(When Larry Bubb Ministries was born in 1985–that’s right, we’re milking this 30th anniversary for all it’s worth–or until we get the proper response we’ve been looking for!)
* The price of gas = $1.09 and movie tickets = $2.75
(I got a kick out of my dad saying he could buy a candy bar for a nickel when he was growing up. Well, I remember McDonalds’ TV ad campaign saying you could buy a burger, fries, and soft drink and still get change back from your dollar!)
* Miley Cyrus and my friend Rafael Nadal were not yet born.
(I had a few conversations with Rafa as we were the only people in Delta’s business class on a flight to Spain back in 2007, a year before he became the #1 ranked tennis player in the world. I’ve never conversed with Miley.)
* The cost to copy a CD was $500!
(When I first attempted to make a background CD of my music to play along with my guitar in concerts, there were only a few places in the country that could afford to own a CD recorder. The going rate was $500 for one CD copy! I had a connection to buy my first CD from a company in Denver for $100. Now it costs about a nickel, like my dad’s candy bars.)
* Supreme Court had just ruled it was legal to record TV shows
(I remember being amazed at a new invention allowing TV recording. I bought a Beta VCR because it could record longer than a VHS. It broke so the store gave me a VHS loaner while they repaired the Beta. Fortuitously, they could not repair the Beta, so I was “stuck” with the VHS. Funny story alert! Keep in mind, I knew absolutely NO ONE who owned a VCR so I was left to figure it out myself. I knew the TV antenna (or cable) received the air waves and then the TV cathode tubes, transistors, etc., inside the TV converted the waves to a viewable picture. So when I first recorded my new favorite late night talk show host, David Letterman, I left the TV on all night thinking it had to be on in order to convert the air waves to my VCR! Thus began a long history of recording Letterman each night and then watching the video over breakfast or brunch. He became my greatest comedic influence in terms of whatever semblance of humor one might find in the Perihelion.)
* Steve Jobs had recently revealed the ‘personal computer’ called a “Macintosh” just after Microsoft Word was 1st released.
(The first Perihelion was released having been typed on a typewriter! Sometime later a computer was donated to LBM. It had a hard drive of 640–not gigabytes or megabytes but–kilobytes! For comparison, the last PDF email version of the Perihelion, including cartoons and images, was 414kb.)
* Personal internet, email, smart phone … no such thing!
(I remember the TV ads by Chris Elliot announcing, “The Internet is coming!” Most of us were thinking, “What in the world (wide web) is that?!?! I heard that email would help busy people save time. I currently have 3 email accounts. On this LarryBubb.com ministry account alone, I have replied to or initiated 5,545 emails since this new computer was donated to us in 2012. I also remember when answering machines became available. Mine was battery operated so I went to Radio Shack and bought a transformer, capacitor, etc., and converted it to work with an electrical plug. Did I mention this was before the Internet so there was no YouTube “how to” video. And to the dismay of some, one thing that has NOT changed over the years is my “subliminal” answering machine message. Hint: to bypass the message, hit pound, er I mean hashtag, then star.)
* 30 years later . . . Jesus still loves you passionately!
(Life is more perplexing and mysterious than ever but I am still overwhelmed by God’s unconditional love for me!)
YOU
are the object of the greatest love of all time!