Your car deserves just as much love as anything else you own. This is a place where you probably spend a lot of time, and it is something that people will automatically compare you to. If your car looks like crap, people will assume you don’t take care of yourself or that you do not have enough money to take care of it the way you need to. This sucks, but it is the truth. I take a lot of pride in my cars, more so than I probably should. Nevertheless, I get compliments on how great they look all the time. Here are some tips to help your car look like a million bucks, even if it’s only worth a buck fifty.

Wash Your Car Once a Week

I realize that washing your car once a week may seem a little excessive, but this is the amount of time it usually takes for crap to pile up all over the outside. By that time, you’ll probably have bugs, mud, and all kinds of disgustingness on the outside of your car, even if you don’t notice it. You could learn how to become a forensic scientist just from examining your car’s exterior after a week. Take it down to the car wash and manually wash it down with the little hoses they have there. This will be time and money well spend if you do it often enough.

When you take your car to the car wash, try to do more than just wash it down with soap. The wax and whatnot usually sucks at a place like this, but it can’t hurt to have a little extra protection on the surface. I try to use every step they offer except the foam brush, as that brush usually destroys the paint on the car. Just use whatever you think will help, even if I costs a few extra dollars to do.

Hand Dry the Car

When you have everything cleaned off at the car wash, you need to wipe down the water so that the car doesn’t have a bunch of streaks on it. My husband and I usually drive home from the car wash to do this, just to get some of the extra water off. You want to try to keep a little bit of water on the car’s surface because that will help scrub off the streaks. Use a microfiber towel to get everything clean, and don’t be afraid to spot check it once or twice to make sure all the streaks are gone. I even use a spray wax at this point, just to make sure the car looks shiny for a long time. You can choose to do the same if you like.

Clean the Rims

I use Eagle One wheel and tire cleaner on my rims because it gets off the dirt and puts a coat of wax on the rims. This will keep those babies looking good for a long time if you use it regularly. Make an effort to get the brake dust off your car, and it will look a lot better when you’re on the road.

Wipe down the Interior

When you finish with the outside, try to get all of the dust out of the inside. You can use interior wipes to do this if you want to get a nice shine going on the surfaces. Otherwise just use a microfiber towel with water or carpet cleaner on it. I use leather wipes for my car’s interior, and then I go over the wiped areas with a rag to get off any excess oils. You just need to do whatever it takes to get the dirt out.

Clean the Carpets

Vacuum and shampoo the carpets as needed to give your car the finished touch. If you have bad stains in the carpets, you may actually want to replace them so they look better. As long as you take care of the new set, you should be good to go.

If you take pride in your car, people will take notice of it. I cannot tell you how often people ask which detail shop I take my car to. When I tell them I clean the car myself, they will literally offer me money to do the same for them. How cool is that, right? You could have the same experience if you just take the time to make your car look good. Think about this the next time you go out to the garage.

The Author and His Church
As a Pentecostal born-again Christian who has been “saved” for over three decades, I have learned much about the Lord, His Word and what is necessary to become a pastor. My pastor married my wife and I nearly 30 years ago, founded our church over 40 years ago and has been preaching for over 50 years. At 81 years of age, he still travels all over the world, preaching and helping other pastors in the fellowship. His church is the mother church of a fellowship of over 1700 churches all over the world in over 100 countries. And each fellowship church is completely dedicated to spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They do this through giving as many people as possible the opportunity to repent from their sins and make heaven their home for eternity.

Today, my wife and I have 3 children, 11 grandchildren and two great grandchildren. The great grandchildren belong to our oldest granddaughter and her husband; they aspire to be sent out to assume the pastorate of a church or pioneer a new church, which will happen within about a year. I have personally known dozens of men of many different ages, nationalities and races that have been sent out as pastors; plus, I have heard thousands of sermons from hundreds of Pentecostal pastors, many from countries outside the U.S. And for every sermon, I always take notes.

Therefore, although I am not a pastor and was never called by the Lord to be a pastor, I know something about answering the question, “Should You Become A Pastor?” Additionally, as a faculty member for 27 years at a world renown university, I have a bachelor’s of science in business administration, a master’s degree in business and much experience teaching, counseling and communicating with young people.

Making the Decision
You are thinking about become a pastor. Obviously from the above introduction, this website will be totally devoted to helping men, and men only, to decide whether they should become a pastor of a Pentecostal church. However, even the “basic” qualifications described here go well beyond becoming a born-again Christian and disciple of Jesus Christ. (For those who may need additional information on becoming a Christian, please read my article, “The Way, The Truth and The Life.”) After becoming a born-again Christian, it should be quite natural to want to share your testimony with others. There is nothing more helpful for energizing and emboldening your spirit and your testimony than being filled with the Holy Spirit, which is not necessary to make heaven your home, but certainly does help anyone live for the Lord.

However, a Pentecostal pastor not filled with the Holy Spirit is like a duck on the ground in August in the middle of the Arizona desert a hundred miles west of Phoenix. The duck will live for a few minutes, maybe even a few hours; but something has to change, or the environment and vultures will do him in – eat him alive, pick his bones and watch him turn into dust! To escape, the duck must fly, fly fast, fly far and have the determination to get to safety, maybe some place like Prescott, Arizona – a place with beautiful high desert mountains, much greenery, cool temperatures and most importantly, lakes!

Then, our duck must be thankful. Thankful enough to the Lord Jesus Christ to dedicate the rest of his life to Him and turn from his sin. And then, he must have an irresistible passion for sharing his experience and seeing others “saved” – not only from many troubles of life in the hot Arizona deserts , but from the hot flames of Hell burning for eternity. Life in Prescott, Arizona is beautiful, but for the duck it is only a temporary way-station to heaven, the true home of the born-again believer.

Are You Ready To Continue?
If you have given your life to Christ, followed this analogy, identified yourself in it and have a passion to tell others about Christ, then you are on your way toward determining, “Should you become a pastor?”

The next article will emphasize being “filled with the Holy Spirit” and review a few basic qualifications. Thank you for reading!