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A 2008 survey revealed that Japan has more centenarians than any country in the world with 36,000 citizens aged 100 or older. That’s a huge increase from 1963; the first year the country started recording the number, when there were only 153 people in the centenarian category. Eighty-six percent of Japan’s current century-club members are women, with the oldest woman in the country being a 113-year-old from the island province of Okinawa. Incidentally, Okinawa has the largest concentration of centenarians in Japan, at 838 (that’s 61 for every 100,000 people). Compared to other nations, Japan’s longevity factor leaves the rest of the world looking positively sickly by comparison. Out of 1.3 billion people in China, for example, there are only 18,000 centenarians, while in the United States the ratio is about 10 per 100,000. Life expectancy in Japan is a full four years longer than in America.

What’s the secret to living a long life or, even better, living forever?
According to the experts in Japan we have to do this:

Dancing twice a week, exercising every day (at least 30 minutes), give up smoking, continue working (just a little) after your retirement.

Focus on social activity and family, keep a good diet, like eating five or more servings of fruits and vegetables, a day and maintain a healthy weight.

We are Easter people. We are the people of the resurrection. We believe that by the resurrection of Jesus Christ we are reminded that God has not abandoned his creation. Jesus’ resurrection was the beginning of the restoration of all life on earth. We understand ourselves to be part of God’s mission of a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We care for ourselves. We care for each other. We care for the earth. Easter is a call to embrace the goodness of life. The whole point of the Christian life isn’t that we go to heaven to be with God but that God comes here to be with us: “Your kingdom come … on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

As we dance the songs of life, as we take care of our bodies, as we embrace hope, reconciliation and healing, we proclaim the beauty of Easter. It does not matter if we are 10 years old or 90; we live each moment as an Easter moment knowing that by living abundantly every second we have defeated death until the eternal Easter comes.

Your Pastor,
Rev. Job Cobos

I met a lady in her 70’s. She was under a lot of distress because she was in the hospital and there was no one to take care of her dog. I asked if she had some friends and she replied that she had some but not to the point of trusting them or asking them a favor. I asked about relatives, she did not want to talk about it. I asked about neighbors, she did know them. Finally, I asked about church friends hoping that she would give me a positive answer but she was not a part of a community of faith either. It was sad to see her old and alone, with no one to turn to.

There is a quote from Robert MacAfee Brown that states: “How does one keep from “growing old inside”? Surely only in community. The only way to make friends with time is to stay friends with people… Taking community seriously not only gives us the companionship we need, it also relieves us of the notion that we are indispensable.” So many people have been to the hospital in the last few weeks, like Billy, Scott, Michelle and Joyce Ruble. It was so nice to see people visiting and praying for each other.

As we begin this Lent season, we must renew our commitment to God and to each other. We must grow old together; we must protect and nurture each other. This season is a time we have to figure out how we get closer to God: by changing our old ways of thinking and taking the mind of Christ by worshiping God with fervor and sacrificing for the sake of the God’s kingdom, and by “picking up our cross and following Him.” This is a time in which we must love and take care of each other.

As you know, Lent is one of my favorite liturgical seasons. This season is full of mystery, newness, changes, colors, etc. I remember that as child I visited a town deep into the mountains in Mexico. The family that I stayed with cooked a fresh meal for the people who were in jail. It really impacted my life as we visited the people in jail and we gave them food and clean clothing. I asked why they did that, and their response was “It is Lent”. Lent is a time in which we are reminded that we need to take care of others as Christ takes care of us. So, stay close to the community of faith. It is the best way to stay young at heart, and connected to the world around us. As together we celebrate Lent, we will be surprised by God as we get closer and more dependent on Him. We will then be amazed of how much we need each other.

Your pastor,
Job

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As we begin Lent, let’s start a life of sacrifice and penitential practices as we focus on growth, tithing and beautifying our church property. Lent is a season of fasting, giving up, service, and prayers. But if we change a little, this Lent will be a time of growth: spiritually, numerically and personally in commitment to God. This Lent do not give up something like chocolate, candy, beer, etc. This Lent take up one more thing; take up the cross of Christ and follow Him. We have forty days to tell someone about Christ. We have 40 days to bring someone to church. We have forty days to perform a miracle, and we have forty days to start a Bible study. Lent is a time of growing closer to God.

This Lent give more. Tithing (10% of our income) is not about God, or about the church.
Tithing is about us. It is about our hearts and where our treasure is. As we celebrate Lent I encourage all of us to fully tithe, to give until it hurts, and to reach out with whatever
abundance we have. God has a special blessing and a promise to those who tithe to the fullest as is written in Malachi 3:8-14:

“Test me in this and see if I don’t open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams.”

In Larkspur we have enough love for all of us. We have enough talent. We have enough dreamers. We have enough resources for the ministry God has called us to be part of. Our mission is “to exist to spread God’s love through service and making a difference in the
community.”

The building belongs to the community. The generation before us gave it to us and now it is our turn to prepare the building for the next generation. So during this Lent let’s do something for the building that will last for the next 40 years, something that the next generation will use for its’ ministry.

Lent is a time for us to dream, to dream of a world in which God’s mercies and blessings are new every morning, (Lam. 3:22, 23) to dream of a church which is always ready to proclaim the good news of Christ to others, to dream that all that we have belongs to God, to dream that we have a place of worship which resembles heaven. The challenge is that we only have forty days to fulfill the dream. So let’s get to work and make it happen.

Your Pastor
Job

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“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
– Thomas A Edison

Most New Year’s resolutions demand commitment, hard work, discipline and faith.

Focus more on Christian Spirituality. For us Christians, spirituality is about relationships. A personal relationship with God, with others and with self. With in those relationships we try to find ways of relating to nature and the environment. Christian spirituality is trying to see God in everything around us, to create peaceful communities and welcoming atmosphere. Spirituality means being kind and enthusiastic, being gentle to yourself, to others and to the Mother earth.

Heart Fitness. According to some research, people who go to church or attend religious services live longer, are healthier and are more happy people. The scripture states: “Out of the abundance of the heart your mouth speaks.” In the year 2010 let’s take care or our hearts. Let’s do some spiritual exercises that help our hearts to stay strong, like praying more often, going to church more often, being in silence more often, meditating more often, give a good massage to your heart by being compassionate and smiling more often.

Grow and Mature. Over 66 percent of adult Americans are considered overweight or obese by recent studies, so it is not surprising to find that weight loss is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. According to church studies only 10 percent of church membership is fully committed to grow and mature in their Christian life and in supporting of church ministries and programs. How do we grow and mature in our Christian life? Make plans to grow and stay focused. Plan to be part of that vacation bible school, spiritual retreat, committee, mission trip and stay focused. Be responsible, reach the goal, go to the end, and give good fruit. Some one said “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do”.

Quit something that is bad for you. Even if you have tried to quit a bad habit before and failed, don’t let it get you down. The average person tried at least four times and failed (especially smokers).

The good news is that there is a lot of help out there if we want to quit bad habits. You are not alone; God is at our side to help us and to give us the strength to start a new life, because today is the first day of your new life.

Enjoy life more. We live stressful lives, we have hectic schedules. So as our New Year’s Christian resolution let’s promise ourselves that we will “enjoy life more”. Take up new hobbies, try something new, teach a Bible class, or help someone read the Bible. Go to a theater performance or create one and perform before the congregation. Take a leap of faith. Travel to a holy place. Take a trip to the Holy Land.

Learn something new about Christianity. There is so much we don’t know about church, Christ, and Christianity overall. Buy a church history book, read about the Desert Fathers and Mothers of the church. Learn about Saint Augustine, Teresa of Avila, Thomas Campbell or the Disciples in Australia.

Help Others. New Year’s resolutions are about ourselves, we need at least one non-selfish New Year resolution. Volunteerism can take many forms. The church is a volunteer organization. We are committed to be servants to others and to do it with love and care.

As you begin this year of 2010 make your spiritual life a priority, for it is written: “Search first the kingdom of God, and the rest will come to you.”

Have a Blessed 2010.

Your Pastor,
Job J Cobos

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