owners and riders

I made the big switch in 1972 to motorcycle owner.  But still was a rider, always was, always will be.  Today when we are out we meet many who come up to us and will say “I own a motorcycle,” only to find it is hidden somewhere in the garage, with half of the tank of gas they bought last spring.  It seems that there is a big difference between owners and riders, even Harley’s own HOG group Is Harley Owners Group, which may explain the multitude of late model Harleys with low miles for sale.  They bought, they posed, they sold, never really becoming a part of us, they were always apart from us.  In May of the year I bought my first Honda CB350, motorcycles were motorcycles, and the fact you rode was more important that what you rode.  Today we have baggers, cruisers, sport bikes, café racers, adventure bikes, Harleys, Ducatis, and BMW’s.  Like religion, each group having their own take on motorcycles, segregating themselves, elitist, an owner, but maybe not a rider.  And they come from all levels of society, doctors and lawyers, to 1%ers, all motorcyclists, just not all riders.  Even my last visit with Sonny Barger, we talked of how great Triumph new bikes were, how fast Kawasakis were, and the immergence of BMW.  But he will only ride American made bikes, hates Harleys, don’t get him going on them, was riding an Indian bagger, but really loved his Victory they didn’t make anymore.  The face of riding for many, he never will allow himself the joy of horsepower, handling, and comfort.  But being the rebel he is, any bets on late night races on a café racer.....owner and rider, a rare breed.

The old saying “$20,000 and 20 miles don’t make you a biker,” is still true today.  When we are in Pennsylvania and they see our Cali plates, riders come up and ask “did you ride it here?”  Also heard in Northern California, when we say we are from San Diego.  But the difference between owner and rider goes deep, as we can define our years by what we rode and where.  We have a common disease called motorcycles, and tell Harley jokes, Triumph jokes, and make fun of the plush animals on Gold Wings.  Our leathers are worn and faded, but our memories aren’t, and we look forward to each next ride with anticipation, the road can be the journey and also the destination, not just the next HOG free lunch or an owners meeting.  We are a diverse group, a unique minority in the world today, any guesses on what our plans are based on every weekend?  Or after I am done writing this?  Some own, some ride, if you find yourself waving to bikes when in a car, you get it.....

In the beginning it was just God and Adam, the perfect relationship.  Then came Eve, they sinned and were separated from God.  He offered his love via many ways, laws and legalism, commandments, showing them how to live in a fallen world.  But the beginning of religion began, choosing what rules and how to apply them, each group building barriers between them and others, each claiming the better way, but mostly missing God.  Sometimes altogether.  And then he sent Jesus to reunite us with himself, the law couldn’t and people wouldn’t, so Jesus became the way.  Again each group embracing a part or distancing themselves from one, ending up with what scripture calls a form of godliness, but without the fullness of Jesus Christ.  Each clinging to a partial gospel, never enjoying the fullness in the spirit.  Like motorcycle owners, they may be part of a religion, adhere to its rules, but never ride what they have.  “I go to church, I am a Catholic, I am a Baptist,” while the true rebels embrace Jesus Christ first.  Some are religious, some are Christians, some believe, some attend.  Some look the part, while those that have become a part have stopped looking.  Seems we all have the intrinsic desire to belong, to be loved and forgiven, yet will jump at the first chance to belong.  Twenty years in church and $20,000 given does not make a Christian, only knowing Jesus does.  With an interesting phenomena we see more and more of lately.  Many of us older saints have quit going to church, it has changed politically, socially, and even drifted away from Jesus, unknowingly and knowingly.  With many confused thinking the church is Jesus, the church doesn’t save, only Jesus does.  But all who are saved are part of his church, we both own and ride, still rebels in religion.  Choosing Jesus above all else......

Years ago when Ronald Reagan was asked why he left the Democratic party, he answered, “I didn’t leave them, they left me.”  Have you signed up for Jesus and settled for less?  Bought a touring bike that never leaves town?  Own all the riding gear but never wear it, or wear it and have become a poser?  Maybe when we find that riding is an affair of the heart, our riding habits change.  Same with Jesus, our your prayers rote?  Do you tithe miserably because your church says to?  Or do you meditate on God all day, does he fill your thoughts?  Does he influence your actions and emotions?  Do you seek him first, or the things of him?  Maybe it is time to start riding your relationship with Jesus, kick stand up, and away in the spirit.  Turn to Jesus today and don’t try to get it all at once, each ride is different, and each road too.  Maybe the blind man who was given his sight said it best, without any religious overtones, no church talk, but basic.  After he met Jesus, his answer was “Once I was Blind, but now I can see.”  No study could ever replace his relationship with Jesus.  He had met the Lord, and his life changed. 

And so I pray for Sonny, to know Jesus, and to take a ride on one of my bikes, which I have offered and he refused.  He has the same opportunity we have, don’t let brand order or denomination rob you from all the fullness Jesus has to offer.  Some own, some ride.  Some are owned, others are driven.  Jesus allows us to make the choice, love and life, religion or death.  In Christ we find true freedom, you can be part of the group or part of his family.  Even when in a car I still wave.....I am a part of us, just not wanting to be apart from us.  Owners and riders.....which are you?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

making the monsters real

We used to call them monster movies when I was a kid.  Not your basic Frankenstein or Dracula, but the ones we first saw on Chiller Theater, Zacherly, or Svengoolie.  The bad B movies, with names like Hideous Sun Demon, The Manster, It! the Terror from Beyond Space, and Creeping Unknown.  Black and white, made on a low or no budget in the fifties, with varying plots, but one common denominator, they all had a monster in them.  From mad doctors experimenting with radioactivity, to creatures from outer space hitching rides on space ships, these monsters all took on a personality of their own.   We very rarely got a clear view of them if at all, usually in the shadows, but the illusion of what they looked like in our minds was more than enough, so that for the few seconds they did appear, you could be disappointed.  It took magazines like Famous Monsters of  Filmland to fill in the blanks, and give us background, but we kept coming back, each Saturday night to see the next one.  Maybe you did too...

Some of my favorites other than the above are, The Tingler, Monster of Piedra Blancas, The Alligator People,The Neanderthal Man, Four Skulls of Jonathon Drake, Invasion of the Saucer Men, Brain That Wouldn’t Die, Brain From Planet Arous, and any John Agar movie, and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.  Movies we would stay up late for, setting our alarms to watch, when we saw them in TV Guide.  Movies so bad they were good, movies that still scare a little, still put you on edge, and monsters that still scare you.  With one recurring theme, somehow the monsters were believable.  You believed, didn’t you?

It took a creative mind, not a low budget one, to make a monster believable.  So that a Hideous Sun Demon looked like the sun had made him hideous, that the floating skulls and shrunken heads looked real, that the Tingler’s shadow made you tense, and is that really what a saucer man looked like?  Somehow we all could associate with them, I can only think of a few monsters that ever disappointed me, I rather look back on the ones I could associate with, the ones you never saw enough of, the ones you tried in vain to describe to your friends in school the next day, or the ones like The Creeping Unknown, who first showed up on the space ship’s video, then on Victor’s hand, and finally trying to consume Westminster Abbey.  So believable they were unbelievable, I can still hear the 50 foot Woman calling for “HARRY!  Harry!”  While demolishing all those cool Plymouths in her path....

With one basic premise, to scare the pants off you.  To hold you in suspense, to let your imagination go crazy about the what did the monster look like, and to not disappoint you when they were finally seen.  No one knew what a real space monster looked like, or a person changed by radiation, or by having his head shrunk, just enough of science that was fiction to make you believe, and make you argue with your friends the next day. who all knew more about such things than you did, to them it was only a stupid movie, but to those of us who watched and worshipped them, it was real, and made our imaginations kick in, with a big what if, and what would we do in the situation if we ever saw one.  No borders on our imagination, seems the cheaper the film budget, the larger the imagination to enjoy it.  Of course these were made up, right?  I mean they were, weren’t they.....

But what we really had was faith, a faith that although the monsters may not be seen, that they existed.  That we may never see an invisible man, but we know he was there.  Christians are saved by faith, but often we don’t display our faith as we should or could.  To me it takes little or no faith to believe in Jesus, but many cults, atheists, and non-believers have different versions of God, which take more faith to believe than the facts the Bible verifies.  I listen when a non-believer tells me about his god, how the works he must do to get to heaven, to achieve nirvana, to ascend to the next level, and how they are loyal to the lies.  Such cults as The Way, playing Jesus’ words of how “he is the way,” but never acknowledging him as deity, or that he is the way.  Have it their way.  JW’s who deny his deity too, and live never knowing if they are good enough to make it to their afterlife.  Add in LDS, who have a made up Jesus, who was not God or even the son of God, but a created being, and you find even the staunchest believers denying the truth of the gospel, all based on false faith.  Each one adding a bit of a lie, and twisting scripture so the weak ones believe.  Jesus warned us, that they will sound so real that even the elect can become deceived, so how do you know?  One simple question, one you will be asked to answer sometime in your life, “who do you say Jesus is?  Is he truly deity?  Is he truly resurrected?”  Or is the god portrayed in their cult like the ones in monster movies?  Made up, based on facts, then let up to your imagination....not your soul. 

You see there is the truth, and then smaller truths, cleverly disguised but still a lie.  All lies being based on truth.  And these cultists go after the weak ones in their recruiting, again we are warned of weak woman who fall prey to these men, so beware.  Test the spirits like we are admonished to do, take nothing on face value, demand to see the hands of Jesus, as Thomas did.  Not a doubter, but he wanted proof, and Jesus supplied it.  Ask your pastor, read your Bible, test the spirit, to see if it truly is holy, for even Satan can appear as an angel of light.  Don’t fall into a fake religion, a cult, or a fad, based on a friend, or social pressure.  Even the cults know the others are cults, just not them.  Read your Bible, and trust Jesus, and when the false teachers and teachings don’t match up with scripture, leave.  NOW!  Don’t even wish them “God bless you,” lest you give credence to their false God.  Most of the New Testament has warnings about false teachers and doctrine, all leading up to the appearance of the anti-Christ, whose spirit is already here.  The anti-Christ spirit, instead of Jesus, so subtle, but really only needing you to miss Jesus, to make you wait or delay in believing, to poison your mind against the truth.  A spiritual battle going on for your eternal soul, right now, so hideous no monster could scare like he does.  Yet many follow in the dark....

There was a reason we watched monster movies in the dark, they were scarier, but when in the light and exposed, we find we are not as scared, even admitting, “I was afraid of that?”  When Jesus appears in your life, when his spirit directs you to him, you walk in his light, there is no darkness at all, for evil and the devil cannot live in his light.  So if your spirit is uncomfortable, maybe Jesus is trying to tell you something, it is called the truth.  It may make you leave your friends, your family, or even your social group, but Jesus says “pick up your cross and follow me.”  The cross makes all the difference, and he who was resurrected.  The Way is not the way, nor is any other false religion.  Be warned, not all monsters are out on Halloween, they are out everyday, seeking to kill and destroy.  Only Jesus saves, a simple fact to believe, because he proves it.  All others are based on lies and even tradition.  If where and how you worship is beset by a set of rules, beware, you are already under their control.  Know of the freedom in the spirit, heaven is real, but so is hell, and only Jesus is the way.  Follow him or these other monsters out to kill your spirit.  Jesus saves......only Jesus saves, and it is a gift you cannot earn.  He will remove your scars, his will endure forever, as proof of who he is and what he has done.  You do believe don’t you.....

Now back to your regular scheduled station....Gort, Klaatu barata nikto!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

death-do it right, you don't get a second chance

I asked a boss of mine once what he looked for when hiring, his answer surprised me, “ten years.”  He felt if you could get a commitment of ten years, you could achieve success and make his job easier.  So much for the five year plan that was popular before the bucket list became the next trendy idea.  But ten years, I can’t think ahead five minutes let alone five years, and you want me to commit to that long a time?  If asked, how many times have your views, dreams, and ideas changed in the past thirty days, let alone five years?  Some of us live from crisis to crisis, never coming up for air, five more years of the pain and suffering?  Or even if asked after a good day, how would your answer change?  Moving on up as the Jeffersons did, or movin’ out, a big difference, just ask a college grad living in his parent’s basement for a few years. It seems in every generation, in every age, in every career, movin’ out or moving up may be a dream, but never a reality.

I remember making $2.25/hour, and my boss making $5.00, oh all the things I could do with all that money.  Then it was a $1000/month, then a week, and life that was supposed to be better, got harder, the more I made, the more it demanded of me in my time and my money.  So money wasn’t the answer, short or long term.  We seem to think we have unique problems, but really we are more alike than we care to admit.  It was only after I was asked about an eternal plan, not five years but millions of years, that my mindset changed, and so did my life.  Jesus tells us that we will not encounter any temptation that is not uncommon to man, that can be a relief or a curse.  But when becoming a true Christian and letting the spirit lead, suddenly life is injected with life, and it changes as Jesus changes us. Think you’re having it rough, consider Moses and the Israelites for a moment....in the day before indoor plumbing and fast food....

It had never been easy for Moses or the Jewish people.  The Egyptians treated them as property, worse than cattle sometimes, and not as valued people or even people.  But God let Moses know he saw their affliction, and things were about to change.  He would take them out of their temporary affliction, and into a promised land.  You can be sure each one had a different view of a promised land, but few would have agreed with God.  The key was that their present situation would not be their permanent reality.  As believers in Jesus Christ we too have that promise, that he will lead us out and into a better place, yet many Christians suffer needlessly.  When we truly know and trust God, we can see beyond our present situation, past the moment, and even past the five year plan we have made. 

At present, I'm well aware that some of us are experiencing health needs, emotional needs, family needs, and financial needs. These are not uncommon concerns. These are the common struggles that we all face in the midst of our sojourn on this earth. But for those who walk with Christ, and know Him by name, these are momentary afflictions, not permanent conditions. Just as the people of Israel were emancipated, through Christ we have been freed from our slavery to sin, and assured of our permanent place in God's eternal kingdom. We too have a home in a Promised Land.  When we think eternal or whole perspective of God and life change.  So what is your eternal plan, and does it line up with God’s?

God knows your name. Be known as one who knows His name, and rest in the fact that He who spoke creation into existence also holds your life in the palm of His hand.  Maybe if we look back five years and see how far God has taken us, we can focus better on him.  He knows the plans he has for us, not hidden, but you must trust with all your heart, more than a bumper sticker or phrase, it is scripture, God speaking.  And he has given us his spirit so we can connect with him and know, but still leaves the decision up to us, for true love demands a choice, it cannot be legislated or forced upon us.  Yet how many times have you been dragged kicking and screaming into blessings?  He also says obedience is better than sacrifice, can I hear an amen?

We will only die once here on earth, no do overs or second chances if you don’t like the results.  The gates of hell keep you in, only Jesus keeps you out. So what is your eternal plan, does it include Jesus?  Do you even have one?  God has one, and  you can be a part of it, it is your choice.  Death if done right to a Christian is the continuance of a relation with Jesus, if not, hell is a continuance without him.  We will all face death, we don’t know the time, the place. or the way, but we can know where we will end up.  Only Jesus can change your today’s situation and also your tomorrow’s.  If you only trust in his death but not his resurrection you are missing out, suddenly five years seems such a short time....

And ask any Israelite that travelled with Moses, it’s worth the trip, even their shoes never wore out.  Can you say that about your Nikes? 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com