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   Eagles are among the most magnificent creatures God has made. Their size, strength, and flying ability has captivated people. Maybe that’s why the United States chose it for its national bird.   (And to think Ben Franklin wanted a turkey!   What were you thinking Ben!?)
     Let me share some cool facts about Eagles. Did you know… that when it rains, most birds head for shelter.   The Eagle however, flies above the clouds to avoid the rain.
     Did you know… that an eagle can identify a rabbit moving almost a mile away. That means that an eagle flying at an altitude of 1000 feet over open country could spot prey over an area of almost 3 square miles from a fixed position.
     Did you know… that the eagles can reach speeds of up to 75 mph in a dive; and still pull up in time to avoid a crash?
    But the most interesting fact about eagles is this one: An eagle is the longest living bird, living up to age 70. But to do so, at age 40, it must make a difficult choice. By age 40 its’ talons have lost their flexibility and cannot grasp prey any longer. Its beak has become bent and not-so-sharp.   Its feathers have become thick with age and hamper its flying ability. It has two choices: Die, or go through a 150 day ‘re-birth’.
     If the eagle chooses the re-birth, he must first of all seek out a rocky place. There must he slam and bang and rub his beak against the rock over and over until the old one falls off. By God’s blueprint, a new one then grows back.
     After that he must repeat the process on his talons, rubbing his talons against the rock and using this new beak to tear off the old talons. When that happens, new ones grow in. Then, he must do the same with its feathers. The old must go and new growth will begin. After five months of agony, the eagle has a new lease on life.

The Old Testament people knew these facts about eagles, so when God wrote the following in Isaiah 40:31, it meant a lot to them.

Something to think about…    Falling from faith
    [This topic came up in Bible Class and some were having a hard time grasping it, so I found this article and thought I would share it. Pastor M.)
     Some Christians believe in “once saved, always saved.” Can believers fall from faith? This question was asked of me recently. Here is what the Bible says.
    We are confronted with two sets of Scripture passages that, to our limited human reason, appear to contradict each other.
    On one side, Scripture warns of the real danger of falling from faith. In Jesus’ parable of the sower, he mourns those who “believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away” (Luke 8:13).
     Paul speaks a powerful warning in 1 Corinthians 10:12: “So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall.
      In 1 Timothy, Paul even mentions Christians by name (Hymeneus and Alexander) who “shipwrecked their faith” (1:20).
     In the Old Testament, we recall King Saul who rejected God, sought spiritual guidance from a medium and had the kingship taken from him by God.
    On the other side are passages that teach our eternal election. In Ephesians 1:4 Paul unveils the wonder that God “chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” In Romans 8:30 Paul weaves what some call the “unbreakable golden chain of our election”: “Those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” What begins in eternity continues inevitably to a glorious eternity.
      Jesus also promises that none of us will slip through his or his Father’s hands (John 10:28,29). We see that portrayed in picture language in Revelation 7 as the exact “number” of the elect arrives home safely. Not one is missing.
    Some attempt to solve this dilemma by saying that God warns about falling to keep us watchful, even though it’s an impossibility. Yet that paints God as less than honest.
    Others counter by making our election conditional upon our continuing in the faith. Some suggest that while no one can snatch us out of Jesus’ hand, we can jump out! But that strips the comfort from the promise of election, making it far less then what Scripture tells us.

There’s only one option for those who trust that God’s Word is the errorless message of the Savior who loves us without limit. We simply let God be God, admitting that our “wisdom” is foolishness and acknowledging that God’s “foolishness” will prove itself to be eternal wisdom. The warning, seen again and again in the Bible, is to avoid extremes. Don’t be over conficent; but don’t be paranoid either. God is with us. Be strong!
Allow me to close with the words of former seminary professor Sigbert Becker:

Reason finds it impossible to see how the man who is convinced that he can fall, that he may fall, that he is in great danger of falling away throughout his earthly life; can also be perfectly sure that he will never fall away.
One answer that Lutheranism gives is that the contradictory heart of man needs a contradictory doctrine. Thus the Christian must learn to live in constant tension between these two. When he begins to lean over to the left, toward pride and presumption and confidence in the strength of his faith, and to trust in his own character, then the warnings against apostasy, the Savior’s “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation,” pushes him upright once more. But usually man, even the Christian man, whose heart is never fully what it ought to be begins then to lean over to the right--he becomes afraid and begins to doubt that he will ever make it to the gates of the heavenly city. Once again the Savior comes and stands on the other side with his promise, “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God: (Isaiah 41:10). And he knows that when his pilgrimage comes to an end, “all the trumpets” will be blowing “for him on the other side.” (The Foolishness of God, pp. 222-224

By: Richard Gurgel
Prof. at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary

NEW BIBLE CLASS TOPICS: The Monday night Church Small Group just began a series on Old Testament History. Newcomers are always welcome. Coming in the future is a series of short studies on “Families Under God”, specifically designed for families with children. See Pastor if you might be interested. Both the Thursday Seniors’ class and the Livermore Small Group are looking at the book of Ephesians.

CELL PHONES are still being recycled to 3rd world countries. A box is in the entry.

BABY BOTTLES FOR LIFE: Play baby bottles are being made available to you to help support the Alameda Pregnancy and Life Center and for the New Beginings Home for Mothers. It is recommended that you take one home on Mother’s day and return it on Father’s Day. What a precious gift from God life is!

CHINA
Outreach into China remains the board’s foremost priority, recognizing that we have a once in a lifetime opportunity to be in on the ground floor of a growing Christian movement within that country. We have about 60 workers in China. The lion’s share of them are teaching English as a Foreign Language on the elementary, high school and college levels and their compensation comes from the People’s Republic educational budget. In their out of classroom hours, these teachers, many of whom are recent graduates of Martin Luther College, witness to their faith and gather those who want to learn more around the Word. There are also three young seminary graduates who are living in China on tourist visas and studying the Mandarin language. On the side they serve to mentor the teachers to provide more in depth Bible understanding to those they are teaching. The East Asia Administrative Committee is currently calling a 4th professor for Asia Lutheran Seminary in Hong Kong. If we can get only a handful of graduates out of that seminary to become leaders in reaching out and training others, all of the effort and investment of resources will be worthwhile. A tremendous publishing push continues in Hong Kong to translate as many Christian materials as possible into the Chinese language and in digital form.

BIBLE QUIZ …. On King Saul (We mentioned him in the Something to Think About section, how he lost his faith. Here is more; 1 Sam 9-11)
1. Saul was chosen by God to be the first King of Israel because

a.    He was a very staunch believer
b.    He was from the tribe of Judah
c.    He was a head taller than anyone else
d.    He was one of the Navy Seals who took out Osama Bin laden, good training.

2. After God had Samuel anoint Saul as King, three signs would take place. They were

a.    Saul would receive a gold crown, 1000 men would follow him, and he’d find the donkeys
b.    Saul’s lost donkeys would be found, he would receive two loaves of bread from a stranger and Saul would prophesy
c.    The donkeys would run away, God would make Saul’s face glow, and a stranger would give him ten sets of new clothes
d.    All the Israelite paparazzi would hound him, Israelite women wanted to know what gown his fiance’ would wear at the royal wedding and Saul would spend $65 million on the wedding which would be telecast on Israeli TV.

3. After Saul was made King, all the people shouted

a.    Long Live the King
b.    Crucify him
c.    God is Great
d.    USA! USA! And We’re #1! We’re #1!

4. The first challenge that faced Saul was an Amorite King who was besieging the Israelite town of Jabesh. This wicked king wanted to

a.    make them people of Jabesh his slaves
b.    take their land and women as his
c.    gouge out their right eyes to shame all Israel
d. set up an Islamic nation with Sadaam Hussein as his president

[Answers are later in the newsletter.]

HOLY WEEK STATISTICS: On Maundy Thursday we had 24 people in worship. On Good Friday, there were 36. And on Easter Sunday, we had 32 in the first service and 83 in the later service, for a total of 115. 112 attended last year. The monthly average was 68 compared to 64 last April.

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Flying Like Eagles

Eagles are among the most magnificent creatures God has made. Their size, strength, and flying ability has captivated people. Maybe that’s why the United States chose it for its national bird. (And to think Ben Franklin wanted a turkey! What were you thinking Ben!?) Let me share some cool facts about Eagles. Did you know… that when it rains, most birds head for shelter. The Eagle however, flies above the clouds to avoid the rain. Did you know… that an eagle can identify a rabbit moving almost a mile away. That means that an eagle flying at an altitude of 1000 feet over open country could spot prey over an area of almost 3 square miles from a fixed position. Did you know… that the eagles can reach speeds of up to 75 mph in a dive; and still pull up in time to avoid a crash? But the most interesting fact about eagles is this one: An eagle is the longest living bird, living up to age 70. But to do so, at age 40, it must make a difficult choice. By age 40 its’ talons have lost their flexibility and cannot grasp prey any longer. Its beak has become bent and not-so-sharp. Its feathers have become thick with age and hamper its flying ability. It has two choices: Die, or go through a 150 day ‘re-birth’. If the eagle chooses the re-birth, he must first of all seek out a rocky place. There must he slam and bang and rub his beak against the rock over and over until the old one falls off. By God’s blueprint, a new one then grows back. After that he must repeat the process on his talons, rubbing his talons against the rock and using this new beak to tear off the old talons. When that happens, new ones grow in. Then, he must do the same with its feathers. The old must go and new growth will begin. After five months of agony, the eagle has a new lease on life. The Old Testament people knew these facts about eagles, so when God wrote the following in Isaiah 40:31, it meant a lot to them.	But those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will fly with wings as eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not grow tired. What is true of Eagles is also true for us. No, I don’t mean that we have to tear out our teeth or fingers. I mean that in order to grow, we must get rid of old and unhealthy habits, attitudes and sin. It is a painful process, but a necessary one if we want to soar like eagles the way God wants us to. Once freed from burdens like these, we can live again. We can enjoy our lives as God intended. Jesus made it very clear when He said, "Come unto Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest!” He has given us the peace which goes beyond human understanding (another Bible verse). His resurrection is our certainly. It’s not that our lives are problem-free. God never promises that. What God does promise is to help us through them all. The difficulty lies when problems seem to overwhelm us and we try to ‘tough it out’ by ourselves. I think that is one of the ways Satan tries to loosen our grip on faith. One of the expressions I heard (that I’ll never forget) that reminds me of that truth, goes like this: When you fly with turkeys it’s hard to remember how to soar like an eagle. To whatever degree that is true in your life, it still doesn’t matter. God’s promise is rock-solid. The pushed-aside grave-stone is proof of that. One other fun fact about eagles: When they teach their young to fly, the parent pushes the chick out of the high nest. It falls and flails away. Just before it would crash, the eagle swoops in and catches the eagle. Then the cycle is repeated until the chick learns to fly. When you’re facing trouble, maybe God is trying to teach you to fly? Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Then hum the hymn ‘On Eagle’s Wings’. No wonder God wants us to spread our wings and soar like eagles!