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MIke Price of Bassett is spearheading a Biker Bash to begin revival services at Cliffview Church of God on Sept. 14. Bikers are invited to meet at the Galax Wal-Mart at 10 a.m. that morning. |
By Allen Worrell, News Writer
Price, a biker evangelist from Bassett, is spearheading a Biker Bash to begin revival services for Cliffview Church of God that morning. The day will start at 10 a.m. at the Galax Wal-Mart, where he invites fellow bikers from the community to join him.
Price, who met Cliffview Church of God Pastor Ron Hill through a mutual friend, was invited to preach at the church on June 1. To borrow a statement from Hill, Price said a revival spontaneously broke out that day. The revival has carried over into the Biker Bash, and Price wants bikers to know they are welcome to come for a day of fellowship and to hear the Word of God.
“The biker community seems to get overlooked a lot of times in our communities because of a lot of misconceptions. So it was laid upon the people’s hearts to have a biker bash and invite to people to come on your bikes, and to come even if you don’t have a bike,” Price said. “We want people to come just as they are, it doesn’t matter who they are, who they ride with, what they look like. None of that matters. It’s just a way the church is wanting to reach to the community and the surrounding areas. They are welcome to come because the Bible says, ‘Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out.’ So the church is using his word and we just want to reach them and invite people. It is open to everybody, but that particularly Sunday is going to be geared to the bikers.”
Bikers will meet at Wal-Mart at 10 a.m. that morning before riding en masse to Cliffview Church of God as part of the church’s revival that will run from Sept. 14 to 17. Price said after a church service, bikers will be invited to come along for about a 45-minute ride. Afterwards, they will return to the church for a hamburger and hot dog grill-out. Bikes will be judged as well and there will be some prizes.
“What we are trying to do is open the doors of our church that anybody is welcome to come because we are not stereotyping people. We just want people to come in to hear the message of Christ,” Price said. “Joy and love and acceptance is the thing that drives all people from all walks of life. They want that. And we are just opening up our arms, our hearts, and our church to that. God led this on my heart when I first got saved that it would always be a part of my ministry.”
All activities associated with the Biker Bash will be free of charge. Nobody will be singled out or made to do anything they don’t want to do. The most important thing, Price said, is for bikers to know they are welcomed with open arms to experience the church message.
“We just want to have a free event for people to come in and experience what Christ has for them. Ain’t nobody going to made to do anything. We are not asking people to join church that day or anything like that. Now if they want to, our pastor will take care of that, but we just want them to know they are welcome,” Price said. “For me as a young man, church seemed to be such a bunch of rules of dos and don’ts. And there are commandments we have to live by, but there is not an 11th commandment that thou shall not have fun.”
Price said the church is excited about the revival because it is seeing God save a lot of people. It is also an exciting time, he said, because of many of the things going on in the world today.
“A lot of people spiritually fret over things happening in the world, yet we were forewarned that these things would take place and our safety and hopes are in Christ,” Price said. “That is the message we want to spread, not only to the bikers, but the entire area, that Christ loves all of us and he died for all of us that we might be set free from all our sins. Because the Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the good thing about that statement, even the hardest core of the bikers, at one time or another we were all in the same place together just needing a savior.”
Cliffview Church of God member Randy Poe said the church wants to reach everyone and it doesn’t discriminate.
“There is no one that is not welcome here. People have struggles and problems and deal with sin in their lives, but this is the place to come and deal with all of that,” Poe said. “It is not a place to keep that out. It is the place you come and deal with those things.”
To sum it up, Price added, “The churches aren’t museums for saints, they are ER rooms for hurt and lost people.”
That is why Price said it is so important for not just bikers, but everyone, to know they are welcome and wanted in the church.
“If we can forget our differences and worship God with all our heart and surrender to him, think of what an impact we could make together,” he said. “It is not our job to cast people out and say you don’t fit our mold. No, they are all welcome. We can’t stress enough that it doesn’t matter about your past. We are not going to judge what you look like coming here. We don’t care what you wear. If that offends some people, they need to get over it and give Jesus some time to deal with it.”