Cars I've Owned

I don’t know what it is about me…but cars have never been a desirable status symbol! Perhaps it was that I grew up riding in classics…like a ‘48 Nash Rambler (that broke down in New York on our 1956 road trip) or the 54 Studebaker that looked like an F8 fighter jet…but smoked like one being shot down. Maybe it was that I valued people more than things, or maybe it was that I took seriously Matthew 6:33… But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

So, I never made owning a “hot” car a status symbol. Cars have always been a tool to get me somewhere, not to make an impression on others. Because of this, I’m famous for buying ugly. I’ve owned some beauties in my day. There was the ’69 Plymouth Valiant that I bought…country green. It was so bad that a friend who worked at a dealership volunteered to have it painted. I asked for Robin’s Egg blue, but because it was a VW dealership, I got Rabbit Blue—you’d never miss me in town! And there is the vehicle I own at present…with a topcoat that looks like a peeling sunburn.

Yet, I’ve owned some fantastic cars in my day: a ‘57 Chevy; a ’79 Pontiac Trans Am Firebird (platinum gray with the red and black bird on the hood and a huge engine); a ’68 Mustang. The Matthew 6:33 thing about them is that I never bought a single one of them. They were all pretty much given to me.

When I became a pastor, I pretty much gave up having things because of Mathew 6:33. Yet, God has given us a very nice home with a view and this continual string of nice cars, just to keep His word in that verse.

Some of you would notice, however, that for most of those vehicles the ownership is past tense. This is because of my practical and conservative nature. The ’57 Chevy morphed into a ’64 Valiant because it was a big V8 with an automatic transmission. The ‘79 TransAm became too expensive to insure and was transformed into a Dodge Caravan, much more practical for hauling around a family of 5 (and much to the chagrin of our son). Now, the ’68 Mustang…it still lives in our garage and is waiting for a new engine!

I’m not completely brain dead!

The Joseph Principle

I call it the Joseph Principle or the Spill-over principle: God’s blessing on our lives spill over into the lives of those around us. God blesses the person who doesn’t follow Him because of His blessing on the lives of those who do. A corollary is: God blesses our families because He blesses us.

Actually, this was true before Joseph. Isaac had been a blessing to Abimelech in Gerar—God provided many wells for him through Isaac’s efforts (Genesis 26). Laban realized that God had blessed him because of Jacob’s work on his ranch (Genesis 30:27). And in Genesis 39:5 it says, 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the LORD blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the LORD was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field

Of course, this spillover principle in Joseph’s life is seen also in Genesis 45.. 17 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Tell your brothers, `Do this: Load your animals and return to the land of Canaan, 18 and bring your father and your families back to me. I will give you the best of the land of Egypt and you can enjoy the fat of the land.'

God blessed just about everywhere Joseph went and whatever he did, and this blessing spilled over into many other lives around him.

It’s all about spillover. God blesses people around us because He blesses us. They get blessed because we are in their lives, their businesses, their neighborhoods.

Christian employees bless the companies in which they work because they are working for Jesus, not the boss (Ephesians 6:5-8). Christian bosses bless their employees because they recognize that God is the real boss (Ephesians 6:9). And, even though we may not have an answer to whether God will answer the prayers of those who aren’t Christ-followers, we, as Christ-followers, can certainly spill over into their lives by bringing their needs to God…and God does hear the prayer of the Christ-Follower.

Several years ago a young wife began attending church with her husband. He was a Christ follower. She was not. Carol engaged her in conversation and discovered that she was concerned about her horse’s health (she did dressage). So, Carol said she would pray for her horse. A couple weeks later, Carol asked her how her horse was doing. The young wife was so moved that Jesus would lead a Christian to pray for her horse that she began to follow Jesus right then.

Apply the Joseph Principle. Find a need for your not-yet-following friend and begin praying for it. God just might pour enough of His love into your life that it spills over into someone else.