Events And How Our World Views Them

The Largest Motorcycles Rally on our planet will officially open on August 8th this year. It's number 65 in years and will mark my 21st year in attendance, the last 16 consecutive. For about ten days the population of South Dakota will more than double. Whoosh! There's only about 3\4 of a million people here on any given day the rest of the year. What that means in most people's minds is money, parties, races, revelry, and more money. {Quick thought: "If everyone in SD moved to Dallas tomorrow, nobody would notice that we were there."} If you've been here a few times for the event you already have an idea about what goes on, if not you may have seen or heard blurps from the media. My problem with the way things are done is this: Most of what you see or hear on the news is centered on someone else's idea of what is newsworthy. Hence, you get the stats on how many bikers were killed, how many arrested for drugs, how many murdered or maimed one another. You receive the "dark side" of the coin. On the other side can be found the thousands of Christians that gather to work the fields that are "White Unto Harvest," those who come to ride the Blackhills and enjoy nature in all it's glory, and a lot of riders from all over the globe that descend on the rally because of the reputation it has earned through the years. My first was in 1965. After that first time I went back every 6-8 years to enjoy the hills and fellowship with riders. The last 15 times have been to seek those who are looking for something "better" for their lives. I make no bones about it, I'm an evangelist. I'm not going to beat someone over the head with my Bible,(I don't know anyone who has been saved that way)what I am going to do is offer an ear to hear people's frustrations with life, a hot meal to anybody that is hungry, fellowship to all who are lonely, and a safe haven for rest if they are weary. Idealistic? Yup! Don't know any other way. Naive? Never, been around way too long for that! I'm losing my path here, though. What I want to shout to the world is that for every 'horrible thing' you see on the news there are a hundred 'good things' that never make it to your screen or papers or magazines because they aren't interesting enough to publish. They aren't headline worthy, they don't "SELL." Bad stuff will always outsell good stuff for some reason. Maybe that is just how people are created. I think the more obvious answer can be found in what I call "Media Conditioning." Have you ever heard of a good rumor going around? No, it's always the bad things that are "rumored" about. In search of the coin and the opportunity to view both of its sides? Attend the rally this year and visit a modern day Babylon in full swing! Church is set up two blocks from the center of town. If you're having a hard time finding us there is a large cross on a hill directly above our camp(You can see it from main street). Rumor has it that we aren't the only christians in town for the rally, but you know how rumors are. When you see the headlines about Sturgis this year, I pray you will keep in mind that stat I mentioned. "For every nasty thing you hear about, there are a hundred good ones that aren't mentioned." Kinda like that with folks, too, if you know what I mean? God bless You!
In Christ's Love, Preacher.