The following are actual statements found on insurance forms where drivers attempted to summarize the details of an accident in the fewest words possible:

• Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I don’t have.

• A pedestrian hit me and went under my car.

• The guy was all over the road.  I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.

• I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and drove over the embankment.

• I had been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel and had an accident.

• An invisible car came out of nowhere, struck my car and vanished.

• The other car collided with mine without giving warning of its intentions.

Of all the lame excuses given in the history of excuse-giving, Aaron’s explanation of the golden calf is right at the top of the list.  I can see Aaron standing red-faced in front of the golden calf he desperately wished would just disappear.  There stands Moses the man of God with arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently waiting for an answer.  He isn’t in a good mood as demonstrated by the smashing of the two stone tablets upon sight of the golden calf.

Frantically searching for something half-way intelligent to say, Aaron offered up this excuse, “They said to me, ‘Make us a god to lead us, for something has happened to this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt.’  Well, I told them, ‘Bring me your gold earrings.’  So they brought them to me and I threw them into the fire, and…well…this calf came out!”  (Exodus 32:23-24)  

We live in a society that would rather make an excuse than take personal responsibility.  But excuses don’t get you very far in the court of heaven.  Confession does.  Rather than making excuses for sins and spiritual shortcomings, confess them.  Confession, not excuses, opens the door to mercy.

Pastor Todd Weston

Since I had nothing else to do at 7:00am on my day off I decided to come to the service department at Germain Toyota to write this article.  Actually, I brought  Sheri’s Prius in for it’s 5,000 mile service.  

I knew a girl in Bible College who destroyed an engine in a new Toyota because she never had the oil changed.  When her frustrated father asked about it she revealed her naivety by saying, “But dad, the car came with oil already in it.”  Someday they may come up with a maintenance free car, but until then be sure to get the oil changed. 

Wouldn’t it be great if life was maintenance free?  Think about it.  No annual check-ups at the doctor’s office.  No memberships at the fitness center.  Automatic personal hygiene.  No financial reviews or retirement planning with your advisor.  No worries at all.  Just set it on cruise control and let life take care of itself.  Sounds kind of like heaven, doesn’t it?!

Think of all the time you would save if your house was maintenance free?  The yard would mow itself.  The bed would make itself.  The house would clean itself.  Home repairs would be automatic.  Push-button meals.  Your house would be self-regulating, anticipating and meeting its every need.  Wouldn’t that be cool? 

What if your spiritual life was maintenance free?  You would never have to open your Bible again.  Prayer would be a thing of the past.  Fasting?  Are you kidding?  Church attendance?  Unnecessary.  No more studying the Scriptures, reading good Christian books, or taking classes designed for spiritual development.  Nothing more to learn.  Nothing left to pursue.  Just sign your initial commitment to Christ card, file it, and forget about it.

Okay, enough silly day-dreaming.  Nothing about life is maintenance free, especially your spiritual life.  Rather than being an automatic thing, the Christian life requires regular maintenance.  Peter stated it like this in 2 Peter 1:10, “Give diligence to make your call and election sure.” Peter added that diligent attention to your spiritual life is the way to avoid catastrophic failure.

Well, they just notified me that my car is ready.  Another 5,000 mile service successfully completed.  But I will be back in about six months to do it all over again.  Until then…

Pastor Todd Weston   

This past Sunday we considered the story recorded in 1 Samuel 14 of Jonathan and his young armor bearer who took on the Philistine garrison numbering about twenty men.  While King Saul and the Israeli army sat paralyzed by indecision, Jonathan and his assistant launched a two-man assault that wiped out the garrison and led to a great victory for the army of Israel.

One of the features of the story we did not elaborate on is the unity that existed between Jonathan and his young attendant.  In biblical times all warriors of distinction had armor bearers.  These men were selected for their bravery, skill, and loyalty.  Along with carrying additional armor and weapons, these choice soldiers fought alongside their commanding officers in battle finishing off wounded enemy combatants.

When Jonathan proposed the radical plan of attack to his armor bearer, it was readily embraced.  I wonder how the story would have ended if the young man would have responded otherwise.  He could have resisted.  He could have rejected the plan.  He could have resigned on the spot.  Some people do.  Fortunately, the young man didn’t respond in any of those ways.  Instead, he told Jonathan, “Do all that is in your heart…I am with you” (1 Samuel 14:7).  

The victory that day was due in large part to the teamwork that existed between Jonathan and his armor bearer.  Disunity sidelines the church.  Division within the body results in dysfunction. Rather than moving forward winning battles, the people of God are stymied with internal issues.  The purposes of God are frustrated.  Possible victories are forfeited.

But where there is unity there is blessing (Psalm 133)!  Good things happen.  Progress is made.

As the voice of the Spirit is commanding River of Life to forward march, let’s advance as one in the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3).  Working together as a team will enable us to accomplish much for the sake of the kingdom.

Pastor Todd Weston

1 Kings 20 tells the story of Syria’s campaign against the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  The Syrian king, Ben-Hadad, along with thirty-two other kings amassed a huge army to attack the capital city of Samaria.  But God was with Israel and the Syrians were defeated.

One year later the Syrians regrouped and launched another attack against the Northern Kingdom.  This time they changed their strategy.  They reasoned in v23, “The Israeli God is a god of the hills; that is why they won.  But we can beat them easily on the plains.”  So that is where the Syrians attacked; in the valley.

Israel was greatly out-numbered against the vast Syrian forces that literally filled the countryside.  Ben-Hadad thought he had them this time for sure.  What this Syrian king did not know, but was soon to find out, is that the God is Israel is the God of the hills and the valleys (v28).  Once again, God rescued Israel and gave them a tremendous victory over the Syrians.

The message of this story is one we need to hear again, for life consists of hills and valleys.  Life is a composition of good times and bad times, success and failures, highs and lows.  What I need to know, what we all need to know, is this - Is the Lord a God of the hills only?  

Was Ben-Hadad right?  Are God’s promises good only on certain occasions and in certain locations?  Is He trustworthy only when life is free of trouble?  Is He loving and faithful at all times or just in the good times?  Is He there during the mountaintop experiences of life, only to disappear in the valleys?

Is God there when you are walking through the valley of conflict?  What about the valley of fear?  Is He there when you struggle through the dark valley of sorrow and loneliness?  Does God go AWOL when we face the valley of the shadow of death?  What did David say to these questions?  “Yea, though I walk through the valley…”  Any valley!  “…I will fear no evil; for You are with me.”  

When you find yourself walking through a valley-like experience, don’t listen to the enemy of your soul who seeks to trouble you saying, “Your God is a God of the hills, but not of the valleys.  You are on your own now!”  God’s word to you is this, “Fear not, for I am with you” (Isaiah 41:10).  Rest assured that no matter where you find yourself, be it a hill or a valley, God is there.




Pastor Todd Weston

Repetition is used in the Bible, especially the Hebrew Old Testament, for the sake of emphasis.  An example of this literary style is a technique called “term repetition” where the same word is repeated for emphasis.  Jesus used this technique in the Sermon on the Mountain to stress the importance of His message.  “Verily, verily, I say to you…”

A variation of term repetition is where the same word is repeated with a slight change in form of one of the words.  For example, “holy of holies” means the most holy.  “Song of songs” means the most wonderful song.  “Servant of servants” means the lowest of servants. 

God Himself used this technique in Genesis 22:17 to communicate the greatness of the blessing He was about to pour out on Abraham.  In this chapter God tested Abraham to the limit, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2).

Of course, God never intended for Abraham to actually sacrifice Isaac.  It was a test of obedience to see just how far Abraham was willing to go, which turned out to be all the way!  At the last moment God stopped Abraham.  He then declared, “In blessing I will bless you, and in multiplying I will multiply you…” (Genesis 22:17).  God used repetition to emphasize the greatness of the blessing and multiplying He was about to give.

Obedience is the master key that unlocks the door of blessing.  It provokes God to action on a large scale.  Abraham was asked to give up his home.  In return, God gave him the entire Promised Land!  He was asked to give up his son.  In return, God gave his son back to him along with the promise of future sons and daughters more numerous than the stars in the sky and the sand on the sea shore.  In blessing he was blessed!  In multiplying he was multiplied!

We serve the same God today that Abraham served in His day.  Since He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, nothing about God has changed.  Obedience still provokes Him to action on a large scale.  

To hold back is to rob yourself beyond belief.  To fail in obedience is to limit the Holy One of Israel in your own life.  It’s to limp through life leaning on your own finite resources when the infinite treasures of heaven could have been yours.

God desires to bless your life with abundant blessings.  Did I say abundant?  How about super abundant!  He desires to introduce into your life the principle of multiplication.  Disobedience shuts it all down.  Obedience opens the door.  Like Abraham, obey all the way all the time.  Then watch as God blesses you with blessings and multiplies you with multiplying.

Pastor Todd Weston