close to you-so get ready

One of the major discussions at my first real summer job, working for the Union County Park Commission cleaning iris beds, was musical in nature.  At 16 most of us knew it all, hence the nature of our first job, but when it came to music, we had different views.  We may not have known it all, but we knew what we liked.  It is 1969, great names from music like Tommy James and the Shondells, The Archies, whose song “Sugar, Sugar,” outsold The Stones “Honky Tonk Woman,” The Grass Roots, The Doors, Temptations, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, even the Beatles!  What an exciting time for music, and to be a kid, sorry adult, we were working now, and have some folding green in our wallets.  All $64 of it before taxes!  But having different views, and having a radio to listen to, most of the time it was on WABC, listening to Cousin’ Brucie, and then to a small station from Newark, which I cannot remember the call letters of.  We would each get a turn for 30 minutes, and although I thought I was sophisticated in my music choices, that small Newark station became too much.  I loved Motown, this was Newark, same riots as Detroit two years earlier, but with no soul.  I liked the harmonies, and sang along to the Carpenter’s “Close to You.”  Which drove the fine musical ears of the others nuts.  “How can you listen to that?  You can’t dance to it?”  And when we changed stations, they would look like the Temptations with rakes and shovels moving/working to the music.  “How can you listen to that?  You can’t make out to that?”  And so the battle raged on... Rare Earth’s hit “Get Ready” vs. “Close to You.”   Sometimes the conversations were heated, sometimes comical, we all would laugh.  But when it affected our work, Tony our boss turned off the radio.  And I can still see guys like both the Freds, and Kyle Looney Boy still dancing with their rakes, while I sang.  We were having fun, and although I liked Rare Earth, would not admit it.  I even caught one of the Fred’s telling how his girlfriend liked The Carpenters, I am sure such musical sacrifices would be made in the name of love.  But it was all done in fun, it was entertaining, and 46 years later I still don’t like iris.  But I love The Carpenters, no voice ever like Karen’s, listen to “Superstar,” recorded on the first take, reading the words off of a napkin...the lady has soul.  And when I hear “Get Ready” by Rare Earth, or the original from The Temptations, I want to move and dance like my old work mates did, at least in my mind.  They had soul....

Our paths would intertwine over the years, and we had the bond of that summer.  Our first jobs, from different high schools in different towns, different backgrounds,and different music.  But when we met, we would always go back to the music....and argue and laugh.  I often wonder if we ever knew how special that first job, new friends, and arguing over music would be.  I still listen to music, but not like before.  No radio on my bikes, and rarely am I in a car.  So my old 37 year turntable plays the hits occasionally.  My collection of albums, over 300 stopping in 1975, the year I got saved.  Music changed that year for me, or so I thought, really it was me.  My outlook became different looking through life from Jesus’ perspective, and Christian music was all new.  Daniel Amos, Second Chapter of Acts, Parable, and John Fischer....but I still loved the oldies.  And still listen to them today.  Much to the chagrin of some Christians, who think I am blasphamous-I am, but with style, decadent, I am but with rhythm, and a bad witness...not enough legalism I guess.  But I sing Jesus words to the oldies sometimes, my own style of worship, and a trip down memory lane without critics.  The words to “Close to You” remind me of meeting Jesus, how he longs to be close to me, and you.  “On the day when you were born the angels got together....”  says so right here in the gospels.  And what better harmony than harmony in the spirit.  And whether it be the Temptations, or Rare Earth, “Get Ready” reminds me to be ready, to look up for the day of his return is closer everyday.  “I’m bringin’ you a lover’s tune, so get ready...” and I can see my friends moving to the music, in perfect harmony.  You see Jesus brings harmony into our lives, we have a part to sing with him, and when we become one with him, the song is wonderful.  The tune perfect, and the words mean something.  For what was just a song when unsaved, now the words have meaning.  So it should come as no surprise that so many old love songs can be sung to the Lord.  For if music if the language of love, play on.  And when Jesus is that language of love, the songs never end.  He is the music we long for, and the tunes we live by.  So of course we sing...and he loves it.  Worship he calls it, and when it comes from the heart, he gets Close to You-so Get Ready!

And so our music is personal, like it is with our relationship with God.  I like the old hymns, I also like much of the new Christian music.  My taste is varied, my love for God isn’t.  It cannot match how much he loves us, and did while we were yet sinners.  As I was that summer in 1969.  My life and music changed when I met Jesus, and today I sing a new song...one of life and love.  So maybe music is the language of love, but Jesus is the music.  And all can say to that is “play on!”

Whether 8-track, cassette, album, or CD, let the music of Jesus play on forever in your life.  But the best tunes I hear are from his heart to mine, making the songs come alive.  Songs of love, songs that win a man’s heart, that worship the King, and remind me of how life changed when Jesus entered it.  If he has entered your life, you know what I mean, if not, I welcome you to meet him, to hear music in perfect harmony.  Songs that will make you want to dance with joy, or sing with reverence.  Songs once sung alone, but now a duet, with the Lord.  So Get Ready-Jesus wants to be Close to You.  Looking at the Billboard Top 100 for 1969, so many songs were love songs.  Songs about love, which now have a special meaning because I met the one who is love.  Call it a lesson learned in the iris beds of life...pretty smart for a 16 year old, huh?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

fans don't boo nobodies

It has been said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  “Be like Billy,” an old SNL skit used to tell us.  How may ate their Wheatie’s until Bruce Jenner became Brenda, or is it Bridgit?  We all ate Wonder Bread to build our young bodies 12 ways, try to imagine Nike without Mikey?  The numbers we chose when playing sports were all based on our heroes, 24 for Willie Mays, 12 in football for Joe Namath, and 12 for basketball.  Heavy Joe Willie Namath crossover.  We make so many decisions based on others, to emulate them, to somehow get a boost just by wearing their number.  We all have our heroes, and when they let us down, we make excuses for them.  Such is hero worship, such is idol worship.  But few players, really entertainers on a field instead of a stage, give back like a lesson, like the one from Joe D.  From Joe DiMaggio.  Joltin’ Joe, the Yankee Clipper, who once hit in 56 straight games-no one else has come close.  One day in a game with the Yankees well ahead, he ran out full speed a meaningless ground ball to short.  When asked in the dugout why, he explained “because maybe someone in the stands had never seen Joe DiMaggio play before.”  Most unlike watching Barry Bonds one afternoon, turn an opponents single into a double, twice, by not hustling.  And so we cheer our heroes, buy the products they endorse, and follow them, hoping that somehow the association with them makes us successful. Making excuses for them. Loved, or at least liked. 

Now fans also boo, and with losses come fewer fans, more excuses, and fewer endorsements.  But booing many times can have the same affect as cheering when you boo your opposition.  Some bask in the booing, knowing it is really a compliment form your opponent, recognizing who you are.  Giving you credit for past accomplishments, hoping you fail, which then brings cheers of relief.  Nobody wants to lose, that is not why we play the game.  But in our victories we often make enemies, and their booing is a compliment.  Perhaps Reggie Jackson said it best, Mr. October himself, who when the fans booed, was spurred onto greater things.  His simple comment, “fans don’t boo nobodies,” gives insight as to who he was, what he meant to his team, and what a competitor he really was.  He may have taken on reporters, pitchers, team mates, Billy Martin, and even George Steinbrenner, but Reggie liked to win, to be the man in the moment.  He lived for the glory, and often delivered, earning adulation from both the applause of his fans, and the booing of his enemies.  If only we were so smart, and a little more humble.

Today many speak of unity in the church.  I am invited to worship with like minded men.  Free speech has come to mean say whatever you want, as long as you agree with me.  Clubs form common bounds, from bike brand to territory to riding or cruising.  We all want to be united with someone, or something, and many look to the church.  Which is too many times a dividing factor, when confused with God.  Yet many well meaning Christians and other pulpit people  insist we must unite, we must have unity.  And even quote Jesus, but do so incorrectly.

Jesus came to separate the sheep from the goats.  To save us the sheep, and separate us from those going to hell.  The goats.  To live in this world, but not be a part of it.  Yet many will live as monks, sequestered from society, only hang around with Christians, and only shop at Christian businesses, becoming cult like.  Neglecting Jesus who tells us to be salt and  light in a dying world.  So many want to be like Jesus, from their bumper stickers to their crosses around their necks, they want a form of Godliness, yet they don’t want Jesus.  Noah got it, when leaving the ark the first thing he did was bow and give thanks.  How many of us would have looked for a place to eat?  Or started complaining, or making plans?  Yet Noah sought God first, like we need too.  And in Jesus we find the example of unity, unity in the spirit.  Where we need to seek him and agree with him, not bring him down to our level.  Not making excuses, but showing love tenderly by telling the truth, again tenderly.  All the way to the cross, then to heaven, and as we wait for his return, we still worship him, as he changes us from within.

No one takes Buddha, or Mohhamed’s name in vain.  They have followers, but they are not God.  They are nobodies, and like Reggie says, “ no one boos nobodies.”  Maybe in cursing Jesus they give more credence to his words and actions than many of our praises.  Jesus is the ultimate somebody, we all once booed him, but through salvation, he has made a way.  The way to his father in heaven, the way to eternal life, instead of eternal damnation. No one else promised that, or can deliver that.  Only Jesus.  Booing Jesus like they did in front of Pilate, maybe more of a recognition of who he was than of all those who earlier in the week shouted “hosanna.”  And it goes on today...

Do you honor Jesus by praising or by booing?  Both tell us who he is, but also tell us who you are.  Only Jesus can and will forgive.  All other heroes have retired, Jesus still lives.  The choice you get to make is sheep or goat?  Will you be a winner in Christ, or strike out in the big game becoming a goat?  One pitch can make you a hero, one missed foul shot a goat.  One completed pass can make you a star, one dropped pass a loser.  Become the winner you need to be, you want to be in Jesus Christ today.  And live for him, loving when the odds are against you, seeing how he turns defeat into victory.  Live life as if no one has seen him before, and by seeing you may see God, and desire him more.  Run out the meaningless ground balls, for we show our true character in mundane daily chores and more in defeat.  Be united in the spirit, true unity, and watch as the things of God become more familiar.  Some will cheer, some will boo, both will recognize Christ in you.  Jesus assures us when we are booed, they are really booing him.  Make sure he is the one on your cereal box, the number on your back, the sticker on your bumper.  Be like Jesus, loving, forgiving, caring, and compassionate. 

Some choose to live everyday as a life and death game.  Be assured you will see a lot death that way.  We don’t win every battle, we do win the war.  Fans don’t boo nobodies, if you are booed, persecuted, or hated, you must have made an impact somewhere.  Someone saw Jesus in you.  Jesus rode into Jerusalem a hero, and was crucified as a loser.  Only his real fans knew the difference.  Are you booing or cheering at the cross?  Has your walk upset others enough to hate you?  Keep going, don’t drop your cross.  Your reaction will tell more than your actions.  After all, cheering and booing are both reactions aren’t they?  And both may be a better indication of who Jesus is in your life than we want to know. 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

cars my kids never knew

My friend really is a rocket scientist, yet when I mentioned some cars from my early driving days he knew none of them.  One generation apart, a mere 25 years, and cars I grew up with were unknown entities to him.  He drives a little Honda, a Fit, which although tiny, is still bigger than the first Honda cars, the 600.  Bigger than the first Civic, and bigger than the first Accord.  His car history is much different than mine, and the names I mentioned drew a blank from him.  My first car, I shared it with my mother, was a 1966 Rambler Classic 770, top of the line Classic in 1966.  A 4 door with their famous 232 inline six, it was wheels, and I was glad to have it.  With the famous reclining front seats that made into a bed, it may not have had much sex appeal, but once inside....and with a newly installed under dash 8-track, no more double dates, or rides from my father.  Or hers.  But no one cool drove Ramblers, and soon it was traded in on a Pinto, 1971 version.  No one cool drove them either.  The first year, that green that every other Ford car seemed to be painted, 2000cc’s of muscle, mated to a floor shifted automatic.  Four on the floor were the amount of feet counting my date.  Green vinyl everywhere, from seats to dash to the floor, it could handle 7 high school seniors who cut class to go to the shore uncomfortably, it was made to seat 4.  A trunk nothing fit into, it finally died years later when the intake manifold vibrated off, causing it to stall at a stop light.  But along the way mag wheels and Wide Oval Firestones were added, and shifting the auto manually gave the illusion of speed, even if it was slow.  Ford made millions of them, where are they all today?

But when I mentioned the first car I owned, bought with money saved from summer jobs and my paper route, he knew the name-BMW.  Except he had never heard of the 2002, or its smaller engined brother I had, the 1600.  He had owned a BMW, but never knew of Max Hoffman’s gift to the colonies, the 2002.  The car that made everybody’s best 10 list in the late 60’s, early 70’s.  A two door, four seat sedan, OHC 4 cylinder that handled. It had four on the floor, disc brakes, and handled.  I suckered many a Corvette into corners, only to leave them behind until they blew by me giving me a salute in the straights.  A car today highly collectible, that my father bought in 1969, not because he liked cars, but because it was German, and highly rated.  Remember he owned Ramblers.  And when I got my license, he sold it to me for $1900, what they offered him in trade in 1972 against a new 2002, for $4000.  I still have his cancelled check.  So my rocket science friend never knew of his car’s legacy, of how there was a time when BMW stood for British what?  Or how the yuppies of today were never so cool as to own a real BMW, back when they were just another car from Germany. That sports cars guys drove.   He was going to look them up, I hope he does, our roots are important, knowing where we come from and where we have been can help guide us to where we are going.  Three cars from a generation ago, what will my kids remember?

Gone since 2000 are such nameplates as Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Plymouth, Mercury, and Saturn.  Joining the likes of Hudson, Kaiser, Packard, Studebaker, and even Rambler.  No more Pintos, Vegas, Gremlins.  No more hood pins, racing stripes, Wide Ovals, or mags.  No more setting the timing, replacing plus and points.  No more manual windows, or AM radios.  5% of all cars made have clutches, and most cannot drive when it is only a point and steer automatic.  No more bias ply tires that smoked so easy, but wobbled us down the road.  Drum brakes a memory.  Bench seats, hub caps, and big cubic inch V-8’s-all cars my kids never knew.  But learn about when they visit car shows, and listen to us old guys share our memories.  Try to explain a 4 speed, dual quad, posi-traction 409 to my friend today.  Or any kid.  No more burning rubber, traction controls have killed that.  From basic transportation 110 years ago, back to it again, just more modern.  But even the first cars were more exciting than a horse...a car I never knew.

Scripture tells us to take care of widows and  orphans.  That is true ministry.  Yet so many single moms, widowed or not, are trying to raise families today.  God ordained families of a mother and a father, a man and his wife, both having responsibilities, but each sharing a burden, equal yet different.  Moms staying home and raising kids, taking care of the home, running it, while the father goes to work, and earns a salary to support his family.  It used to be that way, sadly so many today don’t know homes like that.  With the divorce rate at 50%, and the fatherless birth rate well over that, these are destroying society.  Sitting down with a family at dinner are things that kids today never knew.  That only exist in our memories, and won’t be found in theirs.  Kids orphaned maybe not at birth, but in society, raising themselves after school, fixing dinner themselves, missing Father’s Day because they never knew their father.  Many die today orphans of society, yet God has not abandoned them.  Today we can know our heavenly father through Jesus.  Fatherless homes and lives do not need to be Godless homes and lives, Jesus changes all that.  He cared for the widows and orphans, reuniting us with his father.  You see we were once all orphaned from heaven, separated by sin.  Cast out of the Garden, with only laws to guide us.  Jesus changed all that, adding love, fulfilling the laws in one action.  For 2000 years bringing sinful orphans back into the family of God, bringing into his family.  Brothers and sisters of different parents, but with only one God, one Father, and one spirit.  We are told to come to Christ as little children, to a God we didn’t know.  And Jesus is the way, the way back, the maker of families, the reuniter of lost souls.  The connection to a living God, who sought us out, when we weren’t looking for him.

Many today are looking for something to build a family, to heal wounds, to just get through another day.  Programs, processes, and promotions don’t make it.  Just another band aid on an open wound.  They are looking for something, when really it is the someone of Jesus Christ.  A real person, not a policy.  Not a set of rules, but true love.  Forgiveness, grace, mercy, and joy.  Who cannot use a little,or a lot more of those?  So while we go to old car shows to remember, we need to maybe take a kid along.  Be a father figure, and guide them.  Evangelizing takes place outside the church, and lost souls are found at drag strips, car shows, and cruise ins.  Share a night with a lost kid, or adult, make a friend, and let them see the love of Jesus in your life.  Introduce them to a man they never knew, but whose name they use in vain.  Make them feel wanted, part of a family, and soon sharing Jesus verbally is simple.  They hear your words, because your audio matches your visual.  They will see Jesus in your life, what better example of love can you show?

What will your kids share with their friends about cars?  Motorcycles?  Jesus?  Today is right now everyday, and we have a chance to change tomorrow.  Don’t let your family, friends, or relatives become orphans till death do they part.  Jesus saves, racers, bikers, inmates, guards, mothers and father, kids, and all who still have breath.  Even a rocket scientist who never saw a Rambler, never heard of a 2002.  But he knows Jesus, and where he is going.  The gospel, so simple even a rocket scientist can get it.  And guys in cars, and on bikes.  Simple so we can get it, free so we can afford it.  Don’t let the years pass without knowing Jesus.  There were millions of Pintos made, where are they today?  There was only one Jesus....where he is in your life makes all the difference.  Don’t let him be somebody your kids never knew.  God sent Jesus, where are you with him today?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

looking out for #1

Bachman, Turner Overdrive, or BTO, had a hit in the seventies called “Looking Out for Number 1.”  The same guys that brought you the iconic “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet.”  How my English teachers would blush.  But in life we have been taught to look out for ourselves.  To take care of number 1, or as Angel Martin says “numero uno.”  In sports we all our team to win, to be #1.  We race to wear #1, to qualify at the pole position, and to win.  Second place is first loser, no one looks out for #2, although Rodney Dangerfield once remarked “look out for #1, and don’t step in #2.”  Even a preschooler understands that.  So from an early age we are taught to look out for ourselves, we are the most important person in our lives.  It is all about us.  For a reminder, consider the Kardashians next time you look at a picture with you in it, the first one you look for is you.  Looking out for #1.  Who are you looking for in the mirror?  #1-you.  Our lives revolve around us whether we admit it or not.  The exception being when accused, then we blame someone else, again looking out for #1. 

Three Dog Night had another hit “One.”  In it they sang how “one is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do...” and how “two can be as sad as one...”  Loneliness affecting your #1 status after a breakup, not your choice.  But in life we find that in a world that tells us how much it cares, listen to any old love song, that it is still about us.  And us is the best gospel we will ever know.  We know us better than others, showing sometimes only what we want others to see, hoping they don’t see what we don’t want them to see. Looking out for #1.  In marriage we find the two becoming one, yet many divorces occur when each partner is looking out for #1.  We give advice to others, and we live the lifestyle ourselves looking out for #1.  So get over it, denying it is only admission of how you are looking out for yourself, old numero uno. Yet at the end of many days we do find that one is a lonely number, for no one else will ever care about you as much.  Except maybe your dog, and he knows you.  Go figure.  But when our focus is on ourselves, we do not see others, we miss blessings, and in our striving to be #1 we  step over others.  The rich man stepping over Lazarus, while not stepping in #2.  We are told to be careful who we step on while going to the top, they may be the same ones we trip over on our way down.  And as fast as you rise, the same speed you may fall.  It’s called gravity, a law not a theory.  Number one with a bullet, one hit wonders, one game from the championship, one day from death.  We all want to be #1, and so we look out for #1.  Never knowing the price we may be paying.

And then along comes Jesus.  You just know that the ultimate #1, God’s first and only son would have a different viewpoint.  When we think of #1 we think of success, victory, and glory.  We think of the 99 who made it, glad to be part of it, but Jesus thinks of the lost sheep, the one in 99 who is still suffering.  He goes back, as miners do in a cave in, never satisfied until the last man is out.  The Captain never leaves his ship until the last passenger is off.  And so Jesus is patient with us that none should perish.  The one who is forgotten, he remembers.  He could brag on the 99 he saved, 99 out of 100 is a pretty good score, yet he rather brag and be remembered for the one he goes back for, the one lost or left behind.  A true champion reviews his last game, and sees the weaknesses, where the victory escaped, and Jesus advises us to do the same thing, to consider the one left behind.  He is like the marksman, who is known by his aim and not his arrows.  His target is your heart, the arrows are love.  Others may shoot at you, only he has the aim and love to be a true marksman.  Many brag about their quiver, Jesus testifies of his aim.  To him each one of us is a #1, and he will not rest until all his #1’s are safe in his quiver.

Yet many in their striving to be #1 neglect the only one who can save.  They worship anything or anyone but the one who can save.  By looking out for #1 they deny Jesus, and never gain the victory they are really seeking.  Andy Warhol once advised how everyone will have their 15 minutes of fame.  900 seconds if that makes it seem longer.  But after you only have the memories, and the moment is gone.  You are left looking for you in the picture, still lost, fame gone.  But Jesus is still seeking you, no matter where you are in the photo, you are #1 to him.  And when he is looking out for #1, it makes a lasting difference.  Today before you brag on your accomplishments, write another resume of things left to do.  Of people you offended, of those who you treated like #2. 
Turn to Christ, and look to #1, and become that #1 he wants you to be.  Looking out for others, rejoicing with the 99, but still looking for that lost one.  We were all that lost one once, and Jesus sought us, and when we found him we found life.  Forgiveness.  Acceptance by God.  All the things that escaped us when we were looking out for ourselves, when we were #1.  Putting Jesus first, who has the bragging rights to us, yet will go back after the lost one.  Looking out for #1 in love, what he does best.

If you are still looking for that one, Jesus is looking for you.  Today can be the day you are united in Christ with the other 99, and praise him for what he has done for you.  And you can start praying and ministering to the one you once were.  Ask any teacher, their reward is seeing the student teach them by the lessons they were taught.  As the great teacher, rabboni, Jesus invites you to be a #1 with him, and seek out other #1’s.  Looking out for #1 is what it is all about, and when Jesus is the one we can look for others.  We can love others as we love ourselves, because he loved us first.  We can understand why greater love has no man than to lay down his life for another, because we know the greatest love.  He came to die while we were yet sinners.  You and me.  When we were the lost one in 99.  We all want to be #1, Jesus sees us as that one, and who we can become in him.  Come to Jesus, believe me you ain’t seen nothing yet!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

how do you guys drive those things?

I had some business to do last night downtown, so decided to take the Ranger.  Usually I ride, but I hadn’t ridden in the truck in a month, so I figured I’d drive.  How do you guys drive those things?  First the freeways were busy, can’t lane split in a truck.  I figured it cost me another 10-15 minutes on a 35 mile ride.  You do the math, I had been cruising at 70 straight up. What should have been an easy 30 minute ride turned into 45.  With the added stress on others, I was in no hurry, but just looking in other cars, at others, between cell phones, girls putting on make-up, and some rushing to get home by changing lanes, cutting off others, I’ll think twice before taking the truck again.  Then since I was alone, no HOV, or commuter lane for me.  As bikes and others zipped by, I sat trapped.  In a cage, hence the name we call cars....But first before setting off I needed gas, twice as much to fill what even my largest tank, the Tiger holds 6.3 gallons, costs, and the truck gets 18. With the AC off.  So the cost in money, and time was adding up.  Then where to park, looking for a space, I finally parked at Horton Plaza, which with validation has a 3 hour free parking.  If you take the time to validate, considering you can find the machine, well hidden in public view, but not labeled.  Paid parking after is a revenue enhancer.  There were any bikes parked on the street that night, some space even right in front of where I was going.  FREE space for motorcycles.  Plus I had to walk 3 blocks back and forth from my destination to get the truck.  More time wasted, minimal wear on my Nikes.  But when all was said and done, it had taken me twice as long, cost twice as much to achieve the same thing.  So tell me, how do you guys drive those things?

Now just imagine you had twice the time and twice the money to travel.  You can if you ride a motorcycle.  Even at higher speeds, 80+, I get over 40 mpg, I know so does your Prius.  Ask your kid which is cooler.  On a bike you have the wind in your face, in a car, turn up the blower.  Now I did listen to Poco while driving, but nothing sounds better than a tuned exhaust, twist the throttle and make your own music.  It was cooler last night, so I might have had on a jacket, not in the car.  No bumper stickers on a motorcycle either, one more “My Honor student” sticker I many go postal.  Who cares...and after one look at who’s driving, and how, I rather wish they had taken a driving lesson or two-to learn to drive.  Maybe the honor doesn’t translate to road manners.  Or skills.  Or choice of cars.  And now with the draught official, Governor Brown said so last week, no one washes their cars.  How do you guys see out of dirty windshields?  Maybe the writing on the rear window at least gives some clean spot a chance.  We are proud of our bikes, know all about them, have a special license to ride one, and dress accordingly.  I don’t remember taking my driving in any of 5 states where cell phone skills were a bonus.  Or adding eye shadow at 65 was bonus points.  Or riding on my tail was drafting.  So maybe you guys who drive are really super heroes, those of us who ride just mere mortals.  Who enjoy the freedom of riding, the cost benefits, parking benefits, and being cool.  No one ever accused anyone of being cool in a Prius.  James Dean in a Prius?  Steve McQueen?  And these guys were also car guys....so how do you guys drive those things?  Have you no moral fibre, no cool bone in your body?  Is it really more fun filling up for $75, then wasting gas sitting in traffic?  And they called Brando “the Wild One?”

Would Jesus ride or drive?  Depends, on how cool you think he was, and is.  Many Christian bike clubs exist, serving in many capacities.  Where are all the Christian Car Ministries?  Now before you burn me in effegy, I know you are out there.  But where is the unity, the brotherhood found among bikers?  When have Ford and Chevy guys ever gotten along?  At least Harley and others do, come on BMW riders.  And car owners.  Where is the love except for your car?  Your commute?  How many Toy Drives do you do?  How many only communicate via sign language, where we visit when we stop with each other.  You see we have a freedom when we ride, we don’t hide behind locked doors, and 4000 pounds of steel and stereo.  We have a spirit of freedom second only to Jesus, and when the two are combined, cool things happen. 

A phone directory comes out each year of Christian businesses.  Personally, I want the best repairman for my car, or dryer when it breaks.  Why settle for second best, just because of a Jesus sticker in his ad?  On his bumper?  Why are some preaching to the choir, when we can be visiting and sharing with the lost while they fix my stuff.  We miss these incredible chances to witness hiding behind a sticker, or locked in a cage on a freeway.  I have spent many good times waiting in shops, just visiting and meeting others waiting, does the great commission of “as you go share the gospel,” mean we should only share with each other?  Didn’t someone share Christ with you before you were saved, or were you different?  So you pass on the same lack of concern to others.  We live in the world, get over it.  You just aren’t supposed to be of it.  Does sitting in church make you a pew, although you may put one off?  Does only doing business with other Christians make you an evangelist?  Where are the Lazaruses God places in your path everyday, run over while locked behind a windshield?  Or do you stop and visit?  How can we tell if you are a Christian, by your bumper sticker?  Jut not your driving.  A simple ministry just might be letting another car cut in front of you.  Stopping to let a pedestrian cross the street.  Pay the toll for the car behind you....goodness and kindness, both fruit of the spirit.  Just like the joy and peace it brings.  Would Jesus talk on a cell phone while cutting you off? 

In a perfect world we would all ride motorcycles.  In a perfect world we would all be saved.  That world is coming soon, it is called heaven, payable at death.  We leave earth, and receive our final reward.  We are finally with Jesus.  Both those who ride, and those who drive.  Like MLK once preached, “free at last, my God I am free at last.”  But in the meantime, we are here to be ambassadors, evangelists, teachers, counselors, and representatives of Jesus.  To not isolate ourselves from the world, but to be salt and light in it.  Not with our high beams on blinding traffic, but merging into it, using skills and courtesy via the holy spirit.  The same you want others to show you, the same Jesus shows you.  On earth, as it will be in heaven....

If stuck in a car, drive your bumper sticker today.  Show Christ as you drive.  As you live.  Don’t brag about what a great Christian you are, show us.  We want to see it.  And we forgive you, just as Jesus forgives us.  Just don’t put us in a position so we have to.

A sign outside many small towns says “drive like hell through our town you’ll get there.” Live like hell you’ll get there too.  We ride to live, not to die.  Jesus died so we can live.  Only Christian bikers will know the true freedom in Christ.  Now tell me, how do you guys drive those things?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com 

the world needs ditch diggers, too

When we were kids, up into the jr. high school years, attending Saturday afternoon football games for our high school got our adrenaline pumping.  We would afterwards head to a park, and then play some football ourselves, generally tackle with  no equipment, in cooler temps with waning  sunlight.  We would dream of being the heroes we saw that afternoon, knowing that someday when we got our chances to play on the big field, in the big game, we would give our all and the fans would cheer.  We even had our Thanksgiving Day all planned out, football in the morning, hopefully at home our senior year, winning in the last moments, each one of us would intercept, or recover the fumble and score with seconds left, and then onto a fan celebration, and then home for family to heap adoration on us.  Big dreams, for a bunch of kids who really just wanted to play, with no idea of all the practice it would take just to make the team, and that the opposing teams were having the same dreams as ours.  something, someone had to give....and it wasn’t going to be us!

How many times after Wednesday nights at Raceway Park at Englishtown, NJ did we burn rubber, or try to in our parent’s Pinto, Rambler, Vega, VW, or other family sedan as our adrenaline was pumping from the hours of watching burnouts and drag racing.  Revving the engine pretending we were Jungle Jim Lieberman, Fearless Fred Goeske, Dyno Don Nicholson, and others, we would soon be brought back to reality by the track workers telling us no racing, and the ever present law enforcement just visible enough to warn us a ticket was waiting for us with our name on it.  And at every stop light on the way home, the car in the next lane was our next opponent.  Young girl, nun, or friend, they were our opponent, they just didn’t know it, and many a race was won by me smoking them off the line, only they didn’t know they were even racing.  Very few of us could afford at the time the extra $10 it took to race that night, as many passes as you could, the real racing was so close, yet so far.  Run what you brung, our best chance was knowing someone who did, and would let us hang out. 

Some of us would put racing stickers on our parent’s cars, I even had an Honest Charley sticker on my Dad’s VW.  Hooker Headers, Moon Eyes, Cragar, and Bell Helmet stickers were found on many of our parent’s cars, after much begging, and reassuring them it was nothing dirty.  We just wanted to fit in, and the stickers helped.  After much begging and whining, and convincing my parents that mag wheels and wide tires would not ruin their Pinto, their second car, Ansen Sprints with Wide Oval Firestones were mounted, meaty A70x13-today just slightly narrower than the tires on my Bonneville, but in 1972 they were a big deal.  Raised white letters!  Hooker Header sticker-let’s race!  On the days they would let me borrow the car....

As kids we had big dreams, even in our young adult years we still dreamt big.  No one set off to become mediocre, or worse yet to fail.  But in every test, every interview, every sales call, there would be winners and losers.  It would never happen to us, then real life set in.  And to many of us a life of mediocrity, of just getting by was a fading dream, one we would be happy to realize.  Which would carry us onto middle age, some to retirement, and then to the grave.  The old dreams becoming tainted, then forgotten.   A life of mostly stickers on a car, rather than attaining that car.  No cheers from the field, we were spectators, fighting for a seat on the 50 yard line, or Row E at Raceway Park.  Some became bitter, some never left high school, and some found solace in drugs, alcohol, careers, and other women. Never knowing success as they had dreamed it, never realizing that when someone wins, someone has to lose.  And the competition is tougher on the street, on the track, and on the field than it is in our dreams.

Two scriptures need to be pointed out here.  One, Jeremiah 29 tells us that “God has plans for us, for a hope and a future.”  When we seek him with all our heart.  Then listen.  OOPS!  We don’t tell, we ask, much different than our dreams.  And God rewards at many levels, for he knows the heart.  And doing his will, you will find joy and peace, a contentment not found in any dreams, but only in Jesus.  No matter where you are stuck, or where you are succeeding, Jesus has plans for you.  As Judge Smales in Caddy Shack reminds us “the world needs ditch diggers too Danny,” not all who dream own the company, or get burdened down with the responsibility of running it.  Too many company owners have a company that owns them.

The other scripture is “everything is going to burn.” Anyway.  Never heard from the lips of a riding young star, but often heard as an excuse from the lips of someone on the way down and out.  True it will all burn someday, but God still has a plan for you.  For that hope, but we fail to ask. To call on him with all our hearts.  We do not make the commitment to him, to let God see us through the tough times so we can praise him in the good ones.  We want gain with no pain, Jesus showed us his pain was our gain.  We want it all right now, to start at the top and work our way down.  Only in Christ will we see true success, a goal attained, and lives changed.  God never promises us success, all he wants is faithfulness.  To trust him....a dream for some, life for those who do.

Let Jesus into your life today.  Be guided by his spirit, recognizing his voice, and then following him.  Picking up your cross, he tells us, for we all have a cross to bear.  And it is at the cross that victory was won, that death was defeated, and that the race was over.  Life began that day at the cross, some saw only a man dying, but those who know Jesus it means new life.  Eternal life.  And a plan for our life while still here on earth.  We are invited to the banquet in heaven, not as a spectator, not even as guests, but as members of the family.  We rule and reign with Christ....no worldly success can give us what Jesus offers.  No bumper sticker, Bible cover, T shirt, or listening to KWVE can give us what Jesus has for us.  They can add to it, but without Jesus there will never be a victory.  No longer a dream, but reality.

As kids we dreamed big dreams, life brought us down to real life.  Jesus is that real life, he is life.  Turn to him and find victory in defeat, life in death, and a hope and a future, on earth as it is in heaven.  Young men still dream dreams, and older men still tell stories.  Let yours be of Jesus in your life as you get older.  Inspire the younger to seek him, and let them find their dreams in the reality of him.  Jesus saves, and you can be saved today.  Victory awaits those that believe and follow.  For every guy wanting to race, there is one who needs Jesus.  Be that one who leads him to salvation, let your life on and off the field reflect him in all you do.  “Well done my good and faithful servant,” await those who do in heaven.  An eternal victory.  For all others a victory that may be short lived, the next opponent ready to knock you off.  Be that winner in Jesus....the lights are staging right now, who will win the race for your soul? 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com