because I have one and you don't

Over the years I have won many awards and trophies from winning contests.  Many were from first place, but some were to win the prize I wanted.  Which surprised and sometimes disappointed my superiors, but I was going after the prize, where I finished gave me bragging rights, the prize gave me what I really wanted. I had won trips to Cancun, custom cowboy hats, expensive dinners, and shopping sprees. I had a shelf in my office and wall filled with trophies and plaques, and one day a few years ago I threw them all out.   They really meant nothing to me, except for two trophies I keep.  In a day where trophies are no longer handed out for winning, but for just competing, these two have a special meaning.  To me they represent I have one and you don’t, and a sweet and ironic revenge among my peers.  They may gather dust but the memory of them is still fresh.

Back in 2003 and 2004 Calvary Chapel of the Canyons in Silverado had a Bikerfest, a time for Christian bikers to get together and for non-Christian bikers to see we are not all Bible thumper goodie two shoes.  But also to see that underneath all the leather and denim beats a heart of love.  Except when it came to the bike competition.  There were many classes, mostly dominated by different Harley related classes, such as Best Chopper, Best custom, least oil leaking, able to move under its own power, and it seemed many were really after the trophy.  They wanted to win, to show off, “because I have one and you don’t,” a silent but apparent theme. But there were also categories for best sport bike, best Japanese cruiser, and best European.  The first year we rode together on my Sprint RS, European as it is made in England.  A quick lesson in geography for some.  When they called for European bikes to stage, I was among leaking Nortons, an old BSA that was a parts bike and didn’t know it, and some Ducatis, which were not yet the testosterone treatment for yuppies with more money than riding ability.  And among them me.  Who could care less, but entered anyway, one club member asking “Triumph is English right?”  Yes, great bikes still come from there. just as not all Harleys are made in the US of A , or Hondas in Japan.  So I entered, and later they called my name, I had won.  I got a trophy!  First place!  And with no place to carry it, I let one of my Harley friends carry it for me.  They had the trophy to carry, I had the victory.  And sweet it was, for I was so sick of lifestyle Harley riders thinking their bike was the best, the most unique, and only a Harley could a biker own.  My triumph that day was a Triumph, reminding them you are what  you ride.  And suddenly they thought it was cool to own one, not for themselves, but to know the guy who won a trophy with one. 

The next year it was on my 2002 Bonneville.  Which the larger displacement egos used to call a moped.  Until they came off their side stands, their maximum lean angle, and where even the fastest Harley was still too slow.  The jokes didn’t bother me, I can hold my own with Harley jokes, as well as Honda jokes, BSA, Moto Guzzi, and any other bike.  Only the Harley folk took it serious, as if any reference in jest was a sin punishable by having to ride one.  But when Euro bikes were called again, I showed up, again not caring, at least a little, the victory fresh in my mind from last year.  And again I won, or the Bonneville did.  Something about a thing of beauty with Triumph on the tank that attracts people.  Go to any Harley meet on it and it gathers attention from the old timers who remember them and had one.  So this victory was for them and me!  With some nay sayers telling me it wasn’t fair I had won two years in a row, what they meant was they hadn’t.  But would again carry my trophy for me.  I had a brief moment of The Wild One in me where I thought of strapping it to my headlight ala Johnny style, but better to let my friends enjoy their joy of defeat with my agony of victory.  Again I won, they didn’t.  And so I keep these two trophies, won by me, or shall I say really the bikes I ride.  And today Theresa rides the trophy winning Bonneville, you may have a trophy wife, I have both.  And the trophy to prove it!

Last year we went through a study at church “Jesus+nothing=everything.”  More than catchy words, it is true.  When you have Jesus you have it all.  There is nothing you can add to the gospel to get your salvation or to assure it.  All you need is Jesus.  No Jesus and membership, or tithes, or acts of bravery, nor acts of behaving.  No keeping the laws of Moses will get you to heaven, nor will church attendance, Bible studies, or being a missionary.  No trophies or being man of the year.  It doesn’t matter what you ride.  Only Jesus.  The other things are good, but do not save you.  Salvation is a gift that cannot be earned, lest we boast.  Read Ephesians 2 over and over, salvation is a gift.  But not forced on us, we have to accept it, by accepting Jesus.  Only in him is salvation found, no other name.  And we become his trophies, he has bragging rights to us.  “Look at Mike, and how I changed his heart.”  God loves to brag on his children.  Recall one talk between God and Satan about Job?  God bragged on him, and showed Satan his lies mean nothing when the truth is there to see.  He knows our hearts, and how we will react, so he never allows more than we can handle with him.  Without him the devil has bragging rights.  And will use any lies to prove it.  It takes the truth, Jesus to change the heart.  Driven by the spirit, we know Jesus, who is the way back to God his father.  Our father in heaven.  And we can brag because we know him and the sinners don’t.  But unlike my trophies, we don’t brag on ourselves, we brag on Jesus.  We show love, because when the heart changes, so do we.  We want all to have what we have, the love and joy, the peace and patience.  Jesus is the one thing we win that we must share with everyone.  The one prize he was willing to not give up as he went to the cross.  We have bragging rights because he saved us, he has bragging rights because he saved us!  We both win in Jesus!

In life many will win awards and trophies.  Some at the expense of their souls.  The true victory in life is overcoming death.  With a place in heaven to prove it, but leaving us on earth to declare the victory in Jesus.  When he gets the glory, we get the blessings.  So don’t keep him on the shelf, wear him with great joy.  For behind every victory, every soul he saves is a testimony needing to be shared.  To encourage, to forgive, and to let others see his love.  My salvation like many others, not what we set out to win, but like my trophies thrust me into an arena I didn’t expect.  God is like that, he wants us to share testimonies.  In Revelation, John is told to bear witness, to tell what he saw.  Do you share all the trophies of salvation with others?  Or do you claim you won them, not knowing what it took for you to be saved?  In Christ we are all winners!  Not divided by classes, only sin will separate us.  And when it comes down to it, only two classes of people exist to God, the lost and the found.  The saved and the unsaved?  Can your name be found in God’s trophy room he calls the Book of Life?

God has bragging rights to me.  Can you say the same?  Do you know him well enough to brag on what he has done in your life?  Names written on plaques and trophies may mean something, Jesus written on my heart means everything.  Everything I need, nothing I don’t.  All-he includes everything, excludes nothing.  Remember that the next time when the altar you ride and worship won’t start.  Or needs to be pushed.  Or cleaned up after it marked its spot.  Only Jesus saves.  If you are not in his trophy room, become a winner today and be saved.  I’ve won many awards, it was only when Jesus won my heart that I became a winner.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

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