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Opinion
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- Written by: Pastor Chris DelCol
In Scripture we read about Jesus talking to His Father with a troubled heart at Gethsemane.
It was a heart that yearned for compassion for Jesus knew what was to come and His heart was brought to a state of heaviness, a state of being troubled, a state of being afraid, very afraid.
For just as He is God, so too, he is human. And He was in need of a compassionate heart that very lonely night.
What is a compassionate heart anyway?
It is a heart that exhibits patience, kindness, forgiveness, hope, and all the Fruits of the Spirit.
The troubled heart of Jesus on His trip to the cross is the same heart that takes all our troubles and cures them for eternity.
His troubled heart becomes our clean heart, just as we see in the answered prayer from Psalm 51:10: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
In need of a compassionate heart. Can you picture someone in your mind?
Just look around our community. I know you can see people here in need of a compassionate heart. The face of a homeless man, the anger of a troubled person with PTSD, a grieving military wife who has just lost her husband to a bullet from an enemy gun, a husband and wife who must face the reality that their child is going to die of cancer.
Do you see them? I see them, everywhere, and it breaks my heart.
And I know that through the efforts of this church and the people of this community, we can start addressing the challenge of reaching out to those who need someone to embrace them with a compassionate heart.
There is a lesson to be learned here and that lesson is no matter how challenged we are in our life, Jesus is there for us with His healing heart.
In need of a compassionate heart? Look to the cross. In need of a compassionate heart, look to the empty tomb. In need of a compassionate heart, look to the resurrection. In need of a compassionate heart? Look to Jesus.
It all points to the hope we receive from the love of the one who gave His all so we would be called the children of God.
Can you picture the face … see the need?
Join us at First Lutheran Church this Sunday as we continue in learning more about, “In need of a compassionate heart.”
Bible study is every Sunday morning at 9:30 a.m., worship at 11 a.m. and a hot lunch after worship.
This Sunday is Food Cupboard Sunday at 1 p.m. If you are in need of food, clothing, diapers or personal hygiene products, please join us.
Everyone is welcome, so please come as you are and spend a few hours with us.
Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572.
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- Written by: Rebecca Harpster
Whether you’re a fan of the Oakland A’s, the San Francisco Giants, or another team, excitement is in the air.
It’s fun to show support either from the stadium or your couch, but be careful! Fans sometimes run into trouble when buying tickets and gear.
In 2017, consumers nationwide filed nearly 3,900 complaints with BBB against ticket brokers and event ticket sales companies (up from 3,000 in 2016).
The leading cause for complaints was problems with refunds and exchanges. Common complaints involve being unable to obtain refunds, poor customer service, and hidden fees.
Buying jerseys, hats, and other gear can also lead to issues. According to the BBB Risk Index (www.bbb.org/riskindex ), online purchase scams were the riskiest scam to consumers in 2017.
Furthermore, clothing purchases were one of the most common online purchase scams. More than 4,600 online purchase scams were reported to BBB Scam Tracker in 2017, up from around 2,800 reports in 2016. The majority of online purchase scams occur when a payment is made online in exchange for a good or service, but nothing is delivered.
– Don’t strike out when buying tickets. Stick to trustworthy sources when buying tickets. The best way to buy is through the Major League Baseball (MLB) official website, mlb.com. If they’re sold out and you have to purchase from an online ticket exchange or broker, be cautious. Look up every business at bbb.org and check out their BBB Business Profile before making a purchase. For more tips on avoiding fraudulent tickets, visit bbb.org/tickets.
– Only buy authentic gear. Nearly 900 counterfeit product scams were reported to BBB Scam Tracker in 2017 - an increase of around 80% from 2016 - and the median loss was $150. Counterfeit goods mimic original merchandise, right down to the trademarked logo, but are typically of inferior quality. The safest way to be sure the hats and jerseys you’re buying are authentic is by shopping at the MLB’s official store, mlbshop.com. You can also buy MLB licensed gear from authorized resellers. Visit bbb.org to find trustworthy BBB Accredited Businesses and look up unfamiliar retailers.
– Be safe shopping online. Whenever you’re making a purchase online, use good judgement. Verify that the website is secure by looking for the “https:”, where the “s” stands for “secure”, and other trust marks. Make sure your computer is running up-to-date anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware software. It’s best to use a credit card since they offer more protection than debit and prepaid cards. Never pay by wire transfer or gift cards – if a seller insists on an unusual form of payment, consider it a red flag! Make sure to read the terms and conditions of your purchase carefully. Understand the refund and guarantee policies before clicking the “checkout” button, and be on the lookout for hidden fees. You can check out more online shopping tips at bbb.org/shoppingonline.
You can always file a complaint with BBB at www.bbb.org/complain, and report scams to www.bbb.org/scamtracker.
Rebecca Harpster is communications supervisor for the Better Business Bureau, serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California and based in Oakland.
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- Written by: Pastor Chris DelCol
When Christians departed their respective churches on Easter morning that day they did so saying, “Go in peace and serve the Lord, thanks be to God.”
The challenge we are left with then is to make everyday Easter and live in the grace that God has provided us through faith in Jesus Christ.
On Easter we reflected on the joyous celebration of the grace given to us through the empty tomb.
But in the church universal, the week after Easter morning we typically are faced with a doubting grace by the disciple who is forever labeled doubting Thomas.
Every Easter Sunday, pastors face the reality of a text the following Sunday that is specific to doubting Thomas and as the years go by it seems to become more and more difficult to talk about doubt, especially as it pertains to the one guy who was singled out as the “bad” guy who doubted Christ’s resurrection.
This, when every single one of them doubted. Remember that?
They were in the room the day Jesus came through the door. And they were there because they were all scared and they all doubted.
Not one of them would believe that Jesus was raised unless they saw Him, yet not one of them would be called doubting. Only Thomas would be labeled forever as the one who doubted.
And so here we are, saying to ourselves, what do we tell folks about doubt that hasn’t already been told? What more can be said that they haven’t already heard?
We’ve talked in past about needing proof for everything in order to not doubt. If you want me to believe in this grace thing, then I must be able to either see, touch, smell, hear or taste it. That’s it! It must be within the confines of my senses. So, we want proof.
If you want to see proof, look at creation, if you want to touch it, caress a newborn baby, if you want to smell proof, stand in a field of wildflowers in the springtime, if you want to hear it come to church on Sunday, you want to taste it come to the Lord’s table and embrace the reality of the means of grace in action – your sins forgiven. What else do we need to know?
It seems that we are all doubting Thomases at one time or another. We look around our community and we see doubt everywhere … I doubt we can ever recover our county, I doubt the homeless situation will ever be resolved, I doubt the people will ever start taking care of their properties, I doubt Lake County will ever be great again.
I disagree.
The scripture passages about doubting Thomas results in his renewal and I believe that we can make Lake County great again.
We are going to start with our little church in Lucerne and pray that will prompt others in the county to do the same. New paint, new roof, cleaning up the overgrown brush, cutting down old trees, planting flowers, maybe even getting the parking lot fixed up a bit. It starts with one effort and multiplies from there.
Stay posted and tell your neighbors as we plan a community “paint party” and get the church looking like it should, then carry that drive on so that the whole community is looking like it should.
The end result of doubt when it is proven erroneous is hope, enthusiasm, renewal and a desire to make change happen.
Join us as we move forward with eliminating doubt and getting things done.
We will talk about this further on Sunday so please join us at First Lutheran Church.
On Sunday, Bible study starts at 9:30 a.m., worship at 11 a.m. and then lunch after the service.
All are welcome so come as you are and get to know us better.
Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572.
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- Written by: Rebecca Harpster
In 2017, it was the second most reported complaint to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), with more than 370,000 reports from consumers nationwide (up from the #3 spot in 2016).
Thankfully, there are steps you can take to mitigate your risk. According to the FTC, it’s important to “shred receipts, credit offers, credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, checks, bank statements, expired charge cards and similar documents when you don’t need them any longer.”
Worried that your identity has been compromised? Be on the lookout for these clues that someone has stolen your information, from the FTC: unexplained bank account withdrawals; missing bills or other mail; calls from debt collectors about debts that aren’t yours; unfamiliar accounts or charges on your credit report; medical bills for services you didn’t use; health plan inaccuracies; notices from the IRS that don’t apply to you; and notices that your information was compromised by a data breach.
If any of these warning signs apply to you, don’t panic. Visit http://identitytheft.gov , the U.S. federal government’s one-stop resource for identity theft victims. You just have to answer a few questions about your situation, and you’ll receive a personalized recovery plan. It includes streamlined checklists and sample letters to guide you through the recovery process.
To further protect yourself against identity theft, secure your information offline with these tips from your BBB:
– Limit what you carry. When out and about, only take what you need – leave your Social Security card behind. Lock up financial documents, records, and anything containing sensitive personal information in a safe in your home. Lock up your purse or wallet while at work as well.
– Keep an eye on your mail. Use a secure, locked mailbox if possible. If you don’t have a locked mailbox, take sensitive outgoing mail to the post office or to a post office box and pick up incoming mail as soon as possible. Only order new checks to your home if you have a secure mailbox.
– Don’t overshare. The FTC recommends that “before you share information at your workplace, a business, your child’s school, or a doctor’s office, ask why they need it, how they will safeguard it, and the consequences of not sharing.” This is especially true for your Social Security Number (SSN). Ask if you can use a different kind of identification, although sometimes you will have to share your SSN. Be careful sharing health plan information, and destroy the labels on prescriptions bottles before throwing them out.
Rebecca Harpster is communications supervisor for the Better Business Bureau, serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California and based in Oakland.