26⎪September 2021⎪shop . cmausa . org

FOLLOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT Seasons of

“ As for Philip , an angel of the Lord said to him , ‘ Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza ’” ( Acts 8:26 , NLT ). The point of this scripture was that Philip followed the Holy Spirit . By doing so , he was used in a mighty way . He changed the Ethiopian eunuch ’ s life .

I wanted to share how God has changed our lives through following the Holy Spirit . In February 2004 , I was sitting in my den watching TV . I was just relaxing after a long day at work when all of a sudden , I had an overwhelming feeling . I felt the Holy Spirit say , “ Go buy a motorcycle .” Now you might laugh and say that was just me wanting a bike . You see , I had never owned a street bike . The closest I came to owning a bike was in September 1980 when I came one day short of owning a 1979 Yamaha 650 . The only thing at that time that stopped me was the next day I got laid off from work , and the layoff lasted nine months . After that , and for the next 24 years , life happened . I met Jane and we had our daughter . Our life was more focused on sports and camping . The only thing that came close to motorcycles was owning four scooters that we took camping to ride around and enjoy .

Getting back to the calling , I went in and told Jane that I felt God was saying buy a motorcycle . Expecting her to say no , I was shocked when she said , “ If that is what God is telling you , then you should do it .” I started checking to see what I could find , and I decided after 24 years to buy that Yamaha 650 .

The day I bought the bike was the first Saturday in May . Can you see what God was doing ? That was Run for the Son . The next day I took the bike to a bike blessing , and that was my first encounter with CMA .

I want to share a side note . When I bought my bike , a good friend of mine had purchased one too . Our plan was that we would ride together on weekends . Well , it wasn ’ t long after this he left his wife , and we never rode together . I really wanted to reach out to him , but it never happened .

Over the next eight months , riding by myself was not fun . I really wanted either one person or a group to ride with . During this time , I met a pastor who rode , and he told me about CMA . I liked what I heard , but was not sure I wanted to join a group like that . I was really hoping my friend , Steve , and I would get back together and do some riding . I really missed him .

On December 4 , 2004 , I found out that Steve had suddenly died . I was crushed . I really felt bad because I had not followed the Holy Spirit and called him . Now it was too late . Because of this tragedy , I realized I was not following the Holy Spirit in another area . God was calling me to CMA , and I didn ’ t know why . I thought it was just a club of Christian bikers .

On December 18 , 2004 , I attended my first chapter meeting . I enjoyed the meeting and liked some of the things they were planning , but I still thought it was just a group of people that liked to ride and happened to love Jesus . I went home after the meeting , and Jane asked how it went . I said it was good , but wasn ’ t sure it was for me .

Things changed dramatically over the next three months . My dad , who was my best friend , was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer . On January 4 , he had surgery . It didn ’ t go well , and on January 16 , he stopped breathing , and his heart stopped . They had to put him on a ventilator and he was in intensive care for two weeks in a coma .

During the time he was in the