Thoughts and Blessings from your President

PO Box 8901
Greenville, Texas 75404
Vol. X, Issue 5, May 2011
www.cmascr4.org
Mutt Way, President
(903) 456.2143
[email protected]
Dr. Evan Yeager, Vice President
(903) 456.8500
[email protected]
Mitzi Booth, Secretary
(214) 906.9884
[email protected]
Kenneth Murdock, Treasurer
(903) 456.3377
[email protected]
Thomas Hunt, Road Captain
(903) 461.4186
[email protected]
Jack Sands, Chaplain
(903) 422.1993
[email protected]
Dr. Evan Yeager, Webmaster
(903) 456.8500
[email protected]
Jack Pendergraph, Newsletter Editor
(214) 906.4855
[email protected]
Thoughts and Blessings from
your President:
Last night I presided over my first officers’
meeting as your president. When Ricky
asked me if I would consider serving as
president, several thoughts passed through
my mind. I thought of those who had
served in that position since the chapter
was formed: Carl Bone, Joe Bishop, Jim
Finney and Ricky Gentry, all devoted,
dedicated men who love the Lord and love
serving Him. Who am I to follow in their
footsteps? I was reminded of something an
old cowboy poet, who has since gone on to
be with the Lord, once told me. He said
that he first surrendered his heart to the
Lord he was in his sixties. He said his
pastor told him that the next step was to
find a church and ―pitch in and make a
hand‖. That’s what I want to do as your
president, ―pitch in and make a hand‖.
Only redeemed sinners can tell lost sinners
about Christ. The fifth reason is because
God wants to save all people. The sixth
reason to share our faith is because
someone once loved us enough to share
their faith with us. It is imperative that we
pass it on!
What a great privilege we have to be able
to share our faith with others as we ride our
precious machines through God’s great
creation. Now go!
On Memorial Day weekend we have an
opportunity to ride down to Wortham to
the Freestone County Motorcross races.
The first race is Friday night with races
Saturday. The camping provisions are
pretty skimpy but the opportunities to
witness to the lost should be almost
limitless. They expect twenty to thirty
thousand people to pass through there over
the weekend. CMA will have a hospitality
booth set up. If you have an interest in
going, call me. I will be riding down early
Friday morning and coming back Sunday
afternoon.
Our ―job one‖ is to ―change the world one
heart at a time‖. In order to do that, all we
have to do is to go and share our faith as
we go. There are six compelling reasons
for sharing our faith in Christ with those
who have not experienced new life in Him.
One is because God commanded us to do
so in His Word. Two, it demonstrates our
love of God. Jesus said that if we loved
Him we would keep His commandments.
Three, all who have not accepted Christ are
lost! Four, our sharing is God’s chosen
method to tell all people that salvation
comes only through Jesus the Son of God.
It is indeed all about Jesus!
Mutt
Changing the world, one heart at a time
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Chaplain’s Chatter
By
Jack Sands
Sometimes, when you sit down to try to write
out your thoughts, you just go brain-dead, or
vapor-locked....well, that is what happened to
me this month. I have awakened several
mornings around 2 am or 2:30 and started
asking God, “What is it that You have for
me?” Sometimes God doesn't answer your
questions. I think He is saying, "Search Me
out."
So, I worked on searching Him out. If you
want to find the mind of God, He will reveal
His mind to you in the Scripture. And you
have to open it up and study it, too. One of
the verses that comes to mind that I studied
some is 1st Peter 5:7, which reads "Casting
all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."
Out of all the things that God has to do, He
cares for me and you. And then the next
verse, (verse 8): "Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a
roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he
may devour:" WOW, is that a warning from
God who cares for us? We always need to be
on our toes, be vigilant.....for we have an
adversary who wants the most precious thing
that God has, and that is you.
As a parting thought this month, sin is like a
snake.....if you pick it up, it's gonna bite you,
might even kill you. And, remember, there are
no "little snakes", even the most deadly
snakes (sin) are small in size, but if you are
bitten, you can be just as dead from a "little
snake" as a "big snake".......there are no little
snakes.
Jack Sands
Changing the world, one heart at a time
Vice-President
It has nothing to do with Hate
except that which God has established. The
authorities that exist have been established by
God. Consequently, he who rebels against the
authority is rebelling against what God has
instituted, and those who do so will bring
judgment on themselves. -- Romans 13:1-2, New
International Version Translation). The other
verse requires God’s people to physically
intervene if others are being unjustly executed.
(Rescue those being led away to death; hold back
those staggering toward slaughter. If you say,
“But we knew nothing about this,” does not he
who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he
who guards your life know it? Will he not repay
each person according to what he has done? -Proverbs 24:11-12, New International Version
Translation).
Promoting righteousness or confronting evil is
beyond humanity’s feeble attempt to apply
accounting methods to questions of ultimate
morality. It is not appropriate to consider rows
and columns of numbers or body counts on each
side when considering the costs of supporting
good or opposing evil. One has to look no further
than the events of the 1930s through 1940s to see
what occurs if evil is ignored. Justice was not
served and love was not extended to Germany
after World War 1. It can be argued that apathy
and indifference gave rise to a greater injustice
and manifestation of evil in Hitler. The U.S.
largely ignored the occurrences in Europe for four
years. Six million people died as a result.
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that
good men do nothing." -- Edmund Burke
A milestone event related to September 11, 2001
occurred when Osama Bin Laden was located and
subsequently killed as he resisted arrest. While
some joyously celebrated the event, many
Americans were left grappling with the various
moral ramifications. How does one balance law
and justice with grace and love? Ideally, the
actions of the United States Navy had nothing to
do with hate, but everything to do with justice and,
hopefully, prevention (or at least a deterrent) of
future acts.
The simple and foolish in our society tend to
equate such military action with vengeance. The
attempt to bring a fugitive to trial and justice is not
being vengeful. It is the mandate of civilized
society to bring an end to (or at least stand against)
evil. According to published reports, Bin Laden
resisted arrest. It would have been best if he had
been brought to trial. It would have been far worse
if the madness and evil Bin Laden espoused had
been ignored.
Two Bible verses in particular appear at odds
when offering guidance in approaching an
unapologetic evil espoused by those in authority.
One verse stipulates that all those in leadership are
placed there by the will of God and we must obey
them. (Everyone must submit himself to the
governing authorities, for there is no authority
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A brilliant young theologian, minister, and staunch
pacifist, Dietrich Bonheoffer, dealt very directly
with this vexing issue. Bonhoeffer eventually
reached the conclusion that the contemporary
church had become so milquetoast that the
fundamental message of gospel had lost its power
to transform lives. "Cheap grace is the grace we
bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching
of forgiveness without requiring repentance,
baptism without church discipline, Communion
without confession.... Cheap grace is grace
without discipleship, grace without the cross,
grace without Jesus Christ, living and
incarnate."— Dietrich Bonheoffer.
Bonheoffer’s personal conclusion was that we are
called to an active Christianity, to a level of
commitment to the Kingdom of God that we
would be willing to intervene in the affairs of
mankind to our own personal detriment. "To be a
Christian does not mean to be religious in a
particular way, to make something of oneself (a
sinner, a penitent, or a saint) on the basis of some
method or other, but to be a man—not a type of
man, but the man that Christ creates in us. It is not
the religious act that makes the Christian, but
participation in the sufferings of God in the
secular life." — Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
My in-laws have made multiple trips to Iraq
before, during, and after the fall of the Hussein
regime. They had numerous people literally walk
up to them on the street and implore them to thank
the U.S. military for coming. Freedom is a
privilege that must be purchased. Those who lack
freedom appear to be more appreciative of it than
those whose daily walk in freedom’s light has
been taken for granted.
History illustrates that ignoring evil and madmen
has always been more costly than standing up for
freedom. It is complicated and, at times painful,
but the advancement of society and the securing of
freedom are costly. There is a reason that after our
shores were attacked that we still live "in our
spoiled fast food/brand name culture.‖ A culture
cannot simply say that a particular evil act was
"okay this time‖ as we did over and over in the
early 1940s. We must not confuse love with
apathy and justice for vengeance.
Dietrich Bonheoffer’s writings are a very personal
example of the struggles that a committed
Christian faces when confronting the
personification of evil and the struggles one can
expect when balancing faith, turning the other
cheek, and direct action. Ultimately, Bonheoffer
was executed at the Flossenbürg extermination
camp along with six other individuals involved in
the German resistance. The Nazi war machine
began accelerating the executions of many,
including Bonheoffer, during the death throes of
Nazism just before Germany surrendered.
Freedom and true Christianity is costly. The price
that is exacted by God from both the individual
and society takes place on the landscape of the
faithful relationship between God and the
individual believer. It is not a question of if a
price will be paid, but rather if the payment will be
exacted for siding with good or evil.
Dr Evan Yeager
Changing the world, one heart at a time
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Birthdays
Lucian Highlander – 5/1; Veronica Priest – 5/6; Lana Duncan – 5/9; David Rice – 5/17; Mike Ragsdale –
5/22; Alice Finney – 5/26; Steve Eaton – 5/27; Charlie Smith – 5/29
Anniversaries
Wayne & Diana Weeks – 5/8; Larry & Barbara Allgood – 5/17; Brian & Shannon Buchanan – 5/28; William
Cowgill – 5/29
Next Month’s Birthdays
Tena Bone – 6/1; Michael Harper – 6/7; Jerry Suggs – 6/14; Carl Bone – 6/19; Norita Sieffert – 6/25
Next Month’s Anniversaries
Perry & Lanell Lovelady – 6/28; Jerry & Rose Thornhill – 6/28; Evan & Joleen Yeager – 6/28
Happy Birthday and Happy Anniversary – May God richly bless you
Forgive me if I’ve missed someone.
Changing the world, one heart at a time
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UPCOMING EVENTS
May 27-29
Party in the Pines, Longview. CMA volunteers needed to work registration. Contact Hugger
Dave - [email protected].
June 4
―Magdelena—Through Her Eyes‖ movie event for women. First Baptist Church, 2703
Wesley St., Greenville, 3:00pm. No charge. Childcare provided. Contact Jennifer Dawson
or Mitzi Booth for further info.
June 9-12
ROT Rally, Austin.
July 29-31
CMA Ladies Retreat.
Aug. 26-27
Seasons of Refreshing. Tabernacle Baptist Church, 1200 Country Club Rd., Ennis. Friday
7pm, Saturday 9am.
Oct. 19-23
Changing of the Colors Rally, Iron Mountain, Hatfield, Arkansas.
North Texas Fast Lane Opportunities
May 26: Cycle Gear Bike Night –Ft Worth
May 26: Cycle Gear Bike Night - Austin
May 27-29: Texas Mile –Goliad (in S TX, a 1 mile high speed run for bikes/cars on
closed Naval Air station)
May 27: FMF Texas Night Races –Freestone County raceway- Wortham
May 29: Texas Fly MX –North 40 MX- Sherman
June 4-5: South Central AMA MX –Freestone County MX-Wortham
June 4: BERM MX races @ Village Creek –Ft Worth
June 4: Night MX races @ Buffalo Creek –Canton
June 9-12: ROT Rally in Austin-CMA hospitality booths-** Fast Lane Rep here**
June 11-12: CMRA road races @ MotorSport Ranch – Cresson –CMA hospitality
booth - **Fast Lane Rep here Sunday**
June 11: BERM MX @ Village Creek- Ft Worth
June 11: Night MX races @ Buffalo Creek –Canton
June 18-19: Texas Lone Star MX- Swan Raceway – Tyler
June 19: Texas Best MX – Nocona Raceway-Nocona
June 20: National Ride To Work Day
June 24-26: Biker Boyz Weekend – Houston (in S TX but will draw from across USA)
June 30: Cycle Gear Bike Night – Austin
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