Aug. 29, 2021, column in the Amarillo Globe-News:

'I want to be part of it': How a Fritch couple became extras in a scene of 'The Chosen'

By Mike Haynes

   Getting to the site of the Sermon on the Mount and waiting for Jesus to declare his wisdom wasn’t easy for Derrol and Debra. And then they heard only a phrase or two here and there throughout a long, cold day. But they would do it again in a heartbeat.
                Derrol and Debra Wells weren’t in the crowd at the Sea of Galilee 2,000 years ago when the Messiah gave the world the Beatitudes, the Lord’s Prayer and the Golden Rule. They live in Fritch, Texas, and drove to Midlothian, 30 miles southwest of Dallas, to be extras this Feb. 10 in the Sermon on the Mount scene of “The Chosen,” the Christian media phenomenon that people across the globe are watching.

                It’s the first multi-season episodic drama about the life of Jesus, shown at no charge primarily through an app that connects to streaming devices but also on YouTube and on DVD. The show’s website says it’s “the largest crowd-funded media project of all time,” and after two eight-episode seasons, it continues through a “Pay It Forward” program in which donations fund each $10 million season. Creator and director Dallas Jenkins hopes to produce seven seasons watched by at least a billion people. So far, episodes have been viewed more than 250 million times.
                Two years ago, Debra discovered a short Christmas film Jenkins had produced for his Chicago church. “You see so many Christian movies and TV shows that are just cheesy, and I just can’t bring myself to watch them,” she said. “They’re not good; they’re embarrassing. So I resisted.”
                She finally watched “The Shepherd.” “It touched me deeply,” she said. “The acting was just pristine. The way they put it together, the story was just perfect.”
                Jenkins, son of “Left Behind” bestselling author Jerry Jenkins, followed with Season 1 of a project that showed Jesus gathering his disciples – including Mary Magdalene and other women – from the point of view of those followers, “the chosen.”
                Hooked on the series, Debra and Derrol “paid it forward” enough to qualify as extras in the Sermon on the Mount shoot. Episode 8 of Season 2 ended with Jesus appearing to the crowd; Season 3 is expected to begin with the actual sermon.
         

       The Wellses had car trouble even before they passed Amarillo on their way to Midlothian. They rented a car and made it to Olton, where they picked up Bree Elam and her daughter, Lillie.
“Bree is Australian, and she’s not comfortable driving on the ‘correct’ side of the road,” Debra said. The Elams had been strangers before Debra saw Bree’s Facebook request for a ride to the sermon shoot. Now they’re good friends.
                The shoot, in the middle of the pandemic, required “Chosen” producers to set up a massive operation that included busing 2,500 extras from a football stadium to the set at a 1,200-acre Salvation Army camp, herding them through metal detectors and doing COVID testing.
The Sermon on the Mount occurred as the 2021 “Texas Freeze” was beginning. But postponing the event wasn’t an option. The temperature got as low as 28. “The wind was about 30 miles an hour when we got there,” Derrol said. “I thought, ‘My goodness, what are we stepping into?’”
                Everyone was dressed in biblical-era robes and sandals. “We’re stuck there, and we didn’t come prepared for that amount of cold,” Derrol said. “We had on sandals that were made out of wicker and no socks,” Debra said. “It soaked up all the wet in the grass, so we walked around in wet sandals all day in the freezing cold.”
                The Wells’ costumes were designed by their daughter-in-law, Grace, who has a fashion design degree. Derrol had grown a bushy beard. They had to hide all modern jewelry and their glasses.
                They were far back in the crowd. “If Jesus – Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus – was in the Galilee, we were in Judah. We were way down south,” Debra joked. She said they could see the main actors but had trouble hearing their lines.
“Of course, we weren’t wearing glasses, so we couldn’t see them real good either,” Derrol said.
But the crowd remained positive and benefited from Christian musicians – Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Phil Wickham and Michael J – performing before the shoot began. “They sang, ‘The Blessing’ over us,” Debra said. “And you talk about chilling; you just had cold chills – on top of cold chills.” She said the musicians didn’t escape the temperature. “I don’t know how they played,” she said. “Their fingers were blue.”
                Shooting the scene was such a huge production that the filmmakers got extra footage and interviewed participants for a 45-minute documentary called “Journey to the Sermon on the Mount” that was live-streamed last Sunday. Comments from extras – who came from as far as New York and Puerto Rico – indicated how meaningful “The Chosen” is in their lives.
                Shooting the Feeding of the 5,000 is being planned now. “It’s going to be awesome,” Debra said. “I want to be there.”

                But she made a point about the series. “’The Chosen’ is not the Bible,” she said. “It’s based on the Bible. But it’s really the backstories of the followers of Jesus, and the stories are based on plausible situations. Don’t watch it thinking you’re going to get exactly what the Bible says.”
                As director Jenkins emphasizes, “The Chosen” continually leads viewers to scripture.
“When I first heard about it, I didn’t know what kind of impact it would have,” Derrol said. “I thought, ‘Well, they’re just making a little video.’ Then the further it went, I saw how it was reaching out to a vast amount of people in a lot of different countries, and people are being saved. Anything we can do for people to be saved through Christ is what we want to be part of.”
                “The Bible basically says that toward the end of things as we know it now, the Word of God is going to go out all over the world,” Debra said. “And with all of my heart, I believe this is part of it. And I want to be part of it. It’s important. It’s life and death for people. I think it’s one of the most important media projects that’s ever been undertaken.”

* * *

Mike Haynes taught journalism at Amarillo College from 1991 to 2016 and has written for the Faith section since 1997. He can be reached at haynescolumn@gmail.com. 

 Aug. 15, 2021, column in the Amarillo Globe-News:

Lombard book should be bible for high school coaches

By Mike Haynes

            A 1973 book by an Indiana native whose UCLA teams won 10 NCAA men’s basketball titles and had an 88-game winning streak was for years a bible for players and coaches nationwide. The late John Wooden’s “They Call Me Coach” was a bestseller for decades, and for many, Wooden still is the model for college coaching success and integrity.

Now we have a book published in 2021 by another Indiana native whose high school teams won 1,379 basketball games and lost 133 on the way to 19 Texas state girls championships.

Joe Lombard’s book, “More Than A Coach,” confirms what his family, friends, players and others know about the man who retired as Canyon High School’s girls basketball coach in April 2020 at age 67: that he also is a model of coaching success and integrity. His book, crafted by gifted writer Jon Mark Beilue in close collaboration with Lombard, not only is an inspirational biography but should be a bible for high school coaches everywhere.

And like Wooden, Joe Lombard stresses that faith in God – and the Bible with an uppercase “B” – is a key element in his life and career.

“I think the priorities of God first, family second, occupation third, allowed me to have a long career filled with much joy,” he said in an email last week. “The world can become a better place when we allow the LORD to always direct our path.”

Those priorities also are listed in one of the 16 “Timeout With Joe” segments of the book that follow each chapter. The “Timeouts” are one reason every coach of any sport should have “More Than A Coach” in his or her office or next to the bed at home. And one “Timeout With Babs” shows how vital the influence of Joe’s wife, Babs Lombard, has been. Babs gave up her own coaching job – after winning a state championship at Hale Center – to focus on their children and also to serve as Joe’s statistician, team counselor and basketball adviser.

Joe Lombard’s “Timeouts” offer guidance from offensive and defensive sets complete with court diagrams to a “Timeout” outlining his faith journey from his Indiana Presbyterian childhood to the influence of Catholic families at Nazareth – where his teams won six of his state titles – to Methodist churches in Hale Center, Tulia and Canyon. And don’t forget Wayland Baptist University, the school that brought Lombard to West Texas in 1971 to play basketball.

More than once, the book mentions a statement that stuck in Lombard’s mind.

“Billy Graham has said that coaches will influence more people in one year than most will in a lifetime,” he says. “I don’t take that for granted and it became a top priority. I feel we are chosen. This is our purpose. This is our passion and our gift. We are planters of seeds for young people.”

That higher purpose grew as the years passed.

“Maybe I owed the players more than just being their coach,” Lombard says. “When I was young, so much was about wins and losses. As I grew older, my faith grew hand in hand. My perspective of working with young people was making sure I taught them more than basketball.”

In addition to day-to-day interaction with his teams, Lombard was able to expose student-athletes to the Good News of Jesus through the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“The last 20 years with FCA I became more of a spiritual leader,” he says in the book. “The kids definitely knew I was a Christian – no ifs, ands or buts. The last 20 years may have also been my best coaching during that time because, in a way, I wanted Christ to have a jersey or Christ to be on this one-year journey with my team. That was my passion – to be stronger in my witness without being overbearing.”

Living your faith while not overstepping church-and-state restrictions at a public school can be a balancing act, but Lombard handled it well. The Christian message wasn’t forced on anyone, but students had a chance to hear it through FCA.

“Some of them never went to church, and many were inspired by others just being in our meetings,” he says. “They could take a little more of Jesus back to their teams. I know on the girls basketball team for sure, one of our FCA participants will lead us in prayer before every game. Many times, on days we don’t have a game, somebody will want to lift someone up in prayer, whether it be a fellow student or family member.”

Though retired from his position as – to quote Beilue – “the greatest high school girls basketball coach there ever was – and ever will be,” Lombard sometimes speaks in the present tense about Canyon’s girls because he remains an assistant under the new Lady Eagle head coach: his son, Tate Lombard. Tate has three state titles under his belt – two at Wall High School and one in his first year leading Canyon in 2020-21.

Lombard’s daughter, Lindy Slagle, also has been a successful coach but has decided to focus on being a mother while teaching special education in Amarillo. The second priority on Joe Lombard’s list – family – now is geographically close.

The book reveals some of the family’s ups and downs. “I want people to see that our life as well as anyone's life can be a struggle with much heartache, frustration, and disappointment,” Lombard said in an email. “Also, we had our share of adrenaline rushes and happiness.”

In “More Than A Coach,” Lombard summarizes his journey: “…there’s my youth growing up in basketball-crazy Indiana, the leap of faith to come to Texas, the courage to change careers, the importance of family, and the sustaining faith I have in Jesus Christ.”

Plus, he’s just a nice guy.

 Aug. 1, 2021, column:

PK challenges men to follow Christ full-force

By Mike Haynes

            The main difference in the Promise Keepers event in Arlington last month and those of the 1990s was the empty seats. But that’s misleading.

            The men’s ministry started by then-Colorado football coach Bill McCartney in 1990 grew into regular gatherings of thousands at stadiums and arenas. The peak was the Stand in the Gap event on the national mall in Washington, D.C., in 1997. National media reported that hundreds of thousands of men stretched for a mile on the mall that day, and the PK movement was widespread and visible enough that it drew attention from The New York Times and CNN.

            The ministry also attracted protesters at most of its events. Women’s groups, pro-abortion people

and others showed up with signs and shouting. An airplane flew over a PK event at McCartney’s home football stadium in Boulder, Colorado, with a banner fluttering behind it that said, “We don’t want your promises.”

            I attended both of those assemblies, and I can tell you that the “Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper” (https://believersweb.org/7-promises-of-a-promise-keeper/) and the words of speakers at Washington, Boulder and elsewhere were nothing more than traditional Christianity. The huge events reminded me of Billy Graham crusades of old, with preaching, music and worship – just with a focus on men.

            So did the men’s conference this July 16-17 at the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium. The speakers preached faith in Jesus Christ and the need for men to stand up for him in their homes and in society. The musicians celebrated salvation and following Jesus.

            My brother David, nephew John, friend Mark and I were among several thousand men at the

conference, the first major event since PK has begun a comeback after almost two decades of hibernation. The Arlington get-together had been scheduled for the summer of 2020 but because of the pandemic was postponed to 2021 with an online conference taking its place last year.

            In 2020, PK CEO Ken Harrison was predicting a crowd of 80,000 at AT&T Stadium, and I think attendance would have approached that goal if not for the virus. By this summer, 80,000 apparently was unrealistic. CBN News said “nearly 30,000 attended,” but my eyeball estimate put it at between 10,000 and 20,000.

            The reason that’s misleading is that the event was streamed online to many more men than that. Harrison said it was being seen in 23 countries and that about 70,000 men were watching from U.S. prisons. Watch parties were viewing the activities from churches all over the country; one example he mentioned was Southcrest Baptist in Lubbock.

            So a lot more men than those on the Cowboys’ turf and in the AT&T seats heard Jonathan Evans, the ’Boys’ chaplain and son of renowned Dallas pastor Tony Evans, open the event with a challenge for men to lead their families. The younger Evans was just the first of many dynamic speakers who continually inspired some to raise hands of praise and others to clap heartily.

     

       Nick Vujicic, an Australian motivational speaker, author and founder of Life Without Limbs, ended Friday night with a hard-hitting talk that challenged men to follow Christ full-force. Vujicic, born without arms or legs, scooted back and forth on a carpeted table, his message crescendoing into thrilling applause and ending with a traditional altar call. One report said a few hundred men walked forward to talk to counselors about the Christian life.

            Retired Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin, a Delta Force and CIA veteran, stirred the crowd as he recalled the heart-wrenching 1993 “Blackhawk Down” experience in Somalia when U.S. soldiers died and he questioned God before realizing that the Lord was there just as he had been in more successful operations. Boykin epitomized the toughness and compassion that he said Christians should exhibit.

            “Everyone in the kingdom of God has a specific calling on his life,” he said. “It’s time for you to stand up and be the warrior that God called you to be.”

            Tauren Wells, a recording artist and worship leader from Houston, woke up the audience Saturday morning with his energetic brand of music, followed by former Cowboy Chad Hennings interviewing a panel of NFL Hall of Fame members – Michael Irvin (Cowboys), Tim Brown (Raiders) and Charles Haley (Cowboys) – about their faith and leading their families.

            “Make sure you go to the owner’s manual, the Bible, to get your name and find your identity,” Irvin said.

            A.R. Bernard, pastor of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, New York, recalled coming to Christ after hearing evangelist and former gang leader Nicky Cruz. “Jesus can take a heart of hatred and turn it into a heart of love,” Bernard said.

            Les Parrott, an author, psychologist, co-founder of the eHarmony dating site and creator with his wife, Leslie, of an assessment tool for married couples, urged men to work on their own self-esteem and spirituality. “Your relationships can only be as healthy as you are,” he said.

            And Samuel Rodriguez, a California pastor, brought down the house to end the conference with his impassioned plea for men to submit to Christ. Rodriguez, introduced by Texas evangelist James Robison, said the men present could help stop the modern cultural descent from biblical values and could “change the world.”

            Rodriguez, who didn’t always agree with President Trump, recounted his experience reading scripture at Trump’s inauguration. He said friends in the media discouraged him from mentioning “that name” in the prayer. Instead, he concluded by saying, “Respectfully, in Jesus’ name.” At PK, he shouted that he had not been ashamed to proclaim the Word “in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!”

            Promise Keepers’ new slogan is “Building on the past to redefine the future.” One adaptation is promoting ministries that help children, such as Compassion International, and that fight modern slavery, such as International Justice Mission. Racial reconciliation, a key focus in the 1990s, wasn’t highlighted at Arlington but was obvious in the racial diversity of the speakers.

            I don’t know whether PK will take off like it did 30 years ago, but I hope the seeds planted in Arlington will continue to grow.

 July 18, 2021, column:

Visiting, and revisiting, Billy Graham's legacy

By Mike Haynes

            The huge cross that forms the entrance to the replica dairy barn is the first thing you notice. I’m sure that’s on purpose. I suspect it’s the main image people remember from Billy Graham’s televised memorial service on March 2, 2018.

            The barn, reminiscent of Graham’s childhood when he milked scores of cows daily, is the main building of the Billy Graham Library outside Charlotte, North Carolina. “Library” is misleading,

because like the U.S. presidential libraries, it’s more of a museum with displays of memorabilia from the famous evangelist’s life and career, photos of him with notables from Johnny Cash to President Reagan to Martin Luther King Jr. and videos of his sermons and ministry trips around the world.

            Despite the focus on Graham and his six-decade ministry, don’t get the idea that he or the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wanted the Charlotte tourist attraction to sing the praises of one man. When my wife, Kathy, and I toured it a few weeks ago, we noticed that on the walls of every exhibit were large signs with scripture verses such as 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors; as though God were making his appeal through us.”

            As Graham did throughout his life, his successors – headed by his son, Franklin Graham – stress the message more than the messenger. A quote by Billy’s wife, Ruth – who had her own, less publicized ministry - is prominent in one room. Following the eight-week Los Angeles tent crusade that brought Graham to national prominence in 1949, she said, “We felt we were just spectators. It had been God’s work, (Billy) had only been the instrument.”

            But leaders of the BGEA organization understand that the name Billy Graham, listed for decades as one of America’s most admired people, still attracts people. If visitors come to see Billy Graham’s traveling pulpit or a proclamation in his honor from Queen Elizabeth II or his childhood home, which was moved to within yards of the library, they leave having heard the gospel of Jesus Christ over and over.

            One of many videos on the library tour shows a large Russian army choir singing at a 1992 Graham crusade in Moscow. Among other spiritual songs, the former Communist soldiers sing – in their uniforms – “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” Watching it was just one of several emotional moments we had at the library.

            Also on the grounds are the graves of Billy and Ruth Graham; Cliff Barrows, the ministry’s longtime music director and emcee, and his wife, Billie; and George Beverly Shea, the beloved bass-baritone soloist at Graham’s crusades. All the grave markers are simple and flat in thick, green grass, surrounded by the beauty of North Carolina trees and flowers.

Ruth’s epitaph reflects her theology and wit: “End of Construction – Thank you for your patience.” Billy’s reads: “Preacher of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – John 14:6.”

A day after our library visit, Kathy and I followed up with a 45-minute tour of the Billy Graham Training Center at The Cove. The retreat center is outside Asheville, North Carolina, two hours west of Charlotte. It also was worth our time.

 A retired pastor greeted us in front of an elegant stone chapel with a steeple rising above a Blue Ridge Mountains forest. He showed off the center’s high-tech auditorium and handed us a schedule of past and future speakers and musicians, which included Christian heavyweights such as Tony Evans, Michael Card, Lee Strobel, Chip Ingram, Phil Keaggy, Tony Dungy and Graham family members Anne Graham Lotz and Will Graham.

When we mentioned being from Amarillo, Texas, our enthusiastic tour guide said he knew that Franklin Graham and his team were preparing for their Sept. 26 Amarillo visit and other stops on their Route 66 God Loves You Tour.

The Cove center has its own exhibit highlighting the history of the Graham ministry, but Kathy and I didn’t see any photos of our in-person exposure to Billy Graham. We both attended his 1975 crusade in Lubbock’s Jones Stadium – 15 years before we met each other in Amarillo.

Separately, we had been inspired in 1975, and more than four decades later, our visit to the library and the training center in North Carolina stirred us again to be more proactive about the message of Jesus Christ.

Billy Graham consistently preached that message. Maybe he was on to something.

 July 4, 2021, column:

Proposals for what Great Seal should look like drew on biblical themes

(This column appeared in the 7-4-21 Amarillo Globe-News print edition under the byline and photo of Gene Shelburne, but Mike Haynes wrote it.)

By Mike Haynes

            On this day 245 years ago, the Continental Congress meeting in Philadelphia officially adopted the American Declaration of Independence. Most of the delegates didn’t sign it until Aug. 2, but July 4 ever since has been recognized as Independence Day.

            The Declaration wasn’t the only thing the Congress did that day; the representatives of the colonies were quick to get on with forming a government, including such details as coming up with a national emblem, or Great Seal, to be used on documents and agreements with other countries. John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin were appointed as the committee to design the seal.

            It isn’t surprising that proposals for what the Great Seal should look like drew on biblical themes. According to John D. MacArthur, an expert on the history of the seal, Franklin wanted a scene from the book of Exodus. His notes specified, “Moses standing on the Shore, and extending his Hand over the Sea, thereby causing the same to overwhelm Pharaoh, who is sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his Head and a Sword in his Hand. Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Clouds reaching to Moses, to express that he acts by Command of the Deity."

Franklin suggested adding the motto, “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”

Jefferson also was inspired by the Israelites’ departure from Egypt. He pictured them on the front of the physical seal following God’s cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. On the back, he suggested two legendary leaders of the first Anglo-Saxon settlers in Britain.

Adams’ input, according to MacArthur, was to show Hercules deciding whether to travel “on the flowery path of self-indulgence or the rugged, more difficult, uphill path of duty to others and honor to himself.”

None of those designs made it to the final seal, but they showed where the minds of those founding fathers were.

            The Hercules idea from Adams was classical, not biblical, but we know his belief in the importance of Christianity. In 1813, he wrote to Jefferson, “I have examined all religions, as well as my narrow sphere, my straightened means, and my busy life, would allow; and the result is that the Bible is the best Book in the world. It contains more philosophy than all the libraries I have seen.”

            Adams, Jefferson and Franklin all departed from orthodox beliefs at various points. I saw Jefferson’s personal version of the gospels at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., in which he cut and pasted the verses he considered essential, famously omitting Jesus’ miracles.

Some have classified all three founders as deists who believed only in a vague Creator, but they still relied heavily on wisdom from the Old and New Testaments. Adams never quit attending church, and Franklin admired the great preacher of his day, George Whitefield, so much that he attended his sermons multiple times.

And in 1787, when the Constitutional Convention was at a stalemate, Franklin said, “In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, … we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection … And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need his assistance? … the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of men. …

“And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? … ‘unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel…”

            On this day 195 years ago – July 4, 1826 – Jefferson and Adams both died in Virginia and Massachusetts, respectively. Franklin had died on April 17, 1790. I suspect that if they saw America today, they might believe we are laboring in vain.

            But today, let’s remember what Adams wrote to his wife on July 3, 1776, about independence:

            “It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”

Caption for seal artwork above:

Benjamin Franklin’s 1776 idea for the Great Seal of the United States never was created, but according to seal expert John D. MacArthur, Benson Lossing made this drawing of it for “Harper's New Monthly Magazine” in July 1856. (Art from www.greatseal.com)  

(Sorry, I can't get the caption to stay with the artwork like it should!)

June 6, 2021, column:

Just wondering if you knew...

By Mike Haynes

Just wondering…

            ... whether you knew that in announcing the D-Day invasion of France on June 6, 1944 – 77 years ago today – President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented most of his radio address as a prayer.

            The largest sea invasion in history on the beaches of Normandy was the start of the liberation of France from Nazi control and the ultimate victory over Hitler in World War II. Roosevelt prayed from the perspective of the United States and its allies, of course. Some excerpts:

Franklin Roosevelt

“Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. …

“They fight not for the lust of conquest. They fight to end conquest. They fight to liberate. They fight to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all Thy people. They yearn but for the end of battle, for their return to the haven of home. …

“Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. …

“And for us at home – fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas – whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them – help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. …

“Many people have urged that I call the Nation into a single day of special prayer. But because the road is long and the desire is great, I ask that our people devote themselves in a continuance of prayer. As we rise to each new day, and again when each day is spent, let words of prayer be on our lips, invoking Thy help to our efforts.

“Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen.”

* * *

 Just wondering…

            … how far Kenneth Wyatt’s impact will continue flowing across the world. The Tulia artist who died May 24 at age 90 was best known for his western paintings and for his series of portraits of the Christian apostles, for whom the models were his friends and neighbors.

Kenneth Wyatt

            Churches across the United States have those portraits hanging in their lobbies and hallways. Stories about Wyatt’s death point out that George W. Bush and Queen Elizabeth are among the owners of his work.

            Kenneth Wyatt spent many years as a Methodist minister before becoming a full-time artist. His paintings – and a few sculptures – obviously reflect his passions and life experience: faith in God, love of western heritage and even golf.

            My dad, Johnny Haynes, is about the same age as Wyatt was. Dad heard him as an after-dinner speaker, another of his talents, and talked to him during senior golf tournaments. Wyatt could paint horses better than anyone else, according to Dad, who has spent most of his life as a rider, roper and rancher.

            The celebrated artist and his wife, Veda, visited one summer with my family at his Red River, New Mexico, gallery. While we browsed his paintings, prints and books, he gave his attention to my sister’s young daughter, Maria. With a sly smile, he magically pulled a quarter out of her ear.

            Yes, Kenneth Wyatt was multi-talented.

* * *

Just wondering…           

… how many Texas Panhandle residents know that Franklin Graham plans to speak in Amarillo this September as part of his Route 66 God Loves You Tour.

Franklin Graham

            The son of Billy Graham last was here in 2000, when his Texas Panhandle Festival 2000 filled Dick Bivins Stadium for three nights. This time, his stay will be shorter. His evangelistic outreach tentatively is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sept. 26, a Sunday, at a location to be announced.

             Graham’s eight-city tour also will include stops in Joliet, Illinois, Sept. 19; St. Louis, Sept. 21; Springfield, Missouri, Sept. 23; Oklahoma City, Sept. 25; Albuquerque, Sept. 28; Flagstaff, Arizona, Sept. 30; and San Bernardino, California, Oct. 2.

 * * *

Just wondering…

            … how the C.S. Lewis Retreat this Dec. 3-5 at Camp Allen near Navasota will rebound after the pandemic canceled the annual event in 2020. My guess is that those who appreciate the way Lewis’ books can bring us nearer to God will be raring to go after the frustration of masks and distancing.

   

C.S. Lewis

        The event, coordinated by Nan Rinella of Amarillo with help from other Amarillo area volunteers, offers outstanding speakers, musicians and spiritual discussions in a lovely Hill Country setting as well as sessions for budding writers. It’s sponsored by the California-based C.S. Lewis Foundation which, among other things, owns Lewis’ home, the Kilns, in Oxford, England.

            This year’s theme has yet to be set, but 2019’s was typical: “The Joyful Journey: Lewis, Tolkien, & the Creative Power of Friendship.”

            In the meantime, Amarillo-area Lewis fans can get a taste of the foundation’s Christian outreach by attending local book discussions. Information is available from Rinella or Kirk Manton on Facebook or at the email address below.

* * *

Mike Haynes taught journalism at Amarillo College from 1991 to 2016. He can be reached at haynescolumn@gmail.com. Go to www.haynescolumn.blogspot.com for other recent columns.

 

 May 9, 2021, column:

Our light can help others shine a little brighter

By Mike Haynes

            You may have noticed her at the check-in desk of Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport or at the boarding gate or wearing a bright yellow vest on the tarmac.

            Even approaching the age of 60, she exuded energy that some half her age didn’t come close to.

            Maybe she stood out because she was tall or because of her rapid-fire voice or her big hair or her looks that seemed more fitting for a fashion designer’s runway than the kind where airplanes land.

            But she had an impact on people, maybe more than her family realized.

            “I never knew Ginger's last name, even. I just knew that she was always a friendly face when I traveled and she never failed to welcome me home from my many business trips.

“When I saw the obituary and mentioned to my husband that my favorite gate agent had passed, he immediately knew of whom I was speaking and described her (even though he seldom traveled with me).

“She made that much of an impression. I pray for peace and comfort for her family and friends, including those who knew her only as the friendly person at the airport.”

Those online comments were from a frequent flier named Becky after my brother David’s wife, Ginger, suffered a fatal heart attack at their McLean home April 13.

Ginger Haynes shows off an award her Amarillo airport team won from
American Airlines in 2016. (Envoy Air photo by Adam Simmons)

Ginger Ann Haynes had not been aware of any coronary problems. She had been busy since retirement from American Airlines and its affiliates three years ago – doing paperwork for her part-time job for a risk control company, feeding neighborhood cats who frequented the cardboard-box homes she had built for them, playing with her first grandchild, 3-year-old Dallas, and looking forward to the next visit of her second grandchild, 8-month-old Jenesis.

In his book, “You Are Never Alone,” pastor/writer Max Lucado said a life insurance man’s calculations estimated that Lucado, born in 1955, would be around until 2038. The author wrote that all of us are “running out of days, dates, and dances. … The hour-glass was irreversibly flipped the day we were born…”

We don’t want to think of that, and we know that for any of us, the end date could be moved up. It could be at age 95 like it was with my grandfather John, who was born on this day in 1902. But it could be 9 as with Canyon sweetheart Tatum Schulte.

Or it could be at 61 as with Ginger. We don’t know how days are left, so we really should make the most of each one. She did.

Driving 70 miles each way daily for her airport job while also using her lightning-fast typing talent for transcription work at home, Ginger didn’t have time to be seen much in the community during her two-decade stint at the airline or, before that, her nine years working for Boone Pickens at Mesa Petroleum. But the fact that several former coworkers from both companies traveled more than an hour to attend her service revealed the impact she had as a professional.

“Ginger was a key part of the department at Mesa when I started there in ’89, said former coworker Deanna in another online comment. “She was always ready to help us do better and present in a professional manner. I always enjoyed running into her at the airport…”

 “She was such a wonderful person. I cannot believe that she is gone,” wrote Dr. Ernesto Rivera, a cardiologist who knew her from the airport. “She always had a very positive attitude, always with a smile. When I saw her working at the airport in Amarillo, she worked so hard on multiple shifts, and she always was kind to everybody. She was so dynamic. …”

The author of Hebrews wrote, “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2) Yes, hospitality was our sister-in-law’s job, but after retirement, it continued. She and her husband went out of their way the past couple of years to assist a new friend, Cliff, who had financial and medical challenges. Ginger said she believed God was leading her to help Cliff.

None of us know the impact we might have on others. Kathy’s uncle Floyd, who died April 21 at age 86, lived in a Kentucky “holler,” and we visited him only a few times. But I’ll forever remember his efforts to educate me on the types of trees and plants growing in his immaculate front yard. Every resident of Spearman we meet tells us of the kindnesses our late nephew David bestowed on them when he lived there before his death at age 36.

The gospel writer Matthew said, “… let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

My brother met Ginger in 1986 on the cruise ship SS Norway. She was a native of Miami, Florida, he a West Texan from a town of less than 1,000 people. Six months later they were married, and the cool, stylish Floridian found herself adapting to boots and jeans on the dry and windy prairie. We had small adjustments to make, too. After one of her first meals in the Texas Panhandle Ginger, her words rolling out like a speedboat, told our mother, “My compliments to the chef!” My sister Sheri had to explain, “Mom, she said the food was good.”

This Mother’s Day, Ginger’s husband David, son John, daughter Sheri Ann and the rest of us are grieving, but every day, everywhere, families grieve the loss of loved ones. I hope that seeing the good in those who go before us will spur us to let our lights shine brighter.

 April 11, 2021, column:

Bullfighter shares testimony to help lead rodeo athletes down right path

By Mike Haynes

            With a classroom full of college students surrounding him, finishing up their loaded baked potatoes and pieces of cake, Frank Newsom pored over a thick Bible in front of him, his felt hat tipped slightly down toward the white plastic table, a tanned, crooked finger carefully tracing verses that he planned to cite in a few minutes.

            It wasn’t the first time the brown leather-covered book had been open to this spot; the adjacent page was torn from use.    

Professional bullfighter Frank Newsom
speaks March 30 to a group of
Clarendon College rodeo and ranch
horse team members.
(Photo by Mike Haynes)

            Newsom had given his testimony many times in the past decade or so, including about once a year to the cowboys and cowgirls in these Clarendon College rodeo and ranch horse programs. But the 46-year-old had driven four hours from his home near Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, on a recent Tuesday night and wanted to be sure to get it right.

            He didn’t want these kids to ride the same path he had followed during his rise to the top of the rodeo and bull riding world.

            Newsom is a professional bullfighter, one of the best ever. Bullfighters used to be called rodeo clowns, but even then they had a serious job: protecting cowboys from 2,000-pound animals that are angry after bucking them off.

             The Granbury native grew up working on ranches, sometimes riding bulls, and was captain of his high school football team. Once he gravitated to bullfighting, he set high goals.

            ““I outworked everybody around me,” he told his Clarendon College audience of almost 50. “I would lay my body down more every day in that arena. It made me excel.”

            Newsom said he has worked National Finals Rodeos and since becoming a fixture in the Professional Bull Riders organization has been selected for the PBR Finals 18 times. He made it to the top, faltered because of his lifestyle, then reached the top again. He gives the credit for his giving up drugs and alcohol to Jesus Christ.

“Following my instincts got me to be one of the best bullfighters there is, but it also got me into all the sin that you can ever imagine,” he said. “And there ain’t nobody that’s any stronger or tougher; it wasn’t that I was a weak person.”

Frank Newsom works to distract a bull from a bull rider on the ground
during a professional bull riding event. (Provided photo)

One of Newsom’s worst days was in 2000 when he was scheduled to work at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, which had been his highest goal. Instead he was sitting in jail.

Talking to the college students, he pointed to his shiny, big belt buckle. “This is a good target, guys,” he said. “I don’t want you to think, ‘Oh, I don’t want to go win a buckle.’ But don’t let this be the only thing.” Touching his open Bible, he continued, “It says, ‘Do not worship idols.’ God created y’all, he gave you all these talents. And he goes, ‘Worship me, and I will bless you. Read in my Word, and I will help you every day. Be strong. Be the best. But don’t worship that idol.”

Newsom went to rehab more than once, but it never stuck. He said it took more than that for him to escape his downward spiral.

“The only way those chains got broke was by me stepping forward and saying, ‘Jesus, I want you. I want you to be my king. I surrender. And that was a word I never … You couldn’t get me to surrender. … But Lord, I surrender. And that’s when the chains started gettin’ broke. He starts moving. God starts putting people in your life.”

            Two of those people were Randy and Bobbi Stalls, with whom Newsom lived for about three years near McLean, doing ranch work, attending church and witnessing to jail inmates. The Stalls couple has led the rodeo ministry at Clarendon since it started almost 10 years ago along with other volunteers from Clarendon and McLean churches.

Frank Newsom speaks March 30 to a group of Clarendon College rodeo and ranch horse students.

(Photo by Mike Haynes)

            The group meets on Tuesday nights during the school year, with meals brought from the McLean Methodist Church and guest speakers ranging from cowboy preachers to nationally known rodeo stars. Each year results in several baptisms, usually in a stock tank dragged onto the dirt of the college rodeo arena.

            Newsom has a busy life with a wife and children in Oklahoma, teaching young people his trade and still putting his body on the line for the PBR. A few weeks ago, he was interviewed on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “700 Club,” where he said his motivation as a bullfighter now is more than his own success:

            “Man, if I can save this guy’s life, maybe that’s one more day that gives him an opportunity to be saved so he can spend eternity in heaven. He can go home to his wife and kids and lead them in a good direction. Trust the Lord right now without having to hit rock bottom.”

            He has a similar purpose with college students. ““I’m 46,” he told them. “Y’all are at the startin’ line. Trust what I’m telling you; think about it. Before you walk out that door, know what you think. Who do you believe in?

            “Don’t follow the crowd. Don’t just follow your instincts. Show publicly your commitment to Jesus Christ. Ask him to show you the truth. And he will.”