Fill Her Up and Check the Oil

I can remember pulling into a gas station when I was a child riding in the back seat of my parent’s car. My dad would roll down the window, and an attendant would ask him how much gas he wanted him to put in the tank. Then during the wait on the fill up, the attendant would clean his windows and ask if he could check the oil. Unfortunately that kind of service is a thing of the past, a lost courtesy, which is now just a faint memory in America. I imagine the reason the service stopped is because so many people decided to just do it themselves. Customers probably thought that they could do it faster, especially if they skipped the steps of checking the oil and cleaning the windows. Then I guess the store owner realized he could sell the same amount of product while saving on the cost of an attendant, windshield cleaner, and paper towels!

I have heard a preacher more than once compare the midweek service as your time to pull into the gas station and refuel. It is our time to refill the spiritual goodness that the world drains off us on a daily basis. Sadly, it too is becoming a thing of the past, just like the gas station attendants. We are too busy, in too big of hurry, and we too think we can do it better ourselves. We think that Sunday mornings are enough time for us to spiritually refuel. We can block out an hour or two one day a week in our busy lives to devote to God, but don’t ask us to commit to more! Many congregations are already stopping midweek and Sunday evening services to coincide with what they deem as “busy schedules”.

The word “progress” means a movement toward a goal to a further or a higher stage. Some people may argue that we have progressed a lot since the old days when they had gas station attendants. But please remember that we have left behind the times where only one parent worked outside the home. The family ate together as a family and the biggest “crime” in school was chewing gum! We have progressed so much that we are even too busy to take the time to instill the values of long ago to our children and others!

I truly believe the only way we can help the Christian community to “progress” is to individually make the most out of our “service” by looking at others instead of ourselves! And I for one cast my vote to go back to the future!

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Contact Dr. James Spinnati at j_spinnati@hotmail.com

Jim currently has two radio programs. One is on the 100,000 watt voice of Southern Ohio WPAY FM in Portsmouth, Ohio, which can be heard in Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. The other is a daily program called Gospel Minutes, which has been syndicated and is heard on 36 radio stations throughout the United States and Australia. Future plans include revival and evangelistic meetings in Australia, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Haiti, and Russia along with the release of the second half of his commentary on the book of Romans, "For I Am Not Ashamed of the Gospel" Part II and the release of his commentary on II Timothy and Titus entitled, "Letters To The Evangelist."

Visit our ministry websites: www.gospel-minutes.org, www.sonshineschoolofevangelism.org and www.tntministriesonline.org

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