Preaching?

As you may or may not know, my wife and I operate a family-owned carpet cleaning business here in Northern NJ .....have for over 28 years. In the past SEVERAL years, though, I have a growing desire to PREACH bubbling up in me. I've filled in pulpits for my FIL in NY, and my BIL in Pa. , and at a RESCUE MISSION here in NJ in conjunction with my CHURCH.  And at times, this desire BOILS OVER and SPILLS OUT of my heart and I actually TELL someone (other than my WIFE, Lol ) about this "crazy" desire that won't go away. Today, I told my PASTOR!

He and I have been doing LUNCH together the past several weeks, and TODAY he chose HOLSTEN'S.....you know, my PRIZED CARPET CLEANING ACCOUNT, the place where they filmed the final Sopranos  episode ? (I wrote about it here in HBTM a few months ago, providing the link to the cleaning mag wherein the account of the job appeared.) ANYway ...

So we're sitting there today at Holsten's , and I'm looking at the carpet I JUST CLEANED MONDAY NIGHT... it STILL looks great but there are ALREADY new ice cream spots, and coffee spots on it. And as I'm telling the Pastor how God blessed when I preached at the Mission last month (see www.xanga.com/waytruthlifesermon ), I realized part of WHY I have this burning desire to preach.

As I get older, I realize more and more that "ONLY WHAT'S DONE FOR CHRIST WILL LAST", as the old hymn says. CARPETS COME CLEAN, BUT THEN THEY RESOIL BECAUSE YOU'RE USING FINITE MATERIALS TO WORK ON *OTHER* FINITE MATERIALS ( cleaning agents  to remove SOIL.) When one preaches , he uses ETERNAL "MATERIAL" (The Word of God, which never changes) to affect ETERNAL *SOULS*. Additionally, some carpets may NOT come clean, despite one's best efforts.....but God's Word NEVER returns to Him void!!!!

In short, preaching brings ETERNAL changes, ETERNAL "cleanings" of people which does NOT fade. Those four men who made professions at the Mission , if they are truly saved, are changed FOREVER......unlike the CARPET beneath our feet as the Pastor and I chatted.

For the record, my Pastor was VERY encouraging about my growing desire to preach as I shared it with him for the first time at lunch today. I continue to ask PRAYER, I've been encouraged by two OTHER men of wisdom and experience who know me well regarding this, and now PASTOR makes THREE. All I know is, I believe time is short, we ARE in the last days and LIFE is short......the older I get, the clearer THAT gets! Thank you for PRAYING with me about this!!!! I gotta get back to CARPET CLEANING ( Lol )!!!!

To see or hear other of my sermons besides the one mentioned in this article, go to:

www.xanga.com/hellsermon

www.xanga.com/gloryandsupremacysermon

www.xanga.com/poverty_prosperity_priorities

To contact me online, go to www.xanga.com/clintspirations