and on Wednesday it rained

The Rockies are beautiful anytime of year, but in the fall when the colors change, they will even outdo Vermont for beauty.  So I invited Dick along to ride, and we did a casual 2200 miles in six days.  almost what most people do commuting, but we rode it in four states instead.  At 108 across the desert, it seemed summer was still alive in Arizona, but riding up through Show Low, and then into Albuquerque, the pre-balloon festival skies were beautiful.  Perfect weather, in the 80’s, slight wind and low humidity.  Then off to Santa Fe via Chama and Santa Fe the back way, trying to remember Madrid before Wild Hogs, and it became a biker tourist trap.  But after riding all day into Durango in t-shirts and sun, the weather report called for rain, and a high in the forties in Silverton.  The same day we would ride the Million Dollar Highway, and all the colors would be at their fullest.  Cool, jacket weather took us into Silverton at 9310 feet, even the Harley store selling shirts as the highest Harley dealer in the US was closed.  No rain yet, and leaving and going over Red Mountain Pass we still were only in winter jackets.  A few drips, but no rain.  Even cruising through Ouray was dry, surely the lower elevations would be kind to us.  No rain at Ridgeway, but when stopping for a Hershey break, we put on the rain suits, and just in time.  It began to pour, then stop, but riding behind big SUV’s in no passing zones on slick roads kept us in the rain coming off the road and cars.  Rolling into Telluride, pretty but too yuppie for me, we saw dozens of adventure bikes, seems the weather won’t stop them, but even more surprising was the amount of riders in groups on Harleys and Gold Wings riding in the rain, groups large enough to be seen in So Cal on nice days.  These guys obviously ride....

But the rain continued to pour, and the temp dropped as the rain dropped.  My meat thermometer on my handlebars read 43, cold is one thing, cold and wet in another.  But you ride on, and with no place to stop, we continued down from Rico, cold, hungry, wet, but safe inside our rain suits.  Hoping and praying we would be OK.  And then it happened...a huge buck ran down the hill and into my path, with no where to go and I knew it was impact time.  But as suddenly as he appeared, he stopped mid hill, turned and ran back up!  All in a few feet and a millisecond.  Even Dick riding behind thought I was a goner. It was another 45 minutes into Dolores,and stopping for gas until it all hit me, or the fact it didn’t hit me.  I was thanking God, and later he would give me insight into the miracle.

In his own loving way he explained how he allowed the near accident and miracle prevention to show how he had everything under control.  How he was with us, and not to worry.  In the midst of the storm, he was present, controlling not only the rain but his animal creations too.  So often in prayer we get overwhelmed with asking we fail to see the one we are calling out to, in this case he gave us a visual to remind us.  We all know the story of Jesus walking on the water in the midst of the storm, to me God made it personal, stopping a 1000 pound buck on a slick downhill, and abruptly turning him around.  Just in time.....as always. 

Sometimes we get hung up on Jesus on the water, we forget his promise to the disciples before they left.  “I’ll see you on the other side,” and they took off, him behind.  Them struggling in the storm, him walking on it, through it, not around it.  But just as they let him into the boat, we find they are on the shore on the other side, just as he promised.  God very rarely tells us how, so we cannot argue, but his promises are always true.  And even more important, when we leave this earth, when we cross over to the other side he promises us eternal life.  After going through the storms of life, much different than our prayers of stopping the storm.  Many times no storm means we miss God, we went for the colors, God showed how he created the colors, but had control over all of nature.  All for us, and to give him our praise.  When he gets the glory, we get the blessings, and he blesses many times first, as he did that day.  And on that Wednesday it rained, the next day sunshine and warm never felt so good.  An easy ride across New Mexico without touching I-40, missing it in Arizona too, and then the ride from Prescott and home.  Cool and hot, dry and wet.  2200 miles of fun and fellowship.  And Jesus rode along.  Remember him next time you pack, and never leave home without him.  See you on the other side.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

so long

When filling out an application recently, it asked how many years have I had a motorcycle license.  Even my answer took me by surprise, 47 years.  Wow!  Suddenly that makes me feel old!  Not really, just older.  And as the younger guy by a generation looked at my answer, he couldn’t figure out anyone riding for so long.  And as I looked around the multi-brand store, I stopped to pause and think how dealerships had changed.  One quick glance and I could see Honda, Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki.  With Can Am throw in, and Polaris.  All in one showroom.  A far cry from when we used to spend all day going from VIP Honda, to Rick’s Cycle and his Triumphs and Kawasakis.  Or a 20 minute ride to East Coast Sales and BMW and Yamaha, in the back of the bicycle shop.  Within our bike riding range there were no Suzuki stores yet, so we never got to Solo Suzuki. It took a full day, with arguments along the way of what to buy, how long it would take for us to save, and why would you buy anything else but a Honda?  We sat on bikes, with permission, and could proudly answer “of course I know how to ride, had a mini-bike for years.”  All at age 17.  We knew we had no chance that day of taking a new bike home, but the brochures were free, and many a bedroom wall was decorated with them.  For me it would be a new 1972 CB350 Honda, with even a calendar on the wall with the days counted down until I got my license, and would go and buy the bike.  Many hours of cutting yards, delivering papers, and shoveling snow were all about to be worth it.  My trip back to where it all began interrupted by the salesman asking “do you want to buy an extended warranty?” And I was back to reality.....

It is safe to safe riding has changed and it has changed me.  Five /5 BMW’s in the seventies cured me of them forever.  A Honda or two here and there, meeting the nicest people in between, and my first Z-1, bought used from a veterinarian who commuted 100 miles a day on it. The 1986 FJ100 bought on a whim when the price was too good to pass up, and riding it over 7000 miles the first week.  So much for the first service....and the first new Triumph that replaced it.  What was I thinking?  What am I thinking now?  If any bike could tell of truly being resurrected, Triumph would be it.  The old 650’s were hot until Honda’s 750, and many would have been left to rust if they didn’t leak oil so much.  Same with Harley, now the barn finds bring big bucks, back then they were just a big bike that was unreliable and expensive to fix.  Maybe some things haven’t changed.  Old for me is bikes from the sixties, for my sons the eighties, and for kids just getting their license, we’re all old.  to us they’re all young.  But in them we can look back and still see the excitement of when we first rode, our first bike ridden off the showroom floor, our first overnighter, losing our first girl friend because she wouldn’t ride, and a few of us fortunate to marry one who does.  Over one million miles of roads, meals, friends met, friends lost, new bikes and old bikes, quicker 1/4 miles, and more reliability.  Some left riding to get married, to some of us it was a part of our family, we mourned the selling of a bike like losing a pet.  With the memories far surpassing anyone who decided not to ride.  Some still read and dream, to us it started in the old bike shop, while some studied math, we studied 1/4 mile times.  While some planned on college, we planned or riding across the US of A.  We not only dreamed, we rode our dreams, I only hope the new riders can look back as I do after 47 years....maybe it wasn’t so long after all.

Any apple farmer will tell you that picking all the fruit on a tree makes for a larger harvest.  How much fruit does your harvest produce?  Does your passion for riding only extend to blipping the throttle to show how cool you are, or spending an afternoon removing 7000 miles of road grit from a trip?  Do you only pick the fruit you can reach, never venturing up higher, where the better fruit is?  Or do you only pick up what is on the ground, figuring “it’s all the same no matter its place on the tree?”  Some ride a month on a tank of gas, some of us fill up twice a day on a much larger tank.  But does your passion only relate to riding?  Do you have the same passion for Jesus after many years with him?  Do you look back on the good old days, how it was, and comment on how it is, how religion has changed.  Or do you show thanks that Jesus never did or does?  Over the years have you found a niche in your church or denomination, and despite the warnings, stay there, wondering what all the excitement about Jesus is all about? 

Paul warns us in Romans of factions within churches that appear holy but really cause dissention.  Practices and programs that they put in place so they know you are saved, meeting their requirements for joining, but falling short of Jesus.  “Only true Christians believe like us,” all others are not up their standards.  The are found serving in and for the church, but not Jesus.  Bringing tithes into the storehouse, the church, but neglecting those in need as Jesus confronted them with.  Maybe you have been in a fellowship and didn’t fit in, and were asked to leave.  Seems scripture had no place if it didn’t come from their pulpit.  Or maybe you were on a church board and faced with excommunicating such a one?  Paul’s answer is simple, just ignore them, don’t give them time, a sentence, or as John says “don’t even say God bless you,” as their god is not God of the Bible, and saying such would only recognize their false one.  We are warned to be wise as serpents, but gentle as lambs, but know this, as Paul writes, we shall know them by their fruit.  And a good tree cannot produce bad fruit, so stay in the vine, with Jesus, and ripen and grow.  Maybe where you shop for a bike is important, but where you fellowship is more important.  Sadly with one example close to me.

I used to attend a church of over 7000, the pastor widely known and loved.  But questioning him on communion once, if not saved you couldn’t take it at his church, he admitted that wasn’t scriptural, but he was using it as a tool for evangelism. When I commented that was like being invited to dinner, but not being allowed to eat after hearing what a great cook he was, he looked confused.  He had made his own standard for communion, just the opposite from the first one at the last supper.  Remember Judas was served communion...and we know his fate.  Jesus didn’t deny anyone, we do.  So be careful what you believe, and in whom you listen to.  For so long the truth has set us free, but the lie and fake news of religion goes on.

And so I buy into Jesus for all I can get, I want to be blessed, and I want to grow closer, to share him with my life, using words if needed.  Maybe that is why I am a long distance rider, and a long distance believer.  The more time I spend with him the more joy in my life, and the miles go by blessed.  So it was only natural that halfway down the application I tore it up.  Why buy a new bike when my old ones were sitting waiting to travel?  The young salesman didn’t get it, but I hope you do.  After riding for so long, I wasn’t about to say so long to an old riding partner.  That was a better bike than the new one.  Seems Godly advice works when riding to, and only works best if taken.  As in “taking a ride.”  Looking back, maybe it hasn’t been so long after all.  Just make sure Jesus in your life isn’t forgotten too long...with a simple prayer, “I hope today is your best day ever, and tomorrow even better.  Go out and show love others and make them feel better, it will make you feel better too.  There is nothing wrong with feeling better and helping others feel better too.”  The gospel in one thought.  If only you could see the grin inside my Arai!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

a ride for Tom

With apologies to Miss Joplin, “freedom is not just another word for nothing left to lose.”  This weekend the shocking news of a man I know, sadly reinforced that.  We stayed a couple of times time with Tom and his wife when passing through St. Louis.  Very gracious hosts, we wanted for nothing, and all seemed well.  They had moved back to Missouri to open a church under the Calvary Chapel name, but it had failed, and not sure how they were doing.  When we last saw them he was a manager for Schucks’, a grocery chain, but was about to lose his job we later found out.  But like many you know, or think you know, when not local, you lose contact as the daily needs in your own life take precedence.  And this one has shaken me to the core.

It seems Tom, according to the courts and the news, entered a store, forced three women, one a customer, to go in the back room, strip down, and perform sex on him.  At gunpoint.  When the customer refused, he shot her in the head, and she later died.  He continued to rape the other two, then walked out, and a two day manhunt started.  They raided his home at 5am the morning before Thanksgiving, and no word from how his wife is doing, or if she even knew of his dark side.  The city is in shock, as are those of us who thought we knew him, and as he awaits trial, I thought of all the freedoms he has lost based on one decision.  He no longer has to be concerned with politics, he cannot vote.  He will never see another sunrise or sunset locked in his cell.  He will never order another meal, smell In and Out, or supersize a meal.  No weekends, no holidays, no birthdays, as they now are just days. And being labeled with a sex crime, he is in danger for his life to other inmates.  All the things he thought important have been removed from him, taxes won’t matter, he cannot pay them, no more clothes shopping, and shower shoes will be the only style for his feet.  His is alone and vulnerable, and he is just beginning to find out how sin is costly, how if effects others, and the price it exacts from you.  I feel for him, I do not condone his actions, but how many real Christians are reaching out to him?  Praying for him as he has become an enemy?  If Jesus truly died for the thief on the cross, didn’t he die for Tom also?  And so I took a ride yesterday and thought about it all.  I have many friends in prison, men and women who got saved while behind bars, and now know the freedom in Christ, Tom thought he knew the freedom before being arrested.  And so I meditated on the Lord....

All sin is forgivable except denying the holy spirit, who is telling you Jesus is God.  Reject Jesus, it is hell for sure.  Only the sin of denying Jesus sends us to hell, all others are forgivable.  And while behind bars, God is rising up many to minister the gospel to the lost and hurting.  They enjoy a freedom in Jesus we cannot fathom the depth of, and I plan to have at least one bike for some to ride with me when they are released, if I am still around.  To see the faces of those I only write to and receive letters from, one final ride in the wind with them.  But I was also able to get Tom’s address, but cannot find the words now to write.  Maybe just a hold, as part of me is so angry I don’t want to condemn him, just his actions, while the other part of me wants to rush in and love him.  Then God reminded me that is his job, he is there not to condemn, but to offer forgiveness.  It is up to him to discipline, to guide, to comfort, and to bring life into those who were dead.  Jesus saves, not the church, not us, only by his spirit will we know of sin and how it affects others, and how to repent and to whom.  How to change in him, not by religion or cultic laws and traditions.  So on my ride for Tom, the spirit ministered to me also, and I found the ride I started out for Tom was really for me.  I had some issues God needed to straighten me out on and strengthen me in.  On my rides I usually think of those who ride but cannot, Tom doesn’t ride, and now never will.  He had freedom, now he has lost everything.  Except Jesus.

Sin will always be sin, but Jesus will always be Jesus.  That morning three women never knew how their lives would be impacted and change, one mother and wife losing her life.  We are not guaranteed tomorrow, but Jesus does promise today is the day of salvation.  For those who are saved and know Jesus, we know of a freedom beyond words, that transcends walls and bars.  Not all prisons are physical, and not all prisoners are bound.  Those in Christ have the blessed hope of one day seeing him in heaven, but for now live daily by faith, holding on tightly to the intangible, the things of the spirit, while some hang onto the tangible, with no hope at all.  Only God gives you the choice.  So to those of you who I write to weekly, thank you for your friendship.  You see God has given me a prisoner ministry, names of men and women I may never see on earth, but will rejoice with in heaven.  You know who you are, and I love you all dearly.  For Jesus makes it personal, and now I add Tom to the list. I know there are brothers in prison who will reach out in love, to them I thank you ahead of time.  Maybe expressed by a guy named Dooley, who is like a prisoner Apostle Paul.  Upon meeting a pastor who was recently arrested and sentenced for child abuse, Dooley came beside him, and told me how he was helping this man prepare for his new mission field.  You see our sin may cut us off from the Lord, but he never leaves us, doesn’t bail on us, and no walls can prevent his spirit from changing lives.  He makes it personal, so I hope Tom returns to him.  He knew freedom on the outside, we’ll see how he does with freedom on the inside.  In his soul that is.  But maybe Janis was right, “nothing ain’t worth nothing if it ain’t free.”  The gospel is free so we can afford it, and simple so we can get it.  Freedom means many things to many different people, only in Jesus Christ will you truly be set free!

You see my ride for Tom was really about Jesus, and meant for me.  And you.  And us.  For only in Christ will we be totally set free.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com