Riding 4 Jesus: One Wrench, One Service & One Love
THREE WORLDS COLLIDEA Wrench in my Plans to Provide Real Love
Resignation from Final Judgment membership as Founders. This short story explains with deepest respect why we loosened our former bonds with them & Brotherhood of United Bikers while making commitment to the New Covenant & HonorBound Motorcycle Ministry.Writers in Hollywood have amused me since my birth & the birth of Music Television. Good, bad or indifferent many of the moral lessons gleaned in life, as I understand it, have been from consumption of their stories on TV. Engine mechanics dream of extraction, disassembly, repair & reassembly. Living this dream with an '87 YJ Jeep Wrangler, while mechanically attempting to love on my spouse, I crossed paths with Sons of Anarchy (SOA) inspired friendships; loaning a wrench to my neighbor while making a living as Armed Forces Professionals. Reportedly the sales in motorcycles increased some 6% after the launch of the SOA series. SOA Saved Harley-Davidson according to The Hollywood Reporter. Real world, fantasy world & His love for the world.
My interest in riding
recreationally started at a young age; cycling all over the community as a child and never having the privilege of owning a motorized bike. I
purchased my first street cruiser in 2009 following an Expeditionary Combat Command deployment
to Manamah, Bahrain at the age of 27. In
Oahu, Hawaii the motorcycle community and culture is vibrant &
attractive. My neighbor Justin
introduced me to the Biker scene after loaning the wrench. Not
long after I patched into the club having never watched the SOA show; Brotherhood of
United Bikers—Pearl
Harbor (BUB), not an outlaw club.
Roughly one year later I was selected to be President, due to the high
attrition rate caused by common assignment changes within our military only chapter. I also had strong ambitions to serve
in the community meritoriously
and keep a good thing going while riding my motorized bicycle.
Kelli and I began to cultivate a culture more reflective of the creed making our chapter more inclusive to female and civilian memberships. We believe the Lord blessed us with good fellowship and opportunities along the way; Ohana. Abstractly, I believe we managed to do very much with very little. In 3 years, we hosted many activities & fundraisers participating in runs and other charity events. As a chapter team we raised >$7,000 est. in the course of those 3 years for donation to Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Praise God! The lessons learned are priceless.
In the beginning our BUB family dwindled down to 2 or 3 members but God blessed us with new BUB family members, and we grew to around 15 active members and seemed to be growing.
The BUB Pearl Harbor chapter became notorious in the community for winning many of the raffle prizes offered at events! During this period of time is when Christ took over my life completely and as I developed a relationship with Him, I naturally began to evangelize within our circle of influence which proved difficult. Inspired to love while taking the Dare Love and accepting the Gift of Forgiveness I also committed to abstain from consuming alcohol; each of these having profound story in and of themselves.
Being in the Navy it was time for
the Family and I to take assignment to a new place. Preparing for turn over this move caused stress within
the club and some strange behaviors started to occur within the group among
members. This was evidence to me that it
was time to not only step down from leading but to leave the group too, because of how my bride and I were being treated. It was heart breaking for me because I had
committed in my heart to this venture forever, so this was tough. As I tried to pass the torch to the next
leader I was misled, and my authority was undermined which caused great
difficulty and strain on our relationships.
I left in good standing, but the International President may have had a different
opinion which isn’t fair, but I’ll be ok, I still love & respect Drew. Many lessons learned personally in regard to
leadership skills & character traits of which I know I lacked then in some
regard. God had my attention & Naval
re-assignment ruled our future.
In an effort to be impeccable with
my word I honored Drew & the motorcycle community by allowing 1 year to
cool off prior to engaging in any new membership. This helped to ensure I’m involved for the
right reasons. One month later I firmly
believe God moved through some folks in 2 other chapters inspiring them to separate
from BUB as well. Some of the leaders
expressed the desire to build something to include Kelli and I and continue
with the good fruits they witnessed from a far.
This led to the development of Final Judgment (FJ) Motorcycle
Association Riding Club also not a one percenter club. At the time, as I was told, FJ intended to remain a family-oriented organization. Determined to keep my word, I focused on God and where He was leading us as I transitioned from one duty station & trade to another professionally. Most of my involvement in the developing stages of FJ were extremely passive. During this down time, it seemed God was working wondrous miracles not only in the immediate family but also in the new FJ family! A year later I accepted the welcoming to lead within this new organization but kept my distance, physical proximity made this easy.
For me FJ was an encouragement to
fight the good fight of faith! I like
what the Final Judgement vision stood for which for me was Christ and I have
vision of what it could’ve become but I feel a stronger and bigger vision from
the Lord and a calling to be a disciple of the High Priest. I had wrestled with the idea of opening an FJ
chapter in Virginia, where I was stationed as a Sailor. Simply put I couldn’t seem to really get
proactive with this idea whole heartedly, mind, body and soul. As I rode with the colors &
glorious symbolism (unfortunately I don't have a photo of the back patch on hand) that exists within the threads all I could think of is the
Great Commission and the Great Hope! Biblically the Final Judgement is the Second Coming of Christ and this
is good news! In the cooling period after
BUB the name suggestion I shared was from the Bible that I was examining at
that time on a daily basis in Hawaii. All
the while fervently searching for guidance and wisdom from the Lord in Virginia,
I reviewed the FJ by-laws and I couldn’t find Jesus Christ anywhere. And when I asked God for my purpose and task
within the organization the only conclusion drawn was blank. My love & appreciation for the relationships with the BUB & FJ family remains great and I hoped they all can find understanding and we can continue to be friends. My love for Christ was serious and growing this love was my number one priority. I sensed the Lord calling me elsewhere. And where that was, is HonorBound Motor Ministry (HBMM). How did I discover HBMM? Enrolled as a student at the Potomac School of Ministry with the purpose of gaining credentialing as an Assemblies of God (AG) minister. Dr. DeBerry shared the Assemblies of God (AG) national website during my class in the course of Ephesian’s. In early November I looked up the Men's Ministry website and found HBMM. It was an AH! HA! Moment. I asked the Lord, is this where you are calling me to serve? As I spent the next 2 hours digging around on the site, I thought this is it! Having accepted my history & renounced Hedonistic habits I knew that I needed to be careful moving forward to ensure that I wasn't misaligning God's will with my will. It's risky stepping into the world as a missionary for Christ. The folks in HBMM know this and although they wear leather, ride motorcycles and spend time with motorcycle clubs that doesn't make them any less Christian. They are following the pattern example set for us by Jesus of Nazareth before we were ever born. Some followers of "the way" in the world may suggest that this is me having my cake and eating it too, but the HonorBound organization is a true gospel ministry not a Club. Taking time to pray about this move to apply to the church based ministry, time and time
again I sensed conviction & confidence that I was being called to join
HBMM. I felt then and continue to sense a burden to engage in the
Great Commission. And with this burden
comes great joy & responsibility that can be hard to explain. As a BUB &/or Final Judgement member, sure I could
worship the Lord and serve Him in the community, but I wanted Christ in the
center of all areas of my life. And I wasn't done riding my motorcycle. As a
member of HonorBound MM I sensed it would be a privilege to wear
externally that which already exists internally. I believe that grace alone empowers me to
engage in the Great commission but announcing my discipleship is another important step of faith to honor our Father in heaven here on Earth. I believe WE, as in everyone not only HBMM, have access God through the High Priest, and I want to ensure that all know how to
receive this blessed gift of salvation that comes by grace alone.
I bid them farewell back then and currently wish Final Judgement & Brotherhood of United Bikers
all the best in their future endeavors and remain open to the concept of
fellowship and the possibility of teaming up within the community for the
greater good! When our world views
smashed together we managed reasonably well with what we knew how and like the Jeep
engine that Chuck & I refurbished I was given a new heart and a though we are
now physically removed from each other’s reach I will ache with constructive sorrow until we
can share a renewed world view full of Hope from the Son of God. Forever grateful am I for the many friendships of way back when! How was I to know that meritorious community service efforts, loaning a wrench to my neighbor Justin, & accepting the Dare Love from Kelli would lead to riding for Jesus Christ? Sometimes only He knows the plans He has for us (Jeremiah 29:11). His grace can be mysterious, but God is merciful! And immutable! Faithful & True yesterday, today and tomorrow. We may change, the environment will change, the oil we'll change, friendship status' may change, but God remains the same. Never a son of anarchy.
Still a Brother riding my bicycle; in Christ Jesus. Forever a reaper in the Law of the Harvest. Loving child of the One True King. Because He first loved us (John 3:16). Sincerely, Nicholas
Formally Known as LJ & Grendel |
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