The unfolding fiscal crisis in south suburban Harvey should send shivers down the spines of public employees and retirees across Illinois.
Here’s the link at the Illinois News Network.
Opinion: Collapse of Harvey’s finances signals what’s ahead elsewhere in Illinois
April 19, 2018 By Leave a Comment
FCN Daily Bible Verse
April 18, 2018 By Leave a Comment
| Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. … Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. |
| Psalm 27:7,9-10 (Read all of Psalm 27:7,9-10) New International Version |
Pastor Rick Warren: Praying for an Unbeliever
April 18, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Praying for an Unbeliever
By Rick Warren — April 18, 2018
“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10 NASB).
If you asked 50 random people, “How do you get to Heaven?” you’d get a lot of different answers. But most of them would be based on the idea that you can (and have to) earn your way to Heaven.
You’d hear things like, “Try to be good, and do your best” or “Do more good things than bad things in life.” Those ideas are all based on works, not grace.
But Romans 3:24 says, “All need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ” (NCV).
God says that salvation is absolutely free to receive! You don’t work for a gift, and you can’t earn it or buy it.
This is the fundamental difference between Christianity and every other religion. Every other belief system can be summarized by one word: “do.” You do certain things to gain bliss, gain Heaven or some other kind of eternal reward, and gain God’s approval.
On the other hand, you can summarize Christianity in one word: “done.” Jesus Christ paid for our salvation on the cross, and now he offers his grace as a free gift. That’s why Jesus Christ, when he was hanging on the cross, stretched out his arms and said, “It is finished.” What’s the “it”? It’s our salvation — the plan to provide grace for every person who needs it.
We all have people in our lives who do not have a relationship with Jesus. They may include family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and acquaintances. The Bible says to pray for their salvation. In fact, Jesus “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 CEB), so when we pray for the salvation of an unsaved person, we are doing what pleases God.
We can trust that God’s love reaches everywhere and everyone. His power is limitless, and his forgiveness is endless. Your prayers for people who do not know the hope we find in Christ do not go unheard. Keep on praying, and don’t lose heart.
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk It Over
- What people are you praying for who don’t yet know Christ?
- How can you thank God for those people’s presence in your life?
- How can you pray for people who disagree with you or openly reject Scripture?
Here is a sample prayer for unbelieving friends:
“Lord, I know there are people who don’t have a relationship with you. Perhaps they know about you; they have heard your name. They just don’t you as their personal Savior. I pray that you would give them the courage to open their heart and mind and life to you. Lord, help them with their unbelief. May they learn to trust you and love you. Use me as a bridge to their belief. Keep me faithful in prayer.”
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Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Rick Warren’s study “Experience God’s Power Through Prayer,” available here[JW1] .
Franklin County Farm Bureau News
April 17, 2018 By Leave a Comment
By Gay Bowlin, Manager
Spring? REALLY? That is what everyone is saying right now. Farmers are especially wondering just what Mother Nature has had on her mind lately. I guess we shall. Below normal temperatures are putting this month on track to set a record, challenging the record set in 1907.
The average temperature for the first 11 days of the month was 35.6 degrees – a full 12 degrees below normal. The wintry weather has challenged farmers throughout the state and delayed spring planting.
Our Antique Tractor Drive will be on May 5th in conjunction with the Rend Lake Water Festival Parade. Participation always depends on the weather – if it is rains on Thursday and/or Friday we will have a lot of tractors involved – in 2016 we had 42 total tractors participating and last we had 16 – that is the difference in what the farmers have to do when the weather is nice. Even though they would really like to join us – the work is their most important issue and this year it will be even more so. So with that said, I kind of hope that there are not many participants and they are able to get into the fields.
Most of you by now have heard about the recall on 206 million eggs. The states that are listed on the recall did not include Illinois but I was told yesterday that someone had purchase eggs with the bar codes that were listed in the recall on their eggs. I would just suggest that everyone be very aware of the recall and check all eggs in your refrigerator. I am one of the lucky ones who do not have to do this as I am getting my eggs from a local Young Leader – thank you Ashly Brown for my piece of mind.
Farm City Days is fast approaching – June 9th will be here before we know it and we are still in search of vendors – both for the craft and flea market and for foods. We have some of both and we do not allow for competing products but if you are interested please call the office and we can take your information. The fee is $30 for craft and $40 for food. Everyone will be set up on the square this year and we are looking for a great crowd. This is also the day of the City Wide Yard Sale in Benton so we are looking for those “shoppers” to come back between 4 pm and 8 pm to join us.
Farmer’s Markets will be open across the region soon. In Franklin County we have the following markets opening the first week in May:
West Frankfort – The Moose – Tuesday 3p-6p
Benton – Benton Civic Center – Thursday – 3p-6p
Sesser – 804 E Franklin – Friday 3p-6p
Benton Market is now accepting LINK Cards. When using your LINK Card you will be given tokens in the amount that you request to use as that specific market – The Tokens will be stamped with Benton Farmers Market and may not be used at any other market. You can spend as much as you would like from your LINK Card with the first $20 being matched with coupons to be spent as well.
COUPONS ARE GOOD FOR ONLY PRODUCE.
TOKENS ARE GOOD FOR ANY FOOD ITEM THAT IS PACKAGED TO TAKE HOME.
PLANTS THAT PRODUCE FOOD CAN BE PURCHASED WITH THE COUPONS.
We encourage everyone to utilize their local farmers market and eat health locally grown foods.
Remember we are farmers working together. If we can help let us know.
Pastor Rick Warren: Praying God’s Promises
April 17, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Praying God’s Promises
By Rick Warren — April 17, 2018
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking” (James 1:5 NLT).
When we pray, we can claim the promises of God. Why do we do this? Because it helps us remember what God has promised. Did you know there are over 7,000 promises in the Bible? These promises provide the answer to all our needs and problems.
Prayer focuses our attention on God and helps us to see that he is bigger and more powerful than any of our concerns. And as we see God answer our prayers, our faith deepens.
Faith is the key that unlocks the door to God’s power.
Here are just a few of God’s promises:
- “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14 NIV).
- “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength” (Isaiah 40:29 ESV).
- “But those who trust in the Lord for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak” (Isaiah 40:31 GNT).
- “Don’t be afraid, because I am with you. Don’t be intimidated; I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will support you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10 GW).
- “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking” (James 1:5 NLT).
- “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9 ESV).
- “It is the Lord who goes before you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or abandon you. Do not fear or be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8 AMP).
- “But my God shall supply your every need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 MEV).
- “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4 NASB).
- “You willingly forgive, and your love is always there for those who pray to you” (Psalm 86:5 CEV).
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk It Over
Choose one of the promises from today’s devotional, and write a prayer to God expressing your gratitude for his unfailing love and faithfulness. Talk to him about his promise, and tell him that you are trusting in him to fulfill his promise. Here’s an example:
God’s Promise
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking” (James 1:5 NLT).
Sample Prayer
“Father, there are so many times I forget to ask for what I truly need, and wisdom is on top of the list. I’m so grateful for this Scripture and the promise it holds. Thank you for being so generous and willing to give me the wisdom I need in my everyday circumstances. God, I want to live by the promises and principles in your Word — not by the world’s standards. Teach me to boldly ask for wisdom daily so I can navigate life according to your will and for your glory. I ask this in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.”
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Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Rick Warren’s study “Experience God’s Power Through Prayer,” available here[JW1] .
What others are saying: SIU funding vote was a reprieve for Carbondale. The campus must get its act together.
April 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment
If Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, the city of Carbondale and the people of deep Southern Illinois consider Wednesday’s SIU Board of Trustees vote a victory, they are making a grave mistake.
Pastor Rick Warren: How Does Prayer Work?
April 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment
How Does Prayer Work?
By Rick Warren
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15 NIV).
In fact, the basis of all miracles is God’s sovereignty. What does that mean? It means he is God Almighty, who has all power in Heaven and on Earth, so his purpose and his will prevail. We learn to trust his wisdom and his goodness. We learn about his loving nature and his generous character.
And we mature in faith as we understand that God has a better view of our circumstances than we do, and that he knows what is best for us. He can see our future, and we can’t. The Bible says, “But his plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally” (Psalm 33:11 GNT).
God’s unlimited resources are available to you. Twenty times in the New Testament it says, “Ask.” Isn’t it encouraging to know that things out of our control are not out of God’s control? You may not be able to change a situation, but you can pray and God can change it.
You may be thinking, “If I can pray and ask God to change things, and if God is really in control of everything, why don’t I get everything I pray for?” Here are three reasons:
God is not a genie
Just because we pray, that doesn’t mean we get whatever we want. If every prayer were answered, we’d be spoiled brats. If you’re a parent, do you give your children everything they ask for? Probably not. As an adult, you know what’s best for them. You can see the bigger picture. If we can see the bigger picture for our kids, how much bigger is the picture that God can see for us?
Sometimes Christians pray in conflict
Sometimes Christians pray for different outcomes, even though they’re praying about the same thing. Which prayer is God going to answer? God can’t answer every prayer in the same way at the same time.
God knows what’s best, and we don’t
The Bible says, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15 NIV). That’s how Jesus prayed: “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Luke 22:42 NLT).
Prayer works. It isn’t a waste of your time. God is in control, and he wants to hear your prayers — he is listening!
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk It Over
- If you’ve ever wondered if prayer really works, how did God show you that he was listening and that prayer does work?
- How can your prayers change, knowing that God is listening and that he will answer?
- What does it mean to ask according to God’s will, as 1 John 5:14-15 says?
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Today’s devotional is an excerpt from Rick Warren’s study, “Experience God’s Power Through Prayer,” available here[JW1] .
FCN Daily Bible Verse
April 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment
| I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. |
| Isaiah 61:10 (Read all of Isaiah 61:10) New International Version |
Reflections on Higher Education: Radical Individualization
April 16, 2018 By Leave a Comment
By Walter V. Wendler
On the very best days, the very best universities treat each student distinctively. Universities are in the business of creating, developing and nurturing human capital. This is true when faculty and staff are hired for their unique skill sets to contribute special value to the institution. Responsive universities will treat students similarly.
Walter V. Wendler
The process is complex. No two students begin university study with the same set of characteristics, capabilities or aspirations. As an outgrowth of this high “feedstock variability,” universities perform best when the idiosyncratic characteristics of the leadership, faculty and staff are responsive to heterogeneous students by meeting every student where he or she is—responsibly.
Generation Z may be many things, but there is a surge in the idea of individuality, entrepreneurism and expectation. You get what you earn. It is not greed—Forbes says Gen Z’s are team players—rather, it is what’s right.
There are many manifestations of such a perspective of university life. Because unique faculty and staff work with unique students, the costs of personalized responses to need, ability and aspirations vary dramatically. In fact, radical individualization would mean that no two students will learn exactly the same thing, nor should they pay the same price for an educational experience. Is radical individualization required for fair treatment of all?
The accounting and record keeping process of this approach would be a bureaucratic labyrinth. It is possible that a university with 10,000 students could have 10,000 different pricing structures based on individual student aspirations, commitment, engagement and success. For example, the number of credit hours students take to achieve the 120 credit hours required for a bachelor’s degree varies dramatically. Some students end up with 160 hours of coursework for a 120-hour degree requirement. The willingness of students to accept responsibility for their actions. Surprisingly, students are willing to accept their responsibility in choices, reminiscent of the “Silent Generation.” Institutions should match that willingness to accept corporate responsibility.
If a student takes extra hours because they are interested in subjects not required for the major, maybe that student should pay more for those hours. Public and private resource streams all support a student’s diversified interest on the one hand, or lack of focus on the other. Differential costs are associated with both.
Incentives or rewards for early graduation leading to efficiency in consuming educational resources and efficacy in costs and time-to-degree would recognize focus and completion for an individual. The importance of six-year institutional graduation rates might recede.
Precise calibration of scholarships and financial aid are possible, even if simultaneously challenging for institutional record keeping. The award and management of scholarships are stubbornly unchanging—a student performs in an exemplary fashion in order to receive a merit-based scholarship. A more precise and effective utilization of scholarship dollars might include incentives that stipulate performance bonuses above the general expectations of maintaining a scholarship. Likewise, there could be a diminishment of resource flows based on a lackluster academic performance. This is radical individualization of rewards and effects.
To put the concept in even a brighter light, imagine a university that rewarded performing students with lower tuition and fee charges based on current achievement. People change. This perspective challenges current views of costs and performance and their calibration in the attainment of an education.
The complexities are beyond this reflection, but the concept is simple. The job of universities is generating human capital. Human capital starts with individuality and grows in response to the arrays of experiences and abilities that students provide to universities, and vice versa. Only sensitive and complex instruments would allow appropriate and fair assessment of a full palette of considerations—the reality of the human condition.
Current views and monolithic processes treats everyone the same, creating cost burdens to both the state and the student. Coupled with the generalized notion that going to college and earning a degree guarantees anything is a debilitating truth evidenced by $1.5 trillion in educational debt. The roadway from campus, littered with pizza boxes, used textbooks, broken aspirations and books of promissory notes is full of potholes. Universities have unintentionally worked to shield students from the notion that hard work, commitment and achievement have great inherent value to individuals and are the foundation of entrepreneurship and innovation that powers communities and societies.
The risks, rewards and benefits for genuine performance should provide both internal satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Moreover, external recognition that places material consequence on the differences between success, merely adequate performance and failure is required. The coming generations of students expect that consequences for work and achievement have real impact. This is not to be confused with greediness or self-centeredness, as is often the case. Generation Z’s own passion and pragmatism may be a 21st century reincarnation of The Greatest Generation.
“Wanting to work is so rare a merit, that it should be encouraged.” Abraham Lincoln
Opinion: The real threat to Donald Trump
April 13, 2018 By Leave a Comment
In the midst of worrying about North Korea, Syria and Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives this fall, President Donald Trump is now worrying about a government assault on his own business, which targeted his own lawyer.
