For you Bikers ...

[Woody]

From Adventist Today :

"Bible Biker" Pastor Rides On

Posted March 24th, 2009 by Marcel Schwantes

Written by Marcel Schwantes

For 40 years "Bible Biker" pastor Tom Hughes has been riding motorcycles across all 50 states to share the good news of the Gospel. Hughes says on his website that Jesus came into his heart at age 19 and He has been riding with him ever since.

Hughes has been working for the Seventh-Day Adventist denomination since 1972 and currently serves in the Ohio Conference as a district pastor. But how many Adventist pastors can say they're a card-carrying, black-leather-jacket and bandanna-wearing member of the Christian Motorcyclists Association? (see logo, right)

Besides pastoring and his love of Harleys, Hughes has other talents--writing, singing (and playing guitar) and recording albums. His albums and concerts have witnessed the love of Christ and gift of salvation everywhere.

Tom is also no stranger to criticism by concerned brethren in his Ohio conference. He is still misunderstood and, yes, judged quite frequently by the legalistic. Some of them he jokingly refers to as the "Adventist Amish" because of their strict lifestyle that sometimes resembles 18th century customs. The beef against Tom is that he's "mixing up" with the biker crowd for witnessing opportunities, as he's done recently at the Daytona Beach Bike Week 2009. In one of his blog entries, he says,

“Some people say Bibles and Motorcycles don't mix! I've been told that Bible Biker is an oxymoron! Harleys and Bibles are a non-sequester! Hold on just a minute! Bikers need the Bible, and Jesus just as much as any other group of people does. Bikers are just people, who come in all kinds and colors. Jesus said 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every nation, kindred and tongue'. If Jesus were here, he would have no problem hopping on a motorcycle, of any brand, if it meant reaching even one seeker for truth. ”

Not according to some Adventists. Eventhough pastor Tom doesn't actually participate in questionable traditions one may find at motorcycle rallies, he says one irate woman declared that "Jesus would never go to them because there's a lot of sin and drinking that goes on there." She added, "And I don't think that you should go either."

Adding insult to injury, Tom's Christian biker friends at CMA, he says, are routinely denied entrance to churches because of their rough appearance. Tom comments,

“One CMA group called a half dozen churches in one particular city, asking simply to be allowed to attend their service. They were told "NO" from every one of them. Many CMA Bikers have a patch that says "These are my church clothes" because of the hard stares they receive for wearing common clothes to most churches. What would the humble Galilean say if he were here to day, and felt the weight of these "Christian" stares? He just might rebuke these modern day Pharisees for their self-righteousness. Biker or longtime church members have one thing in common; Christ’s righteousness is our only righteousness. We have no righteousness apart from Him. ”

Quite fittingly, Tom knows he won't find unchurched bikers walking into his church sanctuary anytime soon, so he is especially sensitive of their needs, meeting them where they're at--rallies, biker shows, and even funerals.

Recently he preached at the funeral service of popular biker personality Bruce "Dog Bite Hamilton," a past President of the Independent Bikers Association. There were 500 in attendance. "How many Sabbaths would I have to preach to reach that many people?" he asks. Tom describes a part of his sermon:

“ talked about how Jesus respected people, even those considered outsiders by some. Jesus showed respect and love to the woman at the well, Matthew the Tax Collector, the publicans and those fallen into sin. Jesus said 'Neither do I condemn thee, now go and sin no more'. We shall all stand before God one day. I am glad he is a merciful God who takes us where we are, but doesn't leave us there. ”

In the region where Tom preaches, 65% of the population don't have a church facility to worship. Most of them male and unchurched. Tom knows these figures all too well, and has set his sights on his target. "Men love bikes and most men love to talk about cars and bikes," he says. "A lot of them will never see a pastor when they come knocking on their door. When they hear the rumble of my Harley going up their driveway, they're willing to come out."

As a result, Tom has baptized many bikers.

"You've got to go into the world. Have common interests in order to build a bridge. We so often build walls. We need to build more bridges, not walls," states Tom.

While many people tend to run ministries from the sidelines, Tom is not shy about his intentions. "I want to bust open the gates of hell and grab those people and help them out. I don't want to sit in my church and do nothing when they're out there dying and losing their souls. Because I'm a biker, they'll listen to me."

Tom's ministry has really taken off. His website continues to grow and is receiving 40,000 hits a month. He invites his readers to "saddle up and ride!" Here's more information on the Bible Biker ministry:

Website: www.biblebiker.com

Blog: http://blog.biblebiker.com

[phkrause]

Thanks for that post Redwood. Was he on 3ABN with Cheri Peters, on her show Celebrating Life in Recovery. Thinking about it a little more he probably wasn't, since I don't think he's ever been a addict of anything. But on one of her show's she had a bunch of bikers that ride around and spread the good news to whom ever they meet. All of this bikers are recovering addicts.

pk

[Bravus]

Cool story, Woodie, thanks for sharing it.

[Woody]

HEY REDWOOD

NICE ARTICLE and interesting web site

and yes sometimes we need to get out of

our shell and do the searching....

dgrimm60

Hey ... what did you think of his bike. I thought it was really cool lookin'.

[Bravus]

His bike itsn't to my taste - I'm a Japanese and European sportsbike guy - but I agree, it looks very cool. Those big Harley cruisers can look really good when they're done up tastefully, and his is.