Hello I’m “Herald” aka Gary Shanks.
I have had the great privilege and pleasure of being involved with the Live Riders motorcycle ministry for the past three years. I currently serve as the Vice President and feel very fortunate to serve in that capacity.
The Early Years
I grew up in eastern Nebraska in the small town of Fremont. When I was six years old my dad abandoned us. I was the oldest of 4 kids. My life was turned upside down. Within six years I was doing drugs, smoking cigarettes and was totally defiant and hateful.
By high school time I was stoned 24/7. I don’t recall much of my junior year. As a senior I partied a little less. When I graduated I had no idea what I was going to do. I had worked as a farm laborer and didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life.
Due to our poverty I was awarded grants to attend the University of Nebraska. It was just one big party for the first year. A couple buddies and I rented a house and it became the drug house. I knew my life was going nowhere but I didn’t know what to do about it.
I believed GOD existed but thought HE was some cosmic force that didn’t care about me. HE was just up there somewhere but not personal. I always thought that I could do a death-bed confession and get into to heaven under that clause.
Change of Heart
During the beginning of my sophomore year I realized I was about to flunk out of college. I had not studied and was doing poorly. A friend asked if I wanted to go visit his family in Minnesota over Thanksgiving break. I agreed. It was an 8 hour drive and when we were about ½ way there my friend told me his dad was very religious. I didn’t think anything of it since I was going to party.
That Sunday morning as I was dragging myself out of bed with a terrible hangover his dad started talking to me about religion. He asked if I wanted to pray. I said, “No, but if you want to go ahead.” I sat there while he started to pray. He asked the LORD to help me get over my anger towards my dad and that I would pass my college courses.
I was shocked. He didn’t know about my feelings towards my dad and he certainly didn’t know about my grades. I remember thinking this guy has something but I’m not sure what it is. He gave me a Bible and told me to read Proverbs if I wanted wisdom. I somehow miraculously passed my courses that semester. I read the Bible over Christmas break but couldn’t get much out of it.
That spring semester I thought I would check out some of the religious student groups on campus. I attended a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting and met a fellow who ended up being my mentor for the next four years. He was very knowledgeable about the Bible and committed to following Jesus.
By the time I graduated from the University I had taught many classes for Campus Crusade, attended several spring break conferences in Daytona Beach, Florida and also a “summer project” in Marquette, Michigan for more intensive Christian training.
My Beloved Wife
While attending the University I met a farm girl by the name of Pat. She was studying chemistry and had transferred from the Omaha campus to the Lincoln campus. She was very active in Campus Crusade and also was being mentored by a more mature Christian. It ended up that the gal mentoring her was fiancée to the fellow mentoring me. A coincident or was GOD at work?
The summer after we graduated we were married. That was August 2, 1980. We stayed in Nebraska for the next three years until I felt a prompting to get more education. Remember this was the fellow who just wanted to get stoned and not go to classes.
Pat & I attended a Christian rally for home-school families. The state of Nebraska was arresting home-schoolers because they were not certified with the state. At that rally I felt the need for a Christian with both a legal background and a theology background. That is when I decided to look into seminary.
I learned of Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, California. August of 1983 I started to attend classes working for a Masters in Theology. After that I attended Southwestern School of Law in Los Angeles and graduated in 1987.
Meeting Dad
During my first year of law school I was able to get in touch with my dad. I had not seen him since I was 6 years old and now I’m 28. I still harbored a tremendous amount of hatred even though I had been a Christian for 9 years. I didn’t know what it would be like to meet him face to face. Would all those childhood dreams of killing him come out like a flood? All I could do was ask the LORD for grace.
When we met I didn’t feel anything. I was surprised at my numbness. It was just like meeting any stranger. As I got to know him I wanted him to acknowledge the hurt he caused me. He never did. A couple months before he passed away I learned why he didn’t realize the hurt a dad could cause his son. When he was 14 all the money he had saved to buy a new pick-up truck was taken by his alcoholic father. He ran away and never looked back. At 64 years of age he was still very hurt by what his dad had done to him. I asked him if he had made peace with GOD. He said he had and I hope that is true.
Since then Pat and I have had three kids and made our home in Simi Valley since 1987. We attended a Baptist church for many years and love all the people there. However, we wanted a more contemporary worship style and a place where we could serve. That is how the LORD led us to the Live Ride Christian Church.
Conclusion or Just the Beginning
A favorite verse of mine is:
Romans 8:28
“And we know that GOD causes everything to work
together for the good of those who love GOD and are
called according to HIS purpose for them.”
There were so many things in my life that I thought were useless or negative; hatred, bitterness and a callous heart just to name a few. Jesus was able to cause those things to work for good in my life. I now realize that all the hurts I’ve been through help me to understand others. That just as I wanted to be reconciled to my dad, Jesus wants us to be reconciled with Him. HIS love reached into my life and has worked for good all those horrible things I experienced.
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