Opinion

Early voting is now underway for the Nov. 7 general election. Voters will decide the fate of 14 proposed amendments, including measures to provide property tax relief and raise the homestead exemption to $100,000.

It was a term I heard my father frequently use. Over the years his job put him in charge of a large number of men and it was very important because it had to do with national security. Many times they would assign new men to be trained in that special field. Those particular jobs required teamwork and each person had to be very dedicated to do his part. I have seen my dad unofficially advise men at our home that they needed to consider moving or transferring to another group as this one was very intense and required a lot of dedication and commitment. A few transferred, others received a court martial for dereliction of duty. Those situations reminded me of something in the Bible. It is one thing to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior but totally another to live in a way that honors Him. Many start with Christ but quickly abandon or slowly drift away, (2 Timothy 4:10, Revelation 2:4&5). So many things can cause someone to depart from the Christian way. We are warned and told to watch out for this danger in the Christian life, (2 Peter 2:20-22, Matthew 5:13, 1Timothy 6:9&10). If we have drifted or abandoned there is hope, we can return. God is willing to accept us back if we repent and ask Him, (James 4:8-10, 1 John 1:9, Revelation 3:2&3, Malachi 3:7).

The month of October brings to mind that famous old Peanuts cartoon of Lucy and Charlie Brown. Lucy is holding the football, and she tells Charlie Brown to kick it. As Charlie Brown goes running up to kick the football, Lucy pulls it out of the way at the last minute. Charlie Brown then ends up on his back. The worst part of this is that Lucy plays the same trick on Charlie Brown year, after year, after year. I always felt so awful for Charlie Brown. I kept asking myself why he hadn’t learned that Lucy was going to trick him?

GARDENER’S MAILBAG Dear Neil: This oak tree is located on our church property. Is the old bark falling off due to its age, or is there a disease? Good question.

Gov. Greg Abbott, just hours after the Senate initially approved a school voucher measure, said he would add teacher raises and increased public school funding to the ongoing special session agenda if the Texas Legislature passes his voucher plan, the Texas Tribune reported.

It turns out that some of our smartest college kids aren’t just stupid about things like microaggressions and gender pronouns. The reaction on many campuses to the slaughter of innocent Israelis by Hamas terrorists last week showed that many students are just as a stupid about Israel and the rest of the world.

These were my grandmother’s words every time I went to a school function or a special event with the youth at the Church. She would meet me at the door when I came home and ask, “Did you behave?”. She knew by the look on my face if I did or not. If I did not do right, she would be very hurt because she loved me very much and wanted me to do what was right. She was so proud of me. In thinking back to those days, it reminds me of something in the Bible. God loves us very much and He went to a lot of trouble to give us the opportunity to be at peace with Him, (Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 5:8&9). God gave us something very precious to Him, (John 3:16). Jesus Christ was innocent, was beaten almost beyond recognition, nailed to a cross, shed His innocent precious blood for my, our sins, (1 Peter 3:18). God did this for us but our part is to accept that wonderful precious gift, (John 1:12). Accepting Jesus Christ results in forgiveness of our sins, a new relationship to God and the promise of a wonderful future, (I Corinthians 2:9). We have another choice if we have accepted Christ and that is will we live or behave in a way that honors or pleases God, (2 Corinthians 5:9&10)?

Last week I mentioned that the holidays can be wonderful despite the fact that they might be messy. This prompted a reflection on how our lives can be really messy at certain times in our lives or even every day. We have crazy schedules to manage. We have our work, raising our children, our social lives, perhaps helping to care for an ill loved-one, our community involvement and volunteerism. Throw in one more thing that is unexpected, and that can knock us completely off the rails.

Dear Neil: Is it possible to sterilize cedar elm trees so we won’t have all the seedlings come spring? We have put down corn gluten meal in September to stop the germination, but millions have come up in the spring.