what's your excuse?

I met a man long ago when I was first starting out in life and everything was new and exciting.  He had written a book, “Excuses-the Disease of Failures,” and I found it fascinating.  He was still young, old to me at his ripe old mid-thirties, but had written down stories of all the excuses he had ben given by people who told him he would never succeed.  He had seen between the lines of their reasons to fail, and committed himself to never following their example again.  Not a how to book, not even a guide to being successful, he had just written down lessons he had learned for others who failed.  Learning from failure, sometimes his own, but learning from others mistakes, overcoming their excuses, and not veering from the vision he had been given.  Adversity had made him strong, he was tested and had passed, while the others still made excuses.  From it I took the idea that whenever anyone gives me an excuse, I take it as a lie.  And I don’t like being lied to....

You see I have lost almost everything three times, been fired from the best paying jobs I ever had while on top of my game, been falsely accused of things I never did, and been life flighted, made medical history and given little or no chance to live.  All without making any excuses.  I have learned from all of them, and still learning.  I have found good advice only works if taken, losers will make excuses and become a burden, and somehow blame you for their failure.  I have been frustrated when telling someone what to do when asked, and seen them disobey and go down in flames.  I have neglected good advice, thinking I knew better, I was the exception to the rule, and wished I had listened.  I tire of opinions, I rather deal with facts, and find true testimonies of Jesus Christ uplifting and encouraging.  Inspirational.  Yet I find too many who teach or instruct, have all the answers, yet have no experience.  They give advice to those sick about how Jesus will cure them, but never have been critically ill themselves, based on here say.  They never miss a paycheck, yet tell the jobless how to have faith.  They never miss a house payment, and have no idea what it is like trying to make rent.  The world is full of them, a breed of excuses of a different kind.

So many how to books have been written and read and then applied to life.  The books stores are filled with them, yet I have never seen my friend’s Excuse book anywhere.  Maybe it hits too close to home, maybe the excuse part is negative, and maybe it is easier to believe a lie than to face the truth.  Pick your reason, er excuse.  Isaiah tell us of a man who will be born, described as “wonderful counselor, mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.”  Those are some mighty recommendations, yet often he is neglected, his words twisted, excuses made, and only as a last resort his advice taken.  He charges nothing for his advice, it is readily available, and private sessions are encouraged.  He makes no excuses for who he is, or why he came.  Yet those who follow him often do.  Never taking in the fullness of who Jesus Christ really is.  He is too many times only compared to someone earthly, and sounds too good to be true.  He is prayed to but rarely listened to, and then summarily blamed when we fail.  And we still call him Lord.....

As a wonderful counselor he reveals things about us that we don’t know or will not admit.  He offers advice and the solutions to our situations, he shows us the way, even if it may be dangerous and not what we want.  He has faced every dilemma we ever will and has overcome them, even death.  Yet we neglect his advice.  He is referred to as Mighty God, unmistakenly referring to his place in the trinity, never boasting or bragging, just the fact of who he is.  Which should be enough to worship and trust him, yet we try him every day to have him prove who he is.  And he never fails.  He is the everlasting father, who knows no beginning but has always been.  Everlasting, no end in sight either, no matter how far you go back or go ahead, Jesus is always there.  He is the only one who can give eternal life because he is eternal and is the life, yet offers sinners a chance to become children of God and part of the family of God.  To enter his kingdom.  He was resurrected, so we can be also.  And finally he is the Prince of Peace.  His peace goes far beyond anything physical or emotional we may desire, it is spiritual in nature, and more than a high or a quickie nirvana.  It goes deep, beyond situations, it is Christ within us, his spirit dwelling inside of us.  It accepts no excuses, he is pure truth, and all these things are found in the person Jesus Christ, and revealed by his spirit within you when you are born again.  He is the truth, maybe that is why I don’t like being lied to, I know the truth, and on a first name basis.

So to those of you who still make excuses, please excuse me.  Excuse me from your selfish pride, thinking you know better than God.  For in your excuses, you really are admitting you know better than Jesus, your counsel is better, your decisions mighty, you won’t change because you are right, and him wrong.  You neglect he who been around since the beginning, claiming it is all new, when it is only new to you.  And you find peace when things go your way, but never know the true peace only found in Jesus.  I can hear the excuses and the name calling already, I’ll take it as a compliment, they did the same to Jesus.  I am not in the same class as him, but in his class I am still learning and trusting.  And not making excuses any more.  So what is your excuse for not trusting Jesus?  Maybe God needs to spend some time with you to see how to figure things out.  But could it be you really need to spend some time with him?  You’ve been given the answers before the test, or isn’t that good enough?

Please explain to me, what part of forgiveness do you have a problem with?  What part of mercy?  What part of being saved by grace and not works?  Admitting you are a failure is the beginning, not the end.  How do you describe your God?  We hear your words, I hope the excuses made don’t match your actions.  Loser.  Not a bad place to start, but a lousy place to end.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

Beemers and Billy

It’s 1968, right in the middle of the Muscle Car era.  Cars are pumping out over 350 hp from over 400 cubic inch engines.  For under $3000 you can burn  all the rubber your insurance premium can handle.  But on the other side of the pond, it is still about small engines with high output that handle.  And seemingly from nowhere, Bavaria to be exact, come a new sport sedan, called the 1600, or its bigger engined brother the 2002.  No one is familiar with this make, yet, and its importer Max Hoffman is about to put it on the map in the US of A.  The car, the BMW 2002, which when driven by off and on again editor of Car and Driver magazine David E. Davis, his headline is how “he blows his mind over the new BMW!”  Which in those days meant “British what?”  The Brits still ruled the sports car world, if only for another few years, but the BMW 2002 was big news, and C&D puffing it, promoting it, put it on the map, the roads of America.  And as they say, the rest is history...

The first car I bought, from money saved from paper routes and cutting yards was my Dad’s 1969 BMW 1600.  He sold it to me in 1971, for whatever he would get in trade for a new 2002, maybe the best $1900 I ever spent on a car.  But my Dad owning one to start with is something of itself, as he drove Ramblers, and commuted in a 1963 VW.  Not a car guy, it was economy.  But reading about the BMW, and it being named one of the Best 10 Cars in the World, he bought one.  The power of the press, the words of David E. Davis and others, getting him into the showroom, into a demo ride, and buying his first and them his second and last BMW.  If you think you know BMW’s, and don’t know about the 2002, you don’t know BMW!

It’s 1947, and a young itinerant preacher peaches his first public crusade in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  No one really notices, but God is moving in his life, and in 1949 decides to preach in Los Angeles, “The Christ for Greater Los Angeles Crusade ,” it is noticed by William Randolph Hearst, he of Hearst Castle and newspaper fame, and he puts out a two word memo to his international chain, “PUFF GRAHAM!”  And as the say, the rest is history, as an unknown preacher goes on to be an historical figure, leading millions to Christ, and beginning a family legacy passed on to his kids.  From humble beginnings, to even humbler and a greater future, Billy Graham is today synonimous with Jesus and crusades around the world.  Ministering to both the poor and presidents alike, you make the distinction.  A man with a message from God, promoted by a man with questionable ethics, brings a message of hope in Jesus Christ to the world, and lives are changed.  The power of the press?  Or is it really the power of the holy spirit?

We neglect to remember that all things work to good for those who love the Lord, and are called according to his purpose.  His purpose, for us to know Jesus Christ personally, to be saved.  Yet in today’s economy, Christian bashing is the norm, we are made fun of on TV, movies, and in print.  Christian movies come out, but mostly only Christians go to them.  I thought they were an evangelistic arm?  Invite an unsaved friend to the movie, be entertained, leave saved.  I hope it’s true, I only hear of church folk attending.  All the huffing, but where is the puffing?  But fortunately, bad press has never been able to deter people from coming to Christ.  Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.  If it weren’t so, Christianity would have died thousands of years ago, yet it is flourishing today and in places we don’t expect.  Or hear about.  Yes, every six seconds Christian is martyred for their faith, yet the testimonies of Jesus Christ continue.  The Bible still the all time best selling book, mega churches springing up, but somehow Jesus stills keeps it personal.  Just like you can say you drove a BMW, I can say I owned one as my first car.  You may go to church, even read the Bible, but without knowing Jesus, it ain’t the same.  It’s not personal.  Yet many live on headlines, rather than reading the small print.

You may drive a BMW, or attend a crusade, but that won’t make you a Christian or a BMW driver.  It isn’t Billy or the Beemer that change you, it is the message.  For Billy it is the gospel, and under the power of the spirit, it goes forth, and then others continue the message.  Something about Jesus, when you meet him, you just have to tell someone.  Like your new car, you drive it around and show it off, and after everyone has seen it, the new wears off.  No one to brag to anymore.  Is your version of the gospel like that?  No longer fresh and new, just put away?  Maybe looking for something newer?  Did you know you can only revive something that was once alive, and has died?  Ask Lazarus, if you could.  Go back to the beginning, when it was fresh and new.  When enthusiasm, God within, drove you.  What drives you now, better who?  My Dad kept his 2002 for many years, even replacing the rusted fenders.  My 1600 blew an engine at 60,000 miles. The ultimate driving machine?  Today every yuppie or wanna be knows what BMW is?  But can they afford the upkeep, or is it about the perception?  Sadly the perceptions of Christians is “they want all our money,” and we bring along a set of rules designed to rob them of all fun.  Maybe said best, the holy spirit’s job is to convict, God’s job to judge, our job to love.  Are you doing your part, the loving?  I have never met a person who came to Christ and was sorry for it.  We all have to worship something, why not God?  And in Christ, it is possible. 

There are many acronyms for BMW, Broke My Wallet, Bring Money With you, Big Money Waster, and Bimbette Motor Wagon.  All pretty close to true.  Yet above Jesus on the cross, were the letters, an acronym claiming he was the son of God.  Beemers and Billy will both have an impact on you.  So will the power of the press.  Without it, BMW may still be just another car, now it is the ultimate driving machine.  Ultimate to me meaning the last.  But in Jesus we have the alpha and the omega, the first and last.  Just for kicks, see if anyone wants to trade with you on an old worn out Beemer.  Jesus is still accepting trade ins of your old sin for new forgiveness.  The ultimate driving machine will always be the holy spirit.  You may blow your mind on a car, your wallet on a BMW, don’t blow your chance at heaven on anything other than Jesus.  Maybe Paul says it best, “I consider everything else a loss after coming to know Jesus Christ.  That I may forego all others and seek his righteousness.  That only comes from God and by faith.”  David E. Davis’s review of the BMW remains one of the best reviews ever written on a car.  I have owned a BMW, and I know Jesus.  And the rest is history...

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

  

don't invite me to Denny's

It has been years, but not enough years since I ate at a Denny’s.  There is something about being Grand Slammed when I am hungry that puts me off.  Now I know many of you may like Denny’s, maybe even eat there under penalty of possible food, but I just don’t like the place.  Not a food snob, but when riding with others who get excited when seeing a Denny’s, I choose to ride on.  Even if for hours, but there have been times I succumbed, and even lived to tell about it.  The most recent was being invited to breakfast with a man and his toddler son, who ordered off  the $2 menu, thinking he was getting a deal, and ended up with a $20 cold breakfast, not being eaten because his kid should have been left home, until he is 21.  I looked at the same menu, and by ordering a meal, not off the $2 menu, would get more for less, but somehow we feel the need to pay less, even if we get less, and is something we don’t want.  Maybe the illusion of many plates represent more food, sorry Denny, I pass, and please, don’t ever invite me to Denny’s.

Years ago with Coca Cola they started the self serve fountain business.  My customers at first were enraged, remember the days of asking for a Coke with no ice, instead of getting a cup of ice with some Coke?  But something happened, people started using more ice themselves, the business could charge more and offer free refills, watch how many actually go back for more, and all were happy.  Maybe we just don’t know what we want, I know I still don’t want Denny’s. 

One of the reasons I avoid eating at rallies and fairs, is the overpricing of the food.  Somehow I feel ripped off, and don’t want to participate, same as at ball games.  $5 hot dogs, $3 small sodas, and $8 slices of the infield disguised as pizza, you spend more to eat than for the ticket.  But one NFL owner, Arthur Blank of the Falcons, changed all that last year.  Slashing many prices by 50%, and setting up dispensers for free refills on soft drinks, a funny thing happened, business grew 88%!  Sales of merchandise grew as well, and you could actually afford to eat stadium food.  With fan first menu pricing, the sales per fan rose 2.32 times, or 232%!  More food, more profit, and happier fans.  They even included the tax, rounding off all prices to the dollar, making it easier to make change.  They also found that tail gate parties moved inside, and business boomed two hours before the game.  By not subbing the concessions out to private concessionaires, they manage it from within.  No need to raise the price for a hot dog on low attendance, and they do it for the fans, as Mr. Blank says, “in appreciation.”  Basic business math is sell more per visit, or increase the customers count who visit.  Here they did both, just by offering a fair deal, and the profits came.  And no, I still won’t eat at Denny’s....

There was a time when I did church visits, and learned a lot about the gospel.  For one thing, so much promotion was used, many times the gospel was left out.  In between youth groups selling items for camp, I think of it as pimping the kids, or various bake sales for missions, and programs needed to keep the interest of the attendees, somehow Jesus was forgotten.  It was the programs and processes that took over, and I saw many disenchanted with the events.  All they wanted was a little Jesus....and got a $2 menu.  For as the church board would survey how the events went over, mainly bragging on how good we were to give, the sermons and teaching were then influenced by the events.  Which is normal and predictable.  But think of it like this, you know at stadiums you get raped by the prices, at Denny’s you get mugged by the quality, why should I go and get beat up spiritually?  Feel good messages that leave me feeling good, but have no real spiritual basis, no challenges of our walk, and no encouragement in Christ, the event is lukewarm, and you leave hungry.  Not for more, but because you haven’t been fed.  There is a difference.

So what do you get out of Jesus?  What are you looking for?  If you are looking for that feel good, everything is OK message, you may not find it in him.  Jesus is reality, and the lukewarm, the repackaging for an audience approval makes him sick.  He throws up, read Revelation 3, his messages to the church.  Is that the kind of religion we want?  But yet many times get.  How we forget that it is the spirit that draws us to him, and that unless he builds the church, we labor in vain.  Yet as the world invades, and in some cases invited in, we become more involved in social issues, political agendas, and what we think is good for us.   We fall for the Denny’s menu at church, and although have had a meal, sometimes wonder what  we just ate.  Does a value menu have any place in a church values?  Do we avoid talking of sin, neglecting repentance?  Are we just one Happy Meal away from hell and don’t know it?  The gospel is free so we can afford it, easy so we can get it.  Tax included.  The people flocked to Jesus not because of pricing, but of his message.  The spirit drawing many who left filled, and wanted more.  Beware of phony sales prices, come ons to get you in, if it aint’ Jesus it is something else.  God doesn’t need your money, he wants you.  In appreciation, God offers Jesus to an unappreciative world, no fancy sayings, no collector cups, or decals for your SUV.  He gives you the food you need, the food you desire, but haven’t tasted of before.  So don’t invite me to Denny’s, or to a church that is set up on values like that.  I need all the Jesus I can get.  No matter how much, he will provide.  Value pricing only works if it is a real value, you will never find a better deal than Jesus.  Anything else is an illusion.....and you don’t pay more for a Super Sized meal.  Our salvation is based on Jesus, not the programs.  His completed work on the cross.  Beware of anything else, no matter the price, you just paid too much.

Or of course you could worship like Burger King, have it your way.  But you will miss out on the Whopper of blessings in Christ.  In appreciation, Mr. Blank expressed, how appreciative are you in Christ? Long before value pricing, Jesus showed the true value in appreciating his fan base.  He addressed the biggest pain point, sin.  And you know the rest....now do you ever wonder how Costco makes money on $1.50 hot dogs?  Still enjoying your $15 pop corn....don’t invite me to the movies either!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the other Route 66

For the three years I lived in Albuquerque, I never lived farther than a few blocks from Route 66.  Central Avenue, or Central as we called it, was Route 66, and 40 years ago just another forgotten old road, by passed by the Interstate, and being passed by.  I used to drive on it every day to work, crossed it walking to UNM, cruised it on my way to friend’s houses, and ate many a meal at the old restaurants.  My friend Marcia worked at an old motel on Central, now gone, but back then still proud and unique.  But like many of the landmarks and memories, they are either gone, or renovated and made to look like new.  Or replicas, telling us what it must have been like back then.  Even PJ had his Triumph store on Central until it closed last year, to us just old Central, now an institution.

I have driven or ridden all of Route 66, or what is left of it over the years, with only the terminus in Chicago being carefully avoided.  From riding through Amboy and Goffs on it, through Arizona past the Twin Arrows, staying at The El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, even riding across it when moving west, I too have been under the influence of Route 66, many times without knowing it.  Even my first ride through Dead Man’s Curve still is etched in my mind.  Each state has its own 66 flavor, but Oklahoma is probably my favorite, although a turnpike passes by a lot of it, you can ride Route 66 through many small towns kept alive by it.  Towns like Catoosa, Sapulpa, Stroud, and Clinton, which has the best Route 66 museum in my opinion, through Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and into Missouri via a short ride into Kansas, I prefer to take the highway, that’s my way, that’s the best.  Words to a song written by Bobby Troup on his way west, who later played Dr. Joe Early on Emergency!, made popular by Nat King Cole, and becoming famous after the road was decommissioned and threatened with extinction.  Truly Route 66 is a place to get your kicks, to visit history, to grab at custard at Ted Drewes, have lunch in Adrian, Texas a the midway point, and ride onto the Santa Monica pier at its western terminus.  So much road, take a long week, stop and enjoy the past, and see how it really was, and now is.  Route 66 changed a lot of lives, but another 66 can also change your life even more.

Think of your trip through the Bible as Route 66, 66 books by 40 authors, over thousands of years.  A book to be read and reread, to be studied, copied, and applied to life.  Yet many read it like I used to ride Central going to work, just another ay to start the day, nothing special.  I know the scenery, and I become familiar with it, nothing new.  Some get on at a certain point, and get off later, jumping off here and there, reading whatever satisfies them, avoiding new and tough verse.  Some go deep, they get off and into where the spirit leads them, and meet the people and meet the author, while some try to read it all in a year, never getting more than a bumper sticker saying they were there.  They have ridden through the 66 books of the Bible, but never stop and see the sights.  But God designed it differently, that each time we take that trip down 66, it becomes a new adventure.  That we get our kicks from his 66, that we spend time getting to know the author, and enjoy the people along the way, instead of being locked in air conditioned comfort, just looking for the next freeway exit.  When we ride with Jesus, his spirit makes the Bible come alive, it reveals the mysteries of Christ to us, and we can travel through lie with the best tour guide ever.  It is history, poetry, teachings, and advice for life.  It is personal, contemporary, and the all time best seller.  The first book ever printed.  Yet so over looked, when it brings Jesus into our life. 

Some by pass Genesis, but if you never get past “in the beginning,” the rest loses something, for God was there.  If you only study Revelation, you may know the future, but still have to live in today.  Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end, but in between is so much that we overlook, so much in a hurry to get where we are going, we miss out on the side trips he takes us on.  Route 66 has many stories to tell, and reading them brings life to the road, just like reading the Bible.  To Route 66’s that still influence, maybe it is important what road you are on.

Like my Bible reading there are many places I like to return to, riding from Williams to Kingman, not much but a lot has changed on the old road.  The Texas Panhandle always has me getting off in Shamrock, spending the night in Tucumcari, once at the Blue Swallow, standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, speeding past Winona, I guess he needed a word to rhyme here, and of course avoiding Needles, Barstow, and carefully riding it from San Berdoo to the Pacific.  But with no more stopping at Whiting Bros. for gas, I sprayed my last car at the Cadillac Ranch, there are more railroad cars made into diners to eat at, and more museums to visit along the way.  Each with a story to tell, and I am glad they all are there.  Just like I am for God’s Route 66, for sometimes I need cheering up, sometimes a lesson in life, at other times good advice, and it is always fun to catch up on Jesus, to see how he saved us, how he left his spirit, and still loves us even though we stray.  Freeway religion with its marked exits may get you there, but for me it will always be the old roads, where the action was and still is.  A difference that only Jesus can make on our trip through life.  So pick it up and read it today, spend time with God and get to know him.  Read Paul’s letters like a letter, he didn’t canonize them when he wrote them, read the Psalms as poetry, read Genesis as a personal history, endure the laws in Leviticus, and find the freedom in the cross in the gospels.  Something and all things for everyone.

Or you can be like me living near Route 66, and never knowing how close I had come to it.  In may ways it will always be Central to me, I hope Jesus is central to you.  Just a few words from Bobby Troup’s song may tell us more about the Lord than we knew, “take my way, that’s the highway, that’s the best.”  Two roads converged, and I took the one less travelled.  Don’t let your Bible meet the same fate.  If you ever saw the movie CARS, you already have an invitation to the road, the spirit is inviting you to visit him today.  The other Route 66, where adventure begins....let’s ride.  Meet you at Lucille’s...and bring your appetite.  The Bible, the other Route 66.  A road that will change your life.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com