Biker Sunday / Toys For Tots

BIKER SUNDAY - A SECULAR EVENT HELD ENDING AT CHURCH

We began with a 'normal' church service - several hundred were present, many of the regulars did not come but there were so many from around the country. Some of them, it is the 'few' times they attend a church service. 

The service included great worship and then the dedication of a baby. Our hope and our future is in the hands of our children. It was a great honor to be included in the dedication of Wyatt Bunn. 

The service included an anointing of Ayden Reilly, my oldest grandson, as the gatekeeper for his generation of our immediate family. There will be a full blog written on this but let me say now, I chose this setting due to the size and attendees of the service. We must find ways to validate our children and grandchildren. 

I was allowed to speak, the first time in 15 years of Biker Sunday. It was never my intention as Lead Pastor to be the 'show'. It sickens me when Christian leaders do all the 'photo' ops and try to steal the show. Up until last year, I had never spoke on the stage during a Biker Sunday. 

The message was on Hoka Hey, a good day to die. Yes, it was built around the ride of my lifetime but it had such a great message to build on. 

1. The Apostle Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 15:31 that he put his life to risk daily. We Western Christians use grey matter, we use our wisdom and common sense. I sure am glad our Lord did not follow this path or the first century Christians. For that matter, many of my forefathers did not use common sense, leaving good paying jobs, uprooting their families, doing with little pay, etc. so that the Kingdom could be advanced.

2. Honor (do you honor God enough to be obedient to the basics),

3. Respect (has He 'earned' a place in your life where you submit to His call and will, including taking a risk) 

4. Integrity (It will be misunderstood but under the excitement of the moment, the statement rolled off my lips, 'I would rather be around cussing Christians than lying preachers'. What is to be misunderstood, both should not happen, however, I stand by my statement.)

5. Compassion (Spoke of violent love, love that heals the sick or serves the weak found in Matt.14. Jesus was 'moved' by 'compassion' - His insides twisted up to the point he did something. Now, I cannot 'make a miracle' happen but serving the weak is an absolute decision we make). 

 The there was the parade, approximately 1500 bikes joined us from Skooters Bar to Christian Heritage church.

Then there was the bike games - wow - I have so much fun. My wife and my daughter played a game a piece with me - AND WE WON! 

The band, Cadillac Ranch, got the crowd moving. Always ending with "Born To Be Wild". They entertained the crowd as we transitioned to the last big event! 

A day of 'gifts' for the participates, 1800 tee shirts with Biker Sunday on them, literally thousands of sandwiches, chips and drinks and to end the day a Harley Davidson. A father and son won this years bike, the jubilation was inspiring as they jumped and hugged each other. 

Why would more churches not do such an event? There was so much alcohol on the property. There were vest that had 'bad' words (I mean really bad). There was no 'real sermon', no Christian music, no 'altar' call. 

1. They don't understand secular event at a church. They want to be in control all the time. We receive so much support from businesses, television and radio stations all because it is Toys for Tots! 

2. They don't understand Jesus, this is where He would have been. I believe with all my heart that He hung around the hurting for a cause. You find Him with the adulterous (of course, go and sin no more), the demonized, the poor and yes, He even hung with drunks so much they accused Him of being a 'winebibber' or drunk! 

3. They don't understand service, they are still wanting to be served. Jesus came to serve, not be served. The modern church wants to be served, come to us, sit down, keep quiet, give your money and don't complain! Are bad things said about CHC? ABSOLUTELY - but always we must consider the source! 

What was there? A lot of hurting people who just needed someone to live hope in front of them, listen to their pains and offer the love. One young man could not wait, can you pray for me he asked, 'the suicide thoughts are pounding in my head'. Oh, we had time! Yes, love and hope confronted this evil thing called suicide! 

Christian Heritage Church, Hard Core MM, Mission:M25 - keep it up! You are setting a very high bar  - a bar that our Lord established over 2000 years ago! Never let the ugly of religious or critical people knock you down - and if you do get down - get back up and DO IT AGAIN. 

Looking forward to Biker Sunday 2015 

The God of Miracles

Assignment: Read the book of Acts for our prayer retreat.

My silent cry: Lord, let me see something different from the reading than what I been seeing. Lord, why can't I read things that are light, fun, lifting, rather than things that deal with Warfare. Everything I put my hands to, things read by others they want to shout and rejoice, adds fuel to my heart, WE ARE AT WAR! Please understand, I am not referring to ISIS type of war (exclusively) but Spiritual War. We must be taken to our knees, 2 Chronicles 7:13, so that we can experience 2 Chronicles 7:14.

Hungry for the Miraculous God to show up is lurking in many of our souls. Where is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Where is the Holy Spirit that 'healed many' in the book of Acts? Where is the power of God that could heal a nation from Ebola?

Reading "Forty Days With The Holy Spirit", day 32, the author says: If the Holy Spirit were to return to the church at that level of power—as I myself expect will come one day—we can expect this sort of thing to happen again.

Thought immediately: God, when will you return the power of Peter and John at the temple, 'silver and gold have I none but take up your bed and walk'.

Is God waiting for a people that will not do a seven point teaching on how to get that power? Is He looking for a people that will simply say, 'It is not by our power or godliness that this happens'?

Is God waiting for a people that will trust Him first instead of last?

Are we living in a time when He has withheld them from the American church because of our abuse?

Is this the first level of 2 Chronicles 7:13 - a drought of miracles, come on, real miracles? Not those we see orchestrated that people 'lose' because of a lack of faith?

Then the thought of Acts 5 flooded my thoughts: Peter, flowing under the same faucet of power that caused a lame man to walk, confronted a man and woman filled with greed, deceit and lies with their sin and they died on the scene. Wow, did you read that list, GREED, DECEIT, LIES. The church world is full of those sins. "Ministries" are built on them. People in the pew have come to expect it from the leadership and leaders have become tolerant of those in the pew.

We must inject here: The church has made greed not only acceptable but a promise of the Bible. God wants you to have...... Jesus came to earth to make you happy...... COME ON - REALLY? While the harvest field is ripe unto harvest, while the world is positioned for the NEED of a Savior, we believe He is concerned about our bellies, possessions, etc?

Integrity - what a novel idea. I will never take for the 8,178 miles we (Gene Adee and myself) rode with those four virtues from the "Loop of Life" from the Lakota Indians, Honor - Respect - Integrity - Compassion.

Are we ready for the miracles of God?

Are we ready for the pain the Holy Spirit will bring - as well as the healing, the deliverances, the joy.

Gary

Boy / Man

Childish?

My wife Carolyn has traveled many motorcycle miles with me and had to 'endure' guys just hanging out. How many times have she stated, 'you are a bunch of overgrown kids', all the while smiling or laughing herself. She enjoys the joy of the moment, the giggles, the humor, the silliness, as most women do.

Men are wired so that in most of them, there are a few grumpy ole guys, have a little guy inside. He likes to express himself, he loves to be silly and sometimes he even likes a little adventure that get's him in trouble.

It would appear to me that there are two phases, 1) The boy overrides the man and 2) the man overrides the boy. This can take years to take place, depending on training, environment and a man's choice of close friends.

A sad part of all of it, if they start using drugs, at that point they stop maturing. When and if they sober up, they have to start from that point of growth. This can be very challenging for the man and those around him. Patience is in high demand, due to they don't want to be treated like a 'boy' in a man's body. It is humiliating for the man side and more times than not, they will not stay the course.

The things that a man must conquer to put away the childish behavior, 1 Corinthians 13:11,

• Fear -  I have been told the only fear we are born with is that of falling. All the rest of our fears are learned, sometimes by over-fearful parents or care-takers. 
• Despair - this is an enemy that many think is special to them. Oh the people that say, 'but you don't understand my situation'. This enemy attacks the very core of our Christian walk, Jesus is our hope. If we understand who He is and what He can do and most importantly where we are headed, there will never be a day of despair. The only person responsible for our hope filled journey is us. The enemy must be stopped, way to many young people are ending their life because they have no hope. 
• Entitlement - this enemy should be 'phased' out of our life during our teen years. Two reasons that seem to jump out of society if you are observing: 
• Many feel they are 'entitled' to a fun filled, happy, whatever I want life, when they are raised by parents who do whatever they have to do to make it happen, get mad when life treats them unfair and 'fixes it', never makes them stand up on their own or overall, treats them like little kids way to long. 
• There are others raised by parents who live on entitlements. The only environment they know is to have things given to them, for whatever reason. Being the National Director of Mission:M25, many think we are about handouts, actually we believe in hand"ups". Where our home base has fed close to a million meals to the homeless, 85% of them get day work. We provide a breakfast and a sack lunch for their day. 

Wow, this blog appears to be written by the 'ole man' side, rather than the 'boy' side that likes it short. 

Lord, hear our prayer today, give this nation, culture and CHURCH, men who think and behave like men, not little boys who never grow up. We do not need anymore 50 year olds behaving like a Freshman in high school. 

Lord, teach our men how to let the little boy out to play ever once in a while. My Father, Lloyd Burd, now 84 years old, said a few years ago, 'do what you enjoy and you will live a longer, happier life'. Dad, I am trying. 

Gary

The Quit

This picture was taken on July 31, 2014, (actually August 1), 1:20 am - 8,178 miles from Key West, FL. We had ridden 1124 miles that day on 3.5 hours of sleep. Exhausted, yet so excited! We did it, Gene Adee and I had accomplished the finish line in Homer, AK.

However, there was little brushes with quit, but setting in Prince George, BC, the quits had really come over me. When I looked at the map given out to all of the riders, there was 2069 more miles to go, across the Yukon (oh the stories I had heard). It was getting real old gearing up with warm clothes, rain gear, sleeping on the ground, eating out of gasoline stations and most of all, going slow.

I realized there is still a seed of quit inside all of humanity. From all Carolyn and I have gone through, it appeared there was no quit in us anymore. Decades of sticking to it, decades of going through it, decades of betrayal and not getting bitter, decades of disappointments and yet never losing hope. It would appear the quits were long gone.

Here the quit came, on a 'bucket list' trip, the quits show up. A trip that many would love to attempt, love to have the opportunity to ride, the beauty seen and the beauty that awaited us. Oh, the stories of the wilderness that lie before us, and yes, it was that and more.

Jesus had the quits in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Son of God, a part of Trinity, and He had the quits. Oh, it was obviously a greater trial, an absolutely greater purpose but at the foundation, a quit was still there.

Yes, the Father sent an angel to encourage Him. He found the inner strength to carry on. Where would we be if He had quit? Where would the world be?

Setting at the Harley Davidson dealership in Prince George, the inner strength came when I said, 'I am going to finish this course'. The words were never heard by anyone but the inner man started to rise up. Gene Adee arrived, we ate a free hamburger and mounted our iron horses and rode toward the vast wilderness that lie before us, at speed limit.

You say, that is a silly comparison. Well, you are right. However, there are two things that most seem to look past.

One, there was no angel that visited me but the Holy Spirit lives within. We all can reach inward, in the face of a vicious trial, through the deepest and loneliest valley, in the violent storms and find the strength we need in His power (assuming you have received from the Lord this blessing).

Secondly, it is a firm conviction of mine that when you start quitting, it becomes easier to quit the next time. Oh how many people have we witnessed on our journey that have opened the door to quit and cannot get the door shut. What would the fruit of that simple 'quit' produce in this season of my life?

Whatever you are going through today - DON'T QUIT! Look for the Holy Spirit's grace to continue on.

Gary Burd aka Shepherd

Grace - Grace, Never Again - Never Again

We have shouted the words, NEVER AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN, in five different rallies. Ottawa, CA  (on Parliament Hill); Dallas, TX (in front of the Cotton Bowl); Wytheville, VA (in the park on the main drag through town); Atlanta, GA (downtown at Centennial Park) and Boca Raton, FL (in front of box car from WWII)!

It came to me in Atlanta, on the way to the park, that we were following a lead of the Holy Spirit, as instructed in Zechariah 4:6-7.

They had to not rely on their abilities:
1) They could not depend on their might, collective strength, the power of armies, human efforts, etc.
2) Personal ability, mental and physical strength of individuals was not going to be enough.
3) It was by the Spirit of the Lord that this was going to be done.

Yet, they had to do their part, they had to yell, Grace, Grace! This is amazingly foolish. Looking at the task before them, they were to yell grace?

It sprung up within me, we must trust that however 'ineffective' this little pledge by the sometimes small crowds seem, if we do our little part, travel the miles, spend the money, wear our bodies down, the Holy Spirit will override our 'collective' and "individual' ability and fill in the weaknesses with His power! As we yelled, NEVER AGAIN - NEVER AGAIN, it is my belief that the Holy Spirit was moving things in behalf of the Jewish people in the Heavens above us. What will be accomplished? Who knows, maybe we will never know until we see a 'archived' video in heaven of the work that was done. Jeremiah never seen one convert, do you think eternity reveals it?

What is it you are facing that you have gathered your friends, church family, physical family to help you with that it does not seem to help? What battle are you facing that you cannot seem to conquer in face of all of your mental and physical abilities?

Well, listen to that still small voice inside of you, the Holy Spirit, and then obey. It does not matter how small or great the command is and DO IT! Learn to be obedient at the Master's command and watch the enemies of your life began to fall, the walls come down and the battles be won!

Never Again in the rearview mirror

Dessert tonight - the cake was good but the decorations were special

It is 1938 again, and we are all Jews.

The Coptics in Egypt : they are Jews
The Yazidis in Iraq: they are Jews
The Christians in Syria: they are Jews. (Once it was the Christians that demanded of the Jews, "convert or die". Now, centuries later, they are the Jews!)

The Holocaust was met with incredulity and disbelief, then an unwillingness to interfere in internal affairs, then a fear of making things even worse. And so, as the war-weary civilized world stood by with little more than feeble rationalizations, the Jews of Europe were condemned to extermination. "Never Again", the Jews said. "Never Again," the world echoed.

But "again" came to the Cambodians, and to the Bosnians and to the Sudanese. And now "again" has come to the Middle East.

Once again we have an enemy to whom we have responded only with incredulity and disbelief. Once again we have not fathomed the depth of its depravity, the extent of its evil. We have not recognized that its rules are not ours, that it's values are not ours, that it's very definition of good and evil is diametrically opposed to ours. Where we find evil in massacres of civilians they find glory. Where we find evil in genocide they find exultation. Where we find evil in decapitation they find holiness and religious purity. Where they do find evil is in freedom of thought and religious tolerance and human dignity. This is truly a clash of civilizations, in which there is no reconciliation, no middle ground, no compromise. Either we will win or they will win.

Now I understand how the Holocaust happened - how it was allowed to happen. There were simply too many risks, too many reasons not to get involved. As Martin Niemoller might say today, 'They came for the Coptics and I didn't speak up because I was not a Coptic. They came for the Yazidis and I did not speak up because I was not a Yazidi. They came for the Christians, and I did not speak up because I was not that kind of Christian! And then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up.

Well, we of the west are now targets, but, unlike the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, we are not helpless; we are actually quite strong. We have the strength to defeat this new evil. But strength and will are very different things. We could have stopped Nazism before the entire world was engulfed in war. WE could have, but we did nothing

It is 1938 again,
Golf anyone?

Speech delivered by emcee Joyce Kaufman. I wanted to print the complete speech.  (The lady in the middle, a prominent radio talk show host in Florida.)

Tonight setting at a fantastic meal served in the local organizer's home. There was much debate on who we would have as a leader in the USA White House. There was much passionate debate, gay marriages, abortions, national debt, Anti-Semitism, racial issues, etc. They would say, our change will not be done through the election, but then debate passionately again about who to vote for. When they looked at me and asked, "would you vote for... a conservative that is for abortion...." and I stated I would stay home, it was quiet for a moment. Then much conversation was about people who would not vote was allowing the liberals to win.

Never have I been political, nor desire to be. However, the resolve is even deeper in my heart. We must step up and do something or there will be no one to stand for us, when it all comes down. There have been people who have stated History does not have to repeat itself. Well, that is correct, it does not but it will.

It is my firm conviction, very deep conviction, this world will come apart. The USA will collapse under the weight of our own mess. We MUST find ways to light a candle, rather than curse the darkness (become visible and active instead of setting around complaining). Mission:M25 is not huge in numbers, Never Again was not well attended, Christians were too busy doing church, Jewish Rabbi's tried to keep Jewish people from coming because Christians were there. BUT WE STOOD! WE STOOD TOGETHER! WE STOOD IN DOWNTOWN ATLANTA, ON THE MAIN HIGHWAY IN WYTHEVILLE AND IN A PROMINENT NEIGHBORHOOD IN BOCA RATON! 

Never have there been big numbers of Jews, big numbers of supporters but God always honors His chosen people and the people that stand with them! 

Christians were too busy, things were too risky and the cost too high during the Holocaust. We are there again..... now we ARE the target of much of the sacrifice around the world. We all are comfortable while the Jihadist are gaining ground. 

I was taken back as Howard said, 'Gary, there were not people, Christians like you during the Holocaust'. As humble as our efforts may be, it is my belief the Jewish community knows there are some who are not afraid! 

WE ARE PLANNING ANOTHER 'NEVER AGAIN' FOR 2015! WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED - DEFEATED OR DISCOURAGED. 

Never Again - Day 7 -

Today was the finale - Boca Raton, FL

A great rally outside, in front of the Rail Car from Germany by about 100 people. The car could not be guaranteed to have carried Jewish people to their death but was from that era and location. They stated it could have been used to transport military supplies. Carolyn is pictured inside the car reading the many historical facts on the walls.

The Jewish flavor was much greater and we certainly appreciated the Rabbi as he spoke, sang, and blew the Shofar! All of the music today was live - all anthems and Jewish songs of mourning and rejoicing.

There will be much more to post tomorrow on the banquet tonight but two things that I must share with you.

1. Among those honored tonight, I was privileged to be called out to receive a plaque for the M25 Riders sacrifice to make this work. Carolyn and I are so humbled to have the opportunity to ride with our Jewish brothers and sisters.

2. The Boca organizer read an email from his Father-in-Law, a Holocaust survivor. Let me share it with you.

I saw in the news paper the commitments and of pledge riders all my respect to the organizers and the participants

As a survivor of this Terrible  holocaust, it dos gives me a great feeling when I see that some pupil stands op and remembers of what we went trough and do not sit back

This times are so similar to when I was a kid, and we where a  shame to be a Jew,  and we where shipped in cattle cars to be slathered

As you know I did my fighting and gut red of some frustration, but Holocaust memories are in me at all times.

Please tell the bikers thank you for what the are standing up for, I do like tuff guys and I will do support there good work.

Best

Dad A 10450

Tomorrow I will share from Joyce Kaufman, Pamela Geller and more details. 

This has been a very moving experience to say the least. We are already planning on the next Never Again, June 2014! 

Gary Burd, M25 National Director