having a license doesn't mean you know how to drive

The General, General Motors that is, was faced with a problem.  A young attorney by the name of Ralph Nader was crusading against their cars being unsafe, and they didn’t know what to do.  Now whether the Corvair was unsafe is still up for discussion, but rather than deal with the issue brought forth in his famous book “Unsafe at Any Speed,” they put a detective on his trail, to see what they could dig up on him and discredit him personally.  Rather than face the facts that some of their cars could be made better, and institute internal policies to correct them, they attacked the messenger and it exploded in their face.  Due to their mishandling of Nader, instead of reducing him they actually elevated his status, making him one of the premier consumer advocates of all time, and inviting the government into the automobile business.  Never again would the business be the same, as soon seat belts, criteria for brakes and safety became government mandated, affecting the styling with 5 mph bumpers, air bags, side door beams, and now the government was in the auto business.  Leading all the way to the eventual bankruptcy of GM by Obama, rather the raping of it.  There are some things the government needs to be involved in, business is not one of them.  General Motors and Detroit, then the world found out what “Hi I’m from the government and I’m here to help” really means.  All because they got busted trying to discredit one man.  The rest is history as they say....

Now I have never met anyone who wants dirty air, or unsafe cars, but we need to be reminded that these are end results.  Talking with a man who attended rehab drug meetings, he found when you put a bunch of druggies together you end up with better connections.  Same with car thieves, but not the same when the government steps in.  We get more rules, more regulations, and soon the problem they set out to fix ends up lost among the rules.  After decades of being warned about drunk driving, 50% of car accidents and those killed in them involve alcohol.  The rules have not changed the drinker who drives.  Following someone yesterday who obviously should not be driving, my friend at first was upset with her, until I reminded him that someone passed her on her driving test.  She may be an idiot, but she had help getting there.  I also watched a man need two lanes to parallel park, and still ended up sideways on the curb,  not in the space.  Supposedly both had licenses to drive, even though they exhibited no signs of knowing how to.

Maybe my own experience will convince you.  I was checking out and found my license had expired, the DMV later sent out notices they had a computer problem and some would not get renewal notices.  Try that one on the CHP, “really officer I do have a license, here is a letter from the DMV stating that,” even Jon and Ponch would have trouble with that one.  But when I took the test after a 7500 mile trip, I failed.  Seems some questions are worded so you have to fail, and if you ride that way may get killed.  When I explained to the DMV woman about my trip, she said “why don’t you sit here, at my desk, and take it again.”  Leaving the test sheet with the correct answers on top for me to see.  Maybe she was the exception of being from the government and wanting to help!  But it still came down to my participation...

When God warns of things not to do in the Bible, they are for  our own good.  When he told the Israelites to not intermingle and marry with those who were their enemies, he told them for their own good.  Those around them worshipped pagan Gods, sacrificed their children to them, and were lewd and had diseases they Jews didn’t have because they had obeyed.  But when they intermarried, and disobeyed the Lord, along with their disobedience they got an attitude and adopted concepts that eventually led to their conquest.  They confused the true God for the pagan ones, and even Solomon, with his 1000 wives, some from pagans, opened the door to civil war.  God knew what he was talking about then, and later when Paul admonished us to not intermarry, that darkness and light have no place together, and soon the light will be overcome by the  darkness.  All cancers start small, some are preventable, but if caught early can be treated.  Same with disobedience and since.  But first we need to recognize it and repent.  We need Jesus, who tells us to turn from our wicked ways, not turn or you will die.  But many still play with fire and end up going down in flames when they didn’t have to.

Just as the government intervenes when we cannot take care of ourselves, bringing more laws and laws to break, if we turn to Christ we can change.  He will effect the change, but first we must realize we are in sin.  And when we do, he is the way out.  It takes Jesus and only Jesus, but I hear too many times “hi I’m from the church and here to help,” meaning well but bringing doctrine and legalism to a place where we need the holy spirit.  They have all the answers, just like I did on my retest, but it didn’t mean I could ride, my trip proved that.  If only we ask “where is Jesus in this situation?” we could avoid the retest, and the penalty.  Getting closer to God all the time!

Love the sinner, but hate the sin.  Easy words to remember afterwards, if only we could practice them first.  One criteria for a mature Christian is accepting responsibility for ourselves, not pointing out sin and attacking the sinner, lest we be attacked.  When told to study to find yourself approved do you approach it like you do a test, to pass, then forget, or is it part of knowing Jesus?  Are you still studying to find a scripture to OK your sin, or do you seek to grow in Christ?  Do you go to church and think that makes you a Christian, or do you know Jesus?  Is your name on a membership list to prove  you go to church, or written in the Book of Life proving you know Jesus and are heaven bound upon death?  Are you attacking the accuser like GM did, or facing up to your own sin?  Your sin will find you out, better to find Jesus first.

God’s wisdom is available to all, his practical guidelines and advice ready to be applied.  But only work when you apply it.  We have all been given the same measure of faith, yet some use it while others make excuses.  Faith is the basis of life, and life is for the living.  Better explained while riding rather than to the CHP on the side of the road.  Sin will always have a consequence, God forgives the courts don’t.  You get to choose the judge you will face, only in Jesus Christ will you have an advocate pleading your case.  “Honest officer...” he’s heard them all.  Why not take a chance with God.  Obedience is better than sacrifice.  Forgiveness is better than condemnation.  Life is better than death.  They killed Jesus the messenger, but his message is still true today.  And Nader, he ended up running for President.  “Hi, you’re from where?” makes all the difference in where you are going.  Having a driver’s license doesn’t mean you know how to drive.....just my take on the law.  Maybe Barney Fife’s advice of the first rule is obeying all rules applies here.  Maybe Jed Clampett said it best about the law, “what in tarnation?”  So they  loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly, in an Oldsmobile.  I’ll take grace, I hope you do too. 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

has hard work ever killed anyone? you may be surprised....

Many a summer night was spent growing up pasting Green Stamps into the little books, hoping to have enough to get the premium you really wanted.  S&H Green Stamps, a product of Sperry and Hutchinson, were coupons, stamps given with each purchase at certain retailers.  One stamp for each dime spent, you would literally have to lick and paste hundreds of stamps to fill a book.  When shopping you looked for the S&H sign outside, it was like an added bonus for doing business there, and many families, like ours, would wait until the junk drawer filled up with them, then spend a night around the kitchen table licking and sticking.  Gazing through the catalog on breaks, dreaming of what you wanted.  From toasters to sporting equipment, there was something for everyone, with one key component, you always seemed to fall short of how many books it took to get that special gift.  But once you did, it was off to the redemption center, to stand in line, pick your premium, and then have each page scrutinized to make sure no stamps were missing.  A lot of work for something free, but that was America 50-60 years ago. 

In our area Plaid Stamps were a competitor for awhile, but never had the impact of Green Stamps.  I can remember the dispensers on top of the registers at the super market, with a rotary phone dial, after paying, the clerk would dial how many stamps you would receive, and you often got a long, long trail of them on your big grocery day.  It all seemed a game to us kids, the catalog given to us to occupy our time, but we seldom shared in the rewards.  I can remember getting them for gas when I first started driving, filling the ash tray in the Pinto, no one smoked in our cars, and when it was filled, thought I had enough for a big premium, boy was I surprised.  I found it was cheaper to just go buy it.  I lost touch with Green Stamps in the seventies, they finally folded in 1981, with less than 100 stores giving them out.  It seemed we rather have discounts, cheaper prices, and even generics, remember the white labels with the black printing?  Our generation thought price, my parent’s thought value, and never would the two ever meet.  It took 1200 stamps to fill a book, or spend $120 to earn stamps to fill it, a lot in days of 25 cent gas and 69 cent big bags of chips.  Those prices along with Green Stamps are gone, we rather have the discount up front, no ne wants to work for a premium, and if they do, find the work was not worth the reward. 

Religion has given salvation a bad name.  What Jesus offers for free, some want you to earn.  Work hard for your salvation, hoping that you may have worked hard enough to enter heaven, but never knowing.  Study more, pray more, attend church more, sit through longer services more.  You know the drill, but none of that leads to salvation.  There is no redemption value to it, unlike Green Stamps where a purchase was made and a reward given, salvation is a gift from God via his son Jesus Christ.  No matter how hard you work, how religious or pious you are, you fall short.  So God gave us an offer we cannot refuse, but yet many do.  Their pride cannot let them accept free forgiveness, they feel vindicated only when they can brag how hard they worked for it.  They never consider how hard Jesus worked for our salvation.  And the go to their graves never knowing, and finding out too late they were wrong.  Now Christians meeting together and fellowshipping is a good thing.  Spending time in the word, praying and meditating on Jesus is a good thing.  But without him it is fruitless, for without the spirit, we are doomed to death.  No matter how many books you have filled with your rewards, there is no premium at the end.  It is not a matter of not enough stamps or books, it is to know Jesus, and he is the only way.  Simple, and leaves more time to ride. 

I find it funny, not ha ha but weird that the best free offer you will ever get is turned down, and you rather work for it.  Yet too many do, becoming a slave to religion and legalism, living the life of a Christian by the rules, yet never receiving the premium of life.  “But didn’t we do such and such?” the church bragged, then complained to Jesus.  “Look what we did, look who we are!”  His answer, “be gone I never knew you.”  You see, their hard work was all about them, to be recognized for their accomplishments, they never gave Jesus the credit or the honor for his accomplishments.  It is who he is and what he has done, not who we are and what we have done.  Pay day comes one day to a Christian in the form of redemption, and rather than filling books with stamps, God writes our names in the book of life.  Redemption means more to God than working for it, his love wants to set you free, not hold you hostage.  Jesus came to set the captives free, not S&H!

Yet many still try or are misled.  You cannot earn your way to God.  But you can accept his free gift in Jesus.  Finally why a free gift from God of salvation?  One because he loves you, but to set you free form bondage.  Many were kept in bondage collecting stamps, only to find the effort was not worth it.  Same with religion, they cannot pay the price, find they are being held hostage and give up on God altogether.  Fortunately he never gives up on us!  Gain your redemption today in Jesus, and be set free.  No lines for it either, you can accept Jesus right now where you are.  No service, crusade, TV ad or show to respond to.  No man involved except Jesus, you go right to the front of the line.  Maybe the old adage about hard work never killing someone is a lie, for trying to earn salvation by works ends in death.  The work is done, the plan is simple, and affordable.  Fads come and go, so does religion, only Jesus remains.  What part of free don’t you understand?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

in lieu of flowers

I attended yet another biker down funeral last week.  One where the deceased was the best husband, father, worker, and friend.  And he probably was, as this guy’s gentle spirit conveyed the love of Christ in his life.  Along with an outpouring by friends of taking care of the details, it was nice to see him honored in death as he was in life.  Yet it seems that I have never been to a funeral where the deceased was anything but a great guy. I reflect on a service where the guy wasn’t, and as his other wives were ready to carve up what he left behind, his first wife stood next to me telling me what a scuzball he was.  But all the public comments made me think he was father/husband of the year.  But I knew him, and in life and death, I was comfortable with our relationship.  Despite the commentaries...to the contrary.

Yet another celebration of life, seems Christians don’t like the words funeral or death, was a two hour miniseries of how great the deceased was.  I knew him, and while some talked of what a miracle it will be that God goes on without him, I knew it was more of a miracle that God had gone on with him.  Again I was confident in my relationship with him, I didn’t wait until he died to show it.  While so many complain about why some die so young, where were they when the guy was alive?  Why do Christians get so sad when another Christian goes to heaven?  Isn’t that what we long for?  What makes them think that God took them to soon?  While in heaven those are wondering why did you wait so long?  Yet in lieu of flowers, we have a chance everyday to show God’s love to the living, yet wait until it is too late.  While the spirit is alive and well, and willing to provide while we still have an earthly address.

When I made medical history five years ago, while the ministry I had been part of for 34 years was talking about it, the Black Sheep got it done.  A black sheep among the Black Sheep, we ride Triumphs, two members took a weekend and drove 1700 miles round trip to get my Triumph in Durango, while others talked of meaning to.  They also took up a huge collection for us, we were blown away by their generosity, but again bikers came through.  But it was after being invited to dinner and their business meeting, that I saw God at work.  As we sat on the dimly lit patio, they discussed their benevolent fund, which was only for club members, of which I was not.  But the spirit has risen above their laws in our case, they couldn’t see the trail of tears on my face, as how they had obeyed the spirit, and they were blessed.  I hope more than we were, another miracle.  In lieu of flowers....

We forget that in lieu of flowers, God sent Jesus, while we were still dead in our sins to give us life.  He didn’t send something, he sent someone, and when he died left his spirit to guide us.  While others wait for a funeral to express their feelings, Jesus showed us love while we still had breath on earth.  Preparing us for heaven.  So we can live forever with him.  I think of all the ways I was ministered to, and how I have been able to minister in the past, and how many funerals I get to avoid when I saw Jesus at work in a life threatening situation.  He didn’t wait to show his love and respect until a person died, he was the on earth as it is in heaven love we seek.  He was there in the midst of the situation, ministering, and still is today.  We miss opportunities to show his love helping those in the tough situations, he tells us true religion is helping the widows and orphans.  In lieu of flowers, maybe helping a widow around the house, send meals as we needed, and being there for them.  Not just for two weeks as seems the norm, but being the type of friend God’s wants us to be, so we don’t moan and groan feeling sorry for ourselves at the funeral.  For the deceased may be the main event, but the funeral is for those who are left behind.  If you were secure in your relationship with them in life, you will be in death.  You will still miss them, but know that the relationship has just changed addresses for now, heaven awaits.  In lieu of flowers, one last example.

A little 13 year old girl was my influence to write, new to ministry, I visited her many times while she was in the hospital in LA.  We got to be friends, and the 250 mile round trip was made many times, sometimes in vain as she could not be seen.  Laiken was special, and her funeral was truly a celebration of life.  While the cancer spread through out her little body, it could not damage her spirit, I often wondered did I go for her or for me?  My last visit was she was sick, throwing up into a huge yellow, plastic bowl, when she looked up and saw me.  In her torment, she smiled and waved.....that Laiken smile, maybe a picture of Jesus waving to us from the cross, not good bye, but see you later.  In lieu of flowers...God sent his only son.  Through Laiken I got to see him close and up close.  Nine years later I can still see that tiny arm waving, and that big Laiken smile.  For God so loved Laiken...

Ministry is simple, see a need and meet it.  No special training, no degrees, no ministry affiliation.  Just the heart of Jesus, who uses our hands and feet to bless others while blessing us at the same time.  Share the love you have for that someone while they are alive, don’t wait until the cross like the thief did.  He made it in, but just in time.  Today may be your time, don’t miss it.  Don’t let the final words on your behalf be “in lieu of flowers...” Jesus is that celebration of life we can have here on earth, so what are you waiting for?  Everyone’s last ride will be in the same type of vehicle, a hearse followed by a flower car.  In lieu of is no way to be remembered....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

riding is personal, so is Jesus

Stopping at or local BMW dealer yesterday, motorcycle not car, I found almost every bike on the floor had been discounted, some as much as $2500!  Now you never see a BMW discounted, and talking with a reluctant owner, he admitted they were in store sales, but would not admit sales were slow. He may be the only store that isn’t...as visiting two Triumph, two Harley, one Indian, two metric, and a few others, they are all complaining that sales are down, way down.  Harley Davidson offering free financing, some $3000 discounts, and even has some 2016 models left as the 2018’s are introduced this week.  A Triumph dealer had every bike on the floor discounted $1100, his mark up per the factory, even Indian offering $1000 discounts.  On new bikes!  Even the stores with Victory’s left are selling them for almost half price, and it is hard to find a store not offering favorable financing.  My credit union even offers 3.99%, but no one is buying.  Weird, but why?  The products are great, I believe this will be a Golden Age for motorcycling when we look back, financing is great, I remember 25% when I was young, and glad if we could get it.  Performance is great, many new electronic goodies, longer warranties, some with no mileage limit.  So who’s buying, better yet, who isn’t?

Maybe a conversation with a dealer explains it, the Millenials.  He claimed he could only get 3% of them financed, the sales process taking longer, as they procrastinate on making a decision, and when they do, they have no down, no credit, and many times just making ends meet.  Rent takes up most of their take home pay.  Which may help explain why the average age of a motorcyclist gets higher every year, and few new riders are joining in.  They want to, they just cannot afford it.  So dealers cut profits, Harley dealers make $2500-6000 on each new bike sold, it explains the goodwill of free hot dogs every Saturday.  The metric dealer makes a lot less, maybe $300-1000 on each one sold at retail, but who pays retail except the Harley customer a few months back.  Or BMW owners?  If only I had the money for some of the deals I see...but then again maybe not.

Marketing plans are made, implemented, and fingers crossed that they made the right decisions.  Programs developed, demo rides offered, rebates offered, and free in store credit offered.  All the right marketing moves are made, or looked so on paper, but has anyone asked the rider what he wants?  What can he afford, what is he willing to pay for?  Not everyone can write a check for $20,000. Even discounted BMW prices were scary high.  Not everyone can make the payments, and not everyone can qualify.  So more meetings, more promo, more discounts, but not more sales.  But we all still want to ride!

Years ago I saw an old story come true.  A pastor who needed to build his church, with pressure from his home office, decided to buy a bus to go out and bring new people in.  He told the church it was their job to get new people to church, he called it evangelism, and he had done his part, now you do yours.  So out they went, and the first week a few new ones, the same the next week, then it dropped to nothing.  And the pastor got mad, he was embarrassed as he bragged on what he was going to do, and didn’t.  So he blamed his parishioners. Telling them they failed him and failed God by not filling the buses as he had promised.  And the numbers in his church fell, faster than he had planned to fill it.  His marketing plan wasn’t God’s plan, it definitely wasn’t their plan, and they left.   If only this so called pastor had read the Bible he taught from he would have seen “that unless God builds the church, they labor in vain.”  I get many ads, flyers, and invites to go to churches.  From kid’s programs, to senior programs, to contemporary services, to Saturday night times, religion is trying all it can to see people in church, and the numbers are declining.  So more programs, procedures, and processes, but the same result.  They send missionaries overseas, but not next door, across the street, or even into the hood.  Where Jesus spent most of his time ministering.  He never invited people to church, he was the church, and we are too, not a building or campus, not a storefront, but the people.  People seeking something, needing the someone of Jesus Christ, but getting entertainment instead, or at least the offer.  With church growth based on the attendance and the offering, instead of spiritual growth.  We built the building and they didn’t come, seems it was more important than the ones they hoped to fill it.

But unlike motorcycle dealers, we have the holy spirit to guide.  And like mega churches, these mega dealers have a high overhead they must meet, and many are not willing to be just a face in the crowd any longer.  So small groups, home fellowships, and other studies are growing in popularity.  They want more Jesus, and won’t settle for church rhetoric anymore.  So as church attendance is falling, those of us under the radar in none religion based fellowship are prospering.  Us, the people, in my group we are seeing lives changed by God, people being saved or recommitting their lives, and reaching out to others in love.  All without a budget, no marketing plans, and no buses.  We are spirit driven, just messengers of the gospel, just like 2000 years ago, and when we operate in the spirit, we see God alive in lives, when we don’t, we suffer.  God’s will, not ours.  Maybe gong back to when a dealer wasn’t a mega, didn’t fill a warehouse, or sell 200 bikes a month to break even.  When you paid for your marketing by being out riding, rather than from a corporate entity who doesn’t ride.  A popular church topic for years is what are we going to do with the next generation?  What are you doing with us now?  If you cannot take care of us what makes you think there will be another generation?

Souls aren’t sales figures, we are not units, but living, breathing people in need of a savior.  Dear Pastor, please remember this.  We are more than an offering plate, more than an attendance to brag on.  No more marketing, we want Jesus and all we can get of him.  Get in the way of the spirit or get out of his way.  Jesus went out to the people, and didn’t hide behind a pulpit.  His program was love, his means was the holy spirit.  Stop, why would you want to go to your church?  Maybe there is a reason many of us would rather be riding thinking about God, than in church thinking about riding.  Ask yourself why some can teach for 15 minutes and people rush to Jesus, and why you talk for an hour and people rush for the doors?  Unless Jesus is your church leader, and builder, you labor in vain.  Quit bragging on the 99 inside and go after the one left behind.  Jesus did, and built a church based on it.  The challenge is yours...

Long ago it was word of mouth that filled bike shops with new customers.  We were the marketing plan, we still are.  Re-examine your marketing plans, and change as needed.  People not profits, the profits will come if the people do first.  We all want to ride, we just cannot afford to any more.  Consider that the next time I walk in your shop.  Listen to my needs, and then cater to them.  Riding is personal, so is Jesus.  I have an abundance of both, I am blessed.  It used to be about the ride, and Jesus. Or you can always take the bus....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

one night at the local McDonald's

I never took auto shop in high school, nor did any of my own maintenance other than oil changes.  But yet I hung out after school with the gear heads, those who had the hot cars, and did.  Guys who had grease under their fingernails, did their own work, some because they had to just to keep the car running, but mostly because they had a love of cars.  We were blessed with a long parking lot with a circle at the end, almost a 1/4 mile long, which made for some serious fun.  On certain days one of them would bring a gallon of bleach, and drag racer style it would be poured on the circle and burn outs were done, big, smoky ones, with the smell of burning Firestone Wide Ovals along with the bleach stink.  It smelled wonderful, looked cool, and the sound was outta sight!   We were big time in heart, small time in cars, but the fun factor pegged the meter. 

Some of the cars were a 1969 Chevelle SS396, 1972 Trans Am, 1972 Comet GT, 1971 AMX, 1965 Mustang, 1964 Dodge Dart, and others.  I was the oddball in my BMW 1600, circa 1969, but burn out it did.  It was those cars of the class of 1972 that were looked down at then by the masses, that today are sought after and collectible, back then it was just fun and and a way to have fun.  Speed was fun, fast cars were the ticket, until two wheels came into my life....we really never raced each other in high school, many challenges were made, few accepted, but that was all to change, as I found out when I moved out on my own.

BH and I got our first apartment in Piscataway, and a guy named Bouke had his garage next to us.  He was the local fast guy, had a custom 240Z, a TVR Tuscan, think Boss 302 motor in a 1500 pound race body-FAST!  A 1970 Opel GT, a poor man’s Corvette, and many Triumphs he raced.  But next to his all black 1973 El Camino sat his Z-1, a 1973 with engine mods.  So fast it ripped the Bell helmet off my head one day at 102 mph.  So fast no one wanted to mess with it, or Bouke.  As I found out one night when cruising the local McDonald’s where all the fast cars hung out.  Friday nights brought them all out to show off and accept the challenges, think of it as a cruise night on nitrous, but this night it closed up early and went home.  All it took was Bouke riding in on the Z1, and they all pulled out and left.   They had made the mistake of racing him one night, and even the fastest car never had a chance, and maybe out of fear, out of damaged pride, and maybe even out of respect, they all started up, and idled out of the driveway en mass.  All we wanted was a Big Mac, not a show down.  A lot had changed in my two years since graduating, a new fastest gun was in town, and it ran on only two wheels.  What was the class of 1972 was old and slow in 1974....and speed would never be the same.  We all joked about fast girls and cars, but now it was fast girls and faster motorcycles, one night at the local McDonald’s had signaled the change that was coming.  Bikes got faster, cars slower and heavier, and as for the girls, there were those you hung with on Friday nights and those you took home to dinner.  They got old and heavier too...of course we never did....the things we did for fun.

Funny that after almost 45 years I can still remember the cars, bikes, and the fun we had all without writing it down or no cell phone pictures.  Some things stay imbedded in our hearts forever, but the best things need to be written down.  Too many new memories are a screen shot, a text message, and soon forgotten.  Going onto the next spontaneous shot, no matter how planned it looks.  But God keeps a record of history in the Bible, written down so we can learn it, and apply it, confirming when it was written, to whom, and proving its veracity.  God’s record of history is unique to Christianity, as many so called religious writings are based on opinions, feelings, philosophies, and musings of men at the time.  The spirit who inspired the scriptures is truth, no opinions, and come from a reliable origin-God himself.  No dubious origins, no fables handed down, no bench racing where each year we get faster, but truth, the truth.  There is no legend, myths, or fables in the Bible, it is fact filled, and made up of provable historical facts.  Unlike those that rewrite history today, God was there when it was written, and still here today.  It is still as contemporary as it was 2000 years ago, and will be in another 2000 yeas, as Jesus, the word of God, never changes.  I wish my recollection of some events could be as vivid, but then again, maybe not.

We can be encouraged when reading the Bible to see how God used ordinary men and women, how we see Jesus as a person, the savior, not just a teacher or prophet.  We see history unfold as God intervenes in hopeless situations, and how he uses all of them for his glory.  It should encourage us like no other book to see how through the ages God helped people through stressful, times of temptation, and despair.  And no matter how bad we were, we can all be forgiven and saved if we choose.  David, that King David was an adulterer, and a murderer, but scripture reveals he had a heart after God, and he took advantage of God’s offer of forgiveness.  He offers the same to us today.  That is truth that sets us free....

It is hard for me to believe anyone, especially fast cars leaving when a motorcycle shows up, but I was there, it really happened.  But God has given us his word, to read, to meditate on, and to be revealed via his spirit.  Written on our hearts so he is always with us, and in print to read over and over again.  I’m sure in the annals of McDonald’s that one night will never show up, those muscle cars of the day are now collectible and driven rarely.  Those after school burnouts now part of a rebellious history, as street racing now is in the headlines.  Bleach is outlawed in many places, and no one races Priuses.  Strange how today both the bikes and cars are much faster than back then, maybe it was the thrill of the promise of speed, youthful expression of breaking the law, or maybe we just wanted to have fun.  Yup, that was it, we had fun.  And today, I still have fun.  You see, what good is fun if you don’t enjoy it?  And who should have more fun than Christians with the promise of heaven?  Yes, still outlaws too, as siding with Jesus brands you as a rebel.  Fast cars, faster bikes, and yes, I did marry the girl I took home for dinner.  With Jesus making it all possible.  Having fun yet?  That next sound you hear may be me on the 2018 Street Triple RS speeding by....seems I am having a Big Mac attack and well....you know the rest of the story.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com