Columns

JUST A FEW MORE DAYS, OR SO WE ARE TOLD — As I write this, I am looking out on a summer day, more specifically, a hot summer day. It is late September, and I am ready for cooler weather. Now, if our weather forecasters are to be believed, by the time you read this, the days should be a bit cooler and the nights should be in the 60s. Make sure you catch that “should” because that can be a shifty little word. There is hope, my friends. There is hope for cooler days, crisp nights, bonfires, cocoa, and quilts. I am ready!

I make no secret of fall being my favorite season. I love walking through fallen leaves and hearing the crunch of the leaves under my feet. I love the crispness of the mornings, the beauty of the azure blue sky, the freshness in the air, and the shortening of the days. Fall is really the best season.

We often forget or neglect to recognize the importance of communication in our life. Especially when we are in the battles of daily living. What would happened if a soldier didn’t have any communication with their superiors in war? They will not know the strategies and plans to be carried out in battle. Soldiers will not know where to go, when to attack and when to retreat. Damage to equipment occurs and many lives lost because of the lack of communication between the soldiers and their commanders. Prayer is communicating with the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Grove Hill Community, very important in early DeSoto Parish history, is now known by most people as “Double Churches” and has a very rich history. Through the years, as with many communities, most of the citizens move away to cities and forget about the their original communities.

By the mid-1800’s settlers from the southeastern states in America homesteaded the area about ten miles southeast of Mansfield. The most prominent things in the community were Grove Hill Baptist Church, Bethel Methodist Church, a store, a one-room school and a post office. The area had been a part of the Spanish Land Grant of Pierre Dolet during the late 1700’s. Pierre Dolet was the largest cattleman in North Louisiana with several thousand cows spread over the entire southern portion of present-day DeSoto Parish. He drove his cattle all the way to Opelousas, LA to the market there.

Ask Rusty — Why change Social Security now? It’s a working “Ponzi Scam”

As the school year begins, I was reflecting back upon the scourge of Fauci’s China Virus and the friction that erupted between schools, school districts, and parents.

Because of the overreaching and heavy handedness of school authorities during this dark period, in-person school classes for students were stopped and online zoom classes took their place. This on-line learning ‘pulled back the curtain’ and enlightened millions of parents to the toxic subject matter their children were being force-fed. Parents revolted and began attending school board meetings to demand answers.

Incredibly, in response to their efforts to protect their own children — parents, who were understandably frustrated with lockdowns, school closures, mandates, and graphic sexual library and “educational” content — were labelled ‘domestic terrorists” by the Biden Department of Justice.

Everyday Grind

Most of us expect to find God during life’s biggest moments. We look for Him when prayers are answered, during Sunday morning worship, or while standing on a mountaintop after something wonderful has happened.

But I’ve come to believe that faith spends most of its time in the ordinary. It shows up while washing dishes after supper. It walks beside us as we pull weeds from the garden or fold another basket of laundry. It waits patiently while we sit in traffic, stand in the grocery store checkout line, or make one more trip to feed the animals before turning in for the night.

Those moments don’t usually feel remarkable. In fact, they often feel like the very definition of routine. Yet those ordinary days make up the greater part of our lives.

Why is a helmet important? It protects the brain. Some helmets can protect the eyes, nose, ear and mouth. A soldier needs to have all his senses active while fighting and defending himself. It is important for a soldier to wear a helmet every time they battle.

Do you need confidence, encouragement, and assurance as you live each day? Hold up your shield of faith, as Paul writes, in all circumstances and see how God will work for your good and His Glory in all things and give your witness credibility to those seeking something different.

Caddo has always cast an integral influence on DeSoto Parish from 1843 starting when the northern half of DeSoto was taken from Caddo. Many important families of DeSoto have migrated and become important citizens of Shreveport. But nothing is more important to the economy than the movement of oil drilling southward after the first oil and gas wells were drilled in 1870 on Cross Bayou intended to be a water well for an ice factory. The first oil well known to have been drilled was by Edwin Drake in 1859 near Titusville, La.

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,” Ephesians ?6:13-18? ESV This week we explore another piece of the armor of God, the shoes. Shoes are very important in the uniform of the soldier. In those days the shoes were sandal like. They readied the soldier with stability and flexibility to move, defend and protect himself.