The View From My Window Pastor's Weekly Blog

Some people simply can’t live with the fact that someone else may not like them. They work very hard on their personal image, strive to get along with others, and expect people to respond affirmingly. When, however, they get negative feedback instead, it really messes with their head. “What did I do wrong?” It actually exposes a form of pride in them.

Today’s text will blow their minds. Even if you were perfect there would be people who hate you. In fact. some people would hate you because you are perfect! Being hated is a fact of life. There will be nonbelievers who hate you, there will be believers who strongly dislike you. May it ever be that the reason they hate us is because they hate Jesus too. It’s unlikely that anyone who calls themselves a follower of Jesus would ever say they hate anyone, but they often do.

Don’t be surprised when people hate you because you love Jesus and remember not to hate back. Their sinful attitude should not infect your spirit but rather serve as proof that you are a true disciple.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

Our dear friend, Shirley Warner used to be the director of another church’s Youth Group. As part of their ministry to the church, they conducted a service using today’s passage as their text. It talks about Jesus being the vine and we are the branches. She tasked one of the students to find a vine they could carry in together to illustrate the message. He did and they did. Only later did they discover that it was poison oak!

Maybe it illustrated the point too well: everyone in the Youth Group had a bright, itchy rash for the next week. All of the “branches” were deeply affected by the vine.

This is a very popular text, and with good reason. We need to stay connected to Christ in order to be effective in ministry. The Bible is filled with illustrations of things going wrong whenever the people of God neglected to hear from the Lord before they took action. We are no good on our own, we need the power of God flowing through us every day.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

If you’ve ever trained a puppy, you know the training never ends. Your first goal is, of course, to “housebreak” the dog: make sure it potties outside. Then you might try your hand at some basic obedience commands: sit, stay, come… Eventually you get to know one another enough that you respond to each other’s cues: the dog goes to the door so you know he needs out, you pick up your keys & the dog gets excited, hoping to go along, etc.

Somewhere in all of this training a relationship develops. The dog loves to snuggle up to you whenever you sit on the couch or likes to follow you around the house. When you come home the dog acts like a joy bomb just exploded. You buy them more expensive treats than you buy for other members of your family.

The point is, when you love someone, or something, it shows. In today’s text God reveals how He knows you love Him. Can you guess what it is?

-Pastor Joel Everhart

If you’ve ever trained a puppy, you know the training never ends. Your first goal is, of course, to “housebreak” the dog: make sure it potties outside. Then you might try your hand at some basic obedience commands: “sit, stay, come…” Eventually you get to know one another enough that you respond to each other’s cues: the dog goes to the door so you know he needs out; you pick up your keys and the dog gets excited, hoping to go along, etc.

Somewhere in all of this training a relationship develops. The dog loves to snuggle up to you whenever you sit on the couch or likes to follow you around the house. When you come home the dog acts like a joy bomb just exploded. You buy them more expensive treats than you buy for other members of your family.

The point is, when you love someone, or something, it shows. In today’s text God reveals how He knows you love Him. Can you guess what it is?

-Pastor Joel Everhart

Prior to my wedding, my groomsmen painted “O NO” on the bottom of my shoes so that when Barb and I knelt to pray, the audience would see a plea for help. I was able to foil that plan before the ceremony. At the reception, three of my four groomsmen tried to get me into a pair of handcuffs. We tumbled around on the floor for quite a while and I’m sure the tuxedo rental company was none too pleased, but I remained unrestrained. With friends like that, who needs enemies? Nevertheless, those were practical jokes, pranks done in the name of fun. Betrayal is a different animal all together.

Betrayal sells out its victim. The betrayer derives a benefit at the expense of its mark. There is neither care or concern about the harm done to another, in fact, the harm may be quite intentional. Imagine taking delight in seeing someone else suffer. Yet, we’re all capable of such emotions if we view someone as evil or deserving of punishment. The Lord warned us that vengeance belongs to Him. Why? Because all too often we get it wrong. Judas got it wrong. Don’t be like him.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

When it comes to training children we’re supposed to expect them to take on more responsibility for their own care as they get older. They start brushing their own teeth, combing their own hair, get dressed by themselves, etc. If we’re good at this training stuff they eventually start cleaning their own room and ultimately doing their own laundry. We weren’t that good at training our kids but I’m happy to report they turned out to be great adults.

I followed my Dad’s example when it came to training kids. I did the chores: washed dishes, mowed the lawn, took out the trash until my kids wanted to be like me. I never pushed much, I just made it look like the mature thing to do. The question has often been asked, “When does a man know he’s become a man?” My answer would be: when you do the things that need to be done without looking around to see who notices or expect some sort of a reward for doing them.

When I was younger, I used to be offended when I had to do things others were supposed to do. Now I consider it an honor to help someone else out. There is a joy in serving but it only comes with maturity. How mature are you?

-Pastor Joel Everhart

I’d like to make fun of your favorite football team for the way they continually cave into the demands of players who say things like, “I love this city, the fans, the coaches and my teammates. I can’t imagine playing anywhere else. If you will pay me more than any other player at my position has ever gotten paid, I’ll continue to play here.” To quote a song from the 80s’, “What’s love got to do with it?” I say I’d like to make fun of your team but mine has signed players just like that too.

What could possibly make a player worth hundreds of millions of dollars? We’re not talking about a person who saves lives or develops cures for debilitating diseases or can help the paralyzed walk again. We’re talking about someone playing a sport. Millions of us pay to play sports: golf, bowling, tennis, swimming… We pay for our own equipment, gym memberships, court time, green fees, ace bandages, ice packs, anti-inflammatories, etc.

I think I could make a strong case for professional athlete salaries being the cause for inflation! Advertiser, cable & ticket prices all go up to pay them. Your drive through sandwich costs more because they hired one or more of these overpaid celebrities to take a bite out of one on national TV. They take our money and act like they’re being disrespected when being offered tens of millions of dollars. Oh, but we love our stars!

What was Jesus’ motivation? Did He ever hold out to negotiate a better contract? Why would anyone ever accuse Him of selfish motives? What about you; have you ever been tempted to question His heart, His character, His right to rule? Where would our team be without Him?

-Pastor Joel Everhart

The people in today’s text come to an impasse: They are hopeful that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah but they also believe that said Messiah would never die. It’s true that He would live forever but that didn’t necessarily mean He would never die. I’m sure you can understand how they got those two things confused: living forever vs dying. Jesus did die, but He rose from the dead and is now alive forevermore!

Everything God has promised will come to pass. Don’t be surprised if you go through a season where it doesn’t even look like it’s possible for one or more of His promises to be fulfilled. Remember that Jesus told us it would take a lot of patience and endurance to follow Him. Be patient and keep on believing regardless of the circumstances. Remember, He is God and He can do what no other power can do.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

There are a lot of things in life we must do but our heart just isn’t in it. We go to the dentist, clean the house, clean up the yard after the dog has used it, file our taxes… My wife will often say something like, “Do you want to wash the sheets today?” I’ll respond, “I don’t want to, but I will.” I don’t say that to be rude, but I don’t like having a chore I dislike being dressed up as though it’s something I like to do. Like is reserved for hobbies, entertainment, choosing a dessert, etc. Willing is me doing what I do not necessarily want to do but I will for any number of reasons, including to please my wife, to check of a necessary chore, to make our lives better, etc. In a sense, I want to do whatever needs done for the greater good but it’s not because I enjoy the experience. I guess you’d say I enjoy the results, not the process.

Jesus submitted to the Father not always because He enjoyed the event but because He knew that whatever the Father wanted was best in the light of eternity. It’s not unusual for us to not like what the Lord allows to happen to us but may we ever be more concerned about His pleasure than our own.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

When was the last time your plans were foiled because the venue you wanted to visit was closed? You were looking for a good meal at a favorite restaurant but forgot they were closed on Mondays or the park was open but the ride you looked forward to was shut down for repairs. Ever try to pay someone a surprise visit but you were the one surprised because they weren’t home?

Years ago we visited Old Bedford Village where they have a number of vendors displaying their wares and demonstrating how they do what they do. There were only two booths I was interested in: the person who tanned hides and the gunmaker. There were plenty of other displays (soap & candle making, quilters, etc.) but neither of the demonstrators I wanted to talk to were there the day we visited. I should have gotten my money back.

Most people who visit Jerusalem are looking to have an encounter with God. That was true of the folks in today’s text. More specifically, they wanted to see Jesus. When He didn’t show up when they were expecting Him, they were miffed. You and I have the assurance that will never happen to us because He has promised never to leave us!

-Pastor Joel Everhart