In racing we have a team surrounding us and when that team is working at its best, each member pulls their own weight. When one member becomes weak the other members can pick up the slack. However, that team will fail if the members refuse to give and take for the good of the team. Challenges in racing come and the team that is the most flexible has the best chance for overcoming those challenges.

In our lives we also face challenges. God did not intend for us to face them alone. When we seek His guidance, He provides for each one a helpmate to walk by our side. We all need help dealing with our weaknesses. That helpmate compliments us. They see what we don’t. They understand what we don’t.

Genesis 2:18; NLT; Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”

God desires that each one of us to be yoked with that special person He has chosen for us. I have had the pleasure of joining couples together in Holy Marriage, the way God ordained. As I listened to them through the counseling sessions and in the ceremony I was encouraged by the love they had for one another. That love will carry them through many challenges.

Romans 12:9-12; NLT; Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying.

One of the things I struggle with is when the way things are planned out and the way things happen don’t agree. I am analytical in nature and think things through in a logical order. That is good in some circumstances, but not well received in others. I don’t always see the big picture. Lynda helps me put things in perspective.

Lynda doesn’t see things so black and white. She sees colors and feelings, emotions and experiences. Her perspective makes me a better minister, person and husband. I am thankful for that. I am thankful for a loving spouse that walks alongside me regardless of how foolish I am sometimes. 

One of the great advantages to having someone standing by your side is that you have someone else to share the experiences of life with. The hope is that one can pick the other up and vice-versa. Lynda and I have become such a team. We are thankful to the Lord for putting us together. When one of us starts to go in the wrong direction the other is there to guide them back. We remind each other not to get caught up in the trap that is set to snare us by the enemy. 

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10; Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!

God has a way of doing things that at times are difficult to see. Having someone to stand by our side helps us to see the things we are blinded to. We can help each other find God’s way in our daily life. We can encourage each other to refocus on the things that are right and ignore the things that drag us down. We can encourage each other to find God’s direction.

Isaiah said this…

ISAIAH 55:6-9; Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

You see our thoughts and ways are not the thoughts and ways of God. We need to focus on what God wants us to do and what God wants us to think. I know from personal experience that this is not easy. It is much easier when you have someone at your side. 

If you have that someone, let them know how thankful you are to have them at your side. If not, I would like to challenge you to find such a person. It will help you maintain your focus where it should be on God and His ways. When the trials and tribulations of life come, and they will, you will do well to have a friend that will stand beside you. We all need a friend to help you move in the right direction. I thank God for such a friend.

Allow me to share from the wedding ceremony; 

Marriage has been called many things, a Challenge, a test. Marriage is a life commitment. One in which we need to persevere. The pledge of love is not one to be taken lightly or without seriousness. A pledge of love is a pledge of your very life. A commitment that through anything and everything you will stand together, united. 

What does it mean to pledge your life? It means that you establish your marriage as a priority over any of your individual wants and desires. Marriage is a relationship that requires your individual sacrifices; a relationship that will grow and prosper when you truly love each other unconditionally.

Life can be a struggle, a battle; love requires that we protect ourselves. We must put on faithfulness as armor. We must remember not to follow our heart because our heart can be easily deceived but instead to lead our heart where it should go. We must not accept anything short of victory.

Be thankful for that special someone God has brought into your life.

Run the race in such a way as to win, throw off everything that hinders and focus on Jesus. Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support and donations helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.

I saw a sign the other day; “We Are in This Together”. I thought, really? I’m sure there are shared experiences and common challenges but are we really together? You see, for me, the word together implies a choice. We choose who and what to be together in. Just because we are in the same place, doing the same thing doesn’t mean we are together.

Racing is one of those things that can help us sort this out. There are so many people at the track. They are all there for one reason or another. They have different reasons and agendas. Just because they are in the same place doesn’t mean they are together. 

I have seen some race teams that weren’t together. You know what I mean, everyone on the same page pulling for a common goal. There are some that just seem to be tuned in to a different frequency. The most successful teams are the ones that have the most members on the same wavelength. 

We should be careful not to assume being on the same channel somehow indicates success. I have seen some great teams, united in defeat. There is a plus side, we have some company to commiserate with; as they say, misery loves company.

So how do we get together on something? Commitment; we all have to understand and make a commitment to work toward the same goal. The more committed we are the better our chances are of attaining the desired result. You cannot be together in something if you haven’t made a commitment to be. 

That also brings up the subject of commitment, or should I say level of commitment. You see for some winning is a life and death proposition, checkers or wreckers. The level of commitment required is all or nothing. Either you are willing to lay down your life to achieve the prize or you are not. I think it is safe to say many lack this level of commitment. 

Goals and level of commitment can get confused. Some goals do not require a level of life and death commitment but we place that significance on them. Winning a race isn’t a life and death commitment and I don’t think it should be. There are things in life that are significant enough to be life and death decisions. We can get confused it placing the highest level of commitment on goals that are not worthy of that significance. Paul helps us understand;

Philippians 3:7-8; NLT; I once thought these things (worldly status) were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ

Paul explains that all the things in life he had committed to attain were worthless when compared to being together with Christ. In fact, he laid down his life to be together with Christ.

Philippians 3:13-14; NLT; No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.

A significant event happened shortly after Jesus ascended into Heaven to return to the Father; Pentecost. Pentecost marks the day when the promised gift of the Holy Spirit arrived and empowered those who were together with Christ to spread the Good News. The Holy Spirit found them together, praying.

The presence of the Holy Spirit altered the goals of the followers of Christ. They decided to do things a little different.

Acts 2:42-47; NLT; All the believers (over 3,000) devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

The Holy Spirit united them and they were together. They united in doing things the way that honored God. The result was unexpected.

The shared meals together, they shared the Lord’s Supper together, they studied together, they shared everything they had together, they experienced miracles together, they shared their money and possessions with those who had need, they praised God together, and they worshipped together.

The result; they found favor with and enjoyed the goodwill of all people and the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

That’s a lot of togetherness, but without it there is division, faction, envy, anger, discord, jealousy, and all kinds of selfish behavior. Kind of makes me think of the world we live in. We have forgotten what it means to come together and lift up the name of the Lord. I encourage you to get together with some likeminded believers and change the community around you. This world resembles the result of separation, isolation and independent thinking. We are not islands and we were not created that way. We were created to be together.

Galatians 5:19-26; NLT; When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support and donations helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.

Happy Fourth of July! I hope your picnic went well. I also hope you took some time to remember what it took for us to break away and become an independent nation. It took our willingness to work together, agree on one common purpose and sacrifice everything we had to make it work. Sound like a race team?

Racing, in many ways, reflects the same character it took our great nation to break free from England.  We first and foremost need to have a common goal. In most cases that is winning. When everyone is committed to making that happen the team starts to gel and become a cohesive unit. The chemistry is right. We all do our part for the good of the team.

What separates the best teams from the rest? The ability to work together, do what needs to be done and not pick apart the work of others on the team. Look at the teams that are successful and the attributes they display. They are prepared to race; everyone has a job and does it. They can depend on each member to pull their weight. The end result is a championship, or two.

When we develop the trust in one another, learn what our task is and focus on doing that we will succeed. When we are more concerned about nit picking and finger pointing, we do not succeed. Let me ask a question, are we dependable? Can people depend on us to do what we are supposed to do? Are we doing what we were created by God to do?

That last question may seem a little out of place on a race team. You may be asking the question, was I created to be a tire specialist? Yes, God created each one of us unique and equipped each one of us with special talents. What would happen if the tire guy wanted to drive or tune the engine? The members of the team would be out of place. If you are the tire guy, be the best tire guy possible.

As we navigate through the challenges of this pandemic, we have two choices; we can choose to come together, each one doing their part and defeat it or we can let it tear us apart at the seams. I believe we need to draw on the strengths that built this great nation and rise up in unity to overcome not only the pandemic but also the seeds of dissention that have been sown in our communities.

Paul wrote about the topic, one body, many parts, let’s read what he says;

1Corinthians 12:12-26: The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.

    Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

   The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

God created us to be different and unique. He gave each of us a task to do and put in each of us the necessary abilities to accomplish those tasks. If we seek God out and ask Him to show us the tasks He wants us to accomplish He will. This is called being in God’s will. The blessings we receive from being in God’s will are tremendous. They include inner peace, joy, satisfaction, fulfillment and hope. Take a look inside your heart. Do you have those blessings there?

We were created to depend on one another. God didn’t create us as Lone Rangers. We will never experience the fullness of God’s blessing if we live life alone. Yes, there are times to be alone, but God created life to be lived together, depending on each other and helping one another.

The United States of America exists today because we learned and practiced that. Race teams win championships because they practice that. You too can have that in your life. First, seek God out and ask for His presence in your life. He will come and show you the way. The writer of Ecclesiastes reminds us;

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12; Two are better than one,

    because they have a good return for their work:

   If one falls down,

    his friend can help him up.

  But pity the man who falls

    and has no one to help him up!

  Though one may be overpowered,

    two can defend themselves.

  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

I encourage you to find your place in God’s Kingdom and seek His will for your life. Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.

One of the things that we are reminded of this time of year is how busy we have been. How crazy our lives have gotten. How caught up in the rat race we have been. We get so involved in things that we forget about how much joy we get from just gathering together. I want to encourage you to make an effort to gather together, count your blessings and be thankful for the opportunities we have.

I was invited to participate this year in the NEAR Hall of Fame Banquet. NEAR stands for New England Antique (Auto) Racers, a place to remember where we come from and celebrate those who paved the way. One thing that struck me was the desire to be together. The stories, the comradery, remembering the days gone by, but also looking forward to continuing the pursuit of racing. This room was filled with history, the history of New England racing. It was an honor to be a part of this celebration.

Together the racers in New England have forged a reputation that extends beyond the region. Many have come here to race with the best. Many others have left here after cutting their teeth to go on and accomplish great things in Auto Racing. The tradition is alive and well. As I parked the pace car in the pits at The Dirt Track at Charlotte on Friday afternoon a young man approached me and asked about that New England Auto Racing tradition. He shared how much he had heard and was counting the days until he could take it in live, in person. He is planning his vacation around a trip north to see for himself. His eyes lit up when he heard that I had witnessed firsthand some of the driver’s he had only heard about. We talked and I gave him some ideas about what to see and where to go. He left with a spring in his step excited about the opportunity to travel north and experience New England Auto Racing.

We can lose sight of what we have. We need to protect against taking things for granted and not lose the art of celebrating what we have been a part of. We party a lot but too many times we push the envelope so far we have trouble remembering what we did. A true celebration is one we can remember when it is over. A celebration, a gathering together to spending time sharing the things we are passionate about, acknowledging where we have been, what we have been through and looking ahead to the days when we get back at it.

I enjoy a good picnic, nothing formal just some burgers and hotdogs, soda and salads, but the people make the difference. Taking time to catch up on each other’s lives. It is a time to show them you care for them and will be there if needed. It is a time to connect with the past and remember where you come from. I’ve had a few opportunities this summer to spread out the welcome mat, those are fun times.

I am concerned though about how many of us are so busy we can’t take the time to sit a spell and enjoy a meal together. I wonder if we have forgotten some of the truly blessed times we have just sitting down and sharing a meal together. Thanksgiving is one of those times, don’t let the world take it away from you.

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that meeting together and encouraging each other is valuable and necessary.

Hebrews 10:25, Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The day is approaching when some of us will no longer be on this earth. We will look back on our lives and wonder what we missed. There are things in life that are important and should not be overlooked; spending time with each other is one of those things.

You won’t find many thinking they should have spent more time at the track or in the garage working on the car or at work. Many will look back and see the opportunities missed. The time wasted on things.

I encourage you not to be caught up in the trap of thinking of ourselves as more important than others. Getting caught in the trap of thinking we are doing important things and there will be time to get together later. We will soon look back alone and wonder where everyone went. God created us to live together. Our lives are not complete without others to compliment us. The team concept comes out of the family unit that God put in place. We need each other.

If we bypass these opportunities to gather together, we will soon find ourselves alone and without hope. That is not the way to live a full and blessed life. If you haven’t yet; stop and make it a priority to get together. Remember it doesn’t have to be formal or fancy. Being together is one of the most important and significant things we can do to make life more satisfying and fulfilling.

So put the phone down, turn the TV off, through some food on the grill or in the crockpot and spend some time together. Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.

Having the freedom to race wherever and whenever we want is the great ideal. The fact of the matter is we need a little help. If we run down the list it starts with a car, we first have to have a car to race and unless you have your own machine and body shop, someone has to make the parts and someone has to build the car. 

Many times the driver gets the credit for winning when in fact it probably has a lot to do with the equipment he has to drive. A friend that worked at DEI made an observation after Jr. moved to Hendrick Motorsports, “At least at DEI we could build a car Jr. could win with.” That thought stuck in my head and this past week I was reminded of it.

Ronnie Williams had a career week this past week in an Asphalt Modified, he won $20,000.00 of prize money by winning three races over six days. Three different tracks, two different cars and three different sanctioning bodies. He did it for two different car owners; Gary Cassella and Adam Skowyra & Family. Many times all you read about is the driver and what they accomplished. As Gary reminded me at Seekonk, the driver needs a good car, I guess I build a pretty good car.

I thought about that as I ran through my memory banks. Ryan Preece came to mind. His decision to step out of Mid-pack Xfinity equipment and focus his resources on a five race deal with equipment that had the potential to win made a difference in his career. Some questioned the move but when he posted wins and top five finishes people took notice and doors opened.

If we are looking to be successful in this racing endeavor we need a car capable of running the race and winning. I am sure there are many talented drivers who for one reason or another just haven’t had the right equipment to show what they are capable of. The conclusion is we are in this together. Yes, talent and ability matter in a driver but without a car that is capable of winning the opportunity to visit Victory Lane may never come.

Another component of this togetherness is we need a place to race. We know they won’t let us do it on the street. I know some of us have tried along with everyone else who built a racecar, but the fact is they are not going to let thirty or forty of us go out and race around the block for 100 laps on Saturday night. What does it take for someone to provide a place for us to race? It takes more than we consider sometimes; facility, personnel, insurance, permits, and trained safety workers among so many other intangibles. Providing a venue for a race is no easy task. Sometimes we take it for granted and don’t realize the efforts that nobody sees. This past weekend I helped on the changeover crew at Thompson Speedway Motorsports Park. So much goes into converting the road course into an oval configuration. It is hard enough to provide one type of racing circuit, but Thompson provides two and switches them back and forth. Many facilities are multi-functional to provide different options for us to race at. We should appreciate a place for racers to race!

We also need rules, who is going to decide what is good and what it bad. In comes the Sanctioning body, someone who assumes responsibility for making the rules, making sure the cars conform and are safe, enforcing the rules, and that the race is run fairly. They are not necessarily appreciated but without them organized racing couldn’t exist.

One case and point happened at New Hampshire Motor Speedway at The Short Track Showdown recently run there. During the Modified Racing Series Feature a driver was in a serious accident. Thankfully his car was safety inspected, his driving equipment was safety inspected confirming that the car and driver were safe to race. I believe his injuries would have been much more serious if his equipment was not up to par.

I am sure I overlooked some things, but as you can see none of us are truly free to race where and when we want. Our ability to race is dependent on someone else providing the opportunity. There needs to be some give and take to continue to make the opportunity to race available for the future. Sometimes we lose sight of what it takes to be able to race. We need to see the big picture and learn how to make it all work. Everything depends on all things being in place. We are in this together.

This also has something to do with life, we are not independent; we are interdependent. Just like we need all the necessary elements to come together to race we need the same things to come together for us to truly live. Christ is like a sanctioning body and covered the risk of living for us. He provided the way for us to have a relationship with God. Listen to what he says in John 14:1-6;

John 14:1-6, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In 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. And 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. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jesus is the way we get to God. He provides that for us. Without His provision we would not have any hope. We have the freedom to choose His provision. When we do, we receive a special gift, the forgiveness of our sins. He erases the penalty for us making the wrong choice. He covers it.

Jesus said in John 10:10 that the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come so that you might have life and have it abundantly.

What that tells us is that if we choose to live our own way and not accept the provision that Christ made for us then we are bound by the one who steals, kills and destroys. The choice is ours.

The forgiveness that Christ offers comes without a performance requirement, it is available to anyone, no matter what they have done. We soon learn though that when we accept Christ’s offer our perspective changes. We find ourselves seeking out different things. We start to see the true meaning of life and how to live it. That is because Christ provides us with additional help in learning to live, The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps us to see things correctly. Listen to what Paul said about this Freedom;

1Corinthians 10:23-24, 31-33, “Everything is permissible”–but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”–but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others.

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God– even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. 

Paul helps us to understand that we are free to do anything, but not everything is beneficial to our lives. We need to be motivated to help others before we help ourselves. Basically we are free to do for others and God will take care of us. Our lives are full when we serve others without regard for what is in it for us. 

That concept is strange to us, most times we spend our life trying to look out for number one, but we are in this together. We will not be truly free until we change that perspective. We will not experience the freedom that Christ offers until we trust in Him and let the Holy Spirit guide our actions. When that happens we are free, free from paying the price for our mistakes. As Jesus said in John’s Gospel, trust in God, trust also in me.

Until next time, remember God loves you and Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing! God Bless. Remember, that your prayerful support helps us continue this ministry. Thank You.