Tuesday evening, August 23^rd, marked the first countywide strategic planning meeting by community leaders and private citizens in Bourbon County.  I noted representatives from every government jurisdiction in the county along with major businesses, community organizations, and private citizens.  It was a marvelous event.  I was pleased that his message dovetailed with the origins of Bourbon County REDI: Community trust and collaboration is everything. Here is how we got here:

BEDCO, was started in 1992 by community men and women to bring the far reaches of Bourbon County together with a focus on economic development.  Out of this entity was birthed our industrial park, among other initiatives.  Over time, this outstanding organization devolved into a Fort Scott-only effort.  Primarily, it became a sales and management entity for industrial park lots and the dispenser of a trickle of grant money.  Steve Buerge served admirably as its longstanding Chairman, often donating his own money to the cause.

Fast forward to 2018 when several of us were lamenting the rising cost of local government compared to the declining number of tax payers.  We started researching jurisdictions that had consolidated counties with cities, or started sharing services to save costs.  We began to uncover some of the internal barriers to progress in our community, the biggest of which is distrust.  We concluded we had work to do before we can even think about any kind of sharing or consolidation.

As these discussions ensued in BEDCO board meetings, they authorized the formation of a formal committee to study the idea.  They appointed Mark McCoy and Gregg Motley to kick it off and add members from disparate parts of the county to bring credibility to the process.  We met regularly over more than a year’s period of time, researching ideas, collecting data, visiting other jurisdictions on our own nickel, uncovering pockets of distrust and other barriers within the county, and formulating a plan.  The final product is what now known as Bourbon County REDI, in the form of new organizational bylaws which brings the whole county back into the process.

While several people worked on the committee for the year+, here is the group that saw it over the finish line: Mark McCoy, Chairman, Gregg Motley, Vice Chairman, Nancy Maze, Secretary, Greg Fess, Ward Kraft, Larry Jurgensen, Uniontown Mayor, and Larry Martin, Fort Scott Livestock Auction.  I saw Uniontown Mayor Larry Jurgensen last night and he was grinning ear to ear with the realization that the event was the culmination of all our time investments.

Bourbon County REDI was born.  It was ordained by BEDCO and funded by Bourbon County and Fort Scott.  It has also been sanctioned by Bronson, Fulton, Mapleton, Redfield, Uniontown, Fort Scott Community College, USD 234, USD 235, and the Fort Scott Area Chamber of Commerce.  This is a mandate to help restore trust and collaboration countywide.  There will be detractors and naysayers, but we have the high ground.  If we stick to our mission and continually work to establish trust and collaboration, the county will succeed together.

I’ve cherished a heartwarming memory about family and well water since I was about six years old. My Aunt Pauline and Uncle John lived in the country and had a well just outside their house. (Where I come from, water from a deep life-giving well that never ran dry was always preferred over other resources.) An elongated well-draw bucket was used to fetch the water. Then the water was released into a clean aluminum dishpan, and that’s where my cousins and I would get a refreshing drink when we were thirsty. Everyone (oldest to youngest) drank from the same dipper because we were all family. However, should anyone stop by, he/she could have a drink from the dipper too. Anyone thirsty and needing to wet their whistle was welcome, accepted, and loved.

The biblical story of the woman at the well depicts a powerful life-changing encounter with Jesus.  He and His followers were traveling through Samaria and, while the disciples were in town buying something to eat, Jesus wearily sat down on the edge of Jacob’s well to rest. Around noon, a Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well. Since Jews traditionally despised the Samaritans, she was surprised that Jesus would strike up a conversation with her. But her nationality made no difference to this caring Stranger. In fact, Jesus  kindly said to her, “Please give me a drink.“

The woman said to Jesus, “’You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?’ Jesus replied, ’If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask Me, and I would give you living water’” (John 4:9,10 NLT). He explains that anyone who drinks water from the well will soon get thirsty again. “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life“ (John 4:14 NLT).

The two of them talked about the unseemly aspects of her broken life. As Jesus showed His love and acceptance while teaching about salvation, her spirit was opened to receive the truth. She said, “I know the Messiah is coming — the One who is called Christ. When He comes, He will explain everything to us. Then Jesus told her, ‘I AM the Messiah!’” (John 4:25,26 NLT). The woman was thirsting for answers and Jesus spoke of more than she had hoped for! Excitedly, she left her water jar and ran lickety-split back to the village, telling everyone, “’Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could He possibly be the Messiah?’ So the people came streaming from the village to see Him” (John 4:29,30 NLT). While she was passionately sharing her testimony with others, she became the first New Testament evangelist to win a village to Christ.

Statistics show that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. I don’t know what percentage of Americans are genuine believers. But I do know there’s a large percentage of people wandering around in a spiritual desert, chronically dehydrated, looking for living water. Christians need to realize we’re a walking testimony. The water jar we carry is on the inside of us and it’s full of fresh living water that’s supposed to bubble over onto the thirsty people around us. God wants to use us to compassionately tell others that Jesus knows everything they’ve ever done and loves them anyway. Now that’s Good News!

The Key: Come see this Man; He knows you thirst, He knows you hurt, and He understands.

Money Flow

In my last column, I compared the total business payrolls of Bourbon County to that of two of the most relatable counties in Southeast Kansas: Allen and Neosho.  While payrolls are a strong indication of the vitality of business activity in a jurisdiction, one can also look at the flow of money into a community to gauge the strength of that activity and future prospects.  As the saying goes, “It takes money to make money.”  While that it is not an absolute, it certainly holds true much of the time.  Accordingly, let us take a look at the flow of money into these three counties over the last few years.

One way to understand how much money is being created in a community is to look at the lending activity to small businesses; almost all of our Southeast Kansas businesses fit that definition. Here is a chart of total small business loans outstanding in each county and the average loan size at origination:

2015                                      2019

As you can see, over the five years considered, Bourbon County has grown their small business community when measured by lending activity.  Each of these loans puts additional money in circulation in a community and helps fuel future economic activity.

How has that translated into the money supply in our community?  One way to evaluate that is to look at total deposits in the county financial institutions.  Here is how the banks in the three counties compare in recent years:

2019                                               2020

Allen and Neosho lending institutions and investors have millions of dollars more to place in future business activity than Bourbon County, and their deposits grew by 22% and 15%, respectively, compared to 9% for Bourbon County.  Part of the explanation of the dramatic one-year growth in all three counties are government programs rolled out during the pandemic, such as the Payroll Protection Program, which injected millions of dollars into small businesses across the country.  The real question is whether these businesses invested in payroll and business activity, or paid off bank loans and stuck the rest into their deposit accounts.  Considering our increase in lending activity and smaller deposit growth, it looks as if more of this kind of government money went to work in Bourbon County small businesses than that of the other two counties.

All indications are that the small businesses in Bourbon County are holding their own, and increasing their economic activity relative to our two similar neighbors.  Bourbon County REDI encourages you to support your local small businesses by shopping local and paying your sales tax in Bourbon County.  Let us all help the vitality of our small business community when possible.

In a Bible study, my group prayed for Ben, a 21-year-old heroin/meth addict who has been placed in a treatment center by his parents.  Ben, we were told, was a star baseball player.  At 6’6” and 250 pounds (plus owning a 93-mph fastball), scouts were showing an interest.  Two summers ago, while tossing haybales at his parent’s ranch, Ben felt something pop in his throwing arm.  The news was not good.  He would need Tommy John surgery.

Ben was told that it would be about two years before he would pitch again.  The opioid Oxycodone was prescribed, and Ben became addicted.  Fortunately, he was not one of the 130 people who die daily from an opioid-related overdose, but ultimately, that pain killer morphed into illegal drugs (not uncommon since 80% of heroin users begin with prescription pills).

For two years, tens of thousands of dollars were spent ineffectively on rehab facilities by the young man’s parents.  On his own, Ben took the first step to stop using drugs.  The improvement was so radical, his parents bought him his own house so he could get a fresh start.  Then he needed his wisdom teeth pulled.  Pain pills were prescribed, and Ben was hooked again, this time more than ever. His parents once again brought him to live in their home.

One night, Ben’s parents went to town for an evening out.  They took precautions, locking the keys to their second car in the safe.  When they returned, they found the safe had been pulled into the garage and their tractor was missing.  On a meth-high, Ben had been able to drag the safe next to the car, hoping the keys were close enough to start the vehicle.  When that failed, Ben drove the tractor to McDonalds, a few miles away.

Ben now weighs 155 pounds and calls his parents daily, begging them to remove him from the facility to which they have committed him.  I found myself grieving for the parents, as I have walked alongside two friends whose sons had chosen similar paths and had made those phone calls.  Some days, it was all the parents could do to drag themselves out of bed as their sadness would take on the same lifespan as their addict children. Some days, they enabled their addict child.  Some days, they drew a line in the sand and refused to help.

In the last year, I have sat with two mothers whose young adult children died from drug’s side effects.  One was suicide from drug-induced bipolar disorder and the other from drug-induced bulimia.  Their children’s torment has ended.  Theirs hasn’t.  In this life, it probably never will.

There are all types of addictions: cigarettes; alcohol; pornography; work; sex; caffeine; ministry (yes, even that); gambling; golf; the internet; shopping; approval of others; comfort foods; and video games, to name a few.  What keeps individuals pursuing these obsessions?

For one, life is tough.  Not a day goes by that we aren’t reminded that things aren’t as they should be.  Instead of accepting that perfection stopped in the Garden of Eden and won’t return again until Jesus comes back, these messy in-between years are expected to be something they can’t be.  We keep seeking answers, and instead of turning to God, we turn to behaviors which provide relief (albeit temporarily).

Isaiah 64:6 reminds us how close we all are to the edge of the addiction cliff when it says we all are unclean.  All of us.  So, we seek relief which can be found in one of two places: the Creator or the world.  Maybe it’s not drugs, but look at the inexhaustive list above.  Who of us hasn’t at one time or another sought to feel better by relying on something other than our Creator?  (My hand is raised here, thank you potato chips and dip.)

I write this article to ask you to pray for Ben and anyone else you know whose addictions have led down a road to destruction.  Pray for their families.  And pray for yourselves, should anything you do be one step closer to pulling you away from God and into the ways of the world.

I recently watched the iconic movie, “Walk the Line” depicting the early life of Johnny Cash. His career was successfully moving along and he began receiving large amounts of fan mail from the incarcerated. In my opinion, the best scene of the movie is when Cash pitches his unheard-of idea to the music executives. He expresses his fervent desire to perform a live-concert recording at California’s maximum-security penitentiary. During this meeting, one of the top execs said to Cash, “Your fans are church folk, Johnny — they‘re Christians. They don‘t want to hear you singing to a bunch of murderers and rapists trying to cheer ‘em up!” Cash replies, “Well, they’re not Christians then.”

Cash was thinking outside the box and from his heart and the music executives weren’t.  But The Man in Black was too gutsy to be dissuaded so the execs cut a deal with him. The legendary prison concert on January 13, 1968, was uncharted territory but made music history anyway. The album, “At Folsom Prison” skyrocketed his career and was one of the most-popular recordings of all time. The album received enthusiastic reviews, hit #1 on the country charts, and was certified triple platinum in 2003. The popularity from the Folsom concert prompted ABC to give Johnny Cash his own television show, which was also a huge success. I’m pleased as punch that the Christians in 1968 proved the music executives to be wrong. And I want to believe that the Christians in 2022 are going out on a limb to prove that they love people from all walks of life.

Cash’s Folsom Prison story reaffirms the Word of God.  Jesus spoke to His disciples and the crowds at length and said, “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed Me. I was thirsty, and you gave Me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited Me into your home. I was naked, and you gave Me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for Me. I was in prison, and you visited Me.‘ Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You something to drink? Or a stranger and show You hospitality? Or naked and give You clothing? When did we ever see You sick or in prison and visit You?‘ And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!‘” (Matthew 25:34-40 NLT).

Many times an unheard-of idea comes straight from the heart of God. And many times it’s met with boxed-in thinking and the dry-as-dust response: “We’ve never done it like that before, we don’t think it’ll work, and we don’t want to change it.” God is not locked into doing the same thing over and over again. “Behold, I will do a new thing…” (Isaiah 43:19 NKJV). As believers, we should want God to do a new thing in our hearts every day. Walking the line with God is not a humdrum experience! Our God is up to something new and good every day and we should live in unshakable expectation of His guidance and goodness. I challenge you to be gutsy and do what God has put on your heart. The world may consider it a harebrained and unheard-of idea, but what do they know, and who cares anyway?

The Key: Walk the line to avoid that burnin‘ ring of fire.

Business Trends

It is difficult for the average citizen to assess the relative health and growth of the Bourbon County business community because we do not have ready access to sales numbers of private businesses.  We tend to go by feel and whether or not our favorite stores are still open, but what does the data say?  Let us look at two counties in Southeast Kansas that are most comparable in size and complexion to Bourbon County: Neosho County and Allen County.

The simplest way to compare private business activity from county to county is to look at total payroll outlays.  Here is a seven year look at the three counties, ending is 2019, which is the last year available:

Dollars expressed with three zeros omitted.

Like Nevada, Missouri, Neosho County tends to rely upon a single large employer for their growth and future prosperity.  Although we do not have access to the gross sales of the one company, I suspect the lack of growth in Neosho County payroll is reflective of the relative success of the one company.

Allen County has a 2020 population base that is 1,834 less than Bourbon County, but much stronger payroll numbers.  Despite losing a higher percentage of their population over the last 10 years, their payroll growth kept pace with Bourbon County.  Much of this can be attributed to a larger geography draw for their employee base, as the competing cities in other counties are remote. Additionally, Iola draws from a wider geography for retail sales. Recently, a large Bourbon County employer chose Iola for their expansion over adding additional space in Fort Scott, presumably to tap into a new employment base.

It is encouraging that Bourbon County business continues to grow despite our population loss, and housing and infrastructure challenges.  We have a diverse group of strong, independent manufacturers and branch locations of major corporations that bodes well for our future.  We also have a solid group of local retailers and a growing traffic count along 69 Highway as the highway expansion continues, bringing more consumers through Bourbon County.

Our city and county governments continue to support the economic development efforts of Bourbon County REDI.  We are intently focused on health care and housing in order to retain our workforce, and give our employers a chance to attract more to facilitate their growth.  These efforts will be augmented by the launch of a Land Bank in our jurisdiction to deal with blighted properties, which has also garnered support from our government entities.  This will go a long way in helping the curb appeal of our communities and giving responsible owners of adjoining properties the respect they are due.

Of course, we are always on the lookout for new opportunities to introduce business investors to the overall quality of life that Bourbon County affords.  In the end, it is quality of life that business owners and their employees alike value most.

When Dave and I were first married, I found a couple of end tables at a garage sale and brought them home to restore them, stopping first at a lumber yard where an elderly man helped me buy the correct supplies.  Dave was away on a baseball road trip, so it was the perfect time for me to set up shop in our one-car garage and turn ugly into beautiful.

It was a painstaking process, and to this day it has given me an appreciation for people like Jim Sackett who find it rewarding to refurbish furniture for a living.  After sanding, I applied the stain.  Two coats of polyurethane later (I had to protect my treasures), they turned into a masterpiece.  Today, I would call them ugly and take them to the dump, but not then.

The night Dave returned—and not anticipating anything to be in his path in our garage—he drove in and ran right over them.  I heard the noise and thought we were being ransacked which, actually, would have made more sense, but no!  Dave simply did not pay attention and reduced my tables to splinters.  His excuse didn’t fly (even though his car obviously did): “Why should I expect anything to be in the middle of the garage in the middle of the night?”                                “Well, lucky for me I wasn’t standing there to greet you.  Would you have just plowed over me too?”

I don’t remember Dave’s response, but I’m pretty sure it was NOT an apology.

Since then, only a few other times have I attempted to restore something.  This past week, I tried to restore the bottoms of my pots and pans. After soaking them in Google’s suggested homemade paste for several hours, not one stain came out. For some reason, what looks so simple…well, isn’t.

Of course, furniture is not the only thing needing restoration. Laptops, old photographs, leather boots, broken bones, friendships and marriages, to name a few, sometimes need repair.   Then, there are Christians.  Yes, Christians.  Even they occasionally need a little help, and lucky for us, God’s the best in the business at making the old look new.

The word “restore” appears 136 times throughout the books of the Bible. King David simplified things in Psalm 23:3: He (God) restores my soul.                                                           

Do you ever need your soul restored?  I sure do.  Like now.  A Christian couple is upset with me, and I fight the need to act ugly right back. I mean, where is their love, the one thing that’s supposed to set us apart from non-believers?  What about walking the talk?

So, I take it to God—albeit reluctantly—who reminds me that I need to ask those two questions of myself.  Where is my love?  Am I walking the talk?  If so, I would not be fighting the desire to tell this couple how they aren’t acting very Christ-like and demand an apology. Surely there’s a scripture entitling me to do so…somewhere.

But of course, there isn’t.  Instead, I find Romans 12:21: Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. In other words, I need to turn my ugly into beautiful. I need to allow God to restore what He knows needs a little help.

Lucky for me, no polyurethane required.

Keys to the Kingdom

Very early one morning I awakened about 1:00 a.m. and began thinking. In the midst of my random thoughts, I heard in my heart, “Stay the course.“ Those three words came out of nowhere and they didn’t correlate with anything I was thinking. I realized God was answering the question I’d presented to Him the previous day. I had basically asked, “What am I supposed to do?” in regard to a certain personal situation.

I had no idea there was such a detailed definition for the small word “stay,” which means:   (1) to continue in the place or condition specified (2) to live; dwell (3) to continue; last  (4) to remain to the end of, to be able to last through. The definition for “course” is: (1) onward movement; progress (2) the direction taken (3) a regular manner of procedure or conduct  (wisest course). So God’s answer was: I am to continue to live my remaining time making spiritual progress, in the wisest course, in order to successfully finish my race.

My normal daily routine is to get up, start the coffee, and lay out my Bible and devotional books on the kitchen table. In my pajamas, I sit at the table and have coffee with my heavenly Father and He talks to me through His written Word. I come into His presence with awe and thanksgiving for the privilege of calling Him my Savior, Friend, Provider, Healer, Counselor, and Sustainer. God’s love is everything to me and He deserves the best and first part of my day. My training time spent in the kitchen lets the devil know whose side I’m on, plus it quenches my thirst as I run my course steady on.

I once heard a message about doing things that were not classified as sin, but they didn’t help us — they didn’t do us any good. The apostle Paul teaches on this subject: “All things are legitimate (permissible), [and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life] (1 Corinthians 10:23 AMP). When an individual is walking on life’s tightrope, there’s a fine line regarding balance too. “Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour” (1 Peter 5:8 AMP). I determined a long time ago that I was not going to be hors d’oeuvres for the devil. He’s gonna have to eat his lunch all by himself.  

God will meet us where we are spiritually and His grace and love will transform us step by step. Although our entire being is important, Paul said that our inner life is the most important. “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are [our inner being is] being renewed every day” (2 Corinthians 4:16 NLT). Believers have to get off the starting block and “devour God’s Word” every day so our minds and spirits can be renewed. It’s not an automatic process, otherwise it wouldn’t matter if we gave up.

Christ followers are to stay the course to the end of their race. Paul said, “As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful” (2 Timothy 4:6,7 NLT). One day we can all say that — if we’ve lived a well balanced, vigilant, cautious, and obedient life.

The Key: I started out walkin’ but I’m runnin’ my last mile Home.

More Government

It is a commonly held belief amongst 21^st Century Americans that people are basically good, but the facts on the ground deny that assumption.  No one would dispute that a child not only needs help with the activities of daily living, but also needs consistent guidance in order to successfully transition into productive adulthood.  Our various levels of government are necessary to maintain a civil society; otherwise, we would devolve into chaos.

Statistically, we have much more government involvement in our lives since I was born in the 1950’s.  Government spending is a much higher percentage of Gross National Product, and many huge government agencies at all levels have come into existence since my youth.  There were no “Great Society” programs, no Medicare, no Obama Care, and six Presidential Cabinet level positions have been created: Housing and Urban Development, Education, Transportation, Energy, Veteran Affairs and Homeland Security.  Federal tax rates on families in 1960 were 3% on the first $4,800.00 earned.  Now, Social Security and Medicare taxes alone are more than double that, even before any income taxes are collected.

Why has government exploded with growth?  Let me propose two main causes: first, the moral decline of Americans necessitating more government intervention in our lives. As noted by John Adams, “Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” I believe recent trends are proving his point.

One does not have to dive too deeply into the statistics to document the moral decline of America, most notably crime rates, divorce, unwanted pregnancies, drug dependence, etc., have skyrocketed.  That is not to say we were without sin in the 1950’s, based on the evils of racism alone in the form of segregation, prohibitions on mixed race marriages, Jim Crow laws and the like.  But generally, Americans were more personally productive and tended to respect authority.

Secondly, our universities have popularized socialistic economic theories, such as that of John Maynard Keynes.  In the 1970’s when I was studying economics, the theories of John Adams and Milton Freidman ruled the day; we studied Keynes as a novelty.  In the 21^st Century, governments at all levels have followed the Keynesian trend of greater reliance on government intervention.

In response to this rise of social disorder, it seems that modern economic theories have attempted to create societal solutions to the consequences of our moral malaise, so far without success.  In fact, the jurisdictions where modern theories have been applied to the highest degree have experienced rising crime and higher rates of individual pain as measured by previously mentioned trends.  The “Great Society” programs were launched nearly 60 years ago, and after billions of dollars of spending, the percentage of Americans living below the poverty line has remained virtually unchanged.

If we have learned anything from the dramatic growth of government during my lifetime, it should be that more government is not the answer to our problems; not Federal, not state, not local.  Until the people of this nation begin to realize the importance of the basic fundamentals of two parent households, steady loving discipline of our children, and ample investment of parents’ time and money in the education of our next generation, we will continue to struggle economically and socially, both in metropolitan areas, and rural communities like Bourbon County.