One Pastor's Perspective

Not a quote of the classic hit by the Who . . . The one in which they say a worty dird. No, yesterday as we talked about character, the bottom line is who we are in private, behind closed doors, in the “hidden” places, IS WHO WE ARE PERIOD. A sermon like that is difficult to deliver, because I am not perfect and do not profess to be. I am a work in progress and God teaches me and molds me all of the time (because I NEED IT!!)

We need to be keenly aware that those around us are watching ALL OF US and they desperately need to see that Christ makes a difference in our lives. And the only way they will see that is if we put on this big, dramatic, churchy front all of the time and make them feel like they are missing out! RIGHT?!?!?

WRONG. The only way they will see it is if it is REAL to us. If we are REAL. The irony is, we think we can fool people, but many people can see right through. ARE YOU REAL?? WHO ARE YOU?

A Lesson in Character

Yep, two words that evoke fear into the heart of any VW owner. Krissy’s battery has had a “cold” for a while now. I usually clear the green crud and let it roll. Well, DUMMY decided yesterday that I needed to clean it well and put some washers on there to prevent the corrosion. How did that go?? NOT TOO GOOD.

I had a difficult time figuring out how to loosen the terminal, thanks to a VW innovation that is basically a yoke that pulls the terminal tight on the battery post. It is a neat little invention, UNTIL YOU BREAK IT AND CANNOT FIND A REPLACEMENT. A 20-year veteran of auto parts looked at me and said, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT? I then knew I was in trouble . . . NOPE, I mean I then knew I was a VW owner.

Of course, the bolt waited until the Foreign Car Parts place in town was closed. After wasting half of a tank of gas looking for it, I decided to put the drill press to use and MAKE WHAT I NEEDED. Yep, that was fun! But to no avail . . . After “making” a new yoke bolt, I found the battery acid had eaten in to the terminal too much.

My fourth trip to the auto parts place had me buying a new terminal to put on the battery cable. Easier said than done on a V-Dub. After hours of work, finagling, sweat, and tears, Diana, Drew and I got it on there and it appears to be working (Knock wood [David says as he knocks on his head.])

We got it all back on and I hope, hope, hope I don’t have to mess with any again any time soon. Everytime I sneezed or looked at it with less than a smile, something went wrong. WHAT A DAY FOR THE Carolina/Duke game!!!

So, I spent most of the day working on Gretta . . What did YOU do yesterday?

For those who believe I only work two days a week, and don’t even do those two well, this post is for you!! It is 10:35am on my day off, and here is what I have already done today:

-Got up at 6:30, cooked breakfast for my wife (she had to work today)
-Went to the YMCA. Worked out, visited with some folks
-Got home and found out about a death in a church family (the father of a member).
-Made several calls to track the church member down. Spoke to his mom and then to him for a little while.
-Talked to the chair of a church committee and began to track down another church member needing some info for the chair.
-Answered and forwarded a couple of emails about small group Bible studies and some details about another funeral.
-Ate an apple AND a banana as a post-workout snack.
-Blogged about it.

And they say “David Wike does nothing.” At least I work on my day off!!!

It will eat you from the inside-out . . . Holding a grudge, harboring anger is a dangerous and unhealthy thing. So, why it is to easy to do?? Why so hard to let go??

The first step is to realize why we hold on to anger . . . It IS natural that we get angry for a variety of reasons. When we hold on to it, it is usually an act of our own ego. We feel we have been wronged or someone we love has been wronged and it becomes very difficult to forgive. Sometimes the one wronging us or our loved one never asks for forgiveness, and we feel we shouldn’t have to forgive. I could keep on writing about this, but you get the idea . . .

But, holding a grudge only hurts the one holding it. Most times, the “grudgee” has no idea and does not even care. Yet, we hold on to it and allow it to alter our lives, run our bloodpressure up, put gray hairs on our heads, all in the name of what we think is right.

The difficult thing here is that the person who wronged us might NEVER apologize or give us sufficient reason, in our minds, to let go of the grudge. So we hold on tight and it keeps eating away at US. RESPECT YOURSELF MORE THAN THAT.

The words of Jesus clearly tell us that we cannot worship God if we are harboring bitterness toward others OR if we know a relationship is broken with another. HOW DO WE DO IT?? As we talked about last night at Wednesday Bible Study, this is one of the areas of life where God’s grace will help us if we let it. God can give you what you need to forgive EVEN when human nature tells you not to forgive. And, it IS liberating to allow such burdens to be lifted . . Believe me.

I don’t have it all worked out yet. I don’t have this one licked. But I am trying!!!

Man, what a storm (or SERIES of storms, as it was) last night! We saw marble-sized hail, hard rain and winds, thunder and lightening, and we lost power for a couple of minutes. I do think we have caught up on our rain deficit at this point in the 21st century.

Today will be a day of assessing damage. Is the roof okay? Are the cars okay? Any other type of damage to the house? Ah, the joys of home ownership!

In other news, congrats to Brett Favre for a great career. Personally, I hate to see him hang it up, but why shouldn’t he?? He has accomplished everything he could in the NFL, has plenty of money, why not enjoy it??

I saw one of the rarest of rare stereo components today . . . Ed Self had a bonafide TURNTABLE. Yes, a record player. He had to search and borrow one from a choir member to convert an old album to CD. WOW!!! I wonder how many of our youth would even know what it was if they saw it???

I remember when cassettes first came out and were going to be the ultimate replacement of LPs. Then came the compact disc, the next ULTIMATE. Now, we buy more music online than we ever do in a music store.

I just wonder what’s next?

Okay, we had the vote. It was 369 – 31, which is over 92% positive (which is pretty good in a Baptist church). So, what do we do now?

KEEP PRAYING! Several things will happen in the next few weeks that will put things into motion. There will be some changes on the New Facilities team that the church will vote on. There are contracts to be signed, plans to begin, and several behind-the-scenes things that will happen (even though it will look like NOTHING is being done).

BEWARE . . . The devil will do his best to try to stop this and to divide our church. He has been attacking for several weeks now, and won’t just stop because of a vote.

BE WILLING! This vote does not change the fact that we have an immediate ministry in front of us: There are over 21,000 people within a three-mile radius of Ebenezer. If this SC Baptist Convention numbers hold true, over 15,000 do not have personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Need I write more???

Ebenezer Baptist Church, I am praying for you and me this week that God will break our hearts about this to the point that we will do something about it.

The Battle belongs to the Lord – today’s sermon. By the way, the vote was over 92% YES!!

I woke up a little earlier than usual on a Sunday. I think God woke me up to pray, so that is what I have been doing. My prayer today, on this momentous day for Ebenezer, is that God’s will be what is done . . . That is all! Last night at the discussion someone said: “If God wants this to happen, it cannot be stopped.” WOW!

I think this really will be a reflection of whether or not WE are ready, because I believe God has been ready for a long time now . . .