Because It's Always Winter, but Never Christmas.....

So this past week has been different for me. I've been in a very reflective mode.  Probably cause I just finished reading the book "Through Painted Deserts" by Don Miller.  It really makes me just want to go and live somewhere different for a while, you know just drop everything and prove to myself that I can live outside of this Bible Belt Bubble, where life is handed to me on a silver platter.  Do we ever think about how good we have it here?  Tonight I bought two girls roses just cause, I can sit here and purchase whatever I want (within limits) and still be able to eat tomorrow (I have a meal plan, cause school is paid for).  I am able to come back to my room, in the sleet and rain and junk, and still be warm.  I don't think that people realize what it's like, what steps we need to take in showing our daily devotion to Christ.  I don't think we realize the implications of what it would mean if we truly took the time to figure out what it meant to be SOLD OUT to Christ.  I know that I really don't know the full effects of that, but I'm trying.  I spend my days walking from one thing to the next, praying, thinking, about what Christ expects of me, and being constantly reminded that I can't meet those expectations on my own, it's only through his help that this happens.  So this is the second time this week I've posted at some crazy hour, so I think I'm going to go to sleep now, cause I need it, and wake up in the morning and finish my homework for the week.  Hoorah for college snow days...which reminds me, I need to work on a bulletin board as well...hoorah for work! Goodnight

While His Friends Slept, Jesus Wept, and it's No Wonder Why...

Well it took me forever tonight to get the internet to work.  Sometimes I wonder about the Tech system. Anyway, I've had some stuff on my mind recently and something that I encountered today served to reinforce it.  We as "Christians" (whatever that's supposed to mean) need to not settle, we need to be constantly moving forward in our walk with Christ.  What happens is we get into a routine, where all that is required from us is Sundays, maybe Wednesdays, and if we're lucky Tuesdays (for BCM'ers).  Other than that, we live our lives, emphasis on OUR lives.  We are focused on US instead of CHRIST.  Now I'm mulling over some other thoughts that I may talk about in the next weeks, though currently I'm sticking just with the thought of settling.  At London the staff kinda has this saying, Don't settle for good when you can have great, or something along the lines of the 4-H motto, "To Make the Best Better."  Why can't we do this?  Why can't we live a life where as we sing to Hillsong lyrics we let Christ actually "Take it all"  No we sit here, happy with our lives as we know it.  That's not what it's about, if we are not experiencing growth, if we are not seeing life change, then we are not fulfilling our duties as "Christians" which means "Little Christ" but most of the time we are far from being little Christ's.  It kinda irks me, yes I need work, I admit it, send me to REHAB anything but get us out of this.  Here's the thing, today, we did Super Summer Arkansas interviews (online apps found here )  we are short guys, in a BIG way.  We have plenty of girls, but we need guys, like alot, but the probblem is guys settle, guys believe that they have to have jobs and do things in order to advance themselves in the world.  Guys don't buy into a life patterened after Christ, they buy into a "church" mentality, one where they show up for church and that's as deep as they get, so what I leave is with this, how to we get guys, how to we get MEN to buy into Christian lifestyles, where they see the need to do more than just show up for church, and actually become servicing members.

Lose Your Life Just So You Can Find It

So I've began to notice something, typically this happens when it's evident in my life.  Though recently it has been revealed to me through other means as well.  As the body of Christ we have a tendency to settle.  This idea is that essentially we have arrived and there is no need for us to do anything more.  The problem with this is that we have never arrived and there is a constant need for improvement.  If we meet one goal, we need to set another goal and meet it instead of reaching a goal and taking a break.   When we settle for what we have people see that and wonder why they need to strive for something better.  This can be shown evident through a typical Christian lifestyle, even though a person may profess Christianity their actions may not support that idea clearly.  If we as Christians were striving to be the best we could be we would be the examples that the world needs to see.  Instead the world has this idea of a corporate Christian who attends church services and gives donations of monetary goods as well as physical labor and then they go onto living a 9-5 lifestyle or whatever you would like to refer to it.  They end up in a place where they are not actively showing an example of Christianity, which coincidentally makes people believe that Christians are hypocritical and not wish to profess faith in Christianity.

Think Strategy not Programs, Small Group Philosphy

So tonight for Freshman Leadership we are moving into working from two books and not just "7 Practices of Effective Ministry" by Andy Stanley. From 7 Practices we will be talking about strategy not programs. What organizations have a tendency to do is to create programs to fill a need instead of a strategy to move past that need. Once a strategy is in place, not only will a need be filled but there will be room for growth instead of the same thing taught repeatedly. This helps an organization grow and realize their full potential. From our second book "Leading Life Changing Small Groups" by Bill Donahue we will be talking about Small Group Philosophy, within this topic we will talk about vision as well as structure. Essentially with the students we will line out what they want the purpose of our freshlife groups to be and then we will talk about how to set up a structure to have a thriving small group that will help produce students who are growing spiritually as well as being prepared to be leaders themselves, or as the book calls them "apprentice leaders."

Fast times

So for those of ya'll who don't know (all five of my followers) I'm at intern at London First Baptist. That started about the time I came back from semester, so I'm doing that as well as working in BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) Leadership, over Freshlife or Freshman Ministries. As well as my other paying job as an RA in Paine Hall. As compelled by my Multi-Media Practicum class, I will be updating this blog twice a week, during the next semester. Most of the topics I will be covering will be in relation to the internship as well as BCM stuff, so yeah, look forward to getting back into the blogging realm.

If You Fail to See the Problem, Which I Find hard to Believe

Mark 12:31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

So for those of ya'll who haven't talked to me in a while. I work at Hobby Lobby. I am currently majoring in Marketing and Management at Arkansas Tech.

Today I worked at the Hot Springs Hobby Lobby. In a world where customer service is laughed at, or known as some calling center in India, I pride myself, and my managers in offering some of the best customer service around.

Now here I am, talking about customer service, and quoting a verse about loving your neighbor. If you don't see how these parallel, then I am here to show you.

There are two sides to customer service, the customer, and the service. (amazing right?)

These two people though they are in two completely different roles, are nearly the same.

There is both a good way, to go about being a customer, and a bad way.
There is also a good way, to go about being the "service" and a bad way.


The role as the customer: To find the item they are seeking, and purchase it.
The role as the "service" provider: To aide in finding said item, in order for the customer to purchase.

Simple right? Not quite, but you also have to key in several other factors, known to me as, "nonverbal communication" This would include, posture, facial expressions, and voice inflections.

So if a customer asks, with genuine sincerity, how to find something, then I am going to respond in the best way possible, going out of my way to help them get what they need.

If a customer asks, and sounds like they want to kill me cause they can't find something, or they're scowling at me when they ask, then I'm really not looking forward to helping them, because chances are things aren't going to end up too well.


But the key to my reaction is, I need to "Love them, like I love myself" Or in a round-about way, treat others, the way I want to be treated. If I am not responding with true customer service, doing everything in my realm of knowledge and expertise to help them out, then what will they want to do back to me?

Why is it that there is so negativity towards the thought of customer service today? It is because the service people, don't treat the customers the way they would want to be treated if they were in their shoes.

I needed to return something to Wal*Mart without a receipt a few weeks back. Now this item was an item that is stolen alot. It was over $100 and due to the fact that it is stolen alot, they could not return it for me. I understood completely. Just like if someone wanted to return sterling silver, furniture, or a custom frame to hobby lobby without a receipt, unless we knew the person on a first name basis, we couldn't do anything to help them.

I believe though, if Americans would get over their lazy selves, and began to treat their customers, like the way they would want to be treated if they were customers, we would see better customer service across the board. Then we wouldn't need to have all these call centers in other countries, because it would pay to have have the best customer service people here in America.

But instead, service people respond to the scowling, grumpy people, with a scowl and a grumpy reply and the circle continues.

Why not go out and have some real customer service today? Do you really want employees of the stores you shop at to scowl and grumpily answer your questions? I hope not!

(Title from Leaf by mewithoutYou)

Remember That The Fire Is On The Inside

This is a Paper I am turning in tomorrow for Comp 2 (my intext citations are still in it)



The poem “The Paradoxical Commandments” has a very good message behind it, not only in words, but in the history that follows it. Believed by many to be a poem written by Mother Teresa entitled “The Final Analysis” it was actually just found hanging on her wall (Keith Anyway). The true author was Dr. Kent M. Keith, a Christian motivational writer and speaker, Harvard graduate and former Rhodes Scholar (Keith Do it, Anyway).


This poem gained most of its world fame by being posted on the wall in Mother Teresa’s first home for abandoned children in Calcutta. This version, known as “The Final Analysis” contained only eight of the ten original Paradoxical Commandments. These eight were reworded into a poem form for the children. Mother Teresa believed that these lines were key points to live by in our everyday lives. That is why she had them posted in the school for all to see (wowzone.com).


The first Paradoxical Commandment is “People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway (Keith Paradoxical).” This line speaks about how people constantly live for themselves. People in general, don’t take time to think about others, they are mainly focused on what benefits them, and how they can be the best in the world. Even though people may be living in their own shell, focused on themselves, people who are Christians (which is who this is written for) are commanded to love people unconditionally. Jesus stated this in Mark 12:31, to “love your neighbor as yourself,” Jesus said this was second only to loving Him. Loving someone like we love ourselves may be more than we want to do in some situations, but even liking them is going to be better than hating them.


The second Paradoxical Commandment: “If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway. (Keith Paradoxical)” In times past, doing good deeds for people was an everyday occurrence. Today hearing of people helping others is practically unheard of. When a person commits a good deed today, people automatically perceive that they are doing it for personal gain. A person should never feel like they shouldn’t do a good deed because of the way their motives will be judged. They should feel open to doing good deeds whenever they feel like it.


Paradoxical Commandment number three says, “If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway (Keith Paradoxical).” When a person becomes successful they tend to gain friends who are only along for the ride. These people will latch on to a successful person, in hopes that their success will propel them on to greater things. No matter the types of people that follow a successful person, they should be driven to succeed anyway.


The fourth Paradoxical Commandment states: “The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway (Keith Paradoxical).” When a person does a good deed it may be noticed, but it won’t always be remembered. The drive to do good within a person should never die, regardless of whether their actions will be remembered, they should do good deeds.


The fifth Paradoxical Commandment says: “Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway (Keith Paradoxical).” People who are open and honest in many situations tend to get their ideas obliterated by the more conservative individuals in a group. Many people’s fear of rejection keeps them from being honest and truthful. One of the Ten Commandments is “Thou Shall Not Lie.” If a person is being untruthful then they are sinning, according to the New Testament “The wages of sin is death,” people don’t want to die, so any person, Christian or non-Christian should want to tell the truth. Regardless of how people respond to the truth, it is better to be truthful than to keep something hidden in hopes to avoid confrontation.


Paradoxical Commandment number six states: “The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway (Keith Paradoxical).” Big ideas come to people every day, but there are people who are continually there to find a reason to not implement the idea. People shouldn’t let others bring them down, they should have enough confidence in themselves to do what they think should be done.


The seventh Paradoxical Commandment is: “People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway (Keith Paradoxical).” There are always people in life who are ready to pledge support for the underdogs, but when it comes time to fully commit to the underdogs cause, they back out and stick with the known leader. There are days when the underdogs win; people should have enough faith to fight for a few of those underdogs.


The eighth Paradoxical Commandment states: “What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway (Keith Paradoxical).” There is always uncertainty in life, nothing is guaranteed, people shouldn’t be fearful. People should be willing to take risks and do things, even though there is a possibility for failure.


Paradoxical Commandment number nine says: “People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway (Keith Paradoxical).” This can be related back to people drowning. When a lifeguard comes to save a person, they tend to fight against the lifeguard and try to pull them down with them. The lifeguard is still there to rescue them from peril; people should be willing to do the same thing.


The final Paradoxical Commandment is: “Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway (Keith Paradoxical).” This final Commandment alludes to the fight that it takes to get to the top. When someone is trying their hardest, giving their best, trying to make their way to the top, they get kicked around. A person should continue trying their best in everything, regardless of how the world treats them.


The resounding message throughout the poem is to give your best, no matter the situation. To continue fighting for what you believe in, no matter the adversity. Things aren’t always perfect, in fact they’ll never be perfect, but there is always hope. People should do what they believe in, regardless of how others react. We aren’t supposed to allow what others do to affect us, we should remember that it was our choice to be the way that we are, and nothing should change that.



(title from The House That Fire Built by Mae)