did not finish beats did not start everytime

Having endured too many motivational meetings in my time, I am keenly aware of all the buzz words we are told to adhere too.  To say positive things instead of negative things to keep the good energy flowing, see there goes one.  My glass is half full, not half empty.  Depends on if I drank some of it, or only wanted a swallow for my Oreos.  You will often hear racers tell you “to finish first, first you must finish.”  An ode to those who are known for crashing on the first lap.  Or running out of gas like Robbie Gordon 5 miles from winning the Indy 500. Or when the going gets tough, the tough get going.  Going where?  Rushing off into the oblivion?  We used to tell others there is no substitute for cubic inches, now with smaller engines with turbos making more power, there is no substitute for higher pressures.  I guess there is a replacement for displacement.  How about winner being first loser?  A podium finish may not get you the trophy girl, but you do get to spray other racers with champagne.  Even the second place winner in a Monopoly beauty contest got $10.  I got so sick of hearing that if you don’t plan you are planning to fail I failed planning, and started doing.  Which only upset the managers, particularly when I quit going to sales meetings.  Boring, just a chance to get away from getting things done. Even Tom Waites weighed in on giving advice, saying “I rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.”   But yesterday I came across a new one, one that I have been living based on a variation of its theme.  Simply put it states, “Did not finish beats did not start every time.”   Pause to reflect on that a moment.

I have always encouraged my sons to be themselves, which occasionally got them in trouble, and me criticized for being a lousy father.  A few years ago when Christopher decided to go after his dream of music, I wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t for me, but for him, and I encouraged it.  I told him “don’t ever look back and say I wish I had taken the chance.”  And he didn’t and now is playing around the world living his dream.  Not famous, but secure in who he is, and still chasing his dream to higher ground.  He took the chance, having parents who encourage him helped him, and I wonder if he had never started, how he would have ended up.  Always wondering “what if...”  too many live a what if life, for no other reason than that is their choice.

God has given us this incredible gift of 20/20 hindsight.  The ability to look back at a time when we were too blind to look ahead.  Losing the highest paying job in 2005 looked like a disaster at the time, but it enabled me to go on my First Torches Across America ride, and meet so many who touched my life.  If working, I never would have gone.  Meeting Father Al and becoming part of the Flight 93 Chapel led me introduce other so it, and increase their ministries.  God knew, I only saw losing my income at the time.  What I got back can never be measured in dollars.  So many of us fail because we never try-there goes one of those sayings again. Over the years we ride differently, seeing more while riding less, our eyes trained to stop when the opportunity presents itself.  And sometimes you don’t recognize the opportunity until you have passed it by, now I stop.  I check out roads wondering where they go, increasing my wandering while doing it.  I meet people, learn about local history, places to eat, and places to avoid just by taking the time to wander.  Some great rides had been passed by for years only because I was in such a hurry to get there-hurry up and wait, when I could have been riding.  I am not quite ready for the cruiser set yet, but all my bikes seem to be able to execute slower speeds when dictated by my right wrist.  Which is controlled by my mind, which I have been told is a horrible thing to waste.  So I find myself living life not worrying about the finish, but more concerned about the starting.  I eventually will get there, it is the memories along the way that I remember most.

When Bill Shakespeare wrote “it is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all,” he may have a point. At least in theatrical audiences, and in riding.  It is better to have ridden a motorcycle and lost, than to never have ridden at all.  And with many of my age group giving up riding, I hear the tales of what they used to do, but cannot any more.  Health, income, finances, and grandchildren being the excuses I hear, I counter with riding keeps me healthy, a great exercise.  What can be cheaper entertainment than a ride burning a tank of gas, going to see your grandchildren?  And giving them a ride?  And telling them stories of where you have ridden?  Sure beats the rereading of minutes from your meetings.  What stories, testimonies do you pass on, and keep alive?

Sadly I know many who are getting old because the quit riding, not quitting because the they got old.  Same with a walk with God.  Situations changed, and they didn’t.  So they stopped going to church, stopped going to Bible studies, and soon Jesus was not part of their lives anymore.  Situations dictated their walk rather than the spirit.  Where once they shared testimonies, now they offered excuses, and soon their life of joy became one of trouble.  No peace because of no Jesus.  A bad situation may have caused them to stumble, one good decision can forgive all that.  All they have to do is ask.  Maybe not backslidden as the church defines it, but people who are just looking for a way back.  And who are a great encouragement to others when they come back.

But worse are those who lived a life without Christ.  Maybe they went to church, might have joined even, but never knew Jesus.  And when times got tough, took wrong alternatives.  Some unto death.  They never got the chance to finish in heaven because they never started with Jesus.  They sought alternative methods, alternative gods, a picture of a man kneeling in pain before a BMW with its hood open and smoke pouring out shows where they chose to worship.  Alternative gods will eventually break down, leave you alone, and cannot save.  I can hug my motorcycles, they cannot hug me back.  They can hug the curves, the curves have no affection for me in return.  Only Jesus never fails.  Never.  And with the records of so many failing without him, doesn’t taking a chance on him make sense?  Why do so many who know him make it through the tough times,when others who have earthly riches worry and never make it?  Would you rather hear my testimonies or my excuses?

I admire those who at least try, even if they fail.  A wise man once told me that only successful men fail at least once.  And grow from it.  Why go to hell if you don’t have to?  Learn from those who have lost, and turned to Jesus and won heaven.  Who have been forgiven, and have testimonies.  Who ride into old age, and glide into eternity.  Who live their dream of heaven, because God leads them there.   Even those who choose Christ with a little faith are better off, even if they worry from time to time.  We are all a work in process.  It is who we turn to in times of trouble that separate us from making excuses.  How many testimonies have you passed up by making excuses?  I hope not as many as the chances to make one you have today.

A positive mental attitude will not get you to heaven, only Jesus will.  Whiners who believe inherit it too, they just didn’t enjoy the ride.  Some are just along for the ride, I choose to make Jesus the ride. And to enjoy it.  And watch as each day presents problems that he takes me through.  Not around but through.  Momentary light afflictions Paul called them.  Losing a job, facing cancer, having a car stolen, being told no.  Each one a chance for God to be God.  To show you his love, to build a testimony to encourage others with.  I have learned that every no answer means a better yes is coming.  From a loving father who loves me.  Maybe David said it best when confronted by Goliath.  “He was with me against the bear and the lion, why should I worry now?”   Even Alfred E. Newman of MAD magazine tells us “What, me worry?”  Can God speak through MAD?  He did speak through an ass once?

Country western songs remind us that a wife leaves, you lose your job, and your dog runs away.  And to find solace in Jack.  Jesus tells us you can have your marriage healed, he provides, and your dog will come home.  And to find solace, peace in him.  Of course if you don’t give him a chance, you will never know.  So maybe did not finish does beat does not start.  Start today and find out.  How many non-running bikes have been sold when they only needed gas or a tune up?   Don’t give up, give in to Christ.  And win the most important race of all, the human race.  Life here is a preparation for after life, no life here, no life after.  Jesus is life, no others are.  You cannot finish what you don’t start.  Life begins with Jesus.  With no end in sight....let’s ride.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

a prisoner's letters, circa AD 2015

To mimic the words from Carly Simon’s “No Secrets,”  “we have a cast of characters from A to Z....”  And sadly built in prejudices with it.  We are into big names, celebrities, those who when we mention their name makes us feel good, and hopefully install some envy in those we tell.  Mention all time great bands, and among them who has seen Emerson, Lake, and Palmer 5 times like I have?  Partied with the Beach Boys Mike Love?  Been on stage with Alice Cooper for “Welcome to My Nightmare?” Or saw The Eagles when they were a warm up band for Robin Trower?  Who?  See you are impressed with names, and we all still pay big dollars to see them.  But how many warm up bands were actually the big event, you just weren’t ready for it?  We saw Springsteen at the Felt Forum, warm up for Chicago, who we went to see.  Their first public appearance playing “Born to Run,” their opening song, and the place went nuts.  The album to be released a few months later.  We left shortly after Chicago started exhausted from the first band.  So as some would tend to be more careful with their money, who they go to see, some also take a snobby attitude to who they see.  And what they read.  And who they fellowship with...for example.

So many churches today write checks in lieu of physical contact with the poor, homeless, and those in prison.  They do pen pal letters, often off of a sample letter provided for them, preaching Jesus, but never getting to know the addressee.  Never listening, only talking, and they call that ministry.  Talking a language that only other church folk know, and telling each other what a good job they have done taking the gospel to the lost.  But ask them to visit, to sit with one when they have done their time, and the mood changes.  I have seen it...from those who write the letters.  They feel safe behind an address where they will never have to meet one on one, safe the addressees are behind bars, when it is them who are imprisoned by their beliefs, and when they do their true heart is exposed.  Works with pastors too, how many are much different when they don’t have a pulpit to hide behind, and literally preach to the choir?  Who never get outside the four walls of the church, and never encounter those who will never enter one?  If you can associate yourself with the above, Jesus is waiting, and will change your heart and add blessings to your life.  And you get to see the gospel in action.  Theory vs. application.  But you might get your suit wrinkled, hands dirty, and maybe even hear the seven words you can’t say on TV.  You might encounter those who smell bad, but need a hug.  Who are hungry and need a meal.  Who need the love of Jesus, not just the preaching of it.  We need to spend more time where Jesus did, outside the temple and on the street where the action is.  Where the disciples hung out, and where sin exists.  Enough exists freely within the four walls, we need to get out with the gospel and see lives changed, yet we have to change and many don’t want to.  “Don’t mess with me, I am a Christian.  I gave to missions.  I give my old suits to charity.  I’ve done my part...”  Parts, but not the whole part, the part that comes from the heart.  From pastors to church folk, are you willing to go where God sends you without a pulpit to hide behind?  Not just a once a month feel good experience, but into the core of sin and be that light?  Would you become like the Apostle Paul?  Would you?  Where were you when you found Jesus?

But the elite, those with riches look at us differently.  They like the testimonies, at least for awhile.  Then they are off to another round of golf.  Only knowing about God what the pastor teaches them, no more influence outside the four walls.  What would be your reaction if next week a man serving a long sentence was paroled and made your pastor?  No seminary, no church experience, just the spirit guiding him.  Sharing testimonies, stories, and prayers with a dying audience.  Whose words might carry less importance because of who he was, not because of who Jesus is.  Imagine such a man, writing letters to churches, and bringing sin to light, but also forgiveness and the gospel.  Suppose this prisoner was an outlaw, rebel rouser, and had been at one time a big name among the public.  But now was forgotten in jail, and now out.  Sharing his letters he wrote to the congregations....would you be interested?  Would you go to his church?  Take communion with him?  What if you didn’t know what the looked like and found yourself sitting next to him, how would you react?  What true colors would you not want us to see?  Yet this man, this prisoner wrote most of the New Testament, while in jail!  I talk of the Apostle Paul.  The original prison minister.  His words are spoken in your church, but would he be allowed?   Let’s pause so you can formulate your answer....

Many think it is nice I write to prisoners, they call it a prison ministry, I correct them.  I have a prisoner ministry with men and women I may never meet this side of heaven.  Who need Jesus, who love Jesus, and whose letters they write influence and encourage me.  Who are true ministers of the gospel, not just sayers.  They just live in a gated community.   Who love Jesus but have sinned, and God allowed them to be incarcerated.  So others may hear the word.  Just like Paul.  How many lives they touch directly or indirectly we will never know, but God does.  True ministry comes from the heart of God via the spirit through men to those who are in need.  True ministry is seeing a need and filling it.  Not directed from the pulpit, but by the spirit.  Gaining access outside the physical church, and watching the church grow outside its four walls.  Now how do you feel knowing your message last Sunday came from prison?  From a prisoner?  Who was a rebel among rebels, happy to share with another living in a gated community, just not with bars to keep prisoners in, but prisoners out.  Whose letters would you rather read?

Paul was locked up 24/7 for years, but knew a freedom few know in the spirit.  If in jail, he shared Jesus.  If in the church he shared Jesus.  With fellow Pharisees, he shared Jesus.  And through his letters from jail to a dying world, to a young church, to young churches needing guidance, he shared Jesus.  And he didn’t care who knew!  How many Tweets do you delete?  All Paul’s brought glory to God.  Face to face, rather than Facebook.  Can you imagine how big his friend list would be?  Then consider the Facebook page of Jesus, the Bible.  There long before the internet, and more impressive.  Would you pay more money to hear Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or the Apostle Paul?  Note-you can hear from him for free weekly if you are in a God based fellowship.  Jobs is gone, still time to invite Gates. 

Springsteen lit up the Felt Forum that night, we were ready for such energy.  We were ready for Chicago, mellow tunes and a brass section.  We weren’t ready for Born to Run.  We got 10 minutes of rock and roll, maybe the best rock song ever.  And for the first time in public, before the album. 

Guards and prisoners were treated to life from an old man in chains, not what they were expecting.  They found life within a gated community, and found freedom they never knew existed.  They heard Paul first hand, we can hear his tales today in the Bible.  I was there that night with George and Paula, where are you with Jesus now?  Locked in a cage and need escape from sin?  Looking for love in all the wrong places?  There are names and there are names, none bigger than Jesus Christ.  With his gospel brought to a lost and dying world with people like us, faces in a crowd.  Who cannot contain his love for others, and choose to live him daily.  Not all gated communities have passwords, not all behind bars are prisoners.  Be set free in Christ today, get out and live for him.  This letter that will go into many prisons this week, will be read twice by guards looking for gang messages.  And hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jut because the person who it is addressed to is in jail.  Unwittingly chained to a guard like Paul was.  God knows where we are, do we?  We truly have a cast of characters from A to Z, reminding me of Jesus, the first and last.  The Alpha and the Omega.  Not all prisons have bars....know Jesus, be forgiven, and know freedom in the spirit.  Life is the warm up band for heaven...one you don’t want to miss.  God has “No Secrets. “

If the seat of your pants is wearing out faster than the soles of your shoes, you need Jesus.  You need application  instead of theory.  You need to get out and live the gospel.  Read all about it from a prisoner’s letter to the church.  He who has an ear let him hear.  “Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends..” 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

don't ask the man who never owned one

Dodge
Drips Oil & Drops Grease Everywhere
Damn Old Dirty Gas Eater
Dead Old Dog Going East
Dead On Day Guarantee Expires
Dead On Delivery, Go Easy
Dead On Delivery, Guarantee Expired
Dead Or Dying Garbage Emitter
Dear Old Dads Garage Experiment
Daily Overhauls Do Get Expensive

I have never owned a Chrysler product from any time in their glorious history.  Starting with the 1950 Dodge a neighbor owned, it looked like a taxi with no redeeming qualities, to Joey’s dad who had a 1960 Polara, too futuristic, maybe Nippy’s 71 Dart with a V-8, but 3 on the tree, to any K car or FIAT Chrysler.  Maybe it was the old Chrysler crank, the sound their starters made, you know one if you hear it.  Sloppy production mated to great engineering couldn’t pull it off for me.  Buying AMC left me still uninterested, and now that they are owned by FIAT, I’ll push my Ford first before I own anything they make. 

But remember they were part of Daimler Chrysler for awhile, and as a service advisor and service manager for Mercedes Benz in that era I know better than to buy one.  We use to joke “engineered like no other car in the world,” they were the guinea pigs for the electronic revolution of today.  Only MB could make a car stereo so powerful it would overheat and shut itself off, the fix to download better software to depower the unit.  And we knew we would cringe when we started to see Chrysler parts in MB boxes.  So there is something about Chrysler I just don’t care for.  Yes, Hemi’s are great, but too expensive and other motors were just as fast.  The futuristic styling of the 1957’s, “suddenly in 1960!” looks good to me today while watching Highway Patrol, but square steering wheels, dash top rear view mirrors, and styling that left me with questions no one can answer.  Among them, what is a fratzog?*  Only a true Dodge enthusiast would know the answer.  So I stay away, interested, but only like the poster for the two headed cow, I won’t pay the price of admission.

The Range Rover explosion, no pun intended still amazes me.  Why can a vehicle that is so great off road in some of the most remote areas of the world fail in the wilds of La Jolla?  The factory recommended replacing all hoses and belts at 60,000 miles, $1300 job, and those who refused were soon towed in and had them replaced.  Front differentials blowing up, and my favorite, on the 2008 they had oil pans that leaked, just replace the pan gasket.  But you had to remove the engine to do it, which meant taking apart the entire front end of the vehicle.  A job that took over 40 hours on your new car!  Also the seats were a hot theft item, thieves would just cut the wires to them, which was part of the main loom, so you had to replace the entire one piece loom in the car.  75 hours later your car had been entirely disassembled, including windshields front and rear, and somehow put back together.  Still a new car then?  Things I saw first hand as a service advisor during the period.  So I stay away from them too.  Too expensive to buy, even more expensive to fix.  I can tell more horror stories.....but I won’t.  Pray for those who own one.  And in all cases, if someone who never owned one tells you what a great car they are, don’t take the word of a man who never owned one.  Works with Chryslers too.  MOPAR-Move Over Parts Are Rusting.  How many Fords and Chevies did Lee Iococca sell from his Chrysler ad “if you can buy a better car buy it.” referring to the K cars.  So bad even a Sinatra edition never sold.  Yet they saved the company.  I don’t get it.

Yet we seek advice on anything from cars to bikes to where to eat.  When Gary says the food is great, he means cheap.  Same with motels.  If Mickey says “easy to fix” it is because he is a genius.  If you ask me about cross country rides, I can tell you, 12 trips and 48 states later.  I never owned a Harley, but know friends who do, stick with 2015 and newer and you’ll be better off.  My first intro to them when I started to ride, and a friend’s father worked for them.  “Buy a Honda,” was his advice circa 1969.  When an interested buyer called Packard to get information, he was told to “ask the man who owns one.”  Great advice then, still now, and in more than cars.  Yet so many are experts from one ride, one article, or one trip to the service department.   I used to tell people all I see is broken cars, no one comes to me and says “what a great car, check it over and see.  I’ll even pay.”  I may not be an authority, but I know what I experienced.  Many arguments and bad times can be avoided if you qualify the authority first.  There are no stupid questions, but you can get stupid answers from stupid people.

When I went to work at Land Rover, they found out I was a Christian, and one man, an atheist approached me at lunch, an authority on that God is not real.  He was proud of being an atheist until I told him by definition he didn’t exist.  That made him think.  And I offered to answer questions he had, I told him he was a man of faith, as it takes more faith to deny Jesus than to recognize him as God.  He questioned the Bible, but could find no place where God could be contradicted.  He admitted there was sin, Jesus was historical, just not God, and why do those who don’t believe the Bible believe anything else?  I was told of all the bad times Christians had, and how it was better to not be one, than be a hypocrite.  “The church is full of them,” he raved one day, I admitted we had a lot, but still had room for a few more. He tried making fun of me, but had no answer for those who did believe, other than we are misled.  But he did ask questions, the best ones with no audience, as the spirit was calling him, and he was refusing.  You see it wasn’t my answers, good or bad, not my faith or testimony that was changing him, it was the holy spirit.  We don’t save anyone, Jesus does.  Only Jesus. 

One day I asked God why in our witness that he didn’t want people to be like us.  Me.  I can hear him giggle, “because you never saved anyone, and I want them to be like me.”  Good advice, also never ask an atheist about being a Christian.  Be happy with your lack of faith that is enough for Jesus.  Why fall prey to opinions that only leave you disappointed, when you can have truth in Christ?  Aren’t opinions like Hondas, doesn’t everyone have one?  And so from cars to motorcycles, from trips to service to trips across the US of A, pray first.  God will direct you, which is maybe why I never owned a Chrysler.  I don’t think he has anything against them, but he knows me, and how I like to travel. Maybe kept from Harleys for the same reason.  Go figure.  But I do know I have a wonderful counselor who guides me in his love, and when I take his advice, found in the word, when I live by his spirit, when I am in the spirit I can make better decisions, and know God will work all things out for my good.  You cannot teach experience, so why not go with the creator who knows all, and offers it all to you via his spirit.  Why turn to opinions when you can have the truth and be set free?

So don’t ask the man who doesn’t own one for advice.  Or ask the man who doesn’t know Jesus about him.  Makes sense to me.  And going to heaven makes real sense.  In this world of deception only one thing can be counted on, Jesus, so why settle for second best.  Or a used up God.  Get to know him personally, and never doubt.  Get to know God personally, where you can call him by his first name Jesus.  He is the Christ, he is the way.  Or get to know your service department on a first name basis.  Or your shrink.  Your mechanic.  Your guru.  And always be searching for better.  Doctors practice medicine, we learned at Mercedes Benz often times we could fix the car but not the customer.  So don’t be like my friend Vince, who sets out to reinvent the wheel and ends up with a flat tire.  Seek truth, justice, and the American way.  It was no coincidence that Superman landed in America.  Jesus is truth and justice, long before the American way.  He came to earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.  So why do you have trouble believing him, but not Superman?  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  It starts with a little faith, we all have it.  Ask a man who knows him.  Become one too.  No appointment necessary.

*A Fratzog is the logo for Dodge from 1962-1976. and no one knows what Fratzog means. 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

back when we all drove Chevies

There was a time in America a generation ago when General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler ruled the automotive world.  Detroit was Motown, and foreign cars were for weird college professors, people from the land of fruits and nuts and it seemed everyone else drove a Chevy.  General Motors, far different from the Government Motors of today had almost 60% of the market, and used to complain that they were losing 1 of every 2 car sales.  Bragging really.  Ford was second, Chrysler third, and AMC a distant fourth.  But GM ruled the world of cars, and Chevy was GM’s flagship brand.  Selling almost 30% of all new cars, they couldn’t do anything wrong.  See the USA in your Chevrolet, and many did.  Product was the key, and from Corvair, to Chevy II, Chevelle, and to Caprice, and then Camaro, there was a Chevy for everyone.  Famous cars, famous engines, 283, 327, 396, and 454-all known as Chevy engines.  The small block the best selling engine of all time, of course it helped being in a Chevrolet.  But then the seventies hit, and gas got expensive, and cheapo Japanese cars hit the shores, and suddenly mpg was more important than cubic inches.  And when big cars quit selling, GM had to adjust.  And the once brilliant plan of Alfred P. Sloan, of individuality reporting to a central office went askew.  GM needed to save money suddenly, and did the unthinkable, they would share engines from various divisions with each other.  But neglected to tell the buying public.

And when one Oldsmobile customer found a Pontiac engine in his 98, he sued GM.  A class action suit followed, for no longer was there Chevy power, Pontiac excitement, Buick smoothness, or even Chevy’s small block.  They were all now GM motors, and would all be shared.  Customers fumed, many sued and won, “I bought a Pontiac not a Chevy motor!”  Their identity had been shattered, lost in the corporate shuffle, and GM began to lose market share.  Cars began to look alike, and new platforms were shared among divisions.  A Chevy Citation was also a Pontiac Phoenix, Olds Omega, Buick Skylark, and the worst, the Cadillac Cimarron.  Bad designs, all the 6 cylinder spark plugs could not be reached without removing the engine. And they all shared the engines, none specific to the brand.  They had lost their vision, and Roger Smith, CEO, when asked what GM had to compete with a Toyota, replied “a 2 year old Buick.”  Gone were Chevy men, no longer cars like your father’s Oldsmobile, and Pontiac is gone, no more building excitement.  Cadillac is a poor excuse for luxury, and Buicks are popular with the over 60 crowd.  Which is shrinking fast.  Where once brand distinction was used for bragging and identification, now you bought GM.  Whose total sales today don’t equal that of Chevy in its best years.  There was a time when it seemed everyone drove Chevies, no one asks “what’s under the hood?” anymore.  Cars, like engines have become generic.  Sadly some religion has too.

After Nehemiah had rebuilt Jerusalem, God gave them specific rules to live by.  Most important was not to trade or intermingle, or even marry with outsiders.  Keep the purity they had been given through grace.  But yet one priest allowed his grandson to intermarry with an Ammonite, a sworn enemy, and Nehemiah got mad.  Priests should of all people known better.  This led to an invitation to the temple itself, and the emptying of the storeroom where the oils and incenses were stored for holy ceremonies.  Two laws of Moses were broken, the defrauding of the Levites storage, but more importantly an Ammonite was living in the temple.  So Nehemiah evacuated everything out of the room, thoroughly cleaned it and purified it, and sprayed it again with incense.  The grain was restored and the incense, all in one quick and prompt action.  Harsh to some, some thought he over reacted, today people would claim he was crazy, yet he acted as Jesus would later throwing the moneychangers out of the temple.  He acted against evil and the actions of it,  while today we have lost our public indignation against such things.  We are told Christians should be so nice and calm, never standing up for what is right, but just a bunch of people who want to ruin your good time with more rules and religion.  Nothing could be farther from the truth.  For evil invades quietly, takes over, and soon consumes,while so called good men do nothing.  Look around, history proves me right.  But where are the good men?

We need to take swift action against evil.  First to act in the spirit first to recognize it, then to end it.  Sometimes the actions are painful, both financially and emotionally, it is tough to take a stand.  For once you do you are a target for ridicule.  But the payment for sin will always be death, and some deaths take a long time.  Today many follow politicians, or politically correct ideas.  The world is being split by them, and people are angry, scared, and fed up.  Jesus said he would separate the sheep from the goats, but the world is separating us all.  Only in the spirit will we find true unity, true fellowship, and truth.  We will recognize evil and be able to deal with it.  Just saying no is not enough, you need to say yes to something, better yet someone.  Jesus Christ.  It can be R rated movies, just a little drink.  Maybe just flirting with a neighbor, or cheating on your expense account.  Maybe “we’re getting married anyway” and living together.  Did you know that 83% of couples who lived together before marriage end in divorce?  It is time to take a stand for good now, before it is too late.  All evil doesn’t look evil, some is fun.  Again the wages of sin is death.  Stop dying and start living.

Sin is tough, Jesus is tougher.  If you don’t think so, I have some 9” nails here for your hands and feet.  Hang on a cross for 6 hours, after 40 lashes.  But his love is tender also, knowing when to love and when to stand up to evil.  Nehemiah knew God, and his laws.  Today we have but one from God, love him with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself.  We don’t all drive Chevies anymore, learn from a once powerful GM what happens when you lose your vision.  When you become too big and cannot be told anything.  The public voted, and GM lost.  Jesus offers us the chance to choose also.  No other God does.  Don’t put a Buick engine in your Chevy God, put the right engine, the one who died for the chance, put Jesus under your hood.  And when someone asks “what’s under the hood?” show them love.  For what is in your heart will come from your mouth.  If your Pontiac mouth got your Olds in trouble, change to Jesus now.  When he is in your heart, love will spring forth in your life.  Want excitement, try Jesus.  Nehemiah knew and acted on it without any meetings, programs, procedures, or policies.  Only God.  He got results.  Still wondering what’s under your hood?  Ironicly, the disciples were all in one Accord.  Should have seen that one coming.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

Ford has a better idea!

If you weren’t around in 1964, the rest of you born after have no ideas what the Mustang did to the automotive world.  While Chevy sold a hot rodded version of the Corvair, and Dodge fed us ugly Darts, and Plymouth Valiants, Ford had a better idea.  Using an existing platform, the Falcon, they came up with the Mustang, the car baby boomers were looking for but didn’t realize it.  It took brilliant marketing by Lido Iaccoca to help sell it, and with options galore could be found in 6 cylinder with three on the floor, or up to 271 horsepower with the 289 and 4 on the floor. Styled like nothing else on the road, it truly launched the Pony Car revolution, even though the Plymouth Barracuda preceded it by two weeks.  But if imitation was then, it still is now the most sincere form of flattery, for out of the Mustang mold we would get within a few years the Camaro, Firebird, Challenger, and a redesigned Barracuda, called the “Cuda.”  All based on the Pony Car concept of the Mustang.  Even Toyota would copy them with their first Celica based on both sedan and fastback versions.  Mustang sales may have dwindled, but today Ford celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Mustang, no one else even comes close.  The Celica died in 1997, Chrysler pulled the plug on both cars in 1974, only to reintroduce the Challenger a few years ago, the Camaro quit over a decade ago, along with the Firebird, only revving the Camaro in 2010, Firebird along with Pontiac is gone , RIP.  But Mustang survived despite the competition, and thrives today, the 2015 one I desire to own.  It is fast, beautiful, and still looks like no other car on the road.  No confusing the Mustang for anything else, it is what it is!

Mercury in 1967 brought us the Cougar, which eventually morphed into a larger two door sedan.  Then to a nameplate on badge engineered Mustang, an Australian two seater, and then finally on a Mazda 626 based chassis, then went away quietly.  But Mercury had a hit in 1971 with the Capri, advertised as “The Sexy European” imported by Lincoln Mercury.  A smaller version of the Mustang, it had a Pinto motor, but was sexy looking, and classy for the $2400 asking price.  They were a hot seller, then the Capri II, faced with the dreaded “II”went upsized, was still a good car, but too pricey.  I almost bought one from a guy I worked with, it was nice car, but had too many wheels for me at the time.  I still liked the less rounded contours of the original like Gary Bobko had, in brown with brown interior that looked like leather.  With that cool map reading light that extend from the dash.  And with the 2000cc motor would run pretty good, up to its 100 mph top speed.  Sadly they are gone, I haven’t seen one at any car show for years, maybe just the car we need today.  Stylish, quick, classy, good fuel economy, and priced so the younger set could afford one.   The others tried by imitation, it was Ford that had the better idea.  One look at the 2015 Mustang and you’ll agree.  A Mustang has always been, and hopefully always will be a Mustang.

God has a better idea too.  He is called Jesus, and many are called to him today.  Sadly few answer, some finding a temporary satisfaction in a counterfeit.  A knockoff religion based on the truth, but then carefully molded so that the author of it comes under no condemnation.  Using himself as the baseline, either you meet his standards, or fall short.  We refer to them as cults, and some even sound good, using God’s name in them.  But beware, as 2John warns, do not even wish them “God bless you,” or invite them in.  They will change you long before you change them.  Eroding your faith, and leaving you with a lie, and miserable.  Yet confused Christians call me mean when I confront these groups with the truth, and warn others to stay away.  “But how will they be saved if we don’t witness?” they cry.  How about the same Holy spirit that saved you?  You were lost like they are, and Jesus saved you.  The spirit telling you “you need Jesus,” until you finally answered the call.  God warns us about such people, and the destruction they bring on themselves and others.  Jesus warns us to be “wise as a serpent, but gentle as a lamb.”  Being in the spirit will help you recognize and let you know what to do.  By standing firm in Jesus you are telling the truth, not their perverted truth, even Jesus took offense and asked when seemingly being harsh, “have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?” 

A few years back a woman and some other ladies made things for the elderly.  Handcrafted, they met on Wednesdays, and had a great time of fellowship, and sharing Jesus.  Two Mormon women came and were welcomed, and to make them not feel uncomfortable, the leader decided they would not talk about Jesus.  And the group shrunk, only growing in Mormon women, who then decided to sell the goods they once gave away.  Do not give the devil a foothold, if only their pastor had stood firm on the word and shown them love via the truth.  Jesus is the truth, where were the wise serpents that day?

And so it goes, and so it will, others will try to imitate Jesus, but fall short.  They deny who he is, the only sin that will not be forgiven, and try to add works, studies, family times, and finding fault with the scriptures.  No one has ever fought God and won, they are destined to lose too.  As the devil and his angels already have.  We have Jesus, we have the future, and we win!  No other name by which you may be saved.  Call on him today.

The Mustang is a survivor.  Great ideas last longer, as others only imitate and fade away.  Don’t be confused by false claims, or rarity.  If it was rare when new, maybe it wasn’t popular then either.  Only Jesus can claim to be the same yesterday, today, and forever.  The oldest nameplate on the planet.  The one all others try to copy, but fall short of.  Some day a “sexy European” will rise up as the anti-Christ, and the worst 7 years in earth history will begin.  But Jesus will return and rule forever.  Don’t go through that time, get saved today.  God is a God of his word, he will return, and is patient that none should perish.  For all new believers be glad he is, and didn’t return any sooner.  That’s love.  Found no where else in history, available from Jesus.  Read the owner’s manual he provides, and get to know him better.  There is only one original Pony Car, it is called Mustang, and there is only one true God.  His name is Jesus, get to know him today.  Speed, comfort, and luxury...and at a price you can afford! 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com