THROUGHOUT MY TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS of being affiliated with this church, there has always been a very special group of people who gath-ered together to study the Word of God, to pray, and to have some great times of fun together. This group has gone by various names, there was the Pilot Class, and the Anchor Class and now collectively they are known as the PrimeTimers. But, I think the class name that describes them best is the name they have used of late: The Berean Class.
That name is taken from Acts chapter seventeen and refers to a group of people who heard the Gospel preached by the Apostle Paul and who took the Gospel to heart, but not without first “checking it all out by God’s Word.”
Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts, says that these people were of noble character and that they received the message with eagerness, ex-amining the Scriptures everyday to see if the message was true. I be-lieve that the name Bereans fits well that part of our church family we often refer to as senior adults.
In this season of thanksgiving, as I take time to contemplate all of God’s manifold blessings, I once again give thanks for the blessing our senior saints bring to this church family. Throughout the history of this local gathering of God’s family we have been honored to have noble, ea-ger and Scripture saturated senior adults. They have been the prayer warriors, the pastoral encouragers and yes, the financial supporters throughout our almost forty-five year history. We are blessed!
As we move forward as the Church seeking to reach out to an ever-changing, increasingly fast-paced, post-Christian world may we ever be thankful that God has given us those who have walked long with the Lord and you will help us stay on course as we ply through new uncharted wa-ters.
For these blessings we give Thee thanks!

WITH LINDA AT MY SIDE AND GPS IN HAND, we started off on our search to find our next geo-cache. It was a beautiful, unseasonably warm, fall morning this past Monday as we set off into Henry Cowell State Park to find the geo-cache called, “Eagle Creek Bridge.”

Having hiked all over Henry Cowell I knew exactly where the bridge was. It didn’t matter that our GPS (Global Positioning System) said we were over 300 feet (as the crow flies) from the stated location of the hidden cache; I knew this was the bridge being referred to.

Alas, the cache was not there. OK, let’s trust the GPS and the written clues. Ah, there’s a smaller bridge, but it’s even farther off course. Keep trusting the GPS. There, over there, it’s a bridge of trees over the creek, and look, there’s a great hiding place, but the GPS still pointed farther down the path, and around the corner, but I know it’s got to be right here, this would be such a great place to hide the cache.

After more searching, back to trusting the GPS. There! Look! It’s a bigger tree bridge, with trees overhead, just like the clue said. And yes, there we found the cache, hidden “under” the bridge. Both GPS and clues were right. But, I already knew that!

Spiritual lesson? Sure!

God has given us a Holy GPS, the Bible. Follow it’s direction and it will lead you right to the place you are supposed to be, and to do what you’re supposed to do. But, too often we say, “But I know this is the right way to go, and if I just take this little detour I’ll find what I’m looking for.” Or, “I know God’s Word says to do this, but I know this is the real way to make things work.” The reality is, we need to trust God’s knowing, not ours. The treasure has been placed, the coordinates have been set, and all we have to do is trust and obey. If not, we may end up at a bridge too far.

Cache on!

I AM DISTURBED BY THE TITLE OF THIS Shepherd’s Staff, are you? I am not disturbed by the part referencing “God’s will”, but rather, ”for my life.”

Throughout my years of pastoring, if there has been a recurring ques-tion asked of me, it has been, “Pastor, how can I know God’s will for my life?” This question has been formed in many different ways. Sometimes it comes in questions about searching for a job or where to go to college, or whom to date, or even where to go to church, but it all boils down to wanting to know what God wants personally for them.

Now, I am not saying that God doesn’t care about these life issues, but what concerns me is the focus upon “my life,” rather than the forward progression of God’s kingdom and God’s glory. Yes, God does set our days and directs our plans, but it is not about us, as much as it is about His Day and His plan.

I believe the question we should be asking is, “God, how, in my pre-sent situation, can I work to bring you the most glory and work for the forward movement of Your kingdom?” That question encompasses our daily lives and our future plans. How is my dating this person working for God’s glory? How is my place in this business progressing God’s king-dom? When I go to this or that school, in what ways can I be the salt and light that my Lord directs me to be?

What is God’s will for my life? It is just that, “His will.” God desires that we do what He has set forth in His Word. We are called to let Jesus Christ live in and through us.

This is His will for us . . . no matter where we find ourselves.

OVER THE YEARS I HAVE DEVELOPED QUITE A TASTE for Humble Pie. It is most definitely an acquired taste. Your first bite into the crust can be quite overpowering for the taste buds, but I have discovered that when you finish the piece of pie there is a lovely sweet aftertaste.
There is another pie that we often like to sink our teeth into, and that is Pride Pie. It is a pie that tastes oh so sweet at first bite, but once swal-lowed it turns to bitterness in your stomach.
The Apostle Peter learned to develop a taste for Humble Pie through-out the time he walked with the Master. And even as he led the church in its formative days he had to take a bite or two of that pie. Maybe that is what he was talking about when in his first letter he wrote, “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, un-der God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” (1 Peter 5:5-6)
I suppose the best thing would be to not have to eat either pie, but rather to live as the Apostle Paul directed the church, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accor-dance with the measure of faith God has given you.” (Romans 12:3)
A lot of arguments, disagreements and misunderstandings would be alleviated if we would all just take time to see others as more important than ourselves, and seek to build up rather than tear down. In reality, it is the very way our Lord lived, and are we not to let Him live thusly through us?
Care for some ice cream with that pie?

I CAN STILL REMEMBER MY FIRST DRIVING LESSON when my in-structor yelled at me for slowing down and almost stopping while merging from a freeway on-ramp. “DON’T SLOW DOWN!” he yelled, his feet try-ing to peddle the car faster through the floorboard. I learned my lesson that day, but not without increasing the sweat factor on my palms.
Now, after almost 35 years of lane-changes and on-ramp merging, it has become second nature to me. Don’t slow down when endeavoring to change lanes on the freeway, keep moving at speed, look for the open-ing, signal my intent to merge and then make my move smoothly and de-liberately. As with driving, so too with life.
Personally, when on the freeway I like to pick my lane, set the cruise control and do as little lane-changing as possible. I kind of like my life that way as well. Oh, that it were that easy. Sometimes one just has to change lanes.
Today, a lane change is about to take place. Larry and Madreen Bar-nes are moving on down the freeway of life to a new home in the Sacra-mento area. It was so comfortable with them here. I really do want them to stay. I really don’t look forward to “switching lanes.” But, we are not given that option, we cannot just stop in the middle of the freeway, in fact, even slowing down would not be a safe proposal. If we are being called to change lanes, then we must do it up to speed. Sure, it would be easier just to keep the cruise control on and pretend that everything is just going to be the same, but that’s not a safe way to drive.
We are going to greatly miss Larry and Madreen; their part in our church family shall not be replaced. Yes, there will be others to do the various ministries that they have done over the past three decades, but no one shall take their place. And yet, we shall continue to travel on the road the Lord has placed before us, as will they, just in different lanes. And I am sure there will be lots of times that we shall pull up next to each other, roll down the window and exchange our traveling stories, and of course there is that final destination where we shall gather, and what a destination that will be.
Larry and Madreen, see ya down the road.