Enviromentalist Toe-Jam

I know. The title it, well...it just sounds gross. Just humor me.

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take my boat to the lake. It has been a few months since I had run it, so I figured she was tired of sitting there, and I didn't want nautical arthritis to set in on her bow.

You see, gasoline engines need to be run from time to time. They were designed for that purpose. They were not built as residential complexes for the less-than-desirable creatures of the animal kingdom. I promise you this, you would not make a pet of anything you'll find living in an idle piece of equipment which once served as a mode of transportation. (Unless, you happen to find some perverted pleasure in walking your pet rat or cockroach).

So I charge-up the batteries and take Ole' Betsy to the lake. She fires right up and purrs like a kitten with a milk mustache. I make a few laps around the lake and start to bring her in to let her rest and then...she dies.

My motor is an old one. A 1979 115hp Mercury. The "Tower of Power". I like an old motor. No computer. No multitude of sensors. Just fire and gas. So, if the motor quits running, you have lost either your fuel supply or your spark needed for combustion. It's really about that simple.

So, I look at my clear-view inline fuel filter, and I see this "stuff". This "stuff" has clogged my filter and is preventing fuel from getting to the motor. But this foreign material is unlike any I have seen before. It is not the usual accumulation of loose dirt particles, it is a translucent, gooey looking blob.

I am able to get back to the ramp and load the boat, but the real fun has just begun. Now, I start my trek to world's unknown to discover the origin of the UGOS (Unidentified Gooey Object or Stuff).

With relative ease, I accomplish my mission. Because of a dual mission (protection of the environment and energy independence) some egg-head invented "gasoline" made from grain products, primarily corn. This miracle fuel is called Ethanol. This is not new, but re surged with higher fuel costs. It is an alcohol-like liquid which is used as a subsidizer in gasoline. It is not used to enhance the performance of the fuel, but rather as a filler. But Ethanol has many drawbacks. One of which, is the damage it can do to some types of plastics and fiber glasses (such as the fuel tank in my boat). It "eats away" at these materials and forms a jelly-like substance which is extremely harmful to fuel systems.

By law, in La. anyway, gas pumps which are pumping Ethanol "enhanced" fuels (usually at a ratio of 10%) must be clearly marked as such. So I guess I must have been jelly-filled for pumping the mess in my boat. But I do lay claim to ignorance.

So, my intent of giving Ole' Betsy a good day of exercise ended with my having to clean a bunch of "environmentalist toe-jam" out of her system. Thanks Sierra Club!

The Doors

Have you ever heard, or maybe used, the reference to God "opening and closing doors"? This expression is usually used when a person is facing a difficult decision. In an effort to find the proper exit, people ask God to shut down every unprofitable lane and draw them to their proper destination. Certainly, no one is arguing the desire for God's leadership or His ability to control all things and present opportunities. But if we are not careful, we will crash.

Life is about choices. Some spiritual. Some physical. Not all situations have a "wrong" choice. Blue shirt or red shirt? My choice. But neither choice is a "bad" one.

But some choices do have consequences and some of these consequences can be quite severe. If you refuse to acknowledge your sinful condition and need of a Savior, eternal torment will be your consequence. But it is your choice.

As God's people, we need to be careful how we view God's role in our decisions. Waiting for God to "open" or "shut" doors before we will commit to a decision, is often the result of a skewed view. Before we make a decision, we are often looking for external manifestation even though we have already received internal confirmation.

"Life is a highway" and if we desire that God close off every lane other than our own and only open the exits He wants us to take, we are desiring a somewhat Calvinistic existence.

One of the most difficult decisions I have ever made was leaving Holleyman Chapel MBC to come to Whispering Pines MBC. If I had decided to stay where I was, would that have been an ungodly choice? Whispering Pines wanted me to come in view of a call. The door of opportunity had been opened. But should I have waited for doors to close? Maybe I should have waited for my business to start failing, the church to start splitting, my wife to lose her job and the boys to start having serious problems at school. Then I would have known that God was closing doors.

But the problem was that I already knew what God wanted. Not from some external "signs" such as the slamming of doors, but by God leading in my heart. I just knew it!

Most pastors receive numerous opportunities to go preach in view of a call at another church. These are open doors. Are they not? But just because a door opens does not mean that it is God's perfect will for us to walk through it. I think it wise that we base our decisions not on external expectations but rather on those things the Lord has already given us...His Word and His Spirit.

Death Stinks

Today I'll be attending my 3rd funeral in the last 10 days. I just want to offer a short suggestion to my preacher friends. Death stinks. Do not try to make a funeral some sort of celebration of life.

I learned this lesson a couple of years ago when I had to bury my mom. Few people had more love for life than my mom. She was about as giving and loving as any I've ever seen. Her death created a huge void in our family.

When we had to bury her it hurt...bad. I didn't want to celebrate her life, I wanted my mom back. I know that was an impossible request, but that's all I wanted nonetheless.

Every family you will have to minister to, is in this same boat. They are extremely damaged. They are not in the shape to celebrate anything and we as preachers shouldn't be foolish enough to expect it if them. Leave the hyper-spirituality for the fairy tale world. Those who are having to bury a loved one are hurting. Death (our great enemy) has taking away one who is dear to their heart.

Love them. Help them any way you can. Pray for and with them. Preach Jesus.

The Old People Were Right...Again!

When I first started on the endeavor of writing my thesis for my Master's Degree (25,000 words) I kept hearing people say how 25,000 words was not enough to sufficiently cover a subject. Although never expressed audibly, I'm thinking these people just don't know what there talking about.

I know that they have already walked this path before. I know that they have already written their thesis. But I'm Mike Wilkes. And I am smarter than they are. How in the world would I ever be able to write 25,000 words in such a short period of time? These instructors are asking way too much. I am a husband, a dad, a coach, a pastor, a counselor, a student, a hunter, a fisherman and a lawnmower. No way would I ever be able to put together that many words and certainly not in the time allotted.

Now, a couple of weeks after having turned in my thesis (26,720 words)I am rethinking my positions.
#1 I wrote my thesis on the Humanity of Jesus, I didn't cover the subject adequately in 25,000 words and probably couldn't with 50,000.
#2 Even with all my other obligations, I had plenty of time to get it done
#3 I don't know everything
#4 Old People are always right

Another Stick Gone

I am sitting here getting ready to go to the funeral for Bro. Dwight Bird. Bro. Bird was never a man of notoriety in our national work. But he was a good stick. Let me elaborate.

A while back a preacher-friend and I were discussing the increasingly liberal paths the Lord's people seem to be taking. Both of us were concerned and we were deliberating the ways in which we might help to curb these trends. After a while we both concluded that the course of many of the Lord's people and His churches is like a raging river which is out of control.

My brother then stated that there was little we could possibly do. That's when I told him that we needed to be "sticks in the mud". "Stick in the mud" has long been a term used to describe someone who was unwilling to "change with the times" or "go with the flow".

I went on to explain to my friend that a "stick in the mud" is not going to reverse the course of a stream. But if you can put enough sticks in the mud, it sure will slow down the process of erosion.

I thank God for some of the erosion slowing sticks I have known. Thank you Bro. Bill Pickard, Bro. Don McCormick, Bro. Ken Price, Bro. Willie Knight, Bro. Dwight Bird. Thank you men for being "sticks in the mud".