ride on Sunday, closed on Monday

Saturday has always been my favorite day, well almost always.  To me it marks the end of the week, a time to sleep in and then go riding.  And for years that was how it was with me, until I went to work for a motorcycle dealer.  With the exception of super stores in SoCal, Saturday has always been the end of the week for them, closing on Sunday and Monday.  But it was the working on Saturday when all my friends were out riding, and many would stop in the shop along the way that about drove me nuts.  I was working while they were playing, how could one day in the week make such a difference?  So Saturday became my Friday, my Sunday my Saturday, but Monday would still be Monday, a six day a week work week.  But the ride on Saturday was the one thing I missed, and I could never understand being closed on Monday also.  Break something on Saturday, need some chain lube or a face shield, gotta wait till Tuesday.  Which meant no riding for those off Monday and Sunday.  Many stores still adhere to the Sunday/Monday schedule, the old gone riding message still in many shop windows.  For those of us who worshipped at the Saturday ride, ride on Sunday, closed on Monday was a reality.  Saturday should be the weekend, but then someone has to take care of us on those days....any volunteers?

So in my semi-retirement era I still like Saturday morning rides, which have a different flavor than my weekday ones.  With only one day or maybe two to ride, they must get in all the riding they can, so places like Palomar, The Rock Store, Cook’s Corner, and other meeting places are full, with riding limited, as the police know this too.  But during the week when I visit these places, no one is there, and so I pass, on both visits.  I haven’t visited the Rock Store in years, too many squids which brought the police, and years back at Alice’s one side of the road was Harleys, where just across the street was lined with sport bikes.  The two not mixing, go figure.  Two elitist groups who both ride, just the brand is different.  Both want to look cool, only one has the speed potential, along with handling.  But it is Saturday man, one day a week cannot we not agree on one thing, we all ride?  So many Saturday rides are shorter, where less traffic is found, and new roads are found, where only cars are out to get you.  I guess they need Saturday too...if only they showed us some respect.  What a wonderful world this would be....

For race fans it will always be win on Sunday, sell on Monday, for those of ride it is ride on Sunday, closed on Monday.  But everyone needs a day off, why not Tuesday or Wednesday, again any volunteers?  But there was a time when Saturday was worship day, and then Jesus came along, making Sunday the first day of the week, and the day the church would meet, since its new beginning.  Like our journey in Christ from sinner to saved, day begins in the dark and is transformed into day, as the light appears.  This weekend many who follow, or are talked into gong to church, will hear of the resurrection of Jesus.  For some the Good Friday crucifixion is Easter, but without his resurrection, his ultimate promise for us, he would have been just another casualty.  But as it is, his empty tomb on that Sunday morning began life anew for us, and the day of worship changed.  No longer in darkness, but in light, as it was early morning when they discovered the empty tomb, the sign of his promise kept.  Jesus changed all things, from meeting Nicodemus at night in secrecy, to him now buying the tomb with Joseph of Arimithea, from hiding to public view.  Jesus never hid who he was, on Easter the world will declare who he was, but do we believe the next day who he is?  Is the tomb empty on Sunday, and our lives on Monday?  Did we buy Jesus on Sunday, but close up on Monday?  Is the one day the world celebrates Jesus all the time you spend with him, all you know about him?  Like my weekday rides, I need Jesus more than on Sunday, more than meeting with those for worship.  Bike shops may close, churches do too, but Jesus never does.  How many churches will have extra staff on Monday for those to inquire, or was Sunday enough?  Where will the newly saved go for answers, wait till Tuesday, or until next Sunday? A lot can happen in one week, look at the last week of Jesus, will your church be open the next day?  Will you?  Some things cannot wait a week....but can we wait three days for him to be resurrected in our lives?

Saved on Sunday, back to work Monday.  How will you describe your first Easter with Jesus?  The devil is just waiting to pounce on the new unprotected ones, he goes after the weak, who will intervene?  You?  Me?  Or do you have enough faith in your rebirth to act?  Jesus asked his disciples “couldn’t you stay awake just one more hour?”  Can we? It may surprise the church community, but many are saved and the gospel goes forth outside the four walls, Jesus said “as you go among the people,”  are you?  Is your heart as open the day after as it is on Easter?  If not, why?  What part of Jesus are you at odds with?  Or have you found that any day to ride is better than no day to ride?  And any time with Jesus is better than just an hour once week, or year?  The spirit is willing, the flesh is weak, do you approach Jesus the same way you do riding?  Easter happens every day in the day of a true believer, a day to celebrate being resurrected, just like Jesus was.  Take some time today and ponder who he is, ask him along on your ride, a broken bike may have to wait until Tuesday, a broken life doesn’t have to wait for next week.  We have a lot of riding and living to do in between.  Saturday may mark a new weekend, but Sunday can mark a new life in Christ.  As for me, any day that ends in Y is a good day to ride, and to know Jesus. 

Happy Resurrection Day, and the days after too.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

Drama Class cancelled until further notice

Years ago I met a man who I loved to talk motorcycling with.  He knew all about riding, places to go and visit, specs on bikes and which  one was preferable over the other, and we enjoyed talking.  Until one day I realized he had never ridden much,  all his motorcycling experience came from motorcycle magazines.  He had never known the thrill of 100 in 5 seconds, never ridden 100 miles per hour, never felt the thrill of the wind in your face, how your heart races in tight corners, and how good it felt after a day’s ride.  He had never been to any of the places we talked of, all his memories were based on articles, not of doing.  He talked a good game, but had never played in one.  But he was known to give advise on riding, and even worse people taking it, he was a sham, a poser, a wannabe, living one life while talking up another.  The bottom line was he had never experienced motorcycling in real life, yet came on like he knew he had. 

I am old enough and have enough miles under me that I am hard to impress.  So when another man comes to me and tells me he plans to do a cross country ride, his first, but has it all planned out, but asks for advice, I wonder will he take it.  One 500 mile day doesn’t make a tourer even if you own touring bike.  I still tour on non-touring bikes, at least to the mainstream.  But like many who ask for advice, he hasn’t listened, and will suffer for it.  Too much internet and not enough interstate travel to prove his viewpoints.  Yet he is among a list like those I pastor, who ask for advice then return after not taking it and suffering.  It is bad enough when secular belief is held in higher regard than Godly advice, but when Christians ignore God and suffer, I get upset.  And when the drama begins, I check out.  Drama Class has been cancelled until further notice.  Read that I don’t care to hear your self inflicted wounds from not taking Godly advice.  This weekend I heard from three people who claim to trust God, but because of not following him as he says, have fallen and the drama begins.  Drama is a way to tell if it is God’s will or your own, more drama, less Jesus.  Less drama, more Jesus.  Think about it.  Then obey God.  Who has given you his spirit, his rhema, to give you advice just for you in any situation.  Yet too many shop their problems until they find a sympathetic soul who will condone their sin.  Oprah not Jesus.  Horoscopes not scripture.  The world instead of the spirit.  And knowingly sap the life out of those they connect with.  So no more drama here, and I will stand by the lesson learned form my friend who only talked motorcycling, never let anyone who has done nothing tell you how to do anything.  And for you worldly types, don’t confuse the size of your paycheck with your talent.  If this upsets you, your sin is obvious....deal with it!

When Adam sinned, we always hear about his betrayal of God.  How could he have done that when we do the same thing everyday?  But we neglect that he was also betrayed first, by Eve.  We see an interesting string of events, why should he have not listened to her, and not knowing sin, why would it have made a difference?  No one talks of how he felt betrayed afterwards, this bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh turning on him.  But he got a first hand look at how God must have felt being betrayed by him.  Both relationships suffered, they were changed forever, but God never left Adam, and Adam never left Eve.  It was their ancestry we are born into, and we still haven’t learned from their mistake.  Throughout history Godly people have over ridden God’s words and suffered.  Noah the first public drunk, but yet you say you only drink wine, until you had enough?  How did Noah know when he had enough?  After he had...Jonah loved God but hated his people, yet felt compassion or a tree and was upset when God saved a whole race.  Do you rejoice when a real bad sinner is saved, or do you make excuses for your own sin?  Peter ran off when a little girl asked him abut Jesus in the garden.  What if she only wanted to know him, and he ran.  Like we do when facing being a Christian in a secular world outside of church?  Or do we stick with God like he did with Adam and Eve.  Ever wonder the pain Adam felt killing an animal for its hide to cover his sin?  Have you really suffered like those in the Bible or only read about it? Drama your only testimony....

Life is tough, Jesus promised it.  So why are you surprised when it is?  Why is your will better for your life than God’s?  If you are leaning on your own understanding, you are not leaning on Jesus as Peter advises.  He also said what comes out of a man is more important than what goes into him.  So here’s one for your next stylish shirt, “know Jesus, no drama.”  And “no drama, know Jesus.”  Drama is all about you, who are you all about?   Jesus was never a victim, and is always a victor.

So never listen to anyone who has done nothing.  Reading about Jesus and living a life for him is two different things.  People will betray you at every chance, nothing knew.  But Adam stayed with Eve, and God stayed with both of them.  Sin changed their relationship, only in Jesus, the last Adam can it be renewed.  And no I don’t know all the answers, I still haven’t heard all the questions.  But I know Jesus, and that has made all the difference.  Whether your next ride is across town or across time zones, good advice only works if taken.  Drama class is cancelled, let your new life in Christ begin....

and with a Mickey Mouse answer.  “Why”"?”  ‘Because he loves you...”

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

too young for 8 tracks

“...a four speed, dual quad, posi-traction, 409” was the dream of many of us growing up.  Engines were expressed in numbers, cubic inch numbers, and the bigger the better.  We may not have fully understood Brian Wilson’s lyrics, nor ever seen the Chevy of his song, but such were the cars we dreamt of.  It took awhile for the cubic inches to sink in, but once it did, our vocabulary was laced with it, and little explanation was needed, or given.  “See that new 440 in the Plymouth up the street?  Heard it has a six pac!” and we immediately knew, and went to see.  “Did you see the 3” pipes on Roger’s 400? Wow...”  “Hey man, that new kid in school has a 455 with the dual gate shifter, hear it’s a Hurst,” and those 4.11’s on the ‘Stang on the corner might push him into the 12’s.”  “Can you dig the new Hooker’s on that MOPAR?”  Car talk, we all knew it then, I still hear it now.  A far cry from “the new 1.5 boosted, paddle shifted Camry,” or “ did you hear the deal he got on his tune, only $500!  And it can be used on all ST’s.”  Somehow the car talk of today just doesn’t get my heart going like it used to, and in many cases get your hands dirty also.  When is the last time you heard Go Jo used in conversation, or Berryman’s, or Marvel Mystery Oil?  How many reached for the reverb knob under the dash?  Or  flipped a switch for overdrive?  Three on the tree, four on the floor?  How about four on the tree like the old Suzuki trucks?  Powerglide, Ford-o-matic and Merc-o-matic?  Before PRNDL, shifting into reverse all the way to the right on the column?  Ever wonder if L60’s would fit under your fenders?  Wide ovals, blue stripe, then red stripe performance tires?  Did you have to mention SS after you said Cragar?  And did you ever spend all day Saturday Simonizing your car to impress your date, never thinking no one can see the shine you put on it in the dark?  Before Armorall...ever whisk broom an interior, or get your  hands covered with Bleche White?  Or sneak 777 WABC onto a button on your Dad’s radio?  Or how to sell your Dad on chrome reverse rims....when he thought he was cool because he had four on the floor, of a VW?

“What’ll she do?” was many an opening line when greeting a new friend, or a first timer at the drive in.  Honest Charley stickers, Moon equipped, Cragar, and Hurst stickers all impressed the crowd, but when the flag dropped and the BS stopped, did your dreams also?  Truth be told, for many of us it did, how cool could you be in your parents Rambler?  Or your girlfriend’s mother station wagon?  Fill the oil and check the gas Friday night cruising, and never stopping to think what girl in her right mind would get into a car with four teens who were all hands and glands?  Another night dreaming, and falling asleep under the covers with Hot Rod across your chest.....

Such were the dreams and a language of my youth, and today it still lives on at car shows, but in a slightly edited version.  You can buy radials that look like Wide Ovals, with no drifting with the road surface.  Edelbrock fuel injection, Hurst makes some fine automatic shifters, a set of Cragars will set you back $2000, no more shifters, just knobs, and where we once dreamt of bucket seats, now all cars have them.  Ask a kid what a bench seat is, and wait awhile for his answer.  That $50 ‘55 Chevy now costs over $30,000, and gets better treatment than the Prius in the stall next to it.  No more white walls, raised white letters look out of place, yet the old car hobby flourishes on dreams and of making it how you couldn’t when you were a kid back then.  And sadly for those who do, they have too much money invested to go out a drive it like they want.  Without air, 360 air is the only option, explain that to a kid who only knows climate control systems, sound systems, and i-phones. If I lost you, I never had you, if you are grinning and nodding, there is still hope....

Every peer group has its own lexicon, its own vernacular, and its own euphemisms.  If you understand that sentence you probably never got your hands dirty swapping plugs on a V-8, under a trouble light held by your friend while he blew Lucky’s smoke  in your face.  As a Christian we too have our own language, and even after 45 yeas I still get confused?  I’ve been born again, washed in the blood, and even been accused of being on fire.  I am being regenerated, reformed, and forgiven, saved by grace, seeking mercy, and walking in the spirit.  I am pre-trib, I try to walk my talk, or its it talk my walk?  I study to find myself approved, but by who, or is it whom?  When someone asks me if I’ve found Jesus yet, “I didn’t know he was missing?”  Or have you heard about Jesus?  “Yes for many years now.”  I have friends who pray a hedge of protection around me, while I’m riding?  I used to pray out loud, but too many prayers have turned to mini-sermons, and left God out  of the conversation.  Yes Jesus saves, and at today’s prices it is a miracle.  Too many 666 signs of the devil, read your Bible, 666 is the number of man.  How many want to guess the date of the rapture, so what if you were right, you should be in heaven.  If not....you can tell everyone you got the date but not the message right.  Still working out your salvation....so you can boast?  Seems it is a gift so you won’t.  And I celebrate Good Friday, cannot have Easter without it and will be riding again on Easter Sunday while all the unfaithful fill the pews, keeping the roads clear, just before descending on a diner for lunch.  I celebrate the resurrection of Jesus everyday.  And so life goes on...

With maybe the one question Jesus asked Peter overlooked.  No trick words, no special prayer, didn’t even ask him in church.  “Who do you say I am?”  Peter answered “thou art the Christ.”  Not sure if he spoke King James or not, but his answer is correct.  So who do you say he is?  What do your words and actions say about him?  I rather be riding my motorcycle spending time with him than in church thinking about riding.  Don’t let the words trip you up.  Jesus died especially and particularly for you, even if the only sinner, he would have gone to the cross for you.  Jesus made it simple, religion makes it hard.  The gospel is simple, so we can get it, free so we can afford it.  No matter how you put it, Jesus loves you.  No matter what day, where you are, or how you worship, he loves you.  First, then we love him.  You may have been too young for 8 tracks, but the gospel never changed.  It changes you.  If only he was a visible in your life as the Lucky’s rolled up in your sleeve...

Like my little deuce coupe, you don’t know what I’ve got in Jesus.  Available on CD and 8 track.  Set a station in your heart for him.  And crank up the reverb, you are in for the ride of your life!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com