Kenny's mom shopped at Shop Rite

Looking back, I am not sure how we managed to raise our family.  It took both our paychecks and then some, but somehow we made it.  Looking back further, I am really amazed at how my Dad raised a family on only his teacher’s paycheck, but he did.  And really looking back, how my Grandmother once told me of how a $15 light bill went unpaid because my Grandfather didn’t make that much that week.  But somehow we manage, some through the grace of God, some using Generics.  You remember them, popular in the 70’s, instead of seeing the Jolly Green Giant on the label, it was white with black letters, “CORN” or “PEAS.”  A generation ago we tried them, but found the price sometimes was still too high for the lower quality.  As kids we knew which mothers had the best snacks, and sometimes would let a kid hang out with us because of the snack quality.  Then there was Kenny’s mom, who always, only bought things on sale, and mostly the Shop Rite brand.  Which answered a question nobody dared ask, how bad can you make potato chips?  Chocolate chip cookies?  Ice milk instead of cream.  Even Kenny wore Shop Rite underwear....but we all did what we had to do. 

So is it a good deal because it is cheaper?  What deal is better, 10 cents each or 2/25 cents?  Your answer may surprise even you.  My Dad used to fill up his VW bug with Sunoco 190, the lowest grade available, aka the cheapest.  He must have gone into shock when he had to put premium at 10 cents a gallon more in his new BMW.  And spend a dollar more per fill up.  When we moved west in 1987, we needed a second car badly, so bought a 1987 Ford Escort, the get you in to buy another one deal, and bought the stripped one advertised.  No AC, open the windows, a plate where the radio should be, and plastic mats on the floor.  But it did the job, and did it cheaply.  Remember a friend telling you he drove a Vette, and you thought Corvette, not his Chevette?  Big difference....

Maybe it is the way we order, a friend one time ordered a pizza with pepperoni, sausage, extra cheese, onions, and peppers.  I ordered the same thing, a Super Deluxe, without extra cheese for $3 less.  Same pizza, just not ala cart.  In college we knew just where the best burger deal was, and how 2 cheeseburgers were cheaper and more filling than one Big Mac.  Same with fries, 2 small fires cheaper and bigger than one large.  Maybe being poor pushed us into an economic situation where we had to think, while others just thought we were broke or cheap.  Well, they were half right.  But today I still read labels, signs, and look out for Generics.  And with all the money I have saved from my 10 cents each purchases, can afford premium in my bikes.  But still use only regular, for that is all that they need. 

It still seems today that everyone is out to get your dollar.  Read the ads, I mean really look at the prices, you might be surprised.  A store manager once told me when I sold him Coca Cola, he could advertise 99 cent six packs that cost him $1.35 and make money.  Once they were in the store, the regular prices stayed the same, they bought based on the price of Coke.  His question to me, “what would get you in, 99 cent six packs, or 7% off storewide?”  He laughed all the way to the bank.  So read the ads....beware minimum purchases, and ask your kids who has the best snacks.  You may find out more about a person’s income, buying habits, and where the best buys are by listening.  Or maybe being invited over for dinner...what part of chicken parts don’t you understand?

Today in the age of declining church attendance, I get ads about programs, processes, procedures, and feel prodded into going.  Marketing plans today put in place, as some have grown very large and impersonal, while others struggle to make ends meet.  On a church visit once to fellowship’s new building, at the end of the service, the pastor addressed the assembled flock, and berated them, they had fallen short their first month on their pledges, and the mortgage was due.  Such faith...and they eventually lost the building, they lost most of us a lot sooner.  Jesus has much to say about the poor, poor in spirit, poor in wallet, and poor in mind.  As schools toady go to online classes to save money, so are churches.  Building costs are excessive, and we need to look better than the church down the street.  At one time looking for the lost to save and minister to, now they compete for your dollar also, as they don’t have the faith in God they tell you to have.  They are selling out at wholesale, neglecting that scripture tells us “unless God builds the church we labor in vain.”  Us, the church, from saving to meeting our needs, it is all about Jesus.  Yet although Jesus reminds us the poor will always be with us, even if he isn’t after his crucifixion, but remember the resurrection, the church asks the poorest to still contribute, “we cannot make it without your faithfulness.”  When they should be dealing direct with God.  The first century church got this, and when a need arose, the body provided it.  No special offering, no envelopes, pledges, or begging from the pulpit, they went to the Lord in prayer and he provided.  From the woman with two mites to Ananias and Sapphira, God meets the needs.  Not us.  So why do you ask those who don’t have to provide when you have a rich God who can and does?  Are you settling for a Generic religion when you can have it all in Jesus?  Why do you give, or do you give to get?

Ananias and Sapphira were saved, part of the church.  And givers, but just like the man who stands in church and gives $1000 anonymously.  They wanted the recognition, so God gave it to them, not quite what they expected, taking them to heaven sooner than they wanted without their glory, God’s, and recorded forever in scripture for a lesson for all of us.  Does your church’s legacy reflect A&S?  Does yours?  Are you feeding God Generics so you can eat the good stuff?  Is what in the Bible more important than what gets you into the church?  Are you wallet or spirit driven?  Is it possible you may be poor and not know it? Maybe this last example will help....

We were coming back from Canada, and stopping in Reno for the night.  The sign at Circus Circus said “ROOMS $19!”  Sounds like us, so we parked went in, and found the line out the door for $19 rooms.  There must have been 200 people ahead of us when a girl stood up on the counter and announced, “we have no more $19 rooms,” and the place emptied in a stampede.  With us and only a few others left standing.  Suddenly we were first in line, when she said “but we do have suites for $29!”  And how sweet it was!  Hot tub in the room, top floor with corner windows, maybe the best $29 I ever spent on a room.  The lesson here, of many learned, was God has something better for you than religion.  Don’t settle for just any church, or just any God.  Jesus paid the price to enter the kingdom of heaven, where the rooms are all in mansions, no lines, and they are prepaid.  No credit card needed to get in.  No ID, he knows your name.  And one is waiting for you right now.  Why settle for a program or process, when you can have it all?  Is your walk just a bunch of trendy church talk, has your whole Christian experience been about church activities?  They aren’t necessarily bad, but unless driven by the spirit, you settle for less, a lot less.  Jesus never asked for or took a collection, he told us to give from the heart, hilariously.  If you don’t you miss the blessing.  God doesn’t need your money, you may be surprised that the church shouldn’t either if they trust they same God they tell you to.  Hmmmm....

And about those poor among you, they are the ones who inherit the kingdom of God.  Salvation is not negotiable, and is never on sale, even on Easter and Christmas.  Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe.  The widow stood out because she was poor, her giving made her stand out to show how rich she really was.  Kenny’s mom shopped at Shop Rite, the price reflected the quality.  Us kids knew better.  What kid would ever eat a generic Oreo?  Still interested in a $19 room? 

love with compassion,

MIke

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

a day in the life of a service advisor

I spent the last 10 years of my professional life as a service advisor and service manager for Mercedes Benz and Land Rover.  And in that position I dealt with all types of people, and all types of car problems.  Some real and some imagined.  But never were there any boring days, and never was there any lack of broken cars.  And an opportunity to meet interesting people.  And somewhere along the way I learned that we not only fixed cars, but fixed people who owned them too.  With the car being the easy part, stupid takes longer, if can be fixed at all, and the scars from it never heal.

At one time Mercedes Benz owners represented the upper 2% of wage earners, but by 2003 that had changed, up to 10 year financing, and we began to see many older cars that should have been retired being brought in by younger people, bragging they owned a Mercedes, when they could barely afford a Chevy.  But I tried to treat them all the same, with dignity and honesty, but with mixed results.  Sometimes I just reported the problem, other times I had to insist upon the repair, while sadly a few times I would advise the car was not worth fixing.  And of the three, telling them the repairs exceeded the value of the car was the hardest.  Sometimes it worked in reverse, the more I tried to advise them to junk the car, the deeper they got into their pockets.  An emotional tie or burst of ego made them want to fix it, like they almost had to or else.  Like I said the customer base was changing, the older ones expecting to spend at least $1000 per visit, and having a trusting relationship with you, while one time a woman burst into tears over a bill for $150 for brakes, “I have no money,” for brakes?  Maybe one less latte at Nordie’s....Which left a group that was always trying to impress you, they demanded things be fixed prematurely, one yo-yo engineer demanded we replace his starter and alternator, both working fine, because a co-worker had problems with those on his Toyota of the same year. Huh?  Fixing cars was easy after him.  Then there was the older couple who came in on Fridays with a specious problem, a rattle that only occurred to them, and would demand a free loaner car, which they got.  More than once I confronted them about the gas receipts in the rental from going to Vegas in our car, they just wanted a free car for the weekend, newer and nicer than theirs, and not putting miles on their car also.  How stupid did they think we were?

But one thing that surprised me at first, and then became pretty standard was the owner’s knowledge of their car.  And woman always knew more about their car than men, they read the owner’s manual, asked questions and stayed on top of maintenance.  They kept you on your toes, and were much easier to deal with.  They read the book...I guess we men are too busy to.  With of course the exception to the rule concerning the manual and the new owner.  He had just bought a new E class, and after 3 days found over 40 problems with the car.  He was demanding a buy back immediately, and they sent him to me.  For two hours he wasted my time, and with each complaint found he hadn’t listened to the salesman at delivery, never read the owners manual, and found he couldn’t afford the payments, which only took him 3 days to figure out.  Not one of his complaints was valid, my favorite was “ in park it won’t rev past 4000 rpm,” why would you want to while going nowhere?  And it was designed not to exceed that rpm in park.  Ohhh...He left, his ego bruised, his car fine, not sure about his payments.  

At one time I was one of 17 service advisors at MB, and also the busiest.  I had built up a great customer base, I listened, told the truth, and was dependable.  With one trait the others didn’t find time to do.  For every car under me in the shop, the customer got a daily phone call.  They didn’t have to wait for me, I called them.  Letting moms know early to keep the loaner, so they could get the kids at school.  Keeping a big repair customer up to date on the progress and the bill, and changes as needed.  I found the less number of surprises they found out the hard way, the easier my job was, and I could let the tech do his.  With the frequent updates we also got to know each other, the more we talked, I became a familiar voice, and they grew to trust me.  “Take your car to Mike, you can trust him...” how many times have you not heard that in a repair shop?  Remember we are fixing people too...

In case you haven’t noticed, God is and has been in the people fixing business for a long time.  And based on some I see, his job is one I don’t want.  Think of it a minute, look at his customers-us.  The hours he keeps, with no breaks in between.  Good thing he isn’t in a union.  His own book, written about him to help with life, is misquoted and lazily read.  Where anyone can twist his words for their own good...far too often.  Most of his communications with us is one sided, he listens, but we never give him a chance to answer, and if we don’t like his advice, well Oprah knows better.  He is truthful, can be reached at any time, yet avoided skillfully.  The ultimate advisor, the wonderful counselor of Jesus, the comforter of the spirit, and at prices you can afford-free.  Yet we don’t listen...I think I know the feeling.

But he has one thing compared to cars that no company could ever offer.  We have warranties, extended warranties, and even limited high mileage warranties, but no life time warranty.  Except in Christ.  Available to all at birth, many take advantage of it early, and are born again.  Some after expensive and extensive repairs, sign up and are saved.  Some wait, until they are done having fun, and may have waited too long.  But in all cases have the choice to accept or deny Jesus as the son of God, as deity.  And God’s offer is good until our dying breath, which we don’t know when it will happen.  The other fact being 100% of us will die, and we can choose our eternal destination now.  And yet some still say no....

I have found in cars as well as with God, good advice only works if taken.  And stupid still hurts, when it doesn’t have too.  I used to tell my customers that maintenance is expensive, but repairs from lack of it is even worse.  Let God into your life, listen to the spirit’s advise, and avoid a breakdown.  Which is always more expensive.  I would never promise you a perfect life, just as I wouldn’t a perfect car, we aren’t perfect, but our creator knows what we need, and can fix anything.  And everything.  Even broken hearts.  And at prices you can afford.  Check into God’s warranty today, called forgiveness, and be set free from sin and eternal death.  Enjoy the ride here on earth.  Not everyone can afford a Mercedes Benz, you may be a Toyota that needs fixing.  Long before Toyota promised you “oh what a feeling!” Jesus died for your sins.  Experience his love and forgiveness today, and forever.  Fixing people is what he does best.  Now about that rattle in the dash, have you considered turning up the volume on the radio?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

no one ever failed in Landau's class

My anatomy professor at UNM, Professor Landau, “call me Landau, everyone else does, including my kids and wife,” was a unique individual.  Strange may be closer to the truth.  He looked a lot like Edward G. Robinson, except with the Brillo type hair no comb can tame, and his personality was much like Columbo.  Each class was unlike the other, with the exception he brought us up to speed each meeting with family news, which usually took the whole hour.  So your reading assignment was that much more important, you learned from the book, as anatomy class soon took on the Landau Family Hour.  With one afternoon worth remembering...

I was a fifth semester freshman, at my third try at college.  An attractive older girl always sat next to me, she was about 23, me 21, old for and to the rest of the 18 year olds in the class.  We had talked briefly, and were a little out of their league, as both of us had been out in the world, and decided to go back to school so we didn’t have to work an hourly wage the rest of our lives, to the others this was just 13th grade.  But on this day as we assumed our seats towards the back of the room, Landau had brought in a brain for us that day.  He carried it in a 5 gallon plastic pail, and when he took off the lid, the formaldehyde smell almost killed the front row.  Reaching in, he grabbed the brain, shook off the dripping liquid, as it ran down his arm, and then held it up.  Explaining how it held the keys to our personality, and how each one of us had one.  As he held it up for us in the back to see, it slipped from his hand, and trying with both hands to catch it only juggled it, before it hit the desk in front of him, sending the girl into shock as it dodged her, then bounced onto the floor, rolled down the aisle and came to rest between this girl and I.  With even the jock types screaming and girls jumping out of their seats, he calmly asked “can I have my brain back?” And gently reaching over between us, my fellow female student bent over, grabbed it and rolled it back to him...all very coolly and without all the girly screaming.  Landau picked it up, and replaced it in the pail, secured the lid and went on like nothing had happened...with everyone else in a panic,except the two of us laughing.  Because it was funny.

Now no one ever failed in Landau’s class, as you corrected your own tests at a party held at Landau’s house.  Where the students who showed up were greeted by all the Landaus, who suspiciously all looked the same, like a family drawn from the cartoons, and corrected the tests, giving all one more chance to get the answers right.  An interesting concept, learning by our mistakes, it seemed to work as no one failed-ever.  In fact if you only got a B, you had fallen to too many home made Landau cookies, and after attending two times, my GPA made me look like a genius.  But soon it was finals time, and things were serious, so Debbie, the girl who rolled the brain back to Landau and I agreed to study together.  Like I said she was older, not pretty but attractive, and a bit sophisticated, she had an apartment and I only lived in a basement room for $50/month.  She had bragged about how she liked to cook, and invited me to dinner first, then to study, how could I say no?  And so I got ready for my date, I mean studying, and after a great dinner, she said we might be more comfortable on the sofa with our home made apple pie, ala mode of course. 

Now I was never much to study, I only saw romance, or hands on anatomy studying, and as we finished the pie, she said, “we need to get studying, my boyfriend gets home from work at 9.”  Who gets where at when?  To her it was just to study, I thought I had been invited over....for more than to study for a Landau test.  That we would all go over later at his house anyway...maybe the rolling brain had effected her, or was it me?  No one ever failed in Landau’s class, that night I did at dating, or did I succeed in studying.....

God prepares us for life and ministry by testing us, to see if we are paying attention to what he tells us.  Too often we brag about how great God is when we get our way, or when we correct our own exams.  Other times I feel like the brain Landau juggled and dropped, tested beyond belief and wonder what is God thinking?  When he is really trying to get my attention and show me something.  So often we immediately go to prayer in a bad situation looking for an escape route, when he is really trying to show us his love, and strengthen us through the trial.  We quit in the middle, handing in our test incomplete.  But he wants to draw us closer to him, to prepare us for later.  Tests that we cannot grade ourselves, that only he can, and that we must rely on him.  No matter how much we know, or think we know, or how many Bible studies or times we have read the Bible, he wants to make it personal.  To make the words of his word come alive, yet we only see the trial, and not him.  And our prayers hinder us, as we should be listening rather than directing the situation.  For too many times I expect things after dinner, but forget why I am here. 

We find the prophets many times, as are all the people mentioned in the Bible out side of Jesus, after praying and doing what they think is best, turn to God.  And guided by his spirit then reluctantly do what he has always wanted them to do, giving credence to the scripture “all things work together for those who love the Lord.”  Both good and bad.  But do we run to God first, or poll our friends to find one who is sympathetic to our cause?  Prolonging the inevitable?  Do we seek human acceptance or do we need to get with God, because something happens at 9?  That after I misread a situation, that the spirit shows me how to handle it.  Yet how many trust Oprah, Ellen, The View, or talk radio for answers, when they are just as screwed up?  Why go to another person when you can go directly to Jesus?  And get the answers you need?  Or you can go to Landau’s for correction...

Looking back I am not so sure Landau dropped the brain as much as he let it slip from his hand.  To get a reaction.  Life is like that too, events controlled by heaven happen to us to see where are we in Christ.  We say we believe, but do we?  We say we trust him, but do we?  We say we love others, but do we?  Some watched in horror as the brain rolled by them, what would you have done?  Personally I thought it funny in the context, maybe a study in itself.  Maybe a different type of studying that I had intended to do after dinner.  Another test...

God is toughening us for life and the assignments ahead.  Maybe for a test, or a situation, or a night out.  To test the heart, to see where we are really at with him.  It’s funny I don’t remember anything else about Landau’s class, but I never will forget there brain rolling past me.  Maybe that was the lesson...and I got it.  Now what to do with it.  Dinner is over, the pie is gone, it’s time to study.  No one ever failed in Landau’s class, life is much different.  God will judge us someday, and has given us the answers to life.  Jesus.  And an open book to refer to when needed.  And his spirit that never leaves us.  It never occurred to us until later that that brain belonged to someone, maybe an old Landau student.  Who used to correct his own test.  On judgment day, the final exam will be “who do you say Jesus is?”  He has given us his spirit and a life time to know him, and know him well beyond the answer.  On earth as it is in heaven, not Landau’s room.  Or class.  Study to find yourself approved, but rest in the comfort of knowing Jesus personally.  Some quote him, I know him.  Dinners over, the pie is gone.  It’s almost 9.  Don’t be the one to fail in his class, he has given you a lifetime to find him, now that you know him, how will that change the way you study? What have you heard from your brain lately?  Abby who?

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

your 15 minutes

Andy Warhol, he of the subject of David Bowie song and the originator of Op Art, once advised us we each would have our own 15 minutes of fame.  A time when we are the center of attention, when our egos would reign supreme, and even those who don’t like us would acknowledge us.  Quite a promise from Andy, and we can each look back upon times when we were recognized for an accomplishment.  But my mind wanders then, if I have had my 15 minutes, is that the best life gets?  Or if I haven’t, how will I know, or worse yet, what if I have and don’t know it?  Seems like the worst times are spent worrying or considering it, with my eyes on me the whole time.  Is that 15 minutes of fame all about me after all?  And what if it is infamy, maybe Reggie Jackson was right when he said “fans don’t boo nobodies.”  So I have learned, and still in the learning process, that if my life is all about me, I find life shallow, unrewarding, I miss out on many things due to having to do it my way, and miss out on many potential blessings.  Is there more to life than what it can give to me?

Early in my Christian walk, I admired those who got up and preached before a crowd, who espoused the word of God to many, and who garnered attention to themselves.  And there were times when I was the center of attention, and found I didn’t like it.  I  wanted to be recognized, maybe just a pat on the back, or a kind word, but became embarrassed when adulation were heaped upon me.  I was the driving force, not the spirit of the Lord, and my fruit was a bit rotten.  It gave me the credit, as if Jesus couldn’t have done it without me.  And today I function, and live my life finding I get more done, and see more of Jesus in my life and see his light shining through me, not my own, when I sit in the back and let him lead.  When it isn’t all about me, when Jesus truly leads by his spirit, I see his handiwork in my life, see the fruit of the spirit in my wake.  Scripture tells us “these things shall follow them that believe,” what things are you leaving in your wake? 

Over the years I have won many awards, even had a wall full of plaques at one time in my office.  Then one day I threw them all away, only those allowed in my office could see them, and they were about my past, and said little about my future.  And less about God in my life.  But two moments, one when I was enjoying 15 minutes of fame, and the other on vacation, I rather reflect on, and be my testimony, of who Jesus is in my life. 

I worked for a National company, and won Salesman of the Month two months in a row, right before their 10 year anniversary.  Everyone was invited to Dallas, and I was recognized on stage, and afterwards many wanted to meet me.  And in a group, one asked “why are you successful?  What do you do?”  And my chance to prolong my 15 minutes tantalized me, but I asked instead, “you really want to know?  You really want to listen?”  And when the group acknowledged a resounding “yes,”  I shared how Jesus Christ changed my life, and how any success I had was because of him, not my own talents.  And it got quiet, except for one man, who was listening, and when the crowd broke up right afterward, approached me, “I too know Jesus, I just didn’t know he was part of my job too.  He is the key that is missing in my work, thanks for being so bold.”  By the way, those two plaques I won that night got pitched, but I still remember Lee asking me, and thanking God for letting my light shine before men.  Jesus got the credit, I got the blessing, so did Lee.

We are told to be ready in season and out, still not sure what that means, but be prepared is what I learned in Boy Scouts, so we need to be.  On one vacation visiting the Ephrata Cloisters, a community in the 1700’s that were waiting for the return of Jesus, and now a Pennsylvania state park, the ranger kept talking about their waiting for Jesus to return.  Like any tour, some listen, some don’t, and at the end, we all met in the chapel where the community did.  When asked if anyone had any questions, one man asked “what is this return of Jesus you talk of?”  And the ranger didn’t know, she was an employee, just doing her job.  So I raised my hand, and asked her if I might explain, and for the next 15 minutes, shared the gospel to a crowd of 25-30, who were interested, who had taken the tour, and to who now it became personal.  No altar calls, no praying, just answering the question asked, letting God do his thing via me, his spirit versus mine.  You never know when you may be called upon to share, what are you doing with your 15 minutes?  What things are following you?

We never know who is watching or listening, we look around but rarely look up to where God has his eyes on us.  Maybe if we did our walk or ride would be different.  Something to consider, our lives are not our own.  They belong to Christ, and it is he who we represent.  That ought to scare a few of you...and yet Jesus loves me this I know, because the Bible tells me so.  But when I get to share his love,when guided by his spirit, when it is his light and not my high beams of ego blinding others, his love goes forth through me.  Maybe as simple as answering questions, rather than telling all you know.  Talking with a man Thursday who is known as the Bible Man, he knows scripture so well, he fell short when I asked how personal Jesus was, a opposed to knowing words on a page.  I challenged him, He said dared, to listen to the spirit, to go to prayer letting God speak first, then answer.  As he continued to quote scripture, I asked him to let God lead, and he was breaking down, when I told him Isaiah 65:24 how God knows what we need before we ask and already has the plan in place and active, he took a whole new attitude.  My words “nothing takes God by surprise” surprised him, and he said he was going to listen to God tonight first when he prayed.  Can we do the same?  Why just 15 minutes when we can have eternity in Jesus?  And why do we call him Lord but don’t do what he asks? 

Maybe Reggie was right, fans don’t boo nobodies.  Look how they booed Jesus...if only they had known that only 15 minutes ahead laid heaven....he is somebody, and without him we are nobody.  Are you willing to trade your 15 minutes for eternity? 

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com