sunbreaks and rainsets

Day 4 of our first winter storm continues.  Thunder and heavy rain last night, as we watch the news we see how unprepared, and at least to me how under engineered we are here in San Diego.  Any other place I have lived, they dealt with harsh weather, New Jersey was famous for raining on weekends, –40 in Colorado we were ready for it, and high wind with heavy rain would greet us in Albuquerque, a true sign that spring was just around the corner.  But still if my memory serves me well, I remember flooding on Route 22, where the hills had shopping centers build on them, pavement replacing trees, and when it rained, only the center barrier on Route 22 held back the tide, until it spilled over.  And on one harsh spring day, ran over the top, flooding the basement truck court where I worked at Sears, and Keith, a guy I worked with got caught in raging water and drowned when his car was swept away.  Coming home one Christmas we arrived back at our cabin at Vallecito Lake, only to find ourselves snowed out, 96 inches in 96 hours, 8 feet in four days.  After digging our way in, the porch door was swollen shut, a hot water pipe had a pinhole leak, steam bath inside, –30 just the other side of the door.  And my first winter/spring in Albuquerque, selling motorcycles at Motorsport, in a modern all glass building, watching as mud balls hit the windows sounding like bombs, shaking but not breaking, engineered because the engineers knew of the spring’s temperament.  Add in a tree falling on our school bus in first grade during a Jersey hurricane, and at my first job being caught in a flash flood, riding the tide of a swollen stream for almost a mile, ending up in a newly formed pond on a baseball field.  So these 4 days should not amaze me, but I am now So Cal adapted after 28 years, and miss the sun.  I have become a weather weenie, I moved here for the weather, and now it has let me down.  I stand in my garage surrounded by motorcycles crying out to be ridden, hoping for a sun break, a common word in Portland, but instead watch a rain set to the west.

Now under prepared is normal, but under engineered bothers me.  When the San Diego River floods at the hint of rain, why isn’t or wasn’t something designed around it better?  All the low spots, like underground garages, where is the drainage system?  Why can’t they build buildings that can handle it?  And as I watch sewers overflow from being blocked, and 97% of El Nino going out to the ocean, why aren’t our engineers and planners doing a better job, their job?  Certainly rain is not a new concept here?  Or are we all weather weenies, and live life based on normalcy bias, a psycho babble term for since it never happened to me, it won’t happen to me.  As the storm rages on.....

Jesus caused quite a storm when he threw out the money changers in temple.  Imagine being a disciple, knowing of Jesus’ peace and love, yet see him exploding in rage, anger without sin, at the moneychangers.  Endearing himself to the Pharisees at the same time.  The temple was holy, maybe they were afraid of guilt by association, that would come later.  Maybe they were embarrassed, this isn’t the man we told our families and friends about.  He did it by himself, apparently without provocation, was this the man they believed was the Messiah?  Could they have been wrong?

Maybe Psalm 69 ran through their hearts, and they began to understand, if only a little.  “Thy zeal for they house has consumed thee,” King James tells us, and it burned Jesus up, consumed him, and caused him to act.  You see God is not gracious about sin, only the sinner, and will not tolerate it in his house.  And we are the temple the holy spirit dwells in, and he will not compromise with evil.  He brings on storms against sin, but brings a peace into the sinner.  And here for maybe the first time, it became evident to them that when Jesus comes into your life, be assured he is not going to leave you as he found you.   You will be better, as even in tough times, all things work out for our good.  Says so in Romans, quote Paul on that.  And he knew tough times, imagine if Jesus had left him as he found him?  Or you?

Too many new Christians see Jesus as having a sheep under one arm, and touching people with the other.  As a chorus of Cum By Ya echoes in the background.  But he is already changing our lives, salvation the first step, and don’t confuse his patience with delaying.  We are works in process, and without a firm foundation you cannot build a strong home.  A fact missed by the planners in San Diego.  Where the same floods occur in the same area every year.  If only they were guided by God....So don’t mistake patience for acceptance, Jesus Christ changes lives, at his pace, with your best interest at heart.  If we refuse to go with his changes, we become like the flood zones here, overwhelmed.  And suddenly we can see why he chased the money changers out.  The temple was set up by God to worship, a special place, not to be abused, or neglected.  In times of trouble a refuge from the storm.  Take note, the storms are here, and Jesus is our only place of refuge. 

There is a sun break just behind every rain set, and God knows it.  Rather than seek refuge in the planners, find refuge in Christ.  He controls the storms, and sends a rainbow after to autograph his work.  No cleaner air than after a storm, or bluer skies.  No fresher winds than after, funny how in one case they can bring disaster, in another peace.  The peace we seek is only found in Jesus, and he will drive the moneychangers and sin from your life.  He resides in your heart, and will not share sin with it.  Would you really want a God who would?  Who couldn’t conquer sin and replace it with forgiveness, hope, and love?  When the moneychangers were gone, the people could worship in freedom.  Even then freedom came with a price.  And it took the man/god of Jesus Christ to do it.  God will chase sin from your life, on his terms.  So get on his terms, and watch as sun breaks turn into Son breaks, and rainsets turn into Son sets.  Where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty.  God give us eyes to see things as you do.  And thank you for not leaving me as you found me.  Amen?  Amen.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

affordable fun

Lurking almost unnoticed on the back of any car lot are what we used to refer to as the pots.  Older cars, less desirable models, in less than desirable condition.  Cars that were taken in trade to make the deal, but had no value after that.  Many would end up being auctioned off, sent out of state, or in So Cal’s case out of the country, their usefulness as far as a bargaining tool worn out, but their transportation abilities still intact.  Mostly.  They are the cars that at one time had been bought for full price from a dealer as new, then driven until they got too expensive to repair, or until a new car captured the new owners heart.  Some were passed down from husband to wife, then to each kid as they got their license.  Many memories were made in them, until they just had no room left in the current owner’s life, and they were finally traded away.  And ended up in the back rows of a dealer, or sitting on the corner of a used car lot, advertised cheap, and their purpose as transportation continued.  They were are affordable fun, bought knowing just what they are, but in many of the new owner’s eyes a new Cadillac, sporty Mustang, or shiny hardtop.  Bought for love at one time, and finally sold for money, their history continues, as once again they were bought for love, or what the new owner could afford, and were waxed, polished, tuned up, new seat covers, and driven with pride.  Worth very little compared to when new, but maintaining a quality of dignity that years of patina cannot erase, but only add to.

And I have had a few.  A 1972 MG Midget, that had been repainted and the letters reattached, spelling Midget as MIGDET.  Finally traded for a 1973 El Camino so I could carry my trials bike.  Which got me through UNM my first year.  At one time a one owner 1967 Cadillac was my daily driver.  Fast enough to beat mid-seventies Trans Ams off the line, it got 6 mpg no matter how I drove it, so I drove it fast.  All bought as my primary source of transportation, after my motorcycles.  Another MG, a B model would fill a space later, as would a 1949 Ford F-3 pickup.  For cutting wood, sold after moving back to New Mexico to a kid who wanted to hot rod it.  At one time I had a 1967 Mercury Monterrey as a work car, four door sedan with a 390.  The sucker was fast, and came with a letter from the Ford Motor Company stating the engine was a special built high performance engine, not off the assembly line.  All I knew it was fast, lost high gear, and could carry my son’s small ATV in the trunk.  Many a donut was spun in that car. 

And finally Uncle Buck, named as he resembled the car in the movie of that name.  But far removed from his Mercury, this 1990 Ford Crown Vic had a spotless interior, a broken odometer, and left us stranded more than once.  But we always got home.  The younger guys thought it was cool, and I sold it to one who was in love with it.  Affordable cars all, all bought second hand to fulfill their duty as transportation, but becoming more than that along the way.  For each one, at the time they were affordable fun, and in each case sad when I sold them.  Today that $1000 Cadillac is worth 10 times that, the F-3 20 times, and when is the last time you saw a 1973-77 El Camino?  Midgets, or MIGDETs as mine was, where have they gone?  All used cars now, but at one time bright and shiny and new, tempting the new owner with “what will it take to put you in this car today?”

It seems these cars of our past, and our present, have followed a natural progression.  Much like many of our lives.  And without a miracle many of us and them would have turned out much different.  Something to consider when talking of Jesus and his miracles.  Looking at all of them that are recorded, and then the ones personal to us, he took normal events, and took them out of the realm of time.  Speeding up a natural process, that could only be defined as a miracle.  Take his first miracle, changing water into wine.  Read his instructions to his disciples, Fill the cisterns, all 120-180 gallons of them to the brim with water.  Then draw some out for the steward.  No magic, no special prayer, no taste testing, and no visible change.  Until it is drawn out for the steward, as new wine.  Jesus never tasted it himself, for he knew.  Speeding up a process, he changes water to wine, changing water that is inorganic, to wine that is organic.  Bypassing the growing of grapes, the crushing, the bottling and fermentation.  I would call that a miracle...so did the wine steward.  Who wasn’t aware, all he knew was the best was saved for last.  The best God saved for last.....

So maybe that old car may look worn out and useless. But somewhere there is a new owner just waiting to call it theirs.  We may be feeling worn out, tired, useless, broken and without purpose.  Not even trade material, but God sees us differently.  And wants to change us, miraculously.   Just like he changed plain water to wine, he can take out sin riddled bodies, and make them new, just by accepting him.  A change that occurs from the inside, just like the water changing to wine, no one saw it happen, it took no measurable time, but when drawn out the evidence was there.  Indisputable.  Jesus changed water to wine, imagine what he can do for you? 

And he gives you a testimony to share with others, who see the change.  And the biggest changes occur in the lives that were, or had been thrown away.  For the widow who only had two mites, to the anarchist brothers, to the tax collector, and simple fisherman.  All who were not the highest in the social ranks, but whom Jesus saw and loved.  In his eyes we are all new models, although we may be worn out and used.  Or abused.  Take the parable of the affordable fun, and apply it to your life.  Let Jesus change you, and find an affordable life is within reach.  And miracles abound when you do.  For when you start to see things through his eyes, even the simplest of miracles become a big deal.  And the initial process is instantaneous, saved instantly, but yet growing in Christ each day.  Just as an old car becomes a friend, so does Jesus.  And a certain relationship forms that cannot defined. 

So here is to the cars in the back rows, on used car lots that were the least of them.  Before salvation we were the least of them, and Jesus sought us out.  We were no bargain, he paid full price, no matter our condition, and made us new.  Gave us a home, and loved us.  Still does today.  Become the miracle in him today, something miraculous happens when we come to Jesus....reach out to him and draw out a new life today.  Water to wine, sinner to saint.  All in the twinkling of an eye....affordable fun.  He calls it grace.  We call it a miracle.  Bought for love.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

the curse of the clean bike

My neighbor on the corner has 6 cars, four of them collectible.  On any sunny weekend, which we have lots of here, he can be seen polishing and detailing them, then backing them into the garage, while putting covers on the other two.  Hidden from view, never on the road.  I cannot remember the last time I saw him driving any of them, they are in great shape, just never used for their intended purpose, to be driven.  Which may explain a lot of today’s collector car market, they are collectible investments, and the theory of high miles versus low ones has made many an owner a prisoner to his machines.  But in today’s market a new, more realistic class is emerging, cars that are used and have patina, gentle aging.  And are mostly original, or customized as they were in the day when they were new.  And now are bringing high dollars, because that is how we remember them.  Gentle aging, like we would like to have our lives be, although I never thought of myself as collectible. 

Now with 6 motorcycles occupying my garage, I could have fallen into the same trap, collectability.  But when I bought them, I bought them to ride, and I still do.  With over 300,000 miles sitting with two wheels under them, they have memories of past rides, and dreams of future ones.  My 2006 Tiger just went over 100,000 miles, and I use it for my daily rider, except when I ride my 2005 Bonneville, which only has 74,000 miles.  Theresa’s 2002 Bonneville has just under 80,000, and is being ridden weekends again.  Christopher is back from Spain, and is riding the Street Triple, with 36,000 miles on it, which I use during his times away, to keep the battery fresh.  The 1978 Suzuki GS1000 sits on the lift now, only for storage purposes, ridden last moth 600 miles in two days, just under 30,000 miles from new.  And the newest bike in the garage, a 2007 Tiger 1050 just went over 10,000, 3000 on a week’s ride last June.  You see, my bikes get ridden, and maintained, and although not perfect, are clean, and look like new.  They get exercised regularly when not riding Triumph press bikes, and like Mickey tells me, they last longer when they are ridden.  Just like us, when we get out and live, we last longer, as opposed to sitting around getting old, and wearing out from not being worn.  Much different from my neighbor’s collection, I ride mine.

It seems he has come under a curse we all go through, but I pulled out of long ago.  Call it the curse of the clean bike in my case, car in his.  After the first rain, it can take hours to get it back to how it once looked.  The black engine turned gray, pipes not as shiny, wheels need polishing and you can never get where the rain did to get it clean like it was when new out of the crate.  Pull off a tank or body panel, the grime is there, and for many, they avoid riding in any weather because it will take a toll on their ride.  The patina of memories is unacceptable, so they sit unused, like their caretaker, going nowhere.  A while back a friend asked why I am in so many of our traveling photos, my answer was simple.  I rather be in the picture than taking it.  I rather be read about than reading.  I rather have a patina of high miles and high memories than low miles and perfect paint.  Each scratch on my blue Tiger can be remembered, the time and place.  And how.  When we look at old photos, we can date them by what we were riding at the time.  And suddenly the 2006 Tiger is the blue Tiger, or remember the road on the red Sprint.  The ride to Canada on the yellow bike.  We want to remember the good times, the good rides, and who we rode them with.  And personally I don’t worry any more about that first scratch, that first rain ride, or the high miles.  A collectible is only worth what you get for it when sold, my memories on two wheels are so valuable they are not for sale, and couldn’t be purchased if they were.  Many go to shows and have their pictures taken by a vehicle, maybe even sitting in it, or on it.  Mine are from where we have ridden, and what we have ridden.  When Karl took the pictures of the 220hp Rocket I had this summer, I got to ride it.  I was in the picture.  He took it. 

So I have risen above the curse of the clean bike, at least for now.  My most recent bike, the Tiger 1050 has never seen rain, but I know it will have to if ridden as planned.  The miles don’t come without times of rain and hardship.  It is the hard times, the storms in life that bring us the best testimonies, yet we resist them as much as possible.  Give me 85 degrees with sun any day over 40 and rain, yet in the flash floods I saw more of God.  I had to call out to him, I had no choice.  Not riding those days was not a choice.  I find it interesting that the first words of Jesus recorded in the gospels is a question, “what do you want?”  Asked in John 1, we see John with two other future disciples, hearing that Jesus is the lamb of God.  Interesting that Jesus got right to the heart of life, his few words speaking volumes.  Have you considered what you want from life?  From your cars or bikes?  When confronted about Jesus, what do you say?  Have you ever considered what you want?

Ironically enough it was the who asking what.  For it is the who you seek, that is the pathway to what we want.  Psalms tells us that God will give us the desires of your heart.  Is he your desire?  He offers the free gift of salvation in Jesus, is he the what you are looking for?  Consider Adam in the garden after he sinned, did he consider what he had done until God asked him “where are you?”  When someone calls and asks for directions, the first thing you ask is “where are you?”  From there you can be given direction.  So ask yourself, where are you in Christ?  What do you want?  And the journey begins, led by his spirit.  Now you can be directed.

You see we don’t really know.  Until we are asked.  My neighbor worships his cars, they own him.  My passion for riding allows me to have many bikes, but they don’t own me.  They are a part of me, and away from me have no value to me.  Same as with God.  My passion for Jesus runs deep, but I don’t own him.  He owns me, but his best concern is for me.  His passion is me.  And mine is him.  When he gave me the desire of my heart, it was and is him.  All else is added on.  He is the most important part of me, and away from me I have little or no value.  He is what I want, peace, love, security, and assurance of heaven.  On earth as it is in heaven, like the prayer says.  He can be my Lord here, I don’t have to wait for death to see heaven, I get a glimpse of it everyday in him.  The what is really a who, the who of Jesus Christ.  And in his garage of souls, we are all high mileage, need cleaning and maintenance, and need to be rescued and saved.  To be used out in the public, in life sharing our testimony of him, not sitting covered or in a museum.  We need to get out and ride like he did, spend time out on the road where the action is.

I don’t want my life to reflect the curse of the clean bike.  I have scars and bruises, there are dings and things that need to be fixed.  All from life.  But they were obtained from living and riding.  So maybe the first question Jesus asked in the gospels needs you to answer it.  What do you want?  When it is the who of Jesus Christ, you find life.  And that it is worth the living.  Just because he lives.  So get out and become part of the memories, get in the picture instead of behind the camera.  So it being a rainy day today, I will go and do the right thing-I will wash my bikes in the rain water.  Dry them off in the garage after.  Nothing cleans like the rain, and no fragrance is like the fragrance after the rain.  Now, which clean bike do I wash first?

Life will always be filled with questions?  What do you want?  Where are you?  In the midst of the storm, Jesus is there.  Start a new testimony today.  I’d like to see the pictures, but only if you are in them.  With him.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

one afternoon checking into our motel

After a long day of riding, or in this case driving, it was good to see our motel in sight.  We had reservations, which assured us of a place for the night, but also give us flexibility in case the road is still calling, or we find a new place in another direction.  But with a feeling of assurance provided by reservations, we travel.  And this night was to be in Angels Camp, with a reservation, and we arrived just in time for me to be fourth in line.  The first girl in line was complaining about a room key that didn’t work.  The overworked single employee made her another, those lousy credit card keys, and off she went into the night.  I assume it worked as she didn’t return.  Next in line was a logger, who’s company had made a reservation for him and a room mate.  Who would arrive later, but was told by the same girl behind the desk he had checked in yesterday.  Which was impossible, as he was in another state then, so getting his key off he went, sans room mate, and he didn’t return.  Two for two, and the room was filling up behind me.  The next in line was actually three generations of an Indian family, with an interpreter, all in pajamas except the interpreter.  They had gotten into their room, changed, and left in their pj’s, why was unexplained.  But were unable to get back in, another key problem.  The sad faces showed they had no idea of what was going on, a face many of us shared.  But the interpreter got them a new key, and off they went.  My turn....

And after showing a credit card and picture ID, the official greeting of motels everywhere, she had the paperwork with a key attached ready for me.  Room 209 was written on it, but checking with her computer, it told her 212.  Theresa was waiting out in the 26 degree dark night, so I took my chances on 209, which turned out to be 212, someone was already in 209.  So 212 it would be, and was, and with the door locked behind us waited for a knock from another misled guest which never arrived.  Nice room, and we were in for the night.  Proving once again the value of having reservations, of knowing your destination, and not having to sleep in your car.

God has made reservations for us in heaven, based upon Jesus Christ.  When we are born again we will receive a mansion in heaven upon death on earth.  Assured by the spirit, but yet we send ahead requests.  What we want, forgetting that scripture tells us eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor mind imagined the things of heaven.  Whatever you think it will be, it will be better.  A few weeks ago a man asked if animals would be there?  I don’t know, the important thing is will you?  And you can be assured of that by letting Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior.  It takes Jesus to change our hearts, and it is via his spirit, not on our own, he does.  Yet we cling to what we can see or feel, forgetting what we see is temporal.  Only the spirit will last forever.  It takes a loving God to change our hearts, he loves us as we are, but sees us as we can be.  And the final destination is heaven.  For all who believe.  So the question is, do you have reservations in heaven?  Where will you spend eternity?

Ever since the fall of Adam in the garden, it has been man’s desire and God’s will for us to reunite with him.  Jesus is the way, simple so I can get it.  Free so I can afford it, and we are given the spirit to guide and lead us.  To a day we do not know, but know will occur.  For just as we must die to self to be born again, we must physically die to inherit a spiritual forever.  And while life may seem like my afternoon waiting to check in, God is ready.  And while here wants us to serve as travel agents for a heavenly journey that is only found in Jesus.  We may be the only Bible or travel brochure others ever read about him.  Do you have your reservation?  Do you want to go to heaven but cannot afford the ticket?   It is free, a gift, to be accepted or rejected.  Your mansion is ready, are you?

When the spirit comes upon us it changes us from the inside out.  The things people see in us, the things of God.  Salvation is an easy check in, we just need to wait for the day to enter.  But what a relief knowing we someday will,  sure beats looking for a room at the last minute.  Maybe there is something to this reservation idea.  And you can be assured today in Christ.  Confirmed by his spirit that he gives us to assure us.  Something not seen that will disappear, but something intangible that we know is with us, but cannot be seen.  The forever God changing us and providing a room.  Something Jesus promised to all who received him.  More than emotion or anything external, it goes deeper.  And cannot be explained.  No words yet found to describe the infinite God using finite words.

Make your reservation now.  Confirmed by his spirit.  Knowing he is the key, and no one can duplicate that.  No mixed up rooms, reservations, or being locked out.  When God says yes he means it.  Will you join him today?  The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak.  Jesus isn’t, join him today.  God is light, and he leaves the light on for you.  Call it the parable of the motel check in.  Where you spend eternity is up to you, no ID required.  We live with the assurance of a reservation in our name.  Next!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

where have all the old motorcycle commericals gone?

Sometimes it seems I am on every seller’s mailing list.  I get all kinds of weird offerings, from male enhancement drugs to how to live to be 100.  Not related, but are they?  And they just don’t cram my inbox at Christmas, but all year long. One site I have not unsubscribed from recently started a blog, and although I have never bought from them, because of their ad today I will.  It featured motorcycle ads from the 1970’s, a time long ago to many, but within memory’s grasp for me.  And my riding.  Dominated by Kawasaki, they advise us to let “Kawasaki let the good times roll,” and they are very catchy.  Enticing to the point of taking a ride down to the shop just to sit on the new models and dream.  How many of us when younger did just that, staying just long enough to assure the salesman that we were interested, and when we did buy it would be from him.  My walls were covered with brochures, even my school notebooks had them stuffed inside.  While some of the less mature kept Playboy centerfolds stuffed in their books, mine were of Honda 350’s, the new BMW /5 series, and of Kawasaki’s Mach III.  Girl’s curves were OK, all right better than OK, but curvy roads leading out of town and to unknown adventures kept me sane while waiting for class to end.  BMW advertising “a ball with no chain,” to Suzuki’s “shout hallelujah get on Suzuki,” to Honda’s “follow the leader, he’s on a Honda,” all promised sunny days, curvy roads with no traffic, and the perfect riding partner with you.  But that was so long ago, and there are no longer very many ads for motorcycles on TV.  Of course Harley, Victory, and Indian all can be found on Velocity, and other motorsport related channels, but long ago they were on prime time network offerings.  Right there after Rosie told us Bounty was the quicker picker upper.  She obviously never rode, as motorcycles were a quicker picker upper when it came to dates.  Still are today.  Leave the mess for later, I’m going riding!

So let me refer you to the Bike Bandit Blog, and the 10 Most Memorable TV Commercials of the 1970’s.  These were great, and from kids riding to police chasing and stopping a station wagon to return a kid’s toy, even John Travolta rode a CB200, paying for a fill up with change, how could you not resist the urge to ride?  And so many of us did, and still do.  The good times still rolling after all these years, with many memories of riding with friends, wives, or solo, but never alone.  The thrill of the open road is a call that many have answered and thanks to the commercials can relive.  Harley asks “when did it first happen to you?”  And your answer is.....

And in response to the ads, many of us succumbed, mostly buying used bikes that needed work, and could only be ridden for a few miles at a time.  We learned mechanics, and how to reinstall master links, install plugs after cleaning, and adjust chains.  None of the good times we were promised from the ads.  But in these basic maintenance functions we became more intimate with our bikes, through bruised knuckles and bleeding fingers were learned grease, any grease stopped the bleeding.  What size band aid would fit and not impede our shifting, and jus how far 30 cents of regular would get you.  But when I bought my first new bike, a 1972 Honda CB350, for all of $825 out the door, the world of riding changed.  No longer was a ride interrupted by sessions on the side of the road, we rode until we went on reserve, filled up and rode some more.  We had become the riders in the commercials, the good times rolled no matter what brand, we met the nicest people on Hondas, and that someday when you will own a Yamaha came for many.  All because an advertisement drew us into motorcycling.

For me when friends started talking Jesus to me I blew them off.  I was having too much fun to be restricted by religion.  Too many rules and “thou shalt nots” for this guy.  I had learned of the freedom of the road, and didn’t want anyone or anything or any other God to interrupt.  The ads for religion all showed such clean cut, goody two shoes going to church, where was my long hair and leather jacket going to fit in?  Can’t ride to church anyway...or can you?  I still find Christian ads today not so much for me, as I do Christian movies.  Too pure, with no real problems like we see in the world.  Torn prom dresses, not getting accepted to State, or missing the big game on TV fall short of drugs, crime, unemployment, and financial ruin.  Real world stuff, we don’t see in ads, but hear only in testimonies.  We are told in Revelation it is by the word of our testimonies and the blood of the lamb we are saved.  We are the advertisements, the commercials for Jesus.  Each with a different testimony, giving veracity to Paul’s statement of how he became all things to all men.  He started relationships with others, the stories he could tell.  Maybe the ultimate bench racer when it came to testimonies.  And people listened then, and they listen now to ours.  Just an invite to church is so impersonal and lazy, but when you can share what Jesus has done for you....well....

And for a time I was an advertisement for Jesus.  Wore my Christian colors, Jesus t-shirt, even had fish stickers on my car.  And wondered why many would avoid me, until I stopped wearing them, and these types starting bothering me.  They were so busy prosletyzing they cared more about their argument than they did me.  It was when the spirit revealed that people will only care about how much you know, after you show how much you care that my witness became more effective.  It was about Jesus, the message the gospel, and my actions would tell more than my words.  Add in attitude, and just visiting, becoming friends, and caring can be more of a gospel message than chasing them off after reciting John 3:16 over and over.  You see Jesus calls us friends, he was a friendly guy.  Do we act like that?  Has you Jesus shirt become a warning to other so lookout and run away?  If ads got us into bike shops, what ad are you showing to tell others about Jesus?

This Sunday we will have our annual Chocolate Birthday Party for Jesus.  Bikers both Christian and non will attend.  As will those from church, met at rallies, work, and other places.  We invite them in, and they see that as Christians we have many things in common with them.  Only we have Jesus, and in our words they will see we are different.  Let the spirit change them, you just deliver the message.  One of love and courtesy, show compassion, and watch.  Jesus will do all the things your back patch or bumper sticker can’t.  We care, and I hope it shows.

Be that ad for Jesus that invites them to listen.  The spirit is calling, you just might get to be the messenger that day.  Only Jesus saves, we don’t.  Maybe I shouldn’t ask where have all the motorcycle ads gone, as each one of who rides is an ad for riding.  Just as each Christian should be an ad for Jesus.  If no one is answering your ad, maybe you need to change agencies, let the spirit  dwell in you.  Motorcycles provide a freedom that no other way can, except Jesus.  For where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.  What does your riding show others about you?  If only we cared as much about how much our lifestyle tells others about Jesus.  The only way to let the good times roll.  When did it first happen to you?

love with compassion,

Mike

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