will you pay the price of a Cadillac and not get one?

While most are attracted to the pretty over detailed car sitting out front, I have been more enamored over the years by the cars in the back row.  Cars that may have faded paint, interior a bit worn, and the odometer showing high miles.  The ones that are generally first shown to kids with only a few bucks to spend, “this is what $500 will buy you kid,” while he is hoping his money buys him last years hot model.  Some lose faith at this point, some buy into the technique, but I go back to the back row.  Where bargains are found, the price is more reasonable, and for a few hours of clean up and fluid checks, change an air filter and the oil, you have more car for the money, and more money to go places in it.  And no monthly payments, now if only your friends will ride in it and be seen with you in it....

For me it was a 1967 Cadillac Sedan DeVille, loaded.  Bought from a dealer’s used car lots, in a pre-pre owned car era, it was very clean, but the AC didn’t work.  But the dealer promised to fix it, “probably just a recharge,” and I went back later to pick it up.  And the air still wasn’t working.  It seems Cadillac had a unique AC system not found on any other GM product, and it was costly, did I want to pay to have it fixed?  NO!  You said you would fix it, and after haggling, the manager was brought in, and then one of the owner’s sons.  “Did you promise to deliver the car with the AC working?”  And after the salesman mumbled something, produced the sales contract, saying it would be working.  “So fix it,” and after being told the cost, about what I had paid for the car, $995, he again said “fix it,” and it was fixed.  One week later, it had cost them over $1000, only the Cadillac dealer could repair it as no other tech had the training, I was happy, they had honored their word, and I was driving a Cadillac!

Until I traded the six miles per gallon for 25 miles per gallon.  The buy in price was low, keeping the gas needle gauge off E took all my money.  But I could say I owned a Cadillac, even if I couldn’t afford to drive one.  Even with the car payments on the Rabbit my monthly costs were less, and yes, it had AC.  That worked.  Even had Polyglycoat applied by Vince at his cost, who did it for the dealers.  Maybe the best $10 ever spent on a car.  I always like the Rabbit, but it wasn’t a Cadillac, I learned I could either fill my tank or fill my ego, filling the tank was cheaper, less expensive.  But I could still hear the voice over in the ads, “best of all, it’s a Cadillac...”

Lust was once defined to me as “you have to have it now irregardless of the cost.”  Right now is maybe another definition, but that which feeds our physical senses, our ego above all comes closer.  Ecclesiastes tells us how material things, possessions, and desires, if we have enough money all things are possible.  But not profitable.  How many have to have the big house in the right neighborhood with the correct zip code, and the house owns them?  How many garages are filled with cars they cannot afford to drive, but can announce they drive a BMW?  I know women who dress in the latest styles, yet they cannot go anywhere but work to show them off, and all her coworkers know what she makes?  It seems we all live beyond our means, take what we make and add 10%, that’s our budget.  But as styles change, cars wear out, and new homes are built, where is the pleasure found in the product?  Seems the things of man only satisfy for awhile...with awhile never being long enough, and usually long before the payment coupons are gone.

But a life in Christ is different.  When he gets the glory, we get the blessings.  Maybe the difference between happiness and joy is Jesus.  Joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God.  Joy, part of the fruit of the spirit, is given to those who please God.  But on his terms...lest we boast on us.  Wisdom and knowledge are fleeting, as each day new situations occur, and what worked yesterday may not work today.  But wisdom from above is never changing, it is us who need to change.  God wants us to have nice things, happinesses are what blessings are, but to put them in the proper order.  “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, then all things will be added unto you...”  Timothy tells us all things are added for our enjoyment.  And once you acknowledge that all blessings come from him, your life changes, and we draw closer to him.  And his fruit begins to be revealed in us.  His desire.

So what is God’s desire for us?  To know Jesus.  To have the faith to please him, to have a trustworthy relationship with him, in all things as Romans tells us.  For all things work together, both good and bad, timely and untimely, both sorrow and happiness, and both success and disappointment.  To God all things work together, and to the one who trusts him in all his ways, Proverbs 5, he will direct their paths.  Remember it is even in the valley of the shadow of death that he is with us, not just during worship on Sunday.  It is in the toughest times,the darkest hours that Jesus shines brightest, when all hope is lost, he is still there.  He works in ways we cannot see, and has rescued many a person from the back row, while the person in the front row was more interested in himself.  But his offer is the same for all.   For both the rich and the poor can only be saved by him. 

So I have found that sitting in the back row and letting him get all the attention blesses me.  I cannot save, only he can.  So in all things give him the preeminence, seek him first, and hang on for the ride.  For it begins here on earth, and we can have heaven here in him.  An old Mercedes Benz tech one day helped a woman with no AC.  Lifting the hood, he replaced the blower fuse, and the AC worked again.  She was impressed, until she heard the price.  “$20 for a fuse?”  His answer, “yes, but I knew which fuse.”  Only in Christ will we know for sure.  For to the man who pleases him, “he gives wisdom, knowledge, and happiness.”  Note the order....and best of all....it’s free!  And you can have it now.  Now that’s a bargain at any price.....for even in today’s economy Jesus saves, and that’s still a miracle!

Ask yourself, will you pay the price of a Cadillac and not get one?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain.."

For too many years I-40 was our escape route east across the Land of Enchantment.  Taking us into Texas, then the brown suddenly changing to green as we entered Oklahoma.  But a stop in Adrian, Texas was always in order, at one of the last remaining Stuckey’s in the US of A.  A chain that used to welcome travelers for over 80 years, the interstate killed them, and this one somehow survives, even having its own exit ramp, which if not skillfully executed will have you driving through the pumps.  With two memorable stops recalled....

I was on my Sprint ST riding alone back to Jersey.  A trip I would do in under 70 hours, less than three days coast to coast.  I had left Kingman that morning, and the wind and rain had me seeking shelter and gas.  The wind was so bad I had to lean against the bike to hold it up, and as I struggled to fill all 6.3 gallons, I looked over to see a white Lincoln filled with faces watching me.  Crammed in, and windows fogged, one look had me glad that I was riding.  We were both victims of the storm, they were casualties of it and didn’t know it.  With both my tank and energies refilled, I took off making it to Oklahoma City late, riding almost 1125 miles that day in the rain.   I may have been wet, but I wasn’t caught in no cage.....

A few years later with Theresa on back, we were riding our 955 Tiger.  Same road, same ride, same Stuckey’s, same wind. But no rain, and as the owner explained to us, they hadn’t seen rain in over 180 days!  It took a few bottles of water to overcome that one, but it was the wind and lack of rain that had me praying “Lord please don’t let me die in this rest stop,” he had provided a long the way.  Just opened and air conditioned, it took a lot of coaxing to get her back on the Tiger.  Two days and two different rides I still remember.  I can honestly say “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain,” making no apologies to James Taylor.  With no word if the Stuckey’s still exists.....

As any Christian knows, it wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.   Rain wasn’t even a word or a concept then, as God sent a mist to keep everything green.  But in this pre-Jewish, pre-Abraham, pre-Mosaic law era, every man did whatever they wanted to, there were no laws.  But among all the people, which some have estimated as in the billions, only Noah stood out as righteous.  And remained faithful to God when asked to build an ark.  A what?  And for the next 120 years, build he did.  Beginning when he was 500 years old.  Please don’t tell me about your aches and pains.  Over 500 feet long, think of a cruise ship, and he labored on, mostly with little or no help.  No power tools, only God’s power to help.  While being ridiculed by anyone passing by.  I wonder about the conversations he and God had, as they are not mentioned, but his actions are, and worth noting.  God then carried on with his plan, sending two of each animal to the ark, then having him seal up the ark with only his family inside, all eight of them.  Eight the number of new beginnings, of which they had no inkling. And then the rains came....for 40 days and 40 nights.  A test like no other until Jesus was tested for 40 days in the wilderness.  One with two much water, one with none.  Both sustained by God.  And when the rains stopped, a crow was sent out, not returning as they are scavengers.  Then a dove, who did, for they mate with only one partner for life.  One a sign of life without Jesus, one a life with him.  And once the ark had settled, a rainbow appeared, a sign from God  that he would never destroy the earth again by water.  And for a few thousand years, he has been patient, very patient....

For as we see life in this world much as it was in Noah’s day, scripture tells us his return, the rapture will occur as in the days of Noah.  Look around he evidence is there.  Just as people had no fear of justice from God, they live like hell still today.  The world is ripe for judgment, try and point it out and be ridiculed.  Like in the days of Noah.  Look at the increased violence, and how corrupt the world is.  Fake news is truth, truth is neglected, and righteousness a joke.  It’s OK to talk about cults, maybe religion, just don’t mention Jesus. From those who read and live by horoscopes, to those who entertain psychics, man has turned away from the truth.  Life can be created via test tube, and like many at the Tower of Babel, them and their computer logic don’t fear God, they take him on.  Mocking him as his patience is wearing thin...even going as far as taking God’ sign, the rainbow, and making it a symbol of homosexuality.  And we even find Israel’s closest enemy, Hamas, the same word used in Genesis 6:11 and 6:13 to describe the violence on the earth just before the flood.   But remember he promises to not ever flood the world again....he didn’t say he wouldn’t judge it. 

A few years back after Oakland was devastated by fires, a man commented, “he had saved for a rainy day, but never a fiery night.”  For God promises to consume the earth with a fire, and replace it with a new earth.  Judgment is coming, and he is just.  Offering us salvation through Jesus Christ, the warnings have been given, the promises made.  He leaves the choice up to you.  I can only imagine the bedlam when the rains began, and the beating on the ark’s door, “let us in!”  Today Jesus knocks on the door of your heart to be let in.  To offer refuge from life and its storms, to give you a peace and a comfort found nowhere else.  We are in the days of Noah, and Jesus will appear as a thief in the night.  With no warning.  But we have been warned, and eternity in hell is no way to remember the offer.  No one has ever fought against God and won, the so called philosophers who deny Jesus, the rich and powerful who think they don’t need him, and those who make fun of his children, all are being called to a day of reckoning.  The door to the ark of heaven is still open, but like Stuckey’s may disappear some day.  No memories of those left behind in the flood is noted, for none survived.  But we have a record in Genesis to instruct, teach, exhort, and to give us hope.  Just as the scriptures were designed to do.....as in the days of Noah....with a front row seat to it all!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

I never cried for a Chrysler

Outside of Joey Coleman’s Dad having a 1960 Dodge Pioneer, I never really took notice of Dodges, Plymouths, or Chryslers.  Oh, a few of the neighbors had then, but they were mostly four door sedans no car crazy kid would admit to wanting.  Maybe it was the styling with the backwards fins, or the rear view mirror on the dash.  The weird shaped steering wheel, aren’t they supposed to be round, isn’t it a steering wheel?  Or maybe it was that horrible noise they made when starting, the Chrysler crank.   I can still hear it in my darkest moments.....and so I have never owned one.  I know Petty raced them, and I have visited a Viper skunkworks in the next town over, but that something is something I cannot put my finger on.  I love the old Jeeps, sold them in 1977, but when AMC became Chrysler, even my take on Ramblers via Pat Ronco, in the Indian Motorcycle Hall of Fame and Nash Rambler dealer faded.  I was with Mercedes Benz when they were raped by them, and we all talked of the day a Pentastar would be found instead of the wreath and laurel.  But funny, the only thing of interest to me was the fratzog, the old hood ornament on 1960 vintage Dodges.  Go figure....and today as the middle name in FIAT Chrysler America, I rest my case.  Where are Walter P.’s Three Musketeers when we need them?

Now looking at new cars over the years, a few times I was attracted.  Late seventies Jeeps, but they were pre-Chrysler.  Nippy had a 1970 Dodge Dart with a 340 and three on the tree that was pretty quick.  We learned to speed shift it if I slammed the lever up and over from the passenger seat.  The Imperials with the free standing headlights, cool design.  But even then the talk of high quality engineering could not overcome the lack of quality control.  Even watching Mecum Auctions I lose interest in them, with one exception.  1968-1970 Road Runners.  440 Six Pack, bench seat and Torqueflight.  And a large credit line for all the gas I will use doing burnouts over the quarter.  Maybe the simplicity of them, I wonder how a fratzog would look on the hood?  Could I swap a GM starter?  And of course there are the MOPAR jokes, Move Over Parts Are Rusting.  I have almost cried over wanting certain cars, big boys do cry, but I never cried for a Chrysler.  The only difference is those who owned them and did....

I have no faith in Chrysler products, maybe I am like the disciples who had no faith in Jesus and his resurrection.  After being seen by many who did recognize him, and revealing himself to the eleven, they still didn’t believe.  Jesus even calling them stubborn.  He was expecting them to be excited to see him, hadn’t he given them the inside track on other things, yet here in the most important event in history, the first and only time someone who was dead came back to life, they argued.  Then rebukes them for their unbelief.  Ever had a dead person come back to reprimand you, they did!  Even Thomas wanted the physical proof, “let me touch his wounds, then I will believe.”  Either the reports were true or they were fake news.  Long before CNN fake news rumors abounded, but when confronted with Jesus, the truth, it changed their lives.  It was only years later when Peter wrote that not seeing him you believe, and that even today not seeing him you still believe.  Which fills us with joy and inexpressible hope.  Seeing they believed, yet we are told that not seeing him and believing is better.  I can testify to both, and yes, he is real.  And yes, like the scriptures proclaim, we need to trust a trustworthy account.

Yet many deny the fact that he still appears to people, sharing the same response as the atheist.  With the atheist many times having more faith in what he believes.  When we quote “it is written” is it just the accounts we want to believe, or all the Bible has to say?  Religions are filled with statements of disbelief, some claim he doesn’t heal?  Really, when was the cutoff date?  Some deny the cross, look at the seven places he bled.  Look at the history of crucifixion.  And here, the most important component to his testimony, rising from the dead, theologians argue.  Which ought to make those of us who do believe and trust cry out.  Scripture is filled with eye witness accounts, if they were not true, God would not include them.  But the fact is that all of them cannot be contained, as Jesus proclaims no library could hold all the testimonies. 

So when you consider your own gospel, don’t discount Jesus. All of him.  He has granted us the privilege to be called sons of God.  To be forgiven, to be in heaven eternally.  True he isn’t here physically, so he left his spirit to confirm him.  Available to all who believe.  And even to the atheist......for even if we are quiet the rocks will cry out.  The evidence of Jesus is everywhere, and revealed to us.  Elvis may have left the building, Jesus never left us!

Funny today how the Chrysler cars that never sold well, the Cudas, Hemis, GTX, and Road Runners are now bringing big bucks.  Due to low numbers produced.  Jesus was seen by over 500 people who knew him over 40 days.  How many suffered ridicule for telling how they saw him.  Or denied seeing him, or thought they saw a ghost?  Need proof, ask Thomas.  He wanted to touch the wounds to believe, just the appearance of Jesus brought him to his knees and declared who he was.  He knew  him.  That still small voice can still be heard over the Chrysler cranking, he can still be seen in the rear view mirror on the dash, and unlike most of their styling, he never goes out of style.  Looking back we were warned, looking ahead we should know.  Like the collector cars, if you didn’t like them the first time, you get a chance to now.  If you didn’t like Jesus and his resurrection the first time, you really won’t like his second appearance.  Religion like styles change, Jesus never does.  I never cried for a Chrysler, Jesus has shed tears over you.  With no fratzogs harmed in the process.  And to that I say “BEEP BEEP!”

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

conquests and defectors

When the US of A stood by its friend Israel in 1973 after it was attacked by Syria and Egypt, OPEC decided to punish us by raising the price of oil.   Sending us into a tailspin, as always cheap gas, now was not as cheap.  Pricewise it went from 26.9 to 35.9 where I lived, costing me about 50 cents more to fill up my R90S, but a big jump percentage wise. 25% of my Sears driven income, but still inexpensive, when you could find it, when you could obey the rules each station enacted, and changing the way and how America drove.  Big family cars that used to get 10-12 mpg, were now referred to as Behemoths, and the ugly and undesirable Japanese cars of a few years ago were in vogue.  Bragging on how many miles per gallon was stylish, and the Big Three automakers were in a hurry to do something amid lost sales.  And the move was on to smaller cars, and how to handle the Japanese invasion.....

Henry Ford II, or Hank the Deuce as he was referred to, once said “small cars equal small profits,” as they could make more money selling a Lincoln than the selling price of a Pinto.  After an initial sales dip, the bounced back, but now it was all about Pintos and Vegas instead of Impalas and LTD’s.  With Chrysler having nothing to offer, and AMC cars becoming popular as they sold mostly compacts anyway.  Which in sales meetings brought up two kinds of sales, conquests and defectors.  Conquests were the sales they took from other  brands, defectors were the ones you lost to other brands.  But a third was hurting profits within the Big Three, a different type of conquest sale.  Whereas a family might have purchased an Impala wagon which had a big profit in it, now they were downsizing to a Chevelle, or even a Vega.  Sales numbers would vary, but overall profits took a hit.  And like Alfred P. Sloan once said, “ GM is not in the business of making cars, we are in the business of making money.”  Conquests were now coming from within corporate borders, and not from other brands.  The good side was at least a GM family stayed GM, but no new Ford families were joining in.  Datsun and Toyota were stealing conquests from everyone, and suddenly they were a major player.  One to be dealt with, as they had very little competition for defects, and a whole new market was born.  Or hatched.  Same amount of cars being sold, just spread over more brands and lesser sales per brand.  And it had only just begun....a far cry from The Carpenters hit song....

I was invited to a so called bible study by Gerald’s nurse.  I went based on the fact she was pretty, Gerald’s nurse, and of course a Bible study.  What I found was much different, as I had the only Bible among these space cadets, and their take on spirituality was much different than Christianity.  The only truth in then was they were all lost, all searching, and many had been in churches, but never knew Jesus, or had been made to feel uncomfortable when they asked questions.  They were searching, and much like the sound of one hand clapping, they were alone and lost.  But growing as they were getting others who were defecting from the church of their parents, and becoming part of a conquest by a cult.  Somehow the numbers are always mentioned in growing churches, as if more attendance made them more successful, or brought them closer to God.  They talked of Jesus in a very friendly non-offensive way, not wanting to insult anyone, really not wanting them to think, and many got hurt and confused and still are seeking God.  Nothing knew under the sun...but in the Son, what a difference...

Over my Christian walk I have met people who used to be Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans, and other main stream denominations, being saved and leaving the old church and looking for a new one.  These defectives, of which I am one, sought the holy spirit and by passed on religious rhetoric for freedom.  But as one church grew, another shrank, and even today the number attending church regularly is down, despite having a different take on Jesus in every strip mall.  Each with its own set of rules, with many stating they would never do it the old way, but really knowing no other way.  Their hearts are as empty as the tomb of Jesus, but with no knowledge of why the tomb was empty.  Or who had been in it.

A hallmark of Christianity is it is available to all, not just to one social or economical group.  No party affiliation, no dress codes, just sinners, and we all qualify.  Only Jesus invites all, can your church say the same?  Would he be given the same place in your service as the largest donor?  What would he put in your collection plate?  How would he react to your messages?  Remember the disciples were with him for three years, yet if not for the words of the angel that he is risen and not here, would have thought they were at the wrong tomb?  The angel’s telling words, “just as he told you...”  What has Jesus told you makes a difference in how you live.  Where and how you fellowship, and if you are truly saved.  With one example to consider.  I once attended a church of over 7000, who bragged one Easter that over 1100 had come forward and were saved.  But yet the next Sunday’s service was the same, where did all those new Christians go?  Or were they there and the old saints gone somewhere else?  Based on numbers I have to wonder, but based on Jesus, we can know.  He sees the heart, and salvation is more than extra attendance and Easter Lillies....it is personal and knowing Jesus Christ.  A true conquest is being saved, and being a true defector is leaving the world and following him.  Or are you still church hopping until you find one that suits your agenda...In a game of numbers, Jesus would have died for you if you were the only sinner who needed to be saved.  Now do you get it?

Tough times tell us a lot about ourselves.  One minute you are driving a GTO and bragging on horsepower, the next a Toyota and bragging on your gas mileage.  Today so many are defecting to hybrids, and even Prius sales are down, but to Tesla.  No new converts, just changing brands.  Don’t fall into the church growth trap, brag on Jesus.  A lesson today from a pastor I knew was bragging on how  humble his church was.  Any bets he drives a hybrid....and aren’t you glad your God is hitting on all eight cylinders?  If you are what you ride, I am a Triumph.  Is your church in one accord, or so big Jesus couldn’t find a seat?  With love from one defect to another.  In Jesus, the way it should be.

Or you can take the loser cruiser, I mean the bus....both will get you there....who drives your life does make a difference after all.  Ironically Henry Ford’s last ride was in a Packard, he must have asked the an who owns one...

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com