Does drag boat racing really exist? If you have been to an IHBA, SDBA, NJBA, SLDBA, CDBA or KDBA race, then you know the answer. Yes! Drag boats not only exist, they are some of the most fascinating racing machines on the planet. They come in every color of the rainbow, with unique shapes and design that loan itself to their phenomenal performance on the water.
The sound of a nitro fueled engine is like no other sound in the world. The sight of two Top Fuel Hydro’s accelerating down the liquid quarter mile is a true wonder to behold. The fury and awesomeness of a beautiful boat thundering at 250 mph is something that has to be witnessed. Seeing is believing in a world where the media likes to show only one side of a story.
But there is only one side to the story in drag boat racing … it’s loud, it’s fast, it’s exciting, it’s entertaining, it’s delightful, it’s bone-chilling, it’s hair-raising, it’s food for the racing soul, it’s not for the timid, it’s definitely not for the weak-hearted, it’s not for those who like life easy-going, and it’s not for the poor. And as they say, if it’s too loud, you’re too old!
Drag boat racing for some is the best of times; and it can also be the worst of times for others. In the words of announcer Rick Carlson, “It’s 7000 horsepower of sheer power and speed as the big boys come out to play.” Play is the name of the game, but its war on the water for less than five seconds, with two friends dueling in a winner-take-all battle of the best boat.
In the twinkling of an eye anything can and will happen when a nitro powered boat attempts to run in the four second zone and at over two hundred and fifty miles per hour. Micro seconds of precious time exist over the course of a quarter mile, and are expressed in a way that only a drag boat can do it. Yes, you have to see it to believe it, and believe me they’re worth seeing in action.
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” words of Charles Dickens who described the years of the French Revolution. In ways, that fits our present day remarkably well.
Would you prefer to have lived in any other century? The fantastic advances in science, technology and medicine, the control of disease and the length of life, the comfort of our homes, and with the ease of air travel, the earth has become a global village. These good times would have been undreamed of a century ago.
But it is no less the worst of times. There has never been such a threat to life on this planet as there is today. Injustice in society … threat to the world’s resources … famine and disease in many countries … the abuse of women and children … the absence of values and morality … depraved people waging wars … even the inhuman treatment of people in the “civilized” world that we Americans live in.
Underneath the surface of our society there is a profound loss of identity, hope and purpose. Who am I? Where is the world going? What really matters? What will last? What is the future going to be like? Will the world come to an end in my lifetime?
During the height of the Roman Empire—at the crossroads of Greek, Roman, and Jewish culture, Jesus of Nazareth was born. His life, His teachings, His healing ability, His claim to be God, and His death and resurrection have captured the hearts and minds of hundreds of millions of people all over the world during the past two thousand years.
One Sabbath, Jesus took His turn at reading the Scriptures in the Synagogue. He read from the scroll of Isaiah that pictures the deliverance of Israel from exile in Babylon as a “Year of Jubilee,” when all debts are cancelled, all slaves are freed, and all property is returned to its original owners (found in the Old Testament book of Leviticus chapter twenty-five).
But the release from Babylonian exile had not brought the fulfillment the people had expected; they were still a conquered and oppressed people who were depressed because of the many years of captivity.
So then, Isaiah must have been referring to a future Messianic age. Jesus’ reading boldly announced, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus was proclaiming himself as the One who would bring this good news to pass, but, in a way not all people would be able to grasp.
Dr. Luke wrote Jesus’ quote from Isaiah chapter sixty-one, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor" (Luke 4:18-19). Yes,promise, purpose and providence in one profound proclamation.
Does all the evil in the world prove there is no God? Was Jesus only a great teacher? Is there evidence that Jesus arose from the dead? Can the Bible be trusted? Does science conflict with faith? Christians are able to see suffering not just as something unpleasant, but as an opportunity to experience the victory of Jesus in their own lives.
God’s commands sometimes defy human logic. The command to rejoice in suffering doesn’t make sense until we realize its effect, then, we’ll speak in God’s dialect. These commands keep us focused on the Lord and the good things He can bring out of hardship.
“Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times” (2 Corinthians 4:1 MSG).
Training and testing His people is one of God's important strategies that enable His children to succeed in their physical and spiritual lives. This is why we do not live a life free of trials. These trials are sent (or allowed) specifically to see if our faith is real or simply empty words.
It’s only when you’re tested in battle that you become skilled warriors. These battles come your way to test what you know in your mind in order that they might become part of your heart. God has already given you the victory; therefore choose complete dependence on Him and obedience to Him. Remember, “We fight ‘from’ victory … not for victory.” (Larry Smiley)
The victory of Jesus rising from the tomb was for Israel a pledge of their own destiny from evil (Christmas being the promise, Easter being the proof!). Christianity looks beyond this life for the final solution of this mystery. You can readily learn this from the Bible, as it sheds additional light on the life to come.
Christianity holds to these truths because we have been given the key to the mystery of the cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians believe in a suffering, yet overcoming God in Christ. That belief prevents us from either becoming totally calloused or going out of our minds at all the suffering which afflicts the world around us. “We’re in the world, but not of the world.”
The sheer impact of Jesus Christ on the world forces all mankind to make a decision. And, it’s not an option. We have to either shut Him up, or hear Him out. Could He be right? Jesus really was dead. He was publicly executed; He was certified dead. But the tomb was empty (I’ve personally been to the empty tomb in Jerusalem in December 1989).
His enemies worked hard for years to see Him dead and buried (right where they wanted Him). But Jesus appeared to too many witnesses like 2 Corinthians 15:5-6 states, “He appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time.”
The Christian church owes its origin to the resurrection. Belief in the risen Christ is the first thing that distinguishes Christians from others. That belief of the risen Christ still lights up the hearts of approximately one third of the world’s population twenty centuries afterwards. If it wasn’t true … it would have faded away by now.
Many people have encountered the living Jesus and have been changed by Him. Your’s truly is one of those people!
Examine the evidence for yourself, then ask “Lord, if you are really alive, please make me sure of it.” Many who declare the Bible to be unreliable are very ignorant of its teaching. They are sure that they don’t want to take the costly step of following Jesus. It’s not what they can’t believe … it’s what they can believe that scares them into denial.
Truth does exist … boats run fast … believers run faithfully … Bibles runs forever!