the bottom line

I'm looking at a quote I got for tires yesterday. It used to be you got a price, and that was installed on the car, mounted and balanced as they say. But as I look at this quote, I am not sure what I bought, or was going to buy. Say the price of the tire is $93 each. x4=$372. Plus tax. But we aren't on the car-yet. Automatically listed on the bill is $39 for free replacement if one is damaged. Think of it as the store betting you won't damage one. Which is very rare. $7 environmental fee-beware the word fee-it is another tax that the government gets, along with sales tax. Plus another $52 for lifetime balance and valve. Valves still only cost around 25 cents each, and most people don't go back for balancing, until the car shakes because the tire is worn out, and your warranty will not cover replacement because of lack of maintenance. Ask a soccer mom was mounting and balancing is, or a valve stem. So-for only another $98 you get a set of tires, plus tax. They have added on another 37%, of mostly intangibles-peace of mind the insurance whores call it, and stand there telling you that you got a great deal. And they have the word discount in their name!

I have been in the automotive business since 1977, and have only ever seen a handful of tires replaced under warranty-and usually to placate a customer. For some reason, they are the most perfect item made by man, but still wear out prematurely when left in his hands, or on his car. And the warranty certificate on the back states it is up to their inspection, and then you must buy the same warranty for the new tire, and it goes on and on. Just like Costco makes most of their profit from memberships, and major electronics chains from selling extended warranties-the last year Circuit City was in business they wrote over $400 million in extended warranties. Selling paper! It seems the product is secondary, sell that insurance! Which you have to! Or so they let on!

A fair deal is where both parties benefit, and when standing there with all cords showing on the tire you paid to lifetime balance, but didn't, they got you. And you just got an education that most don't know, so go in armed next time, and negotiate! Down-I want a discount, meet the competition's price like your sign says. Earn my business!

As Christians we are told to spread the gospel. But I have found an important aspect is earning the right to share Jesus. Listen, be compassionate, and share the gospel, then if you have to, use words. A saying says "they will listen to what you share, when they know how much you care." I watched a preacher interrupting some firemen this summer, and had nothing in common to talk with them. I stood by, but he wouldn't make eye contact with me, he was so focused on telling these men the gospel. On deaf, and unhearing ears. They wee with their families at a picnic! Holding the food they stood in line for. The spirit was not in his words, he had an agenda-his own. Just like selling the aftermarket warranties. Yes-they need to hear the gospel, and yes, we need to take it out. But God-gives us the words and audience He wants us to have. So sad, but so many have shot the messenger because he didn't earn the right. A chance to minister, blown by some misguided theory.

Why did Peter go from denial to a little girl, three times, to 3000 saved on Pentecost? The spirit was upon him. It is not us, or our words, but the spirit that gives life. And we are to be a witness, and should never have to go out witnessing! Our life should be open for all and any to see-and it is! Surprise to many, but not to God.

Buying tires, like sharing the gospel, should be easy. It's the small print, the low ball invite that takes away the trust. The gospel is simple, we sinned, and need a savior. His name is Jesus, when we repent and ask Him into our lives, we are saved. No small print, no certificates, no memberships, or add ones. Saved. Paid in full. No need to carry your papers with you, your name is written in the book of life.

So today, being a true rebel, I will question, and get the fees removed-or I will go elsewhere. Someone else would love to have my business.

Share the gospel in love today, for someone else would love to take away the gospel. Trust God, the right thing to do. He has already negotiated the best deal-Jesus. The bottom line, and Jesus is still the best way to get there.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

nice title, but can you fix my problem?

As Americans we are overly impressed with titles. A Captain is better than a lieutenant, and no one is just an MD, they need PCMD, LLC, or MACS, or who knows what else beside their name to out title their fellow doctors. It is found in every profession, I would say it is safe to say there are a group of janitors that below to an elite group of mop swingers, so get a better rate and their fellow janitors are impressed.

Just a few years ago having an MBA meant something, now it doesn't even get you a better place in line at the unemployment office. And I believe this whole subculture is one of the things wrong today. Selling titles. A sub culture that invaded our businesses, telling them that being accredited, or certified, or ASE certified made you a better employee. True, it may make you a better employee, but does it make you do your task better? Today you can even get degrees through the internet, without even going into a classroom, or interacting with others. I have hired techs who never worked on cars, and have interviewed those with degrees, but had no deductive reasoning to back up their education. Think you know it all? Right click and see if your problem goes away. Google that! It seems we have been invaded by the pride police, and they are the only ones who don't have to be accredited-just be sure you can never match up to their education, experience, or background. But they will sell you a course so you can get close.

Before I left Land Rover, one of the biggest jokes as far as product and organization-four corporate owners in less than 14 years, they wanted all of us to be certified. To become versed in Land Rover history, and know all about the product. To at least know as much as the poor sucker who bought one, and got his education via the owners manual while waiting for the tow truck. What part of never again didn't he understand? So we all had to go through a certification program. Except only two people actually did-they took all the tests online for us, while we kept the dealership running. Just sign here Mike, you are a certified Land Rover know it all-impressed? Except I knew nothing except hands on-although I did write 42% of the business, while only working 10 months! While others were busy earning a star on their business card, I was earning a living! And the saddest thing was our dealership got congratulated by Land Rover for having so many of our employees certified-thanks Neal and Jeff, who spent, or wasted almost two weeks taking all our tests. All the employees except for those two cheated! Which leads me to ask-where is the integrity in the system? How can you trust someone who earned the certification falsely?

Did Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, or Bill Gates pass a certification? Did Obama?

I love talking with clergy types who have a DD at the end of their name. A degree in religion, but not necessarily one in salvation. You cannot earn or learn your salvation, it is a gift. And when I first was out of work went on Christian websites looking for Christian work. Although I have taught, written, worked with homeless, and been in ministry, I had no degree-and therefore no credibility. Being born again was not a requirement to teach about Jesus, but where and where in your class you graduated with was. And the more degrees the better. Did Paul, Peter, John, or any other apostle have certification? Did Jesus?

To effectively minister first be available. No degree or certification needed-just be born again and in the spirit. God gives wisdom, and the words needed as they are needed. And you can't beat Him as an advisor. Or His book, the Bible as a guide, reference book, or way to lead your life. No other existential discourse by some noted theologian needed. I love it when some try to impress me with their library list, but don't include the Bible in it.

So next time you have a problem, go right to Jesus. No appointment needed. You may find some well titled, certified people there with you-waiting in line to see Him. Some may know about Him, and have the degree to prove it-but nothing beats knowing Him personally. Your name written in the book of life-the only certification that matters to God-and the only one that should matter to you!

No one can take it for you, and no one can take it away! No renewal dates, or retests. Or lines, tuition, or graduating exercises. No payments. He paid it all, just seek Him, and join the family of certified, born again, going to heaven with Jesus Christians.

His title-God. And He calls you friend-can you beat that title?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

how much for a hotel on Boardwalk?

Growing up, summertime meant hanging at the park with your friends. My parents were never big on travelling, so when in the summer of my fifteenth year, they decided to go to Atlantic City, it was met with some reluctance, not realizing how it would impact me. Or how I would enjoy it. We went with my family, and my grandparents, and stayed at the Hotel Morton, on Virginia Avenue, one of the streets found in Monopoly, rent $12.

In 1969, Atlantic City was more like it was in the 1920's than the 1990's. Hanging on to the memories of what it once was. It was decayed and decaying, and where once it was a mecca for those to get away from the city, today it is a Sin City east. And in the late 60's, was just a few years from total collapse. When the Donald would reinvent it. You stayed on or around the Boardwalk, rent $50, for once off of it, it was dangerous. The highest per capita black population in NJ lived there, and it was abject poverty once you got away from the beach area. As compared to all the money and fun being had on the Boardwalk. It still had enough of its glory days to be memorable. Even if the postcards of its glory days were 40 years old.

The Steel Pier was at the end of Virginia Avenue, perhaps the most famous pier in the US of A at the time. Dick Clark, who was emerging from being a struggling Philadelphia DJ had live shows there, even hosted American Bandstand from there. I remember the marquee names where big time, right off the radio and their albums. And walking through the huge ballroom was impressive. It was near the Convention Center, where Miss America was crowned each year, back when it was ok to be a beautiful woman. But the main draw for me, and many other tourists, was the diving horse. A girl would sit on a horse, then dive 20-30 feet into a pool,while the crowd roared. But more spectacular to me was watching a high diver jump into the same pool from 100 feet. The only thing I could never understand was why jump into a pool when you had all this water in the Atlantic available to you? I guess that's entertainment!

I had more fun dodging waves with my dad, and getting sunburned and exhausted. And then because we were with my grandparents, having to dress for dinner, in the Morton's dining room. Such were the vestiges of a more formal time.

The Boardwalk. What a place. A boulevard all its own, wide and long, and in summer covered with people. On the corner where we stayed was Mr. Peanut. And I remember a man-in a Mr. Peanut outfit, probably a high school student, shaking hands and inviting us into the store. I remember the Salt Water Taffy, and thinking "why would anyone want to eat anything with salt water in it?" This after swallowing gallons of the Atlantic that day. We ate breakfast at Taylor Ham, and were entertained by the way they served the meal-all in one skillet. We tried it at home, but it just wasn't the same. Man-I could go for some right now! Taylor ham, eggs over easy, with potatoes. In a skillet, of course.

I remember my dad telling me how they trained race horses on the beach-running in the sand, and after walking in the deep sand thought it would take me all summer to get used to it-a sacrifice I was willing to make. Walking past the Marlborough-Blenheim, an old hotel, and another old hotel, Chalfonte-Haddon Hall, you were impressed by their majesty, and how majestic they sounded, and were, torn down by Trump, removing the last real touch with a society from a past generation. One that dressed for dinner. A hotel, not a motel, where are the cool names like these from yesteryear today? We probably get the names we deserve, but when was the last time you stayed in a hotel? Front!

And walking the Boardwalk I noted many things. I still have a newspaper-underground, very cool at the time, advertising the Aquarian Arts Festival, tickets available through Ticketron. You now know it as Woodstock. Bought in a head shop, which used to mean cool clothes, like those from Carnaby St. not the drug connection it does now. But somehow the streets weren't laid out like in Monopoly, and this bothered me. Even realizing that the streets preceded the game, it felt weird not following the order of St. Charles Place, rent $10, then States Avenue, rent $10, and then Virginia, rent $12. Something seemed very much out of order, but I never quite got over it. At least North Carolina and Pacific were adjacent. Never did find the railroads, though, and realized the utilities were everywhere-just turn on a faucet or flip a light switch. An early morning walk on the Boardwalk, rent $50, dodging Jitneys, while the sun rose over the Atlantic somehow made it all seem unimportant. But I still hang onto their disorder to this day!

Things are simpler when you are younger, more exciting too, maybe that is why Jesus tells us to come to Him like children. Bring your toys, sit on His lap, and play. Enjoy the time being a kid, because adulthood, and all its responsibilities lie ahead, and will last longer than any childhood, or vacation. Somehow trusting Him, as opposed to wanting to understand everything, keeps us childlike, and dependent on Him. Listening as He tells stories, and explains things, watching as He points things out, and the luxury of just being yourself, without peer pressures, yet. So that is how I try to come to Him, as myself. Warts and all-He loves me. And the time spent with Him is precious.

Spend time with Him today-as a child. Put away the concerns of the day, and rest in Him. Take that spiritual vacation from life, and realize that soon we will be with Him. No deadlines, rules, bosses, or over due notices. It will be the trip, the vacation you always planned, but never knew how great it could be. And it goes on, and on, and on....

Give me pier pressure rather than peer pressure. Interrupt my summer of life with a better vacation. With Jesus.

And as I now live on the west coast, Atlantic City is 3000 miles away, but not far from my memories. For I now have the Pacific (Avenue, rent $26) and beaches. In Jersey we go to the Shore. But Jesus is the same no matter when or where you are. A four star hotel among motels, and a city where all the street names are in order. His get out of sin card more valuable than a get out of jail free card. I think I'll just go riding, and spend the day in Free Parking.

And no, I won't be dressing for dinner.

love with compassion,

Mike

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what good is fun if you don't enjoy it?

I am blessed that I get to ride so many different motorcycles. From 165hp Rockets, to 50hp Scramblers, I get to have many different reactions when the throttle is twisted. And I like going fast, and stopping quickly-it's a rush! So it often surprises people when I'm asked, which bike is your favorite, I answer the Bonneville. For you see it doesn't handle the best, brakes are definitely not radial style, two up is a torture test, and although it would be the fastest bike on the road 40 years ago, today it is mid pack-but still faster than any new Harley. So why is the Bonne your favorite?

Long before our egos went out of control with performance figures, bikes were fun to ride. Whether a quick trip to the store, or a quick trip to New Mexico, just riding was fun. Wind in your face, bugs in your teeth, and the feeling of freedom were worth any ride, anywhere, at any time. But today, things have regressed so much that fun is not listed under specifications. In fact, it may not be listed anywhere, but is still there. Not removed, but hidden, covered up by some ad man's idea of how you and your ride should relate.

True, the Bonne has the classic Triumph styling, and it is hard to go anywhere without someone coming up and reminiscing about the one they had, but it is the view from the seat that I find the best, and the view I will get to know best the more I ride. It is how the bike makes me feel, and I can ride 100' and find myself smiling. It is a bike that doesn't test my limits, but lets me test its limits, and I feel comfortable pushing it as hard as I can. For some, it takes a GSXR1000, for me the Bonneville is the drug of choice. And sometimes when riding something else, miss the simplicity of the Bonne.

Just a motorcycle. No bags, no windshield, and no radios. If I want to carry something, I take Bungee cords. Remember them? I attach my Arai to the rear fender brace, and I am safe and secure. The motor makes music, just ask the man at the Denny's last week, who when I fired it up, said "don't leave, let me get my friend, he has to hear this!" I can drag foot pegs, giving me the illusion of being a faster rider, and even run it to redline, without being pulled off the seat by speed. And it is still faster then 99% of the cars out there, and for less than $8000 I can have it all. Or fill my garage with many bikes while you have your superior performing "only" motorcycle. Fun-the missing factor in too many rides, and missing in too many people's lives.

If anyone should have fun it is Christians. We have heaven assured, a great and loving God to protect us, and the Holy spirit to guide us. And we have 24 hour access to all via Jesus. Yet so many buy into the world's attractions, and miss the fun of just being a Christian. The ones who have all the Jesus stickers, telling you what a great person they are, while driving with the cell phone, and cutting you off. Who are always late for church, and interrupt all those whose toes they step on when climbing over you to get to their seat. Who always have a kind word for the pastor to his face, but never to his back. Who are so overwhelmed with success in life, they forget what true success is, and are miserable. They know the F word, just not the FUN word-the real F word.

So next time Wing rider, when we talk, and you can't understand how my light, great handling bike is so much fun, at a third of the price, just adjust your electric seat, turn on your DVD player, hook up your communicators, and set your cruise. And take your 1000 pound motor cycle out for a ride-on the freeways. Eat at a chain restaurant, and talk with your other Wing friends. And never get how much fun I am having. Just feeling the wind in my face, the music from my exhaust, and looking forward to scraping my pegs the first chance I get-on a back road somewhere.

And you believers, I don't do seminars. Or weekend retreats. Have nothing against them, except they cut into my fun time with Jesus. You see, in any group you are only as strong as your weakest link. In my group, I am the weakest link-so I go my own pace, and can keep up with Jesus just fine. And its fun, and I can go all day, for days. Just Jesus, a Bible, and time well spent with Him. And you won't hurt my feeling complaining about the retreat food, or how you didn't sleep. For I am secure that in my relationship with the road, that basic is still the best. And simple, just like me and Jesus beats anything else.

For Jesus, like riding is personal. And should be fun. Doing both more and enjoying it less? Remember his disciples carried no money, food, or clothes. Just what was with them, and look at their adventures. See, almost 2000 years ago Jesus knew how to travel-simply. Just like the gospel-simple. So that all that heard could understand.

Do you understand? Do you get it? Turn off your headset and turn on to Jesus. Ride on!

Are we having fun yet? I am! Pick up your Bible without the i-pod, commentaries, or tapes. Just read it. Maybe under a tree, next to a winding road, with your bike parked near you. Hear the birds, smell the flowers, and feel the spirit surround you. Bet you didn't know how much fun simple could be? and why we look back fondly at the good old days! These are the good old days!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

"well, hang in there..."

Over the years the American dream has changed. In my lifetime it was go to college, get a good job, marry the right girl, and live happily ever after. And to many that was a dream fulfilled-at least on the outside. I can remember growing up in a neighborhood where many commuted to New York City for work, and whose dads you rarely saw. They had nice houses, nice cars, and apparently were living well. From the outside. But since we are not given many insights into what goes on inside, we could make our opinions based on what we saw, or sometimes didn't see.

Today the American dream is hopefully pay off your college loans, try to find a job, live with your girlfriend-why get married when half of them fail? and try to survive until tomorrow. Now this may seem a bit extreme, but we all know someone who is like this.
With unemployment almost 20%, based on unemployed, under employed, and those who have fallen off the lists, truth is harsher than fiction, or even perception. Perhaps the best definition of a recession is your neighbor is out of work, it is a depression if you are.

Many seek escape through drugs, alcohol, gambling, and other ways that end in disaster, and are disastrous along the way. For the rest of us there is motorcycles. And unless you ride, you just don't get the freedom found in it. Your worst day at work can be forgiven taking the long way home. Taking a Saturday and scrambling with your friends, grabbing a burger, and riding roads new can open up the doors to happiness that the world has closed. And even if you married the right girl, got the right job, the right home, etc, life can still interfere with your plans, so go for a ride!

In 1969, a TV show, Then Came Bronson came out. Lasting only a season, it showed a man who after after a friend's suicide, and a confrontation with his boss, decides to get on his XLH900 Sportster and find the meaning of life. And for a season of shows, you get to see his adventures, some even including the bike. But although the bike may provide the way of escape, it cannot produce the thing that is missing, that he is searching for. And in the opening scene of each show, it shows him at a light, with Mr. Successful in his station wagon, looking at him asking him where he is going. "Wherever I end up, I guess." When the driver says "I wish I was you," Bronson gives him his famous tag line, "well, hang in there!"

God has designed something into each one of us, that only Jesus can make complete. A something that the world talks about, is really a someone. And until Jesus comes into it, you can be successful, but only temporarily. You can see the things of God, but never see Him. You can ride the best roads, but until you ride with Christ, you ride alone-even in a group.

I wonder how the series would have gone on if Bronson got saved? We will never know as it was cancelled, and Hollywood would never be that daring! Today seek God, and find Him. Quit hanging in there, and become part of a body of believers. We will all end up somewhere, although the ride doesn't always get us to our destination. Truly for some, there is therapy, for others there are motorcycles. But only Jesus offers eternal life! It may be true you never see a motorcycle parked in front of a psychiatrists office, but you do see them parked at churches. Some pastors even ride-cool. Stop in today, look for another biker, and introduce yourself. Let Jesus introduce himself. And watch as the Lord opens your heart, and you find a freedom in Christ that you didn't know existed.

Think of it, I was lost and lonely, Then Came Jesus! A great show, with guys riding bikes, and cruising the US of A. And sharing a living god with a lost and dying world. On a trip, and when asked where are you going, answer "let me tell you...." and share the gospel.

You see Jesus and motorcycles-it just don't get any better! Bring along your friends. Tell them about Jesus today.

Taking a trip? Where to? "Just me and my friend Jesus...."

Wanna go along?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

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answers to prayer-yes, no, or wait

When Ted was asked "how are you doing?" he would respond "better than you, I don't have to talk to me!" And depending on who was asking, he meant it. And I think of people's prayer life sometimes, and how they approach God You see, He answers every prayer. Yes-we like that answer, it is so nice when God agrees with us. Then there is no, and we wonder how God just can't understand what we are asking. "Don't you care God? Are you paying attention?" And our initial response sometimes is one of disappointment, for we hate to be told no. But I have to come to realize when He says no, it is for my protection, or He has something better.

The third repsonse from God is wait. For what? How long? Will I like it, will it be worth waiting? And if we don't try to hurry God, we find the answer is always worth waiting for. But that wait can sometimes seem like it takes forever. And so many base their relationship, or how they see God based on answers to prayer. Isn't the fact He is God enough?

Just imagine, if He answered us like we talk to others? Can you see Him telling us to chill out? Don't bother me now, I have a universe to run. Or, "oh no, not you again!" Yet when we are asked a question about God, we react poorly sometimes. We get on our theological discourse high horse,and think we need to explain everything we know, and oh by the way, maybe answer the question while doing it.

Some years ago a Boozefighter put me in a headlock, seeing I was a Christian. He said,"I have a question for you. Can God make a rock so big He cannot pick it up?" And with all my Biblical juices flowing answered, "You don't ask God stupid questions like that." And when the few seconds of silence passed, the guy answered, "good answer, I like that." Not the words I planned, but the words God gave me, and the right answer.

The gospel, like most of us, is simple. 25 words explain it, John 3:16. And in 87 words, Lincoln penned the Gettysburg Address-note, he never really lived there. In 1337 words, our forefathers gave us the Declaration of Independence. Yet today, the Obama Health Care Bill alone has over 2000 pages! And was encouraging the senators and representatives not to read it. How ungodlike!

Take the time to read John. Maybe look at the love and hope in the Gettysburg Address. Feel secure in knowing about the Declaration of Independence. But put your faith only in God. Talk with Him, and when asked about Him, answer in love. Don't bowl them over with what you know. They will only care about what you know, by what you show. Read your Bible. It may surprise you what is in it!

And when you are done, what it leaves in you! And if God askes how you are doing, tell Him! "Better, now that you've talked to me." A lesson for Ted, and all who seek Him. He didn't have to send Jesus, aren't you glad He did?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

angels, hookers, and sopranos

I have found some comic relief on TV the past two weekends. Although it was originally called drama, when placed in the setting of today, it is more comical than serious. The Sleuth Network on Saturdays has Old School Saturday, where they show old cop shows. Two weeks ago I was dazzled and amused by Charlie's Angels, and this weekend was TJ Hooker. Two shows I never watched when on originally, but couldn't resist the nostalgia trip, plus nothing else was on. These pre Rodney King, pre Kevlar, pre 911, pre Hill Street Blues police were almost funny to watch. And had more in common with each other than you would think.

Far fetched plots were the hallmark of Charlie's Angels, and I found it fascinating that more women watched them for the fashions than men did for Farrah's assets. The other two were flat. Whether watching Farrah in her starched, white nurses outfit fight crime, and never answer a call in a major metro hospital she is assigned to-hey maybe things haven't changed so much, to watching Kate Jackson foil a Polish defector by wearing thick glasses and talking with an accent, to Jaclyn Smith, who looked too much like Jackie Kennedy-she was the sophisticated one-they were stylish, drove Pintos and Mustang II's-remember mpg was more important than mph, and even the fourth Angel Bosley, Bos, had a hint of felinity about him. Only Charlie was the real man, who always seemed to have a babe in a bikini, with her drink on a lawn chair close by.

But the Hooker plot I watched was more of fantasy than anything. The channel guide said the Beach Boys were guest stars, so I had to watch. The following is the plot-please stay with me-this really happened-and we wonder why there was a TV void in the early '80s.

Romano, the teacher's pet, and recruit from Oklahoma had never heard of the Beach Boys. Oh yeah, he'll do well in LA. There they only have two types of music, country and western. So while doing beach duty and caught eying the barely, bikini covered girls of Malibu-"sorry miss, I'm not staring, just checking for concealed weapons" Hooker tells him the Beach Boys are playing a concert. So somewhere between the beach and the music, Romano has to go-promising to buy every one of their albums with his next paycheck. Must have been on the take already. When he finds the tickets are sold out, he hears Heather Locklear has a pair-of tickets, and is told no, she is taking a special man with her.

Enter two dumb as a rock thieves, who are going to rob the box office at the concert, on the day of the concert-does sold out ahead of time mean anything to them? There will be no money-no tickets will be sold. So nothing to rob. But somehow they try, and Hooker and Romano catch these two dribblers, and get free tickets to the show. And of course, Carl Wilson and the Beach Boys know Hooker, he used to surf with them, calling him Kahuna. He was also a champion hill racer in another show. And Heather's special man is her dad, in his sport coat, the police captain, and even Hooker has a date, a blind woman who was the only eyewitness to a robbery-sorry, I didn't make this up. But Romano is there, and with these squeaky clean police are standing in the front row, talking with the Beach Boys, I am not sure if I wanted to laugh or throw up. And I love the Beach Boys! Hey kids-your parents really watched this garbage-may answer a lot of questions you have about them.

But both shows have one thing in common besides pretty people-they are all single, even Hooker, who is divorced, his job is now his true love, and marriage. He has a teenage daughter, who he sees once a year, and sent her a birthday card last year, or was it his birthday this year?

In real life, a captain in the CHP told me, ten years ago, that the number one sexual harassment claim is men against other men. And as we watch how people are still single on TV, but have kids, or are openly gay, and have kids, we really see how far we have come, or more accurately fallen. And as weird as Angels and Hookers can be, maybe they had something there. Something we seem to be missing today- a trace of morals. And sadly, it is everywhere, not only on TV. We have become a nation of rules, because we have abandoned our morals. Tony Soprano is our hero now, how far from LA can you get? New Jersey seen through the eyes of a mob leader, and we romanticize about him. Who are our heroes? I meet people from time to time who do something, and expect special recognition-just for doing the right thing. Reward me, and I will be courteous, show up to work on time, and stay within society's laws. But what does it take to stay within God's grace?

Trust. Respect. Obedience. And a relationship with Jesus. Without Him, you are pray to all the evils of the world, and no rules will help or save you. Only His angels can protect, and no police force on earth can keep you safe. It takes Jesus to save you and no one else can. We laugh at the old shows, but when it becomes reality it is sad, and no longer laughable.

So why wait, Jesus is available now. "Ask yourself punk, do you really feel lucky?" Go with God, the plot is real and I already know the ending!

We win!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogpsot.com