Beech Tree News Network

Shoot him again Matt!  Matt Dillion on TV’s Gunsmoke.  Sometimes I even jump-up, clap my hands and holler, “Shoot him again!” 

Matt usually shoots them twice anyway.  But I’m joyful when the bad guy is killed.  

Then I almost always recall God’s admonishment in Romans 12:19 — “Vengeance is Mine, Saith the Lord, I shall repay.”  

We’ve all heard(and most have likely said) the phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. What it means is self-explanatory.  Where it originated is quite another story.  Humans seem to have the urge to improve things. Prehistoric hand-axes were made by repeatedly chipping small flakes off pebbles of flint with other hard objects. Million-year-old examples of these have been found that give the impression of being ruined by being chipped just one time too many.

Sometimes we wish for a simpler life. Andy Griffith said, “Things have changed so much. People walked away from the simple life we had in the ‘20s and ‘30s…” (https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/simple_life). Many experience feelings of stress or feeling run down. Yet, some people believe there are ways to simplify life and avoid those feelings.

On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, my granddaughter, Sabria, came to my house and announced she was going to walk out into my backyard and see what the Easter Bunny had left her.  A few seconds later, she ran back in and announced, “I’m not going back out there!  There’s a wasper out there!” 

“It’s wasp, not wasper,” I said, “I don’t know why Kentucky people say wasper.”

“Gee!” Sabria said, with hands on her hips and a scowl on her face, “We ARE Kentucky people!”

Now that the 2019 Legislative Session is over, I am not in Frankfort on a daily basis. However, I still return quite a bit for meetings. I like the drive to Frankfort because it gives me the opportunity to see so much of Kentucky. Some Representatives have farther to travel than others, but each of us gets to see the vast beauty that our great Commonwealth has to offer. A lot of that beauty is the direct result of the work put in by Kentucky farmers. Agriculture is the lifeblood of our state, and an industry which provides an economic foundation to a rural state like ours.

          There are many that teach that in order to be saved, one must have faith that Jesus is the Son of God, just as John 8:24 teaches. Many agree also that repentance and the confession of our faith in Christ is necessary just as the Bible says in Luke 13:3 and Romans 10:10. However, when we talk about a person being baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38), these same folks will deny that baptism is necessary. What is the problem?

ITS OWN REWARD-Most of us have encountered the phrase “Virtue is its own reward,” at some point or another while going on this journey called, life. It sounds nice doesn't it? Much like the phrase “it is better to give than receive” sounds like an uplifting little add-on, to tack on to our everyday lives, every now and then. Virtue being its own reward is about much more though than a nice platitude, to help us go about the business of every day life.

It was an honor to serve you and our district at the Capitol during the 2019 Regular Session. I, along with my colleagues in the Senate and the House, were proud to stand with Kentuckians as we passed historic legislation throughout our thirty days in Frankfort. 

The Kentucky General Assembly passed almost 200 bills, making the 153rd Regular Session one of the busiest to date. Education, safety, pro-life measures, Second Amendment rights, business, and good government were among the high profile issues addressed.

When God speaks to us, we should listen.

Sometimes He speaks to us in our minds; other times in various and sundry ways.

Recently I heard a TV minister and pastor tell how God spoke to him.  He had stopped on night for coffee in an all-night restaurant.  The hour was late, he was the only customer in the place.

Famous Last Words

Have you ever wondered about the last words of a historical figure before they left this earth? Okay, maybe I find weird things interesting.  In any event, I’ll be covering a few of those this week.  For instance, Sir Winston Churchill’s last words were “I’m bored with it all”.  Being born into the family of the Dukes of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire in 1874 gave him prime position to become a prominent member of British upper class.