would you ride with Kowalski?

 Like vice presidents, significant others, and co-drivers, those who are along for the ride never get the credit they deserve.  They either exhibit an incredible amount of faith, just plain stupid, or are in it for the thrill of it all.  Think of famous passengers in movies, Jack Nicholson riding on the back of Peter Fonda’s chopper.  Hutch hanging on for dear life as Starsky blows through red light after red light in LA.  And Hutch returning the favor.  How much courage did it take to ride with Rockford?  How about the passenger in the Charger in Bullitt?  Trying to fire off shots while hanging on for dear life.  Nobody ever rode with Popeye or Clownie in The French Connection films.  Would you get in if picked up by the guy being chased in Duel?  No passenger when McQueen jumped the fence in The Great Escape.  How about your Bonds, James Bond.  Roger does a twist in The Man with the Golden Gun, with the red neck sheriff in tow, and Sean loses his captor when he hits the ejector seat button.  Can you imagine Elwood without Jake being chased.  “It’s a cop car...”  And how about the Good Ole Boys in the Winnebago.  “I’m the driver of the Winnebago and leader of the band.”  How crazy was Frog riding with the Bandit, or was it really love after all?  What you think about that one Fred?  “WOOF!”  But when it absolutely has to be there overnight, would you go FEDEX or Kowalski in the Dodge Challenger?  Too many instances when Mom never should have let him have the keys.

How many time shave you gotten into a car with a crazy and wish you hadn’t?  Or didn’t know or heed the warnings of friends?  Designated drivers may be sober, but are they necessarily sane?  We live in a strange world where if you can navigate a few blocks without hitting anything you can get a drivers license. To drive a truck or motorcycle you must have a special license, but not to drive an RV.  Ever notice the grinning idiot trying to keep his beast in the same lane, while pointing out the sights to his kids who could care less, while driving 45 in the fast lane?  Maybe it is a talent to ignore other drivers, to me it is just plain rude.  I think I would rather take my chances with Kowalski.  I just hope those aren’t bulldozers up ahead....

Imagine you are Peter, and your little brother Andrew introduces you to a man, who invites you along, telling you to drop everything and follow him?  Ever wonder what it was with the disciples that made them follow Jesus, some without hesitation?  Some had careers, some had plans to overtake the government, but each one gave up what he was doing to follow Jesus.  The spirit calling to them, in a way that made the answer easy, but still not knowing what lay ahead.  Today that same spirit is still calling, and we were called and answered like they did.  Maybe not as famously, but we took a chance on this man who claimed to be God, and followed him, trusting him with our lives and our eternal destiny.  He rescued us from darkness, one so blinding dark we didn’t see it, and tells us anyone who hates his brother still walks in it.  Signs like hostility, indifference, and lack of concern for others show where our hearts are with God.  Funny how we are not enticed to follow the dark, yet we live in it while believing the light of the Lord is guiding.  Today while so many evangelize, maybe a look back at one Juan Carlos Ortiz, and the message God gave him for the church may enlighten us.

Although we claim to be individuals in Christ, we tend to walk in whatever the denomination, pastor, or teachings tell us.  We want to fit in, but yet stumble when it comes to the truth.  It is easy to ignore the spirit we cannot see, but hard to ignore the peer pressure at church.   Sadly the world has interpreted the church as Jesus, and religion as his gospel.  It is true he chose some questionable ones like me, but through guys like us he can show his love and power.  It is in our weakness his strength is made perfect.  So Juan took his message of unity in the spirit to the churches in his city.  Who at first didn’t want to hear it.  Dismayed he knew what God had told him, and it was God who brought the churches together.  Much like the lion and the lamb who will someday sit and eat together, it may be easier for two animals than it is for two religious groups of people to eat together.  And they have no access to the spirit!  Yet so much hate goes on in religion, is not a true believer supposed to love others, not just those he chose?  Didn’t Jesus die for us while we were yet sinners?  Didn’t someone take a chance and share the gospel with you?

When Christians hate, or don’t get along, we have an appearance no different than an atheist.  If we pick and choose what we believe, it takes no faith, and the works it fosters are not of God.  God is light, how can a brother hate another and still be called a Christian when he is walking in darkness?  Darkness is the total absence of light, not a dusk or dawn light, no light at all.  Only in God’s light will we see clearly and love, and only Jesus can change a heart so it will.  Something to remember next time you brag “I could never forgive him..”  Jesus did, are you better than him in judgment?  Is your gospel greater?  Even the apostle of love had his heart changed by Jesus.  Who’s changing yours?

Yet many choose to ride with Rockford, get chased by Duel, and even ride with Kowalski.  Unaware of the God who loves them keeping them alive to give him one more chance to be saved.  You can only revive something that was once alive but now dead, except in a graveyard.  A true revival starts in the heart, and is led by the spirit.  It not only wants us to pray more, read more, study more, and fellowship more, but to love as Jesus did, the one great commandment above all others.  Some may live by the 10 Commandments, but there is no salvation in them.  A great way to live, but not forever.  Love the Lord with all  your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself.  No man ever hated himself and loved others.  Until he was forgiven and forgave himself.  The key component to salvation, forgiveness.  So give me and others another chance.  That RV driver may be your son, father, or uncle.  You may have Rockford blood in you, be as cool as McQueen, and have a French Connection, but without Jesus you have nothing.  Would you ride with Kowalski or with others in one Accord with Jesus?

Make your choice soon, those bulldozers are getting closer....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

why you could and should be riding

When the road calls many us answer with a resounding “yes!”  As much as we love our home, sweet home, there is a romance and a siren’s call that says “go!”  And so we do.  And when that final moment arrives and we push the starter button and the electric leg fires off, our mind set changes, and as the house disappears in our rear view mirror, we have nothing but the road to look ahead to.  With one dilemma that needed to be overcome, the time to leave and who we are leaving with.  Over the years I have ridden with groups, by myself, and with certain friends who ride like I do, Or as they do.  You quickly learn you only ride as fast as the slowest guy, and only as far as the smallest gas tank can go.  So the list of co-riders has dwindled, and today almost all of my rides, our rides are just us.  We have confidence in each other, and spend more time in the saddle than talking about it.  For example.....

I have a friend who to beat the crowded traffic, leaves at two in the morning, finishing his riding day before noon.  Exhausted and his body now out of synch, to me  he has put himself on a schedule we are trying to get away from.  So our variation on the theme is leaving the night before after work.  Bike packed, fueled the night before, and ready to go.  Just kiss the dog, say goodbye to whoever is watching her, and we are off.  Taking a short 200-250 mile ride before darkness hits, getting a good night’s sleep, and starting off ahead of the game, after waking up on our first night on the road.  It may not work for everyone, but it does for us, and the hundreds of thousands of miles prove it.  Prepare Thursday night for leaving Friday, instead of packing at the last minute.  I might have only made it to Tenderfoot, but the Boy Scout in me still says “be prepared.”  At least when it comes to riding, I am.

But for many, their life is mostly “at the last minute.”  So out of control, they inflict their malady on others, so again, we ride alone.  Nothing like spending a late afternoon by the pool, and going to dinner, only to see the clock waster just checking in, exhausted.  Wondering how we do it, but rather it is how they don’t do it.  We have taken care of last minute things the night before, and reduce the burdens of our ride.  It seems to work in other things too, would you want open heart surgery from a guy who isn’t prepared?  Who hasn’t studied what to do?  Who asks “which patient is mine, and what is he here for?”  How many trips to Home Cheapo does it take to complete a job you started?  Got the nails but forgot the hammer.  Remember the things your mother taught you, drop it, pick it up.  Open it, close it.  Turn it on, turn it off.  Leaving on a trip, be ready the day before. The last one at our house, not all moms are so cool.  So why you may be packing, getting fuel, looking for your keys, arguing with whoever you are going with, or waiting for whoever was supposed to arrive at 530 and now it is 8 o’clock, we’re riding.  And you wonder why ever time you ask to go with us we are not interested...

If you have been paying attention, you might notice many Christians a life in Christ like this.  Their relationship is all over the board, and when they get together, they seem to congregate with each other.  They have Jesus in their life, but there is no evidence of him.  They have become harsh and critical, and become unloving and demanding of others.  They are the ones who are always late for church, walking in and interrupting the service, and if anyone calls them on it, they call them unloving, inconsiderate.  I guess when they are rude it is OK. And don’t try to counsel or help them, they are convinced it is not their fault, they pray, but don’t listen, study but have no wisdom, and fill a pew, leaving a pew of their own.  Walking in darkness, because no evidence of the spirit is evident in their lives, they follow their own understanding, and soon find themselves segregated from the group, before they cause damage to it.  Blaming the church or the pastor, but never looking at their own sin.  They are in darkness because they do not walk in the light of the spirit.  Darkness is simply the absence of light, and God is light, in him is found no darkness at all.  They believe in God, but live like he doesn’t exist. 

Have you ever noticed that the growth that comes in Christ comes when you acknowledge your sin, then repent and are forgiven?  Many do, but stop there.  Jesus is my savior, but not my Lord.  And no one who is not saved can say “Jesus is Lord.”  If we had to study to find ourselves approved to get to heaven, how  many would fail the final?  How many would even study? 

It is tough to catch the train after it has left the station.  Or to ride with the group after it has hit the road.  In all cases we knew when the train was leaving, when the kick stands were up, and when church started.  What we don’t know is the time or date when Jesus will call us home.  So he warns us, yet many cannot even be like the Ten Virgins who at least kept oil in their lamps.  Without the spirit there is no light, without light we are in darkness.  Stumbling through life is bad enough, but when it happens to a Christian, how does it look to the world?  “They do that thing they call sin, and so do I, why are they different?”  Well, go ahead, explain that one to me.  But when I get back, you see I’m already packed and gone.  All your planning is wasted if you never leave the driveway.  All of God’s blessings are wasted if you aren’t in his light.  Paul asks us “to examine ourselves in the faith.”  Only in the light will you see the answers, and know what question they answer. 

Or of course you can take the bus, just don’t be late.  It leaves on time.  And no, I don’t need anyone to ride with....on my motorcycle!

love with compassion,

Mikematthew25biker.blogspot.com

sprung from cages on Highway 9

A cartoon caught my attention the other day, about the Rolling Stones.  Never one of my favorites, but I like some of their music, the stuff from 65-71.  Years not their ages.  But the cartoon asked “do you want to hear the Stones from the sixties, or in their sixties?”  To those of us who were there, a big difference from the tribute bands and old names with new faces in the band.  I can remember the first time I saw the Eagles, in Asbury Park, a warm up band for Robin Trower.  Introduced as “a band you never heard of before, but will from now on.”  Playing Take it Easy twice.  Watching The Kinks rock the crowd at Trenton Speedway.  Going to see Chicago, with Springsteen the opening act, his first song “Born to Run,” before the album was out, so wasted from listening we left after a few Chicago songs. Exhausted.  How many times I saw The Beach Boys, meeting Mike Love off stage before one show.  Even then earning the title of biggest @#$%^&*( in rock and roll.  We were there hearing Dennis on the cover shot of Beach Boys Concert.  Santana at the Felt Forum, a 10 pm concert playing way into the morning hours.  Or a show just before Christmas, J. Geils and Emerson, Lake, and Palmer, whose encore was loud, until the lights broke through the darkness, and they broke into an acoustic Silent Night, with a huge red robed choir, and it began to snow on stage.  You had to be there....Seeing Peter Frampton in three different bands, being on stage with Alice Cooper and riding out with the band in his limo.  The night at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic yelling at Frankie Valli  and The Four Seasons “ play Rag Doll,” joining in with some not so teenage girls.  He finally relented, “would you please stop interrupting if we play it?”  Sharing a dinner at a concert with a guy named Joe, talking motorcycles, who I later found out was Joe Walsh of The James Gang, pre-Eagles.  Mountain, Looking Glass, Ike and Tina Turner, Gordon Lightfoot at the Garden Arts Center, outside singing Rainy Day People and it starts to poor.  Only in Jersey....  Black Oak Arkansas, Gary Wright, and being invited by his manager to the party afterwards.  Jay and the Americans-Cara Mia!  And The National Lampoon Radio Dinner, done as a theater in the round, a few weeks before it became Saturday Night Live!  Iron Butterfly at Union Catholic High School in the gym, all 21+ minutes of In a Gadda DaVita!  So many more that I forget, but will never forget.  Even have the ticket to Summer Jam in 1973, The Dead, The Band, and The Allman Brothers, best ten dollar ticket ever.  Just missed the show, but that’s another story...

Today I have heard Layla on the radio more than I ever did when it was new.  So called Classic rock, when it was just rock.  None of us were classics yet.  We used to enjoy the oldies, from the fifties and early sixties, they were classic.  And for a few short miles when I could pick up an oldie station outside of Kingman, I was young again listening to the oldies.  Songs asking “Why Do Fools Fall in Love?” and “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?”  Like Springer sang “sprung from cages n Highway 9,” you just had to be there.  And I was, in the sixties, and now in my sixties, it is tribute bands, yuk, The Beach Boys with all unfamiliar faces, and a whole new generation who want to hear the classics.  Where are my oldies when I really need them?

As I grow older but not getting old, I appreciate the songs of my youth and growing up more.  Songs that you waited for on the radio, that you stood in line at Korvettes for the newest album, and songs that you could sing to.  My relationship with  Jesus is much like that, I appreciate all he is and has done in my life.  I have changed, and so has my musical taste, but he never has.  I escaped religion early in my walk with him, finding a freedom in the spirit that denominations tried to curtail, a love that the songs sang about but couldn’t deliver, and a friend who was more than friendly.  I have sat under some incredible teaching, but also some blasphemous preaching, as one evangelist promised to “have the wrath of God upon us if we didn’t agree with him.”  I have sat through worship music where it is just like it is written, and also where the musicians, there is a difference, go off in worship, in the spirit.  I saw Parable in 1976, and other Maranatha Music groups when they were new.  Daniel Amos, 2nd Chapter of Acts.  I enjoy Phil Wickham when not playing to the crowd, but in true worship.  And maybe that is what I really found in Jesus, that makes a difference.  The truth.  Not some philosophy, some seminary taught gospel not found in scripture, and not a watered down Bible meant not to offend.  As I watch and listen today I see Jesus separating the sheep from the goats, with many surprises.  Lots of goats in sheep clothing, who like tribute bands sound the same, know all the words, but don’t know the band.  Who know all about Jesus, but never heard the beautiful song he sings to the heart of a believer.  A song only sung in the spirit, not from behind a pulpit, but wherever you happen to be.  Tribute Christians, Bored Again Christians, and CEO Christians, who like an old album have scratches and skip the songs they don’t like.  Who have every preset to KWVE, but don’t wave to Jesus.  Or his friends.  I want all the Jesus I can get, and fake or religious substitutes offend me, as they should you.  Are you paying tribute to Jesus, your church, your pastor, a denomination, or to yourself?  What kind of song does Jesus sing to your heart?

Classic rock and classic Jesus both play to a select audience.  Really of listeners, as the gospel goes forth as we speak in every language, every venue,and in every situation.  The question is are you listening?  Or set in a venue of only listening to what you like.  Some day the sheep will be separated from the goats, and the goats will finally see the truth in Jesus.  Why wait, get up and dance in his love and joy in the spirit now, don’t wait for the album.  Long before vinyl became tape became disc became i-pod, Jesus was singing to us in the most beautiful song ever.  The original love song, one of salvation, and the joy and peace found in it.  Some go to tribute concerts to remember, just like they do for church.  If your Jesus is an oldie, or a classic, meet the real Jesus today.  Sing along with the words, and even with the radio off hear the message.  Joy to the World means something different to Christians than it does in the Three Dog Night version.  So does the gospel.  Jesus Christ, LIVE and IN THE SPIRIT!  Playing in hearts everywhere. Advance tickets to heaven.

And the reason we really fall in love is Jesus Christ.  Fools included.  And like Frankie Valli sings, in Christ “can’t take my eyes off of you.”  He never does of you.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthw25biker.blogspot.com