fast girls and cars

An old adage, cleaned up for our readers states, “if it has wheels or a skirt it will break your heart.”  And as many of us know, it will also break your wallet.  So when it came to where our hard earned after school dollars went, many us of chose the wheels over the skirts.  At least for a while, as no one, even the nerdiest had your parents pick up your date, it just wasn’t done.  So the car came before the date, in alphabetical order, and also social order.  And soon we found out that no matter how cool you thought your wheels were, there was someone whose wheels were cooler.  Sadly learned when your date talked about the cooler car next to you at the drive-in, or cancelled and you saw her in it, at the drive-in, while she was home washing her hair.  Add some speed, and soon fast cars were the draw for the girls, with Corvettes, Boss Mustangs, Z-28’s, and 55 Chevies ruling the pecking order as a young man.  Much different today as I see little 4 door Japanese sedans, where have all the convertibles gone, where are all the V-8’s, have girls finally gotten faster than cars?  How far have we fallen from racing stripes, hood lock pins, Wide Oval tires, Cragar SS mags, and open headers?  What is the attraction of a car that was designed to haul your family, and whose motor sounds like a sewing machine?  Have we become a nation of sedans in what used to be a convertible world?  I figure society has just taken a hard left into the abyss, where men shave their heads and women think it is sexy, they drive little sedans with stereos having more power than their engines, and listen to hip hop.  I miss the days of fast cars, and girls in knee socks, short skirts, and sweaters.  Maybe I am showing my age, maybe you are showing yours.  Or maybe I was part of it....

It is 1975, and Garry Brown has just built a custom van as an engineering project for his engineering degree at Bucknell.  A 1973 Chevy van 10, it has two layers of shag carpet, two 8 tracks, an ice box, American Racing mag wheels, and side pipes.  Powered by a 307, low horsepower V-8.  A cool van, I bought it, but low on power, but somehow high on sex appeal, as girls loved it.  Maybe it brought out the bad girl in them, the legends far exceeded reality.  I was living with Cakers, a few years older, and his peer group were professionals.  IE, they had jobs.  He invited me to a party one night, and I followed him in the van, hoping to score early and leave.  Which I did, being introduced as the guy who rides motorcycles, I was a real bad boy.  And soon Maggie, school teacher Maggie and all her beauty was talking to me.  Afraid of bikes, she was suddenly intrigued when she asked if I knew who owned the van, and even more interested when I told her me.  Now Cakers had warned me how shallow she was, but between sexual drive, her willingness, and the van, I didn’t hear a word he said.  But fortunately, before we left the party together I heard hers.  She was in love with the van, and “was willing to endure me to get a ride in it,” I overheard her tell her friend.  She was using me, the roles were reversed.  Silently I went into my “I’ll show you” mode, and off we went.  I even let her drive for awhile, and then we drove off to the river, where people parked for romance.  Finding a spot, we waded into the river, and all she could talk of was the van, and I was tired of it.  So skillfully making an excuse to get something from the van, I went back, got in and left.  Leaving her in the river vanless....a victory for all of us who had been used by a pretty face, more interested in our wheels than us.  And back to the party I went, and when some asked “where’s Maggie?” I told them she went swimming, and would call them tomorrow.  The last party I was invited to by Cakers, but his friends were all impressed by the statement I had made.  Never did hear from Maggie though, sold the van after that.  Still ride motorcycles, so does my wife of 36 years.  Proving there are two kinds of girls, those you date, and those you marry, I hope you make the some great choice I did.

Now I like to think I taught Maggie a lesson, I am sure her version is different.  And to her friends she was the victim, to my friends I was the victim, but ended the hero.  So it is good to know your audience before you tell the story, and always better to listen to both sides before making a decision.  Using the wisdom Solomon had when dealing with two women arguing over ownership of a baby, but only one the true mother.  So he offered to cut it in half, give each half to a one claiming to be the mother, the true mother loving her child so much she was willing to give it over, rather than to see it killed, or even shared.  God feels that way about you, He doesn’t want to cut you up, or off, so sent Jesus to show the way back, to be the only way to Him.  Letting us make the decision, for some easy, for some still debating, and for some total rejection.  Listening to others opinions, letting them become a burden instead of going with the truth.  They are like Maggie, wanting a ride, but not counting the cost.  And when caught in their own lies, pay the price.  Fast girls and cars, a sure equation for disaster, even worse in a van.

So it does matter what you drive, ride, who you date, and who you choose to worship.  Fast cars are still cool today, fast girls still going for rides, just missing the commitment of marriage.  Maybe that is why you never hear the stories at old car shows or see the vans the stories took place in.  One night stands in the social/auto world.  And maybe why so many wives, mine included go to old car shows.  They have memories too, and talk of fast men and cars.  Levis with grease on them, Bell helmet shirts, and nights cruising, getting on the gas.  And of going home after a cruise night with their husbands, the way it oughta be.  Some have the wisdom of Solomon, proving it by choosing you, while their friends tell them “their husband got the best of the deal.”  And when Jesus is in the middle of your marriage, even in a world of fast girls and cars, in wheels and skirts, He never lets you down.  For behind the wheel of all great marriages is Jesus.  And the great ones let Him drive.  Which gives us more time to cuddle in the back seat.  Something we could never do with our parents.

The good old days are here again, or still for some of us.  Speed will always be attractive, and so will fast cars and bikes.  But make sure the one you take home to Mom and Dad knows the difference.  The wisdom of Solomon works great in racing and dating, works great even in marriage.  And maybe explains after all these years why I am not a fan of vans, mini or other.  It took the wrong girl to show me the right way.  And it took a loving God to show me the wisdom of Solomon, giving me the right girl, and blessing our marriage.  I’ll ride to that.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

just another afternoon in Sonoma

It has been said the true definition of a diplomat is telling someone to go to hell, and making them look forward to the trip.  Works in politics, just look around if you doubt the definition, but we got to see one afternoon a woman struggle with it at a new car introduction.  We were coming back from Canada on the Sprint RS, enjoying nights in bed and breakfasts, something we did years ago when we had more money than kids, we still have the kids, the money is long gone.  My older son Christopher was working at a Courtyard by Marriott, and one of the benefits was getting rooms at a huge discount at other Marriott properties, places we would have not been able to afford otherwise.  But our destination that night was in Sonoma, California at the Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort and Spa, even the name sounds expensive and it was, but not for us.  For our $49 we got a deluxe suite that cost the commoners over $400 a night, did we feel rich, but out of place.  But when we pulled up into the courtyard, it was filled with Volvo X-90 SUV’s, it was their international introduction, and their were many press and magazine editors there.  In charge was a rather large Swedish looking woman, call her big boned, who was reading off her clipboard to the few who were listening.  How exciting can a Volvo be after all, and Volvo SUV-boring.  But was doing her best, almost militaristic, “you will sit in car and enjoy,” and then we rode in.  You would have thought no one had ever seen a motorcycle before, for as we pulled through the courtyard, and stopped, a few came up to look.  Even some pictures were taken, and one journalist was excited about it being a Triumph, and had actually been to a Triumph intro-much more fun.  Which really annoyed Ms. Volvo, and now she not only had to make her new SUV interesting, but get them away from our motorcycle.  And if looks could kill, it would have been us instead of her, but we survived, and so did Volvo, as they are still selling their X-90 today, and Triumph is still selling motorcycles.  A press intro we will never forget, nor were we invited to, I doubt we will ever be invited back.  Blame it on my son, and his job, if not for him it would have been a lot less exciting, and expensive.

When I watch someone trying to explain something too cerebral, boring, or sleep worthy, I think of Ms. Volvo.  She was the true definition of diplomacy that day, she wanted to tell us to leave, maybe to go to hell, but had to put on her happy face, with dozens watching.  She had to over come the obvious interest in our motorcycle vs. her Volvo, and she knew she was outmanned.  But she kept it together, I’m sure a healthy stay at the bar after helped her to reconsider her future with Volvo, but she never quit.  And reporters can be a tough lot.  Great product, great room, but bad shrimp, they’ll pan the product.  Bad product, great food, they’ll puff the product.  Long after the event is over, they may forget the car or truck or motorcycle, but they remember the food, the rooms, the plane flight.  Just not always the reason they were there. 

In 1981 I went with my friend Tom to the Kawasaki dealer show in Denver.  Tom was a joker, and we sat in the back, him and a few others making jokes, much like Mystery Science Theatre 3000.  New product would be shown, and Tom would comment, sometimes loud enough for others to hear, and laugh.  And when he got dirty looks, I got them too, somehow they knew I wasn’t a dealer, and the peer pressure was almost funny if not so pathetic.  But I endured the show, remembered being glad I had a new KZ750 ordered, and left thinking “this would never happen at a Honda show.”  And I’ll never know....

‘'Sell the sizzle, not the steak,” is an old advertising mantra, but as an inveterate steak eater, I can tell you that you can’t eat sizzle, and  I’d rather eat steak.  It is the product I am interested in, not the clowns, the girls on the cars, or the celebrities on display.  And sometimes they aren’t either, as running into Ivan Stewart at a Cycle World International show a few years back.  He worked for Toyota, and was there to sign autographs.  Except this was a motorcycle show, and the Toyota booth was empty.  I guess the new Ninjas were more appealing that day.  So when he saw me, a familiar face, he wanted to talk, and was glad to see me, usually it was the other way around.   I was a familiar face, and he needed a friend, and among all the sizzle, I was the steak. 

“Unless the Lord builds it, we labor in vain,” scripture tells us.  Try to tell that to a church looking to grow.  To an over zealous pastor.  We need programs, special guests, movie nights, and free meals.  That will get the people in.  And when it doesn’t, the pastor may turn on the congregation.  He did his part, why didn’t they invite all their friends and neighbors?  How could they let God down, hey, how could they have let him down?  And so we churches die or dying for the lack of a vision.  Great sizzle, but no steak.  Just the opposite of Jesus, who was the meat of the matter.  He was quiet and unassuming, never had any book sales, no PR group to advise others-“ONE NIGHT ONLY-SEE THE SON OF GOD PERFORM MIRACLES!”  And we wonder why some churches never grow.  But what about those that do show up, and are disappointed, is it God’s fault?  Maybe He was booked into another town that night, or just too busy.  Did anyone think to ask Him about His schedule?  But yet we see churches grow in numbers, but not in depth, not in the spirit.  To God it is not about quantity but quality.  Not about the size of the crowd, or the amount of the offering.  It is about trust, something Gideon was faced with.  A miller, told to lead an army, an enemy awaited him of over 30,000, and he was down to 300 men, who had to drink like dogs, so fat and overweight that without God they could only lose, they had eaten both sizzle and steak.  But God provided them victory, it was all about what God would do, not Gideon.

Is your relationship more sizzle than steak?  Are you in it for your glory or God’s glory?  Is Jesus Lord, or just s a genie in a lamp when you want something?  Or just another product intro, where you remember more about the retreat weekend and the food, than the chance to get closer to God?  The gospel is diplomacy in action, telling you of a heaven and a loving God, and making you look forward to the trip.  Don’t pay attention to the guys who ride in and distract you, or the hecklers in the back of the room.  Only Jesus will provide the steak, the nourishment needed, without all the carnival atmosphere.  A meal fit for a king, served by a king, making us feel like kings.  And you get the best rooms available-such a deal, how can you pass that one up?

Ms. Volvo was persistent in her gospel of the X-90.  How persistent are you with yours?  With Jesus?  Diplomacy in action, living what you believe, riding what you believe, and believing who Jesus is.  The Bible calls it witnessing, don’t make it a photo op, but rather a home movie.  To be shared with others for years to come.  Volvo owners welcome.  Just another afternoon in Sonoma...

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

just lookin'

Every shop has one, or should.  He starts out just walking through the show room, being careful not to touch the bikes, although he is dying just to sit on one.  “Just looking,” he replies when asked if he needs help, the questioner already knowing after one look this is no prospect today to sell a new bike to.  After a few visits, usually after school, he notices the service area, and between the sounds, the smells of Castrol, grease, and brake cleaner, he is attracted.  Again when asked, he mutters “just looking,” and wishes he could just get on the other side of the rope separating him from all the excitement.  And on one afternoon, pulls up to the rear door, and when asked, he mutters, “my tire needs air,” and the tech, too busy to help, just points to the air hose, “help yourself kid.”  And he has gained entrance, and suddenly the prospect of filling air is frightening, but after a few attempts he gets it right, thanks the tech, who just grunts, and leaves.  Bragging to his friends how they let him in the shop, how cool.  And soon he stops by everyday after school, and soon is told, “if you ‘re gonna hang around, make yourself useful.”  So he picks up rags, empties trash, and takes abuse from the guys.  He is the one who goes for lunches, and when short on money makes up the difference, and when the order is wrong, it is his fault.  When they can’t find something, he gets blamed, even if he wasn’t there.  All for free, a job that isn’t a job, that doesn’t pay money, but his reward cannot be measured in dollars or sense.  And sometimes the manager slips him a $5 or $10, “go have a good weekend,” and he feels like the richest guy on earth. 

And then one day he is given a shop shirt, many sizes too big, but it doesn’t matter-he is part of the team!  A shirt he wears to school, and when the jocks and nerds make fun of it, he knows deep inside he is part of something they can only enjoy for a moment in victory, but that he enjoys everyday.  He may be low man on the team, but he is on the team.  And when the next kid needs air in a tire, they now can come to him.  He begins to take interest in a certain model, and using money earned, he now gets paid like the other guys, not much, but enough to buy parts at his discount, and have the techs show him how to install them.  Using their tools, and taking the abuse that goes with the position.  But he is learning, all about life, values, and teamwork.  Things that cannot be taught in school, and soon his bike runs, and the back alley is his highway-at least until he gets his license.  His helmet is used, and the paint on the tank doesn’t match the fenders, the engine smokes a little, the tires worn.  But it is his, built with his own hands, helped out with his friends, the guys who work in the shop, all because he stopped by, and was just lookin’.  And on the day he gets his license, and takes his first ride, they all watch cheering him on.  “Hope it stays together, you really gonna ride that thing?  Don’t go far so you won’t have too far to push it back!”  And if smiles were ears, he would hear them when he was well out of sight.  He was riding, and soon between summers, weekends, and afterschool, he had enough to buy his own new motorcycle, at a huge discount.  And was buying his own set of tools.  For he no longer was low man, he was now a mechanic.  His name right there on his shirt, and someday he will be helping the next kid who is just lookin’, and giving someone else a hard time when he gets fries instead of the onion rings he ordered.  He will loan tools, fix things for free, and stay late, open early, and never make a huge salary.  But he has learned at an early age that if you do what you love it isn’t a job, and if you love your job it isn’t like going to work.  At one time a rope stood between him and his dreams, now he is living them.  Something his friends, girlfriend, and parents don’t get, they had hoped he would get an education, go to college.  He got the education, something they don’t teach at Harvard.  He was part of a team.  All he needed was a chance and an invitation.

There aren’t many places a kid can hang out after school anymore.  But kids still hang out in bike shops, staying out of trouble.  Building friendships, relationships, and learning from watching.  A team they don’t have to try out for, with no awards given.  Many don’t go on to success like the kid did above, many will go to college, so get married too son, or move away.  Churches like motorcycle shops still provide a place for kids to go afterschool.  To hangout, to be part of something.  In Belarus, part of the old USSR, a man started a ministry with street kids and motorcycles, the first ones not running, donated by the police.  Just to keep the kids out of jail.  And soon they got them running, and soon formed a club.  A Christian motorcycle club, for the man with a vision for the gospel, leads these kids.  Leads them to Jesus, and watches as throw aways become valuable.  He gives them purpose, a reason to live, and a family.  Three things they were missing.  Built around Jesus, and using motorcycles as the common language.   And a few years ago I found I was a part of this and didn’t know it.  Somehow my stories, the ones you read, are picked up and translated into Russian for the kids to read.  And to learn about Jesus.  Some wearing M25B shirts I sent them, ministers of Christ.  Kids who like the kid in the shop were just lookin’, and someone took the time to introduce them to Jesus.  Using motorcycles.  A form of the gospel some churches will never understand, and where these kids would not be welcome.  But Jesus sees them, sees us different.  He feels comfortable among bikers, street kids, hookers, and junkies.  In many cases a better class of people.  Who don’t realize they want to know Him, until introduced to Him.  The smell of racing caster in the air, just  like it should be.

Fathers, when your kid watch, include them.  Invite them when washing the car.  Cleaning your chain.  Looking for your golf clubs.  Let them help around the house, and get them involved in the conversation.  They are just lookin’, and if you don’t show them, someone else will.  Let them hold the hose, sit on the bike.  Put a helmet and gloves on them.  Maybe give them an old shirt, make them feel part of the family.  Just like Jesus does us, just like He took us in.  Ministry opportunities don’t have to happen in church, spread the gospel of love by putting it in action.  And watch as it gets passed on, rather than passed over.  We were all that kid at ne time who was just lookin’, and some of us have found what we were looking for in Jesus.  The harvest in plentiful, the workers few, some will even be riding.  Every shop has one, are you that one?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the engineering is great, so why did the product fail?

While the rest of the motorcycle world was demanding 4 cylinder engines modeled after the Honda 750, Yamaha came out with a vertical twin.  It was not supposed to shake as vertical twin motors will, and engineering wise at least on paper it worked fine.  But sadly the engine shook apart internally, leaked externally, and it quietly disappeared from the marketplace within 2 years, the TX750 never to be seen again.  About the same time, just before the gas crisis, GM came out with the Chevy Vega.  At its heart was an aluminum block with a cast iron head, and steel cylinder liners was touted as an engineering masterpiece.  Until they started to overheat, leak, and self destruct.  A car that sold over a million copies, self destructed, and designed by a team led by Ed Cole, the father of the small block Chevy in 1955, that grew from 265 to 283, to 327, to 350, and bored out for many racers, was a total failure.  How could a man who designed the best selling, most famous motor of all time, have signed off on such a horrendous mistake as the Vega?  Why if the engineering was so great, was the product no good?

And while we are at it, who can remember the Suzuki rotary, the RE5.  Promising 750cc power from 500cc of combustion chambers, the rotary was the engine of the future.  Worked great on paper, but was overpriced, styled horribly-who can forget the futuristic styling and lunch box instrument cluster?  Restyled and painted black for 1976, these turkeys gathered dust.  Seems no one wanted a motorcycle that cost too much, used unique spark plugs at $30 each, and made put put sounds when backing out of the throttle.  And that produced such high exhaust heat that event the exhaust had vent to rush air over it?  No one seemed to care about how well it handled, the same chassis men would go onto fame with the GS1000, so why with such great engineering was the product so bad?  Even Yamaha cancelled their rotary version, and today no one had built a successful rotary motorcycle. 

Consider Post Its, if you would.  A great product, based on an adhesive the inventor had no use for.  But someone came up with the application and instant success.  In a pre Xerox world a man came up with the technology to isolate certain things, but what would be its use?  Today the photocopier is standard in all offices, and sells for less than $40.  Two examples of great engineering, discoveries that just needed a way to be used.  And I won’t even get into reverse engineering, but yet today many inventions are sitting on shelves, just waiting for the right time to be released, or still looking for the proper need to be filled.  And then there were those who bought the V8-6-4 Cadillac, whose engine would cut power to cylinders when not needed.  Fuel economy never got better, the initial objective, and reliability hit low, no longer the standard of the world Cadillac wanted to be.  Fill the gas and check the water for water injected Olds in the 60’s failed too, as did English electrics, aka Lucas, the Prince of Darkness, and many other designs.  So for many who consider the glass half full, some will consider the glass half empty.  Only an engineer will consider it a poor design.

It has been said that God has a sense of humor, and looking around there may be some truth in that.  The most perfect design ever, man, created in the image of God, has turned out to be less than perfect.  In fact, many times he has completely failed, risking making the creator look foolish.  But it was not the design, nor the designer that was weak, for built into each human is the freedom of choice, and some didn’t, don’t, and won’t choose correctly.  They go off thinking they can improve on God’s design, cutting corners, saving time or money here and there, and like too men I know, every time they try to reinvent the wheel they end up with a flat tire.  The flat tire for man is sin, we thought we knew better, didn’t obey, and never considered god in the equation.  We were doomed to fail after that, only a unique warranty program of love has saved us, and still does today.  While GM and others have cars recalled, God offers a warranty program called salvation.  His engineering is the best, cannot be duplicated, although many tried and failed.  And still do, trying to out think God.  But God sent Jesus to bring us back, to honor His warranty of forgiveness, no matter how many miles or years have passed.  No matter how you have tried to customize the product, God is there to repair it, to a better than new condition.  Using only factory parts, and a factory approved person, Jesus Christ.  No recalls issued, but an invitation to trade your old life for new.  To put the past mistakes behind, and start out as a new creation.  Try that at your Honda dealership.  Try to return any special ordered parts to Chevy.  And try to find the success needed in religion, it takes the factory, the creator to repair what man has damaged, and only a loving God will do that.  It takes repentance, turning from your problem, and turning to God, and letting Jesus deal with the problem for you.  A 24/7 hot line to the factory, directing you through the problem, not around it.  Bringing you through, and trusting Him more when you are done.

And unlike many car problems that you fix and then turn around and sell the car, we cling closer to God afterwards.  It is in times of trouble we get closer to Him.  Sick you need the great physician, troubled you need the wonderful counselor.  Sin, you need forgiveness, a savior.  And His name is Jesus. 

A psychiatrist may look at the symptoms, a doctor look at lab results.  An auto tech may hook your car up to a computer and test the sensors.  Only God looks at the heart and sees the problem, not just the symptoms.  He sees where the product failed, and offers the solution, still our choice to say yes or no.  And He has no history of bad designs, unlike the engineers at Chevy.  Just because you built a legendary V-8, doesn’t insure you the same in the future.  And just because they can explain it, doesn’t mean you will understand it.  But trusting God and His plan will.   Today computers, turbos, and variable valve timing all add power and efficiency to an engine, add ons.  Only Jesus goes to the heart, to the original design, which was perfect to start, and repairs the self inflicted damage.  Warranted for life....with no aftermarket plans, just plans for the afterlife.

We have found the problem and it is us.  But a loving creator invites you today to fix the problem.  Will you let Him?  One bad decision may have led you away, one good one will lead you back.  Even if it only a tune up, maintenance is still cheaper than repairs.  Now about that half empty glass....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

wish lists

As kids we anxiously awaited the Sears Christmas Catalog.  All the new toys of our dreams, our Wish List delivered to our door, all we needed to do was tap into our parent’s wallet and the dreams came true.  As a young adult working at Sears my attitude to the catalogs changed when they came in by the truckload for customers to pick up, and I unloaded tons of them!  Creating a much different wish list.  But the Sears catalog was a part of Americana, it was a chance for those who didn’t live in cities to purchase the things only city folks had available to them.  It brought the store to our door, and then with the population growth, Sears and others built stores in the suburbs, and soon we could go into the store, see the merchandise live, buy it and take it home that day.  And then the Internet arrived, taking us back to the days of catalogs, only online, no heavy lifting required, and soon many, myself included were buying things sight unseen, online, and waiting for UPS to arrive with our goods.  In just 120 years we had come full circle from mail order to store shopping to ail order....so when the news reported Staples was closing 200 stores, because of slow sales, the by line was because 50% of their business came from online buying.  And at first it upset me, until I thought about how much I buy online, or shop for online.  Hush my mouth, I was one of the 50% who bought online!

Before moving to So Cal we lived in New Mexico and Colorado, in small towns, where catalogs brought the newest motorcycle goodies to our door.  Unlike here, where the stores are stocked with the newest and latest, we had Dennis Kirk, Competition Accessories, and Chaparral to fill our desires.  And you can only imagine our first visit to Chaparral in San Berdoo-it was Christmas all over again, a toy store for big boys, all under one roof.  With low prices to match, why shop online when I could be there in an hour?  But many can’t, don’t, or won’t-so still live by the Internet.  But go into the local store to try on a new jacket, check out the new colors, then buy online.  Which has prompted many stores to match Internet pricing, great, I prefer to support mu local store, but when I can get the same thing for much less, with no tax, online is tough to beat.   And I fear many retailers will soon be going the way of Staples, because we rather buy online. 

Even car buying is like that now, with truecar.com and Costco, AAA, and credit unions having worked out deals for you.  No longer needing to dicker, punch in what you want, the price comes back, a dealer is notified, confirms the price, financing, and can even have it delivered to your home.  All with the only screen you are in front of is a computer screen, not a windscreen.  But it may still be hard to test drive without a personal visit.  So we have become a society of Wii users, substituting virtual reality for the real thing, never getting the full experience of hearing a 5.0 Mustang under full throttle, of smelling new leather interiors, or taking a real test drive.  A survey will tell you who liked it, and you buy.   All from the safety of your own computer-unless you are hacked.  But that is another story.  How impersonal, only the hacking makes it personal.  And it all goes back to the Sears catalog, circa 1874.

And so we can plan, dream, shop, and review online-never even having to encounter another person, unless we have a problem, at which time you are referred to another screen.  Still no personal touch, only the UPS or FedEx driver, the messenger making personal.  And beating up he messenger is no new concept.  For years when sharing the gospel, many have suffered for only bringing the story of Jesus.  Being attacked for telling a dying world about a living savior.  Seems it is easy to shoot the messenger if you don’t like the message than go to the source.  In which case the church takes the beating, rather than facing God.  Been there, done that, have the wounds.  So why do so many blame the messenger rather than the sender?  Is it the message that saves, or the messenger?  Or has life become so impersonal we only read the subject line, and not the text?  Do we ever have more than a Facebook relationship, with a photo that has been Photoshopped, or borrowed?   I once had a friend who used to keep the pictures of the attractive girls who came with new wallets, telling his nerdy friends she was an old girlfriend, worked until he met his counterpart-who dated the same wallet photo!  So let me ask, where are you with Jesus?  Do you just know the message, or do you know who sent it?  Are you an online believer, or is it personal?  Or have you rejected the message, because you don’t like the messenger?  Is your whole relationship with God based on church, a bad time with another Christian, or believing what someone promised you about God, not knowing the truth and being led astray?  Have you bought online or in person?

Internet bible studies and commentaries can be a blessing, but should never become a substitute for gathering with others, going to church we call it.  And since we are the church, we need to welcome others, encourage others, and become the gospel in real life that we tell them about.  Sadly you can take anything out of context and find a reason for your sin, but when confronted by a living, loving God, you must face the facts. Jesus is more than pictures in a book, or even words on a page.  A good Yelp review will not make it personal, and shopping for God like we do bike parts is not the way.  Low price ain’t it.  Quick delivery, overnight is not the promise.  And catchy phrases only get you in more trouble, some day you will have to face the truth, why not meet Him today?  Get to know Him and write your own review?  Why dream when you can be riding, and why wonder when you can know?  John 1 tells us in the beginning was the word, Jesus.  Good place to start, then read on.  Find a real exciting life in Christ that defies reviews, and a return policy, salvation, that no other religion or offer can match.  No small print, big letter Bibles are available, and you can see the truth for yourself, before you buy.  But make it personal, take religion out of a catalog, and take it into your heart through Jesus.  Why settle for online when you can have the real thing?  His offer doesn’t expire at midnight, but why wait, tomorrow may be too late.  He is patient, you are delaying.  The toy catalog of life awaits you, open it up and enjoy real life, in person.  All others buy online.  One picture may be worth 1000 words, Jesus is the word.  If He isn’t in your cart, add Him, if there, time to check out.  Make the decision today.  That knock on the door may be the delivery man, Jesus, just waiting to deliver your gift of salvation.  Jesus saves-and at today’s prices that’s a bargain! 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com