another Joe story

Years ago I had a friend named Joe, who at one time had been a tuner for Cal Rayborn, who at one time was a great motorcycle racer.  Both were from San Diego,and among the old timers in the bike shops you would hear stories of Cal, how they knew him as a kid, a young racer with talent, and it seems each one had a Cal story, or knew one, or had heard one.  But to those who got into motorcycling after 1973, they never got to know Cal, as he crashed during testing in New Zealand.  This two time Daytona 200 winner and top ranked racer was Cal to everyone, but always Calvin to Joe, and his stories were always ended with “oh Calvin....”  Joe really knew him, and was his friend.  The rest of us were just fans.  But the stories of Calvin were interlaced with many other Joe stories, and as Joe and I got to be friends, his wife an expert cake decorator made all our birthday cakes, he got me deals on parts and was my go to guy for motorcycles in the pre-Mickey era.  As crusty as the old timers were, Joe stood out, maybe it was the Castrol sticker on his wooden leg, I always swore if I got a wooden leg it would have a Castrol sticker on it, but I think it was because he had really been there, had known Calvin and the others, and spoke from the heart, at least as well as the mind would recall.  My 20 minute visits turned into two hour visits, both of us thankful for the break from day to day life.  But one morning he told me another story, non-Calvin based, and maybe for the first time I saw him upset. 

Joe lived in an older subdivision in Chula Vista, and had raised his family there and he and his wife still live some many years later.  But when he had come home one night after wrenching all day found a notice on his front door that his house had been condemned.  A Friday to be sure, why do we always get bad news on Friday nights when we can’t do anything about it until Monday?  But after stewing all weekend, and he and his wife fussing, Monday morning he went downtown to city hall and found the right person, who could explain why his home was being taken from him.  It seems that many new EPA regulations had gone into effect since the fifties, and Joe’s house was built before they went into place.  And according to the books, his property was still zoned as industrial, and his address was listed as a truck stop.  Which it had been in the twenties, some 70 years ago at the time.  Before it was subdivided and hoses built.  And the EPA wanted to raze the house, dig up all the ground and clean it up, all at Joe’s expense.  It didn’t matter it had a house built on it for over 45 years, the paperwork said truck stop, and so it was.  Not any other home in the subdivision, only his.  And according to the young guy from the government trying to help him, the books said truck stop, so truck stop it was.  And the battle began...

Now back in the seventies I worked at a petroleum jobber, and we sold used oil to the BLM to be spread on dirt roads in the National Forests, it helped keep the dust down and in its pre-asphalt state provided some protection from erosion.  Not today, where we are so pure and clean in body and mind, so you can only imagine the oil and grease Joe’s house was built on, thirty years of truck stop oil and grease as a foundation.  And Joe fought it.  Better than I would, and without a lawyer.  He had an old friend in the city government, an old time employee, and he came out and took pictures of Joe’s house, confirming the address, and that it was in a residential area.  No court hearings, no meetings and zoning commission nonsense, his friend simply went back in the files, corrected the error, added the pictures and testimony if any questions arose, and Joe’s house was once again Joe’s home.  Proving the value of old friends, common sense in action, and giving a whole new meaning to “hi I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”  Be it ever so humble, there truly is no place like home.

Scripture tells us “that the wise man built his house upon the rock,and when the storms came it withstood them.”  Words in red spoken by Jesus.  Words we believe, until we get in a crisis, and panic.  Joe didn’t panic in a panic situation, at least not too much.  But in Paul’s writings he uses a Greek word “oikodomen,” which takes two words, house and build and ties them together.  The idea is to build a house on a solid foundation, and in the context to tell us we have a solid foundation in Jesus.  We sing songs about that wise man building his house, but do we live it?  We are new creatures in Christ, not rebuilt or renovated, totally new, in fact the old man has passed away.  RIP.  But yet when trouble strikes, we worry, fret, forget, and turn from God trying to figure it out ourselves.  And then the real problems begin.  We have to come to grips with our new identity in Christ, and although we may not understand the spiritual transformation, we are now children of a living, loving God.  We have a new identity in Christ.  But too many times we fall back on old feelings and old ways, and end up like Joe’s house was, condemned and worrying.  Yet there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, we are forgiven.  Can we act that way?

When we rely on our emotions we are like a ship tossed on the waves, boing where it takes us.  We become emotional retards, and useless to all including ourselves.  But when we seek the spirit in all things, we can have insight, wisdom, and know God has everything under control.  We can have joy, which doesn’t mean the absence of suffering, but the presence of God, fruit of the spirit.  Of God.  To strengthen and encourage us in the situation, for God has everything under control.  He knows the outcome, when it will end and how, and will take us through it.  The spirit will steady and strengthen you, anybody need a little steadiness on the rough roads of life?  Call on Jesus, and by his spirit, you will be saved, eternally, right now, and you will have built your house upon the rock, no matter who you were before.  No matter the sins or how dirty your deeds were.  Jesus cleanses us from sin....and our past.

Every time I see On Any Sunday, or read about motorcycling racing, or read about how it was back then, I think of Joe and Calvin.  Not Cal, but Calvin.  Friends and fellow bikers, who had motorcycles in common.  And I got to know Calvin through Joe.  Do people get to know Jesus through you?  Is your house built upon the rock of Christ, or on shifting sands?  We saw the results of shifting sands at the Race of Gentlemen two weeks ago, cancelled when the high tide washed out the track.  Race cancelled, show over.  The next day the sun was out again....don’t miss Jesus by one day, build on him today, and when the storms come, you still can ride.  He will take you through the storms of life.  Don’t let the race of your life be called due to rain, seek Jesus now.  He will put himself in your place, so sometime you can put yourself in the place of others.  Love will do that, nothing else will.  No emotion can substitute for the joy Jesus brings to life.  And how he brings scripture to life.

There are other Joe stories, about how he lost his leg and about the Castrol sticker.  It seems sometimes bad decisions make for better stories, only in Christ will you find the happy ending you desire.  You can only imagine the stories Joseph, Jesus earthly father can tell, now those would be another Joe story I would like to hear.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the Chino look with the cool of Johnny

 In the beginning there were bicycles, and man saw it was good.  But then he added a motor, and things got better.  Soon bigger and more powerful motors were built and we all went faster.  But for almost 80 years the styling stayed the same, as it was all about the motor part of the motorcycle.  Willie G. he of Davidson fame built the first “ factory custom” for 1971, and then the race was on.  Kawasaki followed soon after, with the Z-1 LTD adding power to styling, and soon every manufacturer had a factory built custom.  From ideas that started in our garages, to going into limited production when our friends wanted one just like it, we all want to individualize our rides, to make them more personal.  Remember the first Gold Wing, a bare bones bike, and soon the after market had it filled with bags, fairings, and radios.  Custom seats, and today the catalogs are inches thick.  But soon the factories wised up, why let the aftermarket build what we can do in house, and soon the things we customized with became standard equipment.  And one by one, the small guys either got bought up, dried up, or went riding.  The factories had the engineering, marketing, and could warranty the accessories, and you could finance them along with the bike’s purchase price.  Nothing fits like factory parts, and soon all manufacturers joined in, raking in profits, giving us what we wanted, no longer custom, now assembly line mandated.

Cars and trucks are the same, look at radios that are now sound systems, better from the factory than most after market stuff back then, cheaper and built in, and warranteed.  Same with wheels, phones, and on trucks, rear bumpers.  Which my friend Milton had a part in, no pun intended.  Back in the seventies, when Japanese trucks invented the small truck market, they were bare bones.  And came with no rear bumpers, no aftermarket even existed for them yet.  But Milt went to work for a company who built them, and was so successful that Nissan, then Datsun, took them over, and started making them available from the factory, pushing Fay out of the way, and Milton, who had put them on the map searching for other work.  They could do it better, cheaper, and in house had more control over them, read that as more profit, and soon all truck manufacturers went that way.  My friend Milt was there, and the stories he can tell....

But back to bikes, I have endured the chopper, café racer, track bike, and the cycle is coming about again.  But with a new twist, bobbers.  Where choppers were unrideable, overpriced, and ill handling, and as café racers were fast, uncomfortable, overpriced, but did handle, bobbers are the newest craze.  And this week Triumph joined the ranks, with their Bonneville Bobber.  Few know or will recall that we didn’t chop Harleys 40 years ago, it was Triumphs. And now Triumph is going head to head with any Sportster model Harley can offer, but adds power, brakes, handling, and looks.  So you can be an individual not looking like every other Harley rider with loud pipes and shiny leather.  Yeah we can tell who you posers are, and now Triumph is in the Bobber business.  At first a factory bobber put me off, but where Harley adds weight, Triumph reduces it by removing heavy, non-essential pounds via styling and has hit it.  I can’t wait to get a press bike to ride....then I will give you a full report, but with the new 1200cc HT engine, high toque, it should fly.  And the sound...I can’t wait for the first set of loud pipes that save lives bike to challenge me.  If the looks don’t get it, the performance will.  You started it Willie G., the Brits just made it better.  Think of it as The Wild One custom updated, the Chino look with the Johnny cool.

We all like to get gifts, and many of like to give them too.  Paul talks about the gifts of the spirit, and much has been said, written, taught, trying to apply them to Christians.  But we always look at it from having the gift, rather than God giving us the gift.  When I was miraculously healed with open heart surgery, I was given the gift of healing.  When taken in graciously, was shown the gift of hospitality.  When I participate in an organized run, I get the gift of organization.  All gifts come from God, who loves to bless his kids.  So let him.  But after explaining the gifts and how they are to be desired, he goes on in the next chapter to tell about fruit.  Love, joy, and peace, and the others.  Fruit that is produced in us via the holy spirit, fruit we cannot produce on our own.  It is spirit driven, hence the name of the spirit, and only when we receive the forgiveness through Jesus do we get them.  And when talking of love, he doesn’t mean love for man or erotic love, but agape, God’s love, a love that is the will to uphold and cherish another person.  Like Jesus did for us, and does everyday.  It is a decision to work for the other person’s best interests, showing concern, care, and thoughtfulness.  And then the fruits start to appear, supernaturally, as God’s love is so different than any other love man can provide.  When we love him first, then we can love our neighbor as ourself.  With no reservation, unconditionally.  And no man can love another, or forgive another if he is not loved first, and forgives and loves himself.  Unlike the choppers, café racers, and bobbers, God’s factory work will never be duplicated, and cannot be improved upon.  All the parts fit, they function together, and are backed up by his lifetime warranty. 

And it is not difficult, God made the gospel simple and easy for guys like me.  Trust Jesus, let him take away your sin and guilt, be saved and be loved.  Then repeat it with others.  Not in competition, but in your daily walk or ride.

All Milt got is great memories and a fat paycheck.  But when the paycheck ended, and the memories went on, he found all he needed in Jesus.  Today he sports the Jesus cool with his Chino look, and lives the life and bears the fruit.  All in love because of his relationship with Jesus Christ.  This year it is bobbers, last year it was choppers.  Our love for style will change but our love for God should not, his for us doesn’t.  Check him out today, find all that you were looking for and more, from the creator.  He uses factory parts, and who better to fix you when you break than he who created you?  From bumpers to bags to radios to fairings, things change.  Jesus never did, and never does.  And is much cooler than Johnny ever was.  He was the original rebel, standing up to the laws and prejudice of it.  But doing it in love.  Jesus rides, adventure bikes, choppers, bobbers, and café racers.  You never know who is behind the Arai at the light, so show him love.  He may not be as cool as you, and Jesus is the coolest.  I’m going riding....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspotcom

 

cars I never owned

While getting some fine points ironed out on Theresa’s birthday present, a 2015 Mustang convertible, red of course, the dealer loaned us cars from their pre-owned, used car selection.  Nice cars, still within the new range of a year old, but not her Mustang.  And I wondered how many people just bought cars like this, throw away non-descript but reliable transportation, but with all the excitement of being in a coma, I was in one for 8 days. And I don’t remember anything other than waking up.  So we were delighted when we got her car back, and I thought about cars I’ve owned, and cars I wouldn’t own, and cars I never have owned. Most based on perception...

I have never owned a Volvo, although those sport wagons from the early seventies had some class to them.  But otherwise too practical, plus I won’t wear a beret or smoke a pipe.  And from what I can see, those cars had to be safety minded because their owners weren’t.  Safety isn’t going 50 on the freeway, in the fast lane!  I have never owned a Chrysler product, and now since FIAT owns them, I don’t see myself ever owning one.  Something about that Chrysler crank, remember that starter noise from the sixties, that made you wonder if parts were coming off?  And what about the rear view mirror on the dash so you can’t see?  Great motors, accelerated rusting of bodies, but the cops loved them, and Jake Blues owned one.  MOPAR-Move Over Parts Are Rusting.  The suicide doors on the early sixties Lincolns are cool, but always out of my price range.  Stately and elegant, but not the same class as the 1967 Sedan De Ville I owned once.  No wonder GM used to rule the world.  I almost bought an Oldsmobile once, but now they’re gone, and came close to a few Pontiacs, RIP too.  But cars I would like to own, never have, but still would like too, if even in my dreams. 

I would like to have an old Studebaker pickup, from before the Lark front end was grafted on.  Or a 1960 Chevy pickup, with those ugly eyebrows, cool.  A 1965 Chevy Impala Super Sport, red with black interior and black vinyl roof, 4 on the floor, like Scotty’s brother had.  I’ve owned three Rabbits, even an early 1975, but never a Bug, but Theresa did when we got married, does that count?  A Super Beetle at that...A 1969 Chevelle SS396, the go fast car in my high school parking lot, burnouts at 3 everyday, bring your own bleach.  But its seems the car I owned said something about me, but the cars I didn’t own said even more.  But what of my wish list, notice used cars, fleet cars, and newer models aren’t mentioned.  Am I stuck in the past, or hasn’t the future caught up to me yet?  Is there something intrinsic about the older cars missing in new ones.  Do I remember they were new once also, and who in 1960 would ever think their old work truck would be desirable over 50 years later?  I could go on about Kaisers, Corvettes-white 1962 with silver cove please, another 1950 Buick with that toothy grill, or even a Corvair, but never a Chrysler, Volvo, FIAT, VW, or a sedan, of any make.  You see there are cars in my family tree that are there for a reason, just as there are cars that aren’t.  For a reason.  But together make up our automotive family, our community of cars.

But as much as some cars are only desired, some are purchased.  The ones I haven’t owned remain that way for a reason, they just don’t fit me.  They may be desirable, but not ownable, and therefore are not part of my auto family or history.  People are like that too, and I tire of hearing how we are all children of God, especially from other Christians when the Bible tells us we are not.  That being a child of God is bestowed upon those who are saved, and as salvation is a gift, so is being part of God’s family.  The invite is there, but many don’t answer yes, but still can to claim the rights.  God still loves them, and his spirit is still calling them to Jesus to be saved, but they are not family.  Just like a car title, it says your name right there on the pink, and without it you maybe renting, borrowing, or even making payments, but until the title is in your name with no lien holder, it isn’t yours. 

Satan held the title to us once, and Jesus paid it off.  We are part of the family, which consists of Jesus and his church us.  And God designed the body with Jesus as the head, we are the torso.  And with no head, or headship, we cannot function as we are designed to.  So how do we get to be part of this body of Christ?  How do we become part of this living entity, how can we learn to function as part of it?  For one thing, we are not born into as an infant is, but born again into it by the spirit.  We believe Jesus as deity, confess our sins, and we become part of the body.  But since not all are born into this body, how do we enter and then grow as one, for as we are one body, we each have different functions.  Again by the spirit, born again, then driven by the spirit given us upon salvation.  The spirit baptizes us into one body, the baptism predicted by John the Baptist and fulfilled by Jesus himself.  Revealed on the day of Pentecost, and continually fulfilled everyday in those who have turned to Jesus.  We don’t go to church, we are the church.

But the church was never designed to be a group of religious people designed to meet together to enjoy mutually linked and desired functions.  It should never be a clique.  It is to be alive in the spirit, we are to be alive in the same life, belonging to the same God, filled by the same spirit, who gives us spiritual gifts, who are intended to work together to function as one.  That is the church, us.  To be ambassadors, to change the world in Christ by his spirit.  We are not many bodies or denominations, but one body with Jesus as the head, and expressing his love through us.  Yet many add Jesus to the list of things they don’t have, or sadder yet don’t desire.

The Book of Life will be the title to heaven, and to whom we belong.  With no title, no ownership, with no Jesus no entry.  You may desire the things of heaven, even go to church, but your God may be a rental car, an SUV, or a mini van, trying to fit in with the rest, accepted but not saved.  Some cars are just transportation, a life in Christ is much more.  It is exciting, vibrant, surprising, and alive.  More than just a function, he is life.  And gives you life.  We live in a sedan world, your God doesn’t need to be.  Breakout and find joy in the spirit.  Enjoy the abundant life Jesus promises for you, while here on earth.  You may not ever own the car of your dreams, but you can have your dreams fulfilled in Christ.  For one bright shining moment you may enjoy that new car smell, but you can have that sweet smell of salvation forever. 

Now about cars I never owned....blame it on motorcycles, but that’s a different story.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

what do you call the person who graduates last in their medical class?

I haven’t heard from Biker Jim in awhile, which means he is probably doing OK.  We both grew up in Jersey, about 12 miles apart, and the Jersey Factor has carried over into our walk with the Lord.  Jim is a good friend, and we don’t have to talk often, we have a trust and friendship that goes beyond Facebook postings or constant emails.  But when he does call, it is because he is having a hard time, and has been very sick over the years.  Some of his maladies I cannot spell or even pronounce, but let’s say for the last 5-6 years I can remember he has been on a list for a replacement liver.  That kind of sick.  So many of our visits were in the hospital, me visiting for a change.  And we have shared many things that only a Jersey person would understand, let me just leave it at that.  But keep him in prayer, from what I hear he is still waiting, he moved to Tennessee because the wait is shorter, but he keeps getting better, his scores, dropping down on the list, then getting worse and moving up in the standings.  So I see him from bad to worse, his physical condition may change, but his friendship and love of Jesus don’t.  He may not know it, or even admit it, but he is an encouragement to me, which goes way beyond our common Jersey Factor.

Jim spent one Christmas Day with us, and translated the Italian parts for us on The Godfather.  He has helped out and ministered with me with his motorcycle and Harvest events, this big man lifting little kids onto his Harley.  But the one event if you can call it that, my favorite, is one evening in the hospital, waiting for his liver doctor to arrive.  We joked, “what do you call a person who graduates last in their medical class?”  Answer-a doctor, and that night his new doctor made his first call, entering when we were laughing.  He was from Madison, Wisconsin, which he explained is one of the major liver transplant areas in the US of A.  But we were laughing when he walked in unannounced, and when we stopped, he wondered why.  So we told him, and he got a laugh out of it too, and then I asked him, “where were you in your graduating class?”  And he got serious, at east for a moment.  “We had no class rankings, it was pass or fail.”  And so I asked “and....your answer is...” and he started laughing again, “don’t worry, I passed,” and we all hit it off.  A lot can be said for bedside manner....

When I mentioned the other night at Bible study about the second book of Luke, Cookie Monster hung around after and wanted to know which book I referred to.  I explained that Acts was written by Luke, and he is also mentioned a few times in Paul’s writings.  And we find Luke to be an interesting man, with a bedside manner reflected in his writings.  It was not uncommon for a doctor to be a slave in those times, with little or no training, yet we find Luke very well informed and skilled. Not a slave.  And a unique man among the Jews, he was a Gentile, who they hated.  We find in his writings details that only a trained scientific man would know, and those details give us insight not only to Jesus and the apostles, but to the man who witnessed them and wrote about them.  His is the only gospel that tells of the prodigal son, and the good Samaritan, found only among the 20 or so parables he writes about.  We can tell from Paul’s writings that he may have accompanied Paul as a doctor, maybe even attending to Paul’s physical thorn in the flesh, among Paul’s other ailments.  See even Paul went to the doctor.  And spent time in prison with him, God placing the right man in the right place when needed.  His is the only gospel telling of Jesus circumcision on the eighth day, medical background showing again, and it is believed he believed early on in the God of Jacob and Abraham, just never got circumcised into the Jewish religion. His medical background of being a non-Jew, a professional, and a doctor gave him insight, and credentials that enhanced his writings, and led by the spirit, wrote two books of the Bible.  Which we see demonstrated in his first book, Luke, that he had perfect understanding of all things from the first, although he wasn’t present like John Mark or John.  Inspired by the holy spirit, he went on in Acts, after being told not to preach the gospel any further or risk death, shows how he is also a creationist, believing that “in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,”  that later the spirit gave shape and life too.  Which may have been translated as he got all things from above, again referring to the Holy Spirit.  And when imprisoned prayed “thou art God who made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that is in them,”  and later “that with all boldness they may speak the word.”  I wonder if when he was growing up that his parents bragged “one day my son will be a doctor,” never knowing that he would become a doctor, scientist, historian, brilliant and inspired writer, Christian apologist, and Biblical creationist.  I wonder when he read about how he can do all things in Christ that strengthen him he already knew that? 

And so we call the person who graduates last in their medical class doctor, and we never know what to expect when we ask about their credentials.  We never knew where or when Luke graduated, or where he was in class rankings, but in God’s eyes he was a major player, but humble in knowing it was all about Jesus.  Can we say the same thing, or has our talent given by God become a source of bragging?  Titles may be important, but the man behind them, and the spirit that drives us is more important.  Years ago a man bragged to me “I’m a doctor,” and my answer was “really, I have one of those,”  but do we all have Jesus?  Luke the physician knew all about medicine for his time, but when confronted with the great physician, was humbled and inspired, knowing he could maybe heal, but only Jesus could save.  And even the best doctor cannot resurrect the dead.  Something to think about the next time you read Acts or the book that bears his name.  The only gentile to write a book of the Bible, maybe we don’t have this God thing figured out.

Sometimes the best medical advice is simple, as Gerald my doctor friend once showed me, when I told him my arm hurt in a certain position, he told me “then don’t do that.”  For good medical advice is like the gospel, simple so I can get it, and free so I can afford it.  If only Obamacare were so simple....and with Jesus you can keep your own doctor!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com