Varta-Joseph Lucas's German cousin

In the 27 months I owned my R90S I accumulated over 47,000 miles.  Quite a feat considering the 55 mph National speed limit, and the fact it was down for over two months from a blown engine and other maladies.  But it got me safely to New Mexico from Jersey, and was my ride in Albuquerque.  My friend Leigh had its little brother the R90/6, and wanted to ride the S, which I had always denied  him.  But on one sunny Albuquerque spring day, I relented and we swapped bikes, with John along on his GT550 Suzuki.  We were gong to ride west, then come back on Route 66, not iconic yet, to us just Central Avenue.  and off we went, deciding to stop for ice cream after the barrios of West Central and before hitting the downtown.  And this is where we met Count Varta, the German cousin of Joseph Lucas, the British Prince of Darkness. Any Brit worth his fish and chips knows of Lucas electrics, and the main reason they drink warm beer, Lucas refrigerators.  But then there is Count Varta, not royalty as the title Count would lead you to believe, but really a warning, as you can count on Varta to let you down anytime and anywhere when you most need him.  Like when starting your bike.  The German maker of batteries, he is most needed on any ride that start off with the electric leg to start the bike, so with every push of the button, you don’t know if you can count on Varta.  Hence the name.  And today....

We could count on Varta not to start.  With three riders, but only two bikes that started, we called up Gerald who came with his El Camino, and the S rode home in the back.  Usually a place reserved for dirt bikes, old Brit bikes,and any year Harley, the Count would ride home in the back of a Chevy.  With Leigh on back.  “I rode it out, I’ll ride it home,” which made quite a sight for the 30 miles and almost 90 minutes it took to get home, through cruising traffic and construction.  And Leigh, complete in helmet with gloves, in case he got pulled over,there was a helmet law then, rode the whole way on the bike in the back.  Never looking around, almost statue like in his appearance.  A sure viral video today, but in this pre-cell phone era, no photos were taken.  Arriving safe, and admitting many times John and I giggled following them, Leigh rolled the bike off, and instinctively pushed the starter button and the bike fired off.  After an hour plus of the ignition on draining the battery, he was using his turn signals and brake lights, so the key had to be on, he took a quick victory lap around the block, and rode into the garage, both rider and ride safe at home for the night.  Lucas’s German cousin had been counted on and failed miserably, just as expected.  Now really, what would you expect from the family of the Prince of Darkness?

We often fail to see the humor in our trials, but the one who sends them or allows them sees things differently.  Sometimes it is just to see our attitude in handling them, sometimes to teach, other times for a witness.  Very rarely do we come to God needy and angry, usually just needy and meek, with a five minute prayer when just one word “help!” says it all.  When we admit our sin, repent, as far too many problems are self induced, we see him answer and take care of us.  God is always ready to help, to forgive, and to get you going again, he is gracious to give us what we need.  But if you come to him angry, refusing to repent, being prideful and angry at him for your situation, he returns your harshness with sternness, if you are so darn good and proud, why don’t you fix it yourself? 

Jesus was once asked “where did you get the wounds of nail pierced hands and feet?”  His answer may have surprised the Jewish people as he replied “in the house of my friends.”  Seems the Jews were always coming God complaining about something, thinking because they were chosen they should get preferential treatment, particularly when it came to sin.  A get out of jail free card for sin, so to speak.  In their pride and arrogance they found God just as hard to them, seems the truth can be as refreshing as a cool drink, or as harsh as hot coals.  But God reminds them of a coming Messiah, yet they refuse to greet him then, and many do the same today.  The Prince of Darkness is thriving still until the day he is thrown into the pit, but yet many give him the credit for their hard times, rather than to the only God who can rescue them.  I tire of safe Christians who are always blaming Satan, really giving him the glory for the situation, when if they turned to Jesus, the spirit will intervene and guide them through.  God is going to accomplish his purpose, you can come along and be blessed, or be dragged along kicking and screaming, resisting God and seeing his harshness in your rebellion.  Many forget the promise that Jesus gave his disciples when they set out across the lake, promising to meet them on the other side.  He didn’t say how, nor how he would walk through the storm, he only said he would meet them on the other side.  And when they accepted him into their boat, in the midst of the storm, suddenly they were on the other side.  Just like when we accept Jesus, we can be assured we will see him on the other side when we die, heaven.  Yet some complain about the road to get there, ignorant of the destination.  We underestimate the kindness of God, just like we do the evil of Satan.  How you handle your situation tells about who you trust more, and who you give the credit to.  Still making excuses....think of then as lies, do you want to hear them?  Or would you rather hear the truth that sets you free?

That Sunday, God got us to where we were going, despite Count Varta.  Yet some count on the Vartas of life rather than the God of life.  Leigh set out to ride the S that day, and accomplished the feat, despite not knowing how it would happen.  He never gave up, determined to stay the course.  To some it was funny, some strange, to Leigh it made sense.  Today you will have temptations come your way.  You can accept responsibility and turn to Jesus and let him guide, or blame Satan, giving him more dominion in your life.  God always leaves the choice to us.  The Brits may have become accustomed to warm beer, don’t ever get used to a lukewarm relationship with God.  It makes him sick, as Jesus throws up, and spits that church and those people out of his mouth.  Something to consider the next time you talk with God.  Both Jesus and Varta you can count on, but only one will get you home.  And when you get there, it is good to know there is no place like it.  Be it ever so humble, are you?

love with compassion,

Mikematthew25biker.blogspot.com

parable of the empty house-or don't leave home without him

I met Leigh while selling motorcycles in Albuquerque.  He was a helicopter mechanic for the 1551st, based out at Kirtland AFB, and he had three loves in his life. He loved his Lord Jesus Christ, he loved serving his country the great US of A, and he loved his BMW, a 1974 R90/6 complete with Windjammer. But not always in that order. Living in the barracks on base made him a regular at our house only a few minute away.  I was living with John, and Leigh was over most every night.  All three of us were young Christians, and spent time sharing the Lord and talking about the Bible.  We also went to different churches, and usually met Sunday afterwards to eat and ride.  But one Sunday afternoon would change Leigh forever, as he saw the scripture come alive in his heart and his life.  It was the time of Hal Lindsay’s book “Late, Great Planet Earth,” and many were interested in the rapture.  The time in history that Jesus calls his children home to be with him, leaving behind those who didn’t believe or rejected Jesus, to go through the worst seven years the world will ever known, the Tribulation.  Still popular today, and a topic for the best selling Left Behind series, none of us who believed wanted to see just how horrible the world could or would be, and we didn’t care who was the anti-Christ, we wouldn’t be here.  Believing all that, Leigh came by as usual......

Only to find all the doors open as usual, TV on, but no Mike or John.  And he freaked, he thought he had missed Jesus call, and he was destined to be left behind.  When we came back form chasing down John’s Great Dane, we found him on his knees in the den, tears flowing and calling out to God for forgiveness.  He believed, “if I need help with my unbelief God please help, but please don’t forget me and leave me behind!”  I cannot describe the look on his face when he saw us, belief or unbelief, glad he hadn’t been left behind, and cementing in his heart how real Jesus was, is, and will forever be.  Confirming who he believed in....looking back it must have appeared almost funny, to Leigh it was a gift of reassurance form God himself.

Maybe the clearest instruction of salvation comes from Romans 10:10, “believe in your heart God raised Jesus from the dead, then confess with your mouth and you are saved.”  As scripture tells us, “anyone who believes in Jesus will be saved.”  Simple so we an get it, free so we can afford it.  No 12 steps, catechisms, studies to perform to be proven worthy, or church to join.  No ceremony or denominational tributes.  But only when we are moved by his spirit will we will be saved, it is not a mind game, an intellectual exercise, or religious crusade, it is individual between you and God, via his son Jesus Christ. 

Jesus is Lord, that is the truth.  He is, not was, Lord of our past to forgive us of our sins. He is Lord of our right now, to guide, control, direct, and dwell in our lives via the holy spirit.  And like Leigh was reminded that afternoon, he is Lord of our future, to lead us into heavenly glory at last.  He is the Lord of Life, Lord over death, and Lord of all things.  Even under the earth in hell, those who don’t believe will see just who he is for eternity, bowing and worshiping him, but in agony and pain, in distress for not choosing him when they had the chance.  For as it is written, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord.  both above and under the earth.  As Paul wrote in Acts, “there is no other name under heaven or earth by which you may be saved.”  Simple enough.  It was that message that gave Peter the strength on the day of Pentecost and saw 3000 saved.  His theme simply, Jesus is Lord.  And when we confess him as scripture tells us, we too are saved, and become part of the heavenly family of God.  With no fear of being left behind....Christ is now in you, and you will live a completely new life in him.  You then will want to tell others about Jesus and how he saved you, not standing on corners and shouting, but rather letting your light shine as the spirit gives you words for others.  The great message does not need to shouted out, God still speaks to the heart in a still, a small, a quiet voice.  Personal so we get it, so we know who is on the other side of the line.  And giving us the choice.  When the unseen does an intangible miracle in our hearts, it then is followed by the tangible.  I believed, and thus I spoke.  We may not understand all that is going on, all we know is that we are changed.  And his spirit dwells within us.

Leigh knew all these things, but when God made it real, his life changed.  When faced with what he really believed, he went right to the only one who could save him, confessing Jesus as Lord.  God will test us, let us be tested, and also instruct us in the way he knows best, for Leigh he knew best, and now so does Leigh. 

Jesus is Lord, for there is no other name by which we can be saved.  Leigh had heard all the teachings, knew what he believed, it took the spirit to make it personal.  That day the three loves of his life were put in the proper priority, God, country, and his bike.  And now that Jesus was first, he could love his country even more, seeing how God shed his grace on America, and now could enjoy his ride more, for he knew God has everything under control.  And when that someday comes, he knows that when he leaves the planet earth, exactly where he will be.   The parable of the empty house, don’t leave home without him.  The question is will you?  What or who is your confidence in?  Only Jesus saves....are you saved?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the parable of the paper bag

Never has there been a product as versatile as the paper bag.  At one time the staple of super markets all throughout America, it was where the bag boy sorted through your items and bagged them accordingly, never crushing the eggs.  It was in a time where they would ask if you wanted double bagging for the heavy items, and even some stores prepared ahead of time by buying a double bagged bag.  They were folded with care when unloaded at home, and then at our house piled between the refrigerator and the wall,for later use.  Never thrown away unless ripped or torn by over bagging.  They were the home made covers for our school books, where many a first week of school was spent at the kitchen table with scissors and scotch tape.  They were flexible, yet durable, and you could write notes on them, or the number of the girl next to you in math.    They could be used at Halloween when kids used to patrol the neighborhood, with the deluxe model with handle the preferred bag, until we got older and a pillow case would hold more and looked cooler.  They were the big brother to the sandwich bag, standard equipment from third grade on when lunch boxes with Woody Woodpecker were just for kids.  Even an insulated model, just the right size for the half gallon of ice cream, with a silver foil covered one with an Igloo on it.  Somehow they just weren’t as cool at school, as any deviation from brown was considered heresy and the reason for being made fun of. 

But at a time when women shopped downtown or at shopping centers, the bags she carried told a lot about her.  Sears bags, multicolored Hess Brothers bags, Nordstroms bags, and the like told of your social standing and your financial status as a shopper.  Free advertising as your walked from store to store.  They were function before form or vice versa, with the brown sandwich bag a Christmas tradition in New Mexico, the luminaria, a sandwich bag filled with sand, and then a lit candle inside, lining driveways, sidewalks, and entire neighborhoods, celebrating the coming of Christ.  Something so organic, made from trees, that the tree huggers rebelled, and soon the plastic bag was offered.  Paper or plastic?  We always insisted on paper, can’t cover a book with plastic, and like the question red or green, do you really need to ask?  Green of course, and my bag will always be brown.

But even the plastic bag is about to go the way of the paper bag, in California, they have outlawed them, no longer free where you buy your groceries, and so we recycle them.  How classless, and dirty, as I watch shoppers pick through the box of used bags.  Or carry their old ones in.  Sticky and dirty, something no bag boy in his right mind would ever put a hand in, yet again another sign that progress is a good thing, when it doesn’t go on too long. I imagine someday someone will come upon a warehouse full of brown grocery bags, and they will become trendy.  Selling for $100/bag, the rich and trendy will be seen toting them along, a status symbol of what used to be, and like used Levi’s will command a high price, coming full circle from practical to in practical, to be replaced, then thrown away, and rediscovered.  Sad we never realize what we have until it is gone...maybe just one more trip to the market, even ask me paper or plastic, just so I can say paper one more time.  Save the paper bag, a campaign that is coming and you read about it here first!

We live in a strange world today in case you haven’t noticed.  Common sense that once was is gone, and where once people changed things, now things are changing the people.  It has been noted that if PR could bring a market down, the police would have been out of business long ago.  Same with the church, with widespread corruption, priests being caught playing slap and tickle with boys and girls, and TV evangelists the new standard by which we are measured, it is good to know that Jesus never changes.  That despite all the church rhetoric, denominational differences, religious bias, and lack of love, his true church today is still alive and well.  When we come to grips with the truth that we the believers are the true church, and not the building or store front in a strip mall, we see the truth and not its poor substitute.  With so much emphasis on church building, the programs and procedures fail to note that unless God builds the church, we labor in vain.  Which may explain why so many get burnt out, or change churches, it is the same old junk, just in a new package.  Trying to stay ahead less the devil gain ground, neglecting to see they are aiding him.  Maybe God said it best, he asked Jeremiah, “if you cannot run with men, how do you expect to keep up with horses?”  Maybe a good question to ask ourselves, are we about church or Jesus Christ?  How many don’t know or cannot tell the difference?  How many pay tithes under compulsion to the church, when God just tells us to set aside what we can with each paycheck?  Givers or bitter tithers?  Is it really the paper or plastic question revisited, as many churches take credit cards, Mastercharge instead of giving the master charge.  God doesn’t need your money, he needs your heart of obedience, to trust and show others his grace.  Yet just as Jacob was favored above his brother Esau, today’s religious atmosphere is more about the message title than what is in it.  Esau liked the things of man, Jacob the things of God, so much he wrestled with the angel until God blessed him.  What are you wrestling with?  Or who?

We are told it is not what goes into a man but what comes out of him that is important.  Esau stands for the gluttonous person, while Jacob stands for the one who pursues God and will not settle for less.  I wonder, has the gospel been watered down enough that we have gone from paper to plastic to having the truth outlawed because it is unpopular? Jesus didn’t need a PR man, but did have John the Baptist.  Today we have the holy spirit, who seems to be working overtime to keep the church at large alive.  But soon when the choice comes down to church or Jesus, will we go the way of the paper bag, and accept a substitute?  Will we forego Jesus just to feel good, and like the old hippie posters, misuse scripture for our own use?  Remember the Jesus poster “let them wear their hair any length they want?”  Remember Jesus Christ Superstar and how many believed the musical over the Bible?  In a paper or plastic world, or a recycled world, I am grateful my Lord is not a recycled God who changes with the trends of the time.  Jesus said the truth will set us free, today is a great day to become free form religion, denominational doctrine, and church rhetoric, and experience the holy spirit alive.  Imagine our lives as useful and reliable as the old brown bag, with Jesus inside.  Some look at the bag. God looks at what is inside.  Paper or plastic God will still bless you, remember he too made Esau a nation, only Jacob saw the importance of what was inside.  Remember paper covers rock and wins.  Avocados ripen in paper and no one ever suffocated in a paper bag.  Plastic never covered anything....so which is it?

And please, do yourself a favor, don’t even ask me about straws...

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

it ran fine until I worked on it

When Dean didn’t show for dinner as planned, I knew he had a problem.  A quick call found him frustrated, his truck and he were still at the repair shop where he had his diesel serviced.  In for scheduled maintenance, it went in running fine, now wouldn’t start.  Lots of cranking and soot, but no start.  So I went down to console him, and found the owner and his techs trying to figure it out.  It was after closing, but they were insistent on staying.  As they explained what they had done, I asked if maybe it was a bad filter.  Over and over being told they had never seen a bad new one, they finally relented and switched it, again, the truck instantly firing up, and Dean joining us for dinner.  They had overlooked a simple premise in repair, go back to when it was running OK, and then diagnose based on what you had done after to make it not run.  The old it was running fine until I worked on it, professional version.  But also a take on psycho babble, a term called normalcy bias, which means just because I haven’t seen it means it hasn’t happened or doesn’t exist.  I’m sure the shop owner and his techs will never forget this lesson....but do we?

Born into sin, we needed a way to get back to pre-Adam no sin and a relationship with God.  God being holy, the only way we could be in his presence was to be found without sin.  So God sent Jesus to fulfill his wish that he fellowship with his man made in his image again.  He created forgiveness, the taking us back to the working fine relationship man had with him before we sinned.  Yet many reject the offer Jesus makes us of reconciliation with his father in heaven, just because they haven’t been able to see a God that does exist.  They deny that God is a spirit and must be worshipped as such, denying the power of the holy spirit to change lives, and denying Jesus as the way to do it.  Yet those of us who do believe know that it goes much deeper, deeper than words can express, while some try to explain a supernatural experience with an infinite God using finite terms, God has give his spirit who provides the words we need, when needed.  And to the lost the spirit still is calling to them “you need Jesus.”  But do we stop to consider him?

Consider the times Adam and Eve had in the garden, the daily walks with God.  But when faced with an adversary they didn’t know, dismissed the only warning God gave them, and fell from grace.  We are all part of the geneology of Adam, who has the genes of God in him, from him who created  him.  Without the spirit to remind us of our sin, we would still be seeking out adverse and perverse religions, cults, philosophies, and ways of life detrimental to a relationship with God.  But when we confess our sins, and choose Jesus as our savior, we get his Lordship also.  We are like the men trying to fix Dean’s diesel, doing the same thing over and over gaining the same results.  When the answer was there all the time. 

Now I’m no diesel mechanic, or any type mechanic, but they have taught me how to diagnose.  Do we look at ourselves the same way, examining our walk with Christ as we are told to?  That daily working out of our relationship with him?  Maybe a tip from investigators here makes sense.  When they believe they have the right suspect, they do everything the can to prove him innocent.  Satan works to prove us guilty, only in Christ will we be found innocent, as if our sin has never occurred.  So go back to the basics of Jesus, how we sinned, and how he is the way.  Or we can live like Adam and Eve did, looking back at how it was, and living knowing the mistake in judgment they made ended the best and most perfect relationship ever.  That same perfect relationship is still available today because he wants us back, he wants none to perish, he made hell for the demons and the devil himself, but left the decision up to us who to serve.  Just like he did Adam and Eve.  Just another example of man interfering with the things of God....if you are stumbling now go back to where you were before.  A series of bad decisions can destroy you, one turning to Christ will rescue you.  When you find the sin and realize it was wrong, then your heart will change.  And we don’t have to look very far to see all the lives changed....

Jesus Christ still changes lives.  And won’t make you late for dinner.....and honestly, I am not that smart.  Just experienced.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

you can come in but you cannot use the bathroom

Durango 40 years ago was not the tourist trap it is today.  Small town USA, with a local t-shirt that said “Durango is what America was.”  That was soon to be replaced by a new one, based on the sign on Smelter Mountain, “DURANGLO, COLORADIATION.”  Things were moving fast, as the tailings pile that had greeted you from the west was found too radioactive, and had to be removed.  Soon Highway 550 would be rerouted going through Bodo Park, and many old buildings that had stood 100 years would be torn down and replaced with new ones that looked like Disneyland.  But two things remained constant, at least for the moment, the train and the La Plata County Fair.  With the fairgrounds conveniently placed on Main Ave. north of 25th street, walking distance form downtown.  It would be my first fair, I never got to go, but it was a lesson based on the cultures in the area.  I was working the Saturday shift at La Plata Motors, the Ford store, I was the assistant service manager.  Not much work got done on Saturdays, mostly broken down Texans who had their car tuned to the altitude, and guys bringing in their own cars to work on.  Still a busy place, with lots of traffic walking by, and our doors open.  When an older Indian with a young kid came in, and asked to use the rest room.  Looking at one of the mechanics, who shook his head no, and said “no way,” I informed him they were closed.  But he persisted, and finally feeling sorry for him, or the kid, I let him use it.  Watching close as I had been warned.  And I was about to find out why...

15 minutes, then 20, then 30, and he didn’t come out.  “Now you see why we told him no,” and I was faced with evicting him.  I beat on the door with no response, and finally we took the hinges off the door, and he was just sitting there.  Without a word, he got up and left.  And I was the butt, no pun intended of the joke for a week or so.  No one knows why they do that, my Southern Ute friends laughed when I asked, but to this day, any time anyone asks to use the rest room, I keep an eye on the door, and the clock.  You can come in, but you cannot use the bathroom!

One day when discussing the people who judge us most harshly, a homeless women jumped on me, figuratively.  “You’re judgmental, and Christians shouldn’t judge.”  Her statement more telling than she thought, first she was judging me, second if her words were true, she wasn’t a Christian, by her own definition.  But my reply is simple, “lady I was describing you.”  And she left, and later would join our Bible studies, known for falling asleep in the front row.  Which made a couple upset of “how could she do that , how rude?”  With the homeless women within ear range, I told them, “I take it as a compliment she feels safe enough her to find a few minutes of rest.”  The couple before leaving told me they had learned a lesson as well that day...but what does the Bible say about judgment?  From judgment day to judging others, over 121 times in the NIV.  So sit tight, lest ye fall asleep and someone judges you.  And no, you cannot use the bathroom.

The first time it is mentioned is in Exodus, where God says his judgment will free them from slavery.  1 Samuel tells us we are blessed when we use good judgment.  While Psalm 1 exhorts us not to stand in the judgment, nor with sinners in the assembly.  Later in Psalm 119 it is written “Lord teach me good judgment.”  Yet Isaiah tells us that he will exercise judgment and many will meet their fate with the sword.  Jeremiah says “he will pass judgment on those who say they never sinned.”  While Matthew tells us “we will have to give an account of every word we have spoken.”  Seems judgment takes on many facets in scripture, to us it just means being nasty.  Yet one day we will all stand before a judgment seat, and what will be your fate? 

When Paul stood before Felix, he told him about the judgment to come, and Felix told him to go, “I’ll call for you when it is more convenient.”  How often we react the same way when caught in sin.  “I’m saved, leave me alone.  don’t be judgmental,” as our sin finds us out.  Note that it is our sin that finds us out, not Jesus.  He doesn’t condemn nor accuse, that is the devil’s handiwork.  Jesus came to save, so that on the day of judgment before God, we are found not guilty and sin free, because Jesus took our place.  Today is the day of salvation for many, sadly also the day of judgment for others to whom the gospel was inconvenient.  God’s justice will be based on truth, and when faced with our sin that day, will know why we are guilty.  But you don’t have to face that day in fear, if you face up to the fact of you being a sinner, repent and accept Jesus’ forgiveness.  We will be shown because mercy triumphs over judgment, in Christ.  Don’t dare think you are the one who can escape, for even the angels who rebelled against God will face judgment, forever in the lake of fire and brimstone.  But we can have confidence if we are like Jesus in this world, making his love complete.  Loving him first, than loving your neighbor as yourself.  No man loves himself if in shame and facing judgment, only when forgiven can we truly love ourself and others. 

So fear God, respect and revere him, and worship him who has made you holy.  Worship the one who died on the cross for our sins so we will not be found guilty when judged, and worship the spirit that led us to the truth and guides us today.  We are told we will rejoice in the heavens, but we can now.  Worship him and the one who sits at his right hand, who called the heavens, the earth, and all creation into existence.  Jesus is God, and if he can create a world and a heaven for us, don’t you think he can sustain us here on earth today?

The train still runs in Durango, La Plata Motors and the Fairgrounds are both gone.  They met their judgment and were removed.  And you....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com