georgecuevas.com

Back on the bike!

All dressed for the road.

Finally! We got the Blue Horse back and it’s as good as ever. Took four months at the Harley dealer to have it put back together. Just to be clear, they could have finished it in a week but it took three months for the fender to get painted. Why? Well because the fender needed to get painted at the Harley HQ in order to match the original blue (Sinister Blue) color of the rest of the bike. After the three months of waiting thought the fender got back and it was purple! Not just any purple. But like Prince, Purple Rain purple! Ahhhhh. After crying to the dealer that I could not wait another three months to get my bike back, they put a black fender on and let me take the bike. Three months later, the fender arrived in all it’s blue glory and well, the rest is ride, ride, ride.

Me and Laura are having a blast riding around and discovering new parts of Miami we had never seen before. Though we are officially now in hurricane season, we still look out the window and sneak out as as much as the weather allows. For those that have a bike, i know you know what i’m talking about. If you don’t have one… well, you’re out of the loop.

It’s extremely hard to explain to non-riders the unique sensation of riding a motorcycle. I guess it’s like trying to explain to someone what it feels like to ride a roller coaster or jump out of a plane. You just will not know the thrill until you take the chance and have the experience yourself.

Here are some quick observations though. Motorcycle riders:
- are truly a mixed bag of people. All kinds are welcome.
- appreciate the “journey” more then the destination. Getting there is way more fun than being there.
- riders are friendly towards one another and wave to each other when they are traveling in opposite direction (try that in a car)
- no matter what riders look like, they are willing to talk to you in a friendly and encouraging manner
- there are no bike secrets. You want to know how something got done on a bike? Ask the owner and he will gladly give all the insight you need.
- hate people that drive cars too close to them. If you are near a rider please keep your distance. Don’t tailgate a rider please. This is super dangerous.
- DO NOT SIT or TOUCH anyone’s bike. Riders HATE that. Unless you are asked by the owner if you want to ride his bike, don’t even bother asking.

So, for those that are wondering whether to get a bike… what are you waiting for? Don’t let road miles pass you by without it being on a motorcycle.

ThanksLiving

What a wonderful day. One where the United States of America actually makes it a point to thank God for our many blessings. Personally this year has been filled with many highs and serious lows. One of the greatest blessings was knowing a friend by the name of Mary Barrett. She went on to be with the Lord this year, yet I cannot thank God enough for giving me the pleasure of knowing her, her music and her passion for Jesus.

Another major highlight was the surprise purchase of a 1999 Harley Road King Classic! I never even dreamed of owning a machine like this. It’s hard to express how incredible and fun experience owning a Harley is. If you own one, you know what I mean. The best summation of what it feels like to ride is a quote from the book “RoadShow” by Neil Peart… “When I’m riding my motorcycle, i’m so glad to be alive. When I stop riding my motorcycle, I’m so glad to be alive.”

I also thank God for my girls. All three girls are doing great in school. Gracie is focusing and getting great grades. Aimee got her IB pin and Becca’s filling out college apps and scorching her report cards with A’s. I am blessed. How about Laura? Well, as my wife and best friend I’m most grateful that I get to be with her most of my day. I share both work and home life with her… how awesome is that?!

Then there is my CCk family. I thank God for the ability to do what I love doing and doing it with friends I love. Being part of a group of Jesus loving, God honoring folks who selflessly give of themselves to see others lives change for the better is a huge blessing.

In retrospect, all this thanksgiving is just a daily build up of gratitude to the Lord. Despite ups and down. Regardless of good or bad circumstances, the bible exhorts us to give thanks in “all” things (Eph 5:20). So till next Thanksgiving, live life in an attitude of thanksliving so you won’t miss any of the many blessings God is throwing your way.

Galatians – study artwork

Starting the study in the book of Galatians the pastor wanted to focus on the concept of freedom. The difficulty was that most of the things we normally think of representing freedom I couldn’t use. Why? Well, because his point was that the only thing that offers real freedom is faith in Jesus. Duh. So motorcycle riders, people in convertibles or walking on the a beautiful beach were all out.

Since I was stuck for a “freedom” image I started thinking of the opposite idea… being bound. As I started to search for imagery, I first thought of an open jail cell. Wanting to simplify the idea I thought of bob wire and fencing. This would offer some cool texture possibilities. Except I still could not get it to say freedom. Searching a little more I went on to look for broken chains (a freedom metaphor in the bible) that led to open locks then viola! Ball and chain. Writing the word freedom the shapes instantly came together. Now that I had the “binding” idea, I felt it still needed to show being set free, thus the legs walking away.

All artwork was manipulated and composed in Photoshop.

Ken Ham @ CCk

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to learn from one of the most sought after speakers about creation science, Ken Ham. He is the president and founder of Answers in Genesis-U.S. and the highly acclaimed Creation Museum. As a native Australian now residing near Cincinnati, Ohio, he is the author of numerous books on the book of Genesis, the accuracy and authority of the Bible, dinosaurs, and the destructive fruits of evolutionary thinking (including his co-authored new book on the “races” and racism, Darwin’s Plantation, and the bestseller, The Lie: Evolution). He appears frequently on American TV (in 2007 alone: Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor and Fox and Friends in the Morning, CNN’s The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, ABC’s Good Morning America, the BBC radio/TV, etc.).

Ken hosts the daily radio program, “Answers … with Ken Ham,” heard on more than 900 stations in America (and dozens more overseas) and is one of the editors and contributing authors for AiG’s Answers magazine (a biblical worldview publication with over 60,000 worldwide subscribers).

Ken is also credited for the newly opened, high-tech Creation Museum near the Cincinnati Airport — which attracted over 400,000 visitors (and several of the world’s major media) in its first year.

Invite all your friends to attend this awesome event!

James – study artwork

Hey all! Well we finished the gospel of John after almost two years! So what’s next for CCk on the weekends? How about the book of James?

The teaching series was to focus on the practical side of our faith. Thus the name “FaithWorks”. Yes there is a double meaning in the name that’s pretty cool too. From the get-go I felt it had to have an industrial component because of its authentic, hard-work metaphor.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
g
<{{{><

Impact Conference:08

Hey folks, this weekend CCk is having the ImpactConference and you don’t want to miss it. So what is an ImpactConference? It’s a conference setup to teach practical ways of sharing Jesus Christ with someone more effectively.

Steve Wilburn from Harvest Christian Fellowship will be with us. He is the youth pastor at Harvest and also does the teaching for Day7 (www.day7.tv). Which if you have never seen, I encourage to check it out online. It is awesome. Not only is the teaching straight up but they also have guest bands that rock the house.

Talk about rocking the house, Shachah will be the guest worship for the conference and if you have never experienced their music, you are missing out on some great stuff.

See you there!