There were so many good-feeling moments from Super Bowl LIV. Here in Mazatlán, Mexico, I had proudly worn my Chiefs’ shirt in anticipation of the big event. Sometimes a stranger would give me a “thumbs-up” and point to my shirt, but since many of the people who live here are from the San Francisco area, that not always was the case.

Dave and I were the only Chiefs’ fans at the Super Bowl party we hosted. That did not dissuade me from hanging two Chiefs’ banners, one in my window and the other in my living room. We were excited! Well, I was. As Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs’ quarterback, explained when asked in a pre-game interview how he remains so calm, he said he once was a baseball pitcher, and pitchers have to remain calm to do well. Enough said.

The pregame ceremonies were filled with nostalgia as the host city brought back the NFL’s top 100 former football players. Four centurions who served in W.W. II were introduced, with one presenting the token for the coin flip (at which point, I admit I teared up). Yolanda Adams’ rendition of “America the Beautiful” gave me goose bumps, as did the flyover with four jets streaming above in perfect synchronization. Players from both teams lined their respective 24-yard lines as a tribute to legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant who died in a tragic helicopter crash the week before.

And then there was the game which, for three quarters, looked like head coach Andy Reid would be denied his first-ever Vince Lombardi trophy. But then the Chiefs do what they do best: They came back. Down 20-10 midway through the fourth quarter, the Chiefs tacked on 21 additional points to win the game. During the postgame festivities, Chiefs’ CEO Clark Hunt credited the Lord for “blessing us with this opportunity. The glory belongs to Him, and this trophy belongs to the best fans in the National Football League.” According to the “Tyler Morning Telegraphy,” Hunt previously had shared his faith and spoken about how he makes spiritual development a priority. “In the National Football League, Christ is really glorified. My identity is my faith in Christ.”

Like I said, those were some of the many feel-good moments from Super Bowl LIV. My disappointment—shared by many friends—was the half-time show featuring two multi-talented, athletic, gorgeous Latino women: Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. Local Facebook postings were divided between those who considered it “the best halftime performance ever” and those who considered it the worst. In reading several reviews the following day, the word “sexy” appeared in most. But is that the goal of entertainment at the Super Bowl?

One of my girlfriend’s eight-year old twins commented on how “nasty” the dancers were. Granted, the show was intended to pay tribute to the Latin culture (at one point, Lopez’s caped American flag was reversed to the Puerto Rico one), but I felt this show’s vulgarity failed to live up to the dignity that preceded–and followed–it in what is supposed to be a family-friendly event. Both of these entertainers are too talented for such a performance! What confused me was how the NFL speaks out against human trafficking yet allows women to become objects who use their bodies to bring attention to the plight of their country. (As an aside, while the two dancers were entertaining the crowd, a dear friend was rescuing prostitutes on a trafficking sting.) No doubt that adds to why I found this show particularly offensive.

Christ certainly was not glorified during that act, and I was disappointed that an otherwise classy event was marred by such an unclassy performance. Nothing about it made me proud to be an American, except, I guess, that we are a nation of freedoms, even to the point that such freedoms give us the right to pole dance at a football game. Remember Yolanda Adams lyrics, “America, America, God shed His grace on thee…”? Fortunately, that covers even the Lopez/Shakira halftime show.

Nina Pearl Garrett, age 91, resident of Iola, KS, died Monday, February 3, 2020, at Medicalodge of Fort Scott. She was born October 15, 1928, in Iola, the daughter of Benjamin Harry and Pearl Oka Stotler.

She married Marion Gene Garrett on March 21, 1947, in Yates Center, KS. He preceded her in death in 1993. Nina farmed her entire life. She also worked as bookkeeper for Iola high school. She was a member of the Salem United Methodist Church.

Survivors include a daughter, Joyce Nickelson and husband Doug; granddaughter Katy Donovan and husband Dale and their children Garrett Donovan, Alaynah Crawford and husband Josh, and Ayemiah Donovan; grandson Ryan Bo Garrett and wife Andi; grandson Ty Garrett and wife Ashley and their children Decembyr and Alexander Garrett; grandson Patrick Nickelson and wife Krystal and their children Paige and Keira Nickelson; granddaughter Nicole Davis and husband Jason and their children, Kerragan and Nickelson (Nick) Davis; and grandson Aaron Nickelson and wife Shari and their children Aubry, Izzy, Lily, and Havyn Nickelson; and daughter-in-law Linda Garrett.

Besides her husband, she was preceded in death by a son, Wayne Leon Garrett; three brothers, Lawrence, Boyd and Dewey Stotler; and a sister, Leona Wilson.

Pastor Lloyd Houk will conduct services at 11:00 AM Saturday, February 8^th, at the Salem United Methodist Church, 805 Missouri Road, Iola, KS.

Private family burial will follow in the Iola Township Cemetery.

The family will receive friends from 10:30 AM until service time at the church.

Memorials are suggested to Safe Base – Wayne Garrett Children’s Garden and may be left in care of the Cheney Witt Chapel, P.O. Box 347, 201 S. Main, Fort Scott, KS 66701. Words of remembrance may be submitted to the online guestbook at cheneywitt.com.

The Bottom Line

When I was a kid in 1968, Dolly Parton released the song, “Jeannie’s Afraid of the Dark.” I thought it was a cool song and when we went to visit family in Southwest Missouri, I asked Uncle Dennis if he’d heard, “Jeannie’s Afraid of the Dark.“ The next time we visited, we asked the same question and it became a family joke. After that, sometimes when we’d get together someone would ask, “Have you heard the song, Jeannie’s Afraid of the Dark?” We had a lot of laughs out of that question.

However, fear is no laughing matter and it can destroy our faith if we allow it. We all have opportunities to be afraid. The words “afraid” and “fear” are used 593 times in the KJV Bible. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.” A lot of people are running scared because of the deadly Coronavirus. However, there is protection from this virus and it’s faith in the Word of God. Psalm 91 is known as the soldier’s psalm for protection. But it’s God’s Word and it applies to anyone who believes and trusts in His promises. Let’s read some of His promises:

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; He is my God, and I trust Him. For He will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For He will order His angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. The Lord says, ’I will protect those who trust in My name. When they call on Me, I will answer. I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them My salvation‘“ (select portions of Psalm 91 NLT).

This scriptural promise of protection is only for those who live (remain) in Christ as their Savior, healer, and protector. It’s for those who choose to trust in His name. A godly man once said: “Either the Bible is true, or it isn’t. If it isn’t, let’s throw the whole thing out. If it is, let’s begin to act like it is.”

In Mark 5:36, Jesus said to Jairus, “Do not be afraid. Only believe.” Jesus knows that our first response to bad news is to be afraid. But He tells us to treat the symptom of fear with a healthy dose of faith — faith that God’s Word is the truth and we can depend on it.

“But when I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. I praise God for what He has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?” (Psalm 56:3,4 NLT).

The Bottom Line: Refuse to run scared. Claim the promises of Psalm 91 and trust in God.

Pastor Jimmy Tucker

(620) 223-1483

Diamond Community Church

Worship 10:45 a.m.

“O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:24

I am blessed that the Lord moved me to Fort Scott. I love the people, the beauty, the history, and the excitement of building a church for the Lord Jesus Christ. I love Southeast Kansas. But I don’t like the weather. It tends to get cold here. Very cold.

This past week, it was so cold, the local politicians had their hands in their own pockets.

It was so cold, I had to wave a blowtorch in front of my nose so I could sneeze.

It was so cold, we had to chop up the piano for firewood, but we only got two chords.

Because of all the ice and snow, schools were closed Wednesday. Our church was also closed. However, instead of working from home, I decided to go to my office at the church. My old truck has 4-wheel-drive. So, I didn’t have too much trouble getting to work. However, when I stepped out onto the church parking lot, my feet went flying out from under me, and I landed full force on my back.

The sensation was strange. I had no air. I needed air, but I couldn’t breathe. Finally, after long moments of laying on my back gasping, I was able to inhale.

Why does that happen when you get the wind knocked out of you? It would seem that the body would immediately desire to fill the vacuum, but it takes long, agonizing moments before you can breathe normally.

The same thing could be said about Holy Air. When you take a spiritual fall and force the Holy Spirit’s fullness from your life, it would seem that your spiritual being would immediately move to invite Him back. Unfortunately, many times, a long agonizing period goes by before you surrender to His filling you afresh.

Last Sunday, I fell. Oh, I didn’t physically fall like I did on Wednesday. Instead, I had a spiritual fall. A man raised his voice at me after church because he was upset over something trivial. When he raised his voice, I reacted badly. I got mad. I screamed at him and walked away. I have been mad ever since. I am not mad at him. I am mad at myself. I should have handled the situation differently. I should have controlled my temper.

The other day, I went to visit a patient in an assisted care facility. She was wearing a bright yellow bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet read: FALL RISK. The words on her bracelet meant: Watch this person carefully. She may be unsteady on her feet. Help her get from place to place.

I suppose that I should also wear a bracelet that says, “FALL RISK.” I haven’t lost my temper for years, but I did last Sunday. Even though I am saved by the blood of Jesus, I still fell.

I appear to be in good company. The Apostle Paul considered himself to be a “FALL RISK.” Paul was one of the greatest Christians to ever live, but he said he was the “chief” of all sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). He called himself a “wretched man” (Romans 7:24). Even though he had a strong relationship with Jesus Christ, Paul knew that he still had within him a sin nature.

As followers of Jesus, we sometimes get knocked off our feet. However, it’s one thing to fall; it’s another to give up. If we get up again and ask the Lord for forgiveness, He will fill us like a breath of fresh air.

The point is: When you get knocked down, look up. Jesus is there. He understands and cares. He will help you get back on your feet again.

James Collins is the senior pastor at Fort Scott’s First Southern Baptist Church. Find out more about his ministry at the website www.fortscottfsbc.com.

Howard is a nuclear engineer. He is 86 years old and lives in the same Mexico condominium complex as Dave and I. Last year he almost died when he checked himself out of a hospital because its NFL playoff games were broadcast in Spanish and not English. He returned to his condo long enough to watch the Sunday games. When his breathing labored, his wife, Joyce, called a friend who drove Howard back to the hospital where he was put in a coma, intubated, and spent a week in that condition. That was a year ago. Howard continues to recover.

Dave and I were not here at that time, but we were in constant contact with Joyce. Things were not good. Before we came down to Mazatlán this year, I prayed that God would give me an opportunity to have a straight-forward conversation with Howard about eternity.

Dave and Howard are buddies. Never a day goes by that Howard does not come to our patio (once, twice, sometimes three times) a day to “chew the fat.” Conversation ranges from politics to the importance of ocean tides to proper maintenance of tennis courts to the peso/dollar exchange rate to sports…lots and lots of sports. Dave and I have invited him to come to church with us, but Sundays are days he and Joyce meet another couple for breakfast. Year after year after year. “Someday,” he says, he will join us.

Because Howard once headed the laboratory team that worked on the atomic bomb, he has a great interest in modern warfare. Last week he responded to an email I forwarded him about a new U.S. missile that “slices, dices, but doesn’t explode” and recently was used to kill terrorist Suleimani. This was his response: “That is the problem with war, killing innocent people, and in today’s world even identifying the innocent from the enemy is not easy.  Why does God let us have war?” Since Howard does not believe in God, this was HUGE.

I answered soon after. “I’m sure He grieves over it as much as we do.  It’s a fallen world and won’t be perfect until eternity…depending upon where you end up.  We have to remember that this world is the antithesis of what Perfection will be.  Scholars much smarter than I have written at great length on this question.  I just try to do whatever little things I can to make it a better place.  One small step at a time.” Howard responded. “Yep. We do what we can.”

Last night, Howard came by for his evening chat. Three or four topics into the conversation, Howard began sharing why as a young boy he left the Mormon religion. He spoke of its history and the vengeance the church hierarchy had exacted upon those who persecuted its people. When he finished, I responded that Jesus had taught such a different message, like “Turn the other cheek.” Our friend pointed his finger at me and said, “He’s the man.” And for the next hour, Howard spoke of how no one has impacted the world like Jesus, how His message revolutionized the way people think, and that He taught compassion and love like no other.

As our conversation continued, it was apparent that Howard knew more about the Bible than most Christians. He just couldn’t “get” the God part. Abraham agreed to kill his son? Who would do that? Noah’s ark really held what it claimed it held? Impossible. The Tower of Babel was the cause of various languages? Nope. Had Jesus known God? (When Dave and I used scripture to show Jesus was God, Howard reminded us that scripture is man-written, not Jesus-written. He couldn’t buy the “God-inspired” part.)

Mostly, Dave and I just listened. I have no doubt this conversation will continue, and I am excited for where God will direct it.

Like I said, “One small step at a time.”

I don’t worry about little things. Only big things. Like covering my bald spot and keeping it covered. Or answering a question at bible study correctly. Or keeping my fingernail polish from chipping. Or missing a deal on Etsy. Or honking (when and for how long) at rude drivers. Or forgetting names. Or questioning if the pastor is singling me out with his sermon. (And yes, he is.)

You know, big things.

I hope you get my point. Making a mountain out of a molehill is an area in which I excel, and before I know it, I’ve turned that little hump into Mt. Everest. So, you can imagine what I do with actual mountains… like every one of my family members. People on my bible study’s cancer list. Our country. Being bold in sharing the Gospel.

One person defined worry as “to gnaw.” This is what he said: “Like a dog with a bone, the worrier chews all day long, and sometimes it is a very old bone the worrier gnaws. The bone gets buried and dug up, buried and dug up, as the same old pain gets reworried ceaselessly.” I so get that.

If I give myself permission, I can allow those thoughts to turn into a runaway freight train, and my worries can consume my thoughts until they dominate my moods. That’s why I need to cling to Charlie Brown’s adage: “Worrying won’t stop the bad stuff from happening. It just stops you from enjoying the good.” So true. After all, we all are given X-amount of seconds to live. Why would we spend even one of those thinking of “the bad stuff” and not the “good”?

You and I are surrounded with blessings. Too many to count. This year, because of the giftedness of my step-daughter and daughter-in-law, I will be taking 100 Ziploc bags of lotions, shampoos, etc. to hand out to people who work at the dump here in Mexico. Today at church, three of the praise team members were introduced as coming to Christ through the ministry in the colonias where the poorest of poor live and where our church weekly goes to feed and tell them of Jesus. We learned of a musical conductor who brought instruments from the states and is starting an orchestra with the children in a colonia. Every time our pastor returns to the U.S., we were told, he returns with wheelchairs; to date, he has brought over 100 which he “loans” to the handicapped. Blessings upon blessings!

For 2020, I’m making a pact with myself to stop my runaway, worry-train dead in its tracks. I will focus on what is good and true and edifying. I will hand my concerns over to God and refuse to take them back, and I will remember what Corrie Ten Boom wrote in her book, Clippings From My Notebook: “Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.” And that includes my bald spot.

The Bottom Line

It’s been said that “you can‘t keep a bird from flying over your head but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.” I can remember being called out in grade school for daydreaming. My thoughts and vivid imagination would take over and I wouldn’t even hear what the teacher was saying. Have you ever been thinking about something other than your driving and miss your turn?

How would you classify your thoughts, imaginations, and attitudes? Are they clean or corrupt; positive or negative? The beginning of a new year is a perfect opportunity to change up some things in your life. A great place to start taking inventory is your thought life. Whatever you think about will profoundly affect what you do. God created us, so He knows our tendencies. God knows all about you but He loves you anyway! “…You know all the words I’m about to speak before I even start a sentence!” (Psalm 139:4 TPT). God has given us specific instructions in the Bible to keep our thoughts headed in the right direction for holiness and victory.

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8 NKJV). Inner purity is a challenge that requires you to guard your thought life with diligence.

If you have the attitude that your thoughts don’t matter and it’s only what you do that counts, you’re gravely mistaken. What you do outwardly — the things that people see — determines your reputation with man. But God is interested in what’s on the inside of an individual. Even though God knows what we’ll think and do beforehand, He expects those who believe and love Him to line up their thoughts and actions according to His Word. Scripture reveals that your thoughts do matter. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NKJV).

We need to stop an impure thought the moment it pops into our mind. Jesus spoke plainly regarding our thought life. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5: 27,28 NKJV).

In Luke 7:36-50, Jesus was invited to the house of Simon the Pharisee. While there, He was anointed by a woman whose life had been drastically changed by the love of Jesus. “When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!’ Then Jesus answered his thoughts….” Simon did not audibly voice his critical opinion, he simply thought it and Jesus knew what he was thinking. Simon’s thoughts mattered, and so do yours.

God knows if you reject or accept negative or impure thoughts, and He expects you to control them out of respect and love for Him. What you think to yourself counts with God. It’s encouraging to know that God’s grace will enable you to maintain inner purity so that your life will honor Him.

The Bottom Line: Man doesn’t know your thoughts, but God does…if you love Him you’ll walk the line.

Pastor Jimmy Tucker

Diamond Community Church

2591 Jayhawk Road

10:45 a.m. Worship

“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” Jeremiah 8:20

One of my heroes was the great preacher Dwight L. Moody. One time, Moody was preaching a great revival crusade. As the service was about to start, he looked over and saw a man standing by himself. The still small voice of the Holy Spirit nudged Moody to go talk to the man about his soul. He walked over and said, “Sir, I just want to ask you if you’re saved?” The man said, “No. I know that I need to get saved. But no, I’m not saved. I’m not ready right now. I will get saved another day.” Moody said, “Sir, you need to understand that we have today. The Bible says today is the day of salvation.” Still, the man refused. He said, “No. I’m not ready. But someday I will. Someday I will get saved.”

Several months later, Moody received word that the man had gotten deathly sick. So, he traveled across Chicago and went to his home. Moody asked, “Are you ready to get saved?” The man said, “I’m going to do it, but not now.” He said, “If I get saved now, people will say I got saved because I was sick.” Moody said, “Don’t think like that. Today is the day to get saved.” The man said, “Once I get better, I plan to buy a fruit orchard over in Michigan. When I get there, and I am not sick anymore, I will get saved.” Moody tried to reason with him. He did all he could. But the man refused to give his life to Christ.

The man did get better. He bought the orchard, and he moved to Michigan. However, his illness returned. Dwight L. Moody heard about the man’s condition, and he got in the boat and traveled across Lake Michigan. He went out to the man’s farm, walked into the farmhouse, and went into the back bedroom where the man lay dying.

When Moody walked in, the man said, “You’re too late. I didn’t ask you to come.” Moody said, “Sir, it’s never too late. The thief on the cross got saved in the eleventh hour. It’s never too late.” The dying man said, “But I’m not the thief on the cross. The thief on the cross got saved the first chance he had.” He said, “I’ve had many chances. Each time I was close, but I said, ‘No.’ No. No. No. No.” The dying man said, “I’ve said no one too many times. I’m telling you, for me, the clock is striking twelve. You’re too late.”

Moody got down next to the dying man and he began to pray for him. As he was praying, he heard the man mumbling something. Moody thought, “What’s he saying?” He put his ear down close to the man’s mouth. The man was saying over, and over, and over, to himself as he died, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved…”

Those were the man’s last words. Dwight L. Moody later wrote, “We took his Christ-less body and we wrapped it in a Christ-less burial shroud. We put his Christ-less body in a Christ-less casket. We carried him out and buried him in a Christ-less grave. The man went into a Christ-less eternity, all because he said, ‘Tomorrow.’”

The point is: Today is the day of salvation. The saddest words in all the Bible are found in Jeremiah 8:20. They are two simple words, “not saved,” but they are the saddest words in all the Bible. They speak of a tragically missed opportunity.

What if today was your last day on earth? One day, your last day will come. Perhaps you have been putting off accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior until a more convenient day. But that day may not come. Your salvation is only a prayer away. Don’t put it off. For you, the harvest has not passed. The summer has not ended. You can get saved today.

James Collins is pastor of Fort Scott’s First Southern Baptist Church. You can write to him at PO Box 227, Fort Scott, KS 66701 or by email at [email protected].

My face smells like milk. By tomorrow, my cheeks will curdle. As it turns out, whole milk is the only remedy for a reaction my face is having to a medicine recommended by my dermatologist to destroy “potential” skin cancers (cancers hiding under the freckled, sun-damaged layer of epidermis which was caused 50 years ago when having a tan was my way to feel validated).

Those days are over. OVER!

I’d like to think that in my teens, had there been a warning on the Crisco or Iodine I used to lather my skin, or had I perhaps tanned on the ground and not on the roof, the sun-damage results might be less horrific Then again, being 19 years old and invincible, there is a very strong chance such warnings would have gone unheeded. So, here I am, paying a painful price for something that Crisco should be responsible for.

Three weeks ago, I began my treatment. Within a few weeks, I was told, those surfacing cancers would “scab and flake away.” That’s it. Scab and flake. No biggee.

So you can imagine (and I assure you this came as a great surprise to me) what it was like when it felt as if a porcupine were quilling me 24/7 while a bonfire torched my forehead, cheeks and chin, and a herd of mosquitoes targeted my face to itch like the dickens. Pricks. Burns. Itches. All at the same time.

Bottom line? I might have leprosy, and when I sent a picture to my dermatologist, expecting her to tell me to get to an E.R. “immediately” or I would lose my face, I was astonished when instead she said, “Yep. That’s what it’s supposed to look like,” a message that was reinforced today when I ran into a friend who had gone through the same treatment, sharing that I wouldn’t be successful until my facial sores left blood on my pillow.

Have there been no medical advancements since the 16^th century?

Whatever. Today I hustled off to buy whole milk which, after splashing it on my face, gave me some relief. Thank you, Jesus. Of course, I still look like I have a dreaded disease, but at least the pain is gone…at least for now.

I wonder if my face before this treatment is what sin looks like to God. Hidden (denied is probably a better description), and if I don’t deal with it, easy to ignore. But then something happens to bring my sins to the surface (I’m caught in a lie with the I.R.S. or confronted about gossiping or brag about some recent success, for example), and I am forced to deal with the ugliness of how I have displeased my Heavenly Father. Oh, I might find temporary relief if I apply a few milky excuses or blame someone else for my actions, but a heart-glimpse in the mirror shows that the evil is still there, exposed and needing to scab and flake away.

Fortunately, like the cream I used to bring my underlying cancers to the surface, there is a way to expose and deal with my sin: I ask God to reveal areas in my life that are displeasing to Him; I read the Bible to understand what He expects from me; and I ask forgiveness. And how does God respond? According to Psalm 103:12, The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Get that? God’s removal is permanent. See you later, Aggravator. I could only wish to say the same for my skin.

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18

Many years ago, a man was driving on a country road when he saw something very strange. A chicken was running beside his car. Suddenly, the chicken ran even faster. The man glanced at his speedometer. He was going 50 miles per hour. Incredibly, the chicken was outrunning his car.

The man pushed on the accelerator and increased his speed to 60 miles per hour. Remarkably, the chicken still outran his car.

He drove faster, 70 miles per hour. The chicken was still faster.

The chicken made a right turn and darted into the driveway of a small farm. The man watched as the chicken disappeared behind the farmhouse. The man was so amazed by the speed of the chicken that he parked his car and knocked on the farmhouse door. A farmer dressed in overalls opened the door and the man said, “Sir, do you know you have a chicken that can run over 70 miles an hour?” The farmer replied, “Oh you must mean our three-legged chicken. Yes, she’s really fast.”

The man said, “I’ve never heard of a three-legged chicken.” The farmer said, “I run this farm with my wife and son. When it comes to eating chicken, each of us loves the drumstick. So, we decided to breed three-legged chickens.” The man said, “That’s amazing. How has it worked out? How does a three-legged chicken taste?” The farmer replied, “I don’t know. We haven’t caught him yet!”

The three-legged chicken is symbolic of the pursuit of happiness in today’s world. If you are chasing anything other than a richer, deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, then whatever you’re after is your three-legged chicken. You will never catch it.

Your three-legged chicken can come in many varieties. Money. Fame. Sex. Pleasure. Success. Instead of chasing after something that you will never catch, Jesus wants you to chase after Him. The road to true contentment is the one where you give your life to Christ and then go deeper into a relationship with Him.

What are you living for in your few fleeting years on this earth? A thousand years from now, some of the things you think are so important – your date for the winter formal, who won the Super Bowl, the make and model of your car, working overtime to make more money – are not going to be so important. There’s nothing wrong with these things, but they are not lasting.

The point is: The only One worth chasing is Jesus Christ. Get to know Jesus better. Grow in His grace. Go deeper in your relationship with Him.

Are you chasing after Jesus or three-legged chickens?

James Collins is the pastor of First Southern Baptist Church. You are invited to come and chase after Jesus with us. Church starts tomorrow at 10:50 am. For more information, go to the website fortscottfsbc.com.

Sometimes I’m selfish. You probably are too. We’re born that way, you know. To get our way we cry, pout, throw a temper tantrum and, if not careful, become a teensy bit bratty. That’s because some of us never grow up. We think of ourselves measured only by our needs and desires before thinking of anyone else. And even though some of us (like me) were blessed with parents who demonstrated the opposite side of that self-centered coin, if we’re not careful, our greedy genetic pool will represent a sewer system rather than a stream of living water.

Dave and I have a friend who lives to bless others. He and his family reside in Stilwell, Kansas, but own a house next to ours at Lake Fort Scott. In spite of working full time and having three very active teens and a wife whose job sends her all over the world, he has a knack for hearing of a need and then meeting it. His name is Vince, and if “givingest” were a word, that would describe him. For the months Dave and I are gone in the summer, he mows our yard. A few weekends ago, he gave up a Friday evening and Saturday morning to help Dave with some electrical work. He never complains or reminds us of all he does for us. Ask and we receive. Don’t ask, and our friend will somehow sense what he can do to make our lives easier.

I hope you have such a neighbor. This is a first for us. In the past, “neighborly” would not describe those living beside us. They have borrowed and not returned, helped themselves to whatever was in our refrigerator (even my last piece of cheesecake—seriously put me over the edge!), ignored us, introduced themselves only to ask if we smoke or host loud parties, and talked nonstop about their perfect family. You get the picture. But then there’s Vince. Dave and I don’t know how to reciprocate, for even a pitching pointer for his son or an occasional meal does nothing to move the benevolent pendulum that swings decidedly in Vince’s favor.

I recently heard a disturbing statistic that 75% of Americans don’t know their neighbors. It made me wonder what our country/city/neighborhood/family would be like if we all modeled our giving after Vince. What if we looked for ways to help instead of keeping tabs on how little others have done for us? What if we never guilted anyone into meeting our needs? What if we all tuned our ears to hear a need and then did what it takes to make someone’s life better? Better yet, what if we figured out that need without ever being told about it? Jesus was great at that, you know. He washed his disciples’ feet, a menial job designated for servants. In his day, feet were filthy. Grunge between the toes. Dirt imbedded in the callouses. No hot-rock pedicures for these guys. Still, while dining with his disciples, Jesus got up from the table, took off his outer garments, wrapped a towel around his waist, and washed their feet.

Daily, Jesus allowed himself to be inconvenienced and interrupted and invaded. He made time for others. Ephesians 2:10 lets us know we are to do likewise. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Get that? Our Heavenly Father has gone before us to give us opportunities to bless others, so perhaps 2020 could be the year when we become a little more Vince-like and pay attention to God’s nudgings.