It is amazing how those days when there is nothing really to do, something happens to take up your time. So I just killed some time on campus today, kinda hanging out. When I decided to leave, I met up with one of the guys from our church and his wife, they were riding his bike, so I fell in line with him and we rode down 292. There are a couple of dogs on that road that like to chase cars, and one already ran out on me one time and nearly hit my front tire while I was on the bike. Today, it happened to John, but there was no almost involved. I was about 100 feet behind him and his wife, when he signaled me to slow down cause he saw the dogs. I slowed, and he did the same, and it looked like the dogs were going to clear, when one just jumped out in front of him and he hit it. The bike went down, and him and his wife came off. John took the majority of the hit as he was driving, Veronica managed to land away from it all. The day got pretty long after that. An ambulance came and secured John to a back board, and took him and Veronica off. We went up to the hospital, and they had just given him some pain meds to knock him out. Me and Terry went back and got his bike and took it back to his place. I have no clue what happened to the dog, but I hope it is dying somewhere. Everything is ok, by the time we got the bike back and went back to the hospital to pick my bike up, John had already been released.
A couple of things ran through my mind during the course of events today. We met at a four-way stop, and John was there first so he naturally went ahead of me. What if things had been different? What if I was first? Or if it had just been me on that road by myself? I don’t let fear rule my life, because I have faith that I will be protected until that time that I have fulfilled my part in God’s plan.
One of my favorite verses is Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” I love this verse so much that the necklace I wear has it inscribed on the back, and I never take it off. I get a lot of harassment about riding my bike. Now I understand the majority of it is by my friends who care, and do not want to see anything happen to me. I understand their fear, I’ve been in a wreck before, I know the damage it can cause. I am not saying that God is going to protect me from getting in a wreck, else I wouldn’t have insurance, but God is my fortress, and it is in Him that I rest.
Let me explain a little bit about why I ride a motorcycle. First is, of course, the obvious reasons. It is really fun. It’s enjoyable to be able to hit the road, and feel the wind in your face, to feel that freedom that it offers. But there is a bigger reason. I’m an ordained minister, and it is my duty to spread Christ in any manner I can. Now, church people have a lot of people to minister to them. Everybody knows they can find a pastor to minister to their white collar, Christian music, PG lives. What about the people who don’t fit that category? Who ministers to them? I once heard someone say, jokingly of course, that you can’t be a Baptist minister and drive a motorcycle. I feel you can, and that I should, because I can make a connection with that biker that your typical button up shirt pastor can’t. A speaker at chapel said we should find our target audience, that group of people we identify with, that we care for, that we have a passion for. And as I say this, I don’t want anyone to misunderstand me, I love church people, they are a part of my family and I couldn’t live without them. My target, though, is the misfits. The people that aren’t completely understood, that don’t have Mr. or Mrs. Popular T-shirts, that aren’t accepted by everyone else. See…they need God too. And while the Roman Road can save them just as well, talking about bikes, and Led Zepplin, and computer games, or whatever, can save them too.
