The theme and lead article for this issue is the power of the words that we speak. This is beautifully illustrated by another fine cover from Abbagraphics. I am not sure who the real artist was; Gary Bell?
Emery Fryer wrote little articles from time to time for OLT, but I think that this was the only time that he wrote the lead article. Of course, Ken Pagaard was in Hawaii and Emery was the Head Elder. I don't think we ever thought of his position as The Chairman of the Board of Elders, even though that really was his position. Emery was a fixture in the church until 2006 when he passed away. He was a good friend and a real leader in the church for many years.
In the article, Emery retells the story of several ways in which the word was used throughout the Bible, but especially the way that Jesus spoke. Then he goes on to Paul's instructions in Ephesians that we only speak things that will build one another up; this is the key point that he is making. He mentions how we "fall into light, frivolous or even silly or levitous conversation." I remember when this was one of the things that we tried to foster; a more serious and spiritual talk. Right or wrong, it didn't work at Westby. Lots of humor. I unfortunately was known as a punster. Yet; Emery does give some real strong advice about the importance of weighing what we say. We are not to bring each other down, but to lift one another up.
Tim Pagaard was always able to make a nice point through his McFoone series.
Larry Clark provides an interesting article giving a rationale for leaving, even disobeying, our parents. He does make it plain that he is not talking about children, but adults. What he says makes sense and was a real issue in my life; my mother was appalled that I was moving into a "commune." Yet, I wonder what was going on in the life of the community at this time that caused Larry to write the article. I suppose that part of it was the controversy over groups such as the Children of God, which Larry mentions. The leader of the group against the Children of God lived in Chula Vista and lumped us into that kind of group. I think that Larry was trying to reassure us.
The Women's Bible Study on Tuesdays continued for a long time. Our experiments with personal prophecy had mixed results. I think that this is normal, because it is an inexact science. We did know that God speaks to each of us. We did want to hear the Lord.
Ken was ministering in the Maui Bible Church. I had completely forgotten that there was a small community over there. Ken's experience with meeting pastors from all over who read Our Life Together was also experienced by me after I became pastor. I don't think we realized the impact of this little periodical. At the time I'm sure that more people read it outside of FBC Chula Vista than here at home.
I see that we were in the process of raising money for the Renewal Center. This was an idea that seemed right, but never came to fruition.
Preparations for the Here's Life campaign were in full swing.
Clay, why don't you tell us really how you feel about the things on TV? Just kidding. It is amazing what we have learned to tolerate on TV. The real sad thing is that things haven't improved since 1976. We do have to be careful about what we allow into our minds.
On this page, Larry concludes his article as Ken begins a teaching on Inner Healing. I still believe that the concept of God healing our memories, emotions as well as deliverance from the demonic are valid. I think that one of the problems encountered later on is that we tended to pick up on the teachings from some fringe, pop-psychologists rather than some more sound teachers.
The notes on the upcoming Summer of 1977 bring back memories. That was a busy time. It was also a great time. I remember well helping out with the ABC Convention. Of course, who could forget the conference in Kansas City?
Clay finishes his article here. His remarks are really timeless.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment