Pastor Bob

The life of Joshua shows us what a person can do if he or she will commit his or her life to God with no restrictions. Joshua was tasked with choosing and leading an army against the seasoned Amalekites. The problem was that he only had one night to pull an army together. No time for training or to make more weapons. They had to go with what they had. 

The day of the battle occurred and Joshua went against the superior Amalekites. Moses was up on the hill with Aaron and Hur. He held  his arms out toward the battle until he couldn’t hold up his arms anymore. Then Aaron and Hur helped Moses hold his arms up. Joshua won the battle that day because he was an obedient servant and did what he could even though he wasn’t trained to do it. That took courage and trust in God. Read the story in Exodus 17:8-16. Pastor Bob

(Note: Read part one first) I was fortunate to have someone to show me the ropes when I performed my first car wash. Imagine the challenge that Joshua must have faced in Exodus 17:8 when Moses assigned him the task of picking an army overnight. Israel didn’t have an army to fight the Amalekites and Joshua wasn’t a soldier. The children of Israel didn’t even have many weapons because the Egyptians would have frowned on them having weapons.

So Joshua was obedient and courageous when he chose the army out of his limited resources. I was being silly when I spoke about the difficulty of doing something new like washing your car but for Joshua this was serious stuff. He obeyed, stepped out in faith, and God blessed.

Let God help you this day to step out and do the hard stuff that intimidates you. God will help you. Pastor Bob  

In the last few weeks, I have experienced something I haven’t done in decades…going to a self-car wash. You should be proud, I have now washed my wife’s car twice and my truck once. It has been quite an experience. (For you experienced car washers, try not to laugh too loud.) The first time I entered the car wash, I was fortunate to have my son-in-law with me. He taught me car wash etiquette. Number one on the list is to make sure you do not cut in line and face your car the correct way. Easy you say. But there were multiple lines and different feats that could be performed on your car. Of course car washing was the number one draw but then there was vacuuming. Vacuuming opens a whole can of worms. Should you vacuum before or after you wash your car? There are different lines for each. What about wiping down your car after you wash it? What do you use? There are so many choices.

Once you are in the car wash, there are so many new problems with which to deal. How do you pay for it? After help from my son-in-law, I deposited a five dollar bill in the machine. Now what? Do you pre-soak, wash, or use the brush thing? To shorten the story I washed, rinsed, and waxed in about 5 minutes leaving a small fortune for the next guy. And by the way, the drive home did just fine drying off the car.

The first car wash was in Tennessee. Yesterday was in New Jersey on a Saturday (The first nice day in about 4 months). The first time I went to this place I learned the ropes about getting change and how to work the machine. This did not prepare me for Saturday. The pros were out. This was like a car wash tournament. I knew I was in trouble when the guy in front of me drove a Ford Mustang. Mustang owners…well let’s just say they are proud of their cars. When he finally got up to bat or should I say wash, I watched as he took the brush and soaped the car. He must have had $100 because this wasn’t Tennessee. All around proud owners of their rides soaped, presoaked, washed, rinsed, waxed, dried, vacuumed, and things I don’t understand yet. I even saw this colorful soap. What is that?

Finally my turn came up. I only had $4.00. So when I turned the thing on, I washed, rinsed, and waxed with $4.00 and time to spare. I jumped in my car and drove off to the disapproving looks from the pros. My technique was wrong, but I didn’t care. (More to come next time) Pastor Bob

What a winter it has been!!! One of the worst on record. We have had over 17 storms come through New Jersey and over 5 feet of snow that never goes away because it is so coooold. (Read that last statement out loud with plenty of emotion) But the joy of the Lord is in my heart and that makes me sunny on the inside. I’m not looking at the mountains of challenges ahead but at the molehills of daily living that God helps me through. These challenges look small through God’s eyes.

So keep a God-perspective and let God help you each day. Got to go. See you. Pastor Bob