First off, Happy Halloween! That statement right there made many in the Christian community just shutter, but I believe it is only what you make it. If I take this day to do a act of kindness instead of a "trick" or being the good influence to another then I don't see what people get so worked up about. Yes, I do realize many use this night for evil but we are the only ones that can change that. 
          As I watch the trick or treaters  running down the road as I head home tonight it made me think of what "mask" do we wear? Do we play a role when we are around certain people? Do we post all the "good" stuff on Facebook only to turn around and post something totally different that same day or the next? Our actions are what define us, not our words or the image we want people to see. Author Brennan Manning  once wrote "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." The first time I heard that statement was on the DCTalk song "What if I Stumble". That day I really didn't get the true impact of that statement. As we continue on in the ministry of the Sons of The Savior MM I see more and more how powerful this really is. Our life is a sermon in shoes! 
            In Matthew 6:24 it reads "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and wealth." 
             Matthew 23:25-28 it reads "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. "You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.
"So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
              The Word speaks against living a double life in both of these passages. So instead of a image or what you want people to believe, why not just step fully into a life of serving God. I am not asking you to be a Christian I am asking you to have a relationship with God. The difference you ask? Let's break it down. We look at being a Christian as going to church, throwing some money in the plate, doing a good deed when it is convenient or benefits ourselves, telling people about how far we have come.....you know the little lady that lives in your neighborhood that looks down at everyone who don't live life how she sees fit. Now let's look at the relationship. You go out of your way to help others, not looking at every situation by how it can benefit you, being humble about the things you do, being kind to others even when they aren't easy to love. I could go on but I think you get the picture.
               So with that being said, are you playing a role or do you have a relationship with God. If you have found yourself just playing the role why not take the opportunity now? I pray that you are able to make that relationship before the time is too late. We are none promised the next minute. No one is too far gone for God to forgive and make you the person He created you to be. What can be more perfect than being who the Creator created you to be? 
                 I am by no means a perfect person. I struggle daily, I have to look to God to help guide my thoughts, actions and every part of me to honor and praise Him. I am on the same journey as you. If I can ever be of any help to you or answer any questions, please ask. I may not know the answer right off but I will do my best to find the answer and get it to you. 

                Until next time, God bless and Ride safe

            Well, it's been a while since I have posted on my blog. I'm BACK! In working with the public at a nonprofit I see a lot but as our ministry grows I see even more and get to meet with, pray for, listen to and learn people's stories. I have learned to make it a point to give my thoughts based on my understanding of scripture, citing scripture passages, and when I don't have a answer or not sure I know what the scriptures say I have learned to be willing to go, research the scriptures and get back to the individual with my thoughts and scripture to support my thoughts. With that being said, thank you for your time in reading this blog. 
             Many times I see couples struggling with their relationship and communication. Communication is the backbone to a healthy fruitful relationship of any kind. We get bogged down in the he said she said, he did she did and a bunch of finger pointing. This gets much worse when one of the people are self absorbed. The Bible talks about this in 2 Timothy 3:1-7 

1​But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive,disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.
 
Philippians 2:3-4
“do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” 

Many people look at every situation as a way to better themselves. The Bible calls for us to do all things to bring honor and glory to God

1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
Psalms 115:1
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!

When we get caught up in the trying to be selfish we bring the honor and glory to ourselves. The saddest part of this is most selfish people or the more accurate word, narcissist, they truly don't realize how selfish they are being. They are full of excuses, pointing fingers at others and pushing any negativity to those around them while seeking the attention they desire through any means necessary. You can quickly spot these folks in any group or gathering or even online. Their actions always draw your attention to them. They have to have the spotlight, use terms of ownership on everything (my, mine, I), typically over talk people, try to be the "life of the party". These people I truly hurt for. God called us to be Christlike. Did Christ do any of these things in His ministry on earth? No, He humbled Himself and carried our sins to the cross. He could have stole the spotlight and called down an army of angels to save Him, but He didn't. This is the example we should be following.

Now are there times to step out in the spotlight, yes, but only as a servant of God. Giving Him all honor and glory, keeping all worship to Him. This is a tightrope for those with self indulging behaviors. Ill advised, honestly. If you are looking at what this can do for you, then you are in the relationship for all the wrong reasons. Stick to what the scripture says, give it to God and if that is where He needs you he will open the doors. Matthew 6:33 says "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these. things shall be added unto you." We have to trust the creator to show us what we were created for.

I dreamed of being a famous drag racer but I quickly learned it was toxic for me. I dumped every dime I had into cars and traveling to races, ruined friendships and relationships just so I could race. All of these things were so I could be selfish and do what I wanted to do. It was an addiction. The addiction of being who I wanted, doing what I wanted, when I wanted with no concern or care for others. I lied to myself for years telling myself how much I cared for those around me. Looking back I cared for only me!!!! It wasn't until I found that one friend that truly cared, that would be honest with me, that would hold me accountable for my actions and prayed with me and asked God to take this selfish nature away that my life began to change. I urge you to find that person, maybe several people who will stand in the gap in prayer, hold you accountable and see you through as God changes your life to better serve Him. The most important thing you look for in this person is a praying person who is in the Word. I am only one man but I am here if I can help you. I have several men on my heart as I write this that I pray God will open the door for me to talk to them about this. 

As we go through life, we can use all the "church words" we want, post "Jesus this or that" on Facebook/ Social media but unless our heart is focused on Jesus we will not see the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 7:21 says  "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. You may be fooling the world and those around you, but God see's a man's heart.  Truth be known, the Lord gives spiritual gifts and one of those is the gift of discernment and those who have that gift see through the smoke screen you are throwing.

Friends, I know this will stir up some people and I welcome any feedback. If you need to talk just hit the contact us button on this site or comment with a way for me to reach you and I will talk with you, pray with you and most importantly listen. I am not a perfect man, far from it, but I know the only perfect man who is my creator, God. I can introduce you to Him and pray with you often. 

Let's close this time in prayer.
Father, I thank you for the person reading this blog right now. I thank you for the life you have given us to strive to be Christlike. I thank you for this ministry, Sons of The Savior and I pray every action we take and every word we speak is to only honor and glorify You. Father, the the person struggling with selfish behaviors, the narcissist, the attention seeker, I pray that you help change their focus to you. It is only by your Son, Jesus Christ, we may be saved and spend eternity with you. Lord, cleanse our mouths so we only speak Your truth, change our way of thinking to focus more on you and less on ourselves. Father, we are human, you give us minds to think, grow and dream but, Lord, how quickly do we turn these things into being self righteous. Forgive us for our sins and let us not lean on the fact that you forgive but put our trust and thoughts in you so that we strive not to sin against you. Lord we pray that you continue to place people in our lives that will help keep us on the narrow road to You. Lord, if I in anyway have caused someone to stumble and fall, to question You or pushed them away from You please right my wrong and help me mend those relationships. Lord, we thank you for protecting us as we ride and we thank you for the blessing of our Sons family and friends. Guide us and protect us until we meet again. In Jesus name we pray, Amen

Thank you spending a few minutes with me. Until next time God bless and Ride Safe

It has been a while since I have posted. Lot's going on in the Sons, personal life super busy and work has been busy but these are all great things. 

So what's on my heart today? Well for that we have to look back a while, don't worry the back story will be short. For many years I have looked at things as what I called being "real". Not the glass half full or half empty just a half glass. What I have learned is most of the time I saw what I saw was the worst. I looked at every situation in a jaded, negative light. This mentality was dragging mentally down and making look at people very harshly. The worst part is I didn't realize that is how I really saw things. It took my two daughters, Heather and Lee Ann, to point this out. Sometimes those reality checks, those Nathan and David moments (2 Samuel 12:1-7) come from those who are nearest to us.  The Scripture has many things about seeing things in a positive light.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 
 Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in   Christ Jesus for you. 
Luke 10:27
And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Luke 15:7
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over        ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

You see as I learn to look for and at the positives in every situation it has a way of changing the situation. I know you are thinking "there isn't any positive here", trust me there is! This simple but sometimes hard process is changing the very core of my being. Yeah there are those who still get me frustrated or even more frustrate me because they are stuck in this "woe is me" or "it's me against the world" mentality. If we are believers of the Word and followers of Christ it is our duty to be not only hearers of the Word but doers. Love one another, help your fellow man when you can. Love those who are unlovable and in the words of William Booth, the Founder of The Salvation Army, "Go for souls and go for the worst"

​Until next time, stay positive, ride safe and God bless
 

Let me start by saying this, WORDS MEAN THINGS AND ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS! You may be the only example of a Christian someone ever sees, of course the world has built up this achievable definition of Christian actions. I chose to be called a Follower Of Christ and here is why. I do my best daily to follow the teachings of Christ, I fail often, but I continue to try to be a better man today than I was yesterday. I spent a long time trying to tell others about Christ but I always seemed to fall short. Then it hit me. My dad was a youth leader in my church growing up and he loved the old Sunday School songs. One he use to sing a lot is "People know a Christian he's a sermon in shoes", made little to no sense to me until I put thought into it. That's it! I don't have to use words, my actions will speak much louder! Francis of Assisi said "go out and preach the gospel and if necessary use words". So back to how we should interact with others let's look at a few Proverbs. Proverbs 11:17 "You do yourself a favor when you are kind. If you are cruel, you only hurt yourself". Proverbs 11:12 "It is foolish to speak scornfully of others. If you are smart, you will keep quiet." The Bible is clear in the fact that we should treat others with respect and with humility. We need to spend more time building others up than tearing them down. If a brother or sister needs guidance we should lead gently without anger and lead them in the way they should go. If all we do is point out the bad in people it will have them only focus on negative. Negative thoughts breed more negative thoughts. Positive thoughts breed positive. There is good in every one and every situation. I know many people are going "Roy has no clue what I am going through and there is definitely no good in this". You know what I am not above saying I may be wrong but looking back at my darkest days I can now see the hand of God right in the mix. I can see God clearing a way for a breakthrough in my life, I can see that it ends up being a turning point in my life. I am not saying it was easy or those things don't still bring me pain but I am saying God lead me through. Proverbs 3:3-9 reads 3"Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 4So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 5Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. 9Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase":. In life we will all face trials, we will all face hurt and life will not always go as we plan. We have to have faith to not let our circumstance harden our hearts. Be kind to one another, lift one another up and make your world a better place. Until next time God bless and ride safe

​I am Roy Snelson a follower of Christ

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? Matthew 7:3 NIV

Good morning friends and family, as I sat this morning doing my devotions before I got my day started this verse, Matthew 7:3, was the topic of the study. The more I read and the more I looked at the meat of this study I couldn't help but look at the world we live in today. Blaming others or pointing out others faults is just common place. We are quick to point the faults of others while we continue to have our own little skeletons. God called us all to live life together, to look out for our fellow man, to pray for someone not talk about, we are made to build up one another not tear one another down......What can you truly gain by tearing another down? The world is quick to point the hypocritical finger at those in church and those doing their best daily to be followers of Christ. The "church" is meant to be a hospital for the sick not a country club for those who believe they are the standard by which all men should follow. We are meant to follow CHRIST, to be like Christ and not to what the world wants to dictate as what a "Christian" should be.  Granted we are here to hold one another accountable but we can hold our brother accountable and not allow ourselves to be held to the same standard. If we look at a few more verses in Matthew 7 we learn that if we judge we will be judged. Matthew 7: 1-5 reads;7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Now I know the world will quickly throw at me "only God can judge me" well that may be true to a point the Bible does give us some guidelines by which we can see the Spirit in someone. Galatians 5:22-23a read;

 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control.

These are the things we look for. When you find yourself falling into the trap of judging someone else, stop!, take a look at yourself, clean up your own situations, look for the fruits of the Spirit in your own life then their's. Look for the positive in that person. Mentally or even better on paper or to someone else list 5-10 good things about that person before you pick out the one negative and most importantly PRAY for one another daily. We may never know the struggle that person faces and you may be the only positive that person sees for that day or maybe even in their life. Rise above the petty ways the world teaches. Be a follower of Christ. Live daily to be a better person in Christ's eyes and lift your brothers and sisters up daily in prayer. Let's pray;

Good morning Father, today I want to thank you for the changes you allowed in my life to bring me back to You. I thank you for the people you have surrounded me with, thank you for their imperfections and the will they have to serve you. Lord, you know the hearts and struggles of every person reading this today. I pray you use me to show You to someone today. I pray you take my testimony and my daily walk and allow it to bring someone closer to you daily. I pray that you remove all spirit of judging out of my life and allow me to use that energy to build others up and help me to quiet those who only mean harm. Lord, continue to bless this ministry and all those who a part and those who we touch on a daily basis. In all these things I pray in Jesus name, Amen

Be a blessing to someone today, ride safe and God bless!