Do people know who you are? They see the logos, sponsors and the team
colors, but do they ever see you? How do people identify us? How will we be
known? Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We spend much of our time in racing trying to establish an
identity. This identity can be a number, a sponsor or even a color. Let’s
see if it I am right. Let’s try some word association, say the first thing
that comes to you mind. Number eight, number three, number twenty four,
Napa, Lowes, STP, the color red, black. Sometimes our identity is so
engrained that it is tagged to something, Petty blue.
I remember one Sunday morning during a pit party at Thompson
Speedway. Dan and I were talking with nine-time NASCAR Champion Mike
Stefanik. People were milling around getting autographs and taking pictures
but we were not hindered in our conversation. In all the commotion we sat
there and talked about everything under the sun. Why would a championship
driver have so much time on his hands during an autograph session? He was
missing something, his car. Mike was seated on the wall without his car to
identify him. He made the comment, “I guess I am nothing without my car.”
At a race show I once watched as people line up several hours
before a NSC driver was scheduled to sign autographs. They devoted hours
standing on line to get that coveted signature. I thought they must really
know this person they are willing to wait hours to talk briefly with. Then
came the true indicator of our identity. The driver had to walk past a large
part of this line to get to the place he would be sitting. I watched as he
walked by in plain view, within arms reach of the crowd. They didn’t even
notice. Why, because he was dressed in street clothes. He wasn’t dressed in
anything that his fans could identify him with. Some thought they recognized
him, but they weren’t sure if it was really him.
Would we recognize Christ if we saw Him? Would we know beyond a
shadow of a doubt it was Him? Christ asked this question of his disciples,
Mathew 16:13-17;
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
"Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the
Baptist; others say Elijah;
and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” "But what about you?" he
asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus
replied, "Blessed are you,
Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my
Father in heaven.
There are many who cannot identify
Jesus. They find some explanation other than the correct one. Maybe it is
because we do not want to admit we need the saving grace Jesus offers.
Sometimes we ignore the things in our life that we don’t want to face. We
all need the forgiveness that Jesus offers. Do you know who Jesus is? You
can.
Romans 10:9-10;
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.
I
encourage you to consider who Jesus is and take him up on his offer of grace
and forgiveness. He can and will change you life. Ask the many that have,
they will share with you the difference He has made in their lives.
For some of us we have made that choice but the question remains,
would people identify us with Jesus? Do they see the character of Jesus in
the way we live our life? Do people see Jesus in us? I have heard it put
this way, if being a Christian was a crime would there be enough evidence to
convict us? We have to realize that we may be the only Jesus someone might
see. We need to live in such a way as to represent Jesus. We need to live in
a way that will bring Him glory and praise. We need to look at your life
honestly and critique our actions. Who would others identify us with, Jesus
or someone else?
Scripture tells us what we should look like. My favorite way to
remember this is to think of a donut box. Let me explain, a recovering
alcoholic who turned his life over to Christ owned Bess Eaton Donut Shops
based in Rhode Island. He wanted the world to know about Christ so he
printed scripture in the shape of donuts on his donut boxes. Every time I
needed to remember whom I should resemble I would remember that donut box.
As you might have figured out I did have to visit that donut shop once in a
while and of course the boxes come full.
The Scripture he used to help us remember the character of the
Jesus was,
Galatians 5:22-23,…
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such
things there is no law.
We live our lives always being
compared to something or someone. For those of us who have just now turned
our life over to Jesus we must commit to know him and show how he is
changing the direction of our lives. For those of us who belong to Christ we
must make every effort to show the love that Jesus has for us to others. We
must develop the character of Jesus. I leave you with this challenge; Let
others see Jesus in you. Live your life in such a way as to leave no doubt
who Jesus is and who you belong to. Identify yourself with Jesus.
THOUGHTS FROM THE
ROAD
THOMPSON HAS TO TRY AGAIN -
The wet weather continues to challenge many tracks this season. Thompson
wants to give their faithful competitors the opportunity to decide the
championships out on the track, but that is becoming a challenge. For the
third week in a row the final TTNT event has been postponed, they will try
again this Thursday night; let’s hope we have an opportunity to crown some
champions.
K&N CROWNS A CHAMPION - The K&N Pro Series East Championship
returned to Joe Gibbs Racing thanks to the efforts of Max Gresham and his
team. Max came into Dover needing to finish ahead of Brett Moffitt to secure
his first championship and wrestle the trophy that has resided at Michael
Waltrip Racing for the last two years. Brett did his best to finish four
spots ahead of Max, but when his right front tire started to go down with
four to go the writing was on the wall, the first turn wall that is. Brett
gave it a great effort but came up a few laps short. It was great to see the
Championship come down to the last two laps of the last race.
The surprise of the day! Dale Quarterly proved he still has what it
takes, after a victory last year on the Whelen Modified Tour he came home
second at Dover, besting a lot of young and eager challengers. I stopped to
talk with him as he sat on pit wall. This was a satisfying day for him and
his team. I am beginning to think he can drive anything. I’d love to see him
and TC go at it in an enduro match race.
After a great day at Dover we literally hot footed it north,
Stafford Motor Speedway was the next stop on the schedule.
HOT FOOTING IT - We have all see the silver shoe protectors
drivers wear to insulate their feet from the heat of the exhaust in their
race car, but who would have thought they would have come in handy in the
pace car? Well, we had a little problem on the way to Dover. Seems the
cooling system in the Dodge decided it had enough and sprung a leak. The
best part was we had several mechanics available at the track to help. We
want to thank Andy Bean for taking the initiative and getting the car good
enough to driver home. It wasn’t without some pain and suffering though. It
was necessary to run the heater all the way home to keep the engine temp
down. The traffic was such that cruise control wasn’t an option. Dan’s left
foot too the brunt of the heat. It was kind of weird driving in the rain
with the windows down and the heat on but we made it home. Thanks again to
al those who came to our assistance at Dover, it is good to see how folks
pull together to help out.
GREEN-WHITE-CHECKER - With the Fall Final at Stafford coming
down to a green-white-checker finish we all knew it would be interesting.
Erick Rudolph had the lead and the last thing he wanted was that yellow
flag. To make things interesting TC was in second. It was a finish that will
be debated for some time. From my vantage point I couldn’t see the contact
in turn one but everyone had an opinion on what happened. In the end TC
drove into Victory Lane and Rudolph came home fifth.
CHAMPIONSHIP ON WMT COMES INTO FOCUS - With a top ten finish
Ronnie Silk opened up his lead on second place Todd Szegedy heading into the
final race of the 2011 campaign. With a little more breathing room it will
be interesting to see how things play out at Thompson’s World Series of
Asphalt Racing in two weeks. I believe this is the best position long-time
owner Eddie Partridge has been in coming into the last race for the
championship. Eddie has put a lot into modified racing over the years and it
would be good to see him hold that trophy. I would be remiss if I didn’t
mention the two hardest working brothers on the tour, the Grasso brothers. I
spoke with them after the July race in New Hampshire and they said they were
close to getting things in place to make that run, with a victory last week
and a top ten this week they have worked hard to get here and I hope their
hard work pays off.
SUPER DIRT WEEK - Looks like I’m headed off to play in the
dirt for a few days. The weather in Syracuse can be interesting this time of
year; I have already heard that “S” word in the forecast. Is it too much to
hope for dry weather, temps in the 60’s and sunshine? I guess it wouldn’t be
Super Dirt Week then, now would it. I am looking forward to helping out the
Finish Line Chaplains and Ed Harkins, it is always good when we can come
together and work toward the same goal. See you in the dirt.
Until next time, be a witness for our Lord with the ministry decals and
apparel. See them at the Show Your Faith Apparel Store at
www.rwjm.com. Send us
your prayer and counseling needs no matter what part of our racing family
you are in, or give us a call. 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
News",
the East Coast’s largest weekly racing paper.
See our on-line Apparel
Store for subscription information.
Check our home page
www.rwjm.org for past
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***
October 6
RACING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES- Celebrates our 31st anniversary.
TIM & KATHY ATTAYA- The Co-Producers of the annual Maine Civic Center
Motorsports show have their 20th anniversary.
October 7
BOB & CAROLYN BLAISDELL- These fans from Champaign, IL have their 44th
anniversary.
October 9
SCOTT & MELANIE DEWARE- This South Easton, MA NASCAR BNS GRAND NATIONAL/SCCA
couple have their 16th anniversary.
October 11
BOBBY & CAROL GAHAN- The multi-time Lee Speeway ProStock champion with over
300 feature wins from Barrington, NH have their 41st anniversary.
DALE & TERRY WAKEFIELD- This Warren, NJ AMA Expert division biker and wife
celebrate their 21st anniversary.
***HAPPY BIRTHDAYS***
October 5
DAVE REZENDES- Charlotte, NC ,Assonet, MA born, CTS/NNS driver.
JOHN "Grandpa" BLEWETT, SR.- NJ retired asphalt Modified great and dad of
retired great John Blewett II and grandad of WMT driver Jimmy Blewett and
the late John III.
BUBBA GALE- Irvington, AL NASCAR All-Pro Series driver.
VILLEROY HARD - "Vill" of Clifton, NJ has his 82nd.
TIM PLOURDE – Car Chief of the #27 SK Light at Stafford Motor Speedway and
tire carrier for Todd Szegedy’s WMT #2.
October 6
CHIP SLOCUM- Ewing, NJ dirt Modified driver.
MIKE McLAUGHLIN- Waterloo, NY born former NNS, KNPSE & WMT driver.
DICK McCABE- Retired Kennebunkport, ME NASCAR KNPSE great.
RICH LAVALETTE- "Haskell" is a former Mario Fiore/Gulf Racing NASCAR WMT
crewman, now on a south team.
SUZANNE STIVASON- Car owner of the modlite 116 champion at Blanket Hill
speedway and sprintcar #4 champion at Mercer park in western pa.
October 7
LYNDA RIVERS- Wife of WMT pastor and RWJM President Rev. Don. Thank you for
all your understanding and love.
October 8
RONNIE F. WILLIAMS-This JR Outlaw cart driver will make the jump to a SKlite
at Stafford Motor Speedway.
BILL ELLIOTT- Dawsonville, GA Dodge part-time NSC driver and former
champion.
WAYNE ANDERSON- Yaphank, LI, NY former NASCAR WMT champion.
HAL RESH- Pennsy asphalt Modified driver.
SHAWN MARQUIS- One of Enfield, CT NASCAR KNPSE/WMT driver Jerry and wife
Karen's children.
MARK SABATINE- Longtime spotter/radioman for Steve Payne and Payne
Motorsports.
MARILYN BARKER- Mom of Bob "Mad Dog" and Billy "the Kid" Barker Garden State
Vintage Stock Car Club, Saten Island, NY.
October 9
FRANKLIN BUTLER- Chester, VA Mitchell Motorsports NASCAR KNPSE driver.
RICKY ELLIOTT- D.I.R.T. Modified driver.
RON ESAU- Lakeside, CA NASCAR West driver.
VINCENZO SOSPIRI- Monte Carlo, Monaco IRL driver.
C.D. COVILLE- Retired famous Schenectady, NY dirt Mod driver.
DAN HARMON- Grottoes, VA Micro Sprint driver.
October 10
DALE EARNHARDT, JR.- A son of "the great one" and Hendrick Motorsports NSC
driver.
MONTY UTZ- KNPSE crewman.
DEBBIE GASTELU- Widow of the late Wall Township Speedway ProStock driver Ray
and team owner of the WTS Greg Gastelu dodge ProStock team.
October 11
JIMMY HENSLEY- Horsepasture, VA NASCAR CWTS driver.
JIM SAVAGE, JR.- Ed Flemke NASCAR WMT crewman.
AARON ANTONE DIAS- The son of Seekonk Speedway ProStock driver Tony.
SCOTT JAMES- Canterbury, CT RWJM freind and supporter. He spent many years
on the road with Rev. Pat and in service to this ministry.
HEATHER FRANTZ- The wife of Mountain Speedway RWJM Chaplain and winning
driver, Paul.
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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