The View From My Window Pastor's Weekly Blog

Out walking the dog one morning I saw the biggest skunk I’ve ever seen. He was completely black with three spots of white on his head, his back, & his tail. I wasn’t concerned because most of the skunks in Hanover are very familiar with people & don’t pay us any mind at all. Add to that the fact that this skunk was “out of range.” However, when this particular one saw us he looked startled, pointed his hind end at us & raised his tail! My heart skipped a beat & my feet shifted into a higher gear. Again, he was out of range but that didn’t prevent me from being alarmed.

Have you ever been afraid of something of which you knew you shouldn’t be afraid? Have you ever shrunk from saying something you should have said? Paul tells us in today’s text that there are two things that will help: 1) prayer & 2) preparing to face whatever it was that previously caused you to respond poorly.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

We had our four preschool aged grandsons together recently. One is rather dominant & will take a toy off of any of the others simply because they have it. The others respond in various ways: 1) move on to another toy, 2) report the crime to an adult, or 3) scream & cry.

I see my job as Grandpa to discipline the toy snatcher & toughen up the snatchees. I’m not looking for a brawl to break out but for harmony to reign. Taking things from others is unacceptable. Whining & crying isn’t much better. Authorities can intervene if necessary but there is an implied middle ground where one takes reasonable measures to protect one’s own space.

Jesus didn’t ask His followers to resort to violence but He did tell them to stand their ground. In fact, He commanded them to go into all the world & preach the gospel. This is our Father’s world & it’s time we stopped acting like it belongs to a bunch of sinners. It’s time to call everyone to repentance & belief in Jesus’ name. Onward, Christian soldiers!

– Pastor Joel Everhart

The Pirates had a bit of a losing streak largely due to poor pitching. With their ace on the disabled list they looked to their farm team in Indianapolis for help, & received Chad Kuhl to pitch against the league’s best: Los Angeles Dodgers Clayton Kershaw. It was Chad’s first appearance in a major league game! He gave up a hit & two walks in the 1st inning but escaped without giving up a run. After striking out against Kershaw, the crowd gave him a standing ovation (led by his mom) because he fouled off a number of pitches, which ran up Kershaw’s pitch count. Later he tagged out a runner at the plate & leapt into the air pumping his fist, once again bringing the home crowd to their feet. He & the Pirates won the game 4-3. The team went on to win something like 10 of their next 12 games.

No one expected Chad to win that game except Chad & maybe his mom. The young man came to the ballpark with two things in his belly: butterflies & fire. He’d spent his whole life preparing for this moment & he was ready. As believers we’ve been spending our time preparing to serve the Lord.

It’s time to take the field. Now fight.

 – Pastor Joel Everhart

I was relaxing on the couch when I began to stretch my arms, grunt, & moan as we old men often do. My grandson left his toys, crawled up on the couch, & began to mimic my actions as well as the sounds I was making. After about a minute he asked, “What are we doing, Grandpa?”

I thought he didn’t want to miss a good opportunity to stretch. Apparently he was just willing to try something that looked strange even though the benefit of it was not immediately obvious.

Many believers fail to see the benefits of studying the Bible. They may actually read it from time to time but do so more out of obligation than anticipation. Dutifully reading the Word of God & mimicking what we see other believers doing won’t cut it. Ask the Lord to speak to you through His Word then read it with an open mind. Learning to love the Bible is a huge step forward in your maturing as a Christian & as a person. Try it; you’ll like it.

 – Pastor Joel Everhart

I was texting my son to see if he wanted to go with me to the clay bird shoot at the Ruth Farm the following day. As I texted, “Planning on shooting t-o-m-…” the phone autocorrected the sentence, “Planning on shooting Tom?” rather than my intended text: “Planning of shooting tomorrow?” That kind of struck me as funny & I wondered how Tom might feel about it. How would you feel if you knew that the whole cellular world was trying to encourage people to shoot you?

Knowing how many times my phone has sent messages I wasn’t intending to send, that got me to thinking further: Could this somehow be used against me in a court of law? With all this NSA surveillance going on could my phone send an unintended threatening message then turn me in to the authorities? More than ever before we need all the protection we can get. This morning we’re going to be talking about the Helmet of Salvation.

 – Pastor Joel Everhart

God has been showing me lately that fear is worse than injury. It is more traumatic to be afraid of a bee than to be stung by one; the fear of a bully does more damage to us than his punch. Fear is our great enemy. Faith, hope, & love are our tools to combat fear. Knowing that we are under the protection of a sovereign, all powerful God who loves us should eliminate most of our anxieties.

If He allows something to strike us, even the pain will somehow serve to improve us. We may not enjoy the experience but will through it learn to endure. Earned endurance & patience make us whole, complete, able to stand. “Fear not for I have redeemed you. I have called you by name you are mine.” Every time you cross another fear off your list (spiders, snakes, meetings, speaking in front of others, being rejected, going to the dentist…) you give the enemy less room to trouble your soul. Learn how to use your Shield of Faith to extinguish the devil’s fiery darts of fear & worry.

 – Pastor Joel Everhart

The other day my grandson & I had a large bottle of bubbles at the park. He wanted to hold the base but I only allowed him to dip the wand while I held the soap. Later we were in a different part of the park when he asked if we could blow bubbles again. I said sure & he said, “I’ll get it” & ran off to fetch the bubble maker. As soon as he grabbed the bottle he turned around to make sure I was still at the other end of the park then took off to the opposite corner, opened the top, blew a few bubbles & promptly spilled the soap onto the ground. I didn’t call or chase after him allowing nature to run its course. He ran over to me, grabbed my hand & led me over to the spilled bubbles & said, “We have to pick them up.” That’s when I explained why I need to hold the base while he uses the wand.

The Scriptural command to “be strong in the Lord” is a bit of an oxymoron. In order to be strong in the Lord we need to stop being so strong in ourselves. As long as we’re convinced we don’t need His help we will continue to spill our bubbles.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

I was following a school bus in mid-May. Often the bus had to wait while children came running (& in some cases walking slower than a turtle) down the street. By May it should be obvious to all school children & their parents that the school bus is coming! Therefore, be ready to board when it arrives. At one stop a family waited in their vehicle until the bus came to a complete stop. Only then did they exit their SUV, stop to hug & kiss mom goodbye, paused to wave at the others on the bus, THEN proceeded to cross the road in order to board the bus.

I know they have bus evacuation drills in case of an emergency … I think they need to have bus boarding drills in case someone else is trying to get to work on time. The passage we’ll be studying out of Ephesians this morning asks us to work efficiently & in a sweet spirit not just whenever the boss is watching but even after he’s gone home for the day. People who work like that make the lives of the other people on the planet a little easier.

 – Pastor Joel Everhart

Have you ever contemplated the difference between an off day & a day off? Each assumes that not much regular work is being accomplished yet the mention of one comes with ill feelings while the other is accompanied by pleasant thoughts. One is dreaded; the other is anticipated.

Perhaps saddest of all is when you have an off day on your day off! Yet, at the same time, that might be the very best time to have an off day. If you have too many off days at work you might find yourself with a lot of days off!

On this Father’s Day you may not get any relief from your regular obligations (changing diapers, helping with dinner, mowing the lawn, etc.). As long as it all goes smoothly is about as much as we can ask out of a day. So, today might not be a day off for you Dad (in fact it may require a little more than normal), take it all in stride & be thankful it’s not an off day.

 – Pastor Joel Everhart

I had my grandson at the park the other day when another family came by to play. That family had two children: a boy, Max, my grandson’s age (2½) and a girl, Madison, who is 6. Over & over again Madison mentioned to me that she was older than the boys. She could climb higher because she was older; she could spin faster because she was older; she could tell them what to do because she was older. After finishing a round on the carousel Madison said, “I’m having trouble getting up.” I said, “I hear that happens to old people.” Popping up to her feet she declared, “I’m not old like that!”

At what age does being the older sister go from being a bragging point to becoming a well-guarded secret? Family dynamics are just that: dynamic, ever changing. However, there are a few basics that ought to hold true no matter what age the children become; we’ll be talking about those essentials this morning.

– Pastor Joel Everhart

I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon when purchasing eggs: there is almost always one cracked egg in the first carton I examine. Very rarely I find more than one cracked egg in any one container. I find that curious. If the box sustained an egg-cracking blow, why is only one egg affected? Is that the hero egg that took the full force of the impact in order to save his “cartonmates” or is the that the weak egg that was unable to hold it together when all the others were able to withstand the pressure? Suffice it say it must be very difficult to get 12 eggs from the henhouse to your refrigerator without any casualties.

Likewise, when we see all the broken marriages around us we have to conclude that it must be very hard to preserve love from the altar to the grave. Each story of endurance & brokenness is unique. My prayer is that you will find something helpful for your particular situation in the sermon this morning. May God bless your marital status.

 – Pastor Joel Everhart