Dirty Filters

I couldn’t believe it! The colour of the Gasoline was dark yellow – almost a grey yellowish tone. I had collected the fuel spurting from the old fuel filter coming off my automobile. It now filled a drinking glass. No wonder it would not run right! No wonder it was coughing and sputtering when I started to pull away or pull out into traffic. The poor vehicle was starved for fuel.

Now for the non-mechanical type that may look over my shoulder in this Blog I should explain a something important to know.
The fuel filter that is in the gasoline line between your gasoline tank and your motor has all the gasoline pass through it. It filters out the impurities that might have dropped into the tank – or that might have been in the gasoline from the service station where we fill up.

This fuel filter needs to be changed at least once a year some say. Others say that it should be more often to preserve better fuel efficiency.

When I looked at the filter’s contents in the clear glass it was filthy. At the bottom of the glass was a dark sediment. This fuel had run out of the bottom of the filter. In other words the filter had done its best to keep the harmful dirt out of the motor. When the fuel filter was disconnected the bad stuff just fell out into the glass.

The motor was starved for fuel and working ten times harder than it should.

This all happened as I was performing a small amount of service to our vehicle after the winter season was over. It should have been done by March but I was too busy.

But there was more…
The next part to check and replace was the air filter. It provides clean air from the front of the car to the motor. The scoop that allows air into it is lower and on the front of the vehicle. All of the dust and dirt and salt and whatever on the road is scooped into the air passage on the way to the motor. It is vital to the smooth operation of the motor. As I pulled it out the dirt began falling out. The normally white filter paper was almost blackened for more that 80% of the area that I could see.

I had watched the mechanic performing maintenance on the car motors before. They place a light on one side of the filter and look from the other side to see how much light is getting through.

My air filter had little to no light coming through. It was plugged full of dirt and filth from the street and highway.

My chugging and coughing motor of the last few weeks could not get fuel and was starved for air. Without these vital components in the motor – IT WILL NOT RUN. Worse yet it will begin to run but then die on the highway when you most need it.

When I installed the new fuel and air filters then started the vehicle it sputtered a wee bit…then roared to life. The smooth purr under the hood was almost musical. I turned off the motor. As I walked around the vehicle I really think that it smiled at me…maybe even giggled a bit. It can’t wait for the next outing on the highway.

A Reality…
As I read more about the maintenance of the vehicle at the parts store where I bought the filters it was clear now. The two filters being dirty made our gasoline costs soar. The motor needed to work much harder to keep going. It was like having to pull a heavy trailer one person said. Worse yet the motor’s insides were wearing away. The dirty filters eventually fail – the filth gets through to the vital parts inside.

So much like life…
As I pondered this yesterday I thought of own life and body. Without the proper filters in place the dirty stuff can get in and mess up the inside – physically, mentally and emotionally.

The food I eat can be good or not so good for me. We all know more about this now. Too high of this or that will cause my arteries to plug up and my old heart will have an attack – and maybe even die.

The things I take into my eyes and ears go straight to my mind. Allowing bad stuff to come that way messes me up big time.

In the mind I have discovered that when bad stuff comes in…it tends to mess up the thinking process big time. With the “Mind Dirt” comes worry, fear, frustration and foolish thinking. I have found out that perhaps it is even more dangerous to have a “mind attack” than it is to have a “heart attack”. Many people actually have had a real heart attack after months of “mind attacks”.

“Mind Attacks” cause ridiculous stress. No one wants stress. Now one goes to a store to buy stress. Yet we allow it to cover and smother us. And it all comes from some really bad stuff that comes into out system from the “Mind Fuel”.

Man oh man do I ever need a new Food and Mind Filter system.

Personal Reflection…
On Sunday we announced that our position at the church was ended. So were the positions of the rest of the staff. The lay offs/cuts were necessary because of financial problems. There just isn’t enough money to pay the staff. So it was a logical and practical thing to do. It was our churches tune up time.

In these days following there have been some major emotions as one may well expect. You don’t just turn off a life experience that has been rich in content and powerful in problems. These past 3,650 days for me have been loaded with victories and problems that have almost tipped me over at times.

But later yesterday something powerful happened to me. Sitting and thinking about the transformation that I am going through from “Senior Pastor” to a “Person in the Pew” – it has started to settle in…WOW! I am free!

For 10 years I have not had one day that I have not worried about the finances of the church. I have thought of it continually. The good reports at times mixed with the more recent bad reports had grown in my thinking. My mind was filtering all of it. It was MY PROBLEM…my debt…my difficulty…my burden. It was close to my heart.

When I accepted the challenge to become the Senior Pastor of the church – it all became problems in my world. Together with others we addressed the debt that the church had.

For outsiders of Northview you need to know something of the background. The building was erected in 1980 with a debt load of $1,350,000. The interest rate at the time of its opening was 20%. In the first 4 years of operation the church paid out $1,000,000 in interest. Then in the next 5 years they had to pay another $1,000,000 in interest. Yes – that is correct - $2,000,000 out and not one cent on the principal.

10 years ago we started working with the congregation to address that debt. At 18 years into the building it was still $1,350,000 in debt. The pastor that served just before me began by raising the idea to pay down the debt. A plan was made and we began to get rid of the debt.

In the 3,650 days we have paid it down to $775,000. This congregation has been amazing to work with. What troopers! Through thick and thin they have worked tirelessly. I honour them for what they have done.

In the last three years there have been some difficulties for sure. The momentum and ability to address the debt was reduced. We stalled.

Maybe the best way to put it was – “our filters were dirty or plugged” and we sputtered and coughed.

The staff reduction was our tune up time.

Yesterday…
In a wonderful moment yesterday I realized that the debt was no longer mine. With the transformation to the “Person in the Pew” – the worry, the concern, the fret, the frustration of fighting for debt reduction is not mine anymore.

I am free! And God…does it ever feel good!

So if you see me smiling – I AM NOT NUTS – I am free. Wah Hooo!

~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~