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Grant Writing Workshop Deadline Nov. 1
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The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports Oct. 28
The Fort Scott Police Department Daily Reports Oct. 25-27
Click below:
What Are You Waiting For? By Pastor Jimmy Tucker
The Bottom Line
Jimmy Tucker
Several weeks ago, my wife invited her family to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. She’s happy and excited to find out that all sixteen of the Haywards will be attending — not one will be missing! Some, realizing the importance of the occasion, even went to the effort of making special work arrangements in order to come.
Jesus sent out invitations to the greatest celebration that will ever be given — “the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Revelation 19:9). This is an occasion you and your loved ones will not want to miss! These invitations didn’t go to just a few prominent people. They were sent, and are still being sent, to the entire world. “Whosoever will” may accept and come to the feast. There are only two responses: whosoever will and whosoever won’t. Unfortunately, there are many who are not interested, don’t believe it, or are too busy with their lives to accept His invitation.
Jesus gave a parable recorded in the book of Luke 14:16-23 NKJV: “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses.” When God’s invitation arrives, we should accept it immediately because He deserves our highest priority. Procrastination is one of the devil’s best tools. If we make excuses and put off responding until it‘s too late, we’ll miss our opportunity to receive an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. There’s no such thing as a self-sufficient person because everyone has an appointment with death. Everyone has sinned and needs to be forgiven — that‘s why Christ Jesus died a sacrificial death so that sin could be forgiven.
Any reason you have for not responding to Jesus’ invitation will be nothing more than a pathetic excuse when you’re facing Him at the judgment. Anyone who winds up in hell is there because of his own foolish and selfish choices in life. Don’t ignore Jesus’ call to eternal life. You may try to dismiss Him, but you’ll find that He’s everywhere. He’s in the sunrise and the sunset. He’s in the first breath of a newborn baby and the last breath of the saint. If you want to enjoy the awesome supper in heaven, RSVP to the invitation now and accept God’s only Son as your Lord and Savior.
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Past tense — He’s already done it! The ball is in your court; what will you do with it? “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20 NKJV).
The Bottom Line: Make sure you’ve sent an appropriate RSVP to Jesus’ invitation ASAP.
Pastor Jimmy Tucker
(620) 223-1483
Diamond Community Church
4 miles east of Hwy 69 on Jayhawk
10:45 a.m. Worship
No Ice by Pastor James Collins
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:8
When Amanda and I first got married, we bought an old used refrigerator. It was the kind with a freezer which we had to defrost regularly. It lasted only about a year. It would have lasted longer, but one time when I was defrosting it, I used a sharp knife to chip away at the ice…
We needed a new one anyway.
Amanda hated that refrigerator, and the one we bought to replace it, because of no ice-maker. We had to use plastic ice-trays. It was a hassle to get ice from the trays, fill them back up with water, and put them back in the freezer. It wasn’t so much a hassle for me because I never refilled the trays. I had a habit of getting ice and putting the empty tray back in the freezer which infuriated Amanda.
Last year, we remodeled our kitchen. We went to the appliance store where I embarrassed the life from my wife in my effort to bargain with the salesman. Finally, after I noticed a small scratch on the back, I got the store to discount the price on a brand-new side-by-side refrigerator-freezer with a built-in ice-maker.
To save money, I opted to install the refrigerator myself. I spent the better part of a Saturday running the new water line. After everything was hooked up, I pushed the refrigerator into place and announced to Amanda that her fantastic husband had given her the ice-maker of her dreams.
The next morning, there was no ice.
“No problem,” I said, “I know what’s wrong. I will have it fixed in no time.” After “no time” hours, I confidently pushed the refrigerator back into place and informed Amanda that her wonderful husband had done it again.
The next morning, there was no ice.
“It must take time for the first batch to make, that’s all,” I assured her and started working on it again.
The next morning, there was no ice.
I went back to the appliance store and the salesman said, “Mr. Collins, you need a new what-you-may-call-it, but they are on backorder.” Six weeks later, the what-you-may-call-it showed up in the mail. I pulled the refrigerator from the wall, reached up to turn the water off, and made an incredible discovery. I had never turned the water on in the first place.
No water, no ice. No wonder, no ice.
If you think I looked foolish there, it is nothing compared to what God sees when He looks at people and our efforts to make life work without His power.
The point is: A Christian who forgets the Holy Spirit is like an ice-maker with no water.
How can we forget the infinite, personal Holy Spirit lives within us to guide us and give us power? The answer is regretfully clear. The power is off. When we are preoccupied with the pleasures of the world, we miss the power that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. His Spirit enables us to fulfill His purposes, but we must stay plugged in through prayer, reading God’s Word, and having complete reliance on His power – not our own.
Is the power flowing in your life?
James Collins is a pastor at First Southern Baptist Church. He can be reached through the website www.thepointis.net or by email at [email protected].
Holiday Dinner Theater Dec, 13
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Taylor Qualls, Decor Creator: Young Entrepreneur
This is part of a series that highlights young entrepreneurs, under 30 years of age, in Bourbon County. If you would like to nominate a young entrepreneur, submit to [email protected] the name and email/phone number of the person, along with why you are nominating them and your name.
Taylor Qualls, 22, is the owner of her own business, Hazel Bee Ink.
” I create customized gifts and hand-lettered products,” Qualls said. “I have also created wedding invitations, signs, and decor. I have made a little bit of everything. I mostly do calligraphy, but I also make custom dip mugs and coasters, pet portraits, home illustrations, and wall signs. I have also made wedding invitations and I address envelopes! “
Qualls is currently attending Pittsburg State University and will complete her bachelor of music education with an emphasis in vocal music in December 2020. She and her husband are living in Pittsburg. She is from Fort Scott and graduated with an associate of arts from Fort Scott Community College in 2016.
“I have always been one of those people who doodled in their notebooks,” Qualls said. ” During the summer, I would change my handwriting, and then practice it over and over again until it became muscle memory just because I thought it was fun.”
Her first job using her penchant for drawing was for a friend.
“My first hand-lettering job was for a friend, Kristian Brennon’s, wedding,” she said. “After that, I got married and ended up making all of the signs, wedding party gifts, bouquets, programs, and centerpieces for my own wedding.”
“I honestly didn’t plan on pursuing it until my husband, family, and friends began encouraging me to,” Qualls said.
In January 2019, another young entrepreneur, Delynn Abati. asked her to make a cake topper for a customer of hers. She is a local Fort Scott baker.
“Then she asked me to make a couple more,” she said. ” One day, she asked me if I had a business name so that she could tag my page in it. That’s when I finally decided to go for it.”
Eight months later, the business has grown “beyond my wildest expectations,” she said.
“I used to dream about having my own business one day, and now it’s a reality. I am so thankful for all of the support and encouragement I have received from my people on this wild journey of mine. I would list them out, but there really are so many important people that helped me create Hazel Bee Ink.”
Qualls has no employees, “but my husband, friends, and family have helped me out tremendously!”
Qualls is expanding her business to retail.
“I recently started selling products at a store in Pittsburg named Sonder & Co. and it has been such a blast,” she said. ” If you haven’t heard of them, I would highly recommend looking them up. I have started looking into opening an Etsy store and I will hopefully be setting up booths at some craft shows and festivals in 2020!”
Her family consists of her husband, Levi Qualls and their pup, Hazel.
Her extended family include her parents-Travis and Tina Schilling,
grandparents-Dale and Donna Schilling, Ed and Ladonna Cox and her in-laws, Rex and Michelle Qualls.
Qualls was recommended by Kasey Eaton.
“She did a cake topper for my daughters graduation cake,” said Eaton. “She is very talented and artistic.”
Contact info: [email protected]
Check out Qualls Facebook page to see more of her creations.
Halloween Parade Tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. Oct. 26
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The Bourbon County Sheriff’s Office Daily Reports Oct. 25
The Fort Scott Police Department Daily Reports Oct. 24
Click below:
Jesus With Cell Phones by Patty LaRoche
Had smart phones been around in Jesus’ day, I think he wouldn’t have been too keen on them, especially if those spending time with him used them like people of today. This week I heard a speaker discussing how inconsiderate we are when it comes to our phone addiction, prompting me to wonder what Jesus would have done, had his disciples chosen their phones over him.
Picture, for instance, the Last Supper with the apostles reclining at the table when Peter gets buzzed (and no, not on wine, on his phone.) “Oops! Gotta take this one, Gentlemen. ‘Tis the fishing report for tomorrow.” Or how about when the paralyzed man was lowered through the roof so he could hear Jesus speak? “Horizon” network would have blown up as the crowd Instagrammed photos to their pals instead of focusing on Jesus forgiving the man’s sins.
Jesus was all about one-on-one relationships. Physical relationships. He touched people, no matter how homely or dirty or poor. He made them feel important. He heard their stories and never was too busy to make them know they mattered. He recognized that meaningful communication was/is more about body language than voice-tone or words, something that’s missing in this new age of technology.
How would he have reacted had his listeners held up their index finger as in “Just a minute” or “Hold that thought” while they accepted a buddy’s call, gossiping about nabbing the adulterous woman instead of hearing Jesus speak about eternal life? Would they have been so preoccupied with the latest weather forecast that they would have missed his Sermon on the Mount or his triumphant entry into Jerusalem or his disappearance from his grave? Today, predictably that would happen.
Texting while someone is talking is an offensive way to let the speaker know that what (s)he is saying isn’t important. Granted, there are exceptions, but far too often when we choose our cell phones over our company, we are just plain RUDE. Should we be incapable of dining with friends or family without our phones lying beside our dinner plate, we are rude. And spare me, please; placing our phones upside down on the table does not make us less guilty.
(But, nice try.)
When we put our guests on hold rather than put fellow texters on hold by refusing to immediately read their messages and make a response, we are rude. (Let’s save the “emergency” objection because emergencies are calls, not texts.) When we stand at the cashier’s counter fumbling for our credit card as we gripe about a neighbor’s dog while balancing our cellphone between our ear and shoulder, we are rude.
Granted, cell phones have their place and can be useful, but making them our idol and going through withdrawals without them, we have a problem. Christians, beware. If we are spending more time on non-critical issues with our phones rather than more significant, eternal issues, we need to deal with our addiction. In Deut. 6:6-9, God instructed his people that their communication with Him was what mattered most.
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
If I didn’t know any better, I would think that in today’s world, that Scripture describes our time spent on cell phones…and not in God’s Word.