A Wonderful Place To Hide For A While

By Matt Caskey, Regional Director BBI

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, Hebrews 10:24

Biker Bible Institute is a wonderful resource for those trying to do what we believe God has placed in our hearts to do. But as any resource is, BBI is a means to an end for many of us. I don’t join a library to run the library, I join the library to take advantage of the many books they have available. Similarly I didn’t join BBI to run or be run by BBI, but to have a resource that would allow me to be certified as a chaplain which helps build confidence in what I’ve been asked to do. Im sure that’s how many of us feel right? 

Well now that we’ve laid our cards on the table, I’d like to take a look around the room where the most wonderful surprises lay in wait for the chaplains of BBI. In the last several years it’s true, I’ve struggled with participation in BBI. Yes even as a regional director I feel I am “less than” when it comes to involvement. But what I’ve learned is that BBI is so much more than a Facebook group, or prayer group or sending in pictures of your rides. Here’s a small sampling of that.

1. BBI is a home base where chaplains can talk to one another about anything they may be struggling with. Whether it’s on the main chaplains page, the regional pages, messenger, texts or phone calls; we are here to lift one another up in the promises of the Lord. If you were speaking to a medical doctor and he told you he would have to consult his mechanic about your condition you’d probably run. Why would we, as chaplains, not expect that we should be able to confidently discuss matters sensitive to our work with other likeminded Christian chaplains? A listening ear is nice, but an ear that may better understand your situation is always better.
2. BBI is a bastion for prayer. A bastion is a strategic part of a wall that allows for defensive fire from many directions at one time. Prayer is the defensive fire of the Lords workers. Without prayer to God we have no relationship with God. Without a relationship we will soon wither away. This was known and established in the early church. “Bear oneanother’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2.
3. We are stronger in numbers. When Jesus sent his disciples out, he sent them as groups of two, never alone. Jesus understood that we need each other, for friendship and a helping hand or listening ear. Ecclesiastes 4:9 Solomon says that “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil.” He then goes on to point out the many situations a person could find themselves in where it would be helpful to have a companion along.

Thinking more about this I cannot tell you how many times I’ve read a post on BBI Facebook page and actually shed a tear for the person who posted it. As a follower of Jesus, when we see that someone posts that they’ve lost a loved one, our hearts ache for them even though we’ve never personally met them. When our brothers and sisters post a testimony to praise our Father for something, our hearts rejoice right along with them. This is what God does for us when his spirit makes us new again. He gives us the ability to feel what we may have never felt before we knew him. And the most wonderful thing about it is that he also knows that we can use this for each other to “build one another up”! So please don’t make the mistake I did early on and believe that this organization is just a means to an end. Even if you cannot participate a lot, look at it as a group of believers who, in the love of Jesus Christ, want to know our extended family in God and build each other’s confidence in the saving faith of Christ.

Matt Caskey