Welcome to my new blog. My name is Jody and it’s Thursday August 11, 2011, 8:35 am. I started something like this on Facebook, but decided that I wanted something more personal. Something I could add my own touch to. Today is my day off and I should be getting other things accomplished… but what can I say; I’m obsessed! 
So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ramblings of a mad man!
Madly in love with Jesus!
Now Playing: I Can Only Imagine
I Believe that God is the creator of the universe both of the seen and unseen realms and that God the creator is also the giver of life.
I believe the Holy Bible is God’s word Personally spoken by God for mankind for the purpose of revealing who He is and it is without error in all issues to which it speaks.
I believe that the Jewish People are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their land, and that it is the responsibility of all Christians to support Israel.
I believe in the Triunity (Trinity), one God in three Persons, consisting of Father, Son Jesus, and Holy Spirit.
I Believe Jesus Christ is Divine God who came from Heaven to mankind as a man yet retaining the Divinity of God and who while living a sinless life was rejected and betrayed by man to be crucified and die on the cross yet not to remain dead but to Resurrect the third day in accordance with His Everlasting Divine life.
I believe that the death of Jesus on the cross provided complete atonement for all the sins of the world therefore cleansing those who choose to be cleansed from their sin to then receive the Holy Spirit and by receiving the Holy Spirit becoming “Born Again” and being Born Again becoming children of God. Children in the family of God and as children in a personal relationship with their Father who is God above all and as children also inheritors in the Heavenly Kingdom of Jesus the kingdom that is without end.
I believe that Jesus is the judge of all of mankind’s thoughts, intentions and actions and that He is just and wise in His judgment. As judge, Jesus will judge the unjust to everlasting condemnation while to the righteous He will give of His life, His gifts, and His glory.
I believe Jesus physically rose from the dead, was seen by many eyewitnesses and has now ascended back into Heaven where He originally came from. He is currently seated in Majesty, Power and Authority alongside the Father and is currently accessible in both Prayer and Fellowship.
I’ve been riding motorcycles since I was about 7 or 8 years old. My first bike was actually a Tote-Goat! My Dad got it for me when I was 7, and taught me to ride in a parking lot. That led to my love of motorcycles.
Tote Goat
*The Tote Gote is an off-road motorcycle that was produced from 1958 to 1970. It was developed by Ralph Bonham, who is credited with inventing the off-road motorcycle.
Honda CB-175
At 14 I got a Kawasaki 350 dirt bike from a friend of mine. We use to go out to the desert together and ride, and one weekend at Deep Creek I tried to jump a small gorge and came down hard on the rear tire against the edge of the opposite side. The rear tire blew and I wiped out! That was the end of the Kawi.
Kawasaki 350 Dirt Bike
When I was around 15 I got a Honda CB350 Four. That was my first four cylinder street bike, and had a windshield, crash bars, sissy bar and everything! At 15 1/2 I could legally ride on the street, and boy did I!
Honda CB-350 Four
When I was about 20 and had been at my first full-time job after high school for awhile, I discovered the Gold Wing! I just had to have one, so I started shopping around and found a ’77 GL1000. I got it for a good price and rode that bike for 3 or 4 years, putting probably close to 40,000 miles on it. I rode that bike constantly! To work, on errands around town and on weekend rides with friends. It was a great bike.
1978 Honda GL 1000 Gold Wing
In 1988 I purchased my one & Only (so far) brand new vehicle! A Honda GL 1500 Gold Wing. This bike was a six cylinder Lazy Boy Recliner! It had everything on it… on board air compressor, a reverse gear, adjustable windshield, AM/FM Stereo Cassette, CB Radio, etc. All the OEM bells and whistles from the factory. What a dream come true! Unfortunately that dream didn’t last long. I lost it in a divorce about a year and a half later. 
Brand New Honda GL 1500 SE Gold Wing
A couple of years after the divorce I picked up a 79 Honda GL 1000. A few years older than my last one, but I was lucky to have it. It was a good looking and a good running bike. I mainly used it for commuting back and forth to work. About a year after I got it I decided to put some floorboards on it… mistake! I couldn’t stand the floorboards so after about a month or two I sold it.
1979 Honda GL 1000 Gold Wing
I went about 15 years or so without a bike. I sold the 79 in ’92 and didn’t get my next one til 2008! That 15 years had a lot of ups and downs for me. Being diagnosed with diabetes; moving in with my Mom to care for her after her heart attack; losing my Mom; meeting someone special; getting married; begging the new spouse to let me have another bike. That last part took about 4 years by itself. But when she came around, I found the deal of deals! Another 1988 Honda GL !500 SE almost identical to my first! It was 20 years old and only had 17,000 original miles!! It was in near showroom condition and only $5,000! I rode that bike for 6 months, almost to the day, then had an accident and totaled it. I wasn’t hurt bad, a cracked rib and some road rash. The insurance paid of exactly what I gave for the bike, so all I had in it was a few dollars for preventive maintenance. 
Still I never thought I’d ride again because the wife was so freaked out!
1988 Honda GL 1500 SE Gold Wing
In only two short years I was able to convince the wife that I should have another bike. Actually, she was so gracious, she said she saw how happy I was when I was riding, and she wanted me to be happy. Isn’t that a great wife?! I shopped around for a month or so and found my current bike, a 1993 Honda GL 1500 Interstate. Not the SE model like the ones before, but the stripped down model. Still, it is an awesome ride!
1993 Honda GL 1500 Interstate
That makes a total of 9 bikes I’ve owned in my 51 years, and 5 of them were Gold Wings! Long live the Gold Wing! Someday I plan on getting a Gold Wing trike so we can travel together on it comfortably. Give me a few years and I’ll pick one up. I love to ride.
My Next Bike... Honda GL 1800 Custom Trike
100 points to get into Heaven
A man dies and goes to heaven. St. Peter meets him at the pearly gates.
St. Peter says, “Here’s how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in.”
“Okay” the man says, “I attended church every Sunday”
“That’s good, says St. Peter, ” that’s worth two points”“Two points?” he says. “Well, I gave 10% of all my earnings to the church”
“Well, let’s see,” answers Peter, “that’s worth another 2 points. Did you do anything else?”“Two points? Golly. How about this: I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.”
“Fantastic, that’s certainly worth a point, ” he says.“hmmm…,” the man says, “I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart.”
“That’s wonderful,” says St. Peter, “that’s worth three points!”“THREE POINTS!!” the man cries, “At this rate the only way I get into heaven is by the grace of God!”
“Come on in!”
Donation
Father O’Malley answers the phone. “Hello, is this Father O’Malley?”
“It is”
“This is the IRS. Can you help us?”
“I can”
“Do you know a Ted Houlihan?”
“I do”
“Is he a member of your congregation?”
“He is”
“Did he donate $10,000 to the church?”
“He will”.
As we approach the 10 year anniversary of the deadly terror attacks on the United States of America, I am reminded of the mass patriotism that swept this country in the months following the events. I can only hope that the same emotional effect touches us at this time, lest we forget! And forget we shall not!!
What will you be doing this September 11? I will be attending a charity motorcycle ride called “Ride To The Flags“. This event began in 2008 with the starting point of the ride at the Reagan Library. The following year was cancelled due to lack of sponsorship. (I was not riding that year due to an accident.)
*2010 Recap: The bikers raised more than $17,500, and along with the residual establishing donation from Jami and Klaus Heidegger and a substantial donation from Gary Sinise and his charitable foundation we were able to raise $30,000 for the charities. We were greeted that morning wiith awesome performances from Instant People, Brian Stace and Glen Campbell. Celebrities such as Gary Sinise, Ann-Margret, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Dean Cain, Kristy Swanson and DB Sweeney were on hand to meet the crowd and/or ride in the ride.
**This year’s benefactors will be the Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund as well as Operation Gratitude. Each of these great organizations will receive 40% of the total funds that are raised at the ride.
Fifteen percent of the remaining funds raised will help start a new foundation; The White Heart Foundation; that will serve as the home of the Ride to the Flags – a foundation that will focus on helping other military and hometown hero organizations.
The final 5% of the money raised will be donated to Pepperdine University for maintenance of the 2,977 American flags as well as to beautify the Military Garden that is located on campus.
I have formed a Meet-Up Group as a way to pull together more participants for the “Ride To The Flags” motorcycle event. Also to offer a location to meetup and ride together to the Naval Base Ventura County, Pt. Mugu from the greater Long Beach area (and all points south). If you ride and would like to join my group for the ride in to Ventura County, go to The So Cal RTTF Riders and sign up.
NOTE… This Meetup Group is not in any way affiliated with the ride organizer, Ryan Sawtelle but has been approved by him as a separate entity.
*From the Ride To The Flags Web Site
**From the Ride To The Flags FaceBook Page
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:2
I must constantly pray for the Holy Spirit to remind me to keep it simple. If it doesn’t affect my salvation, what does it matter? Now I can attach a lot to that and make it complicated again, but I chose not to. I’m learning to stay in prayer, stay in the Word, and stay in the presence of the trinity! I thank God for loving me so much as to give His Son as my redeemer, my salvation. I thank Jesus for His blood that washes me clean of my sins and makes me righteous in His eyes! I thank the Holy Spirit for dwelling within me and always being there to guide me and keep me on the right path. I know the Holy Spirit is preparing me for something awesome!
That is the question. I fail to understand how anyone in their right mind can not believe in a creator of the universe and everything in it! I mean come on. How could this evolution thing be legit? Do you seriously think we all developed from some primordial ooze? Look at how amazingly the human body is put together. This all did not just happen by chance! Here are two great little presentations… the first is called, “Lady Lucy“; and the other one is called “The Watch Maker“. Now these are two very basic descriptions of what I’m saying, but I think simple is what we need sometimes! Like simple, child-like faith.
OK… now for something with some meat to it! Can you believe that there are a group of Atheists that are suing over the World Trade Center Cross!! You wanna know what they say? Read the following from CNN.com.
(CNN) — A group of atheists has filed a lawsuit to stop the display of the World Trade Center cross at a memorial of the 9/11 terror attacks.
The “government enshrinement of the cross was an impermissible mingling of church and state,” the American Atheists say in a press statement.
The group says it filed the lawsuit this week in state court in New York and posted a copy of the lawsuit on its website.
The lawsuit names many defendants, including the state of New Jersey, the city of New York , New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
The World Trade Center cross, two intersecting steel beams that held up when the twin towers collapsed on September 11, 2001, is seen as iconic to some.World Trade Center Cross Memorial
The cross was moved Saturday from near a church to its new home at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. There was also ceremonial blessing of the cross in a service led by Father Brian Jordan, a Franciscan monk who ministered to workers clearing the area after the 9/11 attacks.
Joe Daniels, 9/11 Memorial president, said Saturday that the cross is “an important part of our commitment to bring back the authentic physical reminders that tell the history of 9/11 in a way nothing else could.
“Its return is a symbol of the progress on the Memorial & Museum that we feel rather than see, reminding us that commemoration is at the heart of our mission.”
But the atheist group says the cross sends a symbol of something different.
“The WTC cross has become a Christian icon,” said Dave Silverman, president of the atheist group. “It has been blessed by so-called holy men and presented as a reminder that their god, who couldn’t be bothered to stop the Muslim terrorists or prevent 3,000 people from being killed in his name, cared only enough to bestow upon us some rubble that resembles a cross. It’s a truly ridiculous assertion.”
What’s truly ridiculous is *their allegation that the Cross has actually made the plaintiffs physically ill:
The plaintiffs, and each of them, have suffered, are suffering, and will continue to suffer damages, both physical and emotional, from the existence of the challenged cross. Named plaintiffs have suffered, inter alia, dyspepsia, symptoms of depression, headaches, anxiety, and mental pain and anguish from the knowledge that they are made to feel officially excluded from the ranks of citizens who were directly injured by the 9/11 attack and the lack of acknowledgement of the more than 1,000 non- Christian individuals who were killed at the World Trade Center.
Little do they realize the real, eternal suffering they’ll experience when they’re burning in hell. We must pray for these poor lost souls to find Jesus!
*From ACLJ.org
I’ve recently discovered a new church/ministry near my work that has brought me so much closer to the Word… to Him… to everything that pleases Him. It’s called New Journey Ministry, and was started as simple men’s home. Ex-cons, drug addicts, and the like. Now don’t freak out… these are real people! Christ centered brothers (and sisters) that get together for worship, praise and study. It’s actually got me reading the Bible!!! That in itself is a miracle. Praise Him!
One morning about 3-4 weeks ago I was leaving the Starbucks that I frequent near my job. As I approached my bike I noticed a big ol’ biker type dude sittin in a little work truck parked next to me. As I loaded my stuff into the trunk of the bike he says “Gold Wing, huh?“. That’s all it took for him to get my attention. He told me his name was Jim and that he had a friend that use to have one, and actually got him to try it once. He said it was like ridin a Lazy Boy down the street. So we start talkin and he uses a phrase like “what a blessing” or somethin like that; but it led me to believe that he was a christian! So I agree with him and said “So you’re a christian too, huh?!” So now he’s off and runnin!! It was almost 9:30 and I should have been at work. I didn’t even think about it! We stood there and talked for probably 15 more minutes about the awesomeness of God and how He works in our lives. Eventually, I looked at my watch and told him I had to go. He gave me his number and address and said to come by Sunday for church.
After I got to work and got clocked in, etc., I couldn’t help but think about the conversation and how odd it seemed in a way. I would have never have taken this big, burly biker to be such a passionate, on fire for the Lord christian! You know what? The rest of my day was peaceful and just different from what work had been like lately. I told Karen about it later and she said it had to be the Lord that hooked us up! AMEN!
That must have been a Wednesday morning that happened. My next day at work, Saturday morning, I find a note left for me. It was from Jim. He reminded me about coming by for church Sunday and left his number. This struck me as a little unsettling, but I put the note in my wallet and forgot about it. Later on that afternoon I told Karen about it and she said I should go! I already had made plans for the next day, Sunday, so I said I would the following week. Next week came and I went to the address he had given me and I see this big canopy set up in the driveway of the corner house on the street. Under the canopy hung a banner that said “New Journey Ministry“. I parked my bike in the driveway and as I was takin off my helmet I hear “Jody!“. It was Jim and he was sitting on the porch with a group of other men talking. He got up, shook my hand and said how glad he was that I showed up. He introduced me around and we sat and talked for a few minutes till the pastor, Bob, came over to start the service.
The service started with worship songs as Bob and another of the men played guitars and sang. They played some great music that I didn’t recognize as commercial christian music, but the words were so impactful… real, and simple. It was all about Jesus! How much we love Him, thank Him, and honor Him. After the worship when Bob began his teaching on the Book of Acts, I sat there riveted on every word that man spoke! It was like God Himself was speaking to me through him! Every comment he made was just for me. You know the feeling.
When I got home I told Karen all about it and she said that shes going next week! Seems we found a new home church. One where I feel like I fit in. Since that day there have been a couple of real miracles happen in my life! I’m actually reading the Bible for one. There’s more to this story… stay tuned!
