Prayer Meeting Trip Report – June 2023
To Memphis and Back Again
My home church belongs to the Sovereign Grace Baptist
Fellowship; one of the congregations in that fellowship has been hosting a
prayer convocation for 14 years. The aim of this meeting is to pray for the revival
of the those who profess Christ, for unity within the local assemblies, for God
to raise up young men as preachers and missionaries and raise up wives for
these, and for the aging saints to not grow weary in well doing. This meeting
lasts 3 days, taking place in northern Mississippi, just south of Memphis, TN.
Since I am retired, I decided to participate in this year’s meeting. My dear
wife suggested I make an adventure of it and take the motorcycle – my 1985
Honda Sabre 700. Love that woman!
Plan was to leave on 14 June, 2023 and have a couple of days
to ride around the Memphis area for fun. The prayer meeting was 20 – 22 June.
Ride home would be 2 days. I would spend the first night with friends I met at
a Christian camp several years earlier; they live north of Logansport, LA. On
the trip home, I would spend the night with a couple near Mt. Pleasant, TX that
I have known for 20 or more years. Total trip would be 11 days, 10 nights. I
took books I have written or edited and published for each person I would spend
time with.
14 June, to
Logansport. Beginning odometer: 23,135
Up early to leave
the house around 6AM. Got half a block away and discovered the routes were not
on
the GPS! Back to the house to correct this, and on my way at 0615 (military
time used in this report).
The old Honda ran flawlessly, as I made good time with much
of this leg being on highways 90, 21, and 79. The GPS started out working fine,
but about 2 hours into the trip, it began rebooting continually every 1 to 5
minutes. It finally shut down. I had written out turn-by-turn directions for
every day, with the current route in the clear plastic top of my tank bag. Not
as stress-free as knowing the distance to the next turn.
I arrived at my friend’s house around 1330; ending at 23,475
for a 340 mile day. Good chow and conversation with Donald and his wife,
covering many theological topics. Their dog Cookie is a very nice dog. I gave
Donald a copy of Baptism and Babylon, containing works on baptism by
Andrew Ritor and John Tombs, and on Babylon by Hanserd Knollys; all from the 17th
century.
15 June, to Pine
Bluff.
This day would be about 100 miles less than day 1, so I left
Donald’s house at 0715. I took major highways to get around the west side of Shreveport
and across the Red River; then back onto back
roads.
The GPS began
working for 10 – 15 minutes at a time, then dead for an hour or two. I made a
stop for a nature call on a very remote, lonely section of a state highway 98.
When I parked the bike on the side of the road (no shoulder), I failed to get
the kickstand all the way down. As I got off the bike, it fell to the left; I was
unable to lift it up.
I began praying that God would send some help. About 15
minutes later, a semitruck approached; I waved him down. The driver hopped out –
a young man that was built like the Hulk. He asked what I needed and I told him
I could use help picking up the bike. He reached down and lifted it up, I
grabbed it. He asked if that was all I needed and was I OK? I assured him only
my ego was bruised and thanked him for his help. Off he went and then I
followed, once I checked the bike. Didn’t notice it at the time, but found out
a couple days later than my horn switch was busted off during this mishap.
The rest of the trip was without drama. Arrived at Motel 6
in Pine Bluff at 1315, odometer at 23,756 for a 281 mile day. I had a book on
textual criticism of the Old Testament with me; did some reading and grabbed a
small dinner before hitting the hay.
16 June, to West
Memphis.
Left Pine Bluff at 0730; GPS is mostly working. Short day
with good, curvy road and some boring highways. Crossed the White River – gorgeous
view! – but failed to stop for a picture. This is my major failure on
motorcycle trips. Arrived at my motel in West Memphis, AR at 1100. This was to
be my base for 3 days, until I moved to the hotel close to the prayer meeting. Had
breakfast at IHOP for lunch.
Thunderstorms came rolling through, making ride plans for
the afternoon void. Odometer at 23,927 for a 171 mile day. Total trip to
destination was 792 miles.
Tomorrow’s weather looks promising, with a 300 mile ride
planned.
17 June, at West
Memphis.
Out the door around 0730. GPS was working – for 10 minutes;
then it was dead and stayed dead. I found the route I had planned and was able
to follow it for about an hour, when I missed a turn. Many
of these local roads
have no markings, making my notes less than competent. I explored northern
Mississippi and found my way back to the motel around 1400. Odometer at 24,187
for a 260 mile day. Saw this in the parking lot where I got dinner – a classic
MG Midget.
More thunderstorms
this evening and through the night. The Walmart superstore near my motel
claimed to have a Garmin like mine in stock for $88. Between rain I rode 7
miles there and back again. Walmart is like Lowes – their stock is all
bar-coded or RFID managed and yet their stock status on their websites can only
be guaranteed to not be reliable. They did not have the item in stock and I was
not going to spend $200 on a new GPS.
18 June, at West
Memphis.
A YUGE thunderstorm that rolled from NE Texas, through
Oklahoma and Arkansas hit Memphis Saturday night. I was going to ride into
northern Mississippi to meet a friend for breakfast, but the weather changed
every 15 minutes and I was not going through Memphis on my bike in the rain.
This friend – a close friend of a dear brother at my home
congregation (Community Baptist in Elmendorf, TX) decided to drive 30 miles to
pick me up. We had breakfast at the IHOP near my motel. After some
conversation, he offered to drive to his place of worship (Mercy Hill, in Olive
Branch, MS). Some of those saints are related to some saints back home! Great
time with those dear people, with an excellent sermon about judgment day from
Jude’s letter. Judgment Day will be a day of terror for those who do not have
faith in the Son of God and that same day will be a glorious day of victory and
joy for those who do.
We went to lunch then he took me back to my motel. No miles
on the bike. The weather Sunday turned out to be beautiful. Weathermen still
can’t bat 1,000 – even for today!
19 June, to Horn
Lake, MS.
The direct driving
distance to my new hotel was about 30 miles through Memphis; so I planned a 215
mile trip around the region, clockwise. Surprising to me, kudzu has invaded
this area – I did not realize it was this far north.
This route took me on several small country roads that
connected between two state highways. The GPS woke up occasionally – just when
I needed it to show me a turn. Off and on it blinked, giving me much needed instructions
time and again. This route was fun and took me through several small towns on
curvy roads through hilly country.
The old Honda continues bring smiles to my face. The Lord
kept brining hymns to my mind and caused me to pray for many people I know. Had
lunch at Waffle House – pecan waffle, bacon, coffee. Great chow, friendly, efficient
staff. Another reason to smile.
Arrived at La Quinta around 1400 Odometer was 24,417 for a
230 mile day. The GPS quit – for good – about 100 miles short of the hotel. But
I had been in this area on Saturday and knew the roads I needed to get to my
new home. Ordered a new GPS from Amazon – it arrived on Wednesday; plenty of
time before I would depart.
20 – 22 June.
Prayer Meeting.
Each day, at noon, we would meet at Bridgetown Baptist. The
elder from that congregation would explain what the major topic of prayer for
the first hour was and we – 25 to 35 people each day – would pray; asking God
to revive His people, to save lost souls, to raise up men to be elders and
missionaries, and to raise up wives for these; also that the aging saints would
not grow weary doing well. Each of the three sessions had a related but
different focus. We had snacks during the day and a nice dinner each evening
before the preaching each evening.
I gave Larry – the elder at Bridgetown – a copy of my latest
book, In Darkness – Light!, a look at the
hand of God on His people
during the Dark Ages.
I had a room-mate at
this hotel – a preacher from Louisiana that I knew. He did not ride his Sportster
up, but thought he might get a bike more suited to long distance rides for next
year. I am not sure I’ll be up for another trip like this next year. This was
my parking spot for the time at this hotel. I gave this brother a copy of my
first book, Captive to the Word of God, A Particular Baptist look at the
Reformation and the Covenants.
These 3 days were deeply refreshing, spiritually. How rare
for saints to cry out to God for all sorts of spiritual needs with not one prayer
for a physical need. There was talk about the spiritual depravity on display in
the daily news and in most cities in this nation. It is God’s role to judge
sinful man; it is our charge to proclaim the gospel of grace to all people.
The new GPS worked fine and had no trouble loading my routes
from the SD card I had in the dead GPS.
23 June. To JR’s.
The first day of the homeward journey was planned to end at
the farm of a friend, east of Mt. Pleasant, TX. I departed at 0620. The new GPS
was working and had my route loaded. This day was an uneventful ride on beautiful,
engaging roads which took me UP and across the Mississippi River and across the
Missouri, Arkansas, and Red rivers – all on small, 2 lane roads.
Stopped for a quick, small lunch about 80 miles north of
Texas; was told to arrive hungry. Arrived at JR’s farm – in the COUNTRY, about
15 miles east of Mt. Pleasant – at 1420. It was sunny and hot. 8 hours in the
seat, thankful I have an air cushion on my seat. Odometer at 24,806 for a 389
mile day. The old Sabre is a HOSS!
A dear friend of mine from my Oklahoma days was riding his
bike down, as we haven’t seen each other in more than three years and he wanted
to catch up. He arrived at 1730 – plenty of time for me to shower and relax. We
went out to dinner and came back to the farm where the three guys stayed up a
couple hours talking theology. I gave JR a copy of my book, The Gospel in Romans.
JR cleared out space in his pole barn so we could park our
bikes under a roof – thunderstorms coming! He has a cabin with two bedrooms for
guests. We were treated very well and were thankful to God for this brother.
I felt well and not tired after a long day on the road. Was
looking forward to the final day!
24 June. Homeward!
Up at 0600 to find the storms had passed and skies full of
sun. I loaded up the Honda and was on the road at 0630. Stopped for breakfast
at 0730. Nice, cool morning with sun and lots of clouds. Fun roads between
boring ones.
I started getting tired around 1000 – was riding generally
southwest into a hot wind coming from the southwest. I stopped for a rest and a
strawberry milkshake at 1130. This cooled my belly and my route
took me on
TX-50, which was curvy fun!
But then, the road
ahead was closed off by highway patrol; a few cars were in front of me. A rail
tanker car was off the tracks just beyond the road, with heavy-weight wreckers
on the scene. They had not yet attached any chains to the rail car. Behind the emergency
vehicle at the left of the picture is the top end of the rail car. It would be
HOURS before they opened the road.
I turned around and found a route that had 7 miles of gravel
road and 20 miles of pavement to get around this and back on my route south of
the scene. This added about an hour to my travel time.
I was hot and tired. Made it to Luling – about 50 miles from
home – and stopped for a long lunch in an air conditioned restaurant. I made it
home at 1600, odometer at 25,223 for a 417 mile day. Total trip was 2,088
miles.
Happy to be home. Thankful for a safe trip and enriching
fellowship with saints of the living God. Need to find a new left hand switch
module or make a new switch for the horn. Gonna need a couple of days to recuperate.
The last trip like this I took was in 2007, when I flew to D.C. to buy a bike
and ride it back to Houston that summer.
