The View From My Window Pastor's Weekly Blog

When I’m driving my Mustang, I’ll have other Mustang drivers give me a friendly wave. Motorcyclists and Jeep owners have their little greetings for one another on the highway. There are probably a few more vehicles that fit that category of being a “thing”. When I’m driving my Lexus, nobody cares. My Lexus looks like five other makes made in the same decade. There are millions of white cars that look nearly identical to mine on the road. You need to look for the badge to see which company made it.

True believers have a way of finding each other. They stick out from the crowd. There are millions of generic Christians. You may or may not find them in church on any given Sunday, you could work beside them or go to school with them for years and never even suspect they have any faith in Jesus. They tend to blend in with whatever crowd is available. But true believers stand out. They are unusual. They’re unconcerned about the opinion of the majority. They’re living to please One. Are you ready to join our club?

-Pastor Joel Everhart

What kinds of needs qualify for prayer requests? Usually, whenever we mention something to the body at large it has to be a rather “large” need: cancer, loss of a job, CT scans, etc. That makes sense, of course, otherwise we’d be here all day hearing about each other’s car inspection coming due, our cousin’s pony, and an upcoming dental exam. However, that doesn’t prevent each of us from carrying all these and more to God in prayer for both ourselves and those we love. In fact, that’s exactly what we’re supposed to do. We are to “cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us”. Less worry, more prayer; less stress, more faith. No need too large, no concern too small; take it to the Lord in prayer.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

Imagine knowing exactly what you were going to do with your life from the moment you are born. Your parents told you about an angelic visitation and a number of prophecies that had been spoken over your life. Deep inside your own soul you have had a conviction, an unmistakable call. Such was the life of John the Baptist. He was born to get everyone else ready to meet the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

In a way, that’s our purpose and call too. Perhaps not from birth but surely from the moment we are born again. What is there about your life that points others to Jesus, and are there any things that detract from that purpose? If your lamp could use a brighter bulb, don’t get discouraged and quit, ask the Lord to cleanse your lens and increase your wattage.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

As I see the end of my pastoral career appear on the horizon, God willing still a few years off, I think about those things most necessary to communicate. The Gospel of John heads that list. It was written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God come to save us from our sins. It contains what is likely the most important verse in the whole Bible: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

I fear that as I have labored to prepare for this series that I’ve sliced the bread a little too thin, that is, spent too much time in each of the chapters rather than just hit the highlights. The problem with this is to drag the series too far out and perhaps lose the interest of my audience. At the same time, I fear that I’ve not been studious enough, missing some nutritious morsels that might make a real difference in your spiritual walk. But I suppose that is the dilemma of every pastor as he sets about the task of feeding the body.

Pray along with me that what is most necessary will be brought out each week and that all of us will be strengthened by it.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

Ever make yourself sick? You ate something you knew would upset your stomach or cause heartburn later. Maybe you stayed up too late knowing you had a “big day” coming up. Perhaps you’ve continually eaten things that have packed on the pounds causing a mirid of discomforts and disorders. Sorry.

I bring that up because I think we do the same thing to ourselves mentally. For some reason our soul loves to dine on negative thoughts. Gossip is tasty, self-pity goes down so smooth, self-loathing has an addictive quality, and expecting the worst feels so right. Yet, all of this negativity drives up anxiety and invites depression. We become emotionally obese. Our thoughts are painful and our mood morose.

What if there was a way to brighten our mood and let a little light into our soul? What if you could get an appetite for positive, healthy, joyful thoughts? The key, as Dr. Tim Keller tells us, is not to listen to your heart but to talk to it. Don’t be driven by how you feel; direct your feelings according to the promises of God.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

I was talking with Lyric Womer after he got home from the last Royal Ranger campout. They’d had a wonderful time camping and floating down a river on innertubes. However, one of the highlights of his weekend was being able to get a shower when he got home. There’s nothing quite like feeling clean. I have no idea how people lived with themselves in bygone days where they bathed once or twice a year. Even when I was a boy the expectation was once a week, the iconic Saturday night bath. I remember peeling my socks off and the standard joke was they’d be able to stand up in the corner by themselves.

A common comment I hear from people who get saved is that they “feel so clean inside.” In fact, the sky looks bluer, the birds sing sweeter… It’s as though their eyes and ears have been washed as well as their heart.

One of our hymns says, “There is a fountain filled with blood, flows from Immanuel’s veins, and all who plunge beneath its flood loose all their guilty stains.” Isn’t that a wonderful promise; a great reality? “My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more, praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, oh my soul!”

Jesus’ blood is still effective on every stain left behind by sin. There is freedom for all who come to Him in repentance and faith.

-Pastor Joel Everhart

In my lifetime, sin has never been more “in your face” than it is today. Filth headlines the entertainment industry, dominates the talk shows, and has even made major inroads into public school curriculum. Cheaters abound, expectations of keeping oneself for marriage have all but evaporated, and very few, even in the church, are held to any standard of morality. If you cannot develop self-discipline and have a personal goal to please the Lord, you will quickly and easily be swept right into hell with the rest of our perverted society.

BUT, if you do desire to follow the Lord, obey His commands, and love His ways, there is ample power from heaven to fuel your efforts and defend your sanctified heart. Like the prophets of old, you will live like an alien, untainted by the temptations of the day, and tuned into the heartbeat of God.

There is freedom from the things that tempt us, if only we will seek it out. It won’t come easily. It won’t come naturally. You will have to swim against the tide until your heart and mind are strong enough to resist your own fleshly impulses and enjoy dining at God’s table. The words to an old hymn come to mind, “a higher plain than I have found, Lord plant my feet on higher ground”.

-Pastor Joel Everhart