never let anyone who has done nothing tell you how to do anything

Years ago when involved in off road racing at a professional level, a sponsor not a driver, it was fun being part of the upper echelon at the races.  I got to know first hand all the famous guys, the not so famous and the ones who thought they were famous.  Egos tended to be very big, as no one ever set out to race just to finish, yet for many that was to be their victory that day.  It was fun to be able to walk through the fans and past the barriers and step inside, an area where the public only dreamed of going.  But like when Dorothy looked behind the curtain and saw the Wizard for who he was, things are always different on the inside.  Seems much glory and fame ends at the gate, and the hard work of becoming a champion and staying one begins.  But just as there are challengers, there are challenges, and racing in Mexico is one of them.  Fame brings fans, but it also brings enemies.....

One of the teams I sponsored was owned by a man from a very rich and powerful Mexican man.  A great guy, very family and team oriented, I knew him in racing, and later when he would bring his Mercedes Benz in to me for service.  I got to know his body guards, a necessity in Mexico at the time, as threats, kidnappings, and attempted murder were common.  At each race we were taught and had gone through drills in case we were attacked, and carried a card with a phone number in case of trouble.  We were told “don’t leave home without it...” which would prove to be good advice.

I love the Mexican people, but a few are in business for themselves.  Bribes are the way business is done many times, and once we were all riding to lunch in a group, with the chase vehicles.  We were going through a check point, and you could tell something was up.  Other race teams were in front of us, and you could see money and shirts exchanging hands, and then the trucks being let through.  When it was our turn, they demanded a fee for crossing, which the lead driver refused to pay, and we were all pulled over.  At that point, we were technically under arrest, not a good thing in Mexico.  The sergeant in charge refused to take the card and call the number we had been told if in trouble, and we were a bit concerned.  But after some heady negotiation, he was told he would be better off if he did, and finally relented.  Storming off, he came back in a much different mood.  He had reluctantly called the number, and was given specific instructions.  We were to pass, be treated with respect, and apologized to.  And escorted if needed, with a call ahead to he next checkpoints we were coming, and to wave us through.  One phone call, from one number, changed our fortunes that day, we were prepared to race, the truck prepped, and the team instructed, but because of the team we represented, rather the man we represented, we had been subjected to harassment and being detained.  A down side to racing in Mexico that is a part of racing.  We all wanted the glory, we were not prepared for what went with it. 

Becoming a Christian is easy, Jesus made it so.  But staying a Christian, and living a Christian life, well that is a different story.  We only are taught the promises of God, the ones about health and prosperity, but if we aren’t told the price we pay, we are lied to and deceived.  So many churches are so intent to keep the crowd happy, they overlook a side of Jesus ever present in the church and world today.   The first century church is often used an example, the teachings, fellowship, praying, and getting together.  But sadly the beatings, berating, and danger the apostles lived in is overlooked.  Not quite what they signed up for, but what we sign up for when born again.  On one occasion we find them before the Sanhedrin, told to never talk of Jesus again, beaten and sent out.  But they counted it as joy, and themselves worthy of suffering as Jesus did, and continued to teach, preach, go house to house, and not to stop declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ.  How committed are we to Jesus we would do the same, or do you get your feelings hurt when someone makes fun of you?  Calls you Church Boy?  Says bad things about you or condemns you for being a Christian?  That is what we signed up for, to be a light in a dark world, not to knuckle under.  We find in history every time the church is persecuted it grew, and not only is size but depth.  But another sad fact is that when the persecution came from within the body, it suffered.  Seems we could endure the world beating us down, but when it is within the church, we either crater and go along or abandon it altogether.  The apostles didn’t stop, Jesus never quit, yet we whine and complain if someone sits in our place in church, or we don’t like the songs.  We feel the church owes us, when we are the church.  Jesus suffered for the lost, the apostles continued the trend, do we?  Yet how many pastors wring their hands over worldly issues in the church, rather than dealing with Godly ones?  The day you make Jesus your Lord you have a target placed on your back.  You are identified by the enemy, and you need Jesus more than ever.  Peter warned of the fiery ordeal we are about to encounter, we are to call it a blessing when men revile you.  Thankfully the fiery ordeals we face here save us from a fiery ordeal called hell.  Momentary light afflictions, Paul called them.  They hurt, but in the end they bring righteousness.  So don’t think it strange if suddenly the world hates you, friends turn on you, and life is more challenging.  For like our race team, we have a card, we have our names written in the book of life, and when life is over here, we pass through the crowds who hated us, denied Jesus, and have no chance.  They blew it while alive, and their death is an eternal painful one.  We are not to wring our hands and say poor me as too many Christians do, but rejoice that our light is shining, that we are recognized as Christians.  It is not fun, but it is rewarding.  So don’t think it strange if we are persecuted, find it strange if you become a Christian and aren’t.  Too many pastors hide behind a pulpit preaching only to the choir, an audience that is safe.  The rest of us  go out everyday into a world that is lost and dying.  When I signed up I wanted to be where the action is, and Jesus is were the action is. 

Such is my experience with racing, and this one was not an isolated incident.  Being a Christian should not be an isolated incident either. Someone took a chance and shared the gospel with you.  They took a real chance with some of us.  Maybe the best advice comes from St. Francis of Assissi, “preach the word daily, if if you have to, use words.”  Always carrying about the death of Jesus in us, so that the world may see his love.  Even racers must pass through inspection and then a checkpoint.  All others, stay behind the barrier, or stay home and watch on TV.....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

even the miracles are temporary

A few weeks ago a friend called, he has diabetes really bad, has already had both feet amputated, and told me he was going to have his left arm removed on Monday.  He was shaken up, I didn’t know what to say, as it was early Sunday morning, and caught me off guard.  As I listened he told me he had come to terms with it, and mentally was preparing, but not sure about being one armed.  We prayed, and all I could think to pray was “God, we need a miracle.  NOW!”  We hung up, and I couldn’t get this out of my mind all day.  I kept thinking of how I would handle it, and realized I couldn’t, so kept reflecting back to God, “you need to deal with it, I can’t.”  Not sure what my friend was praying.  But as the hours passed, life interfered as it does, and the next day I woke up thinking today my friend is losing his arm.  Then got side tracked, until his time of surgery, when the phone rang.  It was my friend, seems the doctors did another test, found they could treat his wound with antibiotics instead, and he could keep his arm.  God gave us just what we needed, what we had asked for, a miracle, and we both rejoiced.  I am blessed to see many miracles like this, myself being one, and I can tell you, as much as I love hearing about miracles, there is nothing like being one. But miracles are only temporary...at least the physical ones.

Of all the miracles I have seen in my life, one constant remains, the person will die.  Death is 100%, we will all die a physical death, and some a spiritual one, the physical much different than the spiritual.  The apostles dealt with this, as many miracles were performed by them, just as Jesus had.  But even all the ones Jesus healed, gaining sight, walking, sickness healed, dead brought back from the grave, have one thing in common.  They would all go on to die a physical death, but had also been touched by the holy spirit, and now would not die a spiritual one.  Whenever Jesus healed someone spiritually, he always gave them a physical healing to prove he was there.  Physical evidence, as seeing was believing, and how else would you explain a man blind from birth magically seeing?  A lame man for over 30 years running and jumping?  Yet both claimed Jesus for their miracle, and even the hardest hearts could not deny the difference.  I have been on both sides, and I can tell you, God leaves his signature on your life after a miracle, for all to see.  My cardiologist, a tough man, told me after my surgery, the first and only case of its type, “it’s evident God intervened.”   He had no other explanation for my being alive, as he told my wife after surgery there was no reason I should be.  Six years later....I still testify.  And Jesus gave me a scar to prove it, and files to back it up.  But some day I too will die, and I look forward to that day in heaven.

Physical healing is temporary, we all will die.  But spiritual healing is forever, we too all will die, but not all will see heaven.  Yet we consume ourselves with the visible, the temporal, when Paul writes the things seen are temporal, but the things not seen are eternal.  God gets it right, do we?  Yet so many live by miracles, from one mess to another, yet never see God’s healing hand at work in their lives.  When we begin to see God’s hand at work in our lives, we grow in his grace.  We change attitudes, we see him as he really is, and a side many who only seek the physical don’t.  We see him as the great physician, the great healer, the almighty father, the eternal God who created us.  The proof is everywhere, but it takes a miracle called salvation for it to be revealed.  It takes faith, introduced and encouraged by his spirit to turn us to Jesus, then it takes repentance and turning to him, trusting him, no matter the situation.  If he can save your soul, he can heal you.  And if he can heal you, he can save your soul also.  And as scripture tells us, on that day many believed.  The question is, do you?  Or is your relationship with God all about the physical, seeing miracles, but rotting away inside?  What façade are you hiding that only God can see? 

All miracles are temporary, all God is eternal.  Let him perform the ultimate miracle in you today, that of salvation, of resurrection.  That which separates Jesus from all other religions, resurrection.  Something we can only believe by faith, but will see forever.  Some still seek only signs and wonders, pursuing God like he is a sideshow.  But when you seek the deeper things, when you are faced with a situation where you need a miracle, he is there.  The question is will you settle for a temporary miracle or an eternal one?  When faced with death, will only a physical healing do?  We have no promise of tomorrow, today has enough problems of its own.  But we can be assured of our tomorrow today, by trusting Jesus.  God wants to heal the whole man from the inside out.  The things not seen, we only care about what is seen.  Not what God sees....

Heaven will be filled with those who not only saw physical miracles, but spiritual ones too.  Hell will be filled with those only settling for the temporary, who never had a spiritual healing.  Both will worship at an altar bowing to God forever, one in pain, one in glory.  Temporary comes and goes, eternity is for a long, long time.  There are no do it yourself courses to heaven.  It takes Jesus.  I will be in heaven, hope to see you all there.  Now that would be a miracle worth bragging about!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

shopping at the A&P

We don’t always admit to the loyalties we live by.  I know men who are only Chevy guys, Ford guys, who will only ride an American made bike, and are glad Harley has competition.  When it comes to burgers, some will only eat at the Golden Arches, the smallest of all major fast food chains believe it or not, some are devoted to a certain shampoo, beer, color, TV show, or entertainer.  But under certain conditions will stray if needed, but not always as desired.  Years ago we attended church with a young couple, he was a chiropractor, and espoused all the goodness of his trade, down to claiming he never ate meat, as it was bad for you.  So you can imagine our surprise, and really disappointment when we attended a barbeque, and there he was, into the New York strip like there was no tomorrow.  A man of his appetite, not of his word or belief statements, and we lost all respect for him.  He later mumbled something about the benefits of a steak and red meat, but they were lost in his gorging that day.  It seems that at any time we all can and will be hypocrites, some admitting it and getting on, some in denial, some just there for the food.  Sadly we never know who in the audience is watching....

It seems that once we step over the threshold into a church service, we suddenly become OK, and the threat of being a hypocrite increased exponentially.  Just ask someone you know who is having problems, and listen as they praise God, and tell how all is well, when we all know different.  Like the vegan with a mouth full of steak, his words don’t match his actions, and we all know it.  But soon the lies take over, as someone told them, or us, we cannot be hurting, we cannot have problems, once we become a Christian, they all go away.  So it is OK to lie in church, so as not to embarrass the body.  WRONG! 

Peer pressure can be the worst, as once  having a bad headache, aren’t they all, a pastor prayed with me, it didn’t go away, but I lied and said it did, and he agreed, sadly we both knew it didn’t and didn’t have the integrity to admit it.  Didn’t want to admit we didn’t have faith or that God could heal it.  We have all been there or will go there, what part of the truth don’t we understand?  Do we think we are fooling God, or just our friends?  Or just ourselves.....I feel a headache coming....

Ananias and Sapphira, A&P, got swept up in the early church movement.  They wanted to fit in, wanted to be blessed, and wanted to bless God.  Fact is they wanted, too much.  They wanted recognition, admiration, and praise for what they did.  What they got was death, for lying to the spirit brings death.  The moment we lie, or step into sin, we spiritually die, if only for a moment, until we repent and let Jesus back in.  Not all die like A&P did, but death is still death apart from the holy spirit.  We become nonresponsive, alienating ourselves, and soon the sting of death is deepened, as others notice it.  But A&P never gave God the credit he was due, it was all about them, and no competes with God and wins.  Their lives were a pretense, a sham, not the truth of the Bible, and God removed them.  They thought they were deceiving God, but he made it clear he will not be made a fool of.  He knows our hearts, how they will let us down, yet some wear the façade of Christianity as if it something stylish.  Never knowing Jesus, never repenting, never being saved.  They may sit next to us in church, and we don’t know it, maybe be on a church board, or worse yet pastor a church, but God knows and knows their motives.  From the Pharisees acting religious to the faithful church attendee who denies Jesus, they are like A&P, dead and don’t know it.  Maybe a good time for self examination, who do you say Jesus is? 

Fortunately God is patient that none should perish, yet A&P did.  Sometimes God will remove a problem before it hurt others, like an operation before the cancer spreads.  He knows the heart, which sadly can be deceitful, ever fallen in love than fallen out of love?  God knows our heart, it is when we know his that we are changed.  And changing.  Yet many still shop at the A&P, thinking no one knows or notices, even believing their own lie unto death.  They were ready to open up their false gospel to all who would hear, they were pretending to be someone they were not.  God will always protect his kids....

Fortunately we seldom meet intentional hypocrites, Ford guys will buy Chevies, and sport bike guys may own a Harley.  We may change eating habits, even where we go to church, but when we try to change the gospel message of Jesus Christ, God must intervene, and does and will.  If you are walking a fine line, if the cult you are in, whether JW, Mormon, or other is not fulfilling, if anyone does not declare the deity of Jesus Christ as the only true son of God, they are spiritually dead, and will be carried out like A&P.  But again God is patient, he knows each heart, those who truly believe, and those who still search.  But God still is in the redemption business, and when we admit our sin, we were believing wrong, and turn to him, knowing he can make us right again, then the hypocrisy ends.  But if we don’t.....and God made it easy to do, just turn to Jesus.  Shop where his prices are the best, his fruit the freshest, and his truth, the truth.  Yet some still insist on shopping at the A&P, or like A&P.  Do the messages you hear sound like food ads?  We can tell, can you?

Pride keeps us from telling the truth about our weaknesses to others.  When our words fail, our actions tell a better story.  What do your actions say about Jesus?  To those who tell me the church is full of hypocrites, I say “it may be full, but we always have room for more.”  And to those who when confronted with the gospel and change the subject, “what about those in Africa who haven’t heard?”  To them I say “what about you, you have heard?”  A great fear gripped the church when A&P were carried out, they got the point God was making.  If shopping at the A&P is nothing more than “will that be paper or plastic?” you need to consider Jesus and his offer.  I know a man named Ford who drove a Chevy, Henry Ford’s last ride was in a Packard hearse.  I like veggies with my steak, and will ride many different brands of motorcycles.  But when it comes to Jesus, it is either carry on or be carried out.  Jesus Christ, shopping for a savior has never been easier.  He is the truth, ask yourself, how many times must a person lie before he is a liar?  Once is too many.....that cleanup needed on aisle one may be you.  Isn’t forgiveness wonderful? 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com