"whata ya got?"

The Wild One has been a favorite of mine for decades, actually wearing out VHS tapes.  We all seem to know the dialogue, I even have the soundtrack music, incredible for the time and now, makes you want to go out and ride, but some conversations tell more about the leader of the BRMC, and about us than we may admit.  When John Strabler, played by Marlon Brando is asked “what are you rebelling about?” after being told the BRMC stands for Black Rebels Motorsicle Club, he responds, “whata ya got?”  And they keep dancing...it seems old Johnny was deeper than we give him credit for, and deeper than many today.  Clubs back then put thought into their name, just the opposite of picking a trendy acronym and finding words to fit.  They were rebelling against the pressures put on their freedoms, which laws and social justices, or injustices were hindering.  Sounds a lot like today...but no one likes to be called a rebel today.  Even back then If you asked, you were told “Johnny Yuma was a rebel.”  All you had to do was ask any 10 year old. 

I was in 10th grade when the moratoriums, the days off to protest the Viet Nam War took place, and we took off one day to go.  Not to listen, we stood firmly behind our military then and now, but because the hippie girls were there, and were easy.  They were so busy standing against something they didn’t stand for anything.  Free love, free sex, free the Black Panthers, free whatever, but never any solutions.  And heaven help the ones who asked them for solutions, they were immediately called names and labeled.  Seems it was OK for them to protest and name call, yet if you asked or did it to them, well you got the wrath side of these peaceful beings.  “Don’t Bogart that joint my friend, pass it over to me...”  and guess who got misquoted on the 5 o’clock news that night? 

So it seems protesting is nothing new, just join in, even if you don’t have a cause, and you will find a mob, or group to hide within.  But how many really know the facts before they take a stand?  And when they do, change their position on it?  Protesting gun laws is nothing new, remember when John Lennon was murdered, shot, by a crazy man.  The shooter broke over 70 established gun laws of the time, would another have saved him?  “Oh, sorry, I didn’t know that.”  But yet we go after the weakest member, a gun that cannot speak for itself.  And yesterday with kids taking off of school to protest, how many just saw a free day off?  How many watched the protester’s speakers protected by gun carrying law officers?  How many don’t know, but are just following the crowd?  Which is nothing new....

With Easter coming up, it is easy to remember how a crowd turned on Jesus, who cried “crucify him!” less than a week after he was greeted with shouts of “HOSANNA!”  Save us.  But we need to look at the message, which is the most important, and a message we as Christians still are responsible to carry today.  The message of Jesus Christ carries on in love, not in protest.  No one wins a argument, maybe why Jesus kept quiet.  But one messenger worth noting by Paul, Epaphroditus, is mentioned to the Philippians.  He calls him a fellow brother, co-worker and soldier, a man who stood with Paul against the insults and accusations.  He is a messenger to the Philippians, the word referring to an apostle, one who has seen Jesus.  He is not one found in protesting, but in spreading the gospel, good news.  How many of us at night have turned off the news, just wishing to hear some good news, yet Jesus offers it?  This was the message Paul was preaching, and the message he sent back with Epaphroditus.  the good news of Jesus Christ.  He represents him, not himself.  And he is hurrying back, because he hears of someone who is ill, himself, and he is returning to minister to those who may get over excited about it.  He is showing love with compassion, to them, lest they worry, so “whata ya got?”

Sadly the message isn’t always told.  After my open heart surgery, and being gone over two months from church, the head of men’s ministry came up to me.  Wondering where I had been, I was part of a team that mentored.  As the leader, he didn’t even know I was sick?  “Why didn’t I call?”  Why didn’t he?  I already knew the answer....We all know someone like that, I hope it isn’t us.  Epaphroditus in his distress looked beyond himself, a true sign of the love and compassion of Jesus.  So are you so busy rebelling that you aren’t standing for anything?  Why do so many good folk protest the devil, yet don’t take a stand by showing love to others?  Maybe even a card from Hallmark, they care.  Says so on the card.  But do we?

So “whata ya got?” often shows more in “whata ya showing.”  The best way to protest hate is to love, the best way to protest tyranny is by being free.  Only in Jesus will you truly be set free, and when we can labor and show concern for others before ourselves, then his love will show.  Then you will see the character of Jesus living, going beyond words.  Actions that we will remember.  You see, life like movies is viewed, we don’t remember many words or quotes.  Thankfully Jesus has written his word on our hearts.  Just in case they can’t hear us, they can still see us. 

And if you see the movie, remember who committed the murder, remember who was happy with all the money flowing.  Remember who got the bum wrap.  So, “whata ya got?”  I got Jesus, man.....and like Epahroditus, he is coming back to those he loves.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

driving with Dad or "don't make me come back there..."

There was a time when we had no seat belts, when if we wanted fresh air we opened all the windows.  When power windows meant turning the crank to raise or lower them, and locking the doors meant holding down the door button while shutting it.  Power meant what happened when you pushed down the accelerator, the AM radio had five presets, one for you, and the rest for your parents, except they only listened to one station.  We used whisk brooms to remove the dirt from the plastic floor mats, many cars had seat covers, new or old it didn’t matter, and white wall tires, if they had them, were cleaned using Brillo pads.  New gas station attendants might ask “where’s the filler?” as it could be on either side, behind a tail light, or the dreaded behind the license plate, spring loaded so it attempted to remove your finger if not quick enough.  Which explains many old pump jockeys missing a digit, or the use of one.  The only standardization was that left to the manufacturer, you could still tell a Chevy small block from a Ford 289, the sound of a Pontiac different than a Plymouth, and VW’s could be heard wheezing their way from blocks away. 

Interiors had colors matched to the exterior, dashes may not be padded, and all cars, except the VW again, offered seating for six, no matter how cramped.  Three across in the front and rear, with all you had with you in the huge trunk, with room to spare.  Which is where a full size spare was kept, along with a bumper jack, and we all knew how to use it.  Snow tires were put on the rear in the fall when we winterized the car, and removed in the spring, getting it ready for summer.  The rich people had white wall snow tires, my parents had black walls, even if the front happened to be white.  An owner’s manual was in the glove box, among the maps, coupons for burgers, napkins, and straws.  A pen may be found, my Grandpa always kept a box of Kleenex there.  You pushed the accelerator twice before turning the key to start.  Let it warm up, then drove off slowly, until it warmed up.  We had no right turn on red, so we sat for what seemed like days waiting, we took driver’s ed. and couldn’t wait until we were 17 and of age.  Not so long ago if your memory goes back far enough...

Today the seat belt chimes reminding you, and kids not yet of age must be in child seats.  Who later will freak out if not buckled up.  You turn on the AC, windows only opened on occasion electrically, and the doors locking after five seconds when programmed.  You now have AM/FM/Serius, or CD, takes yer choice.  Constantly searching for what you want to hear.  We take our cars to car washes, where the black or grey interior is vacuumed, the bonded leather seats treated, and wheels detailed.  No hub caps here.  A locking gas door hides a gas cap behind it, no more license plate finger amputations.  So many things are now standard, per NHTSA, that anyone can get in ay newer vehicle and drive it.  Except when it actually comes to driving.  Seating is for five, or seven, or eight, with third row SUV seats, which may not fit in your garage, trunks may not even have a spare tire, let alone a jack, as there are no bumpers to hook it on.  Call AAA, something no well respected driver would think of.  There are numerous storage compartments for the junk we need but never use, seats that make it impossible to find the right setting, and we just turn the key, or push the button and go.  Point and steer, a much different time than when we went driving with our dads. 

But the one thing that remains is that we still look out for ourselves.  Cars and driving may have changed, but out attitude towards ourselves hasn’t.  We still like to be in control, to make the decisions, to be the one who is behind the wheel.  Some are naturally born good drivers, some are taught, yet some are taught at driving school after obtaining the required tickets to attend.  It has been said “there are two things you never criticize about a man, his love making and his driving.  And not necessarily in that order.”  Which may speak volumes about the cars we drive, or don’t.  In many ways we are extensions of our cars, our personalities may emulate them, bold and fast, or slow and dependable.  We all know a VW Bug driver will be different than the guy in the Mustang GT, driving with my Dad showed me by his comments and how everything, trucks included seemed to pass us.  But when it comes to Jesus, we are told to be meek, and who wants to be a sissy?  A wussy driver?  Or drive a wussy car?   Yet God’s definition is different, read as power under control.  Not buying every option available, not burning rubber from every light.  Making choices based on others, not just yourself.  And in that, we see a different side of Jesus, who was meek.  Who promises us that is we too are meek, we shall inherit the earth.  But in him we see meekness as taking criticism without resentment, and praise without being prideful.  I wish I could say I was more like Jesus in that area, as I need to retaliate, to express my opinion, to hold my ground.  To be prideful.  We all like to be recognized or praised, and grumble when we aren’t, but I stumble when I am.  I know I cannot do anything outside of Jesus doing it with me or for me, it is said success has many brothers, yet failure is an orphan.

Maybe a better understanding of why Jesus never opened his mouth to argue.  He knew his audience, true, but he also knew himself and his father, doing only what he wanted, that’s meekness.  When we were kids traveling with our dads, how often did you hear them say “don’t make me come back there...”  I’ll bet in meekness Jesus never heard those words.  Yet today, we pray “come Lord Jesus,” and we look forward to his return.  How many know he left his spirit, so it is as if he never left?  Maybe a ride or two with our Father in heaven just might enlighten us. 

Do you have to be the quickest off the line?  First at the light?  Have the newest and fastest?  Yet do you have to park it outside because your garage is stocked with junk?  Clear away some clutter today, let Jesus back in where he belongs.  Garages were meant for cars, our hearts are made for Jesus.  Jealous of your neighbor’s new car?  At least my old one sleeps in a garage at night.  Maybe try this, try having an unconcern for ourselves, and an increasing concern for others.  Go beyond the thought process, actually exercise it.  Take a step back to simpler things, where we participated, rather than just pushed a button.  Trust God by showing your love and compassion for others.  Knowing that you can never make Jesus come back here, he wants to.  For us.  That’s power under control, that’s looking out for us first.  We get confused with his words sometimes, but never forget his actions.  There was a time when we didn’t know Jesus....”don’t make me go back there.”

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

these days

We are so busy living life that only in looking back do we recall the history we were part of. Riding across America on old highways like Route 66, we see America and how it was before the Interstate System took full effect.  We should have seen it coming, but we were so busy going.  We love cruising through old downtowns, where life used to reside, where grocery stores, shoe stores, and candy stores used to dot the store fronts.  But these days, the storefronts remain, but a whole new clientele does business there, we find head shops, drug rehab, and many are turning to selling antiques or becoming second hand stores, and the once highly desired, high rent store fronts now go for whatever they can get.  Short term leases, for high turnover is the new rule, some are identifiable by their old signs or design, some hollow and used for storage.  But a piece of Americana left behind for the next business to try and make it. 

Some of my earliest memories of shopping were going to the shopping center.  Ours was Blue Star Shopping Center, with lots of stores and parking, the only reason to go to your car was to put the items purchased in the trunk, then go back for more or lunch.  Lunch at the counter at Kresge’s, before it became K-Mart, meant hot dogs and fries, situated by the toy section, so when your kid got rowdy, you sent him to go look at the toys.  But soon shopping malls were introduced, a great thing for places like Jersey, where lousy weather is the norm.  Imagine Christmas shopping without wearing your overcoat, and so we did.  Malls sprung up everywhere, and still dot the landscape, anchored by big box stores.  But they too are experiencing a downturn, for online shopping led by Amazon and others negates going to the store at all.  Many big name retailers of my youth, Sears, K-Mart, Macy’s, Toys R Us, Radio Shack and others are either in serious signs of decay, or gone altogether.  We may be looking at the next downtown facing extinction, and like the previous ones, what will they become?  Who needs over one million feet of building under one roof?  The new malls I see going in all have apartment complexes as part of the plan, but what about the shopping malls we used to visit?  Lots of square feet, interested?

In Detroit and other cities, they are redeveloping these malls for jails, rehab centers, and warehousing.  Watching as both the occupancy and property values go down.  Where do we house the homeless, where do we house the criminals?  While some developers are busy with new projects, some are buying these old properties for just the taxes owed on them, or even having them forgiven, if only someone will renovate them.  Make them new and usable again.  These days, your mall may become a distant memory to your kids, where they learn to associate shopping more with UPS and FedEx.  For isn’t those that deliver the goods, the same as the place you shop?

I can remember in my pre-Christ Jersey days, driving down Front Street in Plainfield, lined with huge churches of all denominations.  Huge steeples, beautiful grounds, and always on Sunday when out for our rides, filled with people.  But on a visit some years ago, so many are run down, some closed, others in disrepair, as no one goes there anymore.  Seems a generation walked away from religion, and left the buildings behind.  Now going the way of old downtowns, but what use is there for an old church building?  Designed for a single purpose, the land being worth more than the building, the stain glass its main asset.  Places where families used to meet, now gone.  Like the malls of today, doomed to replacement, but by whom and for what? 

Before my friend Fr. Al passed away, he and another man had a vision to use these old church properties.  Bought for pennies on the dollar, they would open them up to different denominations each night.  Catholics Monday, Jews Tuesday, Baptists Wednesday, and people began to come out and go to church again.  Once a place where fellowship, parties, meals, and celebrations were held, now they were being used again.  Breathing new life into communities, and into the people who lived in them.  Proving that we are the church, not the building, and when Jesus is the main thing, change happens.

But if the church is to stand, it must be built on a strong foundation, and if not on Jesus Christ, it will be be doomed to fail.  Businesses and communities fail because they lost their purpose, lose their direction, and soon are wandering then gone.  But we as the church need to ask ourselves, “where is Jesus in our lives?”  “How does the world see us as Christians, and what is our purpose?”  We talk of our faith, but do we talk of our obedience to the spirit?  Do we build without a plan, based on surveys, or do we trust God?   Man of faith, where is your obedience?  If you were a store selling Jesus, why would I shop with you?  Yet many money changers have changed us and the church.  But it always comes down to the individual, to who we are in the person of Jesus Christ.  He is not a franchise we purchase, not a façade we put out on Sundays.  There must be an evidence in us of him, no matter the situation.  His light is to shine through us, so when they see your good works they see him.  That Jesus is who he says he is, not just a saying on a sign.  When we attain the person of Jesus in our lives, it will show, and the neighbor hood around us may decay, but we will prosper.  Shopping habits change, places to shop may change, Jesus never does.  What you signed up for is who you get, at home, at work, and at church.  If not the same in all places, maybe it is you that needs to change.  Or you too could soon be an old building for sale to the highest bidder, losing your way and purpose.

Jesus makes all things new again.  Failing at life, he will deliver you.  Losing in relationships, he will heal them.  Lacking faith, he will provide.  Needing a boost of obedience, he is there.  Let him show you how he is adequate in all things, not just at church.  Not just on Sunday.  Not just when you have lost all hope.  Let him fill the vacancy in your heart today, watch as business booms, ie your relationship with him, and as social trends change, he doesn’t.  And you can meet them.  You were bought for a price, not to be sold for pennies on the dollar.  Wal-mart may be the saving place, only Jesus saves.  And at today’s prices, that’s still a miracle...

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com