About Roscoe...

Basically I was brought up around Outlaw Bikers as a young child, my two eldest brothers were in an outlaw club. Apparently my dad rode, mum rode and so it was only natural for me to ride a motorcycle as well. My mum was an alcoholic as far back I can remember; I spent most of my childhood up to the age of 10 in Hospital having operations on my ears as I had a disease called mastoiditis. By the age of 7, I was smoking cigarettes, by 10, I was smoking dope and drinking alcohol. At the age of 11, I was living on the streets and headed in the wrong direction at a very young age. My dad had not been around so there was no discipline in my life only beatings from my mother when she was drunk.

    My brother Stephan and a man that lived with us "Uncle Kevin" taught me how to cook and look out for myself basically and it all came in handy. Eventually I was caught by the police charged for stealing a bike and made a ward of the state until I was 18, that was when I was 11 and the first home I went into was great, it was called "Warilda" and was in a suburb called Wooloowin on the northern end of the city of Brisbane. The second Home I was in was back at Wynnum called "Margaret Marr" it was a dump, I was treated wrong, abused verbally, mentally and emotionally so I decided to go back on the streets, I moved quite a lot and eventually moved back home with mum when I was about 13 or 14. Welfare would come looking for me but I would be hiding in a cupboard or something.

    I left school the day I turned 15 not that it mattered anyway I think they were happy to get rid of me, I was apparently a bad influence on everyone with my blue jeans and long hair, They didn't seem to take to kindly to me being stoned most of the time either. I started working at the meat works and received adults wages of $380 a week which was a lot of money then, it was one long party with my pay packet being stoned or drunk 25 hours a day and 8 days a week. I was so paranoid I always carried a flick knife with me, not that I think I would have had the guts to use it but people knew I had it. I managed to somehow avoid the department of Family services until I was eighteen but not before there was a major string of tragedy in my family. There was about 6 deaths in my immediately family in 6 months one of them being my Brother Raymond who was an outlaw, he was killed in a car accident, the driver was drunk and he was the only one not wearing a seatbelt, then the big crunch came.

       At the age of 15 I was at a party when I heard a voice telling me to go home although there was no one near me, I had this urge to go home so I did and found my mother in the toilet passing blood through the bowels and vomiting blood as well, she was rushed to hospital and operated on, the response from the hospital was sow her up and she will not live until Saturday, she slipped into a coma. A main artery through her body had perished and the doctors back then could do nothing. I went home and went to see a friend who asked me if I believed in God? I said maybe there was someone out there, but I wasn't sure and didn't really care. My friend told me to go home and ask God for my mum's life and that I would give him mine, so I did; for three days I did not eat or sleep all I did was say "God you give me my mum's life and you can have mine", We received a phone call on the Saturday morning when she was supposed to have died to go up to the hospital urgently, when we got there we expected my mum to be taking her last breaths but instead we found her sitting up in bed, she had pulled all the tubes out and wanted to go home. God had totally healed her. The doctors eventually let her go home after placing a small camera down her throat and noticing the artery had become like brand new - Unexplainable by them.

    She had been miraculously healed, I just stood there and looked with my own eyes, the doctors were baffled, everyone was trying to calm her down and put the tubes back in, all I could do was stand at the end of the bed and say "OK God what now". From there I met up with an old girl friend who had become a Christian and her boyfriend discipled me for about 12 months. I met my wife Sharon at the little full Gospel church we went to (Calvary Life Assemblies) and at the age of 18 we got married. Brother Nev Digby was the Pastor there and a great man of God and he had the most integrity I have ever seen in a person's life. He taught me heaps and laid a strong foundation of Love and the word in my life. Sharon had a bike and I had a bike so naturally we started riding a lot, going to rallies almost every month and riding on weekends taking holidays and going either north or South on 2 bikes, and generally trying to cram as much into life as we could, mum was still alive, she lived for another 15 years before giving her life to Jesus and passing on.

    I went from a full Gospel church to a full on Pentecostal church called Christian Outreach Centre under the leadership of Pastor Clark Taylor. I would have to say it was the best time of my life while I was at that church, I went from strength to strength and learned heaps from a godly man. During all this came the Christian Bike Clubs, "Christ's Ambassadors" were started when I met Steve at another meeting and we thought the guy who wanted to start a club was "off the wall", so Steve invited me to his place as he was looking at starting something also. I was one of the original members, I ended up introducing them to the outlaw scene through my brother being a member of the outlaw club. Steve and all the others soon had Harley's and I moved on, not feeling to be a part of that scene. I met up with "Bikers for Christ" when I was approached by two guys at Christian Outreach Centre to come along and join up so I did. Years later, I amalgamated Bikers for Christ with the CMA (Christian Motorcyclists Association), soon after I backslid for 4 years because of offence .

I rededicated my life four years laterand I eventually became an Assistant Pastor of a small church and worked there for 5 years setting up computer systems, doing a lot of the administration work and helping to start a TV ministry with computers and watched the church grow. I set up web pages as well and I worked part time to support myself, my wife and 2 kids. After a few years of stretching myself like I was, I started getting sick from a neck injury I'd had that I did not know about, suffering greatly from migraines and associated illnesses for about 3 years. I eventually left the church and started truck driving again but I only lasted 9 months before having to go off work due to the injuries and associated illnesses.

    Eventually the doctors found the problem causing the migraines, Basically 10 to 15 years of truck driving and falling off motorbikes had taken there toll unbeknown to me on my cervical spinal column. I have some injuries to my neck which the doctors say are basically irreparable, and that I am a liabiltiy to any employer, therefore I have been placed on a disability pension. Many times I wonder is it all worth it, all this "Christian Bike stuff" and every time I think about it, I hear God saying to me you learn not only by your own mistakes but other people's mistakes as well. I have learnt to watch where others have gone wrong or astray in God and know to stay away from those areas, I have seen many people fall, and have seen many people cause others to fall as well. I had learnt as a young Christian in that little full gospel church to walk the Love walk. I have also seen what Christians are like without love as well.

    In one Ministry I had been stuck with a large bill to pay that was in my name for that ministry, It happened through someone getting a password and running up a large bill. Unfortunately when I helped set the access up I did not expect this and gave the company my name as they wanted a persons name not just a company and silly me gave my name not thinking. The police were involved but basically the offenders were un-trackable and the police let it all drop, the senior Coordinator refused to pay the bill and I had to take out a personal loan to pay the bill myself. I had backslide for 4 years before over similar issues and it would mean certain death to me if I went back there. I noticed the signs now and how the devil works so I have managed to avoid unforgiveness and strife this time round.

    I had been wounded by different many different people, even Pastors and ministries over the years. I have seen ministries do things and cause other Christians to go bankrupt in business, but that was and is none of my business. I have seen lies told from the pulpit and hypocrisy in many churches and even in myself for that matter, I have repented and no longer will compromise my walk with God for any man. I have dealt with unforgiveness many times over and have moved on each time, someone said to me once, "everybody leaves home when they grow up", and that is what needs to happened, we all need to grow up! God has placed me in different situations for a period of growing, even if I thought they were bad.

You may wonder why I write this? Because it is reality! There are many more christians who have been hurt by people in ministry, friends, family or those around them, I have seen many people taken for a ride for their money and used for their talents and then kicked while they were down in the end by "Ministries" or "Pastors". The trick is, get over it! If you have been hurt, you need to just get on with your Christian walk, don't blame God like many do, or allow other people's faults, or your own for that matter (I had faults as well) to cause you to become bitter like many do and walk away from God.

    I fellowship at a great church now. I am not involved in ministry in any way which is great as I have had enough of so called "ministry" especially after more than 15 years of working with street kids. A good church is one where the people love you for who you are and not what you have got or what you can offer! I am finally growing spiritually and putting everything behind me, years ago I had burnt out physically, emotionally and spiritually and did not even know it, reality is, I had got out of the will of God for my life. I have recovered physically and I am learning to get over various battles and how to walk in the Spirit again and not the flesh. God has placed a hunger again within me to study his word and fellowship with Him, (which I had got away from because I was always so busy doing things for others) and I am loving it. If you find yourself sometimes too busy, you are plain dumb too busy, slow down and spend time with the Lord, burnout is not nice.

    I had heard plenty of bagging of the main denominational churches like the AOG or COC over the years, but as far as I am concerned it is the place for me. God is doing things in my life now, I am being fed with good solid spiritual food and I am growing now in God more than ever. We need to stop bagging other people, churches or ministries regardless of who is right or wrong and just get on with what God has called us, you and me to do. I am being built up and strengthened every time I walk through the doors - That is what Christianity is supposed to be, make sure you are in the will of God for your life, not what others say is the will of God for you, but what God tells you. We are his children and he will lead us and direct us if we just trust him. Trust God and not man because man will let you down every time. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will never be hurt by man. I am blessed by God to be a blessing to others, that is what Christianity is supposed to be.

Feel free to contact me if you want to talk. via our email link

We all need to learn to keep our eyes on Jesus, he is our friend that will stick closer than a brother. I tried changing situations around me by being an example but it all fell flat because what I was involved in was corrupted by the greed of others. Unfortunately not everything God asks us to do is something we may like. But it will bring blessings to our lives if we just simply obey and get on with it! God is not finished with me yet! I have a long way to go, I am no better than you, and you are no better than me, because it is only by grace we are saved! Without Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I doubt I would even be here today, all the praise and the glory to God.

I don't know where Bikers 4 Christ is going? I hope it stays small, so we can help one another, I hope it stays tight so we can look out for each other and others and know when our brother is hurting, go to him, and help him practically not just by praying for him only. I don't have any big visions, dreams or ideas. We need to look out for each other, help each other if we stumble, not kick those who have fallen while they are down, I have seen heaps of that. Enough is enough, if you want change, you start by helping those less fortunate than yourself, or picking up the pieces of others lives instead of creating your own kingdom. It is not until we look at the problems of the world that we realise how pathetic our own problems are.

My favourite scripture is Matthew 6:33 which says "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (that's his ways) and all these things will be added unto you". All what things? Food shelter and clothing, all the things the gentiles seek after, they will be added to us, we won't have to chase after them ourselves. My dream and vision is to change one persons life that will change the world. Someone had to witness to Smith Wigglesworth and I want to be the person to witness or lead someone to Jesus who will go on and do mighty things in his name, the Name of Jesus. If God wants to use me, great, but I doubt it! I am nothing except what he has called me to be and do, and that is found in your life by following Jesus and not man.

Stay upright - Roscoe

BACK TO TESTIMONIES PAGE

or

No Links or frames? Bikers 4 Christ Home Page Here