God tried to get my attention last Saturday evening.  I was having too much fun to listen.  Six of us were having dinner at one of the couple’s houses, and I had a quick thought: Did you turn off the stove before you left home? Answer: Of course I did.  I put the lid on the pan that held the chicken and turned off the stove.                                                                                                          

I didn’t give it a second thought.

I should have.

When Dave and I walked into our house five hours later, the smell made me gag.  Sure enough, resting atop the flame was a charred pan with no evidence chicken had ever been cooking in it.  For days afterwards, we did everything to rid our home of the horrific odors.  Everything had to be washed.  Pine-sol and candles did little to help.

When I shared my story with a friend, she told me about an Amazon product that I could place in strategic areas of my house, and it would absorb all the residual smells. And then Nanette, Dave’s daughter, told me to boil vinegar.  How simple! Here I had labored for days, burned every candle, laid baking soda in different rooms and washed all the cabinets and rugs, and there were simple products that would absorb the residue?  Nice to know.

Of course, this never would have happened had I listened to God’s nudging and run home to double-check my chicken.  Enjoying myself took precedence.  I wonder if anyone can complicate their life the way I can.

There are times I work my tail off to do something for the Lord, only to realize that all He wanted me to do was to pray about it and then sit back and watch Him work. I keep busy doing whatever I think is important instead of paying attention to how He is trying to direct me.  Last Saturday, I was having too much fun to hear His prodding.

I’m always amazed by friends who pause to listen to God’s voice, relying completely on His guidance. For example, should they be laboring to make a dinner for 80 and some needy person calls, craving counsel, they put everything on hold (i.e., turn off their stove) to share spiritual advice with them.

Not me.  I bulldoze my way through life, rarely having a calm demeanor when I have large tasks to accomplish. I do few things gently. I can’t even sneeze gently.  Mine is a tsunami kind of sneeze that makes people jump instead of a sweet, almost inaudible “achoo” like some people I know.  I eat fast.  Really fast.  Not like Nancy Reagan (size 2) recommended to stay slim: “Chew each piece of food 20 times.”  I waste much less time when I jam 20 pieces of food in my mouth and chew once.

Psalm 143:10 gives great instruction on what really matters: Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground. When God gives a nudge, I need to budge. When He presents before me others looking angry or sad, He gives me an opportunity to ask if I can pray for them.  When they struggle to pay for their groceries, I can recognize His push to help them financially.  When God stirs my heart to donate my time for a needy cause, I can set aside my excuses and help.

And when He asks if I turned off my stove, I must, must, must listen.

Keys to the Kingdom

By Carolyn Tucker

On High Alert

When severe winter weather is predicted, we go on high alert and begin making appropriate preparations. We make sure we have plenty of groceries, fuel for the generator, ensure foundation vents are closed, charge the flashlights, etc. When we’ve done all we know to do, we simply hunker down and wait it out. I read about a World War II Army Ranger’s four-year experience on the front lines in Germany. This Missouri sharpshooter told about how the Rangers were highly trained and knew what to do in tight and unexpected situations. He mentions how every fiber of his being was always on high alert as his unit traveled on foot. They advanced cautiously, always watching and listening. The words, “retreat” or “quit” were not in their vocabulary. I was impressed with this war hero’s amazing bravery and strong tenacity.

There are ample reasons to be on high alert as we do life. Believers engage in spiritual warfare with the enemy of our souls every day. However, if we’re not paying close  attention, we won’t even realize the danger that’s lurking in the bushes. This Ranger’s memoir reminded me of Apostle Peter’s teaching to the Christians then and now.

After we experience the new birth in Christ and a new way of living, that’s not all there is. Peter wants to encourage and caution believers to take heart and stay on high alert. “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. Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset — rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world“ (1 Peter 5:8-9 AMP).

The devil will use depression, hopelessness, isolation, fear, unforgiveness, and lies to devour any Christian that’s asleep while on guard duty. There’s never a good time to be lazy in our Christian walk because that’s exactly what the devil is looking for. He’s patiently waiting for someone he can grab and destroy — but it doesn’t have to be you or me! Through Christ, we must take a decisive stand against Satan and resist his every attack with strong faith. If believers don’t know they have what it takes to overcome the devil, then there’s a good chance they’ll retreat.

Like Army Rangers, Christians need to be highly trained to know how to get the jump on the enemy. We need to read, study, understand, and put into practice the manual (Bible) regarding spiritual warfare. Here’s a key verse: “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7 NLT). As God’s children, we have the authority to stand our ground and send the devil packing. We can’t allow the enemy to pull the wool over our eyes and let him yell his filthy rotten lies at us.

Believers are to, “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. …Therefore, put on every piece of God’s armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. Stand your ground…“ (Ephesians 6:11,13-14 NLT).

The Key: Stay on high alert 24-7, so you can stand your ground and defeat the enemy.

“We write our sorrows in the marble, our mercies in the dust.”  Pastor Greg Groeshel spoke those words, and he is right.  For too many people (Christians included), thinking about what is wrong is so much easier than thinking about their blessings.  A recent posting caused me to pause and question if any of these describe me.  Read it slowly.

“Someone is taking their last breath in a hospital bed today, and you’re frustrated sitting in traffic.

Someone is spending their first night alone after years of love, and you’re annoyed your partner left dishes in the sink.

Someone is burying their baby they carried for nine months, and you’re upset your child spilled milk on the couch.

Someone is burying their mom who created them, and you’re annoyed your mom called you twice this morning.

Someone is wishing for just one more conversation with their dad, and you’re rolling your eyes at his advice.

Perspective is everything.  Appreciate the little things because, one day, they’ll be the big things.”

Something is terribly wrong with God’s children.  We are consumed with whatever goes against our wants/needs/desires. Scripture calls us to hope, yet we are terrible hopers.  We expect the worst, so we won’t be disappointed.   “Why is life hard?  Why do others have it so much easier than I do?  They sin more, yet they have more. Nothing has turned out like I expected, so I don’t expect anything different.”

The average person has 10,000 thoughts each day.  That works out to be 3.5 million thoughts a year. If you were to categorize those as “+” or “-”, how many thoughts would be under each heading?  Think of it this way: if someone gave you $10,000 this morning and said, “Spend it any way you like as long as you spend it all before you go to bed tonight.” Hopefully, you wouldn’t just pilfer it away on meaningless junk.

So, why do we do that with our whacky thoughts that aren’t even worth thinking?  We need to focus on the abundant life God has called us to.  We can engage in either self-pity, blame, stubbornness and bitterness, or we can follow the directive of Phil. 4:8.  Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.                  

How do we do that?  We put our mercies in marble and our sorrows in the dust.

In my first article about zoning, we examined Beerbower’s statement, “Those that hold on to the outdated ideology that zoning somehow robs their freedom and right to do whatever on their land are shortsighted.” (source) We looked at whether zoning actually does nothing as he claimed or if it does change what you are allowed to do with your land. In my second article, we examine why rational people might be both for and against zoning and how, even if everyone were to assume that the current commissioners were incredibly competent and would fully represent their interests, some people may still side with Jefferson’s core principles regarding government. Commissioner Beerbower may consider Jefferson to have “outdated ideology” and be “shortsighted,” but, just like there are rational reasons to want zoning, it isn’t unreasonable for someone to agree with Jefferson.

Given we’ve considered zoning with a premise of the commissioners acting in the very best interest of the county, it is worth considering whether or not that premise holds.

In November, the three commissioners-elect, David Beerbower, Leroy Kruger, and Brandon Whisenhunt joined local citizens  Bob Casper, Katie Casper, Timothy Emerson, Samuel Tran, Karen Tran, and Michael Wunderly in suing the county commissioners and the solar companies to try to undo the actions of the then-current commission. The details of the case are interesting, though for the sake of this discussion, it shouldn’t matter too much what you think of the merits of the case. What we are going to look at is how you are being represented as a citizen of Bourbon County.

On 12/30/24, the lawyer representing the county made a motion asking the judge to dismiss the case because the lawsuit (filed by the three incoming commissioners and some local citizens) “fails to state any cause of action or set forth facts sufficient to support any claim under Kansas law.” The way that a motion to dismiss is handled is that the judge has to “pretend” that the plaintiffs can prove every single thing they have claimed in their lawsuit. If in this “pretend” scenario, the plaintiff still wouldn’t win, then the case is dismissed. If there is some possible scenario where one of the plaintiffs’ claims could win, then the case is not dismissed.

So when the commissioners Beerbower, Kruger, and Whisenhunt took office in January of 2025, the county found itself in the absolutely ridiculous position where every sitting commissioner was paying with their own money to fund a lawsuit against themselves and then using taxpayer money to defend against that lawsuit. I’ve heard people argue that they didn’t know they were going to be elected when they filed the lawsuit, but since the election was November 5th and the lawsuit was filed November 20th, fifteen days had elapsed when the commissioners-elect could have recognized the gross conflict of interest and asked to be removed from the lawsuit. Even if they were sympathetic to the cause of the other plaintiffs on the lawsuit, it is clear that they couldn’t play both sides at the same time without either behaving unethically to the other citizens who were plaintiffs or choosing to act against the best interest of the county as a whole.

Instead of defending the lawsuit with their recently hired county lawyer (who cost $110,000 per year), they retained outside counsel to defend the county. If they believed that outside counsel could reduce the costs of defending a lawsuit more quickly and at less expense than the recently hired county attorney, then it would have been their duty to the taxpayers to do so. However, their next action made it clear that wasn’t the plan.

Remember, there was an open motion asking the judge to dismiss the case if there was no way the plaintiffs could win, even if they proved every one of their claims. Every taxpayer in the county has a vested interest in making sure that the county doesn’t spend thousands of dollars of tax money on defending against a lawsuit that a judge knows the county will win ahead of time, no matter what the plaintiffs prove in court.

On March 3rd, 2025, the commissioner’s lawyer withdrew their motion to dismiss. This meant that they told the judge, “Never mind. Even if you know that we will win the lawsuit, we want the lawsuit to continue.”  Why would commissioners do this? Why would they want to continue paying the outside lawyer to continue the case? Why would they ask the judge to NOT consider if there was any legal basis for the lawsuit? It clearly is not in the best interest of Bourbon County to drag out the lawsuit if it is clear what the end result will be.  However, there are a few people who might want to drag out a lawsuit that the judge knows they can’t win. Those are the people paying for the lawsuit against the county in the first place, including the three commissioners-elect when it was filed.

The fact that the commissioners intentionally filed a lawsuit, knowing they would use their own money to sue themselves and then use your taxpayer money to defend against that suit, is unexplainable. The most gracious explanation is that they didn’t fully realize what type of situation that was going to create, but the fact is that they refused to drop off despite calls to do so on ethical grounds. The fact that they have hired an additional lawyer with your taxpayer money only to instruct him to ask the judge not to give an early ruling on the merits of the case appears to me to be completely unconscionable.

Given the clear preference for undermining the county’s defense of the lawsuit by withdrawing the request for the judge to rule on the merits of the plaintiffs’ case, it is hard to imagine any way that the commissioners on the lawsuit could be said to be operating in the best interest of the county.

Bringing this back around to the original point. In my previous piece, we assumed that you have no doubt that the current commissioners are acting completely and 100% in your best interest as a citizen and taxpayer of the county. That allowed us to look at zoning in a best-case scenario. But now you should consider the facts of the decision to file a lawsuit, knowing they would soon be in office and have to use your taxpayer money to defend against it. Consider that they hired an outside lawyer, not to expedite the end of the lawsuit, but to prolong it. Consider that the commissioners on the lawsuit have refused to drop off to avoid the clear conflict of interest.

Next, consider whether or not that track record gives you confidence in their ability to fairly represent your interests and the longterm interests of the county in implementing zoning. If it does and you support the idea of zoning, then by all means, give them your full support. However, if it raises concerns, then even if you support the idea of zoning, you should consider the track record of the two (originally three) commissioners who chose to file a lawsuit against themselves with their money and pay to defend it with yours.

Mark Shead

Note: FortScott.biz publishes opinion pieces with a variety of perspectives. If you would like to share your opinion, please send a letter to news@fortscott.biz.

BB-2024-CV-000075 – Motion to Dismiss

BB-2024-CV-000075 – Original Petition

BB-2024-CV-000075 – Withdrawal of Board of County Commissioners Motion to Dismiss

In my last piece, we looked at the commission’s stated position that people who don’t want zoning have an “outdated ideology” and are “shortsighted.” (source) We looked at reasons that a person might agree with implementing zoning in Bourbon County, and also some reasons why someone might disagree.  There are rational reasons for both sides. Some, if not most, of the people I know who oppose zoning do so on the grounds of core principles and a long view of the different viewpoints and quality of leadership that they expect to cycle through the commissioner seats over the coming years.

Months before George Washington was elected President for the first time, Jefferson wrote, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground.” He was commenting on the need for limits to the government’s power—especially in how long someone could stay President. While he agreed that the presumed President, George Washington, would make a good leader, he felt that our system of government should be designed to work well with a good President, but also work with a bad one that we may not yet anticipate. Jefferson felt that the amount of authority given to the government becomes the starting point from which it will continue to “gain ground” and the way to preserve liberty is to make sure you don’t give the government more control when you had a good leader than what you’d want if you happen to get a bad one.

Many people who oppose zoning share a similar core principle that leads them to approach any growth of government with the same concerns as Jefferson.  The establishment of a framework where landowners must obtain permission from the commissioners to use their land in ways that are otherwise lawful is a long-term concern. Even if they have full faith and trust in the current commissioners, looking to the future means realizing that other commissioners will come, just as Jefferson recognized about the Presidency.

Zoning enables the county to designate specific land uses that require commissioner approval.  If you have a core principle that believes that the county commissioners today and in the future are going to make these approvals in your best interest, then zoning is a great way to make sure that if your neighbor has to get permission from the commissioners in order to make sure their use is more in keeping with what you will find acceptable. (According to Johnathan Eden Commissioner Beerbower has said a shooting range would require this permission.)

On the other hand, some people have a core principle that reflects Jefferson’s concerns.  Even if they would like to see their neighbors have to ask the commissioners for permission for everything the current commissioners propose today, they recognize the natural tendency of government to “gain ground” and believe that the potential inconvenience of their neighbor using their land as they see fit is a much lower risk than the cumulative ordinances that will be enacted by current and future commissioners if given the authority provided by zoning.

It is easy to see why people might rationally support zoning. It is equally easy to see why they might rationally be opposed to this. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that the current commissioners are Washington-level leaders and no one in the entire county has any concerns that they would make any decision that isn’t in the best interest of the county as a whole. Jefferson tells us the authority that we give to our government should be constrained in a way that handles the worst leadership we can imagine, along with the best. Whether you support zoning or not, you should be wary of political rhetoric that dismisses the core principles that embody Jefferson’s concerns as “outdated ideology” and labels those who hold these principles as “shortsighted.”

Mark Shead

Note: FortScott.biz publishes opinion pieces with a variety of perspectives. If you would like to share your opinion, please send a letter to news@fortscott.biz. 

Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Famous Rolling Stone

I have cherished photos of my immediate family when I was 14 months old. The year was 1959 in Covina, California. Mom was wearing a hat, dress with a thin belt, a corsage,  white gloves, and black patent-leather heels. Dad wore a white dress shirt, necktie, white suit jacket with a handkerchief in the breast pocket, black slacks, and black leather dress shoes. My 11-year-old brother was outfitted in a white shirt, bow tie, suit jacket, and dark slacks. I was wearing a ruffled bonnet with a matching dress, and white walking shoes. I wouldn’t part with these sentimental photos for love nor money. We were on our way to church to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world!

Matthew’s account tells us how the extremely-massive stone at the door of the tomb was  rolled away. “For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled aside the stone, and sat on it“ (Matthew 28:2 NLT). On this first Resurrection Sunday, the rolling-stone angel scared the living daylights out of the four Roman soldiers assigned to guard Jesus’  tomb. “His face shone like lightning, and his clothing was as white as snow. The guards shook with fear when they saw him, and they fell into a dead faint“ (Matthew 28:3-4 NLT). The soldiers were so terrified at the immense size, power, and brilliance of this angel that they fell to the ground, violently trembling and so paralyzed with fear that they couldn’t move! When they somewhat revived, they got up and ran away like little girls. The Bible doesn’t say that they screamed…but I wonder.

“After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to view the tomb“ (Matthew 28:1 CSB). According to Luke 24:10, there were also other women with the two Mary’s. When the women came to the tomb (which had been officially sealed shut by Roman soldiers), they found that the enormous stone had been rolled away! A massive earthquake had occurred simultaneously at the moment of Jesus’ resurrection sometime before the women arrived at the garden. Just as the earth shook when the Son of God died on the cross, now the earth had exploded with jubilation at the resurrection of Jesus!

“The angel told the women, ‘Don’t be afraid, because I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For He has risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and indeed He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see Him there.’” (Matthew 28:5-7 CSB).  These brave ladies were instructed to “go and see” and then “go and tell.”

When it comes to telling a story, it’s been said that women describe all the details and men just basically tell the headlines. Maybe that’s why the angel told women, and not men, to look inside the tomb and then “go and tell” what they saw. Even though they were perplexed and astonished, they obeyed the angel’s instructions.

I guess we can say that Jesus was the inventor of “show and tell.” A few days after  Resurrection Sunday, Jesus appeared to His disciples a second time. (The first time,  Thomas was absent so he didn’t believe that Jesus was alive.) The risen Savior spoke directly to Thomas and said, “Put your finger here, and look at My hands. Put your hand into the wound in My side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!“ (John 20:27 NLT). Christ followers cannot be faithless and do the Kingdom of God any real good.

The Key: The most-famous rolling stone is the one that couldn’t keep Jesus entombed.

On April 7th, the Bourbon County Commissioners discussed zoning. Commissioner Beerbower read some prepared remarks and said, “Let me reiterate, it is not a matter of if we will zone. It is a matter of what zoning will look like.” (source) He further addressed people who don’t want zoning in the county, saying,  “Those that hold on to the outdated ideology that zoning somehow robs their freedom and right to do whatever on their land are shortsighted.” (source)

I can definitely see some reasons zoning might be valuable as well as some reasons it might not. But let’s take an imaginary person named Fred who fits Commissioner Beerbower’s description. Fred believes that if zoning is implemented, it will place some type of limits on what he can do with his land. Commissioner Beerbower calls Fred’s belief an “outdated ideology.” But is it? If we were to enumerate all the things Fred might possibly do with his land without zoning, and then do the same thing with everything he might do with his land after zoning, are those two lists the same? If they are, then zoning does nothing.

If they aren’t the same, then zoning does remove some of the freedoms of what he can do to his land versus what he could do with it before. Now, that might not matter to Fred. If Fred wants to put a shooting range on his property, he’d need to get permission from the county commissioners. If Fred’s neighbors decide they want to prevent Fred from doing this, it isn’t a matter of working with their neighbor to create a compromise. They can now go to the commissioners and try to convince them to stop Fred. Now, whether you see that is a good or bad thing probably depends on whether you are Fred or the neighbor trying to determine what Fred is allowed to do.

(Note: The shooting range example comes from Mr. Eden’s comment about a conversation with Commissioner Beerbower.)

Commissioner Beerbower may call Fred’s view “outdated ideology,” but there are definitely some things that Fred can do without zoning that he cannot do with zoning. That’s kind of the point of zoning.

Now try to see Beerbower’s statement about zoning not taking away anyone’s freedom from his point of view. He might think he would never deny Fred’s request and it is just a matter of making sure it is safe. So from that perspective, Fred can still do what he wants with his land, it is just a matter of the commissioners making sure he does it in a way that makes his neighbors happy. So maybe the neighbors say they would be fine with the shooting range as long as it had a berm of a particular height. Fred may say, “Sure, we were going to do 6 feet, but if you feel more comfortable with 7, I can do that.” Everyone works together. Everyone is happy.
But what if everyone isn’t going to be happy? Maybe what would make Fred’s neighbors happy isn’t something Fred wants or can do. Well then it becomes a matter for the commissioners to tell Fred what he can or can’t do.

This isn’t necessarily good or bad, but it introduces a step in the way that Fred uses his land that wasn’t there before. Without zoning, Fred is the one who decides whether he wants to put in a shooting range. Zoning would give the commissioners the authority to say yes, no, or ask for changes.

When it comes to me personally, Commissioner Beerbower is right that zoning isn’t going to “rob [my] freedom and right to do whatever on [my] land.” But that is because I have no intention of doing anything on my property that anyone is going to want to control with zoning. Other people who actually make a living off their land are much more likely to want to do something with their land that would require commissioner approval. 

Zoning requires you to take on the burden of getting permission for things that are otherwise legal uses of your property, but it also gives you a greater say in what your neighbor is allowed to do with their property. If you think the commissioners are going to endorse the plans you want on your land, but oppose the ones you don’t want on your neighbor’s, then maybe you’ll retain your “freedom and right to do whatever on your land” for anything you might want to do and the extra step of getting permission will be just a formality. Once again, this isn’t necessarily good or bad, it is just a tradeoff.

It makes perfect sense why some people might support making this tradeoff and some people might be against it. It isn’t an irrational position to think that the current laws are sufficient, nor is it an irrational position for someone to be willing to take on more oversight in what they are allowed to do if it means they can have a greater voice in what their neighbor is allowed to do.

A lot of how people weigh the tradeoffs has to do with core principles, what someone thinks they might want to do with their property in the future, and how much they trust current and future commissioners. Since those three things vary wildly between individuals, we should expect to see people on both sides of the fence when it comes to zoning. We’ll look at some of those issues in the future, but if someone has a position different than yours, it might not be because of an “outdated ideology” and being “short-sighted.”

Mark Shead

Note: FortScott.biz publishes opinion pieces with a variety of perspectives. If you would like to share your opinion, please send a letter to news@fortscott.biz. 

Hope.

What we cling to when we stand before a fresh grave, when we are challenged to be a caregiver for a loved one, when our bipolar, adult child refuses to take her meds, when the judge hopefully will give a second chance, when the downsizing causes us our job.  From where do we find our Hope?

From the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the reason for the Easter season.  I hope your Hope, like mine, comes from the knowledge that in the future (many believe sooner than later), we will find ourselves meeting Jesus, the Lamb of God, either in the air or in Heaven.

And yes, in times of despair, it’s easy to cry out, “Come, Jesus, come,” but Scripture lets us know that God is patient, waiting for more to meet His son.  The best news is that Hope has a way of reshaping despair, turning it into anticipation rather than defeat because the time will come when God makes things right, all the bad will be replaced with good, and, best of all, we will be like Jesus.  Hallelujah!

Because of Hope, we can put all our eggs in one basket: a day of restoration and renewal is ahead, a day that speaks to our deep longing for something better.  Jesus will be the one who meets his people as they cross from death to life. The crippled will run marathons, the blind will see color and form, the hungry will feast on all-you-can-eat buffets, the paralyzed will dance and the mentally deficient will sit around the Heavenly campfire, conversing with the Creator of the universe.

I love Easter, not for the egg hunts but because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a truth that, according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, is echoed by well over five hundred witnesses —beginning with Mary at Jesus’ tomb and ending with the apostle Paul—who saw the risen Christ at various times and places.  It’s no wonder the Christian Church exploded during that first century.  They had seen Truth, and from that, their Hope was alive.

Our religion hinges on that one event.  If the Resurrection never happened, then our faith is useless. If Christ is not risen, then Christianity is just a myth. We can live any way we want, act any way we want, do anything we want, say anything we want, and it doesn’t matter at all. But because Jesus has been raised, it matters…if we too want to rise!

Jesus’ best friend, John, wrote of our Savior’s promise: “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies” (John 11:25 NIV).  That was true in Jesus’ day, and it’s true today.

Put all your eggs in that basket.  It’s the only one that matters.

Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Birdbrains Fly Smart

As I was driving to church one Sunday, I noticed a flock of migratory birds flying in a V formation. I was impressed with their precision and strength. Once again, nature reminded me that there’s a Creator God who instills instincts and intelligence into all His creatures. The brilliant brains of these migratory birds demonstrated impressive abilities in navigation, memory, and communication. So I don’t know how it got started that calling someone a “birdbrain” would mean the person lacked intelligence or made stupid decisions. Where I come from we’re more apt to call a silly person one of these colloquialisms: nincompoop, idiot, halfwit, moron, ignoramus, dimwit, nitwit, dum-dum, numbskull, knucklehead, lamebrain, dingbat, goofus, airhead, dipstick, ding-dong, goofball, ding-a-ling, or harebrain. I can just hear my dad using every one of these names.

I did some research on migratory birds and discovered comparative spiritual lessons.  Here are nine interesting points: (1) When flying in a V formation, the birds save energy by drafting off each other while following the leader. [We need one another.] (2) In order to fly 1,000 miles, birds cannot fly alone. [Some jobs are too big to accomplish alone.] (3) Scientists have proven that all the birds contribute almost equally in the job of leading the flock. [Help your pastor share the load of the flock.] (4) Flying in a V formation reduces fatigue in the flock. [Flying by the seat of your pants is exhausting.]

(5) A large or strong bird will take the lead. [Church leaders must be strong in the Lord.] (6) If the leader becomes tired it will rotate back into formation and another bird will take the lead. [Do whatever you can to protect your pastor from burnout.] (7) When the flock changes direction, a new leader will take the helm. [Change is inevitable. Moses handed the Israelites over to Joshua so he could lead them into the Promised Land.] (8) A sick bird will drop out of formation and one other bird will follow it until it recovers or dies. [Keep tabs on one another and do what’s necessary.] (9) If a bird falls out of formation it will notice the extra resistance and immediately get back in line. [If you get discouraged, don’t stop attending church — it‘ll just make things worse.]

Let’s face the facts — people need people. We need one another. It’s a given that believers have God watching over us, Jesus interceding for us, and the Holy Spirit abiding in us.  But God designed us to need and thrive on close relationships with fellow believers. Sometimes life is too hard or too fun to do it alone.

I love the incident in the Old Testament when the Amalekites attacked the Israelites: “Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset” (Exodus 17:10-12 NLT). As a result, the Israelites overwhelmed the Amalekites and won the victory. Moses was a strong leader, but he was human and when his strength gave out he needed two faithful men to stand on either side of him to hold up his arms. We are no different from Moses.

The Key: Even birdbrains know they aren’t supposed to fly alone.

Maybe “Cranky” should be allowed at times. I know some Christians who believe otherwise, but instead of us preaching to those dealing with crankiness, maybe we need to give them a pass.  You know, a simple “I cannot imagine what you are going through.”                          

Better yet, maybe an “I’m here to help.”  And then help.                                                                 

Take caregiving, for example. According to a report issued by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, 42 million Americans provide assistance to older family members. Forty to seventy percent of family caregivers report clinical symptoms of depression, and 23% claim that caregiving has negatively affected their physical health. And get this! A Stanford University study reported that 41% of Alzheimer’s caregivers die from stress-related disorders before the patient dies, and caregivers have a 63% higher mortality rate than non-caregivers.                                  

Yesterday, a friend copied a letter from a Christian woman who is struggling with 24/7/365 caregiver duties. “Sometimes I feel guilty for feeling cranky.”  Talk about heaping pain upon pain!  Caregiving duties are exhausting.  Those individuals have not only their own physical limitations that provoke them to grouchiness but also the needs and wants of the person they are tending.  Add to that an emotional involvement with the loved one they care for, and it’s no wonder they are not skipping merrily along. 

Talk to people trying to keep an advanced Alzheimer/Dementia family member in their home, never knowing if that person will stray from the house, cuss them out, slug them or make unreasonable demands on them.  “Pick those spiders off the ceiling.”  “Sit here and talk to me, Don” (the deceased spouse).  “Cook something I like for a change.” “You look ugly today.”                   

Years ago when I was teaching, I would arrange for my speech students to go to the nursing home to play Bingo with the residents. Typically, the high schoolers were terrified of the elderly, but my goal was for them to learn to communicate with everyone, no matter the age.  Each student was assigned a Bingo partner who, as it turned out, took the game seriously.  After all, there was a quarter to be won.                                                                                                       

We had been playing for about 10 minutes when Chad mouthed to me across the table that his companion-lady told him to cheat.  What should he do?  I shook my head “no” and he told her that he could not do that.  She threw a fit, yelling at him for not being her friend.  As an aide pushed her wheelchair away from the game room, she continued her tirade.                                               

Rosalyn Carter said it well: “There are only four kinds of people in the world–those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregivers.”  According to Pastor David Huss in his article “Helping the Helpers,” “Caregivers need to watch for exhaustion from the details, frustration from not having time for self, guilt for wishing they did not have those attitudes and feelings, anger that other people don’t help more than they do and concern that personal irritability will affect their caregiving and personal health.”

Couple the demands on the caregiver with the lack of affordability for a reprieve from their duties, and it’s no wonder these individuals get cranky.  When they seek support from fellow Christians who insensitively recite Colossians 3:23 (^“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…”), well, there’s that guilt thing again.

So, today I’m playing the part of a spiritual counselor for those caretakers who are burned out.  Today, you get a “Cranky Pass.” No guilt allowed.  It’s called grace. Don’t thank me. I’m just passing it on from the Lord.

Keys to the Kingdom By Carolyn Tucker

Shut Up and Stand Still

If Mom said it once, she probably said it 100 times: “If you can’t say anything good, then don’t say anything at all.” She was quite excellent in following her own advice. She taught me by her example — it’s just that I’m a slower learner when it comes to my big mouth. I’m definitely a work-in-progress so I plan to keep following the teachings of Jesus until He leads me Home.

When the Israelites were fleeing from Egypt and saw that the Egyptians were beginning to overtake them, they began flapping their whiny jaws to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? …Why did you make us leave Egypt? …It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!” (Exodus 14:11-12 NLT). Moses didn’t even respond to their annoying accusations and simply told them, “The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent” (Exodus 14:14 NASB). This was a walloping statement of faith spoken by the meekest man on earth. Sometimes the most-difficult thing to do is be quiet, stand still, and watch God work.

We’re supposed to refrain from saying “shut up” when we need someone to be quiet. Moses would’ve probably been tempted to use a few of the following colloquialisms if he’d known them: cork it, put a sock in it, hush your gums, shut your biscuit hatch, put a lid on it, shut your pie hole, clam up, pipe down. If anyone could push Moses’ buttons, it was the 3 million people he was responsible for leading. In the Book of Exodus, we read about the many times the Israelites complained against Moses and God. These wilderness wanderers were suffering from chronic irritable jowl syndrome but didn’t seem to be interested in getting rid of it because they’d it for 40 years.

David understood the importance of words. He prayed, “Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3-4 NKJV). Maybe his mom taught him the same thing mine did. There are often occasions when I pray for God to put a guard over my mouth because I need grace to shut my pie hole. Just because I have an opinion doesn’t mean I should share it, especially if I know it might rub someone’s fur the wrong way. We humans have always been prone to tongue-sins and we earnestly need God’s grace to keep us from speaking amiss.

In the New Testament, we find Paul and Silas stripped and severely beaten with rods, and thrown into prison with their feet fastened in the stocks. This day was not going well for these two missionaries. But on the flip-side of the Israelites, Paul and Silas were not having a silent night. Around midnight, they were praying and singing hymns to God. “While all the other prisoners listened to their worship, suddenly a great earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. All at once every prison door flung open and the chains of all the prisoners came loose” (Acts 16:25-26 TPT).

It is no secret that God does the miraculous when His children are either practicing silent faith or actively praising and thanking Him. God does His best work when He is welcomed, revered, and obeyed. If we’re complaining and whining the same sad song, God won’t work in that “Debbie Downer” atmosphere. When we stop griping and start believing, we’re giving God what He requires in order to move our mountains.

The Key: Put a sock in it or sing. Then stand still and watch God work.