the shape of things to come

You didn’t have to be at Woodstock to remember the Fish cheer, when Country Joe and the Fish sang “what are we fightin’ for, I don’t give damn...” and followed up with the famous
give me an...”  But everyday we are in a battle, even if we don’t see it.  If you remember the British car industry before it quit importing to the Colonies over 35 years ago, you may think Aston Martin, become a bit of a sports car elitist and say TVR, maybe think Austin Healey, but usually MG comes to mind.  But how many think Triumph, who also built cars, a different company than the motorcycle one who almost succumbed earlier in the decade?  Just a decade before we saw Spitfires everywhere, little 2-seaters with light weight that handled great.  How about the GT6+, the hatchback version, a low budget alternative to an XKE, can we say road trip?  But while the American automobile was being recreated via emission and safety laws, so were the cars of Britain, and Triumph was on life support.

They were sharp enough to see the future, but fell short in execution, the TR7 being the last gasp.  “The shape of things to come,” wedge shaped, an early attempt at aerodynamics, and they failed miserably.  Mention to a girl “do you want to go for a ride in my new Triumph?” and the date was on, show up in a TR7 and she suddenly had to wash her hair.  The shape of things to come had become the shape of things to avoid, even a TR8 with a V-8 failed, and no matter how many stripes, special editions, and reminders that this may be the last of the British sports cars-1980 was the last MGB, they faded away, just like Lucas high beams, off into the night unnoticed.  Seeing one today is rare, the plaid seats in bright colors, the stripes and exterior colors still look a bit eighties, sharp edged, but somehow contemporary.  And in an age of shades of gray and no true sports cars left, sporty cars are different, RIP the TR7, TR8, and any future Triumphs.  Will the last person out of the Canley plant please turn off the light?

The auto world does not live by sports cars alone, but by everything that proceedeth out of the mouth of GM, Ford, FCA, Toyota, and BMW.  Jaguar has made a tremendous comeback with some great cars, Land Rover still exists if you need an overweight SUV that will spend most of its time in the shop, and Aston Martins still require a payment the size of a mortgage to own one.  There truly is nothing like a late evening drive in a true British sports car, top down and loved one by your side.  Just in case something fails, so you don’t have to walk home alone.  But bread alone is not what man needs, Jesus tells us, just as MGB’s and other cars need more than gas and oil.  They require a relationship, getting personal with them, from oil changes to tune ups, from washing and waxing to checking the tyres, cars do not live by gas and oil alone.  Nor does man....

You eat and get hungry again.  You drink and get thirsty again.  We think physically, but Jesus refers to the things of the spirit.  He warns not to work for food that perishes, but for an eternal food.  You need Jesus to enter the right side of eternity, all else is no gain, except for weight.  Jesus tells us he is the bread of life, go anywhere and bread is universal, a perfect analogy that anyone can understand.  He offers the bread of life, yet we miss the understanding and application.  His desire for us to eat and drink of him is more than a misplaced comma in “let’s eat, Grandpa,” it goes deeper than a physical nourishment required for life.  He is telling us that if we desire the shape of things to come, we must be prepared.  And his is the only offer that works. 

So what do you do when hungry, you eat.  Thirsty, you drink.  Do these things and you should never be hungry or thirsty.  But he tells us to come to him, expecting something, and that eating of him is feeding on his spirit.  Being fed spiritually, to be prepared for what is coming now or tomorrow.  Drinking is listening to what he has to say then doing it.  In other words come and believe, feast on the things of God, and you will never thirst again.  Keep on coming, keep on believing, and never be hungry again.  The bread from heaven, fresh and new every morning.  Providing life that is real indeed...

Unlike car designs and trends that change, Jesus never does.  He is the shape of today, the shape of yesterday, and the shape of things to come.  Heaven never goes out of style, although religion may try to regulate it, churches try to change the flavor, and denominations feed us only one thing, the bread of life never changes, and is just what we need.  Long before car companies tried to figure out what we would buy next year, Jesus knew what would need and has it prepared for us.  With a spot at his table to sit and enjoy with him. So “give me a J...” the original Fish cheer went out over 2000 year ago, he was the shape of things to come even then.  Eat and drink of him and never thirst again.  Walk with him and never walk alone.  Especially on those foggy English nights when Joseph Lucas, the Prince of Darkness lets you down.  Jesus never will.  Just remember which side of the road to drive on.  Bloody Colonists!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the little piggie who stayed home

Last week I passed a milestone in my writing, publishing number 1800 on this blog.  In just a bit under ten years, who would ever have guessed where God would take me when he gave me this vision.  But here I am and here we are, and I hope that the spirit has made you think and consider the claims of Jesus as you read.  And gone out and shared Jesus with others, equipping them to equip others, that’s discipleship.  But it would surprise many to know I haven’t been to church but once in the last six years, yet grow in the Lord.  Like the little piggie who went to market, I have gone out and lived a Christian life outside of the church, much to the chagrin of many church folks,and their regulations, living under the guise of being a Christian.  When Jesus gave me Matthew 25, he wanted me, us to be different from those mentioned whom he never knew, the same ones who made him sick in Revelation 3, he wants us to get out and live and serve among the masses.  Yet I was taught in church that evangelism was inviting a lost friend to church, missions was giving more, tithing was required, even if it made me bitter, and the safety I need was found within the church body, if only I went with them. But where was Jesus and his love? Like minded Christians they are called, who never see how they are like the Pharisees that hated Jesus, yet were so religious and pious no one liked them.  A rigorous exterior of God, but rotting inside from the lack of the spirit.  Saved but not cashing in on the blessings, on earth as it is in heaven, as Jesus put it.  Whose claim of godliness is no problems, yet crater at the first sign of distress.  They’re in the word, sadly the word never appears in them.  And Jesus told about them in the parable of the prodigal son.  You may know the story....

Jesus taught in parables so we would relate to them and see our weakness, and repent and turn to him.  So much time is spent condemning the younger brother who wanted his inheritance and then wasted it foolishly and on sin.  A great evangelistic message of turning to Christ, but few neglect to see the older brother, the little piggie who stayed home was really the wasteful, useless, and prodigal son.  His true colors being revealed when his younger brother returns and is celebrated.  A bitterness within him overflowing, bragging how he never left, he always took care of his father’s business, but failed to see how much of a Pharisee he was.  Do you rejoice when someone is saved?  When someone is healed?  When one who has gone astray returns?  The older brother didn’t.  But his father did.  Jesus was showing here how the Jews thought they had heaven based on Abraham being their father, nothing else was necessary, but nothing else was farther from the truth.  They needed to be forgiven and saved also, he was just like those who are self righteous, bragging on what they have done for God, seeking reward in it.  But God sees their hearts, and their likemindedness doesn’t include Jesus.  Like the Pharisees, and many churches today, they don’t want to deal with sinners in the body, it offends their reputation to find sinners in their church, and forget the joy of rejoicing when one comes to Christ.  No wonder Jesus got sick from them, and hung with the sinners, they knew they needed him, and acknowledged it.  While the church was too self righteous.

So the father comforts him with three things, “son you are always with me,” the word son meaning child.  You never lost your place in the family, I know you and what you are doing, don’t let sin get between us.  Second he says “all that I have is yours.”  The younger son spent his third, you have 2/3’s as your inheritance.  More.  The division, the will has already been signed into action.  And thirdly,  “it is fitting to celebrate your brother’s return, for he was lost and now is found.  He was dead and now lives.”  Jesus is reminding us that we should not find fault when others are saved, but rejoice as the angels in heaven do when one is.  And that his place was secure no matter what the younger one did, he loved both of them equally.  It is God’s grace, the holy spirit that saves and changes things, not going to church, having family who are saved, or kids on the worship team.  Gee, if only they could be like us, is the message they send.  It is not good works you boast in, but Jesus who saves.  If only the older brother had gotten it, he would be at the party instead of outside whining and complaining. 

One little piggie went to market, and came to Christ.  He knew his father’s love.  One little piggie stayed home and was miserable.  Both had the same father, only one repented.  One worshipped his father for accepting him back, the other miserable because he never left, but had checked out years ago.  From a father he never really knew.  He was so selfish and worrying about himself he missed the blessings.  Blinded by bitterness he is like the Pharisees, and many in churches today, sharing the same father with the little piggies who went to market, but never enjoying the fruits of the spirit.  He tried to please his father by his works, the younger one by his changed heart.  Which piggie are you....

The church has left the building, it is active on the street, among hookers and bikers, in prisons, and even in churches.  Spirit driven, and joyful, the true test is how we react, not how we act.  The Pharisees were all about the external, Jesus is all about the internal.  The piggie that went to market was glad he didn’t get what he deserved, the one who stayed home was upset he didn’t get what he thought he deserved.  Same father, different brothers.  And after the younger had squandered all he had been given, his father still had more to give.  Just like the Jesus I know.....do you? 

The law kills, the spirit gives life.  So get out and live.  Give and don’t tithe under compulsion becoming bitter.  Don’t waste an hour on Sunday and go home and back to who you really are.  Don’t be bitter that no one matches up to you, but realize you never can match up to Jesus.  One little piggie went to market, one stayed home.  Which piggie was the prodigal?  One little piggie was a whiner, going wee, wee, wee, wee all the way home.  Remember one little piggie ate roast beef, the fatted calf.  While one little piggie had none.  How fitting that piggies are pork, and the Jews were forbidden to eat them....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

still looking both ways when crossing a one way street?

A funny thing happened to me after I came to the Lord.  I had hung out with hookers, bikers, guys who sold drugs, guys who used drugs, thieves, and others of high repute.  But in some strange way we trusted each other, as if we knew what each was capable of being trusted with, and not to push the envelope with that person any further.  One guy in particular was a charmer with the women and a best friend, so I did well when with him, while others only saw he was too much the party animal and brought the cops...stay away from him.  I didn’t, and we never did see a cop.  It seemed each person had a reputation that within it a trust factor would evolve.  Then there were the “good people,” and if you were referred to as good people, you were like an A lister to go to parties, and a higher class of people, at least that was the rumor.  I had many friends who were good people, I learned it meant they accepted everything and anything, and couldn’t be trusted.  Just the opposite of my peer group.  Somehow being trendy doesn’t make you trustworthy, but a common trait of sin and fear of jail does.  I still don’t get that one...

But an even stranger thing happened after I was saved.  Not one of my old friends, good or bad people, wanted to hang with me.  I became the guy reading the Bible, and they started to stay away.  I was told that I couldn’t be trusted now that I was a Bible boy, that somehow because my position in Christ had changed, it made me less desirable to my old friends.  I had once been threatening, now I was a threat to them.  I stopped doing drugs and using people, and my social status dropped.  My new set of real morals in my old world made me untrustworthy, I still don’t get that one.  But what they failed to see was my new peer group of real Christians, not the church type who hated us, was made up of people like them and me.  The only difference was Jesus, and now we had life.  We didn’t need drugs, alcohol, or free sex, strangely we changed and didn’t even desire those things anymore.  So they became suspicious of me and my friends, they kept an eye on us hoping we would fail, so they could jump on and remind us that religion doesn’t work.  Not knowing that Jesus came to prove that religion doesn’t work.....if only they had listened....

But one man who did listen after 38 years of non-walking did when he met Jesus.  Jesus simply told him to pickup your mat and walk.  Something for 38 years he had not been able to do.  And he did, and he walked as Jesus said to do.  No great theological battle, not a question of faith, but of obedience and trust, transferring his faith to Christ, in Christ and doing it.  He was changed and it showed.  It wasn’t got rehab and build your muscles up, it was “stand and walk.”  The power and strength is there.  And in telling him to take up his mat or pallet, he tossed it away, he wouldn’t need it again.  No “I might be weak again, I’ll just hang onto it,” or other excuses to slip back, he burned his bridge behind him, so he couldn’t go back, he wouldn’t need to.  Maybe that was why I wasn’t to be trusted, I had burned the bridge, I didn’t want to go back, and the spirit guided me so I wouldn’t and took away the desire to go back.  I couldn’t be trusted because my morals had become a threat to their lifestyle, it wasn’t me, it was the spirit working on them.  I had risen up and walked, and still walk with Jesus 43 years later.  No pallet needed!

When Jesus tells you to walk, he expects you to do it.  You are healed, you don’t need the crutches of the world to hold you up.  Jesus is not a 12 step plan where next week you can do this, only after you complete the previous step, his is two step, stand and walk.  Take a stand for him by your commitment, and show your commitment by your walk.  Only he will give you the strength to walk everyday.  As for your old friends, keep your eyes on Jesus and not them or yourself.  They will be looking for you to fail, Jesus is looking for you to succeed.  And you can do all things in him when he strengthens you. From bikers to hookers to druggies to businessmen to good people, Jesus is saving them all.  Even church types.  But you cannot walk with him until you first stand.  Get rid of your pallet, you will never need it again.  And when your doubting friends tell you “you’ll be back,” remind them in love “so will Jesus.”  And if they hated him the first time, they really won’t like him the second.  But you will.....for when you meet Jesus, just like the man who couldn’t walk, at once you will be healed.  And saved.  Trust me on this one, better yet, trust Jesus. Or are you still looking both ways when crossing a one way street.....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

stay thirsty my friends-the pause that refreshes

So much has been said, advertised, or recommended about regular oil changes that Americans have come to believe that is all you have to do to keep your car running perfectly.  Just every 3000 miles change the oil and all is well we are led to believe, but nothing could be further from the truth.  True, cars being self tuning via the computer make plugs last over 100,000 miles, and with no points and plugs, remember them old timers, there just aren’t any parts to replace other than filters.  Which do get dirty.  But oil changes too have changed, as the intervals on cars using synthetic oil are now almost 10,000 miles, my wife’s Mustang telling you how much oil life is left, which translates to almost 10,000 miles based on driving habits, and even my 2017 Triumph Bonneville has oil changes every 10,000 miles, with a wrench to come up and remind you.  Just twist the throttle and ride just like always but without oil change, spill it on the garage floor, and drop the drain plug in the drain pan fun.  And you really want me to still do it every 3000?

But with less frequent oil changes, we don’t spend as much time with maintenance, where we used to get to know our machines intimately.  Progress does have its down side.  But as long as engines need lubrication, they will need oil changes, if for no other reason than to get our hands dirty.  Think of the time spent doing maintenance on your car or bike, and you got to know it and about it more.  Where the leak was and did it matter, checking the fluids before a light came on telling you it was too late, and keeping under the hood looking fresh.  Time well spent.....

Like maintenance, we get thirsty after working or playing, and need a drink of water.  Today with sodas, energy drinks, and fortified water, no matter how we indulge, we get thirsty again.  Coca Cola used to advertise they were “the pause that refreshes,” and nothing beat an ice cold Coke on a hot day, followed up with cold water to quench your thirst.  And we would get thirsty again, and repeat the process until we die.  Thirst will do that to you.  In the book of John, Jesus encounters a woman at the well, and confronts her on her past.  He knows all about her sins, yet doesn’t accuse her.  He himself was breaking with rabbinical tradition even talking to her, as rabbis were not to talk to women in public, even a wife or sister.  And here right in front of anyone and everyone, they converse.  He tells her about how the well she drinks from will only quench her thirst for awhile, and offers her a drink from the well that will eternally satisfy.  And there the religious teaching stops, drink once and you thirst no more, and off to the next study.  They confuse one drink with the faucet to life Jesus offered her, a pipeline to the holy spirit, where she will thirst for more of Jesus, and only in the spirit will that thirst be quenched.  We are taught that just one drink will end the thirst for Christ, my experience and one of true believers is, one drink of Jesus and his love and I want more.  Keep my glass filling to overflowing, yet we are taught different and suffer.  As if one meal will eternally fill you, we continuously need to drink from the spirit, to feed on the word, and keep in continual meditation and prayer with God.  No quick fixes, it is like changing the oil, we will get dirty again, and need to be cleansed.  In this world we will get dirty, and Jesus knew this and offered the solution.  We don’t need a glass, we need a continual Big Gulp of the spirit to keep us going.  We have direct access to the well piped into us by the holy spirit, from which we can continually drink, no matter how thirsty we are!  That is the pause that eternally refreshes, over and over.

That water is everlasting life, and although being born again is a one time event, we need to work out our salvation daily, like working out in the gym.  And what happens after a workout, we’re thirsty.  The workouts coming in the form of tests, trials, and temptations.  And we have access all the time to this invigorating, refreshing, and exciting source.  No one time drink, but to be quenched eternally!  I’ll drink to that!  And the quality of life that is enhanced by drinking of the spirit.  No one time drink will ever satisfy, it may save, but we will thirst for more.  And that source is the spirit.  That is what Jesus let the woman know, she would be tested daily, but now had a source to turn to for quenching and refreshment.  She had been offered a life with qualities unknown before, that would give her love, joy, and peace.  Fruit of the spirit.  A well springing up of life, continually refreshing.  Who needs a well if you only need to drink from it once?  Makes me thirsty, does it you?

Once is not enough when you meet Jesus.  Your oil will get dirty and only he can cleanse it.  His diagnostics go way beyond a check engine light, or a low oil light.  You can either check your dipstick or be a dipstick.  No oil on it, fill it up. If OK, be thankful and keep an eye on it.  Or you can be like a girl who was a friend in high school, “Daddy I don’t understand why you are so upset, I only drove with the oil light on for 20 miles.”  Cars get thirsty too...now do you get it?  Give me oil for my engine, for my lamps, and the holy spirit for my life.  Available in to go cups to.  For some just another day at the well...you never know who you will meet do you?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com