Customers Don't Need Explanations, Just Results.

This morning on the way to the high school with a student of mine, I stopped at a particular fast food place to get some little round hash browns. I normally don’t stop for breakfast, but this morning I was unusually hungry so I decided to stop.

I drove up to the window and placed my order, and then turned to my student and asked if he wanted anything. Without asking me if my order was complete, the employee totaled and finalized my order, and said, “That’ll be $0.79 at the second window.” So, I then politely asked, “Can I get another order of hash browns, please?”

And here was where the employee made the mistake… instead of just saying “yes sir” and doing whatever necessary to get me an additional order, the employee came back over the speaker, “I can’t change an order once it’s been completed.” Now, what was I suppose to think from that comment? Can I not get an additional order of hash browns? Have I just sealed my fate regarding this breakfast stop? Just because the register had been totaled, my desire for 2 rather than one was now impossible… because that was the impression that I got. Oh how tempted I was to respond with, “Ok, I’ll just go down the street to your competitor and see if they can fix my order!” But I didn’t; I refrained from that comment. But I did respond back, “Well, just cancel that order and make a new one,” which was my way of saying, “I don’t care how you fix it or what you have to do… I want two orders rather than one so, just do it!”

Upon pulling around to the window, the employee looked at me and said, “that’ll be $1.59 (for 2 orders),” and then proceeded to tell me about how the order couldn’t be changed until I got to the window… something about other cars being in front of me. But again, I didn’t then and I still don’t care where the problem had to be fixed or what computer they had to use or what the procedures are for changing or correcting orders… all I wanted was 2 hash browns instead of one.

As a faithful, paying customer, I neither desire nor need explanations or excuses… I just want what I ordered… period. When I was working in the public arena a few years ago, and it didn’t matter if it was helping someone with an order of food or loading a bag of concrete or gravel, when the customer wanted or needed something, I said, “yes sir” and then did whatever necessary to deliver. And deep down, I think that’s what all of us consumers want… not excuses, not explanations… just results, plain and simple. I don't know... maybe I just think different.

Ok, ok... New Blog

Hi. My wife really wants me to post a new blog b/c I guess its been a little while. The trouble is I've been so busy lately that I haven't really kept up with the news so, I can't comment on current events, and the several things I've been reading and studying about I haven't finished yet... so I can't comment on those either. But there is one thing I can comment about...

I miss my family!!!

Yes, my fantastically gorgeous wife and most wonderful son is away from home this week; they're in N.C. visiting family... and boy do I miss them!! I like a quiet house, but this is too quiet! I come home from working or anywhere and usually (if I time it right) I open the door to "Daddy's home!"... and Caleb running towards me with a big smile. I miss that! I miss seeing my wife's beautiful smile and gorgeous eyes... I miss Caleb grabbing my leg. I miss eating one of my wife's great dinners... I miss Caleb cramming his face with hands. I'm not depressed or anything... I'm just really ready to have my family back home with me.

I'm an extremely blessed man. God has given me a simply beautiful wife, whose heart and spirit is just as beautiful as her appearance, who I adore with every fiber of my being. And God has given me a wonderful little boy, whose smile is the joy of my heart, who I love more than my own life. Yep... God has been more than gracious to me. But most of all, God has given me true LIFE... by the shed blood of His Son, He has offered me complete and total pardon for my sins... and I now rest joyfully in the knowledge that God is my Father and that no matter what happens, I will always be His child.

Good Night.

Was I born at the wrong time?

Of course I know I wasn’t. God is completely sovereign; I was born precisely when He meant me to be born. I guess I’m just bemoaning the speed and busyness of our society today. There never seems to be enough time for quiet reflection and solitude. We’re always so rushed and hurried; if its not one deadline, its three!

I think back to the time of the traveling preachers like Wesley who would travel from town to town on horseback to preach the Gospel. He probably spent hours and hours alone, sitting on his slow-paced horse, reading and meditating on Scripture. No cell phones, no pagers, no deadlines, no rushing from this appointment to this meeting and so on and so forth.

Is it any wonder why the church is so Biblically ignorant and weak today? Seriously, how much time do we really give to God in quiet study, meditation, and reflection in His word? How much time do we spend praying and interceding for our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, etc.? We run in circles like there’s no tomorrow… the highest virtue is the ability to multi-task! And for all our rushing around, for all our running around, for all our over-stuffed calendars, are really any better off? I don’t think so.

Well, that’s enough for now… its 7:30 am... so, I’m off to the gym with my cell phone, day planner, and Bible-on-cd... “Lord, help me!”

What if there is no Rapture of the Church prior to the Tribulation?

This is the question that has absolutely consumed me for the last week or so. A very dear friend of mine (and brother in Christ) let me borrow a book that he had read entitled, “The Rapture Question Answered: Plain and Simple.” In this book, the author makes the case that the rapture (the catching away) of all true believers by Jesus Christ at His Second Coming is not prior to the tribulation period, as many scholars teach, but rather is somewhere in the middle of the last half of the 7 year tribulation period. It is a position that he calls “Pre-Wrath” position, a reference to the wrath of God that will occur in the end times.

All my life, I have been taught that the Pretribulational rapture position was the most biblical position because it was based on taking the Bible literally and not symbolically or allegorically. And with End-Times teachings and Prophecy being so hard to begin with, I have never really fully studied it for myself, but just accepted the word of those I trusted to be men of God and good Bible scholars.

Even in seminary, we were taught all about the different positions… postmillennialism verses amillennialism verses historical premillennialism verses dispensational premillennialism…
Post-trib verses Mid-trib verses Pre-trib… But in all my studies, I don’t recall ever once being told about the Pre-Wrath Rapture Position. And I must admit that before reading this book Matthew 24 never made a lot sense to me; I couldn’t figure how it all worked. Because in that teaching, Jesus begins to tell his disciples about the end times. And in that teaching, He talks about different signs in the heavens and the revealing of the man of sin (the Anti-Christ), the great persecution, and the great falling away (the apostasy of the church), but then in the middle He talks about something that sounds like the rapture. Now, like I said, that never made sense to me before, but now it does. In fact, its making more and more sense to me the more I read it.

What if the rapture of the church isn’t at the beginning, but rather near the end? What if we are destined to go through the hour of great testing at the hands of the Anti-Christ (assuming of course we’re still alive when all this happens)? What if all of us who claim to be God’s people will suffer terrible persecution; a persecution so bad that Jesus says this about it. “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (Matt.24:21)

And to be honest, it makes sense… if Christians all over the world are suffering persecution right now... being jailed, beaten, tortured, and killed… why then should we think that we here in America will somehow escape all these horrors and more? It is very, very sobering to think about. Will I be strong enough to withstand the persecutions for the name of Christ? What will happen to my family? Will I have to witness unspeakable horrors upon them?

I haven’t come to my own conclusions yet… but it is definitely worth researching and studying! Obviously God wants us to be equipped and prepared… He wants us to know… otherwise why would He have ever given it to us? Is the teaching about the things to come really so hard, complicated, confused, and hidden or have we (man) made it this way? Could it be this plain and simple? If it is… may God’s grace be abundantly with us… b/c we will need it!!

One New Year's Resolution

Well, its that time of year again… a time to reflect back with evaluation on the previous year and a time to look forward with vision and planning for the upcoming year. And as we all know, it’s that time of the year when we make commitments for the new year.

I have never really made New Year’s resolutions before, but this year I will join the thousands of people and make a few. One will definitely be to get more exercise. Since the nature of my career is not strenuous manual labor, it is very easy for me to get out of shape and put on the pounds. So, I have made the commitment to work out at least 3 times a week. And I must say that it’s not simply b/c I want to look better… the real reason and motivation is b/c 1) The Bible says my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and so I should take better care of it. And 2) my family has a history of heart trouble, and I want to be around for Andrea and Caleb as long as possible in God’s will. So, I need to take the necessary steps to make this happen.

But as I think about this, I’m also reminded of something God has said, “Exercise yourself toward godliness. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” (1 Timothy 4:7-8) In the Apostle Paul’s day, the gymnasium was the focal point of the city for youths between the ages of 16 and 18. Since athletic ability was highly esteemed, there was usually a gymnasium in every town. The cultic exaltation of the body resulted in a preoccupation with exercise, athletic training, and competition, not unlike our own culture today. Paul was alluding to that cultural reality when he exhorted young Timothy to exercise himself for the goal of godliness. I can hear Paul now, “Timothy, if you’re going to work hard and train, train your inner nature for godliness.”

Is exercise and watching what we eat of any value? Of course, Paul didn’t say it was completely worthless. However, when examined against the entire back drop of eternity, it is of little value and not great value. Why? Well, first, bodily exercise only benefits the body. You may feel better, but running and lifting weights does nothing for your spirit, which must be exercised with “spiritual” disciplines, like studying Scripture, praying, fasting, journaling, attending worship, participating in fellowship with other believers, sharing your faith, so on and so forth. And secondly, bodily exercise is only profitable for this life. These 70-80 years we live in this life, aren’t even a drop in the bucket to eternity! But godliness… training ourselves to be like Christ, as Paul states here, is not only profitable for this life, but also for the life to come.

So, all of you out there who are making resolutions like me to eat better, get some exercise, and regain fitness… don’t forget that exercising ourselves toward godliness is far, far more profitable in the long run. I’ll end this entry with a quote from a great pastor-teacher, John MacArthur…
“It is spiritually immature to preoccupy yourself with your body. Doing so betrays a limited perception of spiritual and eternal realities. It should be (simply a given fact) in the church that Christians are a group of people who are in spiritual training to be conformed to the will of God, not a group of body worshipers.” (page 155-156, The Masters Plan for the Church.)

May God greatly bless all of you this coming new year with His abundant grace and peace.