Biking it!

Last year on Father's Day I received an awesome gift from my lovely wife - a brand new 21 speed bicycle! I love it. This bike is a beauty...plus it has a comfortable seat too. We've been all over Columbus biking as the kids and I have been on family excursions.

Recently we've ventured out again on our bikes. But this time we are starting from a different location (remember we moved late last year). We are farther away from the city bike trails, which are absolutely fantastic. However, we still get around and bike for miles on city roads and sidewalks!

This past week I was out again with two of my kids when one of the pedals of my bike came off. Now, I was a couple of miles from home and I had one pedal and one empty crank shaft. Talk about a difficult ride without the left pedal. There was no way for me to screw the pedal in (later I learned it was the wrong side pedal and had worked itself out). Have you ever tried to ride your bike with only one pedal? Let me tell you it's pretty hard. I managed to get home with the help of my son pulling me along, plus trying to maneuver the shaft with my foot as well.

But now the bike is in the shop! It needs new crankshafts, new pedals and some fine tuning. It won't be long before you see us out on the streets biking it as a family again.

My experience with one pedal reminds me of the subject of faith without works. One pedal by itself just doesn't cut it. But when you put them together and work in tandem, positive progress is made. Yesterday I preached a message titled, "Producing Good Fruit." It was in my series of messages in our TAG 500 Campaign and dealt with the subject of sharing.

Listen to these verses from James 2:14-18,

"What use is it, my brothers, for a man to say that he has faith, if he does nothing? will such a faith give him salvation? If a brother or a sister is without clothing and in need of the day's food, And one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warm and full of food; but you do not give them the things of which their bodies have need, what profit is there in this? Even so faith without works is dead. But a man may say, You have faith and I have works; let me see your faith without your works, and I will make my faith clear to you by my works." (BBE)

Let's put them together - left pedal with the right pedal; faith plus good works! This equals a powerful and positive Campaign of Compassion. I'm tagging...how about you?

Blessings from your 2-pedal pastor.