Now that I have finally mastered the DVR that came with our new cable
setup, I can record any show I want without getting up too early or staying up
too late to watch it. Or let it interfere with my riding, I just set it and
go. And watch it later at my convenience. Without commercials. I can fast
forward through them, and miss those irritating interruptions. I love it. No
more warnings of how I can take a pill to be more of a man, or how I cannot live
without the latest i-something or other. No more desire to sue a manufacturer
because the ads telling me to buy it don’t work. And in 22 minutes I can watch
a half hour show. Which leaves more time for riding....finally a technology I
can agree with.
Same with youtube or any web site that makes me sit through an ad first.
They go on my list of never to buy, they are are irritating and intrusive. I
don’t like video ads, yet as kids they were attractive. Today I avoid them as
much as possible, which is all the time. Now you may wonder why a guy who hates
commercials watches TV so much, it is the recorded old shows, even though an ad
tells me the last CSI is on, which is a lie because it will go on forever in
reruns, I have never watched one episode. I watch old TV, and thanks to a few
retro channels, I am lost in Mayberry, going where no man has gone before on the
Enterprise, riding with Rockford in his Firebird, and in court with Perry Mason
any time I want. I watch Highway Patrol so much I know the cops by number. And
all without commercials. So there.
But when it comes to magazines, I am a different animal. I like the ads,
especially in motorcycle magazines. So while reading yesterday, I grabbed two
copies I previously reread, and counted the ad content. Both Motorcyclist, one
from August of 1981, the other April 2015. 34 years ago the magazine had 92
pages counting the covers, and 25 full page ads, along with 18 half page ads, a
total of 34 pages of ads. Or 36% ads, and I didn’t mind. Conveniently placed
Honda ads after a Honda road test, I remember the ads making me lust for
whatever was tested. Almost the same today, 94 pages with covers, but with 37
full page ads, and only 4 half page. For a 39/94 ratio ads to content, or 42%
ads. Weird, but I hate commercials, but enjoy the print ads. Go figure. And
just how important is advertising?
Advertising doesn’t sell subscriptions, but subscriptions sells ads. Very
little if any money is made from subs, but all the money made from advertising.
Which may explain why readership is so important, and my wife gets all these
free mags in the mail, that she never subscribed to. The more readership, the
more they can charge for ads, and with some monthlies being read by 4-5 people
for issue, the numbers are big, or mean big money for the magazine. Which is
why e-magazines are loaded with ads, and if you have a website you can have ads
on it and get paid 5-10 cents every time someone accesses it. Ad dollars are
big money, for those who buy and those who sell. So now you know why Super Bowl
ads cost so much, and how irritating it is on that day to have them interrupted
by the game. But I still don’t like them, and the Super Bowl Is not worth
recording, so I’ll suffer through it. Just don’t tell the stations, I want
Perry Mason and Dan Mathews to be available 24/7. Recorded of course.
When Michael Jagger sung of how he can’t get no satisfaction, he talked of
cigarettes, shirts, and about the external us. About making an impression. How
many of us Christians care about the impression we make? Take a moment to
consider that one. Maybe that is why we don’t get no satisfaction in our walk.
We care more about us than we do our audience. And although many scenarios have
been tried, dinner first than sermon, preaching on the street interrupting an
outing, or wearing a t-shirt that tells what a good brother you are, the one
fact remains, until they know how much you care, they don’t care about how much
you know. Some go out to win souls, and end up winning arguments. So much love
in the “well they’re still going to hell,” when they find someone who knows
scripture better, even if they aren’t saved. And for those who only invite
sinners to church, but never sit and get to know them, they come up empty many
times. The one question we fail to ask ourselves is “if I’m a Christian, why
would anyone want to be like me?” If I am an ad for Jesus, what am I trying to
sell? What is my product?
Sorry I lost some of you now, but welcome back. God’s product is love,
available through forgiveness. Try that one. And we don’t win souls, Jesus
does. And only when guided by the spirit do we make a difference. The world
looks at drinking and smoking as sin, even calls the taxes on them sin taxes, so
why try to share Jesus over a beer? While taking a drag on a cigarette? For
one thing have compassion for your audience, the other try to appear blameless.
Make your video match your audio. Years ago I started to give up habits that
would not condemn me to hell, but might others. “Well he does it, and he’s a
Christian.” Care more about the person than yourself. Just like Jesus said.
And don’t just hide that bad habit at home either, God is watching, and we are a
witness of him! But where the spirit guides we find life, we don’t try to win
arguments, or even souls. We let the spirit do his job, and point them to
Jesus. We are told to love, usually the last thing we do. And I find a way to
do it is by listening. By shutting up and listening. Then answering. Without
preaching, as I don’t like to be preached at. But I sure do love to be listened
to and loved. And I get more results, better results when spirit driven. Funny
how I win more fights because I choose my battles better.
Some days I am just a seed thrower, some days I water, but like Paul
admonishes us, it is the spirit that gives life. Feeling dead...can’t get no
satisfaction, you need the spirit, the holy spirit. The one commandment Jesus
left us with we don’t do. Or we make them try to like us. When we need to love
them without trying to win an argument. Or prove a point. Maybe we
underestimate the power of a hug, of listening, of caring. The world is looking
for love in all the wrong places, don’t be one of them. And if you are worried
about what to say, listen, then respond, the spirit again promises to give you
the words you need. And both of you can be ministered to at once. We are
called to be a witness, not go out witnessing.
Don’t become an ad that when people see you coming fast forward away from.
Make your ad time, your witness of who Jesus is in your life count. Like ads
you can be irritating to others, so don’t be. Just imagine if the Bible, the
all time best seller came with ads. Right in the middle of John 3:16, there was
an ad for buying something holy. Or to invite you to a revival. Or potluck.
You would lose the flow of the spirit. Now if it can interrupt on TV, or in
print, be glad God doesn’t advertise. You want truth, not a spin on it. And
the truth will set you free from ads, and the temptation to buy something you
don’t want, or need. Reading the Bible should be a joy if for nothing else it
has no ads!
So consider that you may be the only Bible some will ever read. What does
your ad say about Jesus? Why would I want to be a Christian after seeing you?
Which is why God changes us to be like Jesus, and he doesn’t change people to be
like us. Jesus kicked the money changers out of the temple, now they line the
sidewalks. Salvation is free, why pay more than that? Love and joy are
included, with free shipping. And he will double your order, or 10 times it,
what ever is necessary. All from the safety of wherever you are. Because he
never leaves you nor forsakes you. A kind word to remember next time a
commercial comes on, and you cannot find the remote. A life in Christ
commercial free, and I don’t need a DVR to watch. Satisfied?
love with compassion,
Mike
matthew25biker.blogspot