Public school really wasn’t for me as a teenager. I got asked to leave and not come back so I went to school for juvenile delinquents. That lasted for two weeks before they asked me to leave and not come back.
However, I knew I wanted to join the Marine Corps; but to do that; I had to have a high school diploma. So I worked a full time job during the day and went to school at night.
By the age of 22 all I knew was the Marine Corps and motorcycles. And I was learning to enjoy both to the fullest: booze, bars, babes and bikes. Life was truly about the next adventure, and the brother standing next to me. Either he wore the uniform or road a bike.
In my mid 30s after many years in the Marine Corps and a few bikes later, I realized something was missing in my life. It just felt like I was riding in circles. My life was starting to spin out of control. So I started looking for what we all search. That will give us true meaning and purpose in life. I decided to start at the beginning, so I opened up the Bible.
Then on my first deployment to Iraq, I took it with me and continued to read. I did not want to be a stereotypical Christian. I did not want to wear a suit and tie. I was not that kind of a guy. Remember I’m a Marine and a biker. Then I met some guys from a motorcycle ministry, which showed me I did not have to give up everything in my life to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I just had to let go of my garbage as I had become violent, I was drinking too much and not caring about anyone but myself, I had become unlovable, even to myself. BUT THESE GUYS AND JESUS ACCEPTED ME JUST LIKE I WAS. Once I accepted Jesus my life changed.
I know you want to hear how wonderful and easy everything became, and although my life changed and I changed, it didn’t get easier! However, I was not going through the hard times alone anymore or with just my buddies. I had Christ inside of me, around me, close to me and always with me. The Bible says: “He will never leave us nor forsake us…” I was looking at hard times in a whole new way, and they just did not seem that hard any more. I realized that I was a Christian first. What I had inside of me that needed to be filled was now being filled with the Love of God and the relationship with His Son. I believe we all have that emptiness inside till we have a relationship with Him. I was a Christian who happened to be a Marine, which happened to ride a motorcycle.
I was once asked how I could be a Marine and a Christian. I replied with something like: “look at God’s Word (the Bible) says: Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13); or, 1 John 3:16: “This is how we know what love is; Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters” (I don’t know about you but that sounds like a Marine and a biker to me). As all bikers and motorcycle enthusiasts know…there’s something special about being on a bike, with the wind in your face and the openness around you. So throw your leg over your bike and join me on the open road. I’ll show you the beauty that God has created that only bikers can truly enjoy.
Semper Fi
Biker Tap, MGySgt, USMC
(Retired)
Salt Lake City UT
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