starving student sells cycle, sees sinner saved

My friend Vince was the best car salesman I ever met.  He took good care of his customers, and always made a good deal for them and his dealership.  I met him when he came by trying to sell a 1971 BMW R75/5 motorcycle a customer wanted to trade on a new Scirocco.  Anything to make the deal, it was an above average bike, a white one, back then BMW only sold black bikes, and every 1000th bike was painted white, it had the large tank, a Windjammer fairing, and Krauser bags.  Where I was working selling motorcycles wasn’t interested, I offered him wholesale, $1000, and it was mine.  It was a good deal where all parties benefited.  And a bike I would ride for a few months, before going back to school at UNM, and becoming a starving student would have to sell.  So reluctantly that September, I put an ad in the paper, and a man responding wanted it, thought the price fair, but was $200 short.  Could I give him 60 days on a note?  I was young and trusting, his cash covered more than I paid with a small profit, so I agreed, and he rode off.  Never hearing from him again, until the 60 days was near.

He was excited to see me, loved the bike, and would I meet him at the Denny’s where he was a cook to get the balance of cash?  So rounding up Garcia, an ex-enforcer, and now a Christian brother, we met on the loading platform where he gave me the cash, along with a story.  When I sold the bike it had a Jesus fish sticker on the Windjammer windshield, and whenever he rode it, had to see it.  Obviously others did too, including many Christians,who seeing the fish thought he was a Christian, and greeted him in love.  At first it bothered him, but as more and more waved, and talked with him, he became interested, and finally found a church, and gave his life to the Lord.  He told me he had done everything and anything to get the sticker off, but it wouldn’t budge, at first it made him mad, now he was glad.  His testimony of coming to Christ, a starving student, sells a cycle, and sees a sinner saved, and it was him!  I never saw him or the bike again, but know where I will someday.

It is the foolish things of the world that God uses effectively, and a motorcycle with me involved, and a Jesus sticker may not seem like evangelism to those that go out witnessing, but in fact was an effective witness to this man.  And those who saw it.  No preaching, no special prayer, not even invited to church, just other Christians greeting him in love, and guided by the Holy spirit he responded to Jesus’ invitation.  Without knowing it, we had shared Jesus showing goodness and kindness, two of the fruit of the spirit.  He saw Jesus as a friend through us, and wanted the things of Jesus because of it.  In a world where often times we shrink when asked if we are a Christian, so many responded to the sign of the fish as they did in the first church when under persecution.  The spirit of the Lord is stronger than any sin or sinner, and the power to save comes from him, but can work through us, se we can see his hand of love at work.  Sometimes we back off, or worse yet preach at someone, here Jesus used a sticker and acts of love and friendship to send his message of salvation.  Truly he will never leave us nor forsake us, even when we sell the bike or car.  But as a result, we find new strength in him, as our faith builds, and we want to share him more.  St. Francis of Assissi once wrote “preach the gospel daily, and when necessary use words.”  For long after our words are confused or forgotten, the acts of kindness and goodness will be remembered.  That is preaching the word daily, and when we have his spirit in us, something different is noticed about us, and no amount of memorization or teaching will take the place of his spirit in action.  He tells us he will give us the words when we need them, and he does. 

But to those who go out witnessing, I have a question.  How can you turn Jesus on and off?  Doesn’t the scripture tell us as we go to share the gospel?  Many times I have been chastised for being late to a meeting, when God had me stop and minister.  On one occasion I was attending a funeral for a friend, when a regional rally was going on.  An accident occurred, and I spent most of the day ministering love to his family.  Catching the last five minutes, I was told “you missed a great teaching,”  I just smiled, I had just seen Jesus in action.  Which later would lead to me seeing further miracles related to the accident.  I was just out being a witness....

But beware, if you had a Jesus sticker on your ride, if you carry a Bible, or wear a Jesus shirt, once you identify yourself as a Christian, they will expect you to act like one.  Your witness should not be witless, but on all the time, letting your light shine.  Not blinding high beams, but the light of God shining through you to minister to others.  God had this planned since the beginning, giving a whole new meaning to motorcycle ministry.  Wave your whole hand, not just one finger, listen and be polite.  If needed use words, but nothing beats being shown love and compassion.  We were all at one time that unsaved person, not even knowing we were looking for God.  Then a sticker shows up, and it cannot be removed, just like God cannot be removed from your life.  Ride as if your life depends on it, to that unsaved rider and his new bike it did.  Let those who ride decide, and this man and myself chose Jesus.  And his promisary note you don’t have to worry about.  Sticker optional.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

while you were asleep

When Rip Van Winkle woke up after a 20 year nap, things were different.  Imagine if you would, only a five year nap, and falling asleep in 1968, and waking up in 1973.  If you rode motorcycles, you may have fallen asleep dreaming of a new Bonneville, and where you were going to get the $1450 to buy it.  That Norton looked good, so did the BSA, Harley Sportster maybe, but buying anything from Japan, that was out of the question.  The Honda 450 was the biggest, we dreamt of big bikes.  Something that told the world about us, we wanted something cool.....and in our dreams we rode them all.

Then like Rip, we woke up, and it was 1973.  The Bonneville was now a 750, wow.  No more BSA, what happened?  Norton now had a Commando with a Combat motor, but wait a 1000cc Sportster?  Didn’t the ad say it would part the hair on your chest, and if you didn’t have any, put some on it?  But what was this AMF on the tank?  Honda now had a 750 with four pipes, and disc brakes, but what was this thing called the Mach III, and what was a Z-1?  Yamaha made a 650 4 stroke, Suzuki a water cooled bike, and BMW’s had a tank that looked like a toaster, and had some performance.  Was I dreaming, or was this real?  Was that really a third cylinder on the Triumph called Trident?  And where would I get the $2000 to buy the bike of my new dreams.....

But maybe my parents were right, I should be more practical, maybe buy a car.  The Road Runner with a 440 had 390 hp, now what was this 250 they advertised?  An SS454 sounds cool, but with only 265 hp?  Ford’s 351 with 255hp, and the GTO, it got huge and ugly.  Maybe a Z28, but at over $4000, I barely make that a year.  And after that test drive, they don’t seem as fast, although the salesman tells me that the numbers now are net instead of gross, yet they seem slower.  Probably just salesman talk....

And what’s this, the Mets are in the World Series, again?  World Champs in 1969?  Nixon is president, well at least Viet Nam hasn’t changed.  Too bad.  Skirts got shorter, but who can afford the prices?  Maybe I was safer in my dreams, all this makes me tired, I think I’ll take a nap.  Five years sure made a difference......and no gas crisis yet to remember.  The world had changed, but have I too?  Somehow the prices ain’t right, I feel out of place, a stranger in a strange land called home.  Guess I’ll just keep my old 55 Chevy to drive, rebuild the old Triumph Tiger.  They’re cheap and I can fix them myself......if only we knew then what we do now.

Paul writes to Timothy at the end of his life, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”  Strong words from a man who literally changed the world through Jesus Christ.  How different his life was before Jesus and then after.  From a chief prosecutor and persecutor, remember he held the coats of those that stoned Stephen, to writing most of the New Testament after meeting Jesus on the road, in just a few years his life and whole world had changed.  He had fought the good fight, the one that counts, he was saved and had done as the Lord directed him.  He had finished the race, the life of being a Christian in a fallen world.  Of overcoming it through Jesus, and leaving religion behind.  Every moment of his new life in Christ was spent contributing to the goal, and not of participating in the world.  Living in the spirit instead of the flesh, as all Christians are called to do.  Serving God instead of ourselves and our flesh.  And finally kept the faith, living daily by the spirit, the spirit revealing the mysteries of Christ to him, depending on him and counteracting evil.  This faith that tells us about ourselves and who we are in Christ, that explains why the world is how it is and how to live in it, but not become part of it.  He had protected that which God had entrusted to him, he used it as God directed, not for his own selfish needs.  He has warned us to not go astray, of false teachers and teaching, how to be wise, and to seek the spirit to guide us.  He has shown redemption, forgiveness, and commitment, and had finished the race, after fighting the good fight through faith in Jesus Christ.  He gave up all he had to inherit all the things of God.  If only I could be like that....

Maybe a trip back to the first day you were saved and to today may be in order.  Was that day your best day, or have you grown in God’s grace?  Do you look forward to heaven, but trust God while still here on earth?  When we finally fall asleep to this thing we call death, are you assured of where you will wake up?  Do you have the faith in Christ to be assured of heaven?  Do you trust him to take you there, but fall short in trust for daily needs?  Are you involved in the daily battle of faith, or standing on the sidelines holding someone else’s coat?  Are you going to finish the race, are you fighting the good fight, where is your faith and where have you placed it? 

Rip VW’s world changed in 20 years.  How has Jesus changed yours?  Are you awake or asleep?  The only way to know you were asleep is when you wake up.  So good morning, God has a bright new day waiting for you.  Will you join him?  Others may mock you, make fun of you, but somehow it will all be worth it.  I mean while you were asleep for five years, the Mets won the World Series, now that’s a miracle.  From last to first, if it worked for them, shouldn’t it work for you?  Man walking on the moon?  Woodstock?  No more Beatles?  Wake up from your spiritual slumber today, and enjoy life in Christ.  The race continues, the battles continue, but so does Jesus.  Choosing him should be simple, at least as simple as to what bike to buy....now if I only had hair on my chest to part......or should I just keep my old 55 Chevy.  At least it’s paid for, it may be used, but who knows, someday.....

love with compassion,

Mike

mattehw25biker.blogspot.com

"no one I ever met..."

 

I didn’t know Frank BVN, Before Viet Nam, but I did AVN, After Viet Nam.  He was a high school friend of Lance and I met Lance and others at college my first year.  Frank was a very talented musician, with insight and emotions to make his guitar weep.  BVN he had been a pacifist, got drafted, and in the first of many bad Army decisions, put him in the infantry.  His job, as he told it, was to kill people.  When I asked him once, “did you ever kill anyone?” his answer has stuck with me, “no one I ever met.”  He had turned to drugs to ease the pain while there, a wounded warrior from the effects of battle, and came home on a stretcher, an addict.  He soon married his high school sweetheart Barb, and they settled in Bernardsville, and their house soon became party central.  But as the drugs and depression wore on Frank, it had an effect on Barb also, and soon she too was a victim of Frank’s AVN, and you could see it wearing on her.  She put on weight, smoked a lot, and she too turned to drugs to ease the pain.  For the few years I knew them, he had gotten very cynical, and vindictive, drugs, combined with alcohol, and no job and a young wife just pushed him farther away.  Slowly he was not asked to participate, Barb couldn’t take the pain anymore, and she left him.  Still very much in love, it was self preservation for both of them, Frank was critical and no one knew how to answer.

Like many sad stories, we get tired of hearing them, and one night Frank called me, which was unusual.  I was the newest of friends, and low on the pecking order, for him to call I knew he was bad.  I went over to his apartment over the bank, and listened to him play all night.  His music tearing at my heart, I can only imagine what it was doing to him.  He had gone to work at the VA, and in their wisdom put him in the dispensary, it was like being in a candy store for him.  And one night he had gone too far, Sandy had put a load in his cigarette, and it went off at a party.  He laughed with the others, but inside the torment sent him back on the battle field, and he fed her drinks one night, screwdrivers made with an orange laxative.  She dehydrated so bad she had to be taken to the ER, she almost died, and no one said a word, but Frank had gone too far, and I was the one left who would answer his call when no one else would.

As the three of us sat that night, me, Frank,and his bottle of gin, he played and I was mesmerized by it.  But sickened also, as he was mainlining directly into his stomach, a quart gone in a few hours.  Using a syringe he stole from the VA.  The last time I would ever see him, I will never forget the needle in his stomach, but rather remember his acoustic version of The Association’s “Along Comes Mary,” which still plays in my memory.  I moved on, moved west, and coming back to visit, had dinner with my old friends, and Frank was absent.  No one knew what had happened to him or Barb, he was here one day and gone the next.....and I still wonder about him....

Dealing with the homeless and indigent, I see many who have gone the way of Frank, and are looking for a way back.  A generation raised in Sunday School if not church, they have gone astray, and very few churches welcome them.  Oh some do with a sermon way over their head, and them the dinner, some try to rationalize their irrational situation, and although they care, are ineffective.  They are looking for love and get fed programs, memorization of scripture, and more rules of how to live.  As we go back to our safe and secure homes, telling ourselves we did a good job, as they suffer on.  There are too many Franks out there looking, but few answers are given that work.  We can teach them discipline, clean them up and a meal and a bed, but until they change their hearts, they are no better off.  Only Jesus changes hearts, not us, and we need to get out of God’s way, so he can have his way!

When the first disciples met Jesus, Andrew ran home to tell his brother, “you’ve just got to meet this man, he is like no one I have ever met.”  The woman at the well was amazed that Jesus knew so much about her and her husbands, for he was like no man she ever met.  The two men walking with Jesus, when their hearts burned inside, they too had walked with a man like no other they had ever met.  It seems that whenever Jesus met someone their life changed, and still does today.  We are faced with making a choice at that point of who he says he is, and in every lifetime, each one of us will be asked by the holy spirit “who do you say Jesus is?”  It may be today, or happened already, it may be tomorrow, in a crowd, at church, or riding.  But the spirit is calling out to us, and we need to answer.  While some live in a BVN/AVN world, I choose to live in a AD world, after Christ.  I see the debris of human lives wasted, from drugs to bad religion, it comes down to a choice.  No one forced the needle into Frank’s stomach, but in pain and desperation he found his answer there, and only made things worse.  The Army definitely didn’t know, nor did the VA, institutions we trust, but do we trust Jesus with the most important thing, our eternal soul?  Where we will spend the tomorrows after death is more important.  Yet we choose a quickie nirvana, a drug, sex, vindictiveness, or other abuses to stop the pain.  Today we honor those who died, but what about those still missing in action, those not accounted for, not only on the battlefield, but in everyday life?  Family members, friends, spouses, kids, and others, when we fail Jesus doesn’t.  But it still comes down to our choice, for perfect love demands one. 

Truly Jesus is like no one I ever met.  From his saving grace, his merciful forgiveness, and his loving spirit, we can try to emulate him, but never equal him.  He is begotten, unique in all the history of the world, and we can know him personally.  He can free us from the drugs, depression, the religion, and the bad doctrines.  Today we stand at the well like the thirsty woman did, and he is offering us drink.  A drink that quenches a thirst we don’t even know we have, will you drink of it with him?  He forgives your past, and promises you a future.  He stands by you, and loves you.  He is the answer the MIA’s need, and the one that is like no one I ever met.  Some cries we hear, but too many are silent, only Jesus hears them all.  He weeps with them, offers them comfort.  A place to rest, and feel welcomed.  Sadly he is the last one on many people’s list to call, when all others have deserted you, like they did Frank, only Jesus remains.

My friend Nick tells me life is a battlefield, and he lives on one.  Dealing with the Franks of many battles, but only Jesus can rescue.  We can provide aid, but only Jesus heals.  We can love, but we all have our limits, Jesus doesn’t.  I wish I could have been there for Frank, but at the time I was just as lost.  The difference is Jesus.  All of us will go to war of some kind, but not all return, yet some return who may have been better off dead.   If not for the grace of God, there go I......reach out in love today, be compassionate, hug someone, listen to their stories.  Be their friend, and unlike Frank don’t kill no one you ever met, introduce them to the man who is like no other they will ever meet.  Some wounds show the scars, some never heal.  I’ll bet the woman at the well felt the same way.....

Not everyone who was killed because of war has their name found on the wall.

love with compassion,

Mikematthew25biker.blogspot.com

the loneliest road

Having just completed four days on the road in a car, I can say I really missed riding.  The Mustang was OK, until we hit US 191, aka “the devils road,” because of its former 666 designation.  A straight shot and winding curves rising to 4000’ to Clifton, then to Morenci and past the world largest open pit mine, one you must see to believe, the truck tires are over 10’ tall, and the trucks down below look small until parked next to a semi, and you can barely see the semi.  Big boys toys, trucks the Tonka trucks were based on, and then the road changes.  Leaving Morenci, a company town where all housing is company owned, the road immediately snakes and curves for the next 85 miles, or 2 1/2 hours by car up to 9300’, then down into Alpine, and all its 145 people.  Unbelievable beauty, to be shared with only the one you are with, at one time we saw only 6 cars in 48 miles.  We passed rams 2-3 times, and a group of deer by the road and stopped counting 12 one other.  No cell service, only the road and the beauty that surrounds it, we will go back next spring on two wheels.  No gas stops, no general stores, no traffic, and no noise, the silence can be deafening!  Looking much like Colorado, it is a different side to Arizona that we didn’t think existed.  But now that the secret is out I hope you can keep it, I’m depending on you.....

I have traveled many lightly traveled roads in the past, and often gone miles before seeing another car, but there was and is a certain beauty to this ride.  It seemed very personal, as around each curve the view was different, and just when you thought you had reached the top, another peak loomed ahead.  Suddenly the 4000 who call Morenci home made it feel like a metropolis, with stop signs and lights and everything.  But out here, no trucks, semis, minivans, and very few other to interfere.  Just like we would like our lives to be, but so often aren’t, as one person on the side of the road on a freeway will cause a jam, or a red light have traffic backed up, or the commute to Temecula has traffic backed up 13-15 miles every afternoon, I dream of roads like this, and the chance to ride them.  Where the biggest threat is leaving without a full tank or seeing wildlife on the road.  They all looked at us like “who are you guys and what are you doing here?”  Not sure how I would have answered...

But yet there were many turnoffs for mountain roads and hiking trails in the midst of this national forest.  You could go as far as your courage and curiosity would take you.  Which reminds me of my walk with Jesus.  Like many I have spent many years in church, learning about Jesus, learning the scriptures and being taught.  But until I got out and saw the beauty in experiencing Jesus, not just knowing him, I didn’t realize how lonely the road I was on was.  I was in a traffic jam of fellow believers, stuck in church, and not leaving the safety of what I knew and what had been taught.  We are told to walk in faith, yet we hide inside four walls, our faith never being tested so it can grow.  We follow the main road, the prescribed teaching, and don’t want to leave it, lest we encounter trouble.  We only need Sunday, maybe a midweek service, we read religiously every day, and then keep it to ourselves.  We never get to see what is over the hill because we never reach the top of it, and we never get to know Jesus first hand.  Oh we say we do, but when on a lonely road of divorce, cancer, losing your job, facing financial ruin, or a personal problem, do we turn to him or what we know?  I know a man who can quote scripture like many who have been through programs, a word for each situation, yet have never known how personal Jesus can be.  In those situations they never see him as the wonderful counselor who can heal their marriage, the great physician who heals them, the great provider who meets their need instead of their income, and how he never leaves us nor forsakes us when we turn to him.  It is possible and probable we can go through life and be around people, but be lonely and alone.  We tend to practice what we have learned, and sadly go back to that which we know when in trouble.  Remember the problem Moses had with the Jews who rather go back to Egypt and be in slavery just because the food was better?

Are we being fed great food but not benefitting from it?  Do we feed on the word for knowledge but never let it sink into our hearts?  Does a sign saying no service for 85 miles scare you or excite you?  No cell service, who do you call when you need assistance?  Very simply Jesus spent his life on the road, he was born there, his parents were traveling, he entered into Jerusalem on it, Philip met the eunech on it, two men were mystified encountering him on the road, and he was hung on a cross, along the road?  What if Jesus never got out of the temple, how different would things be?  Maybe giving a new understanding of how we are the temple the holy spirit dwells in, wherever we go, Jesus is.  Alone but never alone, the best prayer partner, the holy spirit with us, and never lonely.  The great shepherd who knows the ways and pitfalls, yet too many live their Christian walk stuck in traffic, just trying to keep up, a competition among the members,  with few striking out on their own in Jesus.  I know many who have gone to Israel and walked where Jesus walked, I rather know I walk with him and he with me.  My God is alive!

I also know those who would never travel a road called the devils highway, yet do everyday in fear.  Fear is not of God, reverence of him is, and shown by our actions, then our words.  You will only practice what you have been taught when your heart is fully convinced.  Until then it is knowledge, it only becomes wisdom when used.  God gave us a mind to think, and a will to make the decisions.  Are you like my friend who after passing the same diner for the third time realized his GPS was wrong, or do you strike out on your own, applying what you know and eating richly while others still are looking for a place to eat and park?  Your actions reveal what you believe, the words form your mouth what is on your heart.  I’m just glad that I am alone many times when the part of me still in process is revealed,  and even gladder that God provides me mercy in it.  So get out and ride, get out and live, get out and experience Jesus.  When some tell of their Christian knowledge, you can talk of your experience in him.  There is a difference.....

And if the road you are on is rough, know you are probably on the right road, and Jesus is the shock absorber.  The active suspension that can keep us on the road.  It is in the curves of life we learn to hang on and lean, and where we find Jesus.  And the straight and narrow, for that is the shortest way between two points.  God made both for our enjoyment, I rather lean on Jesus in the curves than on cruise control on the freeway, just waiting for the right exit to get off.  The open pit showed me how far of a pit we can dig and fall into, and how little we are in it when viewed from the top.  How big your God is to you will be shown by the roads you take, and who goes with you.  The loneliest road may be a traffic jam, funny how we never felt alone the whole ride, and how 145 people can seem like such a big crowd.....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com