the four of us

No matter where you grow up, you think everywhere else is just like it.  Until you get out and travel.  Growing up in Jersey, you think all roads are the Turnpike, and all bridges make you pay a toll to leave the state, which is true.  Watching TV you get the idea all California weather is great...and for the most part it is.  But as the roads BH and I rode took us farther from the Garden State, the desire to ride longer and farther took over, and when BH decided to move to the Bay Area in 1975, I seriously considered it.  With only one major obstacle, my bike was down, so I planned another trip, one to see America.  In 1967 my father was a scoutmaster and had gone to Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, and I would travel a similar route, and head to LA to stay with Brennan.  But still filled with doubt, labeled caution, I wasn’t sure about a trip in my custom van alone, but one afternoon in Brelinsky’s basement changed all that.

It was a rainy, cool Jersey spring day, the kind basements and pool tables were meant for.  On the radio, was WNEW-FM, the first station in the US of A to go with no format, the DJ’s played what they wanted to, and the variety of music was varied and unlike any other station.  That rainy afternoon, I heard a song I had never heard before, that would change my life, “The Four of Us,” by John B. Sebastian.  A 15 minute plus song, of taking a trip in a van cross country.  “Sitting round the fireplace, we drew a smile across the states,” it opened with, and I was mesmerized.  And my decision was made, I was going, in my van.  Old John B. had sang about places and people, in a way I had never envisioned them, and all previous rides started with and ended with a destination, this song had the road inviting me to be part of it, and a whole new relationship was formed, rider and road.  If you tour, you know just what I mean,  if you just blip your throttle cruising the neighborhood, you don’t get it.  I didn’t, but soon would, and for over 40 years that song has influenced my riding, and the roads I do it on.  And this last ride had taken me full circle I thought, until I came home, and wanted, needed to be on the road again. 

“Further south our truck stops ran...” John B. sang, and for us so did the diners and local food.  Sitting at the counter, eating daily specials.  Different gas chains, that we soon became familiar with.  “Mississippi Delta, and we crossed New Mexico...” would make you think the Mississippi is next to New Mexico, if Texas and the Midwest states weren’t there to cross first.  But crossing the Ole Miss is an experience we have had from Louisiana to Minnesota, and all states in between.  Something about people along the Great River Road and the small towns that line it are inviting.  And something completely different about New Mexicans, who are not Mexicans at all, but their own breed of folk.  Where a sopapilla is standard with dinner, and red or green gives you a choice of chili.  Huevos Rancheros versus eggs over easy, or a Denver omelet, grits in the south.  And you can have your muffin grilled in the New England states.  All because of a song on the radio.

There is something about those of us who are touring riders that is different from those who just cruise, or take an occasional over nighter.  The road is like our home, and back roads call our name as if we knew them by name instead of by route number.  And soon we do, pronouncing the foreign sounding names like the locals do, eating Runzas like we had for years the first time, Po Boys with fried shrimp, the only way, and fish tacos.  When our locality stretches from sea to shining sea, we are not so much a tourist, as a local checking out new places to ride.  This year it was Iowa, the Loess Hills calling us.  One of only three such places in the world, hills made from blowing dirt, not mountains.  150 miles long, some places 100 miles wide, think of a terraced garden of green for the ride, and you can envision it.  And after riding it I still have not seen a picture that gives it justice.  The road took us to Le Mars, and the Blue Bunny Museum, of Blue Bunny ice cream fame.  Lake Okaboji, next to Spirit Lake where Indian motorcycles and Victorys are made.  We spent a night in an historic Frank Lloyd Wright hotel, in Mason City, where the movie The Music Man was filmed.  We visited Antique Archaeology, which sells branded merchandise mostly, and wandered inland to find the future birthplace of Captain James T. Kirk in Riverside, in 2228.  We ate lunch at Dave’s Old House in Pisgah, spent a night in Ottumwa, the hometown of Radar O’Reilly, and visited Baxter Cycle, where they sell over 100 motorcycles a year of all vintages.  The town being really just a neighborhood, you need to go 18 miles to the closest town for food or gas.  Hills that roll, covered with corn, and guarded on both sides by mighty rivers, the Missouri and the Mississippi.  We fell in love with Iowa, the song again reminding me “is it all just here for us?”  And the answer from the song also “yeah, you know it really is...” 

Jesus Christ is also a song that changed my life on my 1975 trip.  And has been adding miles to my life ever since.  Just like I get restless for the road, I get restless for all the Jesus I can get.  I want more than a Bible study relationship, more than learning can provide.  I want to know him more, which takes me places I never knew about, and rides where he is the main theme in it.  I get to see America through his eyes, and not some book or movie.  And when we meet others on the road like us, we need not to explain, we have a common bond.  God has given me both, a bond with him via his spirit, and  a bond with the open road.  And when you realize Jesus spent most of his time on the road, it only makes sense.  Yet some are housebound by rules or lifestyle.  By fears and thinking “it’s the same everywhere,” both in riding and with God.  But the freedom of knowing Jesus, of being guided by his spirit, of knowing of whom I believe adds to life an intangible no other religion can offer.  But it is the song of Jesus that continually plays in my head, and with each passing mile, each new adventure I get to know a different side of him, ones that cannot be experienced in church, ones taught but not seen until you get out and live.  Being a touring Christian rider has made all the difference to me, and that one song that one afternoon opened up the door.  Or doors. 

And when the weather changes or gets rough, he is there with me.  From hurricanes in Florida, to tornado warnings in Minnesota, to flash floods in Ohio and high winds in the desert, I never ride alone without Jesus.  Never.  You see I know a triune God, one of God the father, Jesus the son, and the holy spirit, and when I am part of the group, the four of us ride together.  Just like the song, Jesus draws a smile across the states I ride, and when someday that last earthly ride is over, I know my time spent with him won’t be, for heaven truly awaits.  Many believe it, does your life reflect it?  Would you want to watch a movie about your life?  Some start looking at pictures, then begin to take them, their witness growing.  I want to be in the picture, I want all the Jesus I can get.  I want to build testimonies, to be the sojourner here on earth, seeing “on earth as it is heaven” while still here.  The spirit is calling, how weak is your flesh?  Weak enough to let God’s strength be made perfect in it?

The song ends with the four of them back home, and some good advice for those who travel along the road.  “Keep your lover on the road and smiling.”  Emotional smiles show on the face, the spiritual ones from the heart.  My life has come a long way from a rainy day basement, God has given it light and hope, and a future.  Better yet a today.  Do you look forward to today?  Let Jesus draw a line across your life, and fill your life with the three of them.  And become the four of us.  America, God truly has shed his grace on thee.  On us.  I think I need a ride....did you know the White Pole Road mirrors I-80....and there’s a car show Tuesday night at the Culver’s in Galena....the Drummond Ranch is only miles from Pawhuska?  I do....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

hey franchisee, who's really in charge?

“Remember me?” I asked the man behind the desk.  As he looked up from behind the desk, over his half glasses, he was a bit grayer after 30 years, I could only imagine how I looked.  His puzzled look spoke more than any words, so I introduced myself.  “Mike, where you been, has it really been that long?”  And we talked, catching up over 30 years of life.  Gary, had retired and moved to Phoenix, but came back to Durango for a few weeks each summer and helped run the shop in Durango.  They were busy that morning, as they had been when I hung out there years ago, and all the old guys I remembered were gone, except for Rick the mechanic.  We saw things differently now than then, and when I asked him “why didn’t you take the Harley franchise?” which sat a few doors down, his answer surprised and impressed me.  “Too many rules and demands,” coming from a guy who had been in the same shop for over 50 years.  “It was more than the money,” well spoken from a man who had been there and done that and came to know there is more to business than going to work and just making money.  Maybe Henry Ford said it best, “ a business that makes only money is a poor business,” and here was one, an old Honda store from the early sixties, that started in a sporting goods shop downtown, I remember looking at bikes among the hunting equipment.  But they had made money, and just the lure of more money, laden with how to run  your business didn’t interest them.  One quick trip into the cookie cutter HD store and his point was well taken, just like any Mickey D’s or Walmart, you knew just what to expect when you went there.  His shop was one of a few remaining I prefer to frequent, where the coffee pot is accessible, the store not merchandised per a code, and you can walk into the shop and talk to the mechanic.  A shop where you want to do business, over a long period of time.  No “HARLEY PARKING ONLY” sign like the one that greeted my Triumph next door, but guys that ride bikes, just don’t own them.  We were both older and wiser, looking at things differently after experiencing them in life, something no franchise guide book or rep could do.  You cannot teach experience, it must be earned not learned.  We had both, so we didn’t have to make the choice. 

A few days earlier in Dubuque, Iowa we stopped for a shirt in the Triumph store.  Again a Honda store from the early sixties, they took on Honda after Triumph, and had taken on Triumph again adding to Honda.  An interesting turnabout, and the owner, second generation, was telling us of the history and attitudes from the factories.  When buying a shirt with his logo on the back, he complained how the Triumph rep had put him on a requirement of selling $6000/month of clothing, and he was in a town of 55,000.  “I have trouble moving $15 shirts, let alone $35 shirts,” but the outside influence was there, and he stuck to his guns, maybe they had learned something after all after 60+ years in business.  They dealt with people, and then the numbers would come....how many franchisees of anything from sandwiches to motorcycles to ice cream to services get it backward?  We got a fair deal on a shirt, talked with the owner, who made time for us, and left with an experience, not just an encounter.  From behind a counter.  Interesting how both store sold at retail, no add ons for shipping and set up, and had been in business for years.  Maybe there was or still is more than making money to be a good business, or to have a good career.  If only so many had known then what we do now, how many lives, marriages, and careers could have been saved...if only we hadn’t been so headstrong and driven.

I know a few men who are driven by God, who ask, then listen to the spirit.  They seem out of step with the church of today, and when confronted with a situation immediately seek God.  And listen.  Then act, sometimes an act of patience, sometimes an action not thought of or considered.  Then turn to the word for confirmation, not the other way around.  I have seen men over the years claim because Jesus did it this way, that s the only way to do it, and fail miserably, leading others astray while making excuses for their actions, blaming God.  And we find in Acts, even Paul was guilty of it, lest you think he had some super connection to God, remember he was only a man, but when in the spirit could do amazing things.  And so can we.

Paul had been warned not to go to Jerusalem, to the point where even Agabus bound him and showed him what would happen.  But Paul was headstrong, and many victories in Christ had led him to believe he should not stop.  His church family and believers had urged him by the spirit not to go, but he went anyway, and found himself bound just like he was warned.  Although he was ready to be bound and finally executed for the gospel, he had become martyrlike, and bravery has no place when guided by the spirit. 

We need to be careful and led by the spirit when pursuing a vision God has given us.  Just because Jesus rode into Jerusalem didn’t make it OK for Paul to, Jesus was always in the spirit, Paul wasn’t this time.  And we find the words here, that I have heard many times myself, and even spoken when I know I am going out on my own, outside of the will of God.  “Well may the will of the Lord be done,” this is what you say when you do not know what else to do, when you do not know how to act, and often heard when in disobedience.  So many pray for God’s mercy rather than the spirit’s guiding, remember you have to screw up to have mercy, and God will forgive, has that become an excuse for our actions?  Has zealousness won out in your desire to walk with God, have you forsaken the spirit?  Is there more to life than just making money?  Has your walk with Christ taken on a religious franchise? 

The spirit directed Jesus to Jerusalem, it told Paul not to go.  Even the greatest evangelist and author of many New Testament books can screw up, where does that leave us?  Jesus left us his spirit to be with us until he returns.  Experience Jesus as alive in the spirit today, expect more and get more from God.  Not seeing miracles, they are everywhere, you aren’t looking.  Still trying to get closer to God through education, get out and experience the spirit in your life.  Too many Christians are like franchised goods, the same, boring, and never get closer to God.  Make Jesus your desire, the education will come, experience him, and see the Bible come alive.  The spirit gives life, and reveals the mysteries of Christ.  Go further than a Bible study, but listen to the spirit.  A lesson from Paul, which he didn’t intend to make.  Just as powerful as the examples of his acting in the spirit.  The toughest four words you’ll ever pray, and the hardest to fulfill.  But the most rewarding, “thy will be done.”  The will of the father, through his son, via his spirit.  May the will of the Lord be done in your life, on earth as it is in heaven.  Now, where have I heard those words before.....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

feelin' alright?

How many times as a kid, or teenager, did you tell your mother “I don’t feel like going to school today?”  Or as you got older, and more responsible, “I don’t feel like going to work today.”   Ever been asked how you felt about something?  How do you feel about the Chargers moving to LA?  Did you feel that earthquake?  Doesn’t that cool air feel good tonight?  Feel how good the seats in my new car feel.  That vinyl feels just like leather.  I hate the feel of sand between my toes.  You hurt my feelings.  “There’s a feeling I get when I look to the west...” sang Led Zeppelin.  I’m feeling the effects of the weather.  Or riding a motorcycle is a feeling like no other.  Even an old dreary song told us “feelings, nothing more than feelings....” and the list goes on.  We are a very feeling type society, doing things and making decisions based on how we feel, rather than what we need to do.  And in too many instances get our feelings hurt, hurling us into more less than desirable feelings.  It’s the events that prime the emotions that cause the feelings to either go our way or not.  Very rarely are your feelings hurt when you don’t get your way, how many times after making a statement that someone disagrees with do you have to ask “did I hurt your feelings?”  And yes our feelings will actually cause us to respond the other way, causing us to lie under the conditions, “you don’t care how I feel, do you?”  Feelin’ alright?

But feelings are fleeting, and can cause us problems making decisions.  I love that new bike, I can’t live without it, just months after you said about the same about the shiny one in your garage.  I used to love going into New York City as a teen, until I got mugged, now I hate the place.  So feelings can and do influence our decisions no matter how much we admit it.  And when emotions, or opinions get confused with the truth, you have a formula for disaster.  When my sons were growing up, I always told them “don’t make any big decision based on a high or low emotion.”  Like I do sometimes, and valuable lessons were learned when they did.  Maybe the words “I told you so” were invented for just such occasions, rousing up even more feelings.  How many divorces happen today because “I just don’t feel the same way about them anymore,” confusing love for an emotion.  Thanks to Tina Turner, another marriage disaster telling us “what’s love, but a second hand emotion?”  Still feelin’ alright?

But the Bible tells us that God is love, that he is more than an emotion, more that a feeling.  Another song title?  He is the person of Jesus Christ, and we are warned in scripture that the heart can be deceitful, and let us down, not to trust it.  So why do so many pulpit people tell us to trust our feelings?  And then wonder why when we do we need more counseling?  When God made us he made us a body, physical, a soul, the heart, where your feelings live, and of spirit, the part that cries out for salvation, and can only be fulfilled by Jesus.  But if it feels good do it, offers up another recipe for disaster, and in today’s world we have become so feelings dictated that free speech now means you can say what you want, as long as I agree with it.  So where is a person to turn?  Again to God, who via his spirit will guide you. 

Jesus was accused once of being harsh, and his answer was “have I made you my enemy by telling you the truth?”  Imagine if Jesus didn’t feel like going to the cross, remember it was his decision and his alone to go?  If he didn’t feel like forgiving Peter, if he didn’t feel like being crucified?  What if he acted on feelings instead of his spirit?  What would the gospels be like without him?  How do you feel now?  But his being love, remember he is God incarnate, his love for us knew no bounds, and he died for us so we could be reunited with his father in heaven.  So that like him we too will be resurrected upon our earthly death, and live forever with him.  Or without him if you choose....how many have been offended to hell, when they could have been offended to heaven by hearing the truth? 

A story today told of some teens calling some blacks the N word, and the blacks were offended, their feelings hurt.  Which started the politicians into action, writing more laws about hate speech.  Hey, these kids were just expressing their feelings...weren’t they?  Maybe if we quit writing laws, and start showing God’s love the actions may change, for the law kills, but the spirit brings life.  Nowhere was it mentioned in the article about forgiveness, just revenge with more laws.  Did either party here show greater love for their fellow man than to lay down their lives for them?  To get over it and move on?  But based on feelings, both parties are continuing a stupid process that will go on for way too long.  With more feelings than truth involved.  Didn’t Jesus tell a woman caught in sin “go and sin no more.  Get over it and move on.”  Stupid hurts, and soon becomes a lifestyle, and a curse for life.

So turn to Jesus, the spirit has been calling you to him, and yes it will effect your feelings, God calls them blessings, happinesses he wants to give you, and when we find love to be the person of Jesus Christ rather than just a feeling about a situation, or more than a religion, you will feel the peace and joy he brings.  Heaven calls, you don’t have to go to hell, now, feelin’ alright?  Knowing Jesus sure makes me feel better.....feelings and all.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

been away so long I hardly knew the place

A old adage says “you can’t go home again,” but at least you can go back.  And that was part of the last 26 day ride we took, to go back to Durango, and ride out on our motorcycle.  On my last visit I ended up being life flighted to Albuquerque and having open heart surgery, this time it was by motorcycle coming and going.  It was only 4 years, we had lived there in the seventies, when it was an old western town, described as quaint, even a t-shirt sold at the time said “Durango is what America was.”  Working for Coca Cola I knew most of the businesses, and it was hard to walk Main Avenue without seeing someone you knew, and even strangers said hi.  A seemingly great place to live, I was about to see how it and I had changed.

In 1978 ony one road came in from the south and east, today a four laner has replaced it, the old road with old businesses you have to be looking for to find.  Shopping malls and even a Walmart dot the new road, along with car dealerships.  Was I in Durango?  I had been away so long I hardly knew the place, maybe a trip down Main Avenue would renew the memories.  Jim Paris Tire City was gone, now a mini mall selling yogurt.  French Hardware was gone, a coffee house.  The radio station where we held our Snowdown meetings was now a trendy restaurant.  Francisco’s, once the premier restaurant in town was closed, Francis kept the building, the new owners didn’t have Francis’ flair for cooking and it went bust.  Now it held another t shirt shop, and some clothing, which will be gone by end of summer.  Gone also were the Chief, the old diner in the railroad car, Town House, where Manny the owner also cooked for the jail.  Durango Music, where Jim Rockelmann and his family before him sold instruments, records, and anything electric was gone, now a welcome center.  Strangely enough the girl at the information desk knew nothing of Jim or his family.  I found out you can’t go home again, but you can go back.

So many of the old buildings were gone, and replaced with new style new buildings, that ruined the image.  Eating dinner with an old friend who has been there for 40 years, we agreed not all the changes were for the better.  Durango was now a town who was looking for an identity, who was stuck between yuppie fusion restaurants, and The Ore House, selling steaks.  Only the train remained, as it has for over 120 years...but now cost more to ride than I made a day back then.  Somewhere in the years that had passed, Durango lost its way, outside money from Texas and California had taken over, and the old was made new, like Disneyland.  Maybe a sanitized environment, where you can still eat at Sambo’s, if you are old school, but never leave Cali or Texas urban areas and not feel threatened.  But as George Harrison reminded us “All Things Must Pass,” and Durango is and was.  But so had I....

When we are saved we instantly become a new creature in Christ.  The spirit becomes available to us, and we are told to work out our salvation daily through fear and trembling.  Work out, I thought it was a gift?  It is, but like missing one day of rehab took three to catch up, even though salvation is instant, we need daily contact with God to grow in him.  Paul asked the Christians in Ephesus, who he knew were saved, but also something different about them “did you receive the holy spirit when you believed?”  There was no joy or peace, no patience, or goodness.  Meekness was a foreign term, so where was Jesus in their lives?  They had gotten away from the fact they once believed by faith, and a certain expectancy of what Jesus would do, but it was gone.  The believing had ceased, and they had gone back to their old ways, or like in Durango’s case, newer ways still looking.  And had lost their identity in Christ.  There was no freshness, no vitality, no desire to see God in their lives, they were saved, yet not in the spirit, their lack of fruit displayed for all to see. 

Is your walk one of sterility, deadness, and dullness due to being religious?  The spirit offers the way back, and is the way back.  Jesus hasn’t changed, we have.  We become seduced by power and money, and soon forget about who saved us, knowing the king, just not benefitting from his kingdom.  And so this story shows us how we need Jesus daily in our lives, how we need to work out in the spirit, and live the life he promises.  We need to exercise that continual faith that saved us, and see it grow into a trusting relationship.  Where the fruit of the spirit is evident, that the something people look for is really a someone, and his name is Jesus.  And we can be like him!  There is a fullness and a freshness to a spirit filled life, and it is available to all, so what are you waiting for?  Turn to Jesus, ask him to guide you, then let him.  Be sensitive to the spirit and see things through God’s eyes.  And experience blessings you have been missing, and become a true witness of Jesus Christ. 

We had great expectations of our trip to Durango, and were disappointed at first.  The town had changed, but so had we.  The new heart of today saw and reflected, and reminded me of just how far I had come in the Lord.  I was young and just starting out when we left, we returned older and wiser, retired and restful.  In the spirit.  So as you have received Christ, also live in him.  If your best memories are from years ago, you are missing out on today.  It’s funny, how I didn’t recognize the town, but then no one recognized me either.  Just two faces and we talked, and we both agreed, we didn’t want to go back, we had done our time.  Look ahead to Jesus by turning to the spirit now, why wait?  And you too will some day look back and see how you’ve been away so long you hardly knew the place has taken you farther than you ever realized.  In the sprit.  New memories start today....can you handle them?  The parking meters should have been my first clue.......

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

San Diego-the next morning

Tomorrow morning San Diego will be all a buzz about how great it carried off the Major League Baseball All Star Game.  It will brag about the crowds, the full hotels, and the generous boost to the economy.  The lines will be longer at the airport the next few days as the many who came for the game depart, and things will begin to get back to normal.  And for those who visited, they will have gotten the view of San Diego the Chamber of Commerce wanted them to see.  America’s Finest City, the claim goes, and based on the weather, it is.  And if you stayed within the ball park area downtown, it was clean, safe, and free from crime and the homeless.  The presence of police will have made the attendees feels safe, and only until they receive their credit card bill next month will they not know how much their good time cost.  And many will think of moving here, for the beaches, the climate, the cleanliness and friendliness of the city.  But tomorrow when San Diego wakes up, and things start returning to normal, those of us who call it home will return to the reality of America’s Not So Finest City.

The homeless who were herded out of the area for the week, will start to move back in.  Sleeping in tents on 15th and Market, just a few blocks from Petco Park.  The hookers will be back, the druggies and junkies moving back into the area they call home.  Regular season games will restart again for the last place Padres, while the mayor and the city will still be held hostage by the Spanos family, threatening to leave if they don’t get a new stadium, but still cannot field a team that can reach the .500 level.  Rivers will throw passes, and interceptions, and no other city in America wants them.  And as the referendum appears in November for a 20% hotel tax, hopefully the voters will say no to the mayor and his self seeking minions.

Come back to San Diego after a rain storm and find the beaches closed from sewage escaping from Mexico.  After every storm.  Try to find work and find too many undocumented aliens have taken it.  Try to find housing, and find multi family homes used to be single family homes, now with two or more families residing, just to make rent.  If they can find a place to rent.  Move out of downtown, and expect an hour plus for a 20 mile ride to work.  Gasoline here is a dollar more than most of the US of A, but hey at least the weather is always good.  And as San Diego wakes up from its stupor after the game, we see that maybe behind the curtain of the All Star Game our city needs help.  Maybe like Dorothy, we should have heeded the wizards advice, and not peeked behind the curtain.  For what we saw was not what we get.

A few years back I had lunch with a pastor friend, and when I asked “how was your year?” he responded “we met all our bills.”  What a strange answer, from a man who is thought to be serving God, but expected in today’s climate.  But success in many churches is found in the budget being met, the congregation growing, or the Pastor’s new book selling well.  Inside the four walls all is safe and secure, but outside all hell is breaking loose.  Really the church may be rotting from inside, safe and secure they kept the world out, not realizing they let it in, locked the doors and won’t let it out.  When Jesus told us to be the salt of the earth, and the light of the world, he told us we had to get out and do it, not sit huddled behind locked doors with a security team patrolling the parking lot.  Until the church is out doing what the gospel promises, feeding the poor, and providing for widows and orphans, before the gospel has been shown to all in word and deed, the church is a failure.  Paul knew this, and was only encouraged by the spirit, as no church without the spirit could provide the help he needed. 

Today we have many huge churches, with campuses to minister.  Programs, processes, and procedures to keep the flock busy.  Entertained.  Some of the encouraging words God spoke to Paul were “I have many people in this city...” and we do, many Christians who call upon the name of the Lord.  But too many are like the All star fans, in it for the good time, what God can do for them.  How great a chance to witness of God’s greatness by showing his love, not only to strangers, but to the homeless, lost, and hurting who call San Diego home?  Are we really a fine city at all without the gospel going forth?  Where is our confidence in Christ that knowing he brought all these people here, that he will provide a means to minister to them?  Can the churches of San Diego even welcome the spirit that draws men to Christ, and deal with the stirring of the spirit when they come?

Today you may be the only Bible a person may read.  The only example of a Christian someone needs to have minister to them.  Will you stay inside or will you be out in the light of the Lord?  Will you be salting souls or pouring salt into wounds?  You may be faced with condemnation, ridicule, maybe even be threatened, but God promises to be with you.  You read your Bible, you study history, doesn’t it tell us every time the church was threatened the church grew?  Or doesn’t your in house philosophy allow that?  Paul came to the Corinthians in weakness and with fear and trembling.  Yet he knew what the spirit was calling him to do, and he knew God had gone ahead to make a path.  America’s finest city isn’t until we get out of the church and into the community in the love of Jesus.  The spirit is calling, the flesh is weak.  What city you wake up to tomorrow depends on who you wake up with.  Do not let the sun set on your anger or shame, or pride.  God will provide where he guides.  Imagine a stadium built to house God’s people to meet!  How the church responds to the call of the gospel will tell more about you and your church than you may want us to know.  So get out and live the gospel you are taught in church.  See Jesus in action, cast a vote for him and freedom.  And with no tax increases.  All but a Democrat would vote for that!  Is it possible only you and your refusal to share Jesus are keeping San Diego from truly becoming America’s Finest City? 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com