at the Crossroads

Groom, Texas has little meaning to those with their cruise set at 85 mph on I-40.  East of Amarillo, west of Shamrock, and miles from nowhere, Groom sits among the fields of hay and cattle.  But one thing gives Groom a beckoning to those going through, the cross.  Billed as the world’s largest cross, like its sister in Effingham, Illinois, it can be seen for miles in any direction, somehow calling out to those with a heart after God.  And many who don’t yet.  Over the years I have stopped by many times and seen where the owner has added the 13 steps of Jesus, and even a small store.  To the religious it tells of Jesus, to the non-believer it is just another attraction, but attract it does.  Even today, 2000 years after the death of Jesus on the cross, his message still calls out to a lost and dying world.  And on one special stop, the message went deeper to the heart.....

It was September of 2006, on our Torches Across America ride, a secular ride to honor the memory of those killed on 911, and to honor first responders.  After a night in Amarillo, and dinner at the Big Texan, we headed off east to Tulsa, the cross not part of the ride.  But a group of us stopped, and for the next hour saw the last days of Jesus on earth come alive.  From his trial to carrying his cross, to being nailed on it, his death, and finally the empty tomb, complete with the folded head cover, I was able to walk the group through each display.  That morning the statues seemed to come alive, even to tears on the misty morning in Jesus’ eyes, with the secular riders mesmerized by the truth of his crucifixion.  Each step tearing at the heart even more, until his death.  Where most stories would end sadly, but not the gospel.  For three days later just as he said he would, Jesus resurrected himself, leaving an empty tomb where his body had been lain.  With only an angel to tell John, Peter, and Mary that the one you seek is no longer here, but has gone to heaven as he promised.  His final message that if we believe we too will be resurrected in death, in fact never seeing death, but living eternally.  A short 45 minutes spent at the Crossroads, where when hearing the gospel and seeing it up close and personal, you cannot deny it, and it calls for a decision in your life as to who Jesus is. 

Today many find it fashionable to wear a cross around their necks, religious or not.  They don not comprehend the impact of the cross, and what it means, or what it meant 2000 years ago.  A place of death, punishment, ridicule and humiliation, a place that no one would want to celebrate.  Today it would be like wearing a hang man’s noose around your neck, bad humor, sick humor.  Think of driving by a church and seeing a scaffold set up, the same effect 2000 years ago regarding the cross.  But the cross is more than a religious symbol, it cuts to the heart of man, and of who Jesus was, why he came, and why he is the only way.  In no other name can you be saved.  There are certain facts concerning Jesus that cannot be refuted, he was born a man, died on the cross, and was buried.  The Romans so afraid of his body being stolen, they rolled a huge stone in front of it, and posted 100 men to guard it.  Best of the best, special forces troops, where if one failed, all were executed.  Yet somehow despite all the provisions made, the stone was found picked up and thrown, the tomb found empty.  And the message of the cross takes on a new special meaning, for out of his death we can have life.  No other religious symbol can promise so much and point to the only one who can deliver.  Such is the power of the cross, and why when confronted with its message, we are called to make a decision. 

But to those who are perishing it is foolishness.  It is absurd to think of it as more than a legend or a saga passed down via the church.  But to those who believe, it represents life and forgiveness.  It is the symbol of Jesus and how all the blessings of God can be released in our lives.  It represents rescue from sin, and the peace and joy only found in the spirit.  Once encountered, you will never be the same.  The spirit still calls today, and in every person’s life he will ask “who do you say Jesus is?”  When a friend asked “how will I know, or when will it happen?” I could only answer “you’ll know.  It could be today, tomorrow or even right now.”  For today is the day of salvation....to us it represents the power of God unleashed through Jesus to a lost a dying world.  Through Adam sin entered the world, through Jesus you can escape it.

It is not the size of the cross, but the size of your God.  We serve many gods, only God can create life, and give it life.  Abundantly.  Adding joy, peace, and love.  When I look at the cross, I see love dying for me, giving me a chance to know God personally, to be rescued from hell.  I can face tomorrow because he has given me a today, along with a hope and a future.  Because he lives, I can face tomorrow.  For some it is a trinket around the neck, to Jesus it meant everything.  What it means to you will have eternal consequences.....funny how we set out on Torches to honor the dead, and ended up at the Crossroads, honoring the living.  Jesus and patriotism, go hand in hand.  But that one day at the cross will always make the difference.  When will yours be?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

walk, don't run

I had only known Doug as my co-worker at Coca Cola.  I was his driver first, then became a fellow salesman with him.  Outside of Coke I really didn’t know much about him other than he loved to hunt and fish, taking his two weeks every year when hunting season opened in Durango.  He was born and raised there, and knew many people there, going back quite a few years.  On one of the few occasions we got to go downtown together, we were walking down Main Ave. when he greeted a man with a grunt, never making eye contact, and the man answered the same way.  When I asked “who was that?” he answered “my brother.”  Not knowing Doug had a brother, he explained he had a few brothers, all in Durango, and nobody in the family talked with each other.  Not pressing him, he went on to explain the only time they got together or even talked was hunting season each year, as they went as a group, not a family to hunt, sharing the bounty among themselves.  Not Christmas, Thanksgiving, or weddings or funerals, outside of the opening of hunting season each year they were strangers, emphasis on strange.  But for those two weeks......

BH and I used to joke that if we both agreed it left no room for originality.  Today at work, at play, at Harley dealers, and even at church, we are told what to think.  Maybe not dictatorial, but emphasized enough that  we follow the regimen of the group.  When seeing a fellow rider off his bike, I can tell what he rides by his clothes, all black leather, a Harley, maybe an Indian.  Over dressed for the weather with off road clothes, a BMW.  No matter the season I am t-shirt and jeans, what does that say about me?  But we are not judging, just observing, and no BMW rider worth his Beemer would be caught not in uniform, just as a Harley rider wouldn’t.  When I used to wear my CMA cut I always thought it was so I was to be identified with them, until I found out it was better to live anonymously.  Society cannot live without the fact of categorizing people, so we fall into a prescribed, pre-ordained, prejudiced grouping.  It seems in the quest to be an individual, we all get lost in the group.  But when the group is more important than the individual, we lose.  And some are better at losing than others, some even to the point of enjoying the mental or social slavery that comes with it.  Maybe best described as a the scene at Alice’s Restaurant one Sunday morning, with both sides of the street lined with bikes.  Harleys on one side, and café racers on the other.  It used to be motorcycles was our defining role, now it was the very thing that separated us.  Maybe best translated later as one group rode too slow, the other too fast.  Not one Goldilocks rider to be found......all I want to do is ride.

Church unity is a hot topic for many.  I receive many requests to join in with “like minded men” to fellowship, but like Doug I grunt and pass them by.  Not because I am better, I’m not, but the unity or like mindedness they adhere to is the church, its teachings, or even its pastor.  Paul had to address this in a few of his letters, emphasizing who we are to be like by with.  Not with men so as to gain acceptance, but with Jesus Christ, to gain his acceptance and walk in his spirit.  To be of one mind, one body, and of one spirit.  Which will bring us together as the one church.  The true division begins when any other criteria than Jesus is used.  Only his love and spirit can break down doctrinal or denominational barriers, not more teachings or rallies.  The peace and unity we seek is only found in Jesus Christ, not ourselves.  No self help, or ways to happiness, just Jesus.  Anything else divides. 

So he appeals in the name of Jesus Christ, as no other name is bigger, has more power, or the power to save.  It is impossible to get us to agree on many things, but when we agree on the spirit of him, we can be true brothers and sisters because his life is in us.  The only basis we need to agree upon is Jesus Christ, anything else is a sham.  It takes boldness in the spirit to agree with Jesus, but when we do life takes on a new and exciting role.  It means sacrificing our own ways and ideas for his, best described in Philippians, where it is written he made himself a bit lower than the angels and unto death on a cross gave himself for us.  He became obedient unto death for us, truly he is the one who willingly gave his life for his brother, being the true love we find talked of in scripture.  And later in life Hebrews tells us to strip off the weight of sin that slows us down or weighs us down.  Jesus wants to ease our burden, to have it cast on him, to be free from the weight of sin.  Maybe best described as this way, we can run with the devil, never catching up, always being chased or chasing, never measuring up or when we do maintaining it, or we can walk with Jesus.  Not hurrying or falling behind, in step with the spirit, who guides our steps.  Running implies a race or competition, maybe for our soul or just within ourselves, walking implies the peace of Jesus, just as God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden before they sinned.  Running on empty....there is a reason.  Full of the spirit, it is overflowing, and a witness to others.  Many run to the place where Jesus once walked, how many just walk with him today wherever they are?  Something to consider the next time you are late.....Jesus never was.

From Adam and Eve in the garden, to the animals walking onto the ark of Noah, from Daniel seeing four men walking in the fire, to Jesus seeing two brothers walking along the Sea of Galilee, to his walking on the lake, John tells us that Jesus has no better reward than to see his people walk in faith.  32 times walking is mentioned in scripture, is it part of your biography?  Or is running, mentioned 31 times, mostly in a running away from tense, except to the tomb of Jesus, afraid they had missed him.  With Dr. Luke advising us to “do not go after them,” those that propose to see Jesus and spread a false doctrine.  The only running in a Christians life should be running to Jesus, as the father ran to the prodigal son, with love and mercy running over your cup in Christ.  Being out of breath may be as simple as being out of the spirit. 

Unity in the spirit, as simple as letting Jesus be the Lord you tell everyone at church he is.  He didn’t come to save churches, but sinners.  We are his church, yet some choose to walk away.  While some choose to run after him.  Only in the spirit will you gain all he has for us when you walk with him.  You can be like the two men who encountered him, not knowing who he was and remarking how their hearts burned within them, or running amok, searching for the answers to life, only found in him.  When we decide to put Jesus first, that is what brings us into harmony with him and unifies the church.  But if we put the things of our mind first, we miss the blessings of God.  Our choice, we can be like Doug’s family, once a year and then go our separate ways, be a CEO at church, Easter and Christmas only, or walk in the spirit daily.  Some of us have a lot of catching up to do....don’t run, you don’t have to.  Jesus accepts you as and where you are.  He just doesn’t want to leave you like that.  In religion there is no room for originality, only in Jesus will you find all you are looking for, and more.  Wouldn’t you just love to have heard the conversations between God and Adam and Eve in the Garden? 

And no yelling either....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

looking for Dad's car

My Dad owned very few cars when I was growing up.  The first one I remember is a 1952 Chevy two door, blue, then buying my Grandpa’s 1956 Buick Special two door, yellow with white top, then it went downhill from here.  A succession of three Ramblers, a 1962 America wagon. a four door 1964 330, and then a 1966 Rambler Classic 770 four door, the car I learned to drive in.  Finally a 1969 BMW 1600, which I later bought from him when he traded up to a 2002 in 1972.  Like many of us when we go to cruise nights or car shows, we tend to gravitate to the shiny red convertibles with big motors, but lately I find myself looking for the cars of my Dad, instead of the cars my friends and I had.  Just as different cars will provide different memories, so will the time they were involved in your life.  I can remember all the good times hanging with friends, but my Dad’s cars were just transportation, until the bug hit, sorry I forgot his 1963 VW.  They were cool at the time, something his other cars weren’t, even the BMW at the time was “British what?”  But when I wanted him to buy the Muscle cars, he reminded me the VW had bucket seats, and four on the floor.  Two prerequisites at the time.  On paper he was on safe ground....just not on the street.

But lately I find myself attracted to Ramblers, pre-1967 when they changed under Abernathy, and mid fifties Buicks.  Try to find a 1600 or 2002 BMW, put in 2002 and the year 2002 shows up for the latte crowd.  But what is it about these non-descript cars that I didn’t like then that I am interested in now?  I am getting bored with 55-57 Chevies, sorry, same with SS396, SS454 Chevelles, which are more plentiful now the when new.  Maybe I am just getting old, lots of maybes as  you do, but just maybe, it takes me back to when my life was simpler, major decisions were made by my parents, and everything was new and exciting.  Except his cars.....

Which sounds a lot like my walk with Jesus.  I am so overwhelmed with books telling me how to pray, how to build a church, the latest Christian CD, or a pastor’s new book.  So many new revelations, when we are new, but the same ones that were new for older generations.  Seems the people of God are continually trying to improve on his word, his way to worship, and how to be a Christian.  Which is nothing new today.  Seems when it took Paul over two years to found the Corinthian church, under the power of the holy spirit, it took a different approach.  Instead of taking the church into the world, they let the world into the church, and suffered.  Just like today.  They were doing spiritual things the same way they did in the world, without God’s assistance.  Instead of tapping into all the power of the spirit, they became drained trying to do it themselves, hence Paul’s letters chastising them, and reminding them of who really is in power, and who saved them.  Just like I put stickers on my Dad’s VW to make it look cool, the church was trying to use programs, procedures, and processes to fit in.  To be popular, despite being a Christian wasn’t.  Still a common theme in today’s society, with safe pastor’s giving safe sermons building safe Christians, or really just church goers.  Pew fillers. I used to attend such a fellowship, once describing the pastors as “men who like to swim, but who are afraid of the water.”  By one of the elders.  With so much said about Jesus, they never get to know him personally.  In the spirit.  And the excitement of being a Christian fades....

I look back at my Dad’s cars different now.  They were his cars, not mine.  Different, not wrong.  Same in the church today.  How many are told by the pastor after the service, “you’re dismissed.” What!  Like from school, work, from my chores?  When is the last time you left with a final word of scripture, instead of being reminded of coming events?  Have we become so comfortable like we were in the back seat of our father’s cars, we fall asleep?  Is the only thing we ask “are we there yet?”  While sitting in church....I ask pastors, “why is it Billy Graham spoke for 20 minutes and people rushed to the altars, you speak for an hour and we all rush for the door?”  Maybe my Dad were onto something different by not driving Chevies, Fords, or Chryslers.  Are we different because we walk in the spirit, not in denominational doctrine?  Is there a bit of Corinth in our fellowship with Jesus?  Or are we different because we walk in the spirit?

Fellowship with Christ is the work of the holy spirit.  Not us!  It is up to him to make the things of Jesus aware to us daily, to reveal the secrets of Christ to us individually, so when we gather together we can be one in the spirit, not just like minded bodies.  It is the spirit that creates the demand for Jesus in our lives, and that can only be fed via the spirit.  No amount of teaching, preaching, study, singing, or prayer can do it.  These things are not bad, but without the spirit’s guiding, they are just things.  We need the spirit!  Yet many churches and individuals stumble on never knowing or experiencing all God has for them.  Is Jesus Lord of your life or just a part of it?  Be honest....in lying you only perjure yourself and deny the spirit.  We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God....only via the spirit can we or will we return.

What will your kids remember of your cars, the cars they grew up in?  In ours it will be T-Birds, Mustangs, convertibles, and motorcycles.  But hopefully we will have laid out a foundation for Jesus Christ in their lives.  With a unique and personal relationship with him via the spirit.  Not mired in memorization, but in the times when Jesus was near when needed.  When all hope failed and he didn’t.  When in need and he provided.  All by his spirit....giving them and us the abundant life promised.  And so I go on looking for my Dad’s car.  Some are just like it except for color, the motor, the year.  Maybe the body style.  So I keep looking, knowing that even if I come close, it won’t be his.  And being his makes all the difference.  In cars and with God.  Only in the spirit will you know.....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

on the job training

Nice guys don’t necessarily make good bosses, and vice versa.  When hired at Polychrome as a scheduling clerk, never cared for the word clerk myself, I didn’t know what the job even was, just good pay and in an office with AC.  With a future, which the first day had me wondering.  I was unsure what office politics were, but soon found out which end of the stick to grab, when handed to me and which to avoid.  In my introductory meeting that morning, Walter, my boss and a nice guy told me up front, “If I teach you everything I know, they won’t need me and they can hire you for my job for less.”  And how is your morning going....But as I learned and grew, I too applied what he had told me.  I was good at keeping production figures in my head, not publishing them on paper, which he would have lost anyway, so I was obligated to attend all meetings, because I had the facts and figures, and learned to use them to my advantage.  Which led to an every Friday morning with a vice president, who went over production plans with me, and we made adjustments.  Which gave me two bosses, and when doing work for Ilford, an English company under contract, now I had three bosses.  All wanting to know where their product was and when they could have it. I knew nothing of the film business, but found out if what I kept in my head stayed there, I was sought out, and if sought out, was needed.  Maybe Walter was right after all.....

I had learned to make the numbers work for me, and the more complicated I made them via figures and graphs, bosses love graphs, I could keep them all at bay.  And coming to me.  Seems we all play games in life, and this was a great lesson in how not to operate, and also how to tell them exactly what they wanted to hear.  In the service field for autos we call it WIP/WOP. work in process/waiting on parts.  Or never do today what can be put off until tomorrow.

Now for those who deny the deity of Jesus, here is a news flash, Biblical principals work for both the saved and the unsaved.  The universe does not operate on two different platforms, only the one created and operated by God.  With one exception, for those who are saved, we have access to all the wisdom and knowledge of God when we need it.  Not hidden or partially revealed, no come back next week sequel, but the right wisdom when we need it.  For God has given us his spirit, and the spirit knows all things, and we can too.  But many times even strong believers think only the good things come to us, even a teaching tells then that if you have difficulties, you must be in sin.  Never found in scripture.  We are told all things work together for those that trust and believe, both good and bad.  All things are good in God’s eyes, it is us that pick and choose, rendering one good and another bad.  But it is the spirit intervening in ways we cannot explain in words that make the difference.  The joke “man plans and God laughs” is true many times too often.  Only in the spirit will we know the difference between truly bad times and good times, and see God in all of them.  In the midst of our adversity is where the spirit will show us how and where God is at work in our lives.  When we see things through the eyes of the spirit, we see the truth, no WIP/WOP here, for we are all in process.  And the more we trust, the more we see Jesus in action instead of in steady prayer requests, and our time goes from begging to receiving and worshipping.  All joy will come from the spirit interceding because we do not know what to pray, and as our relationship grows, as we trust, we bask in God’s glory.  Ever notice why some are making testimonies while others are only reading about them?  Is your God as big as your prayer requests?  Do you trust in the same spirit that saved you to guide you?  Are you in God’s way or just in the way?  How will you know...

These things shall follow them that believe.  What you believe will effect your outcome, who you believe will show your true heart.  When we truly trust God and go with his assurance of how all things work together, we begin to look at him instead of ourselves.  Trusting in him and not leaning on our own understanding.  And God has freely given his spirit to all that believe.  While some study to find themselves approved, and not always sure by who, those who truly trust his spirit live, and experience Jesus first hand, falling back on the word to find his leadings approved.  A much different approval process than studying all the time, and experiencing little.  When asked by these eternal students “are you in the word?”  my answer is “is the word in you?”  Jesus is the word, and he writes it on our hearts, is the spirit in you and living in you?  The truth may be painful, but it does set you free....but only in the spirit.

We may not get what we go through today, but in it God is preparing us for glory.  And to represent him here on earth.  It has been said “never listen to the advice of someone who has done nothing.”  In the spirit we always have all we need.  Or you can take the world’s advice.  Just a thought, I have needed plumbers, mechanics, doctors, lawyers, and electricians.  I have never needed a musician or actor or entertainer.  But all need Jesus, so who do you give an ear to?  Life is on the job training for eternity, no retests.  Liars figure and figures lie.  I know.  But here is one figure to trust, 100% of us will die, and we have the choice of where to spend eternity.  Jesus and heaven, deny him and hell.  Remembering the afflictions now will help us to keep our eyes on the glory to come, if we share in his suffering, we can only imagine how we will share in his glory.  Knowledge puffs up, wisdom comes from above.  Only via the holy spirit.  All things work together, maybe Walter wasn’t right after all....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com