Author Archives: Tom

About Tom

Trucker, Christian and host of Jesus Freak Trucker Radio, a podcast about trucking and the Christian walk. The theme of the show is Navigating 18 Wheels Down the Narrow Path.

64. Sanctified, Bull Haulers and The Girl In The Little Pink Mack

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What does it mean to be sanctified? You may be surprised at the simplicity of this word. It isn’t complicated. Why do denominations argue over just what being sanctified means? Is it something you can do? Is it something you should do? This will be the theme of today’s show.

Sanctified Truckers, Bull Haulers and The Girl In The Little Pink Mack

The bottom line on all 3 of these examples is that they are all atypical. They are different. Set apart. There is certainly more to being sanctified, but it’s a great place to start in the journey of understanding sanctification. Set apart is half of the equation.

The other half is being holy. As Christians, we are a holy people, set apart. Deuteronomy tells us  “for you are a people holy to the LORD your God. Out of all the peoples on the face of the earth, the LORD has chosen you to be his treasured possession”. Is there action required to live this holy life of a people set apart?

Driver Questions

Johnathan in Virginia asked a great question on Speakpipe. He asks about staying healthy on the road, both physically and spiritually. Talk about great timing. It blends right in to our discussion on sanctification. The answer ties in so well to the theme of the show. If we are to live this life in Christ, we need to do it deliberately. I suggest we do it with three things in mind:

  • Prayer. Our prayer life on the road becomes critical. Not only in your own prayer, but having a few people you pray with. My wife and I prayed together daily while I was on the road. We still say our evening prayers together. I know a few of you have started this habit and reported great results.
  • Fellowship. You need a few brothers you can call. It doesn’t always have to be about God. You can talk about trucks, fishing, or just about anything, but having conversations with someone else who walks the walk is important. Ending your conversation with prayer just solidifies the bond.
  • Diet and exercise. The Christin life is the deliberate life. What you eat and how you take care of yourself are both parts of the sanctified life puzzle. If your work schedule is so hectic that you can’t find time for 30 minutes of exercise, four or five times a week, change companies. It just isn’t worth it.

 

 

Unloading at a jobsite

EPISODE 63. Flatbeds, 9 Reasons I Prefer Pulling Them

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FLATBED TRUCKING

Flatbeds, vans, refers, even livestock. I have pulled them all at some point in my trucking career. My favorite was always the flatbeds. Here are 9 reasons why.

  1. Less backing up. Nothing worse than a tight loading dock between two shiny expensive semis.
  2. Job satisfaction in load securement. I always took pride in how my load looked and was attached to the trailer.
  3. Delivering to some interesting job sites. Heck, I even took an oversize load to an island, requiring a ride on a ferry boat to get there.
  4. Tarping can pay well, and it can be great exercise. I know, most of guys don’t like this, but $40.00 to toss a set of lumber tarps is good money when you are fast and accurate.
  5. No worries about the bridge scale formula. As long as you are staying in the lower 48, spread axles are the only way to truck.
  6. Oversize loads are a challenge, and they pay well. The other great thing is getting more sleep because of the daylight driving requirements.
  7. No lumpers. Other than paying a couple of guys $20.00 to tarp, I have never paid a lumper for flatbed loading or unloading.
  8. No grocery warehouses. I take that back. I have delivered an oversize roof A/C unit to a grocery warehouse. Between my truck and the crane, we blocked about 9 dock doors and I angered more than one trucker whose load was delayed.
  9. Great opportunities to witness. This is where the rubber meets the road. More chances for dialog. Folding tarps, tossing straps or just talking while waiting for your load, you get time to start conversations.

FIVE THINGS I LEARNED FROM PADCASTS

We will also talk about 5 podcasts like we have done in previous weeks. Christ Chapel is where you will find the study on the book of Acts. Great stuff. Backpack Radio is where you will find the interview about evangelical recession. Both of these are in iTunes, but the links are here to help if you need them.

I also have 4 things we’ve learned from Moses. I hope you enjoy them.

 

 

 

EPISODE 62. And Moses Gave Them the Shaft.

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It was back in 2010 when 33 Chilean miners were trapped in a caved in mine, five miles below the earth’s surface. With no hope of rescuing themselves, they had no choice. They had to wait. With rationed food and a small amount of milk to drink, they rationed the amounts to a very small amount, every other day. They surrendered their fate to the rescuers above and waited. They waited for a small hole, then a shaft, and finally a basket to pull them out one by one. The ordeal took 69 days to get them out, but they all made it out live.

About 6,000 years earlier, the Israelites found themselves in a similar state of hopelessness. They were trapped in that dark hole of slavery. Moses led them, but he didn’t save them. He led them to the light where they could bask in God’s grace, in the land of milk and honey.

I’ve enjoyed taking a different look at the book of Exodus, and I hope you enjoy the comparison. I thought it was a great analogy of how hopeless we are, and how great God’s saving grace really is.

Episode 61. Searching for Mayberry.

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We all wish for that perfect place. You know the one. Mayberry. That home town where everybody knows everybody. That place where there still is trouble and commotion, but it’s manageable. That place where everyone probably owns a rifle, but the sheriff doesn’t need a side arm. Truckers know the places in this country where Mayberry is alive and well.

I want to take another stab at 5 things I learned from podcasts this week. I love podcasting, and I would like to make this a regular part of the show. The first podcast review is this one. I made a few changes to how I do this podcast. I think you will enjoy the changes. The last podcast, and the one I wanted to link to is dancarlin.com. Follow the link to a 271 minute long podcast that had me hooked. If you are a fan of history, you will enjoy what this guy does.

WWII vets and organ donors. Are you wondering just what these two things have in common? Last week I said goodby to my uncle Bob, a WWII vet. I also said goodby to a friend, also named Bob, a recipient of a double lung transplant. Although his death was over a month ago, I was moved by the comments left on his Facebook page by the family of the teenage girl whose lungs were donated.

I talked a few minutes with Dana Tucker, the webmaster in charge of Christian Truckers Forum. Follow the page link at the top of the page and spend some time browsing around. Please sign in and let us know who you are. The forum will be an important component of this show as they both continue to grow.

Please sound off on today’s show. Let me know what you think. Have you found Mayberry? Have you driven through a town or community that still has that appeal?

EPISODE 60. 5 THINGS I LEARNED FROM PODCASTS THIS WEEK

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Podcasts are a big part of the trucking life for most of us. They are a great alternative to buying satellite radio. Podcasts are a great way to hear the works and published work of some great teachers and entertainers, Christian and otherwise. Podcasting is also a great way to get your thoughts out if you so desire. This week I want to talk about five things I learned from podcasts. Some are new to me, and others are podcasts I have listened to for quite some time. You may or may not want to add some of these podcasts to your subscribe list. I linked to most of them for you.

  1. Michael Hyatt has a podcast called This Is Your Life.This week his show was titled Three Components of Job Satisfaction. I find that most truckers have all three of these components. We are a fortunate few.
  2. Dan Miller’s 48 Days podcast had a great sound clip I included in the show. I think you will chuckle over it. His point? Just STOP IT. He makes a great point. I may do a show on this as a stand alone podcsast some time.
  3. Jack Spirco does The Survival Podcast. Although he doesn’t claim to be a Christian, I catch about 2 of his five shows per week. He gave some advice on one of his shows that is good for me as a podcast host. It could also be good for you as an evangelist. State a fact, tell a story.
  4. Once again, I am bringing up Andy Stanley. He does a leadership podcast, not the same as the Your Move podcast, but with a focus on leaders. You can find it at AndyStanley.com. Although it doesn’t seem to be produced on a regular basis, it is in iTunes, and I found it in Podkicker.
  5. I am not going to put a link up for number five. Use it at your own risk. I suspect the site just hasn’t been properly maintained or updated for a while. Google gives a security warning for the site. I found Mini Bible College on my smartphone and I have listened to about a half dozen shows a week. There are 180 shows there by Pastor Dick Woodward. I am guessing the recordings are older, but they are good. I haven’t opened any of his stuff on my computer.

This has been a crazy week with podcasts, iTunes submissions, work and a planned weekend away. Thanks for your tolerance.