Thursday, 21 November 2024

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Summer can be a great time to start home improvement projects, but you may not be able to tackle them all on your own.

Hiring a contractor may be helpful, but it’s important to do your research before you begin! In 2017, consumers nationwide filed more than 5,000 complaints on general contractors with BBB.

Common complaints for contractors include sales practices, followed by refunds. Consumers also submitted complaints related to contractors performing work and being unable to reach customer service or get a refund.

Follow these tips to ensure you are hiring a trustworthy contractor:

– Find a contractor you can trust. Start with trust and find a contractor on bbb.org. There you can see their rating, complaint history, reviews from past customers, and whether they’re a trustworthy BBB Accredited Business. Ask for references from friends and family as well.

– Research their track record. You can search for a contractor’s business profile at bbb.org to see if they are a BBB Accredited Business, get free information on their history of complaints, and read verified Customer Reviews. Also ask for local references, and speak with those customers about their experience with the vendor and the quality of work. If possible, inspect the contractor's work yourself. Ask if the contractor is a member of a professional association that has standards or a code of ethics.

– Watch out for contractors who have: high upfront payments, cash-only deals, high-pressure sales tactics, “handshake” deals without a contract, and on-site inspections. Learn more at www.go.bbb.org/generalcontractors.

– Always double check licensing and insurance. In California, any contractor working on a project that is valued at $500 or more for labor and materials must hold a license from the Contractors State License Board. CSLB licenses contractors in 44 different classifications, so verify that the contractor holds a license for the work you are having done. You can check the status of a license on CSLB’s Web site. It’s also important to verify that they’re insured – ask to see a copy of their Certificate of Insurance, or ask for the name of the insurance carrier and agency to verify independently.

– Inquire about a lien waiver. A lien waiver is a statement from your contractor that says all suppliers and subcontractors have been paid for their work.

– Get it in writing. Always get estimates in writing and never let any work begin without a written and signed contract. Do not be pressured into signing an agreement before you are ready, and make sure you read and understand everything before signing. The contract should include contact information, start and completion dates, and a detailed description of the exact work to be done, any material costs, payment arrangements, and warranty information. Specify who is to obtain necessary building permits and who is responsible for clean-up. Make sure all verbal promises are included in the contract. It’s also important to ask questions such as information on the subcontractors, how much work will be subcontracted, and any other questions you may not understand on the contract. Never sign an incomplete or partially blank contract.

– Ask for multiple quotes. You should always shop around and get at least three quotes from different businesses. Make sure all bids consider the same set of criteria. Remember that the lowest bid may not necessarily be the best bid; if one bid is significantly lower than the others are, the contractor may be cutting corners or may not understand your work requirements.

If you’re exposed to a home improvement scam, report it to BBB Scam Tracker at www.bbb.org/scamtracker to help warn others.

If you work with a great company on your home improvement project, leave them a Customer Review.

And if you’re not satisfied with an outcome, you can file a complaint with BBB.

Evan Arnold-Gordon is with the Better Business Bureau serving the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern Coastal California.
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First let me say to you, Happy Canada Day. This is a particularly joyous time of the year for me and my family as we are dual citizens and we get to celebrate Canada’s Independence Day on July 1 and the United States on July 4.

It is a time of celebration for certain, but from the accounts of both countries that went to war side by side to give us the freedom and peace we have this day, we must never forget the price paid was very high.

And the price paid for our eternal freedom and peace on the cross of Christ was the highest price ever paid for people that didn’t deserve it. So today we talk about peace. The question is, is peace nothing more than a word that means “not war?”

If peace is the word that we use to mean the opposite of war, then my friends in Christ, this world has never experienced peace since we have been at war in some, way, shape, or form since the day Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. That was the real beginning of World War I and it hasn’t stopped since.

Oh, there have been very brief periods of time when the nations were settled and not killing each other, but rest assured, somewhere in the world, war reigned, through genocide, senseless murder, social conflict, tribal clashes, and closest to home, conflict with family, friends, acquaintances at war with each other.

We like to think our country is forever free and at peace because there isn’t much going on in the confines of the walls of this country that would lead one to believe there is war going on.

But though the evidence of peace is alluring and appealing to, and even embraced by, many who believe we have achieved it, the reality is the United States is at war at home and abroad and the very freedom our ancestors fought for is in jeopardy.

At home, senseless shootings, upheaval amongst and between different ethnic groups, a huge political divide, an immigration nightmare, a split this country hasn’t seen the likes of since the Civil War. And where are our troops? Stationed abroad and in harm’s way to do everything they can to try to maintain peace in an area that has never known peace.

The root cause of all this turmoil is the fact we have drifted away from what our founding fathers established as the foundation for a free country that is at peace with itself and the world.

Let’s start with Psalm 33:12 saying, “Blessed is the nation (like the USA) whose God is the Lord, the people He chose for his inheritance.” Patrick Henry states, "It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Do we still believe that?

How about John Adams who stated, "Our constitution was made for a moral and religious people ... it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Moral and religious people – are we that?

And lastly George Washington’s Farewell Address to Nation, "Do not let anyone claim tribute of American patriotism if they even attempt to remove Christianity from politics." And we have done just that, plus our schools, plus the workplace, plus our homes, plus, plus, plus, you name it, we’ve done it. To many, maybe even most, God is no longer our Lord.

Alexis de Tocqueville, a famous French political philosopher, visited our nation more than 100 years ago to uncover the secret of our greatness. He traveled from town to town, talking with people, asking questions, examining every facet of our society.

Returning to France, he wrote these amazing words, "I sought for America’s greatness. I found it not in her fields & forests. I found it not in her mines & factories. I found it not in her Congress & great tribunals.

"It was only when I entered her churches & heard her pulpits thundering against sin & preaching righteousness that I discovered the secret of her greatness."

Then he added, "America is great because America is good. If America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."

Are we still the good nation he referred to? Let’s talk more about that Sunday.

I invite the good people of Lake County to join us at First Lutheran Church for our “blended music” Holy Communion service on July 1.

Bible study specific to the immigration situation we are in is at 9:30 a.m., worship at 11 a.m., followed by a hot lunch for all after worship.

Everyone is welcome so please join us Sunday and come as you are.

Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572. Email Pastor Chris at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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A little boy was asked to define Father’s Day and he said, “It’s just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on presents.”

Bruce Howell writes, a good father is one of the most unsung, unpraised, unnoticed and unappreciated heroes in all humanity.

Needless to say, I agree with that statement as I look each day at the fathers of this world, and especially those in this community who, for the most part, do everything they can do to do their best for the sake of their family.

That’s great, but we have a problem here with dads right here in the good ol’ USA … 35 percent of the kids in the US live in homes with no father. Can you believe that?

Look to these facts from a study done by, “The Fatherless Generation”:

– 63 percent of youth suicides are from fatherless homes.
– 90 percent of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes.
– 85 percent of all children who show behavior disorders come from fatherless homes.
– 80 percent of rapists with anger problems come from fatherless homes.
– 71 percent of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes.
– Fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school.
– Children with fathers who are involved are 40 percent less likely to repeat a grade in school.
– Children with fathers who are involved are 70 percent less likely to drop out of school.
– Children with fathers who are involved are more likely to get As in school.
– Children with fathers who are involved are more likely to enjoy school and engage in extracurricular activities.
– 75 percent of all adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes – 10 times the average.
– Over 90 percent of kids who do not have their father attend church with them will not go to church after they leave home no matter how often the mother takes them to church!

It is difficult for a child to communicate his or her belief in the one true God if they don’t see it coming first from their parents, especially the father.

How can we expect our children to learn about Jesus if they don’t attend worship because there is some sports event that takes priority?

How can we expect our children to adopt a healthy prayer life when we can’t even thank God for the bounty He provides for something as simple as the food on our table?

How can we expect our children to speak up about their salvation through faith in Christ?

So where is the good news in all this?

It would appear that our sin in life, our lack of ability to spread the good news by speaking out about it, is severely lacking at times. How do we find a sense of fulfillment, happiness and joy in this predicament?

The answer is knowing this, from Romans 3, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law … the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Thus, the task of the father in today’s society is exactly what it has been throughout history, to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ to a world that is drowning in sin as people search for happiness through false gods … money, power, prestige, self-glory, materialism and so on.

Our task as fathers, as Christians, is to seek the glory of God by sharing the joy of salvation with those who are lost in this community and in need of hearing of the hope and redemption offered through faith in Jesus Christ.

Please join us this Sunday at First Lutheran Church in Lucerne to hear more about fathers on this Father’s Day, 2018.

Bible Study starts at 9:30 a.m., worship at 11 a.m., with lunch immediately following worship and our monthly Food Cupboard from 1 to 2 p.m.

All are welcome so come as you are and spend a few hours with us to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.

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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The gospel of Mark 6:3-4 says, “And they took offense at him. And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.’”

When I read the Gospel lesson for today, I said to myself, “can I relate to this or what.” Jesus going home, “Home sweet home?” Not by a long shot.

This carpenter guy, I mean that son of Mary and Joseph, you’ve got to be kidding me! A prophet, the Son of man, give me a break! Who does he think he is? He should have just stayed playing his game of life as a carpenter and left well enough alone! BUT NO! He wants to come off as a prophet … some even says he calls himself the son of God himself. Can you believe that?

Well, I can. I can relate to the folks do not have the faith to believe that this is God at work. And so, I thought about how this would play out for me if I ever went back to my hometown and walked around the city with my clergy collar on and started preaching at the local churches.

Did you hear that DelCol came back from California and he says he is a pastor? HUUU! A pastor, no way, Yes way! I thought he was an electronics engineer. Nope, pastor now! You can’t be talking about the same DelCol, I mean Chris DelCol that I am thinking of, could you? Oh yes, I am.

How in Heaven’s name does He think He can be a man of God, I mean look at his past.
The Chris DelCol I know was that little guy, maybe 3 or 4 years old, riding down the road on his wagon, completely nude, his toe chewed to bits from getting it caught in the rear wheel … that kid took his clothes off every time he could sneak out of the house and I am told he would hide them, so his mother would never be able to find them. Are you talking about that Chris DelCol, the world’s first streaker? Not in this town!

The DelCol that caused chaos in high school wherever he went? Not in this town!

I am telling you, this can’t be the same Chris DelCol I know … I heard he ran to California to get away from the cold weather … what a wimp … can’t be the same guy, can’t be … not in this town! That’s him …

Get an idea of what it’s like to go home to a town that doesn’t want to believe that it could possibly happen? Not in this town they say! What would the people of your hometown say if you went there and announced to them you were a pastor, or even more significant, the Son of God? You’d be thrown in jail as a lunatic, right.

Such is the case with Jesus in the above Scripture. “Headline Nazareth … Jesus comes home … Heaven forbid!”

There is a sadness that goes with rejection. A sadness that is difficult to explain … one must experience it to understand it. A handicapped person being laughed at because they look different or act different and they can’t help it, but the people laugh nonetheless. A spouse who thought his wife loved him but knows now it was just for his money, and she wants it all, and she wants it now, a church which opens its doors to all people except those who don’t add up to the standard. Rejection! Thank God for First Lutheran where everyone is welcome!

And then we have Jesus who is dealing this day with a rejection beyond anything we can imagine. This man is about to die for His friends … he says himself in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.”

The rejecters are His friends, even His family. They are the very people turning their backs on Him yet His journey to the cross continues with the sin of all who reject Him on His very back.

We will talk more about this on Sunday. Please join us at First Lutheran Church in Lucerne on July 8 for our contemporary service. Bible study starts at 9:30 a.m., with worship at 11 a.m. followed by lunch.

Everyone is welcome so come as you are.

Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572. Email Pastor Chris at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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Don’t you just hate it when someone falls asleep on you?

You are talking to someone who on the surface appears to be intently listening and the next thing you know their eyes begin to twitch a bit and before you know it, they close and the deep snoring sound begins to emanate from them.

As a pastor, I know all about how that feels. Oh, for sure, people always spin it to make me feel better: “Your sermons are so restful”; “My eyes are closed because I am thinking”; “I hear better when I am not looking at you”; “I find I am distracted if I don’t close my eyes.” And those are only my wife’s excuses.

Then there are the honest ones, who say, “love coming to church – best sleep I get all week!”

Folks, it is one thing to sleep in church, it is a whole other thing to be asleep at the wheel, and whether you take that literally or figuratively they have the same result.

In Mark 4:35-41, we see just that occurring. Jesus asleep at the wheel. Can you blame Him? He has been travelling here, there, and everywhere and is downright tired. That is typically the reason people fall asleep at the wheel.

Of course, a huge storm comes up and the next thing you know the crew is freaking out! We’re going to die! The world is coming to an end and the one person who can help us through this is sleeping. They can’t believe He would be so “out of it” that He wouldn’t know there is a storm taking place and all their lives are at risk.

Of course, this is Jesus at the helm and the others in the boat with Him have no reason to sweat it! But, they are freaking out … they had little faith.

And that’s where we are today, isn’t it? We lack the intensity of faith to be able to trust the Lord that He will see us through. We forget that Jesus is NEVER asleep at the wheel. He can’t be … He is perfect, we are not and so when it appears He is not there to care for us in times of trouble, the reality is, He is not only there, but He is carrying us through. Instead we are like the disciples … where are you Jesus when I need you the most?

Our lives are filled with challenges and we have only one way out when the reality of life hits us full bore … and that way out is the man on the cross who forgave us then and now, for everyone of US falling asleep at the wheel … not serving as we should, for accusing when we shouldn’t, for sinning when we know we are.

The Lord is alive and well and wide-awake right here in Lake County … ready, willing, and able to help our community prosper once again.

Let’s begin right here in Lucerne as we plan a work day to try to make First Lutheran Church look like God actually lives there. We are going to do a church cleanup on Saturday, June 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and whatever help you can provide would be most appreciated.

Each Sunday we have Bible study at 9:30 a.m., worship at 11 a.m., with a hot lunch following service.

Please join us every Sunday to hear God’s word, have a time of study and eat! It’s Hawaiian shirt summer so if you have one, please wear it.

Chris DelCol is pastor of First Lutheran Church in Lucerne, Calif. The church is located at 3863 Country Club Drive, telephone 707-274-5572. Email Pastor Chris at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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Do you realize that all sins can be forgiven, no matter how serious? Except, of course, for one.

You can do any of the following and with a repentant soul ask God to forgive and He will: Hate, lie, deceive, gossip, adultery, steal, murder, even worship false idols.

How about being part of a group of likeminded people plotting against others who don’t agree?

Family against family, husband against wife, wife against husband, friends against friends, us against them!

Even everyone against God! All forgivable!

Unfortunately, there is at least one instruction given to us by Jesus that is not followed as it should and it is to forgive as you are forgiven. But there is one sin that cannot be forgiven and that is to sin against the Holy Spirit as seen in Mark 3:29, “but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is guilty of an eternal sin.”

The LCMS position on this is, “Placing a target on the Holy Spirit and deliberately slandering Him implies that the person who commits this offense knows exactly what he is doing. The sin, therefore, manifests a heart hardened in impenitent opposition to the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. Every effort on the part of the Holy Spirit to bring or restore such a person to faith in Christ is rejected, repulsed and repudiated.”

Does that mean we can we go around sinning to our hearts content, especially when it involves the willful destruction of another human being, and as long as we avoid degrading the Holy Spirit we expect God to forgive us?

Now isn’t that an interesting question for us to ask ourselves? Isn’t that just a challenge and a half as we think about all the times we have sinned against others in the past or have been the brunt of someone else’s sin and have not seen fit to forgive them?

We live in a world that is desperate need of knowing the forgiveness that God provides for all sin (Holy Spirit excepted).

In Lake County, we deal too often with the sin of judging others instead of helping others. We must never forget that we are all equal in God’s eyes and that whatever we do to help those in need is ultimately what we do to Jesus.

Matt 25:40, And the King will answer them, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.” If we help others, we help the kingdom with a heart for servanthood. That said, if we judge others, we judge God and the work of the Holy Spirit within us. We will talk more about the forgiveness of sin at worship at First Lutheran Church of Lucerne on Sunday, June 10.

Please join us for a contemporary worship service at 11 a.m. Bible study starts at 9:30 a.m., and lunch follows worship. All are welcome so come as you are!

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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