A Childhood Best Friend

September 25, 2022

Chuck Peterson, a childhood best friend, recently passed away. It made me do some reflecting on that time in my life. It was 1962 and my family moved at the end of the school year from Sheridan, a suburb south of Denver, to the Peaceful Valley Scout Ranch a mile south of Elbert, Colorado. On the 4th of July, a local man came to tell my parents that Elbert hosted a little league tournament every 4th of July and if they had any boys of that age they could join in. I was in that age bracket and my parents said I could go, so I did. I sat on the bench that day and was never put in the game, but it was a new beginning. I found out that the boys within a year or two of my age got together every Saturday afternoon during the summer to practice baseball. Sometimes after we got tired we would go skinny dipping in a nearby ranch pond. It was like the “Sandlot,” a movie some years ago where a new boy in town falls in with a group of boys who practice baseball everyday on a field they called the sandlot. I was the new kid in town and the Elbert boys could have rejected me, but instead they were friendly and accepted me. They included: Steve and John Hermes, Mike and Gordon Harper, Danny Tweedy, Don Bolejack, Danny Gresham, Keith and Richard Ban, Frank and Roland Phillips, others I'm sure I'm forgetting and Chuck Peterson who became my best friend for the next several years.


I spent time at Chuck's house many times. One of my first experiences was plowing with Chuck. At the age of ten I already knew how to drive cars and trucks. With Chuck I learned to drive a hand clutch/throttle tractor. At the end of the field I had to watch behind the tractor to trip the dog and lift the plow. At the same time I had to watch ahead and steer the tractor so I didn't run through the fence. Then I had to decrease the throttle and, if necessary, disengage the clutch. That's four things to do at once with two hands. Another time Chuck taught me to harrow a summer fallow field. I learned that I shouldn't waste fuel going over the same ground twice, so the harrow should abut the last ground broken and not overlap. Once I helped Chuck shock corn stalks and I learned that I was very allergic to corn pollen as my eyes were nearly swollen shut when we went in to supper. Yet another time at Chuck's house I learned about working cattle in the spring. That day one cow was having trouble delivering her calf and the veterinarian had been called. Chuck assisted the vet and I learned about a cesarean section. When the Boy Scouts built their swimming pool, I had Chuck over to go swimming. Of course, we didn't obey all of the rules and we spent a few minutes in time out.


Elbert had a small school system that allowed us to participate in everything: basketball, track, baseball, band and choir. Chuck and I would sit together on school trips. We spent time together in 4-H and the county fair. He remained a good friend through high school. After high school our lives took us in different directions and I don't remember seeing Chuck again. Chuck went in the direction of ranching and rodeo. I went in the direction of the Air Force and aerospace.


In a counseling course I took years ago, the instructor gave an illustration to explain why some people need more affirmations to feel good about themselves. He suggested imagining our lives like a 55-gallon barrel that is open at the top and has a mesh bottom. Affirmations from significant people in our lives place stones in our barrels. In size they may range from large rocks down to grains of sand. Daily affirmations are like liquid that drain out the bottom of the barrel. The more rocks and sand a person has in their barrel, the less liquid affirmations are required to fill the barrel and the slower the liquid is to drain out. After all this time, fifty to sixty years later, my childhood friendship with Chuck Peterson is still a large stone of affirmation deep in the barrel of my life. Thank you Chuck.


 

What Does a Pig in a Poke Have to Do with Current Events?

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Unfortunately today many young people don't know the moral of a pig in a poke, so please let me explain. Years ago it was common, particularly in the South, for people to take a sack with them to carry things in. If they bought or found something they wanted, they would poke it into the sack. Thus the term poke sack or just poke for short. Now a swindler might try to sell someone a pig in a poke. They would show the poke with something moving about inside it. They would say that they can't op...


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During the Charismatic Renewal of the late sixties and ea...


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Not Just Another Four-Year Election

October 6, 2020

Well before the 2016 election, my wife came home from shopping one day and asked me: “Is there a verse in the Bible that talks about God lifting someones skirt? I just keep hearing: 'I'm lifting their skirts.'” I answered: “Yes there is” and I looked it up for her. It is Nahum 3:5, Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts; “I will lift your skirts over your face, I will show the nations your nakedness, And the kingdoms your shame.” A short time later the Lord shared ...


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The Red Pill Journey of Rockey Jackson

July 4, 2020

Note: If the reader is unfamiliar with the term “Red Pill,” see my blog post: http://rejackson.yolasite.com/blog/red-pill.


On Friday, November 22, 1963 I was eleven years old and in the sixth grade. While standing in the lunch line with my class, the principal rushed into the lunchroom and exclaimed: “The President has been shot!” I thought that was a sad and disturbing thing to be sure. I wasn't politically aware at that age and I accepted the Kennedy assassination at face value, ...


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National Day of Prayer

March 15, 2020

President Trump has declared today March 15, 2020 as a day of prayer for our nation. In response, I've chosen to share the following three from my daily prayers.


A Prayer for Our People, Leaders, Nation and Land

2 Chronicles 7:14 - “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”


Our Father Who art in Heaven Hallowed be Thy Name; T...


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Responding to the COVID-19 Virus

March 13, 2020

Today I was awake during the fourth watch of the night thinking about the crazy current events surrounding the COVID-19 virus. The world appears to be shutting down because of media generated hysteria over a common cold. As I sought the Lord's will, He impressed three scriptures on me.


Psalm 91:1 - “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” We must know our position in the Lord. It doesn't matter if we are physically alive or dead. ...


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A Second Call to Arms for God's Faithful Remnant

May 22, 2019

This is the second time I've posted a call to arms for God's faithful remnant. The first time was before the midterm elections on July 19, 2018 when I issued “A Call to Arms for God's Faithful Remnant.” This post is an update of the previous post. For those who are paying attention, our nation is being prepared for the plug to be pulled from the swamp. The four main information sources are twitter, Fox News (Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and others), Q ANON, and President Trump's speech...


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Wake Up Saints!

May 21, 2019


God's people, Jews who keep God's commands and Christians who have the faith of Jesus, must wake up to the fact that we are currently in the midst of a great spiritual war or they will perish. The struggle in America and throughout the world between globalism and populism is not just different ways to get to the same good goals. It is not the old liberal versus conservative or Democrat versus Republican. This is not a fight for a religion or a denomination, but a decision as to which deity...


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Did Judge Kavanaugh Assault Dr. Ford?

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For the last few weeks the Senate Judiciary Committee has been holding confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh. During the hearings, the Democrats asked questions trying to disqualify Judge Kavanaugh while the Republicans asked questions to show his qualifications. I'm not a legal expert, so I won't comment on the effectiveness of the questions or the fitness of Judge Kavanaugh to be a Supreme Court Justice. However at the end of the confirmation process, the De...


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