We need to start with praying for those in Oklahoma and surrounding state. It seems like this time of the year each year there is disaster in that area, but this year is particularly sad with so many losing life. I have been thinking about the LORD and Him being completely trustworthy. I have been praying these verses -- 2 Samuel 7:28 "O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your servant." And Psalm 111:7-8 "The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness."

Now on to the weekend and thinking of those that have lost loved ones in service to this country. We are deeply indebted to you and those that are fallen. Only those that have lost a loved one can really understand the pain. We can only come along side of them and remember the service they had for this country. We do say thank you to those that serve.

Our deepest sympathies go out to the Trickle family.

By Pastor Todd Christopherson

This year takes on a new meaning on this for me and others that have lost their Mom’s. It is a great lesson to share with others the Scriptures of Exodus 20:12 "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you." And Ephesians 6:1-3 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother-which is the first commandment with a promise- that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." I can tell, don’t miss any opportunity to obey and honor your parents.

As we drove down to my parents and got to the gate of their gated community I was reminded of a couple of things. First, a story I have heard several times. Once at a track gate an old steward stopped a pickup truck and asked to see wrist bands to get in. The driver showed his and said his passenger was ok to go in. The old steward said, “I don’t care if you are AJ Foyt. You are not getting in on my watch." OK the fun part of the story is, it really was AJ and the steward still did not let him in. The steward made it exclusive to enter.

In racing there are some key components in the area of rules: 1) I like how Mid AM does their rules. They get a group of staff, drivers, owners, teams together and decide what is best as a group and then rules are put together for the season. 2) Next there is tech. As much as there can be stuff that goes back and forth at pre-race and post-race tech, it is good and tries to keep the playing field level; 3) There is the guy in the tower making the race calls and 4) There is the flag man, Dave in the case with Mid Am, Greg in Big 8, etc. Those guys have a tough job but it is their job to keep the racing safe, and again a level playing field by enforcing the rules. I say thank you to each one involved in keeping the rules and enforcing them. I know it is not an easy job.

Again the rules are important in racing because we want everyone to be safe and we want to know the lines between right and wrong. If there were no rules, it would be chaos on the track. We want the same thing in life. We can apply a lot of this to life.

...or as I like to say -- Resurrection Day!
A message from Mid-American's Pastor Todd Christopherson.

Putting it in that term seems to help me focus on what the truth of the weekend is that includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This year I am focused on the simplistic truth of the annual remembrance.

I laugh when people say, “I don’t like racing. All they do is turn left and go in circles.” If it was that simple, everyone would race and win but we know it is much more complex. Not only the driving part but the real complexities are in the shop and getting the sponsorship to be able to buy the equipment needed to compete and having a crew that can make the adjustments needed. Those that say it is just turning left and going is circles are right if racing can be broken down to who can turn left, drive in circles and get to the checkered flag first.

As we reflect on Easter it can be broken down to a historical event just under 2000 years ago that is the most significant event in all of history.

Each year it is hard to think of a different message for Christmas. As I sat, thought and prayed about it I had this come to mind and heart to share with you. May we think, pray and worship together!
One of the big things right now is the “wrap”. We see cars, vans, buses, haulers, RV and of course race cars. There are some pretty cool ones I have seen. They really send a message and often a big message.
Surely at this time of year the “wrap” takes on different meaning, especially to the little ones. We are excited about what we will find wrapped to unwrap under the tree. Those wrapping too can tell us things and what the focus of the holiday is for the giver. It has a message too.
Let’s look at the importance of “wrap” in the Bible and Jesus’ birth. In Luke 2:7 we read, “and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
As I read this I thought how my youngest son has a very special blanket. He has it around him a lot. Each of the kiddos has a special blanket made by their Nana. We do not know who made the blanket, wrap, for Jesus at his birth or where it came from but we see it is important enough to be mentioned with the manager. It had to be special.

The race is over. There is a winner circling the track and they pull in to victory lane, unbuckle, full of emotion and jump, out of the car. The announcer has the mic ready and barks out the winner for the day… The driver goes right to thanking the crew and then the sponsors. Sometimes they stumble and of course they do not want to miss anyone. The guys that get to Victory Lane more often seem to remember each one a little better. They have had practice.

We can take a good lesson from them. We too should be thankful and the more we practice the more things we can remember. It really does have an effect on our whole being – mental, spiritual, relational, and physical.

On this weekend and hopefully each day we should be finding and thanking those that serve and have served this country. No matter what we think of the Tuesday election we still have more freedom than most countries and for sure we live with more entertainment, better housing and utilities, more access to food and personal wealth (money) than most. Much of that is due to those that put their life on the line and fought for the nation.

I, we, say a big Thank you to each man and woman that has served, is serving and will serve.

In part one we talked about the fire and wrecks at Rockford. We talked about the reality of hell and how awful the flames of hell are. It would be a terrible thing to end the story in flames. Going back to Luke and the rich man, he wanted badly to let others know how serious it was. In Part One we sent the warning out.
In Part Two we will look at what happened. Jeremy did not give up. He kept working all week long. He had been saved from the fire and still had a shot at the championship. This too is a good picture of eternal things.

What a couple of weeks for Jeremy Spoonmore. At Rockford he had big problem, during the week Mid Am showed why they are such a great race series as many wanted to help the guy who had trouble even to the point of the point leader saying, “here is a motor” to run good enough at Fest to win a championship. I want to look at the couple of weeks and hope you will too.
As I was praying for the guys that had a tough time at Rockford and the rest of you too, I thanked God for the protection He gave at Rockford and being with them even in the middle of their day. We all know it could have been much worse than it was and God showed His strength in protection along with His kindness and goodness. He also gave us a very real picture of eternal things. As much as Heaven is SPOON'S FIRE: HELL ON EARTHa reality, so is Hell and I would like to share two views and a challenge from what I saw and heard. Hear the words of Jeremy and Travis, “HOT!”; “I panicked”; “could not get unbuckled”; “scary” both said, they “could not get a breath of air”; “dark” (from the smoke and fire). WOW! Those are words and pictures of Hell. We do not want to miss this wake-up call.