Rush Limbaugh clarified his comments that he "Hopes Obama Fails". He stated that he didn't hope for the country to fail, of for the United States to fail economically to prove Obama wrong in his policies. He stated that he didn't like the direction President Obama was taking the country in, and hoped his policies failed to lead America into socialism or Marxism. He said he believed the country was going in the wrong direction, and that if Obama failed the country would win, by not following him into more government control over capitalistic institutions. To raise taxes, and take ...<< MORE >>

President Obama seemed to be governing from the Center until recent policy statements have caused me to be troubled by the direction we are heading in. Raising taxes in the middle of a severe economic downturn is bad enough, but to seriously consider dropping or severely curtailing the Mortgage Interest Deduction, and eliminating many deductions for Charitable Contributions causes me to be even more disturbed. This is sending the exact WRONG MESSAGE to the people who make this economy and country great. Small business's account for most of the jobs created in America. Many charitable organizations are struggling as it is in a tough economy and to threaten to take away their deduction at this time will deal many a fatal blow.

What happened to "Go slow" "be Cautious" "Govern from the Center"? Sadly Obama is proving his critics right by moving the country in a far left way very quickly. We will see in a year or so how this all plays out, but judging by the plunging stock market, SO FAR IS NOT SO GOOD!. If he continues down this path, I'm afraid he just may prove critics like Rush Limbaugh right, and we may be headed for "Jimmy Carter PART II " Economically. Jimmy was a wonderful person, but a failed president by any economic standard. President Obama would do well to learn the lessons of history, and not repeat Carter's mistakes. If he doesn't he is doomed to repeat them.

Daytona Bike Week 2009 got off to a chilly start! It has been COLD! I must have brought the cold with me from Ohio because it has been in the 30's and 40's so far. It was 7 degrees in Ohio, so I am counting my blessings! Already I have met many wonderful bikers, vender's and Christian Brothers and Sisters. People have welcomed my handouts and have been more receptive to the gospel this year. There was "Patches" with his huge "Dragon Slayer" Chopper, Veronica whom I met at Columbus Easy Rider show, Kelly and John who talked with me about Jesus for a half an hour, and posed in front of the "Worlds Largest Chopper" and Jan who lost her voice yelling over the motorcycles next to the Skeleton! Pictures to follow when I get back! So many bikers, needing the true peace and joy only Jesus can bring. Some have condemned me for going to these events because of the things that go on there. There is much to decry, but to me it's a wonderful fishing hole for men. Jesus told me to go there, and teach all men and women about his plan for their lives. So I go, and do a little to help. I watch my brothers in CMA do far more than I do to serve the bikers in need. I'm happy to support and publicize their great work on behalf o the biker community. Curse the Darkness or light a candle? Your choice!

We are in the midst of recording a radio program entitled THE BIBLE BIKER.   We have two of the broadcasts done and only 34 more to go! I'm going to Bike Week in Daytona, so I'm sure it will be a month or two, but whatever we have done we will put up on the Web Site BibleBiker.com for you to enjoy. When I get back from Bike Week I'll have pictures and stories to share. The first broadcast is a brief testimony of how I came to know Jesus Christ. The rest will be teaching the Bible Biker lessons that are already available. I will put each lesson with the corresponding show so you can listen, read or both. Please pray that God will lead me to just the people he wants me to talk too. Jesus said to go and tell them what great things God has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. He has truly had mercy on me, and I want every Biker to experience the joy and peace I have found over the last 40 years!

Last Sunday The Christian Motorcyclists Association and the Bikers for Christ amont others conducted a Sunday worship service for the bikers and vendors at the Easy Rider Bike Show. My part was to play the guitar and lead the song service. We doubled our attendance from last year, and I really enjoyed the program. Everyone did a good job lifting up Jesus as the Savior of the world. It's not about us, it's about them, ie. the Bikers and others who need Christ.

There were lots of killer bikes that really blew your mind. Bikes of every make and description. The Vietnam Memorial Biker was impossible to take in without spending hours. It was designed as a tribute bike to Vietnam Vets. More stuff gets added every year. It has an AK47 mounted on it, hand grenades, Clamor mines, and too many things to mention. You can see pictures of it at www.BibleBiker.com.

We also had a CMA booth where we gave away free stuff like shop towels, literature and Candy. You can see a picture on the site of a grandma Biker with her cute little granddaughter. She liked our pamphlet for Kids. Cheryl and John were two veneers I met and talked with for a long time about Jesus. They were great. Then I met lot's of bikers, some of whom I had seen the week before at Bruce Dog Bite Hamilton's funeral. We had some great discussions, and everyone left with something that would help then on their Road to Christ. As I played guitar, blues, and Christian praise some of the guitar players stopped by, and we talked about Jesus as well. It was fantastic to see and meet so many interesting people. May God help all of them on their spiritual journey.

One thing I always enjoy is seeing Indian Larry's bikes, with all the twisted steel, inverted tanks and all his trademark, Old School genius. He is gone but not forgotten. He loved the question mark, because he was a seeker for truth. It is my prayer he found it, and is at peace with Jesus right now. To all the girls who work for Easy Rider, Say your prayers at nite, and behave!

Last Friday I had the privilege of doing a funeral service for Dog Bite Hamilton. My condolences go out to Sharon Clark and all Bruce's relatives. Everyone there talked about how much Bruce loved people, and would give them the shirt off his back. Bruce was 52 years old and was a past President of the Independent Bikers Association. http://www.newarkadvocate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902120323 We had over 350 bikers inside the funeral home and several hundred outside on the lawn. About 80 motorcycles followed behind the Hearse and there were over 350 people at the Graveside Service. The sermon I presented talked about how Jesus respected people, even those considered outsiders by some. Jesus showed respect and love to the woman at the well, Matthew the Tax Collector, the publicans and those fallen into sin. Jesus said "Neither do I condemn thee, now go and sin no more". We shall all stand before God one day. I am glad he is a merciful God who takes us where we are, but doesn't leave us there.

The Biker Community is hurting because of this loss, and to all of you please know I'm very sorry for your loss and know that God is already by your side to comfort and help you in your hour of loss. I was very thankful that many of our Christian Motorcyclists Association Brothers were there as well to pray for the families and show their support. You can view pictures of the services at my website: www.BibleBiker.com Many of those at the funeral were grateful for the love we showed to the biker community. As Christians we need to demonstrate that people don't have to change to be our friends, or to hang out. There are some activities we cannot participate in, but we can mingle with our friends, help them with their needs, and love them the way God does. Jesus said this was the true proof you were his follower if you "Loved One Another". Jesus died on the cross for every single biker on earth! He is truly a friend of the outlaw and churchgoer alike. He said "Come Unto Me" and he meant it! Jesus is OK by me. Amen.

 

Rush recently said he hoped President Obama's presidency fails. He wants the failure of his policies because he disagrees with him on the issues. OK, I can understand him viewing it that way. He is hoping for Jimmy Carter take two, a one term president that presided over the economic unraveling of America. I totally understand him disagreeing with the policies pursued and his not wanting them to take the country in the wrong direction. My problem is with him actually hoping for something that will bring financial loss to millions of Americans. To predict failed policies is one thing, To hope they don't get implemented is another, but to root for failure simply to make political gains would be callous.

My second point is that Barack Obama is ALREADY A SUCCESSFUL PRESIDENT. That is true in this respect; as the first African American President, he has defied the odds, beat a very tough opponent in the primary and again in the general election and has done something no other person has ever done. He earned it. Every single vote, and he did it in one of the longest, toughest campaigns in history. Though my loyalty was to my fellow Veteran, John McCain, and I am a conservative moderate, Barack Obama is one of my hero's. He is one of the most remarkable politicians in history. His education and service to his community are exceptional. His command of technology is without peer in modern politics, being the first candidate to use cell phones, computers, text messaging, and countless other innovations to win hearts and minds. He has a lovely family and obviously has a great relationship with them. He is a remarkable young man by any standard, and I will be praying for him, and hoping for America's sake that he succeeds in helping millions of Americans with new and innovated approaches to our problems.

Maybe some of the passionate purveyors of prognostication ought to take a chill pill. Even though they believe it will never work, give him the time he needs to make or break his 1st term. Be gracious, hope for his and America's success, not root for his failure. It only makes sense, because in a very real sense, if he fails, we all loose. Even if he doesn't merit a second term, we should all step back and watch this young man put his many skills to the task, and hope he steps outside the box and comes up with some innovative solutions to America's deepest challenges. He seems to believe WE CAN; maybe he's right? OK, LET'S DO IT!

“Bikers and the  Righteousness of Christ”

Christians often find it difficult to accept Bikers. One CMA group called a half dozen churches in one particular city, asking simply to be allowed to attend their service. They were told "NO" from every one of them. Many CMA Bikers have a patch that says "These are my church clothes" because of the hard stares they receive for wearing common clothes to most churches. What would the humble Galilean say if he were here to day, and felt the weight of these "Christian" stares? He just might rebuke these modern day Pharisees for their self-righteousness. Biker or longtime church members have one thing in common; Christ’s righteousness is our only righteousness.  We have no righteousness apart from Him.

He is our only hope of salvation.  Our works cannot justify us with God.  And, as sinners, We cannot become sinless until Christ comes and removes our sinful flesh.  As long as we are in this body, we will have to fight with our sinful, carnal nature.  Only when we receive our glorified bodies can we claim any type of sinless perfection.  All of our righteousness comes from Jesus Christ alone.  He alone is worthy to be praised.  He alone is perfect.  He alone is sinless.  He alone is perfection personified.  He alone – period. No comma – period!  He alone.Do you agree with that?

Not one person; not one, except for Jesus Christ, is perfect.  Not one person apart from Jesus is good.  Not one person is holy.  All have sinned and are sinful but Jesus Christ – Every single one except him..We are sinners and we will be until Jesus comes.  All our sins, whether they are conscious sins or unconscious sins are punishable by death.  There is no free pass on unconscious sin.  Some minimize any sin but conscious, deliberate sin, in an effort to justify some form of relative perfection.  Any such perfection is worthless and vile in God’s sight.Christ’s perfection is the only perfection acceptable to God. That’s why Jesus said, “Except you exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  They were the most meticulous, careful sinners on earth that ever lived, and I believe more meticulous than any who will ever live after them.  But Jesus said their righteousness warn’t good enough – and neither is ours.H.M.S. Richards put it this way when I asked him a question. .  I said, “Elder Richards, I’vie got a question about righteousness by faith.”  He said, “Good, Tom, because that’s the only kind there is: by faith.  There is no other kind.” He was a pretty smart guy.

In Isaiah 64:6 it says, “…all our righteousnesses are filthy [phonetic spelling:“ayd,” meaning “menstruation” – www.studylight.org] menstrual rags.” That’s the literal Hebrew translation.  “…all…”  What does the little word “all” mean?  “all our righteousness’s" (Plural)  That’s just in case somebody thinks, “Well, that kind of righteousness isn’t okay, but mine is!”  “…all our righteousnesses are filthy menstrual rags.” How graphic. Do you begin to understand why the translators simply left one of those words out?  But that is the meaning in the Hebrew and it’s foul.  And the reason the prophet used that term is because he wanted us to understand how foul our own works are. In Ecclesiastes 7:20[1] it says all have not only sinned but there is not one person on the earth who does good and does not sin. In Isaiah 55:8 and 9[2] it says higher than the highest thought human beings can reach is God’s ideal for His child. So higher than the highest human thought can reach is God’s ideal for His children. 

News flash: That means you can’t reach it.  If it’s higher than the highest human thought can reach, that’s His ideal; and only the ideal is acceptable for salvation we can’t reach it, I would think that’s obvious but some people miss it.  And they say, Oh, I’ve gotta work really hard to develop a perfect character or I won’t be saved.  Well, you work all you want.  And the harder you work, the less saved you are.  You need to accept the free gift of Christ’s perfect character.  In the book, Steps to Christ, on page 62 she says when we accept Him as our Savior we receive His perfect character credited to our account.  That’s how you get His character. Oh, it gets worse as we read these verses!  The whole Psalm 14[3] is about how human beings are lost and unrighteous; that not one of them is sinless.  The entire psalm is about that. Psalm 143:2—“Do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no one living is righteous.” Romans 6:23—“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Romans 3:10-12—“As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; 11There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God.  12They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.’” Mark 10:18—“ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.” Luke 18:19—“ So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?  No one is good but One, that is, God.” Revelation 5[i], the whole glorious chapter, especially verse 9[4] where it says that only the Lamb of God is holy.  You alone are holy. Now, is that true?  Does that leave us out?  You know it’s so hard for human beings to admit that they’re sinful and that nothing they can do will save them.  That is the hardest thing for us to admit because we’re so proud.  Even if we accept Christ, we want to say “can’t I add a little bit?  Can’t I work really hard and maybe develop a really good character that I can be proud of and maybe get a little self-worth out of the deal here?”

So the Bible Tells us that all have sinned, Biker and Church goer alike. All of us are on level ground at the foot of the cross! We can all come to the cross and find acceptance and forgiveness from Jesus Christ. He says in 1 john 1: 9 that "if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness". We can all get a clean slate, a new start, a new heart, if we simply ask Jesus to forgive our sins and invite him to come into our heart right now. Just ask him to forgive you, HE WILL!
MORE ON THIS SUBJECT IN OUR NEXT INSTALLMENT
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President Barack Obama had a very successful press conference today. He is a populist who is also eloquent, a potent combination in any leader! During black history month, it is really wonderful to have a black/Irish president, the first African American one, giving a press conference. It was historic and really fun to watch.

On the stimulus package, it was obviously a democratic bill and it shall emerge a democratic bill when it emerges from congress. For all the talk of bi-partisanship, only three republicans voted in favor of it. I really wish the president would have told congress to knock off the unnecessary spending and just put things in that are shovel ready, and that will actually result in increasing jobs. He could have put forth his own suggestions instead of simply letting the democrats spend our children and grand children's future. The worst part is, it is far more socialism than capitalism, and will actually keep money from reaching the buisness community by using up all the available capitol, and inflating the economy by overspending to a ridiculous amount. On the other hand, people are calling youth projects to help children after school pork! The President has the votes to pass this almost totally along party lines. His values will color it and his administration will execute it. Perhaps spending more money on young people, and the middle class will turn out far better than the grudging opponents of the President suggest?

All that having been said, we all with President Obama success, and hope his plan works. If it does, you will be approved of and hailed as a hero. If you fail, the Republicans can claim no part of this trip to the government trough and will hammer him when he runs for re-election. Let's all hope this works to get us on our way to a new day of economic prosperity. I guess in the meantime I'll just have to "Keep HOPE alive"! Change I can believe in? The juries still out! Pastor Tom Hughes