I have spent the week at Cowboy’s Rest as the camp medic.  It reminds me of who God made me to be.  You see, all the jobs I have had revolve around a theme.  In High School, I was a lifeguard.  I joined the Coast Guard right out of High School and when I retired, I became a firefighter and an EMT (not a paramedic – there is a vast difference).  For 24 years, I have been a pastor.  At first blush you would think that the pastor part does not fit with all the rest, but stick with me – I will get there.

I am by nature a rescuer.  When things would fall apart in my family, I would come to the aid of the person in most trouble and do what I could to get them out of it.  I don’t like to see people in trouble (I cannot watch those videos where people get hurt).  I am a trauma-dog because I would rather crawl through a wrecked vehicle to stop bleeding, or set a bone than to hang around the back of the ambulance with a sick person.

That is why I am a pastor.  Apart from Jesus we can do nothing.  Our lives, our loves, our accomplishments – they all are meaningless without Jesus.  Next February, I will turn 56 years old.  That means from that point on, I will have served God for more than half my life, so I pretty much know what I am talking about here.  No matter what I did, no matter the accomplishments (few though they may have been), they were nothing until I started serving Jesus.  Since turning my life over to Him, it has been one success after another.  Few (if any), you have seen or heard about.  I have saved lives, rescued people from burning buildings, and plucked a few out of the water.  What gives me the greatest sense of accomplishment is helping people find real meaning for their lives and to secure for themselves the right to spend eternity with God.

You see, the lives I saved, I really have only delayed the inevitable.  Those people will die eventually (like I say:  All bleeding stops – eventually).  We know that all of us are meant to live for eternity.  My fervent hope is that it will be in heaven with Jesus.  Would I like to continue to save people from fire, water or accidents?  Sure I would.  I can’t because I am too busy saving people from hell.

I’m a rescuer – it’s what I do