the day Mapquest finally got it right

If you are the kind who allows themselves to be led around by an i-phone, who thinks a GPS knows the best roads, or who sees life via a 3x5 screen, you probably won’t get this.  But if you are kind of person who wonders where roads go, who wanders where they will take you, and isn’t afraid to keep going when the pavement stops, this is for you.  I confess to being a cartographic junkie, and have boxes of maps from places I have gone, or plan to go.  Spread out over a table they give me a much larger and better perspective of routes to take, and will admit to even using Mapquest, blowing it up so you can see all the roads that don’t appear when asking directions.  Now I have been led astray before, taking the back road off 198 to Parkfield, it started out smooth and curvy, then turned to dirt, then pot holes and dirt, then wash boards.  Add in the cows on the road, and one who didn’t like my motorcycle, I felt like I had been led astray, only feeling better when a sports car greeted me from the other way, so when coming back from Monterey last week, and a road showed up I had never taken, I was skeptical.  I knew there had to be more than just the state roads, keep me off the freeway, please, so I took the chance.  Looking for Cerronoreste Road, I turned where it should be, but it was called something else, only a sign that said “I-5 40 miles” kept me going, the road looked promising and I had a full tank of gas. Sp the ride continued....

For the next 18 miles I saw some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen, looked down on two huge valleys, and rode up to over 6000’, never seeing another car.  Great curves, a lot of 2-3rd gear riding, even the old telephone poles were barren, no wires on them.  I kept going, hoping the 40 miles sign was accurate, and enjoying the ride, I wanted to get away from it all, and finally did. Could it be this was the day Mapquest got it right?  With all thoughts of what was ahead, I kept going, and suddenly there was a ranger station, then a golf course, then a small village, cheap gas, and soon I could see the Grapevine.  I had placed my trust in Mapquest and it didn’t let me down.  Now will I ever trust it again......

It took faith and a strong desire to find a new road that day to let me trust Mapquest.  I kept telling myself that the person who laid this out never rode this road, so was driving by faith, not by sight.  As Christians we are told to walk by faith, not by sight, but too often we lose sight in the one we are to have faith in.  Three omnis about God are forgotten until we go trembling in prayer to God, often times with no faith in our requests either.  We forget God is omnipotent, all powerful, if he could create the heavens and earth by speaking them into existence, shouldn’t we respect that kind of power?  It is something to make something from something, but God created the universe from nothing.  When he promises us his spirit so we don’t have to live in fear, but to live in power and self control, we have to look no further than Jesus, who went to the cross willingly, a sacrifice of his life for ours.  Don’t you think this could make a difference in your life?  Yet he goes beyond power, beyond omnipotence, telling us “not by might, not by power, but by his spirit.”  The next omni...omniscient, all knowing.

Before the beginning, while still in the womb, God knew us and all about us.  He knows everything, past, present, and future.  He knows all the details of your situation, and when you finally start to trust him, you find your prayer life greatly changed.  You listen to his advice rather than explaining the situation to him.  You trust rather than just strike out and hope.  If he cares for the sparrows, why do we act like he doesn’t care for us?  Or when things don’t go our way?  He knows how many hairs on our head, the grains of sand, and the words we will say and the actions we will take, long before we do them.  He knows you were gong to be reading this before you ever decided to.  Yet when we don’t trust him, don’t obey, or don’t follow the spirit, we are telling him we know better, we are questioning his omniscience and falsely claiming we know better.  We can even trust his prophets and their prophecies, for God’s truth is revealing the future to us.  Nothing surprises Jesus, nor does anything catch him off guard.  Yet why do we say “God why have you abandoned me?”  What does he know we don’t?  Inquiring minds still want to know.

When we are told by Jesus “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” we forget he is omnipresent.  He is everywhere at once, and there is no place you can go to escape his presence.  The promise of on earth as it is in heaven should remind us of that, that we don’t have to die have the things of the spirit, we just need to trust and obey.  Yet so many church services start with “come holy spirit,” thinking he left us, when it is us who have left him.  We can talk to him because he is near, listen to him because he is near, and have his peace and confidence because he is near.  Proving his presence by his son Jesus sent to walk among us, who ate our food, felt our pain, died our death and was resurrected for us.  We aren’t worshipping a God only on Sunday, only in a sanctuary, or even just in a church setting.  He is acquainted with all aspects of our lives, with one warning.  Don’t give Satan too much power or recognition, he is a created being, and cannot be everywhere at once.  He is not in control, God doesn’t allow him to do one thing without knowing it.  By giving Satan credit or blaming him for your sins, you give him power, but only God will forgive and save you.  Have you asked yourself like the Psalmist did, “who is like our God”?

So three questions need to be answered by you, are you experiencing his power right now?  Are you trusting in his will and his wisdom?  Are you conscious of his presence in your life?  Add a fourth, are you trusting enough to pray the four hardest words, “thy will be done?”  Or are you trusting him like you ride, by Mapquest or a GPS?  Truly, you don’t know what you are missing until you meet the Lord.  Not know about him, but meet him.  And so God has provided those of us who ride times alone with him.  New roads to trust him on, to see his handiwork, to see him at work in your life.  Something to consider the next ride you go on, or the next decision you have to make. 

By the way, I did find Cerronoreste Road, it was at an intersection, that only led one way, to the top of a peak at over 8100’.  Life will be full of peaks and valleys, don’t confuse them with highs and lows, or trusting your own feelings.  All things work together, both good and bad, both known and unknown, for those who love the Lord.  All. Omni.  If your God isn’t omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient, it isn’t his fault.  It’s your choice.  Which can give you a whole new outlook on the plans he has for you, and why we need to seek him with our whole heart, mind, and spirit.  Long before GPS’s, God knew the way and Jesus was the way.  With so many roads and so little time, can you afford to go through life any other way?

By the way, James Dean died on this date in 1955, you never know where the road you are on will lead you....but you can rest assured in Christ.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

my first, last, and only night spent in Yosemite

John and I were Jersey boys who met in Santa Monica while on vacation through friends of friends who knew each other.  So it only made sense that he should ride back with me in my van, after a few stops along the way.  Which included Yosemite National Park, and a night spent there.  We had no intention of spending the night, but like the others who filled the overflow lot, when it turned into a tail gate party, and it got too late to leave, a Park Ranger stopped by to notify us to quiet down and look out for bears.  It took a few visits for the quiet part, and none of us suspected bears.  To me at least, bears were all about Smokey, or the contemporary Smokey Bear, the police handing out speeding tickets.  A far cry from the real Smokey, but following the warnings to throw away all trash and secure our vehicles,  we all went our separate ways to bed.  When sometime in the early hours of the morning, we were all awakened by a horrible screeching, tearing noise of metal on metal.  Soon the parking lot was ablaze with flash lights and lanterns, and the shadow of a bear running off into the woods.  Not sure if the noise or lights scared him away, but most of the side of a van parked down from me was gone, as the bear had smelled food, and tried to get it by reaching in a window, and then pulling back the sheet metal a good 18 inches.  All the warnings became truth in that moment, my first, last, and only night even spent in Yosemite.  I would travel through many times after, even see bears running across in front of me, but that night when all the warnings came true, my respect for bears grew immensely.....

The Bible tells us of a day when all of the true believers in Jesus Christ will be called out of this world, referred to as the rapture.  False prophets try to figure the date, films are made about the apocalypse, and some try to figure out who the anti-Christ is.  All taking a bite of scripture, but all falling short of the truth.  For one thing Jesus doesn’t even know of the time he calls for his bride, us, it will not be the end for Christians but really the beginning, and it won’t matter to us who the anti-Christ is, we will be with the real Christ, Jesus.  But the Bible does talk of the seasons and signs that warn  of his return, and the ultimate Bible scholar Satan knows them.  He sees the signs, the warnings, and like never before, we are able to see them too.  While some scoff at us, making fun that he hasn’t returned yet, we get it from all sides, but we should be getting it from God’s side.  Earthquakes and environmental warnings, wars and violence, pleasure seeking and financial woes, disease and stress, drug problems, people seeking knowledge but not wisdom, and settling for false teaching, and finally the search for who is the anti-Christ, instead of seeking the real Christ.  All things that have occurred since Jesus’ crucifixion, but now increasing in intensity, as we have hurricane and tornado seasons, earthquakes places we have never seen them and in great intensity with tidal waves, anti-Semitism once hidden, now everywhere including our government, people worshipping climate based on weather, mass shootings, street warfare in Chicago, Baltimore, and cities worldwide.  An all about me society based on feelings which will betray us, sensitivity training,a another word for all about me, selfishness.  Debt controlling us, new strains of disease everyday, old diseases once destroyed now returning like leprosy.  Legalizing of drugs, controlling people by sedation, and the opiod crisis, self inflicted wounds.  The internet being worshipped as in controls our lives, a storehouse of information, but lacking wisdom in how to apply it.  False teachers denying Jesus but appearing religious, leading others astray, and many seeking anti-Christ, if only to know who he is.  As a true believer, we will never know, and so what if we do, we will all be in heaven and who will care?  True the warnings are there, with only one person noticing them, Satan.

He knows the times and seasons, and knows his time is growing short, so is increasing his evil like never before.  But where sin abounds grace does even more, and God has everything under control, his control.  A season where he addresses the church, separating the sheep from the goats, the saved from the faker.  A time where many call out in their distress for Jesus to come now, but forgetting he is patient that none should perish.  How many of us pray for his patience, that none should perish, forgetting if he came before we were saved we would be left behind without him?  Do we really love God and our neighbor as ourself? 

Today can be the day of salvation Jesus offers, or the tomorrow that you weren’t promised yesterday.  No one escapes hell, the gates keep them in, only Jesus can keep you out.  And no one wants to escape heaven!  Like the warnings of the bears, they were all foolishness until one surprised us all.  And then it was too late.  Don’t get caught up in the false warnings or Hollywood rhetoric, don’t put off Jesus today you may not have tomorrow.  Remember scripture tells us Jesus will call us out like a thief in the night.   Maybe the old movie from the seventies by the same name can be found and watched.  It’s on Youtube.  Many false prophets will come and have, only Jesus is the truth.  Where you wake up is more important than where you fall asleep, proven one night in Yosemite.  You can have that assurance right now by calling out to Jesus, and being saved.  You don’t have to be left behind, you can look forward to what lies ahead.  If you thought being a Christian the first time around was tough, you don’t want to be here for the second time without him.  When you lay me down to sleep, are you sure where you will wake up?  Have you prayed for the Lord your soul to keep?  If a five year old can get it, what’s your problem?

The evidence is there and demands a verdict from you.  Two Jersey boys fell asleep that night, only one knew Jesus.  But in his patience.....God so loved me.  Us.  I’ll never know what it is like here after the rapture, and I don’t care, will you?  Where you watch it from will make all the difference.  Of course it could never happen to you...could it?  Like the bears, the warnings are there...

love with compassion,

Mike

mattehw25biker.blogspot.com

tips on adjusting the valves on a two stroke motor and other helpful hints

Years ago when Jimi Hendrix asked “have you ever been experienced?” I’m still not sure what he was talking about.  I have had experiences, but maybe not what he was talking about or offering.  But a few experiences I have had while inexperienced may help.  100 years ago when I was a Boy Scout, a career Tenderfoot, I was told to find a left handed smoke shifter.  As were the other newbies, only to come back empty handed.  After straight faced Scoutmasters, store clerks, and other scouts couldn’t help, it was finally revealed there was no such thing, and the joke was on you, to be passed on to the next group of newbies.  If asked about a left handed smoke shifter experience, I can answer “I have.”  Have I ever seen one, “no.”

Guys new to the bench racing group, long before they are recognized as a hang along, are asked about their muffler bearings, or their exhaust nebulizer.  Like the smoke shifter crowd, the laughs are plenty because there are no such things, but such is the rite of passage into the group.  But as we age, we hopefully gain knowledge along with our experience.  Which may not always be the case.  For example...in another life I once sold American Motors Cars and Jeeps, long before the SUV sickness took over.  My friend Mike was one of the more creative salesman, and one time a man waiting for his car in service, encountered Mike in the showroom.  Looking under a Jeep, he asked “what is that blue thing?”  And Mike went on to explain it was a Bertel Overdrive, unique to Jeeps.  And then asked the man if he was having his serviced, as it was critical it was serviced properly and only by Jeep mechanics.  Not knowing, he asked his advisor, who wasn’t sure, who asked the service manager, who didn’t know, who asked the parts man who had never heard of one, and then called Jeep in Toledo at their home office.  And they didn’t know, but they knew that blue thing was the Quadra Trac and all Jeeps had one.  Had these guys ever been experienced?  Now they can say “I have.”

As a new Christian I believed every word from the pulpit.  I had a strong hunger to learn scripture, to know all about God, and to know Jesus.  I was being fed and digesting it all when the church I attended changed pastors.  Now being a new pastor has to be tough, and he needed to make a strong initial impression, and I can remember his first Sunday vividly.  After the applause and a warm welcome, he said “please turn your Bibles to Hezekiah 3:16, that will be our study today.”  The noise of pages turning was almost deafening, as the full sanctuary looked for Hezekiah, and soon it began to quiet down.  And puzzled looks filled the room.  No one could find the book of Hezekiah because there is no book in the Bible called Hezekiah.  It was a test to see where we were at with God, but some took it personal, how dare this new guy insult us?  To me it was a lesson on truth and checking out what came from the pulpit.  Just because it is said doesn’t make it true.  Learning curves run from left handed smoke shifters to Bertel overdrives, and can include helpful steps on two stroke valve adjustment, but when it comes to the things of God, it is always best to go to the source, the Word, just as 1 John 4 advises, to test the spirit.  Just because it sounds good doesn’t mean it is, and too many are led astray by scripture twisted to suit a purpose or to excuse their sin.  So in the words of Jesus, “be wary lest you stray.”

Over the years I have been fooled myself, and seen others fooled by claims that sound true.  Pastors taking a denominational stand going against scripture, church leaders claiming to be God or the only voice that God speaks to, or even the messiah himself.  We are warned that even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light, and can mislead the elect, Christians.  We are to be as wise as serpents, yet as gentle as lambs, to test the spirit, to trust God, because all men are liars, some unwittingly, some to deceive.  Something to consider when you open your wallet or purse to give.  God’s view on giving is different, as the Corinthians knew....

Be a cheerful giver, we live under grace, not the tithing law, and if you only give your tithe but complain about it, there is no blessing.  We are to give as the spirit shows us, and it is written the rich never had too much, nor the poor too little.  True giving shows where our heart is with Jesus, the widow who gave her two mites, all she had, an example of Jesus giving all he had.  Remember he owned no property, and didn’t even have a place to lie his head, yet he had all he needed from his Father.  Can we say the same, do we give hilariously, as scripture instructs, or do we hang onto it to increase our FICO score?  To impress our friends or to boost our portfolio?  Or do we give freely of hat we have, our time and money?  Our skills and talents?  Read Acts 2:42, maybe show it to your pastor.  God supplies all your needs through his riches and glory, not the church.  But he can use the church, but only if the church is willing.  Ask any non-Christian about the church and they will tell you the church is only after their money.  That I have experienced.  Don’t confuse the church with Jesus!

So be a giver, led by the spirit, and when asked if you know it is more blessed to give than receive, can you answer “I have been experienced.”  Do you grudgingly pay your tithe, God doesn’t need it.  Do you do without to pay it?  Read 2 Corinthians 8, you may be surprised.  I have never heard that chapter taught from a pulpit.  Don’t depend on the church for the things of God that are available to you in Christ.  Scripture tells us we will never see the faithful without bread, or their children being hungry.  But it does say “if you won’t work, you won’t eat,” won’t not don’t.  Check it out, don’t trust me....

Oh and the tips on adjusting the valves on a two stroke motor, there aren’t any.  The engine is much different than a four stroke.  Money is not the root of all evil, only the love of it.  Don’t fall for the apple Eve ate, it doesn’t say that.  It might have been a grape.  From the vine, which Jesus tells us to be part of.  To live in him, he is the vine dresser.  And God helps more than those who cannot help themselves.  Pick up your Bible and read it for yourself.  Experience Jesus for yourself.  And if asked “have you ever been experienced?” you can answer “I know Jesus personally.”  I only hope Jimi did.

Now turn your Bibles to page....and no peeking at the guy next to you.  He just might be on another page....as I search the Web to find examples, only to find I must turnoff my ad blocker or subscribe.  Beware.....you cannot teach experience, but you can have great ones.  I hope your Christian experience includes Jesus, it’s hell without him.  Not an experience I would want to have....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com