Like most men, I had a major concern when I thought about surrendering my life to the Lord many years ago.

My fear was I would be forced to eliminate all of the adventure and excitement a man craves. At some point I read something Jesus said in the 10th chapter of the Gospel of John:

“The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” - John 10:10

But, what exactly did he mean by a rich and satisfying life? It may not be the same for everyone, but for me, it had to include an element of risk. After all, I was a cop at the time I came to know Jesus which says a lot about my personality!

After leaving law enforcement, I must admit the excitement factor declined considerably. Oh, there were a few adventures over the years but I must confess the adventure filled life Jesus promises really kicked into high gear again on June 19, 2004. That was the day I bought my Harley Davidson motorcycle. I soon learned about the Christian Motorcyclists Association, Bill Glass Prison Ministries and Mastersmen.

Since that time, I have ridden over 87,000 miles. In addition to volunteer work at biker rallies, along with dozens of encounters with bikers in my travels I also have ministered in more than forty prisons in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Georgia.

To give you a small taste of my many adventures, I submit the following. I think you will agree Jesus is fulfilling this need in my life big time!

Perry , Georgia. Post Action Report - April 27-May 1, 2011

Well, I made it home in good shape after a great ride to and from the Bill Glass Weekend of Champions Prison Ministry in Perry, Georgia. Before I report on the ride itself, a brief report on the ministry is in order. Before each trip, I pray that I will be available to minister not only while in the prison itself, but along the way, as well.

Sure enough within the first two hours at a gas station at I20 and Hwy 59 in Marshall, Texas, I was approached by a man who saw my CMA patch, complete with praying hands on top of a Bible. His name is Darrell Phillips. Darrell is an unemployed carpenter without work or income for the past six months. Nothing left but a few loose coins in his pocket. He is trying to make his way to Abilene where he hopes to find a job. To add to his misery, a severe storm had passed through Marshall where he was spending the night in a tent in the woods nearby. Darrell’s desperation was such that he was contemplating suicide. His prayer was that unless God sent him a sign he was checking out of this life and taking his chances on the next!

In Darrell’s words, “I don’t know why you think you stopped here, but I can tell you that God sent you to save my life.” Unbelievable! We joined hands as I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving, and a petition for God to bless Darrell with a job and the assurance that he would meet all of his needs. Darrell did not ask me for money, but of course, I knew that a few bucks would sure help get him down the road. There is no doubt that Darrell received a blessing through what little help I provided, but it was nothing compared to mine. I rode on with a smile on my face and a mist in my eyes, astounded and grateful that God used someone like me to communicate his love for Darrell.

There were to be a few more encounters along the way, including Monroe, Louisiana where I met a biker mechanic (road name “Squirrel) and Kenny Turner, an ex-con now living for the Lord. Then there were the many inmates I prayed with at the Central State Prison in Macon, Georgia my weekend assignment. All ministry is good but I must admit on this trip nothing compared to my “accidental” encounter with Darrell Phillips.

And so, on to the ride itself.

My route was planned with a slight detour to Century City, a small Florida town just over the Alabama border. Don’t bother grabbing your map. With all the sophisticated tools available on line and a GPS system to guide them, the question is; why would why anyone with half a brain, plan such a convoluted route? Good question and far better than my answer, but here goes; it would allow me to color in the State of Florida on my travel patch.

I had seen other patches where all but one of the states in a region was colored in. That was not going to happen to me! Vic Fowler and I did the same thing on our trip to Sturgis, SD back in 2006. Took half a day to ride to and from North Dakota. That’s nothing! You should have seen my route to Gray, Tennessee in 2007! Then in 2008, on a trip to Michigan via Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Harley Davidsonville) Minnesota was included in the route for the same reason. Did I mention we went up to Ontario, Canada for dinner?

It’s all about (or at least partly about) my bucket list, which happens to include riding to and from home to every state in the lower 48! The current tally stands at thirty states down and eighteen states to go.

So much for the route. Now for a critical issue when riding a motorcycle, the weather report.

During a spell of deadly weather for so many in the southern states, for me the first 1,800 miles of riding conditions could not have been more favorable. I was coming in behind all of the storms that caused so much destruction and loss of life the day before. But, as I approached Jackson, Mississippi Wednesday afternoon, it appeared I was starting to catch up. The wet patches on the road were clear signs of recent rain. Plus, I could see storm clouds ahead. The electronic road sign “TORNADO WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 4:15 PM.” was not to be taken lightly but as I was headed south to Hattiesburg to spend the night, it turned out to be a non-issue for me. I got a little road splash, but that was about it.

The weather in Georgia was fine for the rest of the week, so let’s move on to Sunday.

I had spent the night in Montgomery Alabama. As usual, I turned on the weather channel first thing in the morning. I saw the early storms moving through Central Texas but they were tracking to stay to the north of my 620-mile route. That’s all I need to know, or so I thought!

My son, Bill happened to call me while I was having lunch in Meridian Mississippi. He wanted to warn me about the weather coming my way, but after double-checking the storm track, he agreed it would pass to the north of me.

As the day wore on the temperature had risen to the point where I was down to a t-shirt. As I thundered down I-20 with Tyler, Texas in my sights I was musing about how in a week of tornadoes and thunder storms all around, I would have no stories to tell except for how blessed I had been to miss all of the bad weather. I was literally thinking about the lyrics Nat King Cole had sung so many years ago; something about “those lazy, hazy days of summer” when I noticed the billowing clouds on the horizon. They were still in the white to a light shade of grey stage but they had all the appearances of a storm in the making.

Pulling off to a gas stop at Gilmer, I gassed up and went inside for a break. It was time to check the weather map on my cell phone. Sure enough there was a storm moving through Tyler and after a gap, another storm moving north east through the Dallas Metroplex. Lucky me! Once again, I was going to miss bad weather.

Then I saw the current temperature in Plano. My jaw dropped. Here I was warm as toast in Gilmer while just 90 minutes away, the temperature was 45 and felt like 39! Impossible! Storms were one thing but this is the first of May! I tapped on the screen. Maybe the battery had run down. Perhaps I had mistakenly set my home weather site as Saskatchewan in Canada! But no, it was sure enough Plano, Texas!

I quickly placed a call to my riding buddy, Dino Ramsey. After checking local radar, he confirmed that the storm was just about to hit my current location but should be cleared out in the next fifteen to twenty minutes. If I timed it right I should make it home before the next wave of storms hit the Dallas area. Right!

I had plenty of warm clothing in my T-Bag but I figured if I wore a windbreaker with my rain gear over that, I would be fine. Dumb!

As soon as the rain began to slack off, I cranked up for that last leg of my journey. After a five day trip, home was a mere 90 minutes away. As I continued west, sure enough the temperature steadily plummeted and the wind began to push me around my lane of traffic. I was getting chilled but not enough to go through what it would take to pull off and put on more gear. So on I went tight jawed and bent on making my warm and dry garage my very last stop! Then on LBJ and Preston, about ten miles from home, the rain came pouring down in earnest. “Feels like 39 degrees” was just about right! Ten minutes later, cold and wet, I was home giving thanks for safe travel and I had another story to tell!

With another riding/ministry adventure in the books, I am already thinking about my next trip. Should I knock off the 11 states in the northeast or head west where seven unridden states await my arrival!

God has a plan. Life is good!

-- Article was contributed by Master's Men team member, Bill Kushnir.