Issued July 7, 2015
Choose your chains
Today’s devotion is written by Pastor Mike Franklin of The Torch Worship Center
I am a slave, and I thank God that I am. I am serving the Lord Jesus Christ in chains. He owns me. He paid full price for me.
Satan portrays Christianity as a prison. It constantly amazes me how evil can corrupt the great gifts God made for us. He wants us to believe that we are not free to do what we want to do; to live abundantly; to have joy! We are stifled by rules and regulations meant to prevent us from having fun. Our Bible, Satan professes, is judgmental and excludes those who choose a different way of living. Are you listening to him or God?
Freedom comes when we submit to Christ. Freedom comes when He becomes our Master. Doing it “our way” always leads to bondage.
There are 3 rules about freedom I’d like to share with you:
1. Freedom without limits will always go bad.
When I was a kid, my neighbor’s horse got loose from the field, ran straight to the barn, climbed into the feed room, and started eating. By the time my neighbor found old Clyde, he’d eaten 2 bags of sweet feed and was starting on the next. Within an hour, Clyde was in bad shape. The vet was called and after several attempts to drain his stomach, he had to be put down. Freedom for that old Dapple Gray horse didn’t turn out so well.
2. Freedom costs a price.
Ask any man or woman who has served our country. Ask any of their family members. The cost of freedom is high. Some of our military men and women have lost their lives fighting for America; some have lost time away from their children, their wife or husband; some have lost an arm or leg. When Jesus Christ went to the cross, he suffered tremendously; but it was for us – for our freedom.
3. Freedom is found when you chain yourself to Christ.
Romans 6:15-18, “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.”
The choice is yours. You will choose your chains. Either way you are a slave to someone – sin or righteousness. One master leads to destruction and an eternal life of torment. The other Master, my Master, leads to grace and an eternal life in Heaven.
God’s way works! Try it. It is not simply pie in the sky. It is a life that leads to blessing in the here and now.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 6:23.
Meeting Minds: Michelle Obama
When we meet the minds of others, we can better understand one another. Today, meet the mind of First Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama.
“There is no magic to achievement. It’s really about hard work, choices, and persistence.”
– Michelle Obama
Board of Education hires new personnel
North Habersham Middle School has a new Assistant Principal. Tracy Allison was hired for the job Monday by the Habersham County Board of Education. Allison was a Special Education director for 19 years. She succeeds Patrick Franklin who left NHMS at the end of this school year to become principal of Clarkesville Elementary School.
In all, the Habersham County Board of Education filled fifteen vacant positions during Monday’s called BOE meeting. The following personnel were approved:
Baldwin Elementary – Ashley Anderson, Academic Coach
Cornelia Elementary – Christy Darst, Special Education
Demorest Elementary – Kimberly Card, Third Grade; Chantley Cantrell Funk, Paraprofessional; Jennifer Satterfield, Special Education
Fairview Elementary – Kimberlea Foster, Special Education Self-Contained
Habersham Central – Adam Banks, Special Education CTI; Martha McManus, Special Education; Renee Hand Morris, English; Nikki Pittman, Math
Habersham Ninth Grade Academy – Kasey Nored, Special Education Math; Mandy Wade, ESOL, also at Habersham Central
North Habersham Middle – Tracy Allison, Assistant Principal
Wilbanks Middle – Bartley Williams, Special Education
Also: Joshua Farmer – Network Administrator, Technology Department
Clarkesville picks local contractor for square restoration
Clarkesville City Council picked a contractor Monday night and leaders expect work to begin on the fire-damaged downtown buildings by early next month.
They chose Clarkesville-based Blake Rainwater & Associates to fix two of the burned structures. The cost looks to be slightly higher than the city was expecting but still should, with the right mix of financing, allow the town to recoup the cost through rent or through the sale of the restored buildings.
Rainwater is already familiar with the project having contracted with the city early this year to stabilize what remains of the damaged buildings. The contractor worked with Croft and Associates Architects from Kennesaw to develop their proposal.
The city’s consultant, Public Private Partnership Project Management (4PM), helped choose the final proposal and will oversee work on the project. Kirby Glaze of 4PM says, in the end, the process came down to a literal tie between Rainwater and Lincolnton-based John Spratlin & Son contractors. The two were ranked equally on the basis of qualifications, pricing and the bonus points awarded for local economic impact. “I’ve seen them close but I’ve never had a tie before,” says Glaze. “This is the first time I’ve ever actually seen them tie in the scoring.”
Glaze says he gave the edge to Rainwater due to a couple of factors “(They) appeared to have a better understanding of the community’s objectives and goals with respect to the project and space.” They also offered the more detailed concept of the two. Rainwater also gave the more detailed pricing proposal according to Glaze.
Mayor Terry Green tells Now Habersham that he’s happy the process ended up the way it did, “It turned out to be a local contractor that was in the running and that’s great. He (Rainwater) had a great design.”
Starting on the End
Rainwater’s proposal covers just two of the buildings that suffered damage in the March 2014 fire, the former Sharky’s and the old Ramsey’s grocery store on the E. Water Street end of the square, “The idea is to have a rolling restoration,” says Glaze. “These buildings will come online first and the remaining buildings would follow right behind.”
Rainwater also now has a leg up in getting the contract to restore the rest of the square when that part of the project is ready for proposals. “We’re looking at all four of the buildings even though this initial pricing proposal will be focused only on the first two,” Glaze explains. “If they choose, the city can move from phase one to phase two without repeating the RFQ/RFP process.”
Working around Back
One of the challenges the city presented to contractors was to transform the buildings’ basements, “We’re looking for the design teams to come up with ways that the basement spaces can be made into productive usable space,” Glaze explained earlier in the process.
In addition to turning basements into extra retail space the city wants the backsides of the buildings to become secondary storefronts. With entrances off the alley, additional signage and lighting.
Paying for the Work
Rainwater’s proposal came in at $833,792.50 for option 1 and $873,820.00 for option 2. The difference in the two prices is the cost of installing an elevator in the Ramsey’s building to make the basement retail spaces easier to access and more attractive to potential tenants. He also included options for adding more windows to the E. Water Street side of the building.
Glaze says Rainwater’s proposed price is about 4% higher than what they hoped to pay for this first phase of the restoration but is well within the range they initially had in mind.
The city is applying for Historic Tax Credits to pay for part of the work but Clarkesville City Manager Barbara Kesler is also cobbling together an alternative financing mix that includes low-interest loans and redevelopment grants from state and federal sources to pay for the first two buildings right away.
Specifically, the city is seeking money from the Georgia Downtown Development Revolving Loan Fund, the Georgia Cities Foundation and the USDA Rural Business Development Grant. The city also secured a $710,000 line of credit from South State Bank. “Regardless of what cash flow is, we’ve got a line of credit there if we need it,” Kesler explains. “We may never need penny of it but it’s there if we do.”
The total cost of fixing up all the damaged buildings is estimated to be $2.6 million. If the historic tax credits, grants and low interest loans all come through, 4PM estimates that all the downtown buildings owned by the city can bring in $180,336 in rent annually. Kesler says that estimate is conservative and, if it holds, the city could easily make the annual payments on the renovation debt and still see an annual profit of $44,843.
When will they Start?
Glaze says due to a prolonged interview process with the final two contractors, they are currently two weeks behind where they’d hoped to be in their schedule. He now expects to have a “design/build” contract with Rainwater and Associates ready for City Council to sign one week from Thursday. Construction could begin in early August.
Despite the delay, Glaze and Mayor Greene say they expect the buildings will be ready for tenants before the first of the year.
Demorest’s Glorious Fourth Celebration: A Pictorial
4 year old Sophia Franklin of Mt. Airy gets into the spirit of things during the Independence Day celebration in Demorest.
TMC shares Gospel through sports
Cleveland, GA – Head Coach Jon Yeh and the Truett-McConnell Men’s Basketball team recently returned home from a 13-day mission trip to Poland that had been in the making by Coach Yeh for over 16 years. The team used basketball as a tool to build publicity, marketing, and networking for some local Christians in Swinoujscie who are hoping to launch a basketball club where they can openly share the Gospel through sports.
The groundwork for the trip began over 16 yeas ago for Coach Yeh while he served as an assistant under Coach Jim Martin for one year at Grace College. Coach Martin later left Grace College and moved to Northern Ireland. It was through his relationship with Coach Martin that Coach Yeh was introduced to Chris Grant of Salt Factory Sports. Grant had met Szczepan Cackowski, who was serving as a church planter in Northern Ireland. Szczepan was preparing to move back to Poland and had a heart for the people in his native Swinoujscie.
“Our team theme this year was ‘Love One Another’ from John 13:34-35,” said Head Coach Jon Yeh. “Those verses fit perfectly with the mission of our trip. Due to the fact that the Polish people do not favor blatant preaching or open evangelism, it was crucial that we just love on the people that we met through our time there. By loving on them and even just being in their cities, it opens up conversations and long-term opportunities for others long after we have left to share the Gospel. We also used our Bear Necessities of ‘Be Humble…Be Hungry…be Helpful’ to share Godly influence, being careful to adjust the spiritual message accordingly to the audience.”
The team started their trip in the larger city of Szczecin (pop. 400,000) for the first three days of their journey. Then they moved north about one hour to the Baltic Sea resort town of Swinoujscie for the remainder of the trip. “We tried to teach our men that even if you don’t feel qualified, as long as you yield yourself to God you can be used….like Moses in the Bible,” said Yeh. “The Polish people were so kind and hospitable it was very easy for us to meet people and quickly become accepted.”
Some of the activities and highlights from the trip for the team include the following:
- Competitive games in Szczecin against a collection of top and 1st level professional players in Poland and a 2nd/3rd level club team.
- Clinics in Szczecin, Swinoujscie, and Dziwnow for youth, middle, and high school players.
- Competitive 3-on-3 tournament in Szczecin where Truett players were split into three squads.
- Friendly 3-on-3 tournament in Swinoujscie where each Truett player was drafted onto a local team.
- School visits in Szczecin, Swinoujscie (three different schools), and Dziwnow where the men interacted with students and shared American culture.
- Exhibition matches versus high school teams in Dziwnow and Swinoujscie.
- Leading several individual training sessions for high school players in Swinoujscie.
- Beach ministry events in Swinoujscie.
- Taking part in Sunday morning service at Maranatha Baptist Church in Swinoujscie.
- Marketing and hand shaking with local business owners, government officials, and school leaders.
When asked what his favorite thing about the trip might have been, Coach Yeh was quick to point out that there were too many positive things from the trip to pinpoint a favorite. However, he did mention the following as some examples he will never forget from the trip:
- Meeting all the great people in Poland, who were so hospitable and bonding with so many different people.
- Helping Coach Rafael, the local Swinoujscie trainer, in leading training sessions for his kids.
- Listening to the Bombardier Club Team official publicly say that the Truett Basketball team’s actions matched its stated mission
- Playing 3-on-3 on a team with three 14-year-old girls who didn’t speak English very well.
- Witnessing the steadfastness of the Cackowski family and being a source of encouragement to them.
- Reconnecting with Coach Jim Martin with whom he worked 16 years ago.
Despite having to leave and return to the States, the Bears’ trip to Poland will have a long-lasting effect on the people in the community. The Bears’ presence served as a form of encouragement to the Marantha Baptist Church and the Cackowski family in allowing them to see that their work truly is impacting the community. The Cackowski family wrote a grant immediately after the Bears left seeking funding to hold a multi-sport event in 2016 which would also allow them to launch a basketball club. “Our prayer is that God used the tremendous good will generated on our trip to sway the decision makers to allow this to take place,” said Yeh. “Then the family can use the club to share the Gospel with future players and families for years to come.”
Meeting Minds: Ralph Waldo Emerson
When we meet the minds of others, we can better understand one another. Today, meet the mind of Ralph Waldo Emerson, mid-19th century Transcendentalist poet.
“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Since You Were Laughing Anyway
I was given two free tickets to see Ricky Skaggs at the Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. In North Carolina. A hop, skip and two jumps from Habersham County. Free tickets. Two of them. And I knew who Ricky Skaggs was – sort of. I knew he was a singer – country and bluegrass – and I knew he had a head full of pretty, white hair.
The thing that bothered me was his name. Skaggs. I didn’t remember having heard any of his songs. So how is a person going to sound, when he sings, if his last name is “Skaggs?” If I were famous enough for people to pay money to hear me sing, and if my last name was “Skaggs,” I’d change my name. Yes, I would.
The tickets were free, though, so I decided to go and hear the head-full-of-white-hair sing. But because his hair looks so doggone good, I had to have my own hair worked on. A large pine tree fell in our yard during last week’s storm, and we’re having it “worked on,” too – but I was going to a hair salon. I knew which salon I would visit, too, and it wasn’t the one that had a sign out front, saying, “ Cindy is back. Call now for an appointment with Kelly.”
The neighbors like “Skaggs”
When my husband and my hair arrived at the concert, the first people we saw were our neighbors from across the street in Habersham County – intelligent, attractive people, and not at all people I would suspect of liking Ricky Skaggs. And the man, who is a doctor, said he is learning to play the mandolin – “like Ricky Skaggs,” he said. I swallowed hard.
The concert began, and I saw that playing the mandolin requires precision and extremely fast hands. And Ricky Skaggs’ hair just bounced and swung right along with the music – like on the women you see in hairspray commercials on television. His hair moved with the rhythm of the bluegrass, then moved right back into place. His hair was perfect.
A banjo and a fiddle
As Ricky Skaggs played the mandolin and sang, and his hair moved with the music, his band members played guitars, a banjo, a huge bass cello-thing – and a fiddle. Technically, the fiddle was a violin, but if you tap your foot to the music a violin plays, then you call it a fiddle. And Ricky Skaggs and his band, named Kentucky Thunder, play music that makes you tap your foot – and clap your hands, and shout “ya-hoo.” In fact, when Ricky’s hands got moving really fast on the mandolin in a country song, and people in the audience were tapping their feet and clapping with the music, I have to admit it, I began to whisper, “ya-hoo.”
He loved his mama
As the concert continued, and hundreds of people sang along, and clapped, Ricky Skaggs would sometimes pause in the music, and he would tune his mandolin and just talk for awhile. The mandolin was the first instrument he learned to play, he said – and at the age of 6, he played it and sang on stage for country music legend Bill Monroe. At 7, he wanted to audition for the Grand Ole Opry, but was told he was too young.
Married for 34 years, Ricky Skaggs is a family man. He sings love songs and funny songs, and songs about his mother. At a concert, if he’s new to you, he grows on you. I started to understand why several hundred people gathered and sang along and clapped for him at the concert in North Carolina.
After the music
I’ll admit it. I liked the Ricky Skaggs concert. It wasn’t just his hair. As he played, and sang, and talked, it became very clear: he’s one supremely talented man – and he’s a good man. When the concert was over, he and Kentucky Thunder signed autographs in the lobby and visited with the fans. I took pictures as it was happening. Then I stopped taking pictures and just watched. And listened.
Ricky Skaggs was talking to a little boy. He had his arm around the boy’s shoulders and he talked quietly to him. “It’s a good thing, that you know Jesus,” he said to the boy. “As you grow up, when you have him in your heart, he will guide you in every decision you make – if you ask him,” Ricky said.
The little boy’s parents had tears in their eyes. They watched as this immensely popular and talented 60 year-old man with beautiful hair took an interest in their son.
The man’s first name is Ricky. His last name is Skaggs – and there’s nothing wrong with that.
Nothing at all.
Meeting Minds: Anne Frank
When we meet the minds of others, we can better understand one another. Today, meet the mind of Anne Frank, writer and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust.
“Despite everything, I believe people are really good at heart. ” – Anne Frank
My wish for all Americans
Editor’s Note: I was working on a 4th of July tribute when I came across this post on social media. I read it and realized Trecy Kent had taken the words right out of my heart. Based on the response to his post, a lot of other people feel that way, too. ~ Joy Purcell, Publisher
Happy 4th of July. I woke up early, way too early and had a few things on my mind. This will be a few lines so feel free to skip it and start your festivities today.
For the first time in a long time I am concerned about our nation. Not because of any law that the supreme court decided on and not because of any flag that is deemed too offensive to be sold or flown. I am worried because we as Americans, regardless of our differing beliefs, seem to have forgotten that we are Americans together.
What should bind us as countrymen and women is being used to divide us. We are being told that if someone is different then we should be afraid or even hate them. I realize as I see my friends taking sides on both sides of all current issues that I may be in the minority in that I see people for who they are to me not by who they vote for or what news station they follow. You see, for me it comes down to how people treat me as a fellow American. If you treat me with a caring heart then I will do the same and I do not truly care about much else.
On this 4th my wish is for all Americans to treat each other with a caring heart regardless of any differences. I really think that to be “ONE nation under God INDIVISIBLE with liberty and justice for all” then we have to make it a point not to let ourselves be divided by fear or hate. We have to embrace love and caring as a united country.
If you took the time to read this thank you. If you skipped it and started your 4th of July early I do not blame you, I had to write it down so I could get going on my set up for the day.
To all of you I wish you a very Happy 4th of July.
About the Author:
Trecy Kent is originally from Troutville, Virginia where he was raised until entering the US Air Force at the age of 18. He had a 13 year active duty career and a 7 year reserve career with the USAF and retired in 2012. He attended Mount Olive College in North Carolina and graduated in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He continued his education through the University of North Georgia earning a master’s degree in education in 2004.
After his Air Force career, Trecy was a High School Social Studies teacher in Habersham and White counties and an Assistant Principal at North Habersham Middle School. Trecy currently is a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones Investments in Gainesville GA. He has been married for 22 years to his wife Martha, and has two sons, Page and Jackson.
Cornelia ranks as Georgia’s 2nd best for new lawyers
A website dedicated to helping folks find college scholarships is out with its rankings of the best small towns in the country for new lawyers to hang out their shingle. Cornelia ranks at #2 in Georgia and #56 nationwide.
Paul Southerland of GoodCall.com says, “While many newly-minted law school graduates move to big cities, there are actually a large number of small cities across the U.S. that prove to be great places to pursue a law career. We set out to find the best of them, evaluating cities on a number of criteria.”
According to GoodCall.com’s top 100 “Best Small Cities for Law School Graduates,” Cornelia has a good number of available jobs for graduates and less competition for those jobs than many other cities its size.
We also show a positive “housing affordability index” which is the average percentage of a starting lawyer’s income that would be spent on housing.
In Georgia, Thomaston came in at number one (#3 nationwide), Cornelia was #2 in the state followed by Summerville (#59 nationally) and Cedartown (#60).
| GoodCall.com Best Small Georgia Cities for Law School Graduates | ||
| City | Georgia Rank | US Rank |
| Thomaston | #1 | #3 |
| Cornelia | #2 | #56 |
| Summerville | #3 | #59 |
| Cedartown | #4 | #60 |
| Dublin | #5 | #80 |
| Calhoun | #6 | #81 |