Biker Evangelist Calling

My name is Michael G. Thoreson and I have a biker evangelist calling on my life. I go by Mike and my biker friends call me Tazz. I was born and raised in the United States. I currently live in the great state of Texas. The hardest part of my testimony is when I finally realized how far I had strayed away from God to now finding my way back to Him. I look back at my life to see how I didn’t stop to think of anybody else. I spent my whole life thinking of me, me, me! I didn’t stop to think of the repercussions because I didn’t care. All the mess was caused by my own choices in life. I did a lot of things during the course of my life that I’m not proud of.

I grew up in a “Lutheran” home. But behind closed doors, it was all physical, mental and verbal abuse. My sister and I were sent to Sunday School every Sunday. Then every Sunday afternoon the punches would fly, not only from my dad but from my sister, uncle, and grandfather as well. I would get beat up by my father and most of the time I had no clue why. When he didn’t hit me, he ignored me most of the time. I always felt religion was shoved down my throat because why did I have to go to Sunday School but my mom and dad didn’t. I did a lot with the church in high school but I did it just because I was scared to go home. I was not doing it for God.

My sister got me started on alcohol and marijuana when I was 12 years old. She also gave me my first hit of acid and my first line of cocaine at 13 years old. She would hit me with full cans of soda from a couple feet away, then laugh when she would hit me in the groin so hard that I’d throw up. At the age of 14, my sister had one of her girlfriends sexually assault me while she watched and laughed the entire time. When it was finished she told me to go ahead and tell on her because dad would beat the crap out of me for lying.

My poor choices in life caused me to physically and emotionally hurt a lot of people just to impress the wrong people. I got married the first time, just a week out of high school to a woman I never really loved just to escape the abuse at home. I should have figured out it was a bad situation when I walked into her house to see Ouija boards, Voodoo candles, and a movie collection made up entirely of horror and occult movies.

I had my first heart attack at 27 years old due to all the drugs I was using. After 11 years of marriage, I was addicted to drugs and alcohol and because of my addictions, my bad life choices sent me to prison for 3 years courtesy of the Minnesota Department of Corrections. I can honestly say that my time in prison probably saved my life. My choices in life were heading me down a path bent on painful self-destruction that I had no idea how to get off of. Even in prison, I did some of the same things that had caused all the turmoil in my life. I still wasn’t ready to listen to anybody, much less listen to what God was trying to tell me. Our divorce was final a month before I got released.

After prison and my divorce, I was homeless for 3 years. I’d rather be dead than to live like this. I never understood why I was still alive. I often prayed for death to come. I was so paranoid that I thought everyone around me was out to get me. Through all of this, something kept me going.

I married my second wife after only 3 weeks. Not because I loved her, but because I didn’t want to die alone. She turned out to be a drug user and would psychologically abuse me on a daily basis. Then I had an accident. I was a pedestrian hit by a car. It was a hit and run with mistaken identity. The doctors thought they lost me. All I could do was lie there and cry like a baby, but I still didn’t ask God for help.

I alienated and hurt my family and anyone that loved me. My choices caused me to never get to know the type of man my 26-year-old son became before God called him home. I also have a 31-year-old daughter that wants nothing to do with me. That caused me a lot of anger towards God.

I attempted suicide six times. My addictions caused some health issues that caused me to be clinically dead four times. During my last heart attack, I was dead for four minutes. The reality check for me was that all I felt was cold, lonely, empty, nothingness and darkness. That was the scariest feeling! The hardest thing is when you finally wake up and realize how far you strayed from God and His safety and love all because of my life choices. For years, I blamed everybody else and even God. That was an eye-opener for me! I prayed for the first time in 30 years and asked him to help me! I didn’t want to spend eternity cold, dark, and alone! That’s when I felt his presence! He told me, “It’s okay, I’m not done with you yet!”

Since then, God gave me a great friendship with a wonderful lady that has reassured me that God does exist and that He does love me! She convinced me to move down to Texas to start my life over with a fantastic church family. I have never felt so much love from a church as I do this one!

He’s NOT done with me yet, and this led me to rededicate my life to the Lord and get re-baptized on Easter Sunday! I had the opportunity to get even closer to God during our church’s corporate Daniel Fast! During the Daniel Fast, the Lord gave me my biker evangelist calling. The Lord wants me to become ordained and spread His word and message using the highways and byways as my ministry.

Starting my studies at Christian Leaders Institute (CLI) has strengthened my faith on my biker evangelist calling journey! It not only teaches me more about our Lord but has helped me to communicate with Him daily and to look at life with its daily challenges in a different way. In my studies and in my walk with God, I am on fire to minister for Him! So, I think the word Evangelist identifies me the most on my biker evangelist calling journey. God has called me to minister using my motorcycle as my vessel and the road as my church to spread His word to those in need.

After my last heart attack, the thought of joining His ministry crossed my mind for the first time. I never pursued it until I moved to Texas and met the wonderful lady who survived a near-fatal motorcycle accident. She has shown me through her surviving the accident, that God does care, performs miracles, and answers prayers!

We live in Gatesville, Texas, which is a small close knit community with churches of various sizes and denominations. Through my biker evangelist calling, I have become a member of the Highway 2 Heaven Biker Church & Motorcycle Ministries, which is interdenominational. We are a small but growing ministry that has several different outreach programs throughout the area. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord!

My church has become a big part of my family and has been very supportive in my call into the ministry by offering to mentor me along the way. My family is also supportive of my call into the ministry. The wonderful lady in my life is very supportive of my biker evangelist calling.

Being a student at CLI is very important to my ministry dream because having a greater knowledge of the Bible, God’s Word, will even further strengthen my walk with the Lord. So that others will see and feel the power of the Holy Spirit in me. This training will also give me the financial means to work toward becoming ordained for God.

Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.