Thought a Month Archive 

Psalm 77:11-12 "I will remember the works of the LORD, Surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will also meditate on all Your work, And talk of Your deeds."

Thought for the Month – July 2010 

Before you read the thought for the month, answer this question:

When life makes you pause and question your own mortality, what answers do you come up with about death?

This past Saturday night our home racetrack, Lanco Speedway, was the site of a very scary accident. It was the kind of freak, everything falls into the exact wrong place accident that is difficult to prevent. Freak accidents and tragedies like this have a way of making us suspend the business of our lives for a few moments and reflect on the temporary and fragile state of our own existence.

The understanding that death is inevitable is in our minds, but rarely something we want to dwell on very long. Because death is filled with uncertainty it scares us to no end.  I suppose it should scare us, considering we will be dead a heck of a lot longer than we will ever be alive.

But what if we could remove the uncertainty from death? Wouldn’t it make both this life and the next a whole lot less scary and easier to deal with?  Truly God’s love for us can be seen in the fact that He has given us freedom from the fear of death through His son Jesus Christ. This world is temporary and as well it should be. It is filled with pain, violence, conflict and fear injected into it by Satan. But there is another life, another home that he cannot touch. One that is free from all of the fears of this world and is eternal, never ending. The best part is you can know now that you are going there and never have to fear death again; all it takes is a relationship with Jesus. Isn’t it worth meeting with Him today?

9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." 12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

Thought for the Month – June 2010 

Rule books and racing go hand in hand. There isn’t a track in the country that doesn’t have some sort of rules in place at their facility. There are many kinds of rules put in place for various reasons. Some rules are in place for the safety of competitors and officials. Some rules are to help the program run smoothly. And still other rules are to ensure everyone is playing within the spirit of the competition.

I’d be willing to bet that at your home track there are rules that you do not 100% agree with and that you might change if you owned the speedway; but let me ask you...does it stop you from racing? Do you make excuses and leave your racecar in the garage at home or do you go out and race just because you love to do it? You don’t stop, and week after week you continue to race because you flat out love it.

So why do people act differently with God? God puts rules in place for the same reasons that racetracks do. He wants us to be safe, He wants our lives to run more smoothly and He wants us to live in the spirit of His creation. Yet people shy away from God because they think He has too many requirements. They don’t like the idea that the Lord might ask them to do something they don’t want to do. Time after time they will make an excuse as to why they don’t want to listen to God’s rules because they don’t like them, and yet every Friday and Saturday they will submit themselves to another human’s rules whether they like them or not. What is most senseless about this phenomenon is that the rulebook your local speedway uses probably has 100 times more requirements than what the Lord asks of His people in the Bible. And what’s truly absurd is many racers want to keep adding more rules year after year!

If we are willing to submit to man’s rules week in and week out just because we love to race, how much more then should we be willing to submit to the Lord’s rules just because we love Him? And if we are not willing to do that, it might truly reveal how we feel about God, regardless of if you say you believe in Him or not.

Micah 6:8

And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly, to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

Matthew 22:36-37

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[d] 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[e] 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law…

Thought for the Month – May 2010

It is ironic to listen to people in racing circles talk about safety equipment and personnel as if it is an end-all to the dangers within our sport. Should we use prevention and protection measures when they make sense? Absolutely. But to rely on these safety measures to make a decision about whether or not to race means one probably shouldn’t be stepping in the car in the first place. Every time you or someone you know steps into that car they are increasing their chances of injury or death. The fact is if a person is unable to accept either of these possibilities they need to: A) learn to accept it, or B) quit racing. Racing comes with many dangers and risks, acceptance of that should not be dependent on other people or factors, it should be absolute within oneself.

For anyone who has seen the movie “Days of Thunder”, there is a classic line when Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise are having a heated argument in their car about racing. Tom says that he likes to be in control of something that's out of control and Nicole says:

 “Control is an illusion, you infantile egomaniac. Nobody knows what's gonna happen next: not on a freeway, not in an airplane, not inside our own bodies and certainly not on a racetrack with 40 other infantile egomaniacs.”

Safety is just as much an illusion as control is. We ensconce ourselves in safety equipment within a car: full containment seat, hans device, fireproof gear, helmet, five point belts. But these things are not guarantees; just read the warning label! What happens when the full containment seat gets bent around your head and traps you in a burning car? What happens when the seat belt gives a little too much? What happens when a rod flies through your helmet’s face shield, or your helmet gets split open or knocked off in an accident? Despite all of our precautions, you can still get injured, and you can still die. We can do many things to attempt to prepare for or attempt to prevent the worst, but safety itself is just an illusion, a mislead feeling.

The bottom line is regardless of the situation, you are only as safe as your next breath. That is true whether you are racing, driving down the street or lying asleep in your bed at night. The only way to be truly safe in this life is to be prepared for the next one. Understand this: the only guarantee we have after we are born is death. This life is only temporary. The true, non-deceptive security that we seek as human beings can only be found in a relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you have one with Him? 

Psalm 103:15-16

15 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.

James 4:14

14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 

Hebrews 9:27-28

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Thought for the Month – April 2010 

Stereotype:

1. A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image.

2. One that is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type.

As a dirt racer, I have often been stereotyped as a “redneck”. In their mind because I race I must also wear a ‘wife beater’, listen to country music and drive a lifted pickup truck (assuming this is the proper definition of a redneck, no offense to anyone who does these things). Perhaps you have been placed in a similar grouping by people who find out you are a racer. Maybe you may find people assume certain things about you if you: 

A)     Live in a mobile home

B)     Have blonde hair

C)    Have tattoos up and down your body

I guess if you are a blonde tattoo artist living in a trailer you’d really be in trouble, but why is it that way? I’ve had friends with all of these traits and they don’t fit any of the negative stereotypes that generally go along with them. The fact is that stereotypes usually appear just because a few loud people with a certain trait garner a bunch of negative attention in the media. Then if you happen to have a matching trait, you get a bad name based on that small cross section of people making a lot of noise.

When someone claims to be a Christian, do stereotypes pop into your mind? Do you know why it is you feel this way about them?

The Easter holiday is upon us this month and we celebrate a great act of love by Jesus Christ. He sacrificed His own place in heaven to come to earth, and then sacrificed by giving His own sinless life in place of our sin, that anyone who believes in Jesus’ sacrifice has a place in heaven with Him. (verse 21 below) This sacrifice that Christ performed so motivates people that many take to action in the hopes that they might bring others to notice just how much Jesus has done for them. Many people are successful in their attempts, but unfortunately, we are all still human. Many well intended people have made mistakes, or flat out missed the mark. And so Christians are also bearers of negative stereotypes.

I know when I’ve gone beyond some of the stereotypes we mentioned in the beginning of this article, I’ve met some really great people. As we go through the Easter season and beyond, I challenge you to look beyond the stereotypes and past what the world wants you to see; the everyday mistakes of just being human. See if you can go beyond the surface and find what God is truly trying to show you. You might just find a whole new life.

Reference - 2 Corinthians 5:13-21

21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

If you have any ideas, comments, questions, concerns please do not hesitate to contact us. We would ENJOY hearing from you!  Our info is below. Also, we are always interested in meeting new people who would like to help us in our ministry; be sure to contact us as well!

Thought for the Month - March 2010 

Last week I was asked an interesting question. Does going to church mean that I can’t swear? While the two may be associated in many ways, the church does not determine what I can and cannot do. This is a common misconception that causes stereotypes about believing in Jesus that many times are not true.

The fact is that believing in Jesus does not ‘force’ you to do anything. If that were true, we wouldn’t hear about TV evangelists stealing from their congregation or big name preachers cheating on their wives, or average everyday Christians with the same divorce rate as non-Christians. Every decision that you make is 100% still your own. You don’t lose your freedom to make decisions when you become a Christian, rather you gain a different perspective on what this life really means.

I had to chuckle when I was asked the question about swearing. Anyone who knew me 15 or so years ago would have laughed at the idea that I would become a Christian. I swore like a sailor. My favorite pastime was meeting new women to take home, never mind whether or not I had a girlfriend. I looked for ways to vent my anger on people who did not deserve it. I had to be the center of attention and I’d make it happen in any manipulative or degrading way to other people that I deemed necessary.

Thanks to a few caring people, I came to understand I had a new choice, one I never was aquatinted with before. It seemed appealing to me, especially compared to the life I had which seemed like hell, so I took it. That choice was to follow Jesus.

There is no “hollywood-esque” instantaneous change in that decision. I didn’t stop swearing overnight. In fact, I was still bringing girls home for another two years after this decision. But slowly the words of the Bible became clearer to me. It began to affect my choices and decisions, and there came a point when I started to recognize this life for what it is. At its best this life is a 70 or 80 year temporary stage whose single greatest decision is where you want to spend the next life. Anything and everything you accumulate here will vanish. Time will pass and you and your accomplishments will be remembered no more. Everything about this life is completely temporary, and for some, that time is shorter than others. And when you come to realize that the God who took the time to create you, loved you enough to die for you, so you might have the chance to spend the next life in abundance and peace instead of torture, the choice becomes pretty obvious. Oh yeah, and did I mention the next life is eternal?

And when you understand that, what reason is there to swear anymore?

For more on WHY we believe what we believe, please see the My Testimony page.

Thought for the Month - December 2009

We spend a lot of time and effort at the race track and at the shop during the week all trying to achieve a single goal, that of winning a race. Most of us don’t win as frequently as we would like. Some people might even think we are crazy to put so much effort in to be successful so few times, if ever. Yet we keep going back over and over, week in and week out trying to satisfy a need within us that we can’t really explain to others; a need to just once come out on top. And yet even when we achieve that need, it never satisfies us for very long. At best it’s a week’s worth of satisfaction (two with a rainout) and then it’s back to the track to try to fill the need again.

Our lives can often be, or feel, the same way. There’s an emptiness inside that we consistently try to fill with outside things to satisfy us. We try to fill it with a career, and when that doesn’t work a spouse, and when that doesn’t work children, and when that doesn’t work we have a mid-life crisis we change careers or buy a sports car and get a younger spouse (I jest…I think). These things usually satisfy us temporarily, but generally just get us by until the next temporary satisfaction on the list. All the while we never really feel fulfilled inside. We are left wondering what is next, what is out there that we are missing, or for what purpose we even live.

In John chapter 4, Jesus meets a woman not unlike many of us today. She had been through multiple relationships, she was married and divorced 5 times (vs 18), and she had been to a church that didn’t really satisfy her needs (vs 20-22). She has led a very unsatisfying life, and she is still left searching for more. Now she meets Jesus unknowingly at the public well, and He asks her for a drink. Here is a look at their conversation:

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

There are two key thoughts here. First in verses 13-14 Jesus points out that nothing on this earth can satisfy that thirst, or that emptiness in our lives, that need in our lives that we discussed earlier. The only way to fill this need, or never thirst again, is through the satisfaction (water) that only He can offer. In fact He notes that not only can He satisfy, but He will become “a fountain of water” so that we never have to search for anything to satisfy us again. The second key in this passage is that Jesus tells us how to attain it. In verse 10 He tells us that all we have to do is ask Him, and He gives it to us freely.

So to recap what Jesus is telling us,

1) It doesn’t matter what you’ve been through, you can come to Him.

2) He alone can satisfy the ‘thirst’ in your life.

3) It’s yours just for the asking.

Is there any other relationship in your life that can do all of that for you? If your life lacks purpose, fulfillment or contentment, come to the well, meet Jesus and never thirst for anything again.

October 2009

Col 1:16-23

16 For by Him (Christ) all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. 18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled 22 in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight— 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Have you ever felt like your life is falling apart? Perhaps you or someone you know has said that ‘their world is coming down around them’. Often times when statements like this are made, it can be traced to a specific event in one’s life. Some examples might be heartbreak, loss of a job, death of a family member or close friend, divorce, injury, etc. When something we value highly in our lives is lost or changes in a way we don’t like, it is natural to feel as though our lives are falling apart. Yet it is foolish for us to think that we can go through life without any major negative changes happening to us at some point. Death happens all the time, injury and illness is unpredictable, as are economics, and relationships constantly change – even the healthy ones, as people grow older. So then why do we still fall apart if we know these changes are inevitable?

The problem is that we wrap our lives and our sense of self worth around these things, so much so that when we lose them we no longer know how to function without them. The key then to keeping your life balanced and together is to either find something that does not change to wrap you life around, or discover what it is that your life was designed to be wrapped around. Fortunately, those things are one in the same. We learn in the passage above that ALL things (including your life) were created through Christ and for Him (verse 16) so that to not have Christ as a central part of your life would lead to imbalance. Further in verse 17 we learn that in Christ all things consist; or in other words are held together. Therefore if your life is falling apart, and you are wondering how to keep it together, it would make sense to look to Christ, seeing as that IN Him the entire universe is held together. If we go further into this passage we see that it pleased God that things work through Jesus (verse 19) so this is the way our lives were designed to work. Therefore finding ANY other avenue through which to balance your life upon is going to lead eventually to that falling apart feeling. This does not necessarily mean that the other things are bad. To have a job you enjoy, a husband or wife you love, or a hobby you appreciate is not a problem. The problem only comes in when we place an expectation on those things to make us happy or keep our lives together.

If you want to keep your life from falling apart, remember how it is that your life holds together. Then you can have peace of God as pointed out in verse 20.

19 For it pleased the Father that in Christ all the fullness should dwell, 20 and by Christ to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.

And He even tells us how in verse 23.

23 if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven

The passage this month makes it clear how and why we were created. It wasn’t for a job, another person, a soul mate or any other human reason. When we keep these things in their rightful place then we are free to recognize that the key to keeping your life together is knowing exactly how it was designed to do so... in Jesus Christ.

May 2009

Society tries to tell us a great deal these days about what we deserve. Lawyers on TV tell us that if we get in a car accident, they can get us the money we deserve. Radio ads tell women about makeup products that can give them the younger looking skin they deserve. People expect just because they are at a job longer than a coworker they deserve a raise or a promotion over that person. Doctors have to fear making mistakes anymore, because if they do somehow the patient deserves money in restitution. This thinking crosses over to our spiritual mentality as well. We ask questions like: ‘If the Lord loves us, why do bad things happen’, as if we deserve something from the Lord just for existing.

So what exactly do we deserve? By Webster’s definition, deserve means “to show oneself worthy of; or by conduct have a claim to”. By this explanation none of the things above fit into the category of things we deserve. If another driver makes a mistake in judgement and causes an accident, what conduct of mine allows me to make a claim that I deserve millions of dollars? Does just being at a job for another year prove myself worthy of deserving a raise? When my doctor makes a mistake, what conduct of mine causes me to be owed a big settlement for that? How do we determine which women have shown themselves worthy of younger looking skin?

The fact is that we don’t really deserve anything in these situations; society lies to us. If we were owed something after an accident, it wouldn’t be called an accident, it would be called an ‘on purpose’. If another coworker gets the promotion, I probably should have worked harder. Everyone man and woman grows old, no one is owed youth. When we get sick, and we go to a doctor who tries to help us, do we really expect that another human being can’t make a mistake? Should we really be trying to destroy a person who has given their life to helping people stay well, if he can’t make us better?

Our spiritual life is no different. In fact, what we deserve and what the Lord has offered us are two completely opposite things. Unless we are absolutely perfect, we cannot enter heaven, because that is where perfection is, and we would taint it. Because Heaven is where God is we are therefore eternally separated from Him (and thus sent to hell, which is what we deserve, because our imperfect conduct lays claim to it) (Rom 3:23). Because the Lord loved us and didn’t want us to be separated from Him, he came to earth in the form of a man (Jesus) and died for our imperfections (sins). If we accept Jesus as our redeemer, then when we die we are made perfect again through Jesus’ redemptive death and thus get what we do NOT deserve. If we don’t accept Jesus then the Lord simply gives us what we DO deserve. (Rom 6:23)

What’s great about this plan is the Lord lets us decide what we want to do. (Rom 10:9) He doesn’t force us to choose His way and He didn’t force us to take what we deserve. He does this because He cares about us.

It’s your choice today, He gave you that choice. Just remember what we deserve and the choice should be pretty easy.

January 2009

Genesis 18:10-15

10 Then the LORD said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son."
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, "After I am worn out and my master [d] is old, will I now have this pleasure?" 13 Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, "I did not laugh."
But he said, "Yes, you did laugh."

The world today is filled with reasons for us to laugh just as Sarah did when we look at some of the promises of the Lord; especially today as people lose their jobs left and right. Money is tight everywhere and we say “how can I pay my bills without a job?” And yet it is interesting how at these times it’s those old scriptures that people turn to for comfort. Like the one above. Truly it is at the difficult times that lines like “is anything too difficult for the Lord?” seem so much more relevant. So many times people have said “the Bible just isn’t relevant anymore; it doesn’t apply to how things are today.” Yet church attendance is up worldwide in the wake of the financial crisis. It’s funny but that’s how it is when the things we hold onto and search after become unattainable. The 60” TV doesn’t seem so necessary when you have to worry about whether or not you are going to be able to eat this week. The brand new car (and it’s payment), the great new cell phone (and it’s bill) lose a lot of their luster when you need to worry about how to pay the mortgage or the rent this month.

And yet despite all of our doubt and unbelief, the Lord is still there for us.

Don’t get me wrong, you have options. You can choose to blame Him for the state of the economy, and for not bailing us out (Although he didn’t go out and buy the new car). You can shake your fist at Him for not helping you keep your job (but did you thank Him for having it in the first place)? OR you can say ‘Lord, I know you’re there and I know you can get me through this, I’m with you.’

Sarah laughed at Him, lied to Him, but ultimately found the Lord to be truthful, loving and most importantly ABLE to keep His word; and she had a baby at 90 years old.

Imagine what He wants to do with you if you just believe in Him…put your trust in Him…rather than the things and people in the world.

November 2008

Expectations can get us all in trouble. I know for myself there have often been times where I have been hurt or disappointed or angry because I had a certain expectation that was not met. Most of the time it is people that fall short of my expectations and cause these things, but I know for some people, even God Himself cannot seem to meet them. Let’s examine why this might be.

The first reason is because often we have UNSPOKEN expectations. Even though we know that others cannot read our minds, for some reason we often expect them to be able to do so. We EXPECT that they will know what it is we think and desire, and therefore we get upset when they don’t do it. This is actually quite ridiculous. It is also easily resolved. All we have to do is learn to communicate with others and we don’t ever have to be bothered by this again. The key to this is to do it AHEAD of time, and not after the expectation has been broken; and to speak our expectation with care toward another, this will make them more likely to put the effort forth to work with us at resolving or preventing the problem from occurring.

The second reason is that we often have UNREALISTIC expectations. We put such a burden on others that there is no way they could possibly meet it. This often happens with couples who feel their every need should be met by their mate. Your mate wasn’t designed to meet your every need, the Lord was; so asking your significant other to do so is beyond their capacity. A good place to start when trying to eliminate this problem is not to ask anyone to do anything you wouldn’t do yourself. And if you think you would do it, try doing it all first before you expect it of others.

The third reason is that we have UNTRUE expectations. We group people, things and ideas in categories and brand them based on the experiences of others (stereotype). We never bother to take the time to find out for ourselves if those stereotypes are true. Take our sport for example. How many people do you know that brand us as redneck hicks that drive around in circles? They never bother to come to the track and spend the time to find out why we enjoy this so much. Often times we can eliminate untrue expectations by simply taking the time to do something or meet someone ourselves instead of taking someone else’s word for it.
Can I ask you a question? Do you do this to the Lord? Do you place Him and the idea of ‘church’ in a category based on what you hear about Him? Do you have unspoken expectations of Him? Or do you have unrealistic expectations of how the people who claim to follow Him should act? At one point or another I have said yes to all of these questions. It wasn’t until I spent time some time finding out about Him for myself that I was able to come to the conclusion that none of those expectations were right.

I can tell you of some great experiences that the Lord has brought me through. I can tell you of some tough ones as well. But it isn’t until you base your decision on the truth of searching Him out yourself that you will truly know who He is and how He works. Often you will find that the expectations you have are wrongly based for Him, his people and for life in general.

Try eliminating these expectations from your life and you will find that your relationships will run much more smoothly: personal, professional, and yes even spiritual.

October 2008

With the election season upon us I’d like to take a moment to encourage you to vote this year. Many have died for the right to vote in our country and it is a fitting way to honor their memory by taking the simple time to go to the polls and do what they felt worthy to lose their life over.

Not only would I encourage you to vote, but when going to the polls I ask you to consider voting not what seems best in the eyes of the economy, or what is the popular societal choice or what’s best for your pocket, but rather consider what the issues are the Lord would be interested in. I submit to you that if you trust in God to provide for you, you need not worry about your finances, He will take care of that. But if we as a country ignore His desires for our direction, no elected official will be able to save us from the justice that must take place from the throne of the Lord. God loves us all dearly, but just as any good parent would discipline their child if they spit in their face, so must we be disciplined if we do it to God. Don’t put your faith in the promises of Washington to make you wealthy or meet your needs in this temporary existence; put your faith in the One True God who can really make it happen for eternity, and then vote accordingly. We all will be much better off in the end.

Matthew 18:7 “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!”

September 2008

Have you ever heard the word ‘Gospel’ when someone talks about the Bible and wonder what it meant? Gospel is actually a Greek word which simply means Good News.
So what is the good news? Well, you have to read the Bible to actually get the whole story but I can sum it up for you. The one and only Holy Lord created everything that is, everything that we see, and everything that we don’t see. He also created Adam and Eve. He gave Adam and Eve one single rule. Adam and Eve were approached by Satan and given a choice, obey God’s rule or disobey God’s rule and choose to follow Satan. They chose to disobey. Because God is Holy he must punish disobedience (or sin), so death was introduced as the punishment. Death led to Hell with Satan whom Adam and Eve chose to follow. The Lord loved us however and didn’t want us to go to Hell so He came to earth in the form of Jesus to die for us so that our punishment was served out.

What’s ironic about the Gospel is it all comes back to the beginning. Just like Adam and Eve were given a choice by Satan (leading to hell with him), now the Lord has given everyone of us a choice (that leads to heaven with Him). Believe in Christ and the Bible, or don’t believe. Adam and Eve made their choice, but you get to choose for yourself. You see, we all are going to live forever, that isn’t the real question. The only real question is WHERE will you be spending forever.

Believe, or don’t believe; it really is that simple.

Thought for the Month - August 2008

One of the ways Satan tries to get us off of God’s purpose for our lives is to get us to do things we were not designed for. If he can get us to waste our time doing ‘good things’ but things we weren’t designed to do, then he can render us less effective than what we could be if we remain in Christ’s purpose. It may sound silly, but in the process of growing a flower, there are many parts: seed, water, fertilizer, sun, oxygen, carbon dioxide, etc. If the water spends all of it’s time trying to be sunshine, the whole process would be out of balance and the flower wouldn’t be able to grow.

Likewise, sometimes when we are actually following the Lord’s purpose we come across tough times or situations that challenge our ability to be what we are supposed to be. These times can be from God and used to make us better at what we were designed for, or they could be Satan trying to get in the way of our purpose to make us ineffective. Take a racing shock for example. We put specific shocks on specific points on the car to achieve a certain result. When working properly with all of the other components on the car, the car as a whole runs smoothly and effectively. However, that shock could go bad internally, or it could get bent or damaged in an accident. (Two different causes, yet the same result – its purpose is challenged.) At this point it needs to have people come together to take it apart, fix, check, and put it back in working order to help the shock fulfill its purpose once again.

Our lives are not so different from that shock. Whether the Lord gives us internal struggles to let us know our lives need work, or Satan tries to derail us, there often comes times in our lives when we need others to help keep us working properly. That is why the Lord gave us the church. It is a body of supporters around us designed to carry each other to victory. Think of each of the members of the church as a part on the car and the church as whole is the car. When we allow ourselves to be used for our designed purpose, the car as a whole succeeds. However, if we spend our time trying to be something we weren’t designed for, the whole car suffers.

Too many times today people fear becoming a Christian because they think they will be asked to do things they don’t like to do or not allowed to do things they enjoy. While it is true that life as a Christian will change you, one must also realize that the Lord is the one who designed and created each one of us. He knows what areas He made you strong in and for what reason. He isn’t out to get you to change who you are, just to understand that He made you who you are so you could fulfill HIS purposes; and when you understand that you can truly enjoy all that He has created you to be, and you can help others do the same.

Thought for the Month -- July 2008

Last month we looked at why there is a place called Hell and why people go there even though God loves us. (See ‘thought for the month’ page for reference). While that explained how people end up in Hell, there is another danger to the thought process of

“If God loves me then why (insert negative item here)”

The problem is that while scripture tells us that God is love (1John 4:16), the Lord is so much more than that and we rarely hear about His other attributes. In my own scripture reading I have come across 26 other attributes that describe who the Lord is, and those are only the ones I’ve come across so far. That doesn’t count what I may have missed or haven’t gotten to yet. Here is a sampling of other words the Bible uses to tell us who the Lord is:

Creator, Consuming Fire, Shrewd, Salvation, Judge, Generous, Wise, Jealous, Eternal, Strong, Gentle, Righteous, Light, Glorious, Unchanging, Merciful, Vengeance

Further these are feelings the Lord has had in the Bible:

Anger, Distress, Frustration, Pain, Pity, Indignation, Love

Again this isn’t even a complete list but just a sampling of how the Lord is so much more than just love. It is worth noting these other parts of the Lord’s character when we ask questions of Him. Perhaps the more we get to know who He TRULY is, instead of just picking out one of His attributes, will give us a greater capacity to answer some of the questions that plague our everyday lives. And the Lord tells us that if we look for Him WITH ALL OUR HEART, He will hear us and we will find Him. He is waiting to reveal himself to you and give you insight into who He truly is…will you let Him show you?

Deuteronomy 4:29-31: …you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. 30 When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice 31 (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them.

June 2008

When I was growing up and had no knowledge of the Lord or who God was there was one question that people would ask that always made me take pause and consider it myself. “If God loves us, why would He send us to hell?” While it is an intriguing question and one that makes us wonder, it is answerable once you understand it. Like many of the lies Satan feeds to us to get us to question God, it has just enough truth in it to seem plausible, but in reality he is just twisting the Lord’s words. As Satan did with Eve in the Garden of Eden, he wants us to distrust the Lord and follow his own rebellion against God; and ironically that is how we end up in hell.

In Matthew 25 (read below) Jesus talks about the end of time when all mankind will come before Him for judgment. (We tend not to like the word judgment because it evokes many different feelings inside of us that we don’t care for. However, once we learn of Christ’s payment for our sins, judgment no longer evokes those feelings). If you take notice of verse 41 in particular, we can see that when Jesus dismisses people into hell, He states that hell is “an everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” People who go to hell were not created for hell, nor was hell created for people; but rather hell was created for Satan and his demons. The ONLY reason people go to hell is that they choose to follow Satan rather than following the Lord. So in reality, God sends NO ONE to hell, rather people CHOOSE hell when by their heart and their actions they deny Jesus and follow Satan and his lies.

The simple fact is that God did not create us as robots, and aren’t you GLAD He didn’t. He gave us the freedom to make our own choices. Then He gave us Jesus Christ as an option to be freed from the consequence of hell that was created for Satan and his followers. The choice is up to you where you spend eternity, God has given you options. The only question is, who are you going to follow? Remember it isn’t enough just to say you aren’t going to follow Satan’s ways; it takes a heartfelt decision to follow Jesus that will bring you a new joy and the peace of knowing that your eternity is secure in heaven with Him!

Jesus says in John 14:1-4: 1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."

Matthew 25:31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy[c] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him,[d] saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

May 2008

Have you ever thought that your lack of money could actually be a blessing by the Lord? It’s tough to think of it that way, especially in racing because we all know that money can buy a lot of things to help make you a successful racer: stronger engine, lightweight parts, newest technology, dyno time, track rental time and much more. There are many things however that money cannot buy you that are just as valuable such as experience, seat time, knowledge, luck, and of course wins.

Conversely have you ever thought that having the ability to get whatever you want whenever you want might be a curse? It sounds ridiculous, but if you examine it in spiritual terms it will make more sense.

The problem with money is that when we have money as humans, we tend to rely on it. We expect it to always be there, to keep us happy, and to get us what we want. Sometimes we even use it to try to buy things that cannot be purchased, like the affection of our children, or the love of our spouse. We base our marriages on it and when it goes away they fall apart. We base our feelings of security upon it and when it goes away we get scared or angry. People who don’t have it sometimes do stupid things to get it like rob banks or commit fraud.

Take a look at what Jesus warns us about in Matthew 19:23-26:

“23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

We should never allow money to be what determines our happiness, what we base our life or relationships upon, or what we put our hope in. When we do that we put money in the place in our lives that God ALONE should hold, and we put ourselves on very dangerous ground. Money cannot save our souls, it cannot provide us life after death, it cannot keep our marriages together and it cannot provide us any security or hope. But all of these things the Lord CAN do and is WILLING to do if only you will put your faith in His son Jesus Christ.
So as you can see, not having money can be a blessing in disguise. It is hard to rely on something that you don’t have to begin with, which makes it easier to look to Christ for your blessing. And if you do have money, be careful not to make it your source of comfort. For it lasts only as long as you live, and you can’t take it with you when you die.

James 1:9-11
9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.

Pursue Christ and you will gain TRUE riches that last far beyond this lifetime.

April 2008

In memory of Greg Schoonover and Sara Yorty

This past month, two local families had to experience the toughest situation in all of life, the death of a loved one. Many of you know the racing community lost a family member when 11 year old Greg Schoonover died in an accident in his back yard as he prepared for the racing season. While I never had the privilege of meeting this young man, just knowing he was a racer makes him a member of the family, as it is with the entire racing community. It seems there are never words to say that provide enough comfort, or actions to take that provide enough support to others to erase the hole that is left when someone close to them is gone forever. Rather what needs to be said always seems to have been left unsaid, without the chance to ever communicate it again.

That is why we need to take the initiative to say things while we are alive. It is why we at Jesus Race Team do what we do and say what we say here each and every month. We care about our fellow racers…our extended family, and we want you all to know the comfort of the truth of Jesus’ power over death that is waiting for you if only you reach out and meet Him.

I lost a close friend of mine two weeks ago as well when the second local family I referred to lost a loved one. Miss Sara Yorty was the first person to introduce me to the Lord Jesus Christ. Sara went out for an afternoon hike and slipped down a hill breaking a hip and an ankle. She attempted to crawl to safety but died as a result of hypothermia before she got there. Sara was 31 years young. There is a measure of sadness in her passing; because there were things I left unsaid, not expecting that she would be gone so soon. Yet because of the things she taught me about Jesus, I can also be joyful for her passing, and unmistakably certain that she is with Him. I also have a peace inside me that goes beyond words in knowing that when I die, I will be in heaven with both of them. Thanks to Sara, and many other people the Lord placed in my life, I get to go out on the track each and every week with the confidence knowing that even if anything should happen to me in the car, I am safe in the knowledge that heaven is my final destination. My family and friends can rejoice even in the sadness of my absence by knowing that I will be better off when I am dead than I ever was here on earth. Does that mean I have a death wish? Absolutely not! I like roll cages, five point harnesses, fire suits and keeping my car on it’s wheels. But I also know that no fuel bladder or HANS device or containment seat can keep me from the eventual conclusion to life that we all face. Like Greg and Sara, I’m only a backyard accident, or a slip of the foot away from the inevitable.

We all could very well be just a moment away from our last breath, racer or not, and that is why I think more than worrying about having the safest car on the track, we first need to make sure we have prepared our souls for what inevitably lies ahead of us. Then we can race and do what we enjoy with the comfort and security that no piece of safety equipment can ever offer!

Hebrews 2:14-15 “Since the children have flesh and blood, Jesus too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Romans 10:9-10, 13 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

March 2008

The excitement of new beginnings is upon us as another racing season prepares to get underway. Perhaps you have purchased a new car or changed classes and the anticipation is high as the season approaches. Looking forward, many of you anticipate opportunities for your first win or maybe a big race payoff or maybe a championship.

But what about the letdown?

We all have felt what I’m talking about. The night you go out and flip your brand new car, or destroy the 600 you just bought. The night you watch your win slip away because of a flat tire or the championship gets out of reach because of too many bad finishes. Even if we are successful in reaching whatever goal we have set for ourselves, at some point in the future our dissatisfaction will return. The wins give way to more races, the big money earnings gets spent, and the championships fade until no one remembers you anymore. Even the best of the best, at some point in the future, people will hear their name and have no idea who they were.
So how do we avoid “the letdown”?

The key is not putting all of our hope and joy into anything here on earth, and that includes racing. Does that mean we shouldn’t enjoy racing? Absolutely not! We should enjoy the blessings the Lord provides to us, but they shouldn’t become of greater importance to us than the Lord Himself.

I was the perfect example of this imbalance. For the longest time I lived for the weekends. It’s what got me through the weekdays, just knowing that come Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, I’d be at the track. It made the week bearable. Come Monday though, I always had that empty feeling, like Friday was too far away and I didn’t know if I could make it. Racing was like a parachute, it saved me from the freefall of everyday life. Only one problem, my parachute had a hole, and after a while it didn’t save me from my everyday life anymore. What I had used to create some semblance of joy and hope in my life was no longer joyful to me but just another aspect of everyday life that was just a pain to deal with.
What I discovered later in learning about Jesus Christ is that nothing on this earth could have pacified the emptiness I felt inside: not racing, not marriage or relationships, not success, not money. While the Lord blesses us all with different things here on earth, none of those things bring EVERLASTING joy. That shouldn’t be a surprise because nothing on this earth is everlasting. Everyone dies. Everything will change. Nothing is forever. So it would seem in order to avoid the letdown, one would need to find something to put their hope in that never changes.

Enter the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.”

It’s amazing how your perspective can change once your hope lies in something eternal and everlasting like the Lord as opposed to trying to find it in something that is temporal like, well, everything else in this life. While cares and concerns in this life are still important, they aren’t AS important as they once were. Your bad job doesn’t seem so bad because it isn’t what you’ll be doing forever. Your lack of money isn’t that important because money won’t help you in the next life anyway. Your hope is no longer in things of this world anymore but rather it lies in Christ and in the next life, the one that lasts forever. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him alone, scripture tells us that you can be certain that your eternal resting place will be with Him in Heaven.
That’s a parachute that will never fail.

Hebrews 6:12-20

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by Himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.