The Janitor

By Tim Cogar

My book, The Janitor is easy to read, even for those that don't read much.  It's fast paced enough to keep people that don't like to read, wanting to start the next chapter.  It's a simple fiction book with a slant toward the Christian side, but don't let that fool you, as most everybody will identify with the books characters.  The story is set in a small town, much like many in central West Virginia, and follows a small town preacher and some of his colorful members. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: New Harbor Press
• Release date: Jan 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215351826

Book preview

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The Janitor

Tim Cogar

New Harbor Press

RAPID CITY, SD

Copyright © 2023 by Tim Cogar.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Cogar/New Harbor Press

1601 Mt Rushmore Rd, Ste 2388

Rapid City, SD 57701

www.NewHarborPress.com

Ordering Information:

Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the Special Sales Department at the address above.

The Janitor / Tim Cogar. -- 1st ed.

ISBN 978-1-63357-437-3d

Thank you for reading my book. I hope you enjoy and share it with friends and family. It is a self-published book, so people usually hear about it from their friends that read it, liked it, and wanted to share it. I believe in the simple message of this book and would appreciate any help telling people it’s story. If you need additional copies, contact me at: www.timcogar.com

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank God for giving me vision and putting me in the position to write this book.

Thank you cousin Pam for helping me see a higher calling for my book.

I want to thank my son Bob, and daughter Emily for their help. I Love them both.

Special thanks to Kirsten for coming in at the last minute with some much needed editing advice.

Foreword

While setting around a campfire, in the summer of 2014, I heard visiting Pastor Eric say something like this. ‘One of problems in the church today is we have allowed the world to get comfortable in the church. We need to clean the world out of the church.’ When he said that I thought, we need a janitor, and chuckled to myself. All of a sudden this story began to flood my mind.

I tried to begin writing at Thanksgiving and again at Christmas with little success. I had a life changing turn in March of 2015 and in April I began writing and the words came faster than I could write. Here is that story.

The Janitor is a story about a man that grows up in a small town, and goes to the same small town church his entire life. By the time he’s in high school, he knows what he wants to do with his life, be Pastor of his church. He goes off to seminary and when he returns, starts helping at the church. As the years pass, he never loses his dream and many years later, the Pastor retires, and he gets his dream job. Planning this moment his entire life, he is convinced the church will get excited and have great growth. A few years pass and the church isn’t growing or isn’t any more excited than before. Oh the church is happy with him but he sees his dreams tarnishing before his eyes. Then one day, out of desperation, he cries out to God for help, and God answers his prayer, just not the way he wanted, and that’s the story of, The Janitor.

I self published The Janitor for friends and family to enjoy. Then I started getting calls and emails from strangers telling me they loved my book, and wanting to buy copies for their friends. I decided it was time to make it available to everyone.

My friend Bryan explained how he saw The Janitor so well, I thought I would share with you.

Recently, my friend Tim Cogar, asked me to read his book and share my thoughts about it. I must say The Janitor is one of the easiest reads and practical books I have read recently.

I have served as Pastor for over 30 years. Each chapter of this book deals with everyday situations that I have encountered in pastoral work. Many of these situations are sticky and controversial yet very real and as such can not be ignored but must be dealt with in truth and the love of God.

Each chapter dealt with a different fictional character and a real life situation. However, as I read each chapter, I was putting the names of real people that I know, and have had to deal with over the years. This book is real and I encourage everyone to read it.

All believers are called to minister to those that God places in our lives. I know that Tim’s goal is that this book be used as a tool to minister to others. We all need a Janitor like this in our lives, because everyone one of us will be able to place a name we know with each chapter.

Bryan GrovesPastor - Sand Fork Church of God

Chapter 1

I woke to the sun of a beautiful spring morning. It was like most spring mornings in Maplesville, except this one would be different. After 20 years, I, Grant Frame, would be giving my last sermon as head pastor of Grace Community Church. That sermon would be the first time I would tell the story of how our little church, of less than hundred, had started it’s growth that now numbered in the thousands.

Time seemed to disappear since I had announced to my congregation back in January that I would be stepping down from the head position of the church on the first Sunday of May. I wanted to give the church plenty of time to prepare for the change. It seemed such a long time when I told them my plans, but now the time was here and I started to wonder if I was completely ready myself. It wasn’t as if I was going anywhere. My family would still be attending church here, and I would still have an advisory position at the church. The differences would be good. No more preparing sermons every week. I would not need to be at all those mid week meetings, conference calls and the daily operating of the