taking inventory

Road &Track, which used to pride itself by being a bit stuffy, like a European journal on cars, yearly would put out a list of what their employees drove.  After tearing apart a drophead coupe for losing structural integrity, or complaining about the latest saloon’s rear doors only opening 75 degrees, it was interesting, and amusing to see what they actually owned.  And that their cars reflected more of us than them, as they drove old sedans, aka saloons, nary a drophead among them, aka convertibles, and none of the cars they tested and berated was found among them.  Drive as I say, not as I do.  Which made me reflect on cars I have never owned, as opposed to those I have.  I have never owned a Pontiac or an Oldsmobile, although I have driven both many times.  I have never cared for anything MOPAR, although I look at old GTX’s and Road Runners with admiration.  Must be the old Chrysler crank, that odd winding noise their starters make that turned me away.  It has been almost 40 years since I owned a BMW, a 1600, which established them here in the colonies, before they became trendy, expensive, and available to anyone with a high FICO score.  I have owned three VW’s, Rabbits, but never an air cooled, yuk.  But yet once owned a 1963 Corvair Greenbriar van, although it never ran.  Also only one van, a 1973 Chevy Van 10 that I bought from Garry Brown, who had custom built it as a final exam project to get his engineering degree from Bucknell.  But never, ever any mini vans, a great idea, but not for me.  Or my family, four doors still mean boring...as does anything the shape of a brick.  Great bread trucks, just not at my house.  Like the Bible says, man does not live by bread alone.

I have also never owned a Jeep, although I once bought Theresa a Suzuki Samarai for Mother’s Day.  Add SUV’s to the list, just a station wagon with truck like styling, and I have owned numerous pick up trucks, even a 1949 Ford F-3!  If you own motorcycles, you know why.  I have owned cars or trucks from the forties, fifties, sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties, and the new millenium.  I do not care for Japanese cars, or Korean cars either, they are too appliance like, I have never owned a Toyota or a Nissan, although when they were Datsun I wanted a 240-Z.  I did own a Mazda once, the last 4 door I have owned, and it never ran right, go figure.  Front wheel, rear wheel, but never a four wheel, and I lived where they claimed they were needed.  If you substitute more features for lack of skills, we all lose.  I have owned cars I wish I hadn’t and those I wish I had never sold, among them a 1950 Buick Special sedan, that when my girlfriend saw it said, “we’re going to the drive in.”  Never heard or saw that comment in R&T!  The inventory can go on, cars I drove of my parents, and of my sons.  Uncle Mose who always drove Oldsmobile, and fast, and working at Land Rover and laughing at those who felt they needed the ultimate 7000 pound, 4 wheel drive SUV in the wilds of La Jolla.  Why the jewel of San Diego has the worst roads, maybe they do need a Range Rover...when a Suburban would never do.

My friend Doug tells me how he tells his boys to take inventory of why they are saved on a regular basis, to get them to remember Jesus, and why we really are saved.  A good idea, no matter who or where you are in Christ, a time to reflect on Him, apart from communion.  Do we remember to do many things in remembrance of Him, or is it a monthly procedure?  Have we taken Jesus for granted, or in some cases, religiously, and He is only a Sunday morning habit we are forced to do?  Are there certain days, Mother’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas that you only attend?  Are you living the life of a drophead, top off, when really you are a spiritual dead head?  Are you all about illusion, or are you all about Jesus?  What if we were to publish personal and intimate things about you, like the Bible does about Jesus, would you match up?  Or would your drop head suddenly become a parcel van, no windows to look out of, or into, as what you see is not what you get.  Have you taken inventory of Jesus Christ in your life lately, and if you did, did you find Him wanting?  And what are you doing about it?

Cars have changed drastically in the last 40 years, have you changed since coming to the Lord?  Or are you still driving a 1950’s car in today’s world?  Are you about style as opposed to substance?  Do you care more about miles per gallon than about hearts for heaven?  If your life was a car, what would your kids say about it when you came to pick them up?  Are you living the life of a sports car, I had two MG’s, by definition a real sports car, as the top comes off, or just a sporty car, like a van with Sport written on it?  What happens when life throws you a curve, and you can’t handle it?  But it says Sport right there....

Inventory takes time, and needs to be done on a regular basis.  Counting all the small things too, not just the ones everyone else can see.  What is hidden in your boot?  Your trunk.  What is in your glove box?  I have a philosophy that the condition of your car tells more about your life than you want us to know.  A mess inside, I really don’t want to see your house.  Can’t find your keys, maybe you need the key to life.  Check engine light always on-maybe the car is trying to tell you something.  God sends the same signals to us...are we listening?

If your life was for sale, would it be in the front row, or in the back with the other old cars?  Where you stand with Jesus will dictate where you stand on judgment day.  A shiny outside with an engine that smokes, or a well taken care of engine, with a few scratches to show for wear, and where you have been.  Taking inventory can start today...find out what really counts in life.  As the man says, pay me now...or pay me later.

Now about motorcycles I haven’t owned...this won’t take very long...

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

what do you do when your dream comes true and it's not quite like you had planned it?

No matter what your passion, there is a dream escape for it.  Maybe just a travel brochure, or a place that only live deep within your subconscious, but no matter, it exists.  For a golfer, it may be playing at Augusta or Pebble Beach.  For a fisherman, it may be a full crew assisting on a deep sea excursion.  If you have never been to Sisters, Oregon, you don’t know what quilters lust for in their dreams.  Corvette owners get to visit the plant in Bowling Green, and watch them built and see a first rate museum.  Favorite game show on TV, you can get a chance to see Vanna or Trebek live in the studio audience.  How many spend thousands just to get a ticket to the Super Bowl, an anticlimax to the week preceding it?  Some wish they could have seen the Beatles, or Elvis in concert.  I hear Comicon is already a sell out, for next year, and I have booked my rooms for next year’s Hollister Rally.  The Daytona 500 has even races now twice a year, two times the chance to see and attend.  Big dreams, maybe ones that are just out of reach are the most desired, like a pardon from the governor, a check in the mail from your rich aunt’s estate, not knowing you had either one.  Great expectations have been known to keep us alive, and the spark growing into a flame, to keep us moving towards a goal, no matter how ridiculous or far fetched it may seem. 

But for those of us who ride, who really like to ride, just give us a road, some cash, and a weekday with no traffic.  Throw in a friend or two, not just any body, and we’re out living our dream.  And I have been blessed over the years being able to ride so many places.  Every year it seems someone writes a ten best road article, and I have done most of them.  Skyline Drive-both in San Francisco and Shenandoah Valley.  Natchez Trace, you can have fun going slow and straight.  Ever ride to Key West?  Better than even your mind can see.  The Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, did you know there was one?  Of course, Grand Canyon, but north or south rim?  Gold Rush Highway can be the best two days riding, including history.  The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a must, I have seen it in two seasons, amazing how 60 days makes a difference.  I could go on with the Snake, Rocky Mountain National Park, Hiway 1, the Columbia River Gorge, old US 30 is preferred, and even the Oachitas are inviting, ever heard of them?  All famous roads of one sort or another, but it is the daily roads you get to ride close to home that can be new and exciting. 

For years we went across country, counting states and time zones as markers, this summer was central California.  Visiting roads we used to go away for on weekends, now we stretched them over 10 days, and had great fun.  No hurry, we even went back and rerode a few sections, but still managed to miss a few, so we will have to go back.  Indian Valley Road was inviting, but another time. We missed riding to Parkfield, another time.  Back and forth from the 101 to Hiway 1 and Hearst Castle, next time.  Horse Thief Canyon Road, another time.  Carmel Valley Road will have to wait, maybe combine it with a trip to Laguna Seca.  Hiways 9, 17, and Alice’s were only within 45 minutes, yet we will go another time.  For it seems there are always so many roads, so little time, and so many memories yet to be made on them, if only we had the time...

But what if you had the time, would you do it?  Do you really wish to have your dreams fulfilled, or are they better off just as dreams, of things desired, but not expected?  Even an old Eagles line asked, “ what do you do when your dreams come true, and it’s not quite like you had planned it?”  Given the chance, would you go?  What if today was that day, that all your dreams came true, and you said no?  You overslept, or were busy talking on your cell?  What if you missed the exit, but planned to get off at the next one, which never came?  What if...your whole life was what if?  Many live their lives like this, wondering what it is like, but never knowing.  Sadly many live their Christian life like this too.  They come to Christ, but are never discipled, and never grow.  They sit in church and never get out and experience Jesus in real life, missing out on the Bible coming alive.  Recently a man joined us on Tuesday night at Dustin Arms, after sitting in church 11 years and never doing anything.  And now he is able to see Jesus come alive in the lives of others.   Ministry is like a new toy, a desire he never knew he had, or existed, and now life has meaning, more than just words on a page, or red letter’s capturing the words of Jesus.  Now he is living the gospel, and seeing it come alive.  We are told many are called, but few are chosen.  Which can apply to many levels of life, and scripture, but he now knows how the harvest in plentiful, but the workers few, and how Jesus has blessings, abundant blessings, for the few who do answer and are chosen.  He has joined the few, feeding hungry folks, and listening, and even praying with them, he gets to see Jesus as He fed the 5000, healed the sick, and talked with the woman at the well.  His expectations have been exceeded, and wants more, and is giving more.  And just like so many roads to ride, he has seen there are so many places to minister, that needed him to be the one to do it.  After watching the parade, he has decided to join it. 

Mark Twain once said “the only thing worse than not getting your heart’s desire, is getting your heart’s desire.”  Aim low enough, you can hit the ground every time.  What is your desire, what is your target?  Do you wish more of Jesus, or are you content in a comatose relationship with Him?  Is church your whole experience?  Remember Jesus taught in the temple, but ministered on the streets.  And we used to visit the temple, until we became the church, and our bodies the temple that He lives in. 

So what is your passion?  God will give you one, He already has.  So wake up, watch the scriptures come alive as you do.  Some of my best rides have been based on “I wonder where that road goes?”  You will never know until you get out, and take a path you never have before.  For my friend it all started on a Tuesday night, now also Saturday mornings.  He used to study the word, now He is living it.  Take the next step after walking in faith, and be obedient to what God has put on your heart.  Golfers need Jesus too, a great Sunday morning ministry.  Quilters need Jesus, as do rock fans, football fans, and bikers.  Take the church to them, be one of the chosen.  And it can all be as close as your back yard.  Or your home.  If you can’t ride the small roads, how do you expect to make the long trips? 

Where would you be if no one had offered you a ride, or told you about Jesus?  What are your ten best rides?  What are your best ministry times?  The best are yet to come.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

let me talk to my manager

Looking at some recent auction prices on collectible cars, it seems the cars of my dreams are forever embedded in the dream file.  $20,000 for an original 1971 Bronco?  A 1969 Mustang Boss 429 for $550,000?  True it only had 907 original miles, but I remember when cars were built as transportation, and evolved into an extension of your personality-now it seems they are toys for the rich, and an extension of one’s investment portfolio.  At least you get to drive, or at least sit in your investment, more fun than looking at a stock certificate, or at a huge bank balance, another dream I’ll never see, but so any are becoming museum type quality and never driven anymore.  Signs saying “don’t touch,” adorn them, and even cruise nights are avoided.  They don’t get shown off, like I would if I attained my dream car, but housed in hermetically sealed garages, so humidity, rats, your kids hands, and your ex-wife’s divorce lawyer can’t get at them.  Only to come out when they are to be resold, and in even some cases, sold without going on an auction stage, or advertised, as this elite group uses word of mouth to trade investments, I mean cars.  No give your best offer, and I’ll talk to my manager, money talks, and even if you buy, sometimes you still walks.

But we still live in a buyer beware world, where just because you ask one price, doesn’t mean you’ll get it.  Because somewhere a Mustang changes hands at over half a million dollars, doesn’t mean your aunt’s low mileage, car will.  Rust didn’t come from the factory, nor did t-shirts covering the seats, blue smoke was and is still a big no-no, and original can still mean factory air in the tires.  And so many dream on, thinking their junker is worth more than a new house, hoping that right sucker comes along with more money than brains, who just can’t live his past without it, and like the ad says-cash only.  Now I admit to have paid too much sometimes, only to be consoled by the you didn’t pay too much, you only bought too soon philosophy in home buying, and you learn.  Most of us don’t buy cars as investments, just look in most minivans at the papers, trash, wrappers, and other garbage inside, no investment quality there.  I even look at a new Mercedes Benz, all $80,000 of it, filthy and unwashed, and I see no investment value there either.  Nope, cars just bought for their use, like an appliance, and no need to take care of it, just run it through the car wash when it comes time to trade, no auction will see this car, only the ones going out of the country, bought for below wholesale, unloaded for whatever they will bring.  Just like the million dollar cars, for whatever they will bring.  Just the dreams are different.

The bottom line, no pun intended here, is that a car is worth what someone will pay for it.  And either the next buyer gets burnt, or steals it for a lower price, such is the price of dreams.  It comes down to buy for love, sell for money.  And few brag of getting beat on a deal, but rather brag on how they stole the car for such and such a price.  We Bought it for x amount of dollars, we put one over on the seller.  But when we get taken, or pay to much, the other guy Sold us the car.  Such is the major difference between buying and selling.  We buy when we’re smart, we get sold when we’re not.  Not a new concept, one that can even be applied to God.  Who wanted to buy us back from sin, no matter the cost.  We were worthless to anyone but Him, even today the chemicals our bodies are made up of are only worth less than $50.  Try that for an investment, yet God decided to invest in us via His son Jesus.  To pay the price, no matter what, while we were still sinners, no matter our condition.  A clean exterior might not show the wear on the inside, but God saw it, and still paid that price.  Investing His best in you, His love, because you are priceless to Him.  Yet some treat Jesus today like an auction, holding out for more, it is called pride, and not wishing to pay the price-your lives, for eternity.  Holding out for a better deal, following Satan’s lies, many have and continue to miss the chance, and go to hell.  When God’s offer is on the table for them until the day they die.  He is that patient.

Jesus didn’t pay too much, nor did He sell too soon.  At just the right time, while we were still sinners, He gave His life.  Try that line next time you trade a car.  The dealer doesn’t care about what you put into it, just what he can get out of it.  God is looking to invest in you, to see what untapped potential you have, not for His benefit, but for yours.  Give Him the glory, you get the blessings.  Yet many walk away from the deal, or want to think it over.  Don’t make that mistake today.  Watching a show the other night, I watched as this shop put way too much money in a new Mustang, restoring it from being towed in, and then during its first test drive out of the shop, gets hit.  By you guessed it, a clunker.  With no insurance, the car is totaled.  Don’t let that happen to you.  All that time spent on a project, only to never enjoy it.  Such are those trying to work their way into heaven.  Accept Jesus’s offer today, buy now.  Show off what a great deal you got to others, an investment like no other.  What other can deliver eternal life?  You may not be the show car you think you are, you may be up on blocks because your engine failed.  No matter, Jesus’s deal still stands.  What will it take to put you into the heavenly family today?  No need to talk to His manager, His Father approves all deals.  You know the terms. Heaven is that close.  Live your investment today.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.com 

the big bang theory

While some prefer to add sound systems to their motorcycles, mostly found on two wheeled size Buicks, I prefer to listen to the sound of the engine and its exhaust note.  I can tell a Harley from a Triumph from a Honda four to a Moto Guzzi to a Ducati.  Each one has its own distinctive note, only muffled by an appropriately device called a muffler.  Now back when I started riding in the last century, Brit bikes ran TT pipes, or just cut the mufflers off all together.  Loud, sounded cool, but LOUD!  BMW’s were too quiet until I added a set of Dunstall Low Decibel pipes to my R90S, adding sound, personality and horsepower.  And soon we had companies like Bassani, Hooker, Kerker, Alphabet, Action Fours, Yoshimura, Jardine, and Vance and Hines-each giving your bike added personality via more sound, and more power, at least perceived power as felt through the wrist.  But soon the 90’s hit, and Harley sales exploded, like their bikes used to, and soon it was trendy to be loud, not necessarily adding power, but aggravating neighbors when they left for work too early.  But a friend of mine, an ex-service manager for a Japanese brand once told me of a travelling dyno that measured real horsepower, and the effect of a header, with some surprising results.  Not all headers or exhaust mods added power, just noise.  Some even moved the power away from midrange where you need it to high rpm’s like on a race bike, with some even making less, but it coming on so sudden it appeared like more power.  And so I find like so many unmuffled Harleys, if you can’t be fast, at least you can be loud.  And to quote Gordon Jennings, racer, SAE engineer, editor, and publisher, among others, “it is a poor motor that makes maximum power at idle.”

Now for years it has been a popular conception that loud pipes save lives, and I am not going to get into that.  What is true is that too loud pipes are annoying-and not only to those who don’t ride.  And more sound doesn’t equate to more power, as proven on the dyno and the race track, where sound rules are enforced.  Even a friend of mine who is a header builder, who has been successful on anything from off road to world land speed record cars, will tell you sound will not build power-it just builds the ego.  Which may be at the heart of more sound anyway.  Tell Harp where you want the power, he will build an exhaust system to do that.  As of January 1st, 2013, new lower db laws are in force in many states, prohibiting use of loud headers on bikes.  So the aftermarket has come up with quieter systems, that build the same power, or more.  Gone are the days of TT pipes, and soon the loud V-twins will not be able to find more sound, but may find more power, that is what you were after, right?  SB435 in California states any bike built after 1-2013 cannot be louder than 80 db, a great reduction from 88db in 1969.  But compare a 1969 anything to today’s model, technology is a good thing.  Putting an end to the big bang theory that more sound equals more power.  Today it is power under control, where and when you need it...let’s grab the throttle and have fun!

Power under control is not a new concept, but can be traced back to the New Testament.  Listed among the fruit of the spirit is meekness, aka power under control.  Ask any drag racer, without getting the power to the ground, it is useless, it is power out of control.  And meekness shows power under control, and it is a choice we get to make.  It is being in a situation where we can do the right thing, but do something better.  It is shown in mercy, not in retaliating against someone or being vindictive.  It is not chasing down the yuk that just cut you off then flipping you off with her free hand, the other one holding her cell.  It is showing the right way to someone rather than belittling them, and seeing a change of heart in them.  It is listening to what God wants as opposed to what your feelings dictate.  It is called love, personified in the man of Jesus Christ, and it is lacking today in many places, even in some churches.  As we see people picket against abortion, we don’t see the many there to counsel before they got pregnant or after the abortion.  We see too many in politics holding signs quoting scripture, but not walking according to it themselves.  It is seen where me first and my views take place, conveniently leaving out Jesus, unless He happens to agree with you, a long way from us changing to follow Him.  Meekness is willing to admit you may be wrong and not know it all, but change to do what is right.  Despite all the help form others.  It is showing love when compassion is needed to a soldier’s widow, rather than protesting the war at his funeral.  Meekness is love, and tells us more about God than we may know.  It is what we would want, but not always what we give.  It is not a big bang, but a quiet whisper, not demanding its own way.  It is an exhaust note so cool that you want to hear it again and again-even at 6 on a Sunday morning.

I stood and watched as a man argued with Mick about the horsepower of his bike on the dyno.  Some other dyno had shown more power, and he was going back, as if Mick’s dyno was faulty.  But when confronted, he was forced to admit he was only after the horsepower numbers, which change from day to day, if only by atmospheric conditions.  He wanted bragging rights, he probably couldn’t handle what he had anyway, so he let the dyno do his talking, instead of his wrist.  Cool and wet builds power, the O in H2O.  Now you know why racers sit bags of ice on their intakes between races, to cool it down, make it moist.  So what are you after, more power or a loud exhaust?  You can have both, but you can also have your bike sing a song all will want to hear.  Power under control, if it works on a motorcycle, imagine what it can do in your personal life?  Imagine what it can do to your walk with Jesus?  For just like it didn’t start with a big bang, it doesn’t have to end with one.  Are you making maximum power at idle, or do I have to hear it to feel it?  It is all about power under control-fast is fun after all isn’t it?  Some are diluted by pure ignorance, I can hear the Dunstalls singing now...let’s ride.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

wait until your father gets home

Today is my older son Christopher’s  33rd birthday, which means for 33 years now I have been a father-in training.  So today he and I are taking a pair of Street Triples and go riding all day, the perfect father/son activity.  But as his mother, Theresa and I were talking last night, we were ignorant of how to raise kids.  When her water broke, we didn’t even have a phone, and had to drive a few miles to a pay phone, then back to get her, and off to Durango and the hospital.  We had no clue as to the endless supply of diapers we would need, and how our lives would change, seemingly revolving around him, and later his brother Andrew.  But we gladly, although sometimes reluctantly did what we thought was best, doing our best to raise them in the Lord, which at times went against advise of others, whose children were perfect, their parents being their only flaw.  And so right or wrong, we always loved them, encouraging them to be their own person, and watching as they grew despite our help sometimes.  But one thing we agreed on early, was never threaten our kids using the other parent, you never were to hear, or would hear, “wait until your father gets home.”  We didn’t want my arrival to spell impending doom, nor did I wish to be greeted or known as the bad guy.  And we wanted them to know God the same way.  So we never did, although sometimes in silence it was spoken out of respect.  We always wanted our kids to push the envelope, I am still wary of those kids who don’t, and often find them the ones in trouble, and their parents in denial.  Not sure who was raising who.  Others would feel free to comment behind my back, thinking gossip never got back to me, and as I watched them and their kids drifting apart, I found love would conquer many sins, and keep a family together.  When reputation was more important, I saw families splitting.  Like I said, after 33 years I am still learning, only the homework has changed.

No matter what, I have always loved my sons.  But as they get older, mature a little, and follow their dreams, now I have bragging rights to them.  I was there in the beginning, in the hard times.  And although always proud of them, now it is more than just because you are my son.  Which is still the number one reason.  And last summer when I got sick and had open heart surgery, both stepped up in ways any father would be proud of.  But on to the good times, and more pleasant memories.  And more times to ride...together.

In heaven we will never hear “wait until your father gets home,” heaven is God’s home, and he is patiently waiting for us to come home.  In His timing, not ours.  He has prepared a place, and a way, Jesus Christ for all to come to Him, which is our choice.  And as we get older, we see too many kids who have grown into adults drift away from God.  They had been forced to go to church, and to accept their parent’s rules, never allowed to know God on their own, and personally as they did.  God was always a set of thou shalt nots, not love.  And you find a bitterness there, as church memories are not always times of fun, but a time of “you have to go!”  Or else.  Not the way God looks at us, and not how He wants us raising our kids.  Love doesn’t demand its own way, nor is it harsh.  It disciplines, consoles, and is compassionate as needed, always encouraging.  It seeks the best, won’t settle for less, but knows in our failings that it is shown even more in forgiveness.  It teaches, and uses positive examples, also pointing out penalties for failure, and is always there when needed, with open arms.  The way we have tried to raise our sons, the way God has chosen to raise us.  Sometimes we forget we are children too, and He is the Father we have in heaven, raising us for our time in eternity.  So we need to follow Him, and set the example for our own families.  Sometimes of what to do, sadly sometimes of what not to do...perfect parents are never perfect-only God is.

As a parent you will have many report cards in life as to how you are doing.  I always go back to an old saying, “the true measure of success is how your kids define you to their friends.”  I like to call it love with respect.  It is tough enough being a kid today without either.  So step up Mom and Dad, you are building a legacy in and through your kids.  Who you say and show Jesus is will have a lasting effect on who they say He is. Start today, your Father is waiting until you get home.  Make sure your wife and kids are with you.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

tale of two Theresas

Winter means cold, and there is nothing like cold in the Rocky Mountains.  Which in Durango means winters below zero at night, lots of snow, which means lots of skiers at Purgatory, and lots of Texans, who use Durango as a leisure activity.  Being only a short day’s drive, many drive to Durango, having winter cabins on the lake, staying at the condos at Purgatory, or booking rooms in town.  But with the cold brings problems not found on nice days, add in the altitude, 6500’ and rising, and your sea level car may have problems you wouldn’t encounter at sea level.  Water boils at about 180 at 6500’, water still freezes at 32F, but diesel fuel also seems to gel the closer you get to zero.  Making any diesel vehicle lose power, and finally not run, leaving the driver and his passengers stranded, and with 100’s of miles between, a huge towing bill-if they are found.  Every year someone would wander off looking for help and be found when the thaw hit in the spring.  If you break down, stay with your vehicle!

When we moved to Durango, I fell in love with it, it has a charm all its own.  And I made a statement that I would shovel horse manure if that is what it took, only to have it prophetically come true when I worked at petroleum jobber, which serviced buses, dumping the crappers.  And selling diesel, we were a stop for many locals, and those travelling from Texas.  Who would find out why their dealer told them to change their fuel filters regularly, as they would trap water which would freeze, and then watch as the #2 diesel would gel, and not flow, causing rough running, no power, and finally leave you stranded.  Which it did one young couple from Texas one night...

I was working the night shift, from 2-12, while Theresa worked at the Durango Inn, getting off at 10pm.  She would then hang out with me, I worked that shift alone, my  only company an occasional gas customer and an old AM radio, hooked to a car battery for power, with foil as an antenna, picking up the only station in town,  and we would drive the 28 miles home to Vallecito Lake, at 8300’ altitude.  When she came by I was helping a young couple whose Chevy truck wouldn’t idle.  It was obvious the problem, and we even had tried using the steam cleaner to heat the lines, but too much cold won out.  Now Durango went to bed at 9 o’clock, and it woke early, only a few bars for the tourists stayed open later-anyone with any sense was home in bed and warm, not saying much for us.  But this couple, Randy and Theresa, were not due until tomorrow, and as Theresa could attest to, there was no room at the inn-or anywhere else in this pre-PC, pre-internet, pre-cell phone world.  The couple was stranded, as the truck would sleep in the garage over night, and when NAPA opened at 8 the next morning we would get them new fuel filters and send them on their way.  But as for tonight...what to do?  So we took them home with us, where it was only colder, usually 20-30 degrees colder than town, and needed to start a fire for heat.  Arriving home at about 1 am, I needed to be back to work at 6 am, so we all had about 8 hours sleep-spread among four people.  But we all survived, got them back on the road, and wished them well, with only quite a story to tell of their skiing trip to Purgatory.  Seems they had been to Purgatory before they even hit the slopes, and God had taken them through it. 

Many times we help others and don’t know we are responding to the gospel as Jesus told us.  In Matthew 25 when He addresses the church, He assures them that anyone doing a kind deed, such as feeding, giving drink, visiting in jail or the hospital is giving aid to Him-we were serving Jesus without knowing it.  But He also talks of taking in strangers, and He took us in when we were strangers, now we are friends and family.  But that night Randy and Theresa had no friends in Durango until they met us, and we did the right thing-taking them in and they were strangers no more.  How often just having someone along has relieved you of loneliness?  Just having someone to talk to has eased your burden?  And having someone minster to your needs made you remember how much God does care, and is watching?  God had us just where we were needed that night, and has for many times since, they are called divine interventions.  Not luck as some would say, but God knew their situation even before it happened, and sent them to us.  By the way, the station was off the new main highway, and not easily found, you were either lost or were directed, this time by God. 

If they had changed their fuel filters like advised, they would not have encountered the problems they did.  Just like Jesus filters the sin from us, we need to go to Him and be changed regularly via prayer and teaching.  Without them we can get stale, and become a target for sin that we otherwise would not.  So stay in the word, keep the word in you, and look for chances to serve God and show His love.  It may be a simple courtesy to you, but a major event to anyone else.  Jesus gave us two commands, love God and love your neighbor.  Show others you love God by your love for others, meeting the need when you can.  For God so loved Randy and Theresa, He had them meet Mike and Theresa.  A tale of two Theresas!  And one loving God...in a smelly old service station, below zero on a winter’s night.  One station on the radio.  Shelter from the storm.  Remember that when storms surround you...better safe in the arms of Jesus and skiing at Purgatory than trying to escape it.  Of all places, He had a beach girl and a biker who doesn’t like snow....but on that night we were where we  were supposed to be.  Extend the hand of love to someone in need today.  Who knows, you may be stuck in a storm....get your own Theresa, mine’s taken.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the things dreams are made of

When asked “what is that bird anyway?” Bogie replied, “that is the thing that dreams are made of.”  Of course you know he was referring to The Maltese Falcon, a jewel encrusted bird claiming to have infinite value, but it was the dream of obtaining the bird, after chasing it internationally that was most of the story.  And as a kid, we used to look at dream cars that way.  Sometimes they were part of a travelling car show, like GM’s Parade of Progress, where you could see cars of the future today.  Unique, futuristic styling, more powerful motors, and a chance to look ahead-to see the future and anxiously anticipate it.  With someday being a key word, as in “someday I’ll own a car like that.”  A phrase passed down from generation to generation, from fathers to sons...keeping the dream alive.  For at one time, cars were the things that dreams were made of.  But today we find ourselves sadly disappointed, as dream cars now have little to do with cars, but are showcases of modern electronics, blutooth, i-phone, and other gadgets to make your driving experience more productive, rather than seductive.  With all the romance of a cathode ray tube screen, replaced by a touch screen, from buttons for radio station changes, to voice actuated-now you don’t even have to listen to the radio, and hope your favorite song is next-just dial it up, if dial is the correct word, and listen to it over and over.  No wonder we look back with fondness on what we once looked ahead for. 

I can remember the new cars being driven on transports, covered so that you couldn’t see what was underneath.  Dealer windows covered in brown paper, announcing the day and date of the new models intro, and going down, pushing against the windows just to see them that morning.  But for days before peeking into the service department, where they were being made ready, and usually being chased out when caught.  “We were only looking,” we had taken the bait, and soon describing them to our friends made us and them the topic for conversation.  The fins were bigger, colors brighter, look at that interior, and I heard one run-it is fast!  All things that dreams were made of-and we had seen the future first...

And then actually sitting in one, the new car aroma was overwhelming as the smell of plastics took us over, no leather back then, patent leather, or GM’s Morrokide vinyl ruled the day.  Hard to tell from the real thing, which none of us had seen anyway.  Chrome shining until we left our handprints on it, and leaning over the fender careful not to let our belt buckles scratch the paint, all under the watchful eyes of the sales force.  A relationship we didn’t want to damage, as they would be a source of brochures, promo items, and sometimes even models of the new cars, if we were cool, promising to tell our dads where we got the goodies, and who to ask for.  And we did, but rarely did they ever return despite all our begging.  Wide eyed, and excited, we had seen the future, yesterday and today, and couldn’t wait until tomorrow when we could drive, and have our own dreams fulfilled.  But many of last year’s dreams would fulfill the lust and desire first, but that was OK, and it fills old car shows and cruise nights across America still.  And I still can’t get excited about today’s “new” cars.  And never wondered why.

Imagine trying to explain a touch screen to a teenager in 1960.  “It’s this glass screen, like on a TV, and all you do is touch the little pictures on it, and the music changes.”  Such was the dilemma John the Baptist found himself in 2000 years ago.  Faced with visions of the future, from the very one who was and is the future, Jesus Christ, he had to try to describe things he saw in the terms of today, describing the what he had never seen comparing it to what he had.  Not an easy task.  Explain the difference in the 1965 Chevy SS and a Ford Galaxie.  I’m waiting, and we both have seen them, yet words will fail us.  All on an isolated island with no internet to help him.  So he did his best to describe the future to us...and what a future it will be, with daily previews bing provided as scripture unfolds every night.  And if you read Revelation, the only book told that if you read it you will be blessed, why haven’t you?  The future is where we will spend our time, and where we spend it is based on who we say Jesus is.  The final exam of life,  we get to choose, heaven or hell, which should be easy, but has been made hard.  So I will attempt to take it down to basics.  HELL-eternal torment, a forever migraine, no light, a darkness that cannot be explained, and a loneliness beyond imagination, you have chosen not to follow Jesus, and He honors your request.  No God to bother you, so in pain, darkness, and loneliness you face eternity, no tomorrow to look forward to, now is more than can be handled.  And it never goes away...

HEAVEN on the other hand is eternal bliss.  No riding on clouds playing a harp, for eye has not seen, ear has not heard, or mind imagined the things of God.  So whatever you think it is, it isn’t-it is better.  Better than peaking at the new cars under the canvas or behind the paper on the windows.  No words on earth can describe it-for heaven is God’s home, and now it is yours.  No pain, streets of gold, gates of pearls...only a fool would say no to that.  For only a fool says there is no God.  Aren’t you glad you know better?  That you claim Jesus for your savior and as your God?  And even more blessed we find ourselves when we realize the things that dreams are made of is really a person...not a thing.  But will and does shower us with things.  Put yourself in John the B’s place, here is your chance to.  Let today be your day of salvation.  Bogie sought a jewel encrusted bird, you can have jewel encrusted streets and homes.  As kids we looked forward to the dream cars, predicting the future, now you know what God has made available to you.  Through the eyes of a child find Jesus today, and enjoy the peace of knowing that your dreams will never come close to the joy of reality in Him.  In heaven.  Sorry Bogie...

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com