Tom Zimmer – PhotoBubba – tomzimmer.wordpress.com

This is my Chaplain’s Moment from February 2020, when Good led me to retire from being the Chaplain of UCOA. It also happens to be the moment in time when COVID hit. I was unaware, as were all of you, that our society would change so much and so quickly.

The good news is that as someone somewhere once said, this too shall pass. It wasn’t pretty, and it was painful, and we did lose friends and loved ones, but it did pass. The other good news is that UCOA and all of you bikers reading this continue to be bikers and continue to support our brotherhood.

So, why am I re-posting this? Well, as I was scanning back through past Moments, I sensed it has a strong message for all of us. If you are a Christian, it explains how life with Christ works, and If you have been a fence sitter, thinking and wondering if this Christian stuff is real, or has any value, then now is the time, and this is the place. This will show you how to become part of God’s loving family. Enjoy!

Imagine – Chaplains Moment for UCOA – February 16th
18.2.2020
By now, most of you will have heard that I am retiring from my role as Chaplain of UCOA. I was asked to be Chaplain by the chairman Casey Bolt in June 2006, nearly 14 years ago. During that time I have seen God do an amazing work in our community. It’s been an huge blessing to me, and it makes me sad that it is coming to an end. But as I transition toward retiring from my “other role” (the one that pays the bills), I need to step back so that I can complete some of the tasks on my multi-year retirement to-do list. This means I won’t be able to serve the community for a while, and that wouldn’t be right. The Board has accepted the responsibility for selecting a new Chaplain, and I am available to them if they need me.

I want you all to know that I love you. I know we biker don’t always say that much, but there is a precedent for it in the Bible (you knew there would be);
1 John 4:11”Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
I know that some of you don’t believe in God, but please hear me when I say that God believes in you. And not only does He believe in you, but he Loves you and He wants to have a real, personal and living relationship with you. He won’t force you, but if you give Him a chance, He will show you how real He is.

The time is now. He is waiting even at this moment to embrace you and give you abundant, eternal life. This is the prayer that saved me, about 40 years ago; “Lord, I want to believe you are real, if you are, I want you to come into my life”. The time is now.

You know, the really cool part about allowing God to come into our lives is that He gives a new heart and new mindset. We see Him working in the world around us. He opens our mind so that we can participate in the work He is doing and we get to enjoy the experience.

(Now, this is where all of you Christians need to listen up)
Abide in Christ and see how He will work in you and through you. I DID NOT SAY go out and do a bunch of work FOR Christ. Working for God is pointless and it just leads to burn out.

Here is a couple of verses that make my point;

John 15:4,5 “4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he is the one that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

It must be important, because He repeated it. Think of an apple tree. The branches bear the fruit. If you cut off a branch that has buds on it, will the buds mature into full flavorful apples? No they won’t. That is because the branch doesn’t grow the fruit, it only allows the life of the tree to flow through it to the apples as they grow.

So, if you are super busy doing all kinds of stuff for God, and you even go so far as to invite God to come along while you work, is God going to bless your work for Him?

The simple and truthful answer is that, unless He is speaking directly to you leading you to do His will, then no He won’t bless that work. It is only of spiritual value if God is the one doing the work. You and I are only the hands, and feet and voice that God uses. Let God do the work He desire in you and through you. Abide in Christ, and He will abide in you.

My final words for you are these;

If you don’t have a real, personal, and living relationship with Jesus, give Him a chance and see what He can do.

And, if you do know Jesus as your Savior, but you have been trying to lead Him around with you, get out of the way and see that He will do so much more than you can even imagine.