The View From My Window Pastor's Weekly Blog

It was the morning after I preached on James 1 where he said we are to count it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds. I walked into a dark room with a hot cup of tea in one hand & my bowl of cereal in the other. I set the tea down so I could turn on a light. Unfortunately, I set the cup on top of the remote so it toppled over & landed on the dog’s dish, breaking it into pieces sending dog food, spilled tea, & shards of glass in every direction. Immediately my sermon from the day before came to mind: “count it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds.” I laughed out loud right then.

I had been wondering how I was going to get the floors clean (as I usually do on Mondays) knowing I needed to spend the morning in the office, get my wife to a doctor’s appointment that afternoon, & attend a board meeting that night. No worries … my spilled tea had me sopping, sweeping, & mopping in no time. No matter what you believe, you will be asked to back it up with an action that proves you are not all talk.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

I now have five grandchildren: four boys & one girl. I can talk your ear off about any one of them. Which is my favorite? The one I’m with at the moment. Each is unique in their abilities & talents. Each is in their own stage of development. Each is delightful in a different way.

It’s okay to have favorites but its not alright to show favoritism. Having a favorite comes naturally, not showing favoritism requires intentional effort. First, you have to own that you like some people more than others. Next, you need to fight the tendency to spend all of your time & attention on those you favor. Finally, speak love & favor into your heart concerning those you do not naturally gravitate toward. Embracing their differences will help to expand your world.

The next time you are tempted to turn away from someone, focus on them instead. Show them favor with your heart, your actions & your attention.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

I stopped at WalMart the other morning on my way into the office. It was early & there weren’t many customers or workers in the store. As I came through the meat section & on into the bakery a young lady came out of the back room dressed as though she was ready to start working but the look on her face told a very different story. IF she was awake at all it wasn’t by much.

She was clearly unaware that she almost ran into me. The scene was so comical it was begging for a line like, “Hey Sleepy where’s Dopy & Doc?” or “Excuse me, are you sleep walking or walk sleeping?” With much restraint I withheld all my comments & let the poor girl stagger off to her section of the store. I wish I was always that good at keeping my mouth shut. May our study in James today help us to choose our words more wisely & practice silence more often.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

Ever sat in church & had the truth hit you right between the eyes? A comment was made from the pulpit that set off a series of wonderful thoughts & you were frustrated because it just wasn’t the place or time to share what was going on in your own spirit. Later those revelations faded before their impact could be fully assimilated into your life.

What if you had an opportunity to take what you heard, add what the Spirit is speaking into your heart & share it with someone else? I’ll tell you what would happen. The truth would become yours: it would become more firmly planted in your soul because there is something powerful about speaking what you believe (Romans 10:9-10). Also, you will have taken what God gave to you & planted a good seed in someone else’s life.

Tonight we are trying a grand experiment. We are going to start the service with this morning’s closing song, give a brief overview of the Sunday morning message, break up into groups & give you the opportunity to share what the sermon meant to you. IF we really believe that God speaks through our ministers, IF we believe it is God’s word for us today, shouldn’t we start taking it more seriously? Shouldn’t we take time to apply it to our lives?

– Pastor Joel Everhart

After three days of ignoring the tire pressure light on my dashboard, I finally said, “Enough with excuses I need to take care of this.” I pulled into my usual gas station & up to their faithful air dispenser happy that no one was using it. In short order my tire had less air in it than when I started. On to the next gas station … there was someone using that pump. I sit & wait while the clock in my head is ticking & I review the list of things I could be getting done if only I wasn’t just sitting & waiting.

Obviously I’m not still there waiting to inflate my tires; in fact it really didn’t take long at all. Why do waiting moments seem so much longer than doing moments? In this new year may all your moments bring you closer to the One who holds every tick on your clock.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

Merry Christmas! I’m willing to wager that your Christmas season hasn’t gone exactly as you had imagined it would. You probably had at least a few glitches with gift buying: couldn’t find the right color, size, or whatever, didn’t get what you hoped for &/or didn’t get the enthusiastic response you anticipated from one of the people to whom you gave a special gift. Maybe someone you invited isn’t coming or you didn’t get an invite to where you wanted to go. Perhaps you ended up doing all the cooking this year or worse — you got locked out of the kitchen.

The good news is that Christmas isn’t about us at all. It’s so fitting & perfect that we are in church this morning to worship the Lord! Soon all your holiday gaffs & foiled plans will be forgotten but He shall reign for ever & ever!

– Pastor Joel Everhart

I was driving along on a very warm day with my windows open & my grandson in a car seat in the back. Several times he commented on how much he was enjoying the “wind.” We stopped at a red light & he yelled, “Hey, who stopped the wind?”

Obviously he failed to discern that it wasn’t the air that was moving past us but us passing through the air. The wind didn’t stop — we did. His observation highlights a very human trait: blame someone or something else for any disturbance to our comfort thinking that supporting our coziness is the reason the world was created.

This morning we’re going to look at two men with the same name that acted completely different. One thought that God existed to serve him while the other got it right: he was created to serve the Lord.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

Do you remember this year’s Presidential Election? I know it was almost a month ago but I don’t want us to lose the wonder of all the pundits & polls being badly mistaken with all their predictions. Nor do I want us to relax our burning desire to see our nation turn to God! No president, governor, mayor, or judge is going to save America if her people do not turn away from their sins & turn to the Lord. We need revival much more than we need our policies changed … & many of our policies desperately need changing.

Pray for a change of heart, a transformation of people’s minds by the power of the Holy Spirit. This will be a greater miracle than the election — this will be a change that transforms. Pray for godly people to take control of Hollywood, Wall Street, Main Street, the military, & the church. Pray that you will be in constant step with the Lord, not lagging behind or running ahead, but consumed in His Presence & will. Nations become godly one person at a time. Start with you then work outward from there.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

I was vacuuming the floor when it became necessary to move the cord from one plug to another in order to reach into the next room. Trying to step around the sweeper I ran my little toe into the side of the machine. It’s absolutely amazing how much that hurt. The scream jumping from my lips was completely involuntary but entirely sincere. I noticed that my right hand was balled up in a fist & I had this tremendous urge to drive it through the closet door in front of me. Immediately my mind went into action trying to talk my fist out of its craving. My brain said, “I don’t want to pay for a new door! … Little hand you are likely to get hurt if you do that! … How will I explain to everyone else how the door was broken?”

There were a tense couple of seconds as my hand listened because even with all that wonderful logic being thrown at it, it still wanted to be driven through that door. Thankfully, both my fist & my door survived. Urges need to be controlled.

Urges are easily incited to do harm to their host. Maturity comes as we learn to live by discernment & truth rather than impulse & instinct. Just because someone’s words inspire you to take action does not mean those words come from God. The Holy Spirit inspires us but not everything that inspires us is from the Holy Spirit.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

Do you “in awesome wonder consider all the worlds [God’s] hands have made?” If not, it might not be a bad idea to try some time. As the song How Great Thou Art implies, consideration or contemplation precedes the singing of one’s soul: no contemplation, no singing soul. Thanksgiving is a result of using your mind to consider God’s goodness to you. Some people can’t get past a hurt or difficulty & therefore their mind does not think about God’s goodness, it brings accusations against Him.

It is good & it is fitting that we give thanks to God. If we are not singing God’s praises, we need to have a sit-down with our brain & redirect its thoughts. Examine the evidence: the beauty of creation, Jesus’ sacrifice on your behalf, the glories of heaven awaiting all who put their faith in Him … Then see if your soul doesn’t start singing.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

I was holding my 3-month-old granddaughter as she looked like she was doing her best to communicate with me:

I said, “The baby’s talking to me.”
My 3-yr-old grandson asked, “What’s she saying?”
“Grandpa is my favorite,” I responded.
Parker put his head down in a pouting fashion & said, “Me-maw is her favorite.”

Jeremiah went through some moments when he didn’t feel like the Lord’s favorite. In fact, he felt like the brunt of one of God’s jokes! However, he knew enough to stay faithful even when it hurt to serve the Lord. It’s alright to vent to the Lord but it’s never okay to quit. Trust that God knows what He’s doing & that everything will work together for good.

– Pastor Joel Everhart