October
2006 CSBA Newsletter
From the Servant’s Desk:
Matthew 6:14-15 (New King James Version)
For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you. But if you do not forgive
men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
We are too often exposed to
random acts of violence in the media.
School shootings, once an abnormality, seem to be the accepted method
for mentally deranged individuals projecting their vendettas on an unsuspecting
public.
A recent incident occurred in
Lancaster County Pennsylvania that shocked even the most hardened media
junkie. A man shot and killed five Amish
children in a quiet little town south of Lancaster. I was
sickened by the reports, but to me, the truly remarkable aspect of the story,
came out the next day.
One of the Amish Elders traveled to the perpetrator’s home after the incident
to offer assistance to the offender’s wife and children. For those not familiar with the story, the
murderer killed himself, leaving a stunned widow and three children. Further addling my brain, the Elder who
offered to help, was the grandfather of one of the slain victims!
Where do you find Christians
with that kind of forgiveness?
Evidently, in Lancaster
County, PA
The final local news article
about the shootings, reported that the Amish fellowship dismantled every
vestige of the schoolhouse, hauling every scrap away and seeding over the
ground so as no memorial or remembrance of the evil remained. I call that “forgive and forget” to the nth
degree.
I have friends from the Lancaster area who are Mennonites and provide help for Wim’s kids in South Africa. Mennonites
have similar traditions to the Amish but allow electricity, phones and cars. Last
Saturday, I met one of these Mennonite friends and asked if she knew any of the
victim’s families. She replied she
wasn’t close to any of the families but was anxious to tell me about one of the
little girls who was able to escape the school
shooting. It seems, according to my friend,
that while the shooter was lining up the children, one little girl heard a
voice that told her to “make herself small and climb out the window.” When the child ran away from the school, she
was gathered up by one of the adults who had been allowed to leave. The child told the adults present that she
had taken their advice and climbed out the window…just as one of them had told
her. The fact is that all of the adults were well away from the schoolhouse
when the little girl received her instructions!
The local Amish now refer to
that little girl as the “child who heard the voice of God.”
Whew! I about had my knees buckle when I heard the
story.
We have opportunities daily
to show kindness and forgiveness.
Driving to work tests our ability to forgive those of whom do us
wrong. Someone cuts you off, pulls out
in front of you, or gives you the “international salute,” and our normally God
fearing demeanors become something else.
We become “different” people. We
want something BAD to happen to those offenders…right in front of us, so we can
witness and thoroughly enjoy the payback.
“Go ahead, God. Nuke ‘em!”
Oh yeah, we’re Christians all right.
James 1:22 (New King James Version)
But
be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Truly living in God’s Word
requires that you know more than the chapter and verse. One must live in The Word,
because we have a living faith in a living Savior.
I published a message board
posting where a CSBA member turned a bike accident in a parking lot into a
witness opportunity. I’ve observed CSBA
members helping complete strangers after bike accidents in the Deal’s Gap
area…and turning those acts of unselfishness into witness statements. These examples give me great pride in being a
small part of this Christian association.
Keep ‘em coming! We all have Christ’s love within us when we
accept Him as Our Lord and Savior. All
He asks is for us to spread some of that love around.
God bless.
Brian Phillips
CSBA Servant
brianp@christiansportbike.com
CSBA NEWS
AFRICA PART III
Marvin Gurganus
and I are heading to South Africa in a few weeks to visit Wim’s
kids at BreakThrough Ministry. This will
be Marvin’s first trip “across the pond” to experience the stimuli of really
strange birdcalls, wood fires and antelope jerky.
PLEASE…keep us in your prayers! It’s about 30+hours of travel with a
fourteen-hour layover in Madrid. Preliminary
plans are to take in some of the sights of Madrid via tour bus. “Habla English por
Favor??”
Consider, if you will, an aging small town Pennsylvanian, and a North Carolina farm boy, wandering around Madrid taking in the city.
Perhaps a new reality show genre, in the offing?
Be prepared for a large photo spread on our return. Marvin is hoping to shoot close to 2,000
digital photos in order to compile a BreakThrough Ministry digital database!
This will be my third trip to
Africa. I know this
sounds a bit trite, but once you overcome the self-conceived anxiety (including
downright fear), and go to Africa; you’re not the same.
Africa gets in your head: the kids, the weather, the smells,
some sadness, insanity and heartfelt compassion. You’re hooked. I love it there!
You can actually SEE
God working in Africa. Up on the
mountain, where Wim cares for the children; a few years ago nothing but wind
and grass…now, buildings are rising out of the clay. Children are eating food…on a regular
schedule. There’s the sound of children
laughing and playing. It’s a wonder to
take it all in.
Attend a native church
service and you’ll wonder why they aren’t sending their young people over here on missionary trips. Those folks are on fire for The Lord! And they have practically nothing in the way
of worldly possessions. Just amazing!
We will try and post up on
the CSBA message board, but computer connections in Africa
are chancy at best.
REMEMBER:
Keep BreakThrough Ministry and Changing Tomorrow
Children’s Foundation in your daily prayers!
Visit the BreakThrough Ministry website to learn more about Wim’s vision for the kids of QwaQwa at http://www.breakthrough-ministries.com/
and/or http://www.changingtomorrow.org
If you can, talk to your pastor or the director of missions
for your home church. Give them the
BreakThrough web link, ask them to consider helping or better yet, plan a
mission trip to South Africa. I’d be more than happy to provide the
details. Email me at brianp@christiansportbike.com
If you feel led, you can make a donation at: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
Or, send your check made out to:
"Changing Tomorrow Children’s Foundation" to:
Brian Phillips
1135 Washington Avenue
Allentown, PA 18103-7905
Every dollar received goes to Wim’s
kids.
2006 CSBA Rallies
"Seneca
Rocks Prayer Retreat Weekend” Seneca Rocks, WV – Sept. 15-17, 2006.
By
Bill Allen:
The CSBA returned to Seneca Rocks, West Virginia, Sept. 15-17, 2005 for a weekend Prayer Retreat five years to the date
of our first Prayer Retreat held there just after the tragedy of 9/11.
This year's Prayer Retreat was a great time of prayer, fellowship, and
riding. We arrived on Friday afternoon
and waited for folks to show up at the motel. After nearly everyone was there,
we headed out to the restaurant at Seneca Rocks Caverns; a great place to eat,
situated high atop a mountain, just out of town. We returned to the Motel for the beginning of
our Prayer Retreat, and found
our missing rider had checked into the wrong Yokum's
Motel in Seneca Rocks! There are two!
The title of our Prayer retreat study/meetings was "Prayer IS your
personal relationship with Jesus Christ."
Friday we looked at what the Bible says about prayer and discussed
numerous verses concerning prayer. We then took prayer requests and then gave
everyone the opportunity to spend some time in group prayer. Saturday morning we had a short devotional on
prayer before heading out to
the "famous" 4-U Restaurant in Seneca Rocks for breakfast. We also
challenged every rider to spend some time in prayer during the day while we
were on the ride. We met back at the
motel by 9:30
AM and picked up some
additional riders who weren't staying the entire weekend and headed out for an
absolutely fantastic day of riding. The
weather looked threatening at times during the weekend but we never saw more
than just a few sprinkles and Saturday's weather was dry and excellent for
riding all day.
Along the way Saturday we stopped at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory
in Green Bank, WV, rode the Highlands Scenic Highway, passed by the Cass Railroad, Snowshoe Resort, and
many more attractions in the area. The
roads there rival those anywhere including the famous "Deal's Gap"
area, but with much less traffic. The
fact that it's so little known, may make it "the best place" you've
ever
ridden a motorcycle!
Saturday night, our Prayer Retreat centered on the five points of prayer as
outlined in the CSBA discipleship program. Then we had a chance to tell about
how God had answered prayer in our lives before returning to a time of
group prayer. After the meeting we rode
to the Front Porch Restaurant at Harper's Store in Seneca Rocks for pizza.
Later, folks hung out in front of the motel till late, taking advantage of the
mild weather.
Sunday morning, we had a brief word from the Bible and recapped the prayer
retreat meetings before observing communion, and then ended in prayer. Afterwards, everyone decided to head back to
the 4-U for another "home cooked" breakfast before parting ways.
I can't begin to tell you what a great time we had spiritually, in fellowship
and while riding those awesome highways in West Virginia.
Thanks so much to everyone who came. This one was of the best times I've had at
a CSBA Rally anywhere: the emphasis on our Lord, the fellowship you can only
get in a place like Seneca Rocks, and roads that only "the Gap" could
compare to.
Everyone unanimously decided we needed to put the Retreat back
on the calendar for next year, so if you missed out this time, we will be back
in 2007!
Look for the "CSBA Seneca Rocks Prayer Retreat Weekend" to take place
around the same time in Sept. next year. We will have a definite date announced
as soon as possible.
Come for the prayer time, come for the great fellowship, and enjoy riding some
of the best motorcycling roads anywhere in the U.S. while you're here.
Pictures from this year’s Prayer Retreat are posted here:
http://csbadg.homestead.com/SRpics.html
9/30/06***
NEWSFLASH ***
Myself and
Bernard went to the mountain last week to drop off cement and food, and as we
got to Qwaqwa it was overcast and you could see a
layer of mist covering the mountains. We drove up to the Care Center in thick
mist and as is usual on days like these, there was no-one around, so we off
loaded the truck. As we were driving back, the mist lifted and the whole
mountain ahead of us was covered in snow!! It was awesome, but also kinda weird, as the weather has been getting really nice
lately.
It is the 4th time this year we had snow up there, usually we
get a light dusting once a year and that is it.
The finishing of the second house is going REAL slow, with
lots of cold wet days, and now we are in the rain season again. As I type, it
is actually drizzling outside, so no building!!
Please pray with us:
*** Keep praying with us for that special (Sotho speaking)
person to manage the first house and help us get some programs that have been
lagging behind running again. ***
VISITORS:
During the
first two weeks of September we had a 5 girl team visiting us from Georgia. Genifer, Leah, Amy, Jessica and Amanda did a stellar job
hanging with the kids, assisting with the daycare and just loving on the small
ones. You guys are the best and the kids miss you already (ok, we do too)!!
Again it was so awesome to see new kids that had been scared
of us (remember they very rarely see white people), slowly warming up while
there are visitors around, and lets face it, it is a touch woman are blessed
with way more than us men. That first breakthrough in winning their trust is
the first step in positively influencing their future. Awesome stuff!!
DAYCARE
Again we
have a little something on one of the kids:
Moeketsi
Moeketsi
is a vibrant, energetic and bright 7 year old boy that was born blind. He lives
with his Mom, Dad and seven brothers and sisters, in a house that is about 45
square meters (smaller than a double garage).
Neither of his parents are employed,
yet you will always find Moeketsi
with a smile on his face! He is extremely lively and inquisitive and has
climbed into all of our hearts!
Despite his disability and extremely poor living
conditions, he is always very neat and clean, and is very
disciplined and a true gentleman in the making!
He also has a wicked sense of humor and is in his element if
he can get a chuckle from you.
(Lee go home..lol)
I have started putting all the news and writings of visitors
on a blogg, so if you have a Myspace
account, please visit us: www.myspace.com/breakthrough_ministries
...and sign us up as a friend! Come now, you know you want to do it!
God Bless
Wim & Hylien
If you feel moved to
help the kids in QwaQwa, South
Africa:
Please keep BreakThrough Ministry and Changing Tomorrow
Children’s Foundation in your daily prayers!
Visit the BreakThrough Ministry website to learn more about Wim’s vision for the kids of QwaQwa at http://www.breakthrough-ministries.com/
and/or http://www.changingtomorrow.org
Talk to your pastor or the director of missions for your
home church. Give them the BreakThrough
web link, ask them to consider helping or better yet, plan a mission trip to South
Africa.
Or…put your pastor/missions director in touch with me (Brian
Phillips, 610-432-2733). I would be glad
to explain BreakThrough Ministry. I’ll
even come to your church and give a presentation if it’s within a reasonable
traveling distance.
If you feel led, you can make a donation at: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr
Or, send your check made out to:
"Changing Tomorrow Children’s Foundation" to:
Brian Phillips
1135 Washington Avenue
Allentown, PA 18103-7905
Every dollar received goes to Wim’s
kids.
FROM THE CSBA EMAIL BAG
10/18/06
Greetings From CSBRacing!
We had a blessed weekend for
sure at Gateway International. Things started off a little
sketchy...cold, cold, cold.
It looked like rain was
rolling in and the Doppler showed the same. Once again, the weatherman
was throwing darts at a board and the scientists got it wrong! It warmed
up and the sun came out and never rained a drop! The track temp was
really low, so lap times were off a bit but the CSBRacing/Texas
Roadhouse ZX10R ran awesome at the top of the Expert
Class. We gave away a
cooler full of John 3:16 bottled water, along with chapel invitations. It
was more of a small group bible study this weekend. A good friend opened
with prayer and I shared a bit of a message that God had put on my heart about
the freedom we have in Christ. It was a great time of sharing and many in
the group opened up.
Besides a few children in
attendance, everyone at the service had been there many times in the
past.
I'm seeing more and more that
we’re a Church that meets at a racetrack. We are always getting new people to
come, that normally wouldn't set foot in a "standard" church, but
we're also there for the believers that need and want a place to worship on
Sunday. It is a place to come and take a few minutes out of the often
hectic racetrack schedule, settle down, pray a bit, and listen and reflect on
God's word.
I was really blessed by the
fellowship we had this weekend. It just felt like family.
God Bless and thank you for
supporting us and being a part of this team!
Bless you all,
Michael,
Leah, Slade, Seth and Eden
Pruitt
www.csbracing.com
<http://www.csbracing.com>
MAYBE YOU NEED ONE MORE RALLY
From Robert DuMond of the CMA:
Hey guys,
This is just an invite to a rally. As you may know, the
CMA has a sportbike division called "Fast
Lane". It is holding a rally on Nov. 3-5 at CMA HQ in Mena, AR.
This is just outsideof Hot
Springs, so you know there are some awesome
roads there! I am including the rally poster.
This is not a "steal each other members"
deal, I think it would just be great for like
ministries to get together for some riding and fellowship. It seems really hard
to get Christian sportbikers together on any level,
and I think we all could use all the encouragement we can get.
The campgrounds have full amenities and can
accommodate around 2500 bikes. There will probably be no more than 200 there.
I know several CSBA members here in Texas
and invited them, and thought I would forward it to all of you.
I am an individual CMAer,
so this is not from CMA itself. I know you would be more than welcome though.
Anyway. the invite is there, I understand if you can come or not.
Be blessed in all things,
Robert DuMond
Jer.29:11-12
Dated 10/20/06
Name: Rich Cartier
Email: richard.cartier@ge.com
CSBA #:
Subject: Fellowship
Message: Hi guys I had to drop you a e-mail to let you know I think it's AWSOME
there is a group out there doing the LORD'S work in the sport bike community.
I’m a member/VP of CMA in western MA and I feel the lord has put it on my heart
to reach out to the sport biker's the only thing is i
have a grandpa sport bike of sort's a 06 fjr 1300 and
I have been trying to reach out and have had some success as some guy's have
gone on our ride's for our forming CMA chapter. I was down in PA this august at
a CMA state rally and much of the talk was about how to reach out more for this
segment of the biking world.
Thanks for a job well done my servants
Rich
Dated 9/21/06
and 10/5/06:
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings to you in Jesus name, Amen. We thank God for
the privilege we have in reaching more souls. We carefully and prayerfully
have distributed 260 Bibles (KJV) to people who didn't have a Bible before
in the Esogban Area, Edo
State. Praise God.
104 people received
Jesus-Christ as their Lord and Savior in Iruekpen Village,
Nigeria, and Bibles were distributed among them.
50 School Children received Christ as God’s word was preached and Bibles where
given to them.
84 Souls asked Jesus-Christ
to be their Lord, and Bibles where distributed among them at the Aduwawa Area mission outreach, Nigeria.
68 people were saved on Sunday morning the 17th of September, 2006, at Ikpoba Hill Zone. I am
so happy. I preached on the subject: Stewardship of Life.
There are millions of people
who don't have single Bible for their own use, please help us with more Bibles.
Will you pray about becoming a part of the ongoing Bible Project? One Bible Can
Save A Soul...
Last week I was having
serious pain in my heart. The first medical test result stated that, I
have a Stomach - Ulcer which cannot be treated, but can only be suppressed by
drugs. Praise God. I am trading my pain for the joy of the Lord. Though, I
was in pain, God allowed me to go and share the gospel around and win more
souls. Please continue to pray for me and the people with Bibles.
Please view the photos below
and also share them with your church
God Bless You,
Pastor Evbota Godstime
10/5/06
BIKE FOR SALE:
Dear CSBA Brothers and Sisters:
I am forwarding this email from Ted Rhia,
a brother from my church in Fort Myers, FL. He
has a beautiful bike that he needs to sell. Please share if there is
anyone you know who needs an awesome bike.
God Bless,
----- Original Message -----
From: TRiha
To: chris hansen
Sent: Sunday,
October 01, 2006 6:08 PM
Subject: My 2002 Yamaha FZ1
Hi Bubba,
I'm selling
my 2002 Yamaha FZ1, and I'm advertising early at a low ball price for Magna and
FZ1 forum members and lurkers, as well as select friends and associates locally
first. If this awesome deal (Smile) isn't snagged in short order, I'll
take it to craiglist and ebay
to finish the sale that way soon.
2002 Yamaha FZ1 Black w/Liquid Silver trim - just $4250.
(originally all Liquid Silver). 17,785 miles
using Mobil 1 15W-50 oil and Purolator Pure One
filters PL 14610. The engine has an Ivan's slip on jet kit, coolant
by-pass mod, Bill Jinks crossover mod, and a Holeshot
AIS removal kit. It is dyno's at 130 RWHP SAE
corrected. The suspension is Traxxion Dynamics
AK-20 Axxion cartridge kit, Holeshot
adjustable rear dogbones and revised rising rear
suspension rate linkage. The bike also comes with Galfer
stainless steel (2 line) brake lines and EBC sintered
HH pads up front. A 15 tooth countershaft spocket
(16T stock) and DID ZVM2 Gold chain is also installed. The tires are Pirelli
Diablo; new rear (Strada) and near new (Corsa) front. Extra body features include an optional
Yamaha chin cowl in two tone and a tinted Givi wind screen.
You know I also have many extras that will be sold separately, but inquire if
there is an option or upgrade someone might desire and I'll supply a price for
that item (Yosh SS RS-1 pipe, Carbon fiber M4 pipe, Pazzo Racing levers, Penske 8981
double clicker shock, sprockets, carbon fiber trim, GYT-R lowers, etc.)
Pictures attached. Let me know if you know of someone who is interested.
:)
Your brother in Christ,
Ted
MagnaFazer at gmail dot com
THE NEW CSBA T-SHIRTS ARE NOW IN STOCK
New one color / one style CSBA T-Shirts are in stock. Sizes range from Medium to XX Large and
remain at a cost of $18.00 including shipping.
Check out the new style at: http://www.christiansportbike.com/store/index.htm
You can order your shirt using PayPal, OR
email brianp@christiansportbike.com
with your name; complete shipping address and size desired. THEN, send your check for $18.00/shirt made
out to:
“THE CHRISTIAN SPORT BIKE ASSOC.”
And mail to:
Marvin Gurganus
PO Box 511
Jamesville, NC
27846
Be sure to indicate that your payment is for a CSBA
T-shirt. Thanks
NEED A CSBA STICKER?
We have new stickers in
stock! Current color choices are white,
blue, red, and black (transparent background).
And the cost?
If you feel moved, you can make a donation to the Bible Fund, or Wim’s kids, at BreakThrough Ministry (http://www.christiansportbike.com/donate.cgi). The stickers are a gesture of thanks to the
membership for helping the CSBA to be a Christian association that makes a difference
for Jesus Christ, both here, and around the
world.
Email your name, address, member number, and sticker color (white – blue – black – red) to brianp@christiansportbike.com.
OTHER STUFF
**Don’t forget your CSBA September 2006 Calendar Download
Courtesy of Bill Allen and the Central VA Chapter
You can download your free calendar here: http://cenvachristiansportbike.homestead.com/BA_rider.html
If you have a picture from a past CSBA Ride or Rally
you'd like featured on our calendar...send it to BA_rider2@hotmail.com
Take care & God
bless,
Brian Phillips brianp@christiansportbike.com
CSBA Servant
Roberta
Peart RAPfencing@netzero.net
Editor