Thursday: Your car and you

Happy Thursday, my dear brothers and sisters. It is family day on this line, and how important families are! The most important part of a family is Jesus, in fact if you do not have Jesus in your family, you are missing the one who should be heading it up ... AMEN.

Let's today welcome Jesus into our homes and hearts . Let's put Him in charge of things. Jesus will give you things that money or fame cannot purchase; He will give you love, unconditional love, and besides that He will supply all of your needs if you just believe. So pray for families today, pray for the family of God, notice it does not say families of God, for indeed there is just one family of God for there is but one God. Next, pray for all families, and please pray for our family and we will pray for yours. AMEN.

We are thankful this day that Oliver has come home from the hospital, however please keep him in your prayers.

Your car and you: People often say that we who have dogs sort of look and even act like our beloved pets. Wow, is that true or what? I have always loved those dogs with long hair, and if you have seen me and know me you know I don't spend much money on haircuts or shaving ... in fact, I don't spend any. My dogs of choice over the years -- Yorkshire Terriers, Collies, Old English Sheep, long haired Poms. But what about your car and you ... What do you have in common with that car?

Most of us who have been motorheads and I am surely one of those, have a love for the first car they ever owned. So my love of cars would go back to a 1947 Oldsmobile Convertible, a 1938 International Panel Truck and a 1950 Ford two door sedan. I got the first, the Olds, at age 14, the truck at 15, and the Ford the day I turned 16. After that first car, I don't believe there has been a time in my life that I had just one or even two vehicles. Maybe today I should be ashamed to say just how many vehicles I have. But what do we have in common with those beloved cars?

Well, we both for sure like to eat. Back when I was sixteen and driving my cars, a gallon of gas was about 19 cents and a burger was 15 cents. Today in our area gas is about 1 buck 90 cents and you can buy a former 15 cent burger for, well a buck ... in fact, you can get a double burger with cheese for a buck. What a bargain that burger is, but people sure are funny ... we complain about how much that gallon of gas costs, and when we fill the car we go into the store to pay for it, and pick up a bottle of water for a buck (that is still just about free at home), and a cup of coffee for well sometimes up to 4 dollars. OK, got off the subject a tad ... we both like to eat. Oh, and your car and you, well dare I say we both have "Exhaust" and I am not sure which stinks the most. And cars of today have a brain, and today when our car goes to the shop they hook up these big machines that check our systems, sort of like going to the doctor's for a heart test.... And if the car is not working correctly it might even overheat like we do. If a tire goes flat, it would limp like a person with a bad foot.

Now folks, I could go on and on with this. When we by a car, do we get one that fits our habits? If you are a man who takes his shirt off in the summer or a lady who likes to wear those halter tops around the yard, maybe you like the cars that, well go topless. If you are one who likes the sheer look of those nylons maybe you like the cars with the glass tops. If you are a big person, and this is me, you still like those really big cars. In my daily driver is a 1993 Caddy six door sedan (21 mile per gallon, thank you). So again I could go on and on down memory lane ... A petite lady like my dear wife Dolores has a Chevrolet HHR, a wee little truck (oops, only 20 MPG on that one).

Back in the sixties, I drove those VW bugs and the Chevrolet Corvair (no smart remarks about the location of the engine folks). Like all cars, if you do not service them properly, they cause you trouble. Well if you did not keep the right amount of air in the rear tires and you drove like a nut, you could roll them over easily. You have the same thing today on an SUV. Along comes a man called Ralph Nader and the Nader raiders as we called them, and cars that had some problems were called back to the ones who built them for repairs. And yes, folks, that is the last thing today I want to touch on about you and your car being the same. Both are subject to recall by their makers. Yes, we people get called by our maker into His service and we will also be recalled by our maker when our time is up here on earth.

Now, when a car is recalled, you hope to get it back to the shop before what is being recalled might break and have you sitting along the road. Well folks, you get a letter in the mail and maybe a reminder or two about the recall on the vehicle. But what about us, you know, will God send us a letter? You are being recalled on March 1, 2009. No. ... we need to get ourselves ready for the recall now. Your letters have been sent ... in fact, I sent you one just yesterday and took you through all the repair steps. So you are ready for the recall if you invited Jesus into your life ...

Oh, there is one thing about the recall we will get ... God will send for us, we will not be able to take that beloved car. You can leave it for someone else here on earth. Maybe put a note in it ... oh, that is a good idea, let's all put a plan of salvation in the glove box for the next owner.

Folks, I am sure that over the years, you have had more repairs done to you than all your cars put together. Think about it, how many times have you replaced your brakes, changed your oil, put on new tires? Then think about this, how many times has God healed your colds, healed broken bones, healed broken hearts, broken spirits, and most of all forgiven our sins? Oh, we have been repaired and repaired, but up till now NEVER RECALLED. Folks, today take this as a recall warning on yourself, get ready, look at yesterdays message. And when the recall notice comes, you will find yourself before Jesus, already past, already forgiven, already repaired, and like getting a new car, well PRAISE THE LORD, we will get that new body ... no pain, no suffering, and no hurts, and no more recalls, just one ... just one ... So get ready... who knows when we will be recalled? You have already been called (Mark 16: 15) now be ready for the recall ...

Dear Father in Heaven, I want to be in the family of God, I want to be forgiven of my sins so that when recall day comes for me, I will be welcome home. Lord, please forgive me of my sins and help me repent of them. In the name of Jesus I ask this . Save me please. In Jesus name, Amen.

Now share those blessings, that is one thing that after you are born again you can do to be working for Jesus. Working on the called par. Oh, and God does pay good for working for Him, yes, He supplies our needs, and that benefit package, well that is just HEAVENLY ... Love ya, dan.

Oh, by the way, I do have more than two vehicles right now ... just a few, maybe two dozen. But just ONE AND ONE ONLY GOD, HIS NAME IS JESUS ...