After winter storage, tires need air, oil needs to be changed, some engines may need a tune-up and of course, chrome needs a serious polish before we can hit the road. I fired up my beast on the weekend and it felt great just sitting on the bike while it was idling, and once I kicked it into gear I can only say it was like “sweet Georgia Brown” . . . a thing of beauty.

How can we get so jacked up about riding some might ask, and I can only respond by saying that if you have to explain the thrill and rush you get from riding a motorcycle on the west coast roads when the sun is shining, I just don’t think people will understand.

You really do have to experience it.

Oddly enough, when we accept Jesus Christ into our lives and serve Him as our Lord and master, the euphoric feeling of joy, peace, happiness and purpose is something we simply cannot adequately explain to anybody who has not asked Jesus into their life. It’s the greatest rush anyone will ever experience.

Everyone of us has a “God Shaped Hole” in our heart + soul that can only be filled by God, and while most of us spend a good deal of our lives trying to fill that hole with everything from drugs to alcohol to careers to multiple relationships etc. we will never be truly happy and at peace until we fill this hole with the very God who put it into us in the first place.

Riding season is here folks.

So saddle up and make this a year to remember by starting it off by asking Jesus Christ into your life, and hang on because you are in for the ride of your life!

God bless
Rev.

Why is it that we allow ourselves to get so wrapped up in schedules, routines and commitments, leaving so little down time to just step outside this box we call life, and enjoy carefree and spontaneous adventures, weekend getaways and time with those we love and whose company we value the most?

I can’t remember the last time I went fishing for the day and bobbed around the lake in a boat without my cell phone in my pocket or my watch on my wrist. And to be entirely honest, this past year I spent half the time saddled up on my Harley Road King as I would have done five years ago. What’s wrong with this picture?

I guess for me, it’s all about setting boundaries and priorities. So here I go…

My Resolutions for 2012

• Eat healthy
• Exercise daily
• Set aside one weekend every month for a spontaneous adventure with my wife
• Plan three, week-long rides on my Harley
• Be deliberate in planning rides and spending time with my friends
• Seek a closer walk with God, and spend more time reading our ‘Owners Manual for Life’ – the Bible
• Serve others, as opportunities present themselves
• Listen more, talk less

I guess that’s about it for me. How about you? What steps are you going to take to make 2012 a year to remember? Can I humbly suggest that you put God in the center of your life and see where he leads you? Stay shiny side up and may all your rides be a slice of heaven.

Thanks for stopping by. God bless.

Funny though, how much carnage we saw again on the roads this year. So many bikers going down and in most cases, nothing more than accidents. Accidents that were in most cases unavoidable. It’s crazy to think that we can take all the precautions possible and ride responsibly, yet the ever present dangers we bikers face seemingly lurk around the corner, at the next intersection or down the road. Unfortunately cages and their four wheels always trump our two wheeled freedom machines.

To be honest, I have to confess to having felt fearful at times, during this past riding season. I know you have to block the fear out of your mind when riding, but I found that a real challenge this past year. I also faced some personal challenges with regard to my work and finances this past year and at times I became fearful of the consequences. Actually to the point where I found myself at times worried sick. To say I was distracted at times would be a huge understatement.

I found myself asking God some tough questions.

 
I know that in all situations, he has my back, and that His Holy Spirit lives in me. So why was I feeling fearful? So I decided to see what our ‘Owners Manual for Life’ (the living Bible) had to say to me, about fear.

In Psalm 91: 4-6 we read: He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

We are commanded not to fear these things, and I’ve discovered that fear comes to us because of a lack of trust in God, and His purpose and plan for our lives.

In Romans 8: 31 we read: What, then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

How about this passage found in Luke 12: 4-5 “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

It seems that no matter what fears we face, if we do not confront them and handle them properly we will be living with the negative effects of fear every day of our lives. Fear has the power to make our lives a wretched experience and can even warp our personality. I’ve heard it said that fear has been called the darkroom where negatives are developed.

In fact the Bible speaks against fear 180 times in such commands as “fear not” and “Be not afraid.” I’ve done a little research on the subject of fear and here are some interesting facts I’ve discovered:

• When we put Christ in the proper place in our lives we learn to trust in God.
• Faith is the foe of fear.
• You cannot have faith and fear together, it is either faith or fear.
• So trust in Christ, have faith in God and fear will lose its power over you.
• We need to make sure that we are leaning on Christ and trusting in His strength.
• His strength is perfect and ours is weak.
• We cannot overcome fear on our own anymore than we can move a train of freight cars by our own muscle. . . Christ is the locomotive power that moves in us and allows us to overcome our fears.
• With the power of Christ in our lives we can push aside our fears just as with one touch of the throttle of a locomotive can control the power to move a seemingly impossible weight of freight cars on a winding uphill track.

To use an old cliché, this is where the rubber meets the road in our faith. Either we accept what the Bible has to say about fear, and give all our fears to God, and seek to live according to what is commanded by him, which is to NOT fear. Or we have the choice to continue to live in fear and live a compromised and weak faith that will never see us rise above our fears and reach the potential that Jesus Christ has for you and me.

Don’t know about you, but I’m going with option “A”. I’m laying all my fears at the foot of the cross and I know that in God’s timing, I’ll experience a release from the bondage of fear and a freedom that comes only from walking with the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope you’ll join me. Thanks for stopping by.

Frames of all imaginable designs and shapes with power-plants that ‘shook the ground’ beneath your feet. Custom wheels, custom tanks, wide bars, high bars, paint designs and color combinations that accentuated and complimented the wicked and outrageous road eaters masquerading as motorcycles.

I found just walking around these bikes I could feel the adrenalin starting to pump… and when one of these beauties was fired up, heads would turn and crowds would gather. What a rush!

Funny thing though. If these amazing custom bikes were fired up and the pipes were rumbling and the rider simply sat on the bike, in neutral, the bike would never serve the purpose that it was created for.  Sure, it would look awesome, and sound awesome but it would never be taken on winding mountain roads, desert highways and to limitless destinations, all the while giving it’s rider the sense of freedom, adventure and a day / week / month lived to the max.

In the same way, we were all created by God for a purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11 New International Version (NIV)
 
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

God has a plan for each and every one of us, but if we don’t accept his son Jesus Christ into our lives, then we are living, breathing and walking through this life, in neutral.  Its only when we accept Jesus Christ into our lives, that we actually get our life into gear and then experience all the wonders, joy, peace, happiness, hope and purpose that God created us to experience, in this life.  And we’ve not yet come to the good part . . . we will spend eternity in heaven, with God.

1 Corinthians 2:9 New International Version (NIV)
 
However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen,  what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” the things God has prepared for those who love him.

Sure we can look good and sound good, just like these custom bikes, but without Jesus Christ in our lives we are not unlike these motorcycles sitting there in neutral.

Today, make the decision to “put your life into gear” by simply praying to Jesus and asking him to forgive you for your sins and to come into your life.  It’s that easy. You can do nothing to earn this free gift of salvation and eternal life… Christ did that when he died on the cross, for you and me.

If you have prayed this prayer, hold on because you are going on the ride of your life. It will never be the same. Be sure to connect with born-again believers and read the “Owner’ Manual for Life”  ( the Bible ) to keep you in gear and going forward. Talk to your heavenly Father throughout the day… He is listening and he cares for you and everything that is happening in your life. If you have the inclination, for sure shoot us an email to tell us about this life-changing decision you have made.

Thanks for stopping by to read this blog.

May God bless you good!

Pastor Chuck.

For others, the saying “Been there, done that” can very well be a definitive statement . . . maybe there were bad memories.Bad habits, drug or alcohol abuse.  Personal loss or tragedy.  Health or family issues.  Just fill in the blanks.  We are all a work in progress and we live in a fallen world.  But there is HOPE!  When Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross, he became the bridge between “Man and God” … and every man, woman and child can receive the FREE gift of eternal life, and God’s presence in this life. 

To be able to say on the “Day of the Lord” when we meet our savior, Oh Yeah, “Been there, done that” I gave my life to Christ and I am sure of my salvation . . . will be the greatest rush we will ever experience.

Ride safe and stay shiny side up!