The Engine Running

God’s best blessings to you who love and have been faithful to help Heritage in its mission to minister to those whom God sends our way.

This came across my desk the other day, I set it aside and then realized it is a good lead in for today’s letter.

A Lexus mechanic was removing a cylinder head from the motor of an LS460 when he spotted a well-known cardiac surgeon in his shop. The surgeon was waiting for the service manager to come and take a look at his car when the mechanic shouted across the garage, "Hey Doc, want to take a look at this?"

The cardiac surgeon, a bit surprised, walked over to where the mechanic was working. The mechanic straightened up, wiped his hands on a rag, and asked, "So Doc, look at this engine. I opened its heart, took the valves out, repaired or replaced anything damaged, and then put everything back in, and when I finished, it worked just like new. So how is it that I make $48,000 a year and you make $1 M when you and I are doing basically the same work?

The cardiac surgeon paused, leaned over and whispered to the mechanic...
“Try doing it with the engine running."

As I read over it again, I realized that this is exactly what I do as I minister to you from Sunday to Sunday. My job is to keep you running in between Sundays, so to speak. What is even more of a reality check is that I have to do this when your engine light is on or something on your dashboard is sending you a message, which you don’t even understand. I have had this happen and had to look in the owner’s manual to find out what the icon blinking at me meant. I wanted you to know that the garage is open 24/7 and we are all on call if you need us, even if you break down on the side of the road. It is our greatest joy to serve and be a part of your life. (by the way I have had to go help more than a few on the side of the road through the years)

I remember as a young man when my father died, we had a pastor that was faithful to serve our family and when my mother died a pastor friend of my brother and sister were there by our side. My friends were there as well, to share in our grief. Of course, with many in our family who were ministers, we always had the family circle around us. I guess you could say that I learned a great deal about ministry from my immediate family about ministry because they certainly knew how to comfort one another. In some way, I think you could say, I have sought to reproduce the inspiration of those incredibly difficult moments in life by our love and care for you in the good and hard times of life. I say often that some of the best things we experience in life are not taught they are caught. We love you and we are here for you, please don’t feel as though you have to go it alone in tough times, we are always here for you. Your church family has proven over and over that we care and our desire is to serve you any way we can

I believe in you

Pastor Cleddie Keith