Saturday night I picked my wife up at JFK as she returned home after
spending eight days in Haiti, a country torn apart by greed and natural
disaster. She was excited to return home, but on another level troubled by
the contrast of the two countries. We have so much but yet we do not realize
it. When will we come to our senses? Greetings in the name of our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ.
We have been looking at Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel and coming to
the realization that life isn’t about us. Life is about helping each other
find the right way, the right direction. We all think we know how to live
but the fact of the matter is we get lost. I am glad to have people around
me that will come find me when I am lost and put me back on the right track.
Let’s face it, it is pretty hard to get lost on a race track, after
all, you just turn left every few hundred feet and go around in circles. But
I have seen people get lost on the track, forget where they were, make
decisions that affected other drivers, race without their head in the game.
We call them weapons! You never know what decision they are going to make
when other cars are around. You are always on the edge of your seat when the
leaders come by. A moving chicane!
In Luke’s gospel we read about a son who thought he had it all
figured out. He took his inheritance and left home. He was going to lead the
good life; but when the money ran out, his “friends” left him and he was
alone and poor. He got a job, not a good one, not even enough to feed him.
Then he came to his senses.
Luke 15:17-20a;
"When he came to his senses, he said, `How many of my father's hired men
have food to spare,
and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and
say to him: Father,
I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be
called your son;
make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father.
He still didn’t realize the love
his father had for him. He was willing to enslave himself to his father.
In much the same way we enslave ourselves to this world. For the
benefit of food and shelter we enslave ourselves to others. We engage in
activities and conduct business in ways that do not honor God and we call it
living. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Just as this young man underestimated his father’s love we
underestimate God’s love for us. We think we have to figure it out on our
own, when in fact we don’t; God has a plan for us. He is just waiting for us
to come to our senses.
Romans 5:8; But God
demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Ephesians 2:10; For we are God's workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus to do good works,
which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Jeremiah 29:11-13; For I know the plans I have
for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a
future.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to
you.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
The decision is ours, will we
come to our senses and return to our Father, ask His forgiveness and let Him
guide and direct our life? Or will we continue to go it alone, hoping
someday we will hit the lottery and everything will be great. It won’t be
without God. Let me leave with a word of advice from Charles Shultz;
“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence until
you go over there and find out it is artificial turf.”
God is the real deal, He has the real plan and He can change the
direction of our life. Just like the father looked for his son, God is
looking for each one of us to return home to him. He is waiting for us to
come to our senses.
Luke 20:20b-24a; But
while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with
compassion for him;
he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
But the father said to his servants,
`Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and
sandals on his feet.
Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate.
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'
THOUGHTS
FROM THE ROAD
SILLY SEASON - Silly
season has a different meaning this time of year, when you combine the
number of races being run in various locations with the weather that is
typical at this time of the year, silly thinks happen.
I have said it before and I’ll say it again, I would not want the
job of deciding if the show should go on or be postponed. My heart goes out
to those who had to make those difficult decisions last week.
I did make it to Lernerville and Riverhead, the two events that
book-ended my plans, but in the middle a little thunder and lightning
rearranged things. That along with some family things that arose left my
plan a little lacking.
But God had a different plan and I was where I needed to be when I
needed to be there, Keep my Uncle Carl in your prayers he doesn’t have long
now, congestive heart failure will take him home soon.
While I was crisscrossing the country side, our other chaplains
were also on the road. Tara Stoehr and NEMA returned to Star Speedway after
a five year absence. Bobby and Vinetta held the fort down at Lee USA, and
Dan and Ray made the trip to Columbus for the K&N East Series.
Here are some of the reports from their travels;
TARA STOEHR CHECKS IN FROM STAR - Deb reminded everyone of
the Shane race next Saturday which lead me to my talk: I have been thinking
a lot about faith these days. Shane had faith in God and it was evident in
his life. Our very dear friend John Zahar had faith in Jesus. We know he is
in heaven looking on us! Sometimes our daily routines require us to take
leaps of faith. When you strap yourself into your racecar you are putting
faith in your crew and in the car itself, out on the racetrack you need to
have faith in Tom Fox, race director, as he sees things you can't see, as
well as other officials etc.
But when it comes to God we tend to complicate things, myself
included; perhaps we think we need to have all the answers. If we believe
that God is the God he says he is then that is all the faith we need. We
have the knowledge of faith that God created the universe; Jesus had faith
in his Father as he carried his own cross because he knew God had a better
plan. Who will you put your faith in even when things are not going the way
you want them to? A God who is never changing, who is the same yesterday
today and tomorrow? A God who is compassionate, kind and loving? Or will we
put our faith in something that doesn't last? I know when I take over it
doesn't work. I need God to guide me. Who will you put your faith in?
It was nice being back at Star Speedway after 5 years! In the NEMA
lites feature; Bethany Stoehr had a great run and contended for the victory
bu it was Carl Medeiros who got by her and took home the victory with Stoehr
second and Dylan Duhaime 3rd.
In the midget feature NEMA rookie, Seth Carlson led things but a
lap 3 there crash took out half the field, thankfully there were no
injuries. As Carlson led the first half of the future the mechanical bug
bite him, his ignition switch broke sending him to the infield. Randy Cabral
brought home the victory followed by Jeff Horn with the Stoehr brothers,
Russ and Greg putting on a show for third. Russ won the battle and coming
home third followed by Greg.
THIRD ANNUAL SHANE HAMMOND MEMORIAL - The Third Annual Shane
Hammond Memorial Race is scheduled for July 28, 2012 at The Waterford
Speedbowl. It's just around the corner, no procrastinating, we need you
now!! We are looking for corporate sponsors to help with the cost of the
day. Last year shirts looked awesome and I can't wait to see what Bill Smith
from Wild Child Design comes up with this year. All corporate sponsors will
be featured on the shirt and program.
Every Dollar helps put this event together and all monies are
divided evenly to NEMA & NEMA LITE divisions. Please consider being a part
of this worthy event. Please spread the word to your friends list and visit
www.shanehammond.org or friend us on Facebook at Shane Hammond Believe.
Thanks for your continued support ,Deb Marvuglio, Shane's mom
BOBBY AND VINETTA CHECK IN FROM LEE USA - Friday nights
under the lights at Lee Speedway, turned out to be Red Light under the
lights this past Friday in numerous divisions, with once again several cars
getting torn up for various reasons. The big event of the night was the
Small Block Supers “Money Bags 100” race broken into three segments; it was
the local guys collecting the money. There were only two outside entries
including Liquid Lou Cicconi driving the #99 of Jason Phillips, coming all
the way from Philadelphia. There were a total of 18 Modifieds on hand and
with Cicconi out there the local boys were not intimidated. In the final
segment of the evening Cicconi made a hard charge to the front but ran up
high in turn 2 and never recovered, he was pushed back middle of pack. The
winner of the evening taking home a total of $4,500 was the #21 Wayne
Helliwell.
This has been an incredible season for Wayne not only in Small
Block Modifieds but he holds the ACT Division lead and the lead at Canaan
Speedway in the Late Model Division.
In the Small Block Modified “Money Bags 100” it was announced that
Helliwell set a new track record of 13.796 during the time trials. Handing
out the “Money Bags” to the various winners was Russ Conway, their winnings
all bundled in one dollar bills sure got a chuckle out of the drivers. Other
drivers taking home a money bag was #10 Mike Ordway and PJ Stergios. Also on
hand was Bentley Warren congratulating drivers for their success in Lee’s
1st Annual “Money Bags 100”. During the evening Vinetta and I gathered with
an official in prayer as his girlfriend’s father recovers in the hospital
We ask that you can keep Roger Parker in your prayers. He was
involved in a very serious car crash with numerous injuries.
RIVERHEAD AGAIN - For the second Saturday night in a row I
will be headed to Riverhead for the annual Whelen Modified Tour visit. I
will be joined by my wife and will take the opportunity to relax and enjoy
the area. Also, I will be speaking Sunday morning at the Mattituck
Presbyterian Church, 12605 Main Road, at 9:00 and 11:00, if you are in the
area come on over.
Rev’s Dan and Ray will join Tara and NEMA for the Shane Hammond
Memorial on Saturday at Waterford.
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
http://www.rwjm.com/store. Send us your prayer and counseling needs no matter
what part of our racing family you are in, or give us a call. 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
***HAPPY BIRTHDAYS***
July 25
FRANK FLEMING- Mt. Airy, NC Modified driver.
KELLY PUNCH- A son of Dennis and Pat from Newton, NC and crewman for Dale
Earnhardt, Jr.
TODD STILES- Lisbon, CT Tech Inspector.
July 26
RANDY MacDONALD- Canadian born KNPSE,NNS,CWTS owner/driver now living in NC.
RICK CRAWFORD- Mobile, AL NASCAR All Pro/CWTS driver.
ALAN COATES- Connecticut Modified driver.
WILL POIGNONNEC- Kart Racer at Oakland Valley Race Park from East Brunswick,
NJ.
DAVID ALIO- NSC photographer
MIKE SOVA- Windsor, NY writer.
July 27
GLENN SULLIVAN- Westbury, LI KNPSE driver.
PETE FIANDACA- Townsend, MA legendary LM/ProStock driver.
JACK SELLERS- Sacramento, CA NASCAR West driver.
July 28
REGGIE RUGGIERO- Berlin, CT NASCAR WMT driver.
WAYNE CARROLL, JR.- Massachusetts ProStock driver.
SAMANTHA JARRETT- Holyoke, MA photographer Gracie Ryan's grandaughter.
JESSICA LARSEN- A daughter of Linda and Joe, NASCAR Mod Series official.
July 29
PHIL KURZE- Director of WHELEN MOTORSPORTS, sponsor of the WMT, WSMT and
WAAS, a big fan of modified racing.
ROB OVERTON- Olivebridge, NY Eastern Limited Sprint Series driver.
PETE ORR- Miami, Fl NNS team owner, former driver.
REV. DON RIVERS- RWJM President and Pastor of WMT.
July 30
MICKEY YORK- Asheboro, NC NASCAR driver.
PENNY DEGRE- Whitinsville, MA NASCAR KNPSE writer.
TYLER WILSON- Son of James and Janai Wilson, Grandson of Wall Chaplain Bob
Menschner.
July 31
BILLY RUSSELL- Hudson, NH long-time crewman on the Dion Bros. NASCAR KNPSE
team with driver Dave Dion.
TAMMY O'BRIEN- Boyertown, PA crewman for the Grandview Late Model X4 driven
by Lou Egrie.
SONYA CLAY- The lady who heads up the Dale JR Pit Board Charity out in
Gustine, CA. Visit the site at www.dalejrpitboardcharity.com.
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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