Jesus R.A.C.E. Team
Thought a month
Home
Prayer and Praise
Thought a month
My Testimony
Photos
Sponsors
Race Updates
Our Schedule
Meet the crew
Links
Guestbook
Kid's Club

Thought for the month - June 2008

When I was growing up and had no knowledge of the Lord or who God was there was one question that people would ask that always made me take pause and consider it myself. “If God loves us, why would He send us to hell?”  While it is an intriguing question and one that makes us wonder, it is answerable once you understand it. Like many of the lies Satan feeds to us to get us to question God, it has just enough truth in it to seem plausible, but in reality he is just twisting the Lord’s words. As Satan did with Eve in the Garden of Eden, he wants us to distrust the Lord and follow his own rebellion against God; and ironically that is how we end up in hell.


In Matthew 25 (read below) Jesus talks about the end of time when all mankind will come before Him for judgment. (We tend not to like the word judgment because it evokes many different feelings inside of us that we don’t care for. However, once we learn of Christ’s payment for our sins, judgment no longer evokes those feelings). If you take notice of verse 41 in particular, we can see that when Jesus dismisses people into hell, He states that hell is “an everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” People who go to hell were not created for hell, nor was hell created for people; but rather hell was created for Satan and his demons. The ONLY reason people go to hell is that they choose to follow Satan rather than following the Lord. So in reality, God sends NO ONE to hell, rather people CHOOSE hell when by their heart and their actions they deny Jesus and follow Satan and his lies.


The simple fact is that God did not create us as robots, and aren’t you GLAD He didn’t. He gave us the freedom to make our own choices. Then He gave us Jesus Christ as an option to be freed from the consequence of hell that was created for Satan and his followers. The choice is up to you where you spend eternity, God has given you options. The only question is, who are you going to follow? Remember it isn’t enough just to say you aren’t going to follow Satan’s ways; it takes a heartfelt decision to follow Jesus that will bring you a new joy and the peace of knowing that your eternity is secure in heaven with Him!

Jesus says in John 14:1-4:  1"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4You know the way to the place where I am going."



Matthew 25:31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy[c] angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44 “Then they also will answer Him,[d] saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 

Thought for the month - May 2008

Have you ever thought that your lack of money could actually be a blessing by the Lord? It’s tough to think of it that way, especially in racing because we all know that money can buy a lot of things to help make you a successful racer: stronger engine, lightweight parts, newest technology, dyno time, track rental time and much more. There are many things however that money cannot buy you that are just as valuable such as experience, seat time, knowledge, luck, and of course wins.

Conversely have you ever thought that having the ability to get whatever you want whenever you want might be a curse? It sounds ridiculous, but if you examine it in spiritual terms it will make more sense.

The problem with money is that when we have money as humans, we tend to rely on it. We expect it to always be there, to keep us happy, and to get us what we want. Sometimes we even use it to try to buy things that cannot be purchased, like the affection of our children, or the love of our spouse. We base our marriages on it and when it goes away they fall apart. We base our feelings of security upon it and when it goes away we get scared or angry. People who don’t have it sometimes do stupid things to get it like rob banks or commit fraud.

Take a look at what Jesus warns us about in Matthew 19:23-26:

 “23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

We should never allow money to be what determines our happiness, what we base our life or relationships upon, or what we put our hope in.  When we do that we put money in the place in our lives that God ALONE should hold, and we put ourselves on very dangerous ground. Money cannot save our souls, it cannot provide us life after death, it cannot keep our marriages together and it cannot provide us any security or hope. But all of these things the Lord CAN do and is WILLING to do if only you will put your faith in His son Jesus Christ.
So as you can see, not having money can be a blessing in disguise. It is hard to rely on something that you don’t have to begin with, which makes it easier to look to Christ for your blessing. And if you do have money, be careful not to make it your source of comfort. For it lasts only as long as you live, and you can’t take it with you when you die.


James 1:9-11    
9 Let the lowly brother glory in his exaltation, 10 but the rich in his humiliation, because as a flower of the field he will pass away. 11 For no sooner has the sun risen with a burning heat than it withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beautiful appearance perishes. So the rich man also will fade away in his pursuits.


Pursue Christ and you will gain TRUE riches that last far beyond this lifetime.



Thought for the month - April 2008


In memory of Greg Schoonover and Sara Yorty


This past month, two local families had to experience the toughest situation in all of life, the death of a loved one. Many of you know the racing community lost a family member when 11 year old Greg Schoonover died in an accident in his back yard as he prepared for the racing season. While I never had the privilege of meeting this young man, just knowing he was a racer makes him a member of the family, as it is with the entire racing community. It seems there are never words to say that provide enough comfort, or actions to take that provide enough support to others to erase the hole that is left when someone close to them is gone forever. Rather what needs to be said always seems to have been left unsaid, without the chance to ever communicate it again.

That is why we need to take the initiative to say things while we are alive. It is why we at Jesus Race Team do what we do and say what we say here each and every month. We care about our fellow racers…our extended family, and we want you all to know the comfort of the truth of Jesus’ power over death that is waiting for you if only you reach out and meet Him.


I lost a close friend of mine two weeks ago as well when the second local family I referred to lost a loved one. Miss Sara Yorty was the first person to introduce me to the Lord Jesus Christ. Sara went out for an afternoon hike and slipped down a hill breaking a hip and an ankle. She attempted to crawl to safety but died as a result of hypothermia before she got there. Sara was 31 years young. There is a measure of sadness in her passing; because there were things I left unsaid, not expecting that she would be gone so soon. Yet because of the things she taught me about Jesus, I can also be joyful for her passing, and unmistakably certain that she is with Him. I also have a peace inside me that goes beyond words in knowing that when I die, I will be in heaven with both of them. Thanks to Sara, and many other people the Lord placed in my life, I get to go out on the track each and every week with the confidence knowing that even if anything should happen to me in the car, I am safe in the knowledge that heaven is my final destination. My family and friends can rejoice even in the sadness of my absence by knowing that I will be better off when I am dead than I ever was here on earth. Does that mean I have a death wish? Absolutely not! I like roll cages, five point harnesses, fire suits and keeping my car on it’s wheels. But I also know that no fuel bladder or HANS device or containment seat can keep me from the eventual conclusion to life that we all face. Like Greg and Sara, I’m only a backyard accident, or a slip of the foot away from the inevitable.

We all could very well be just a moment away from our last breath, racer or not, and that is why I think more than worrying about having the safest car on the track, we first need to make sure we have prepared our souls for what inevitably lies ahead of us. Then we can race and do what we enjoy with the comfort and security that no piece of safety equipment can ever offer!

Hebrews 2:14-15  “Since the children have flesh and blood, Jesus too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

Romans 10:9-10, 13 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  For, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”




Thought for the month - March 2008

The excitement of new beginnings is upon us as another racing season prepares to get underway. Perhaps you have purchased a new car or changed classes and the anticipation is high as the season approaches. Looking forward, many of you anticipate opportunities for your first win or maybe a big race payoff or maybe a championship.

But what about the letdown? 

We all have felt what I’m talking about. The night you go out and flip your brand new car, or destroy the 600 you just bought. The night you watch your win slip away because of a flat tire or the championship gets out of reach because of too many bad finishes. Even if we are successful in reaching whatever goal we have set for ourselves, at some point in the future our dissatisfaction will return. The wins give way to more races, the big money earnings gets spent, and the championships fade until no one remembers you anymore. Even the best of the best, at some point in the future, people will hear their name and have no idea who they were. 
So how do we avoid “the letdown”?

The key is not putting all of our hope and joy into anything here on earth, and that includes racing. Does that mean we shouldn’t enjoy racing? Absolutely not! We should enjoy the blessings the Lord provides to us, but they shouldn’t become of greater importance to us than the Lord Himself.

I was the perfect example of this imbalance. For the longest time I lived for the weekends. It’s what got me through the weekdays, just knowing that come Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, I’d be at the track. It made the week bearable. Come Monday though, I always had that empty feeling, like Friday was too far away and I didn’t know if I could make it. Racing was like a parachute, it saved me from the freefall of everyday life. Only one problem, my parachute had a hole, and after a while it didn’t save me from my everyday life anymore. What I had used to create some semblance of joy and hope in my life was no longer joyful to me but just another aspect of everyday life that was just a pain to deal with.
What I discovered later in learning about Jesus Christ is that nothing on this earth could have pacified the emptiness I felt inside: not racing, not marriage or relationships, not success, not money. While the Lord blesses us all with different things here on earth, none of those things bring EVERLASTING joy. That shouldn’t be a surprise because nothing on this earth is everlasting. Everyone dies. Everything will change. Nothing is forever. So it would seem in order to avoid the letdown, one would need to find something to put their hope in that never changes.

Enter the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.”

It’s amazing how your perspective can change once your hope lies in something eternal and everlasting like the Lord as opposed to trying to find it in something that is temporal like, well, everything else in this life. While cares and concerns in this life are still important, they aren’t AS important as they once were. Your bad job doesn’t seem so bad because it isn’t what you’ll be doing forever. Your lack of money isn’t that important because money won’t help you in the next life anyway. Your hope is no longer in things of this world anymore but rather it lies in Christ and in the next life, the one that lasts forever. If you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him alone, scripture tells us that you can be certain that your eternal resting place will be with Him in Heaven.
That’s a parachute that will never fail.


Hebrews 6:12-20

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by Himself, saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.
Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.