don't invite me to Denny's

It has been years, but not enough years since I ate at a Denny’s.  There is something about being Grand Slammed when I am hungry that puts me off.  Now I know many of you may like Denny’s, maybe even eat there under penalty of possible food, but I just don’t like the place.  Not a food snob, but when riding with others who get excited when seeing a Denny’s, I choose to ride on.  Even if for hours, but there have been times I succumbed, and even lived to tell about it.  The most recent was being invited to breakfast with a man and his toddler son, who ordered off  the $2 menu, thinking he was getting a deal, and ended up with a $20 cold breakfast, not being eaten because his kid should have been left home, until he is 21.  I looked at the same menu, and by ordering a meal, not off the $2 menu, would get more for less, but somehow we feel the need to pay less, even if we get less, and is something we don’t want.  Maybe the illusion of many plates represent more food, sorry Denny, I pass, and please, don’t ever invite me to Denny’s.

Years ago with Coca Cola they started the self serve fountain business.  My customers at first were enraged, remember the days of asking for a Coke with no ice, instead of getting a cup of ice with some Coke?  But something happened, people started using more ice themselves, the business could charge more and offer free refills, watch how many actually go back for more, and all were happy.  Maybe we just don’t know what we want, I know I still don’t want Denny’s. 

One of the reasons I avoid eating at rallies and fairs, is the overpricing of the food.  Somehow I feel ripped off, and don’t want to participate, same as at ball games.  $5 hot dogs, $3 small sodas, and $8 slices of the infield disguised as pizza, you spend more to eat than for the ticket.  But one NFL owner, Arthur Blank of the Falcons, changed all that last year.  Slashing many prices by 50%, and setting up dispensers for free refills on soft drinks, a funny thing happened, business grew 88%!  Sales of merchandise grew as well, and you could actually afford to eat stadium food.  With fan first menu pricing, the sales per fan rose 2.32 times, or 232%!  More food, more profit, and happier fans.  They even included the tax, rounding off all prices to the dollar, making it easier to make change.  They also found that tail gate parties moved inside, and business boomed two hours before the game.  By not subbing the concessions out to private concessionaires, they manage it from within.  No need to raise the price for a hot dog on low attendance, and they do it for the fans, as Mr. Blank says, “in appreciation.”  Basic business math is sell more per visit, or increase the customers count who visit.  Here they did both, just by offering a fair deal, and the profits came.  And no, I still won’t eat at Denny’s....

There was a time when I did church visits, and learned a lot about the gospel.  For one thing, so much promotion was used, many times the gospel was left out.  In between youth groups selling items for camp, I think of it as pimping the kids, or various bake sales for missions, and programs needed to keep the interest of the attendees, somehow Jesus was forgotten.  It was the programs and processes that took over, and I saw many disenchanted with the events.  All they wanted was a little Jesus....and got a $2 menu.  For as the church board would survey how the events went over, mainly bragging on how good we were to give, the sermons and teaching were then influenced by the events.  Which is normal and predictable.  But think of it like this, you know at stadiums you get raped by the prices, at Denny’s you get mugged by the quality, why should I go and get beat up spiritually?  Feel good messages that leave me feeling good, but have no real spiritual basis, no challenges of our walk, and no encouragement in Christ, the event is lukewarm, and you leave hungry.  Not for more, but because you haven’t been fed.  There is a difference.

So what do you get out of Jesus?  What are you looking for?  If you are looking for that feel good, everything is OK message, you may not find it in him.  Jesus is reality, and the lukewarm, the repackaging for an audience approval makes him sick.  He throws up, read Revelation 3, his messages to the church.  Is that the kind of religion we want?  But yet many times get.  How we forget that it is the spirit that draws us to him, and that unless he builds the church, we labor in vain.  Yet as the world invades, and in some cases invited in, we become more involved in social issues, political agendas, and what we think is good for us.   We fall for the Denny’s menu at church, and although have had a meal, sometimes wonder what  we just ate.  Does a value menu have any place in a church values?  Do we avoid talking of sin, neglecting repentance?  Are we just one Happy Meal away from hell and don’t know it?  The gospel is free so we can afford it, easy so we can get it.  Tax included.  The people flocked to Jesus not because of pricing, but of his message.  The spirit drawing many who left filled, and wanted more.  Beware of phony sales prices, come ons to get you in, if it aint’ Jesus it is something else.  God doesn’t need your money, he wants you.  In appreciation, God offers Jesus to an unappreciative world, no fancy sayings, no collector cups, or decals for your SUV.  He gives you the food you need, the food you desire, but haven’t tasted of before.  So don’t invite me to Denny’s, or to a church that is set up on values like that.  I need all the Jesus I can get.  No matter how much, he will provide.  Value pricing only works if it is a real value, you will never find a better deal than Jesus.  Anything else is an illusion.....and you don’t pay more for a Super Sized meal.  Our salvation is based on Jesus, not the programs.  His completed work on the cross.  Beware of anything else, no matter the price, you just paid too much.

Or of course you could worship like Burger King, have it your way.  But you will miss out on the Whopper of blessings in Christ.  In appreciation, Mr. Blank expressed, how appreciative are you in Christ? Long before value pricing, Jesus showed the true value in appreciating his fan base.  He addressed the biggest pain point, sin.  And you know the rest....now do you ever wonder how Costco makes money on $1.50 hot dogs?  Still enjoying your $15 pop corn....don’t invite me to the movies either!

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

the other Route 66

For the three years I lived in Albuquerque, I never lived farther than a few blocks from Route 66.  Central Avenue, or Central as we called it, was Route 66, and 40 years ago just another forgotten old road, by passed by the Interstate, and being passed by.  I used to drive on it every day to work, crossed it walking to UNM, cruised it on my way to friend’s houses, and ate many a meal at the old restaurants.  My friend Marcia worked at an old motel on Central, now gone, but back then still proud and unique.  But like many of the landmarks and memories, they are either gone, or renovated and made to look like new.  Or replicas, telling us what it must have been like back then.  Even PJ had his Triumph store on Central until it closed last year, to us just old Central, now an institution.

I have driven or ridden all of Route 66, or what is left of it over the years, with only the terminus in Chicago being carefully avoided.  From riding through Amboy and Goffs on it, through Arizona past the Twin Arrows, staying at The El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, even riding across it when moving west, I too have been under the influence of Route 66, many times without knowing it.  Even my first ride through Dead Man’s Curve still is etched in my mind.  Each state has its own 66 flavor, but Oklahoma is probably my favorite, although a turnpike passes by a lot of it, you can ride Route 66 through many small towns kept alive by it.  Towns like Catoosa, Sapulpa, Stroud, and Clinton, which has the best Route 66 museum in my opinion, through Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and into Missouri via a short ride into Kansas, I prefer to take the highway, that’s my way, that’s the best.  Words to a song written by Bobby Troup on his way west, who later played Dr. Joe Early on Emergency!, made popular by Nat King Cole, and becoming famous after the road was decommissioned and threatened with extinction.  Truly Route 66 is a place to get your kicks, to visit history, to grab at custard at Ted Drewes, have lunch in Adrian, Texas a the midway point, and ride onto the Santa Monica pier at its western terminus.  So much road, take a long week, stop and enjoy the past, and see how it really was, and now is.  Route 66 changed a lot of lives, but another 66 can also change your life even more.

Think of your trip through the Bible as Route 66, 66 books by 40 authors, over thousands of years.  A book to be read and reread, to be studied, copied, and applied to life.  Yet many read it like I used to ride Central going to work, just another ay to start the day, nothing special.  I know the scenery, and I become familiar with it, nothing new.  Some get on at a certain point, and get off later, jumping off here and there, reading whatever satisfies them, avoiding new and tough verse.  Some go deep, they get off and into where the spirit leads them, and meet the people and meet the author, while some try to read it all in a year, never getting more than a bumper sticker saying they were there.  They have ridden through the 66 books of the Bible, but never stop and see the sights.  But God designed it differently, that each time we take that trip down 66, it becomes a new adventure.  That we get our kicks from his 66, that we spend time getting to know the author, and enjoy the people along the way, instead of being locked in air conditioned comfort, just looking for the next freeway exit.  When we ride with Jesus, his spirit makes the Bible come alive, it reveals the mysteries of Christ to us, and we can travel through lie with the best tour guide ever.  It is history, poetry, teachings, and advice for life.  It is personal, contemporary, and the all time best seller.  The first book ever printed.  Yet so over looked, when it brings Jesus into our life. 

Some by pass Genesis, but if you never get past “in the beginning,” the rest loses something, for God was there.  If you only study Revelation, you may know the future, but still have to live in today.  Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and end, but in between is so much that we overlook, so much in a hurry to get where we are going, we miss out on the side trips he takes us on.  Route 66 has many stories to tell, and reading them brings life to the road, just like reading the Bible.  To Route 66’s that still influence, maybe it is important what road you are on.

Like my Bible reading there are many places I like to return to, riding from Williams to Kingman, not much but a lot has changed on the old road.  The Texas Panhandle always has me getting off in Shamrock, spending the night in Tucumcari, once at the Blue Swallow, standing on the corner in Winslow, Arizona, speeding past Winona, I guess he needed a word to rhyme here, and of course avoiding Needles, Barstow, and carefully riding it from San Berdoo to the Pacific.  But with no more stopping at Whiting Bros. for gas, I sprayed my last car at the Cadillac Ranch, there are more railroad cars made into diners to eat at, and more museums to visit along the way.  Each with a story to tell, and I am glad they all are there.  Just like I am for God’s Route 66, for sometimes I need cheering up, sometimes a lesson in life, at other times good advice, and it is always fun to catch up on Jesus, to see how he saved us, how he left his spirit, and still loves us even though we stray.  Freeway religion with its marked exits may get you there, but for me it will always be the old roads, where the action was and still is.  A difference that only Jesus can make on our trip through life.  So pick it up and read it today, spend time with God and get to know him.  Read Paul’s letters like a letter, he didn’t canonize them when he wrote them, read the Psalms as poetry, read Genesis as a personal history, endure the laws in Leviticus, and find the freedom in the cross in the gospels.  Something and all things for everyone.

Or you can be like me living near Route 66, and never knowing how close I had come to it.  In may ways it will always be Central to me, I hope Jesus is central to you.  Just a few words from Bobby Troup’s song may tell us more about the Lord than we knew, “take my way, that’s the highway, that’s the best.”  Two roads converged, and I took the one less travelled.  Don’t let your Bible meet the same fate.  If you ever saw the movie CARS, you already have an invitation to the road, the spirit is inviting you to visit him today.  The other Route 66, where adventure begins....let’s ride.  Meet you at Lucille’s...and bring your appetite.  The Bible, the other Route 66.  A road that will change your life.

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

filling in the blanks

 

Fill in the blank, “I could do _________ if I only had the time and/or money.”  Think of what you most like to do, and then think of why you cannot.  For many of us it was “I’ll have kids when I can afford them,” and after having them realize you never could have saved enough.  And had them anyway.  For one it may be “I’ll buy the car of my dreams when I have enough to pay cash,” and every year the car gets more expensive or is replaced by something different.  Yet for another it is taking that dream vacation, If only they had the time, two weeks a year are never enough, or the money, thinking enough credit cards just might make the trip affordable.  But in each case they come up with excuses, and never see the dream come true.  But the saddest one is when someone claims or is called into ministry, then complains the whole time.  They don’t have the time, they don’t have the money, it interferes with their life style, didn’t God hear their prayers of what they wanted to do?  The two days a month they had for him in their schedule?  How he better come through, so they start soliciting for money?  And end up never doing what they believe God calls them to, and end up miserable.  And you know the drill, God gets the blame.  It is never our fault....

Two kids, a house, and many vacations later, add in an active ministry for over 10 years, I have learned to depend on God.  He knows my heart better than I do, and when he is the desire of my heart, I get him as the biggest blessing.  He blesses my wife and sons, he blesses me with motorcycles, and he blesses me with time to ride and travel.  43 nights later on the road last year, I cannot wait to leave town, the state, and the time zone for touring. So I make plans, and in doing so put my desires before him.  And as they go, and we go, we have become flexible with them.  Reservations made months ahead change, as conditions and new places to travel become available.  Days get added, days get subtracted, states are bypassed, while others added.  We see God’s hand in our travels, he has given us a desire for certain things, and then fulfills that desire along the way.  He is included in our plans, and by making our desires known, we have prayed and asked, and then watch as his answer unfolds.  A form of trust, planning, adapting, customizing, and then doing.  God has the time, and he has the funds.  Jesus spent most of his ministry on the road.  So who better to consult about traveling, or when traveling?  Who else has the budget, the funds, and the control over the weather?   So what is you excuse for not filling in that blank in Christ?

Worship and being a witness of Jesus Christ is the same thing.  How you worship him shows where he is in your life.  Some keep him that box only on Sunday called church, some live him daily.  One of the saddest days was when visiting a brother in law’s office, the secretary and I started talking Jesus.  When I mentioned my BIL was one too, she looked surprised, “not by his actions and attitudes around here.”  I wish I had never mentioned it.  I even lost the best paying job of my life once, for being a Christian.  I was the highest producer, had high CSI ratings, yet I was told “it only makes sense not to bring God to work.  Leave  him at the door.”  It hurt in lots of ways, money wise, my income went to zero, I was painting my house, for $4500, and still had a high overhead.  I had no money but lots of time, and God opened up the door for Torches Across America, and in the midst of all this bad news, blessed me abundantly with a three week trip, including Theresa taking off work with no pay.  When he is the desire of your heart, he will give you that desire via your life. 

Worship can be corporate, but it also should be personal.  Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus and washing them with expensive oils, shows her love and adoration in worship to him.  The same precious oils Judas claimed could have been sold and fed the poor, he accused her of wasting on Jesus.  Yet she knew better, way beyond an emotion.  He had raised her brother Lazarus from the dead, she understood what he represented in the resurrection, and it had changed her heart.  Also the incredible teaching she had at his feet, she was now trusting him more.  So she spared no expense in worshipping him, openly which was forbidden for women in public, letting her hair down, another social infraction, and openly worshipping Jesus.  She spared no expense in worshipping him, that is true worship, sparing no expense.  Which is how love and worship act. 

So fill in the blank, “I don’t worship Jesus publicly because ______.”   Whatever your reason, it comes down to who he is, and by your worship, tell us.  If open about Jesus, showing his love to others, you show how he has changed you.  If you only worship in church, you may have a good church life, but have holes in your theology, he is missing in all your life, and it shows.  We can never pay back Jesus for what he has done, maybe living well is the best revenge, and living in Jesus is the best.  There is none other, and you will never have the time or money enough.  So start trusting today, as the spirit guides, obey.  He will never ask you to do anything he has not all ready prepared you and your wallet for.  Bound by time, include him in your schedule, he never hurried yet was never late.  You may find like I have he is the perfect fill in the blank, _______ partner.  From kids, to work, to church, to riding, he knows my heart.  Do you know his? 

It doesn’t happen all at once, Mary was older when she saw what Jesus could do, and changed her heart.  Let Jesus fill in the blanks in your life.  Privately and publicly, he is still the way.  When we begin to love and worship Jesus without regard for the expense, our heart is transformed, and we begin to live, really live.  Or like the sign says, “In God we trust, all others pay cash.”  Worship is truly a heart transformed, expressing love to Jesus no matter the cost.  Start planning, start living, start worshipping.  The best is yet to come....

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

an Edsel for less than the price of a new car

It was 60 years ago this year that the Edsel was introduced. A car like none other, set to fill a void between Mercury and Ford pricing, introduced in a recession year, based on a market in 1954 that had moved. Add the unique styling, horse collar grill, Tele touch shifting where buttons were in the center of the steering wheel and prone to fail, and quality problems, it was doomed from the start. Its total production over three model years never even approached its target of 250,000 the first year, and it was silenced, put away, and hoped no one would remember and still buy lots of Ford products. A butt of the collector car world for decades, now they are becoming trendy in a weird sort of way, to a generation who wasn’t there when they were new. Personally I always thought they were strange, but somehow cool, have only ridden in one a few times, and it felt like any other floating car from the fifties. But the view from the front, well.....

Personally I liked the thin tail lights, and the airy modern look of it. Would I have bought one then, nah, would I now, well maybe. I am so tired of 55-57 Chevies, bored with the ‘59 Cadillac tail fins, and only like the ‘57 T Bird, the others are OK, something about those fins, but somehow the Edsel looks good. Not sure why, maybe orphans, cars and kids have always appealed to me, but having one might be fun for some cruise nights, an occasional car show, and just to tease the neighbors. But even restored high end cars are going for $25-30,000, it would eat into my riding budget, and also my food and mortgage. But with the average price of a new car over $33,000 last year, a new old Edsel at 2/3rd’s the price may make sense. And with them appreciating, might be better than the .0005% I get at the bank. Of course I don’t have to wash or change the oil on my savings account, but I cannot drive it either. And if I could, maybe not even through the drive up. So maybe all those who bought Edsels and for years caught grief over it, are now being heralded as being forward thinking, and selling their cars for a profit. Maybe Ford should have consulted them first.

The purpose of free enterprise is to make a profit. Henry Ford once said “a company that makes only money is not a good business.” Billionaire talk, but true. Look at those car companies recently orphaned, Plymouth, Mercury, Saturn, and Oldsmobile, they didn’t make money, so were dropped. But car lovers are keeping them alive in collecting and restoration. Like a shepherd protects his sheep, they are protecting the cars. Shepherding what is left, protecting them, preserving them, and showing them off with love. At prices many times what they were worth when new. Jesus is referred to as the good shepherd, and one quality he had over a hired shepherd is he was willing to die for his flock. Which amazed the disciples, they were amazed that he would die for them, making him a unique shepherd as well. Unlike someone hired to do a job, Jesus invested himself in them and us, where a jobber may only get the job done, the sheep being a commodity, if some are lost, that’s what happens. Yet our great shepherd says he is patient so that none should perish. When trouble arises they sell off or abandon those damaged, while Jesus went back for the one in 99. Imagine we were shepherded by hired shepherd or pastor, how many of us were that one? While some churches brag on the 99 and their size and scope, Jesus looks for the one hidden for view, who isn’t welcome in church, who cannot read a Bible, maybe cannot even stand. All the miracles he performed were on the ones left behind, the 99 are never talked of as being blessed, yet are a thorn in his side. How real is the Jesus you serve?

I have begun to feel sorry for those who have not had the same set of trials I have had, they have missed out on seeing side of Jesus you only see when in turmoil. If never sick, I miss the great physician. If rich, I miss the Jehovah Jireh, my provider. If no one ever comes against me I don’t need a protector, and if I know it all, I never need a wonderful counselor. We need Jesus, and always have and always will. No big Bible, bumper sticker, membership, or title can give what the can. He is the great shepherd, and we all need one.

Maybe the difference between the greatness of Jesus and those who say they do is Jesus shows it. He dies for his flock. He doesn’t transfer from ne church to another, he never changes his message or his love, and he stays with us 1%’ers. Long before there were outlaw bikers Jesus was the original outlaw, the 1%’er who rebelled in love for us. Would Jesus have driven an Edsel? I would like to think he would visit an Edsel dealer or two, lots of lost sheep there. Maybe cruise by Studebaker, Hudson, Kaiser, and Packard. He liked the orphans, the mainstream, like churches then and now, upset him. Read the New Testament, filled with warnings about false promises, practices, teachings, and rules not needed for salvation. And just like the Edsel lovers who bought for love, he would never sell for money like many do now. Paid in full, name in the book of life, our title of ownership in him. When you take away the cost in dollars, the fellowship is richer, and so are we. For how can you put a value on life? Yet many have and do. Maybe a ride in an old Edsel may convince them. Maybe some time with Jesus will show them. There are great mechanics, but few master mechanics. And even they don’t know it all. There are shepherds and a great shepherd. His investment in you was his entire being, his life. Looking for another car, try an Edsel. Looking for love, you need Jesus. Think about it, a gray SUV for $50,000 the kids show no respect to, or an Edsel, the kids will want to look cool in. And respect. It is a poor company that makes only money, make sure your shepherd isn’t in it for just that. Jesus for less than the price of some religions. Suddenly it’s 1958 all over again! Edsel and Jesus, two names worth remembering. Edsels are back in style....don’t miss out this time around. Hmm, you know that sounds a lot like Jesus...

love with compassion,

Mike

matthew25biker.blogspot.com

 

Average new car price zips 2.6% to $33,560