From the Home Place

May 5, 2026

Good morning. And a good morning it is, there is moisture falling from the sky! At 4 a.m. it was snowing nicely, most of it melting as it hit the ground. The thermometer read 37 degrees, but the wind chills that down to 27 degrees real feel. All I know is that Coffee said it’s cold and wet out there. Oh, we thank You Heavenly Father for this great blessing of moisture! It sounds like south of us could get measurable snow fall, perhaps we should keep praying?

Keep praying for more moisture to come to the many areas of extreme drought. Pray for the Spirit of God to reign within His church. Pray for our national leaders as the war in Iran seems to be ramping up instead of cooling down. Pray that Washington D.C. will stop playing politics and actually provide truthful leadership. Pray that we the Church, will also provide truthful leadership as we live biblical lives that reveal the light of Christ during these dark days.

Because today is a very important election day, allow me to grab a can opener and to slice open a real can of worms. I have always marveled as to how so many folks who call themselves “Christian,” have a real dislike for Romans 13, evidentially because it does not fit their political views and agenda. Yet the Bible clearly states that “all Scripture is God breathed,” not just the parts we agree with.

Romans 13:1, “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” Did you see it? Stuffed within this verse is perhaps the most controversial word of all of the Bible; the word “subjection” is almost a cuss word in many circles today.

We find different forms of this word used in different places within the Bible. Look at Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you.” This verse is directed to those of us who sit in the pews on Sunday mornings. We are to “obey,” “submit” to, the leadership of the local church in such a way that it is a “joy” for them to guide the church through today’s turbulent waters. As individuals within the church, to not “submit” to our leaders is “unprofitable.”.

Speaking of “unprofitable,” we read, “and what will it profit a man if he should gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Then there is the much-dreaded verse of Ephesians 5:22, “Wives, be subject to your own husband, as to the Lord.” Could it be that this verse contains another hidden gem? It would appear that a “wife” is to submit to her husband in the same way as she has first submitted “to the Lord.” Do you see the order revealed here, submission is first “to the Lord” and then second to the husband, and just like all of God’s decrees, it doesn’t work when we try to mess with the order!

I would suggest to you that for each of us that our level of subjection to the Lord is the primary influence toward my view of government. You see, if I do not have spiritual subjection, then I will not have political subjection either. Oh my friends, I would suggest that the greatest example of subjection was when Jesus Christ allowed the Roman “government” to nail Him to the cross. A government that was totally corrupt all the way through. A government that was far more interested in caring for its wealth than for the wellbeing of the people under its authority. A government that was far more concerned with control than with liberty. (Does any of this sound familiar to you?)

Yet, to this very corrupt government, Jesus Christ submitted Himself. How did He do that? By first submitting Himself to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane. And that my friends, is exactly what Romans 13:1 and Ephesians 5:22 ask us to do, submit to God first and foremost, and then the other forms of submission become possible.

Well, let’s stuff the worms back in the can and allow Scripture to speak for itself as we read Romans 13:2, “Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.” The word “ordinance” literally means “direction.” God’s word is a book of directions to help us live our lives in full subjection to God, and then to those who have “authority” over our earthly existence. Remember, proper order is everything!

Submitting to God with you, Neal

May 4, 2026

Good morning friends! Yep, we are finally back home. After 14 days of travel over some 4,300 miles we were so glad to sleep in our own bed last night. Even Coffee slept better in her own house, rather than in some unknown motel with lots of scarry sounds outside our door, and sometimes in the room next to ours. Yet, we praise our Lord for safe travels, a car that ran well and Miss Deb’s great navigational skills.

With all of the challenges, it was great to spend some time with our family in Florida, especially that new great grandson! I know it’s not proper to brag too much, but he is such a handsome lad, and GiGi (Miss Deb) loves his snuggles. I suppose the next time we see him; he will be walking. And his big brother is almost two-years old now. He was just a baby the last time we saw him, now he is running, climbing, jumping and throwing, yep, he’s a boy!

On the way home, we stopped in Baggs, Wyoming and filled in for Pastor Josh as he was presiding over a wedding in Lusk. It is exciting to see what God is doing in Baggs as the Taylors are planting Battle Mountain Community Church. We were greatly blessed to get to speak into the lives of some of the dear folks who live in that area!

Today, I’m up at 4:30 so that I can write this note. Hopefully Miss Deb and Coffee will both sleep in a bit before we all start a very busy day of getting caught up on several chores around the home place. Yes, it was great to get away for a couple of weeks, but it is also very nice to be back home.

You see, as Christians, we too are all on a journey through this thing called life, and one of these days our Heavenly Father will call us to come home to heaven. I imagine that when that moment comes for each of us, we will be most grateful to get “home!” Though I wanted to get back to our home in Lusk, it will be more exciting to get to our home in heaven. But far more important than what heaven is like, will be Who is there.

Yes, there will be friends and family there; and it will be great to see them once again. Much like how great it was to see our Florida family! But when we get to heaven, there will be one person who trumps all other faces we will see in heaven, we will finally get to see Jesus face-to-face!

As the Apostle Paul stated, now we see dimly as in a mirror, but when we enter heaven, we will get to look into the gentle eyes of our Savior! I believe that we will be so extremely overwhelmed with joy that we will immediately bow in the presence of the King of kings! We will truly worship Jesus!

So, if you know Jesus Christ as Lord, today is not just another day of life here on earth, today is another day of traveling across this ‘ol ball of dirt, headed for home. After all, there is no place like home, and we are getting closer to our destination each day. When Miss Deb and I drove into Lusk yesterday evening, we both praised Jesus for getting us back “home” safely, a picture of how awesome it will be when we get our eternal home, praising Jesus for getting us safely there!

Enjoying the journey with you, Neal

April 26, 2026

Good morning my friends. The time is 2 a.m. in Lusk, Wyoming. For the past hour I have laid in bed, recalling my personal journey called life. It truly has been a great ride. Today, marks 73 years on my life calendar. Allow me to share a bit of that if I might.

I was born on this date in 1953 to Tuffy and Daisy Hughes. Our mailing address was out of Glendo, while our electricity, banking, groceries and several family members were out of Lusk. I attended a one-room country school during my first three years of school; we were then bused to Sunrise for my fourth-grade school year and then to Guernsey to finish grades 5-12, graduating in 1971. You see, I really did grow up in the middle of nowhere!

In 1970 I started dating a beautiful young lady who would become the love of my life; and in 1972 she agreed to be my wife. At that time I was attending Eastern Wyoming College in Torrington. After finishing my formal training there, we moved to Fort Morgan, Colorado where I did an internship as the yard vet in a feedlot where we kept 25,000 head of cattle on feed.

After finishing my degree at EWC, we moved back to Wyoming to work for a local rancher and then on to become an equipment operator at a rock quarry near Guernsey. Over the next six years I started working at Sunrise Mine as an equipment operator; and Miss Deb would bring three beautiful children into our lives. Life was good.

And then, my dad died suddenly from a massive heart attack; his funeral was held on my twenty-third birthday – April 26, 1976. My world turned upside down. All of my life, I had lived to make my dad happy and now he was gone. Before long, Miss Deb, our three little ones and I moved out to the ranch, while I continued to work at the Mine. We had to try to pay for ranching somehow.

On March 17, 1982, while miles apart from each other, Miss Deb and I both accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. That moment in our lives would set us upon a whole new journey. No longer did I live my life to please my earthly father, now I lived to serve my Heavenly Father! It wasn’t very long before our little family was headed for Phoenix, Arizona where I would receive a degree in Pastoral Ministry. Let the fun begin!

Quite often, Miss Deb and I will comment, “We’ve had a great ride!” Serving God these last 40+ years of our lives has been such an amazing blessing. Oh, for sure, God has allowed enough trials to keep up humble, but He has far outweighed those trials with blessings.

Today, Miss Deb and I praise God for His amazing gift of 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, via our three children. We both praise Him that our three adult children have each been blessed with a great life-partner and a beautiful family.

Speaking of family, many of you are a part of that family as well. Because of God’s calling upon our lives, we have been extremely blessed to get to impact hundreds of lives while serving His kingdom. But here is how we view those years of service, we have not impacted your lives nearly as much as you have impacted ours. The blessings we have received far out ways any blessings we have given.

So, here I sit early in the morning, thinking of 73 years of life – “It really has been a great ride!” I have been blessed to ride some of the best horses to ever walk across this ‘ol ball of dirt (you knew I had to put that one in here.) I have been blessed to spend this life with the love-of-my-life, and to enjoy a great family! I have been blessed to get to serve so many people over these years of ministry. Yet, most of all, I have been blessed to get to know my Heavenly Father who has promised to “never leave, nor forsake,” me, even when death knocks at my door.

If God will allow, I pray for several more years of loving family, loving friends and loving God with all that I have and all that I am. I pray that He will allow me to enjoy the best years of ministry that are still ahead of me.

“Lord Jesus, I praise You for salvation and service, both a gift from You. Lord Jesus, I ask of You that You may grant me this request, ‘That the day I stop living and the day that I die, have the same date.’ Jesus, please keep our ‘crew’ safe and secure within Your loving arms and Lord, bless those around us who make this life a great living. Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching us how to invest a life into the lives of others. Lord God, I thank You for the 73 years behind me and I request of You that there may be at least a few more years to serve Your Kingdom in front of me. I praise You in the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord, Amen.”

Enjoying the ride with you, Neal

April 24, 2026

At 3:30 this morning, the temperature is 30 degrees with a light shot of snow. There could even be a couple of little tastes of rain this afternoon! It will be a cool one with 40 for a high, along with winds out of the NE gusting to a pleasant 24 mph.

Last night was zoom meeting. Oh my, how my young friends are getting attacked by the enemy. It is so difficult to deal with an enemy you cannot see. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 6, “for our struggle is against…the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” The word “wickedness” is translated as “evil” in other translations, but it literally means “malicious.”

As such, our spiritual enemies have no scruples, no boundaries that they will not cross in their attack against God’s children. Their intention is always to destroy anyone who professes to walk with Jesus Christ. It is only by God’s amazing grace and by standing firm in our faith that we are able to withstand such evil attacks.

Before I became a “believer,” I walked in the ways of evil. My attitudes and actions were influenced by Satan. But, when I committed my life to Jesus, I scorned the devil, making him my number one enemy, and war was declared!

I think that most of us have heard the saying, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Well, the Greek word translated “wickedness” here in Ephesians 6 is in the “female.” Indicating that our spiritual enemy is like that “woman scorned,” the worst of evil, wanting nothing but revenge. Now hear me clearly, I am not saying that women are evil! In fact, it is the female of our society who shows us the gentle, caring, nurturing side of God our Father. She is the crown of all creation; she is her Father’s blessed child. But when her heart is crushed, all she wants is an extremely painful revenge. That is the word “wickedness” here in Ephesians 6.

And that, my friends, is the kind of enemy who would like to attack each Christ follower every day. As Paul writes in verse 13, “Therefore, take up the full armor of God.” Our loving Heavenly Father has provided us an armor of protection against such “wickedness,” but we have to put it on daily.

As such, may I suggest that you set to memory Ephesians 6:14-18 and that you learn to prayerfully put on this armor each day before you get out of bed. Don’t just pray the armor upon yourself, but for other “saints” as Paul mentions in verse 18.

Allow me to close our conversation with Ephesians 6:13, “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” As you daily put on your armor, trust in God’s power to protect you and “stand firm,” unmovable, against “wickedness.”

As my group of young men can tell you, the “attack” is real, the “enemy” is real. I will tell you honestly that “the full armor of God” is also real. Just like salvation is an individual choice, so is putting on the armor an individual choice. Neglect it, and there will be “hell to pay” because Miss Wickedness will have here revenge!

Standing firm with you, Neal

April 23, 2026

Good morning dear friends! Our Lord has painted a great day for us to enjoy. I love watching the sun come up as the promise of a new day. We never know exactly what each day holds, but we always know Who holds each day. We should all be grateful for the ones He decides to share with us.

Today’s high of 52 will encourage you to cover your hide with a light jacket before you head outside. Sounds like there could be a little snow in the mountains, maybe some of it will even reach the lower elevations. That would be great!

Here’s one for you. My oldest sister was killed in a trucking accident several years ago. Her birthday was April 22. Well, several years after Lolly’s death, God placed another lady in my life, her name is Beth. When we moved back to Wyoming in 2016, the first lady we met at our new home was Miss Beth. It wasn’t very long before she became very dear to us. Well, in that journey, Beth we were talking about ages and discovered that Beth is four days older than I am, making her my “older sister.”

So, here’s the twist, Beth’s birthday is the same date as my older sister Lolly’s birthday, April 22. God replaced my much loved sister Lolly with my dear sister Beth, both born on April 22! You see, quite often when God removes something from our lives, He fills that vacancy with something, or in this case someone just as special.

Sounds like salvation doesn’t it. When God asks us to yield our life to Jesus for salvation, too often we hesitate to surrender all to Him. Yet when we come to the point of allowing Jesus to be truly the Lord of our life, He replaces the bad attitudes and habits with good ones.

What is it that God asking you to give to Him? May I encourage you to give Him whatever He wants, because He wants to replace it with something way more special. It seems to me that most often the replacement comes in human form. Oh my, the dear people God has brought into my life as a result of me allowing Him to have more access within my life. You see loved ones, we can never out give God, but I do dare you to try! Give it all to Him and watch what He does!

Giving to the great Giver with you, Neal

April 20, 2026

Starting today at 30, headed for 80 as today’s high. Hot, dry and windy makes for an “elevated fire risk.” We are all praying that the Lord will stop any fires.

Yesterday was an amazing day at the CMA church here in Lusk. We are studying our way through the book of Ephesians and did a quick overview of Chapter 3 as our lesson. Three times within this chapter, the Apostle Paul mentions that he was a “prisoner of the Lord.” For the past five years, Paul had lived in a jail cell..

It would probably be good to mention here that jail in Paul’s days was nothing like jails today. For Paul the first two years of jail was in Jerusalem, like our county jail. The next three years he was in a Roman jail, like our federal prison. Paul is in the “big house.” As such, the government provided nothing except a 6 X 6′ cell carved in a rock ledge. Paul’s food, clothing and bedding all had to be provided by a friend, relative of church family member.

For the last 5 years, at the time of writing Ephesians, Paul has lived in terrible conditions. Yet he writes that he is “a prisoner of the Lord.” Though Paul was originally arrested because a powerful group of Jewish religious leaders didn’t like his message, Paul did not say that he was a prisoner of the Jews. Though Paul was now a prisoner in Rome because he had appealed to Caesar about his case, Paul did not say that he was a prisoner of Caesar. No Paul trusted God to always be in control of every situation, we call that the sovereignty of God. As such, Paul said that he was in prison as a result of God’s plan for his life.

So how about your circumstances? Will they be the result of someone else’s decisions, or a result of your decisions, or will your life circumstances be the result of a sovereign God? As I mentioned to the folks yesterday, we much never measure God by our circumstances, but that we must always measure our circumstances by God!

Keeping our eyes upon Jesus with you, Neal

April 17, 2026

Starting at 27 degrees, moving up to 41 with 47 mph wind gusts. The talk of getting some wet snow has gone away.

Yesterday Coffee and I traveled to Wheatland after we dropped Miss Deb off to teach in Guernsey. All of this area is in an extreme drought, but the Wheatland area is the worst I have seen so far. They have actual sand dunes where there is usually green grass. The ground is so dry that it is literally blowing away. The problem is that once that sand gets to blowing, it acts like sandpaper and cuts off all of the grass in front of it, thus increasing the amount of blowing sand. Yesterday I saw sand drifts four feet deep! It will take lots of moisture before that grassland will ever recover. “Heavenly Father” please send measurable moisture to that area and the rest of Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado and South Dakota. Thank You, Amen.”

Between fires, wind and drought, much ground that produced grass and hay is no longer usable. That will mean that many cattle who should remain in production will be going to the sale barn. Loss of sustainable income means that many farms and ranches in the areas mentioned above will be forced to sell. If the ground is no longer usable for agriculture, what will it be used for?

Here’s another “drought” related fact for you. Enrollment in most seminaries and bible colleges is down twenty to forty percent, creating a drought of qualified pastors and church planters. As such, we continue to close around six-thousand churches in America every year, leaving a deficit in those areas. Even though we are planting around twelve to fifteen hundred churches each year, many parts of America are left without a spiritual influence. Thus, I would suggest that this is a major factor in the present declining condition of America. We have a spiritual drought as well!

It would appear that there is one more drought in America – it is reported that most Americans have lost their “hope.” One author writes, “America has become hopeless.” So, with a physical drought, a spiritual drought and an emotional drought, can this land sustain life? Yes!

God tells us in 1 Chronicles 7:14, “When my people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” Once again, we find that the condition of a nation rests upon the shoulders for God’s children – those who have a personal relationship with Him, not just know about Him.

It seems that God will heal our “land” – “area, nation, territory” – when Christians “humble themselves,” “pray” and “seek” God’s presence and turn from “wicked ways.” When we do our part then He will bring an end to the spiritual, emotional and physical droughts we are dealing with today. It would also seem reasonable to assume that until all of God’s conditions mentioned here are met, He will most likely not change our conditions.

Few things will humble a person more than to lose their home, faith and hope. Perhaps it is time for each of us to pay attention to God’s ways and not mans?

Humbly approaching God with you, Neal