Steve Sheely News Today

Immediately after worship service on Sunday, March 19, I hurried into my office and changed clothes. My wife drove me to Lake Fort Smith State Park. I was on my way.

There is a picture somewhere that shows the look on my face. I had just unwrapped an Atari Super Pong IV. Wired controllers. Four games. No cartridges. In color! Our 500-pound TV had to be on channel 3. At 14 years old, I knew I had arrived. Everything else would be downhill from this moment.

Candy canes. Angelic music. Will Ferrell in yellow tights. Christmas is a magical time. Many of us celebrate this season with glittery wonder.

I have received one traffic violation in my 17 years in Arkansas. One evening near Subiaco I was pulled over for speeding. I deserved my citation. It was a nuisance but no big deal.

I have facilitated a support group for grieving parents for 12 years. Sadly, I can imagine the tsunami of grief that enters the world every time a young man decides to become a mass shooter. Sometimes the weapons used were not legally acquired. Many times they were.

It's called the Sermon on the Mount. Christ distinguishes between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law. Summed up with "Love the Lord your God ... and your neighbor as yourself," he reminds us that the life Jesus offers allows nuance based on compassion. The law had run its course. Pentecost happened, and the kingdom of God is spreading beyond a highly structured regional theocracy where worship and ethics can no longer be contained within the specific detail of the Tor...

I never thought I'd see hostile tanks rumbling through a European city. Or hear the wail of air raid sirens. Or watch live video of non-combatants making Molotov cocktails. I can only imagine how Europeans who were alive during World War II feel about Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

I never thought I'd see hostile tanks rumbling through a European city. Or hear the wail of air raid sirens. Or watch live video of non-combatants making Molotov cocktails. I can only imagine how Europeans who were alive during World War II feel about Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

We jump into Christmas with both feet. I suppose when you begin holiday traditions you are bound to them forever -- or at least until the kids leave home. "Dad, when are you going to put Santa on the chimney?" asks my normally silent and elusive 18-year-old.

We jump into Christmas with both feet. I suppose when you begin holiday traditions you are bound to them forever -- or at least until the kids leave home. "Dad, when are you going to put Santa on the chimney?" asks my normally silent and elusive 18-year-old.