Harley Davidsons and Quitters

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  John 3:17

You were married to someone before daddy?

We initiated the conversation intentionally.  At 6 and 8, we felt they were old enough to know.  Still, it wasn’t entirely comfortable navigating that many questions.

"What's his name?  What's he look like?  Why'd you divorce?  Isn’t divorce a sin? Do I have other brothers or sisters? Where is he now? You rode motorcycles?  (Would these questions end?)




Answering best I could, we talked until they were satisfied and went back to playing.  "Wow," I thought.  "Glad that’s over.  It really wasn‘t that bad."

Yet, days later I still felt the weight of that conversation.  It was the first time I had thought about my divorce in a while.  And the very first time from a recommitted-to-Christ perspective.   

At 23, I'd met a man over 10 years my senior who was as wide open as me.  He had an outlandish personality and style, colorful past, lots of tattoos, long blonde hair, and a love of Harley Davidsons. And I fell head over heels in love with all of it.

We were alike in so many ways but the main difference was pretty distinct.  He was clean and sober and I wasn’t.  It amazed me to see him having more fun than me at bars and strip joints without a drop of alcohol or any drugs.  He was a quitter and proud of it.  So I decided to try it his way for a while. 

Less than a year later, we married.  

We traveled all over the country together.  I started out on the back of his Heritage but quickly ended up with a Sportster of my own.  We hit swap meets and motorcycles rallies from Daytona Beach to Myrtle Beach.  From Sturgis, SD to Four Corners.  We biked along the coast of California from San Diego to San Francisco and back.  We even made a pit stop to hang with a friend of a friend, Jesse James, at his shop, West Coast Choppers.

And I really wish I could tell you something awful happened that led to our divorce.  But, honestly, it was probably the same thing that happens to other couples.  Letting the little things turn into big things.  Not communicating our needs to each other.  Taking each other for granted. 

We noticed it and even put in a good year of couples counseling.  But since God wasn’t a part of our lives or marriage, we picked a secular counselor whose advice was focused on what would make us happy, how we felt, what we wanted.  Eventually, it all felt like just too much work.     

So, seven years after saying “I do” we both said “we quit.”  

God’s Word is clear that divorce is a sin and what I felt was the full weight of my sin.  Which is why I was so grateful that His Word was also clear on His forgiveness of our sins.  But even more than forgiveness, I was blessed.  Blessed to be able to have a message to share with my girls about how important it is they seek God’s will for whom they will marry and in keeping God the focus of their marriage.   

And, on any given Saturday morning, as I watch my husband help out around the house and see my girls playing more than helping, I am so very grateful for a God who makes beautiful things out of our messes.  And for a God who will never quit on us.  

And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”  Mark 10:11

As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.  Psalm 103:12 (ESV)

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.  Ecclesiastes 4:9 (ESV)

Suspicious Substance and Righteousness

Suspicious Substance and Righteousness

  "For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  But God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous.  He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty of our sin.”  Romans 3:23-24 (NLT)


The call was calm but firm and clear:  “Please evacuate the building.  This is an emergency.” 



The letter contained what was being called a “suspicious white substance” and our mail carrier, the secretary who had opened it, the supervisor who had investigated it, a coworker who had brushed off the evacuation in order to continue working, another coworker who hadn’t heard the call, and our head of investigations whose job it was to stay and clear the building, were all being held until the situation could be sorted out by the proper authorities.

Evacuees filed outside into the rain and were surrounded by fire and rescue trucks, police units, street blockades, red “danger” tape around the perimeter of the building.  The command from officials was to congregate at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church and stay put until given the all clear.   “How fitting“, I thought, “that we would be provided refuge from danger and the elements by the house of God - like so many before us had been.“  

As the door to the church closed behind us, we caught a glimpse of rescue workers in blue hazardous waste suits donning oxygen tanks and a tent-like structure being set up on the front stoop of our building…

The docent was happy to accommodate us with a condensed version of the normal tour.  She told of this beautiful church, steeped in rich history and shown true favor from the Almighty, having never been architecturally compromised in any way, even though it stood only a block from the Capitol during the civil rights era when church bombings were rampant in the South. This was especially surprising in light of its pastor from 1954-1960 who had been none other than Martin Luther King, Jr.   One of his more famous quotes is inscribed into the backdrop of a water element also located across the street from our building:  “Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

“If something goes down, I wanna be sittin’ by the chick with the Jesus pin, ” said a coworker sitting beside me on the church pew -  but only half-jokingly.  “Truth!,” I said.  “Cause me and Jesus are tight – but I can’t take you with me.  You and Him have to be tight, you know?”  He furrowed his brows a little and I said, “Admit…believe…call out.”  He shook his head in what I took to mean recognition and agreement.  Later, God would allow me to encourage a young intern in her faith as she struggled with fears over the deployment of her boyfriend to Afghanistan soon and about her young brother who had plans to go into the military.

An official updated us  – “First test has come back negative.  But we were not free to go just yet.  Another test is being performed.  Please plan on staying until you are given the all clear.  That is all for now.”

New faces joined us inside the church as Rev. Cromwell A. Handy, the current pastor, approached the pulpit.  He announced he was delighted the Lord had answered His prayer for a harvest (chuckles erupted from the crowd) and he invited us to stay for their normal weekly Wednesday Bible study which was about to start.  He extended acceptance, comfort and encouragement to us and gave God the glory for how all things work together for our good.

He was interrupted by another official update – “You are allowed to leave the premises but no one could return to the building just yet.  Thank you for handling this professionally.”    As people rose to leave, Pastor Cromwell took a moment to pray for us and our families.

Emerging from the church, we found a scene right out of a movie.

One by one, the six contaminated employees were walked from the building, past the tent, and made to stand spread eagle, as hazardous waste officials meticulously scrubbed them down with a large brush and then meticulously rinsed them off in the same fashion.  They disappeared into the tent, only to resurface minutes later donning the same blue hazard suit and were ushered into a fire rescue truck.

The call is calm but firm and clear.

“Please evacuate your sinful life.  Admit you are a sinner - confess and repent of your sins.  Believe in me - that Christ died to save you from your sins.  Call out to me - to be your Savior and Lord of your life.  This is an emergency.“  But how many of us carry sins around, open them up,  investigate them, brush off God’s call because we are too busy or maybe because our heart is so hardened that we don’t even hear the call, or feel obligated to stay trapped in our sinful life?

He wants us to confess and then repent of the sins that are so harmful to us and our relationship with Him.  To allow Him to scrub us clean, to decontaminate our life, through Jesus’ blood.   To claim the title that He has already given us as being righteous.  Tweet this! He wants us to enjoy a new life where we give our cares to Him, rest in Him.  For us to take refuge from the dangers of this world in Him.  And to tell others about Christ and become laborers who pray for a harvest, like Pastor Cromwell.

And the suspicious white substance found in the letter?  Tests confirmed that it was, in fact, harmless.
Unlike our sin.  Which God confirms is, in fact, deadly.  

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  Romans 6:23 (NIV)

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  I John 1:9 (ESV)

“Truly the righteous attain life, but whoever pursues evil finds death.”  Proverbs 11:19

“And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.  Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”  Luke 10:2 (ESV)