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4/16/2009
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SPRING HAS
SPRUNG
by Rev. Don Rivers |
Do you know what I like best about Springtime? The noise! Whether it be the
birds singing or the Modifieds humming, Springtime is a wonderful time for
renewal and rebirth. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ.
Look around, life abounds, waking up from its sleeping slumber. We
see the hope of life in those things we thought were dead; Springtime.
We hear it at the track, the smell of rubber and racing fuel, yes
spring has sprung. The cars and their new paint schemes; the drivers and
their new suits, the new teams, the old teams, everything seems fresh and
new in Springtime. What have you seen new this year? What does it bring to
mind?
Springtime reminds me of the new life I received in Christ, once
dead with sin, now alive through Him. The spring of living water has renewed
my hope and given me life.
One of the difficulties with this new life is living like we have
really have been given a new start. We somehow don’t believe that God meant
what he said. If we did we would live differently. In a song Steven Curtis
Chapman sings he says, “This is life I’ve been given. I was a dead man who
has been called out of the grave. Wake the neighbors, make some noise!”
You know what’s neat about a spring morning, the noise! You’ve
heard it, birds singing, the world waking up, and life anew. Have you been
given a new lease on life?
EPHESIANS 4:17-24, NLT; With the
Lord's authority let me say this: Live no longer as the ungodly do, for they
are hopelessly confused. Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are
far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and
hardened their hearts against him. They don't care anymore about right and
wrong, and they have given themselves over to immoral ways. Their lives are
filled with all kinds of impurity and greed.
But that isn't what you were taught when you learned about Christ.
Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in
Jesus, throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is
rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. Instead, there must
be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a
new nature because you are a new person, created in God's
likeness--righteous, holy, and true.
Think of the comparisons found in these verses. Hopelessly
confused, closed minds, full of darkness, hardened hearts, don’t care about
right or wrong, surrendered to immoral ways, full of all kinds of impurity
and greed. They describe a life without Christ.
Throw that away: It’s rotten through and through, full of
lusts and deceptions.
Put on a new Spirit; renew your thoughts and attitudes;
Phil. 2:5-8, Your attitude
should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not
demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the
humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he
obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a
cross.
Our new self is a not one of demanding our rights, but one of a
humble servant, obedient to God’s direction and will for our lives.
Listen to the contrast in Galatians
5:19-23;
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives
will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts,
eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic
activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish
ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your
own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.
Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of
life will not inherit the Kingdom of God .
But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this
kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with
the law.
I encourage you to make some noise, sing a new song, this is life
we have been given, and we have been called out of the grave.
Demonstrate it in the way we live:
*Not demanding rights, but humble, with a servants heart, obedient
to God’s will.
*Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control
Eph. 4:23b-24; There must be a
spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new
nature because you are a new person, created in God's likeness--righteous,
holy, and true.
THOUGHTS FROM THE ROAD
THE INCIDENT ON PIT ROAD - At
the Icebreaker there was an unfortunate accident on Pit road, a crew member
was hit by a car during a yellow flag pit stop. I didn’t witness the
accident but when the call came over the radio for an ambulance I headed
that way. It took me a while to identify the team who was involved and I
went over to do what I could.
Some of my observations from the incident may be able to help in a
similar situation. My first thought was my Fast-Track Medical bracelet. I
didn’t have mine on. Shame on me. I watched as the medical team did their
best to collect information on the injured party and identify the injuries.
One crew member ran back and forth to provide some of that info. How much
easier it is to have the bracelet and read the info. I will have mine on at
Stafford.
After it looked like the medical personnel stabilized the patient
and transported I started to try to piece together what had happened. Not
witnessing the accident it is not appropriate for me to comment. I will
however say this, the condition of the turn four end of pit road wasn’t
good. There were gaps and holes in the asphalt with dirt and rocks showing
through. To me this didn’t seem to be safe, at the least what if a rock was
flung by a tire and hit someone? I remember we lost a crew member at Lime
Rock Park when a piece of flying debris struck him.
We have made wonderful strides in the area of safety. We have added
helmets and firesuits for our crew members. We have medical inform bracelets
to help the medical personnel treat us quickly and correctly. Sometimes we
overlook the obvious. I would hope we learn from this and walk every inch of
every track we will race at and make the necessary repairs to race safely.
Safety needs to be a constant goal we need to be as safe as
possible. Safety is one of those goals that you can continuously improve on.
We have to guard against being “safe enough” and take the extra step to be
as safe as possible.
NEW FIRESUIT DEBUT - Thanks to
Design 500, ASI and Bell Helmet we were safer on pit road than we have in
been in the past. With the added equipment we will now be able to be used
anywhere we are needed. It wasn’t necessary for me to go over the wall, but
if it was I could have safely. For that we are thankful.
HEADING SOUTH TO CELEBRATE -
NASCAR announced this week that they will be consolidating the Whelen
All-American Series banquet and the Touring Series banquet in Concord , NC .
I am not sure about you but Concord doesn’t seem like a “destination”. I can
understand why this makes sense for NASCAR; it does make it easier and more
cost effective to have things in one place, especially when you have
personnel there to make it happen. The challenge is getting excited about
going to Concord . Don’t get me wrong Concord is a nice place and I am sure
the facility is second to none, but it is not Las Vegas or Mohegan Sun. I am
not sure where the Whelen Southern Modified Tour or Camping World West
banquets were held but I am sure these also were “destinations”.
I guess one of my concerns is who will go? I know the teams in the
East and Northeast enjoyed celebrating at home. Logistically for the teams
it allowed more team members to participate. It also gave that home grown
feel to things.
As far as the national championship celebration I would think that
it would be more attractive for teams to be headed to a vacation spot that
would allow them to include their families and friends. We will have to wait
and see.
Maybe Concord is the place for these local drivers to celebrate.
Maybe during their time there they can visit some of the racing operation of
the well known teams and further their careers. Again, we will have to wait
and see.
I guess we will see you in Concord in November for two reasons this
year, the John Blewett Memorial North-South Shootout and the Banquets.
CAMPING WORLD SERIES EAST KICKS OFF 2009
- The CWES got the action going at Greenville-Pickens last Saturday night
and Brian Ickler got the jump on the 2009 championship by dominating this
one. Brian just missed out in 2008 and it looks like he wants to change
that. We’ll have more commentary from Rev. Dan next week.
He is on his way home, he should land at about 10:00 and be able to
spend Easter with his family. I want to thank him for making the trip on
this a special holiday weekend. Let him know how much you appreciate his
willingness to serve.
Be a witness for our
Lord with the ministry decals and apparel. See them at the Online Apparel
Store at www.RWJM.org.
Call us with your prayer and counseling needs and list all your prayer
needs, no matter what part of our racing family you are in, with the Racing
Family Prayer Request Page
www.rwjm.org/page/prayers.php also send your prayer request by mail.
Until next time, remember that God loves you, we love you and
Jesus is Lord over Auto Racing. GOD BLESS.
Mail reaches us at Racing with Jesus Ministries, PO Box 586,
Tolland, CT 06084. Check our weekly printed pages in "Area Auto Racing
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articles. We invite you to input your thoughts as you sign our Guest Book.
Please remember, we can only do what we do because of your prayerful
financial support.
Numbers 6:24-26 "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord
make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face
toward you and give you peace."
May God always Bless you, everyday in everyway. Rev. Don
CHECKERED CHEERS
***WEDDING ANNIVERSARIES***
April 19
JIM & DORIS TROMBLY - The Pit Steward and Credentials manager wife at
the Hudson (NH) Speedway have their 39th anniversary.
April 21
JAMES & IONEY WARNER - This Martinsville Speedway infield staffer and
wife, both close friends of Rev. pat, celebrate their 11th anniversary.
***HAPPY BIRTHDAYS***
April 15 TAX FILING DEADLINE
BOBBY HUTCHENS - NC Modified driver.
JIM RAYMOND - Earlville, NY crewman on the Mitch Gobbs dirt Mod.
April 16
JERRY HIGBIE - Orange County Fairgrounds Speedway Modified driver.
ROCKY DeMATO - Brookfield, CT Mod crewman.
April 17
JOHN FLACH - Lebanon Valley based Mod driver.
MIKE CHASE - Concord, NC NASCAR West 1994 champion/ NASCAR Truck and
LMSC driver.
RICH DeLONG - North Hills, Ca NASCAR West driver.
JOEY KOURAFAS - Retired Mass. NASCAR CWES driver.
TONY GLOVER - Sprint Cup Crew Chief.
DANIELLE HEDGER - NY based NASCAR CWES Brown Racing Crew Chief Ray's
wife.
HOWARD & CAROL LARSON - This Stafford Springs, CT NASCAR WMT couple
share the same birthday.
April 18
JONNY DENNISON - This LI tow truck operator who hangs out at Riverhead
and has been know to frequent the WMT stops in Connecticut has his special
day. Rev. Pat, we’re still looking out for him.
GEOFF BODINE - The oldest of the racing Bodine brothers of Chemung,
NY.
JIM HAWKEY - Wall Township Speedway Modified driver.
ROBERT TYLER LABONTE - Son of NSC driver Bobby and wife Donna is 14.
CHELSEA MARQUIS - A daughter of Enfield, CT NASCAR CWES/WMT driver
Jerry and wife Karen is 12.
April 19
JACK ROUSH - NSC/NNS/Trans-Am multi-team owner.
ROBERT YATES - Noted engine builder, NSC team owner.
BOB AILES - St. Johnsbury, VT LM driver.
April 20
ED SPENCER III - Berwick, PA NASCAR Cup/NNS driver Jim's nephew.
RON BARFIELD, JR. - Florence, SC NASCAR CTS/ All Pro Series driver.
DON DesROCHER - Retired Riverside Park Speedway driver.
RICH PAWLICH - Rocky Hill, CT Modified fan.
FRANCIS STODDARD - NNC Crew Chief for Boris Said.
BILL BALSER - Norton, MA veteran photographer.
KELLI BIRKBECK - Pawcatuck, CT, a huge fan of Kasey Kahn and Joey
Lagano.
April 21
JIM BRODRICK - A close personal friend of Rev. Pat's from Brookfield, CT
on semi-retirement from WMT and Sk mods and concentrating on son Bobba's
carreer.
KEVIN GRUBB - NNS driver.
RANDY GLENSKI - NY D.I.R.T. Mod driver.
STEVE BARRICK - Flemington, NJ President of Program Dynamics which
produces weekly programs for track all over the East Coast.
STEPHANIE SHAW - Wife of Center Conway, NH CWES driver Dale.
SHARE YOUR SPECIAL OCCASIONS WITH YOUR RACING FAMILY.
SEND THEM TO:
RACING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES
PO Box 586
Tolland, CT, 06084
TheChromeHorn RWJM Archives
Racing With Jesus Ministries Website
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Source: Rev
Don Rivers / Racing With Jesus Ministries
Posted: April
16, 2009 |
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