Last Sunday prior to my shepherd's prayer I related a story I had read recently in Popular Mechanics, the June issue. Although I don't profess to being any kind of mechanic, I have always liked to tinker a bit and mechanical things have always interested me greatly. I regularly watch shows and read about building cars and motorcycles. Anyone who has lived in areas where the daily commute is a regular part of life can relate to stories of problems with cars and mechanical things we rely on daily to get us to and from work, school and the market places we use. One such story recently caught my eye. It is a story in the Car Clinic section and was written by Mike Allen. It goes like this:

My son was driving near our home and said his car suddenly lost heat and started to smoke. When I got it apart the heater-hose fitting going into the block was broken off.

I replaced the fitting and the hose, and filled the system with water to do a pressure test. I could hear a hissing sound but couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. There's no antifreeze in the oil, but the engine won't turn over. Do you think the engine is locked up?
Yes, I do. D'oh!

I was strongly tempted to leave it at that four-word reply, but I'll take this opportunity to point out that your failure scenario is fairly typical—you've got a blown engine. Here's what happened.

It started with a catastrophic loss of coolant-- which must have sprayed all over the under hood area, creating a lot of steam and that unmistakable hot-Log-Cabin-syrup-in-a-Turkish-bath smell. Shame on your son for not stopping and checking. Next symptom is the loss of heat, caused by the level of coolant dropping below the point where the water pump could circulate it through the heater core. The smoke is from oil working its way up the cylinder walls past the melting piston rings, scuffed piston skirts and scored cylinder walls to burn in the combustion chambers. That hissing sound is the compressed air you're pumping into the radiator. It's escaping from blown head gasket(s), because the cylinder head or heads are warped. Now, air is escaping from many, many places-- which is why you can't pinpoint it. The starter won't turn it over because the pistons have welded themselves to the cylinder walls.

Bottom line: That engine is toast, and probably not worth rebuilding. It'll need new pistons and rings, and new or rebuilt heads. The block will need to be bored and milled too. My suggestion: Get a used engine from a salvage yard.

Compared to humans, cars are very simple and don't have nearly the complicated systems we do. But, there are similarities. God created us and gives us careful teachings to not only inherit an eternal life, but how we should conduct our lives to live long and productive lives. Sounds simple, huh? We have to get up each day and examine ourselves, talk to and listen to our maker and then listen to and read the gauges he has given us (our hearts, minds and consciences) as we make our way through each day. Sounds simple enough doesn't it. Then you head off into our daily world. OH MY! All around us are people who live every day without even knowing what our life manual (the Bible) says. Their gauges (hearts, minds and consciences) have been replaced by a rip-off fake mechanic, named Satan. All his gauges are pretty much useless. They just have NORMAL written on them. People go about their lives thinking everything is fine and NORMAL, and for the world, it is.

What is really happening here in these lives? By ignorance of God and his desires for us and the deceit of Satan, people's lives are being DESTROYED completely! They and their families are blazing down the road of life with the sweet smell of coolant (their life blood) being blown all underneath their hoods. Because they don't properly exercise their consciences, their hearts and minds begin to lose heat (they harden). Their piston rings begin to melt, scuffed piston skirts and scored cylinder walls can no longer properly function (our peace and ability to function daily is gone). We start to hear hissing sounds in our home and notice that our marriages are falling apart and the kids are showing signs of being in trouble and involved with drugs, alcohol and skipping school. We go to the doctor (medical and psychiatrist) and find that our head gaskets have blown and our cylinder heads are warped. Air is escaping from many, many places (fear and worry). We can't even get up in the mornings because our pistons have welded themselves to our cylinder walls (deep depression, major illnesses)! Bottom line is we are toast!

My suggestion is to get a new engine. Be born again. (John 3:4) How can a man be born when he is old? Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the spirit gives birth to spirit. If you were born again in the past, maybe you need to turn from your life of sin (repent) and return to living with the gauges of God (the Bible). The costs of new engines can be expensive, so weigh the costs. This new engine will need to be carefully guarded and taken care of (it will take commitment from you).

So, if you've been living this life with smoke billowing from under your hood. If you can feel the loss of heat in your life and know your engine is ruined and the pistons may soon weld themselves to the cylinder wall, or have already done so. Take note. You have been deceived by the great deceiver, Satan! Although your gauges said NORMAL, your engine is TOAST.

Your only hope is to repent and get a new engine (be born again.) If you don't know how to do that, just ask anyone at Northeast Church. Our church is intended to be a healing place. We try to tell it like Christ would have told it to you. We don't mind helping you repair the nastiness of a sinful life. We will try to offer you the gentleness, kindness and help that Christ himself would have shown you! Through Christ he can give you a new engine (heart, mind and conscience) and help install you a new set of gauges that come from the word of God (the Bible). Be smart and don't wait until your life starts smoking too much to become a devoted Christian (change while you still have life and breath)!