BMW’s for Jesus
I’ve been looking forward to pounding out this post for a few weeks now.
The Blue B’mer
Let’s start with the first picture. I’m featured in a rare appearance with sunglasses after having detailed my new ride (a 1988 BMW 7.30i) back in February of ‘98. What a great car! We put another 110,000 miles on it and saw it turn 300,000 kms before we sold it.
This car was our main family and ministry car for the past (almost) 8 years. It carried everything for the ministry and went everywhere. And, it has a lot of life left in it too.
Last September, we received our upcoming insurance rates for our vehicles for 2006. The insurance on the BMW was set to skyrocket 300% for the coming year. Instantly and sadly, we knew we had driven it for the last time. That weekend, we cancelled the policy, gave the car to the mechanic, my friend Brad cleaned her up nicely for me (what a great guy who loves his Pastor), and then entered the process to sell her.
Stay with the story! It’s a good one…
Early December, I placed the ad for the car in the classifieds. A young lady named Leah responded — with a Cedarville (Baptist College) address. She said she was flying in on December 14th (she actually flew in on the plane that took our friends, the Strables, out to TX). I told her about the car and most importantly about our church. Leah is now active in our church and comes to our LifeTeam that we host in our home each Thursday night. She’s a neat young lady and engaged to be married to a young man who has a heart to reach Muslims for Christ. We got to meet him too.
But Leah didn’t buy the car. The day she chose not to buy it, another call came in from a man named Keith. Turns out, Keith is a Packer fan from Wisconsin, works in the same office as a couple of our men, and looking for a church. Keith and his family were talking about coming out to church soon and we’re following up with them.
But Keith didn’t buy the car. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, “You were a car salesman!” Please understand, I was a salesman.
The day after my new friend Keith declined the car, one of the men in my LifeTeam said that his friend’s transmission “just blew out” on his car that day! And, could he meet with me to see the car. Well, this whole time, the car is parked in front of our worship center. No need to write any more on that point…
The New Owner
So along comes Jeremy. And my car had found her new love. BTW, the car is in fantastic shape. It’s a B’mer. Jeremy fixes jets for the same squadron that my good disciple-buddy Andrew Maxwell fixed ‘em for. So Jeremy and I strike up a friendship and we went to lunch together. On the TV, the news was reporting 350 people trampled to death in the Muslim festival of Hajj. To quote my new friend Jeremy, “That’s totally whack!” I agreed and told him about the beauty of Christianity.
The more we talked, the more Jeremy’s heart begins to unlock. The Lord has been working on him. A couple days later, we met together and I walked him through God’s plan of salvation from the Bible. He said, “Nobody’s ever told it to me like that before — it’s right there in black & white.” And almost every day since then, our friendship has grown tremendously and so have his questions.
The other night, Jeremy came over to the house. We grilled ribs and washed them down with sweet tea. We talked over the Bible until quarter after midnight. He’s been devouring the Bible and told me, “For the first time in my life I really understand it and I like it! I like church too!” Jeremy’s had all kinds of great questions. We’ve talked about how to pray, where the Bible came from, what salvation is all about, and what different religions teach. Last week, Jeremy was sick. While on bed-rest, he picked up and finished my uncle’s book Fast Facts on False Teachings in two days. The book had a great impact on him because it’s simple to read and follow. He said, “I knew all those guys were out there, but I had no idea that they’re teaching this stuff. That is totally whack!” Again, I agreed whole-whack-heartedly.
Soon, I hope to be able to write a follow-up post telling you about the germination of the seed of the Word of God in Jeremy’s heart.
The Joy of the Great Commission
Here’s the joy of the Great Commission in Matt. 28:18-20… There’s one command in the passage, “Make Disciples!” The other action words that look like commands are participles. Jesus is instructing us in this way, “As you are GOING about your business, you MUST BE DOING my business.” We obey this command by looking for Heaven opportunities, baptizing — or assimilating them into God’s new order, and discipling them by teaching them to observe the Lord’s commands.
I had a blue BMW. My blue BMW went about as an instrument in the Lord’s business for almost 8 years. The blue BMW became my temporary avenue to make eternal difference. “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3
All Done? Maybe not.
And the car? Well, it took about a week of paperwork and $100 to “de-register” the car here in Italy. Oh yes, they get you coming and going. BUT, I left the ad up on the classifieds site. And today, a new person wrote me inquiring about it. Who knows? We’re also sending a portion of the sale of the car to a ministry in India. This car is still going a long way for Jesus.
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Praise the Lord for how He works!!!!
Comment by Van Andrews — 2/15/2006 @ 8:06 am