Our Life Together Vol. 4 Nr. 43 November 4, 1976

The issue starts with some nice cover art with a note from Cheri Ford -- "Who, who, who in the skies can compare with Yahweh?

Ken provides a great exposition of Luke 15 and the concept of lostness. He starts by setting the scene. Jesus eats with publicans and sinners and the religious were scandalized. Ken says that there are four kinds of lostness. The first is that of the sheep who has just lost its way. It wandered off without even realizing it.

He states that these kind of people are good people who are just spiritually adrift and need help. The second is like that of the coin, they just have no real value. These are the people who may be moral and upright, but have no value for the Kingdom, since they are not connected. The third is the prodigal son who deliberately decides to go his own way. Then there is the older brother who doesn't think that he is lost. Ken goes on to discuss how each of these gets lost and then, how they can be found. This starts with a loving God who wants his people to be found. Then we have the opportunity to return to him -- we have been found.

McFoone demonstrates how we can overcome life's trials. We are founded on a rock that is higher than us.

Clay writes of the excitement building for the Here's Life campaign. I think that I (as the co-chair) wrote the actual status report. This will probably be mentioned later, but we actually used the Coldwell Banker real estate call center. It worked very well.

Ken addresses some of the tensions within the church and our households by expounding on the parable of the wine skins. When the Spirit moves change occurs -- and this change is not always orderly. With most of us, this creates tension. As I remember it, there could be a lot of tension when things seemed out of order. Yet, I also remember how God seemed to put things back in order. It was a growing experience.

It looks like there were many children being born in our "In the Family" column. I guess that we grew in other ways than evangelism. I also note that Ken, Mona, Dave and Mary Fountain went to Hawaii for the convention. After I became pastor, the convention was held once more in Hawaii -- several leaders went -- they didn't send me, but I did get to go to Bakersfield twice. I also note that Ken was the Vice President of the Ministers Council at this time. This let to a hurtful incident later.

Then we end with a report of three baptisms. I confess that I don't remember any of these people. Of course, in those days we had so many baptisms that there were many that I didn't know.

Our Life Together Vol. 4 Nr. 42 October 28, 1976

The old song, "This is my Father's World" is going around in my head. The picture helps me to think of the goodness of God's creation. As we shall see, Ken Pagaard has some things to say about this creation in the lead article.

One of the things that I need to state at the start is that this is a very short article for Ken. He starts with a statement gleaned from the book, "All My Children." This was a book that figured large in the Inner Healing Ministry. The author card mostly for people suffering from Schizophrenia. The treatment consisted of re parenting the patient. They would start from infancy and proceed through childhood and on to adulthood. We certainly bought into this as a part of the Inner Healing process.

Ken's point in this article had nothing to do with Inner Healing. He discusses how we see the world and the message that we bring back to our families. He emphasizes the fact that Jesus is still the Lord. From our perspective things may not look good -- but God has not left us. Satan may think he is in control, but he has been defeated. This is the message that we should accept for ourselves and then bring into our homes.

Jerry Jamison and Tim Pagaard seem to have worked together on this page, for McFoone really illustrates Jerry's article. Jerry discusses the problem that occurs in our households, families and the church when we feel attacked by others. This usually comes to us in the form of gossip. We then feel defeated and resentful. Of course, Matthew 18 presents a method for dealing with this problem. Jerry proceeds to present an exposition of this scripture passage.

Jerry concludes his article on this page. He does more than just parrot the scripture, he shows us how we might carry it out in real life. This is always timely.

Bob Granigan writes that he was a counselor for the disabled at Southwestern College. Bob was such a fixture and blessing at the church. He was a quadriplegic who had been injured in a diving accident some years before. He was a member of our community living at Lincoln Court House. He was since passed away. 

It was not unusual to be doing fund raisers and toy drives for our pre-school, School for Young Children.

This page relates to the article by Bob Granigan on the preceding page. It is an advertisement for Disabled Person's Awareness Week at Southwestern College. I notice that they were showing, "The Other Side of the Mountain" the motion picture story of Jill Kinmont. I remember the story because this happened while I was at UCLA and she was a student there.

Nancy Mitchell was a very talented woman. She wrote well and the little article presented here is typical of what she would write. She suffered from a lot of depression -- and she describes many of her own feelings. She has also passed away.

We didn't often print prophecies that were made in the church, but these came through our class on Prophecy. The reason we didn't write them was that we didn't want to give them the same weight as scripture.

I always appreciate the creativity of Linda Coale. This is a nice little piece about the seed -- and perhaps us as we painfully mature in life.

The issue closes with a very brief "In the Family."

Our Life Together Vol. 4 Nr. 41 October 21, 1976

This appears to be another beautiful cover by Gary Bell. I love the birds. I suppose they are illustrating the coming of the heavenly dove, the Holy Spirit.

The lead article is written by Clay Ford. He is dealing with the question of why bad things happen to good people. If God loves us, why do these horrible things happen. He writes that God shows his care by sending Jesus to love us, heal us and ultimately to die for us. Clay then moves on to state that Jesus continues to demonstrate his care of others through the life that he gave us. We are now his representatives on earth. We have a responsibility for demonstrating God's love for others.

Bobby Dyal wrote "Tired of Running." I remember Bobby, but really don't know a lot about him. I don't know where he is currently -- or if he is even living. But, here again, is an illustration that OLT was written by the people of the body. Yes, Ken, Clay and Larry were the chief writers, but articles came from many people within the community.

Larry discusses the "Here's Life" campaign. Clay and I were the chairs the campaign for the church. I remember going door to door during the training. I remember leading one man to the Lord and was overjoyed. Then I never saw him again. Did he really convert? Did he go to another church? Was he just tryng to get rid of me by saying the little prayer? Over the years, I have driven by his house and these questions come to mind. Don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to witnessing, but I have become convinced, that effective follow-up -- preferably very personal follow-up is absolutely necessary. We do a real disservice when we fail to do this. 

McFoone knows that he has been forgiven. He doesn't need to accept condemnation. Way to go McFoone!

The Fall Festival was rapidly approaching. These festivals were an important part of the church for many years. They were called different names at different times. Some times they were strongly aimed at outreach, other times for children and their families. They were always successful. Of course, the flyer was a product of Brenda's artwork. 

I see by "In the Family" that Ken and I were in Omaha -- actually it was Lincoln, NE. I remember that it was game day for the Cornhuskers. Nothing moved in town -- everyone was at the game. They are real football fans there. This was the only trip that I ever made alone with Ken. 

Clay finishes his article on this page. He moves on to the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit not only gives us power, but he brings about community and a desire to help those in need. We are the instruments of God's love in the world. He closes with the sentiment that it would be good if we could say with Jesus, "If you have seen us, you have seen the Father." 

Marilyn Baker presents a nice little piece on how we minister to others. Marilyn is still a part of Fifth and E. She is also still friends with my wife -- the Linda in the piece. I spent time talking with her just this last weekend at a Memorial service for one of the members of Bay View Baptist. This really fits in with Clay's article in that it is the kindness of others that ministers the love of God.

Prophecy is always important. We want to hear the proclamation of God's word. I vaguely remember this Prophecy Class -- although I wasn't a part of it. Bob brings out the importance of worship, particularly singing in opening us up to the gifts of the spirit. This worship helps us to let our barriers down and flow with the Spirit.

Gwen is of course Brenda's mother. She is a very talented woman in her own right, but I don't remember much that she wrote for OLT. She is still living locally. I actually ran into her at Costco a few months ago.

The truth expressed by Maureen Brians about the needs around the world hasn't change with the possible exception that it may be worse now than then. She mentions Marian Boehr in the article. She came to the church and spoke many years later.

Eleanor Burger celebrated her 87th birthday last week. She and her husband, George, live in Oregon. They were special friends. She was quite a leader for our women.

I don't know why we were announcing this wedding. I do remember Denis Costello but don't remember how much he was involved. I also remember when his father became a deacon at St. Pius. The Costello's were a large family.