3/24/2021 – Pastor Brian’s Blog –

I can remember when our children began to drive with their drivers permit. One of the common things that Judy and I would say to them was “Slow down!!” Yet I found it difficult to give them a real hard time because that “fast gene” was inherited from me. I was only 17 the first time I was pulled over for speeding. I was given a speeding ticket for going 100 MPH, and I didn’t dare tell the officer that I was slowing down when he clocked me.

What is true in driving can also be true in life. When life is going in a bad direction, often people ignore the warnings and end up hurting themselves or worse.


I am the chaplain for our local police department. I can still remember my first death notification for the department. Our police chief called me and asked me to come to the scene of an accident.

When I arrived, the paramedics were still trying to extract the body of a teenager out of the woods. This young man was racing another car, and was going too fast to navigate a turn in the road. He hit a tree head on, and was propelled through the windshield 50 feet into another tree.

I remember going to his home that evening and telling his parents that they had lost their son. A son that I am sure heard, on multiple occasions, “Be careful!” “Drive slowly.” “Please don’t be reckless!” Yet all those warnings landed on deaf ears, at least on this particular night.

Just this week a friend sent me an article about a fairly well known Christian. This individual has had to leave the ministry because of having multiple affairs. I am sure that he heard the warnings. I am sure that he realized that there are always consequences to sin, but he chose to continue to live the fast life. A choice that not only cost him his ministry, but left many around him devastated.  

Warning signs

  • If your life is on the fast track
  • If you find that you have little time for God
  • If your thought life is in a bad place
  • If there is conflict in your marriage
  • If your children are hanging around the wrong people
  • If you find yourself returning to your “go to” sin when you become discouraged
  • If your life is full of spiritual defeats
  • If your life is just one spiritual facade
  • If your life… well, you fill in your own blank!
  • If you are living a full and fast life to ignore the pitfalls in your life
  • If you keep busy so that you don’t have to deal with the problems in your life and the lives of those you influence
  • If you think that you can outrun God or that God doesn’t care

It is time for you to wise up…

Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.

Ephesians 5:15-17

You may have made a lot of mistakes in your life, but you don’t have to stay there. Your life may make you feel like you are at the bottom of an abyss, with no hope of climbing out. If that is you, then it is time to put the brakes on your life, wise up and understand what God’s will is. There may be consequences to pay in order to make things right, but make the most of this opportunity  before the cost gets higher.

This might require some of you to ask a Godly person into their life and let them know what is going on. It might mean that some will need to spend time with those they love the most and will be hurt the deepest because of their choices. For some it might require them to slow down and get reconnected to their church or enroll in a small group Bible study. For others, they just need to drop to their knees right now and tell God how sorry they really are.

Please understand: that afternoon, when I left my home at 17 years old, I never expected to get pulled over going 100 MPH. The young man that died in my local community had every expectation of returning home that evening, but he never did because he was driving way too fast.

Slow down! Heed the warnings signs. It can save your life and the lives of those you love the most.

Categories: Pastor's Blog