’s fine production of Romeo and Juliet: a story I cannot remember for sure when I saw dramatized last, and a story I do not think I have so deeply considered as an ordained clergyman ever.

Romans 3:20

Happy 245th birthday to the United States of America tomorrow!

II Corinthians 4:3-4

Some four years ago the popular musical group the Killers released a plaintive track titled “Have All The Songs Been Written,” which reportedly came from the subject line of an email that front man Brandon Flowers sent to his friend, U2’s Bono, while Flowers was experiencing writer’s block.

II Kings 18:20

If you had only two hours to tell the life of Jesus, what would you include and what would you exclude?

In the beginning, God the Father created the heavens and the earth by His Word while the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (Genesis 1:1-2), and the three Persons of the one God spoke about creating humankind (Genesis 1:26, plural and singular).

Ecclesiastes 1:2

Someone recently asked me to which blessed person of the Holy Trinity our prayers should be addressed, an especially timely question, with May 30’s being the Feast of the Holy Trinity.

The Christian Women’s Job Corps of Gregg County started in 2019 with a belief that God would provide.

Editor's Note: This column was originally printed with the wrong byline. The News Herald regrets the error.

When we read the Bible, we can easily wonder how God communicated to His chosen and sent human messengers and how those messengers in turn communicated to God’s people, the answers to both of which questions relate to how God communicates with us now.

When help was needed after his Mt. Enterprise church was severely damaged by a tornado, Brother Billy Bledsoe said God provided it.

Galatians 5:22-26

The Epistle Reading appointed at Pilgrim and other churches for this past Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter, was 1 John 1:1-2:2, which includes the statement that, if we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

John 21:1-19

Based on its latest survey, which essentially suggests that more people in the United States plan to attend Easter services tomorrow than attended them last year, though not as many people as might have attended Easter services in other years, the Pew Research Center last month said that the…

John 19:30

On the heels of a largely-unfunded $1.9 trillion COVID-relief bill, and preparing for a possibly $4 trillion infrastructure bill, President Biden and congressional Democrats are apparently planning the first major federal tax increase since the 1993 Clinton administration.

Daniel 2:1-45

Discussing the coronavirus — as discussing diet, exercise, and drinking and substance habits — prompts the question of one’s “hastening” or “delaying” one’s earthly death.

John 18:38

Last Friday, January 22, was the 48th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade that essentially legalized abortion, and that anniversary and the subsequent murders of more than 60 million conceived children have not passed without notice even this year: for example, there was a Rally for Life last Saturday in Austin, and there was a March for Life yesterday in Washington, D.C.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Churches offer a place of reverence for worship, for fellowship and for extended family connections through their love of Christ. Two churches in Kilgore have taken it a step further as they merge together as one to the benefit of both.

Last Friday, January 22, was the 48th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade that essentially legalized abortion, and that anniversary and the subsequent murders of more than 60 million conceived children have not passed without notice even this year: for example, there was a Rally for Life last Saturday in Austin, and there was a March for Life yesterday in Washington, D.C.

My 91-year-old uncle, whose soul our Almighty God recently summoned from this vale of tears to our eternal home, felt blessed to have O negative blood, which is “the universal blood type,” and so he was a consistent blood donor; for example, his obituary mentioned his being recognized for do…

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.

Changing from 2020 to 2021 this past week can prompt us to reflect on the matter of years.

“For unto us a child is born, Unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace, there will be no end, upon the throne of David a…

People talk about “cancelling” Christmas due to the coronavirus, though some talk more-precisely about cancelling the usual “celebrations” of Christmas, such as limiting holiday gatherings to one household, which would mean that people who live alone would spend Christmas alone.

What is wrong with our World? Look around, and you will see suffering, tragedies, sorrow, evil and death. Why is the world such a mess? Perhaps it is because man is polluting the world, or maybe it is big government overreaching and enslaving the citizens. On the other hand, it could be unco…

Forest Home Baptist Church in Kilgore opened its annual free drive-thru Christmas Nativity on Thursday that will continue 6 to 9 p.m. today and Saturday.

One television viewer may cheer for or yell at game-show contestants and another television viewer may cheer for or yell at athletes or the referees of their competition, but both viewers would probably admit that their responses at home do not really make a difference to the outcome of the …

Jesus Christ suffered the agony of a brutal beating and humiliating abuse as he carried his cross to Golgotha.