Sure, the iPhone is totally awesome, but AT&T is totally not.  The thing is, AT&T used to be ahead of the game in regard to service (back when they were Bell South Mobility or even Cingular), but now they are known to be a slower network with spotty service.  In fact, that’s one of  the reasons you no longer hear the “Fewest Dropped Calls” advertisements.  At any rate, a lot more people would buy the iPhone if it were on another network.  Take Perry Noble for example.  He just wrote a blog post about this very issue.  And, his comments raise some really good questions for Christians to think about.

Allow me to share his analogy (Don’t hate on it).  Could it be that sometimes Jesus is like the iPhone and the church is like AT&T?  Meaning, people like Jesus, but they just don’t care for the service (literally and figuratively), which is the church.

Let’s try to be the type of Christians that influence people toward Jesus rather than the type that cause people to take a pass. Said another way, “be a good example of a believer” (1 Timothy 4:12).

Can you believe it?  Friday is here already!  Actually, it’s almost over.  So, it’s time for another set of Friday Favorites.  Twitter was an active part of this past week for me so I’ve decided to return to some of my favorite tweets.  Plus, this gives you a glimpse of some of the people I follow.  Enjoy…and let me know which one is your favorite.

1. leopercer
   “A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and as long as you’re looking down, you can’t see what’s above you.” C. S. Lewis
2. ChickfilA
   @johncmaxwell: Leadership is ab influence & u earn influence by connecting. Connecting is ab others & requires energy. #cfaleadercast
3. johncmaxwell
   Success does not cause failure. Hubris (arrogance) born of success does. – Jim Collins #cfaleadercast
4. johncmaxwell
   The most called-upon prerequisite of a friend is an accessible ear. –  Maya Angelou
5. YouQuotedQuotes
   I had rather do and not promise than promise and not do. ~ Arthur Warwick
6. leopercer
   Thomas á Kempis—”Adversities do not make a man frail, they show what sort of man he is.”
7. YouQuotedQuotes
   The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your state of mind. ~ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer
8. YouQuotedQuotes
   Seek First to understand, then to be understood. ~ Stephen Covey
9. YouQuotedQuotes
   He, who moves not forward, goes backward. ~ Johann Wolfgangvon
10. erguncaner
    Faith  Fact: Earth is the only planet in our system not named after a mythical god. “The earth is the Lord’s…” (Ps 24:1)

So, I’ve recently discovered a new business in town that makes me happy.  And so, I was thinking that for this installment of the Friday Favorites I would share with you one of my favorite local establishments.  For those of you who live near me, go and support this business.  For those of you who live elsewhere, I’m sorry.  You’re on your own.  So, here is one of my favorite local businesses.

Favorite Gas Station – RaceTrac
So, my favorite gas station used to be 7 Eleven.  I mean, who doesn’t like a slurpee every now and again?  But now, my favorite is RaceTrac.  It’s not the biggest or newest in town, but there are several reasons I like it most.  First, this summer they’re running a special deal.  Buy a keeper-cup, and you get free refills all summer!!!  What a deal!  That’s what initially got me coming there frequently, but soon I realized there are many other reasons to frequent this place.  Second, they have a slurpee-like frozen beverage that tastes like Dr. Pepper.  It’s awesome!  Third, there are always plenty of employees on duty there.  So, it’s safer, cleaner, and better stocked.  That’s better customer service!  Fourth, my daughter recently needed to go to the bathroom badly so we hesitantly took her inside, expecting the typical gas station restroom… yuck-tacular!  But, to our surprise, it was clean… really clean… even smelled that way.  Needless to say, that left a good impression on my wife.  Fifth, last night I was there getting my free refill (my “freefill”), and one of the workers went out of his way help another customer and me out.  The other guy was buying bottled water… and the worker voluntarily told him, “They’re on sale buy-one-get-one free.”  That’s awesome.  As for me, the ice machine was “hiccupping,” and the guy pointed me to the special iced coffee ice machine and encouraged me to use it.  Maybe, it doesn’t sound like that big of a deal, but get this… the guy was already off the clock, but he still helped us out anyway.  That kind of customer service makes me happy.

So, what are some of your favorite business around town?  I have more to share, but this will have to do for this week.  But I wonder, what makes your favorite businesses favorites?  What qualities do you look for?  And, what steps are you taking at your place of work to encourage people to come back for more?

It’s that time again.  This Friday brings the third installment of the Friday Favorites series.  Each Friday you’ll find a listing of some of my favorite things.  I try to mix it up each week, but I have so many favorite tweets that I have to share more of these with you.  So, here are some of my favorite tweets from April 2010.

1. hughballou

   Success is going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm – Abraham Lincoln

2. JWill85

   When the people around you, limit God’s work within you, it’s time to get up and move – @stevenfurtick

3. erguncaner

   “Beware of men who have strong convictions, but no compassion.” – WA Criswell

4. leopercer

   Listening to gossip and accusations simply encourages ungodly behavior like sleeping with pigs encourages one to get dirty!

5. leopercer

   “A lie consists in speaking a falsehood with the intention of deceiving.” – Augustine

6. leopercer

   “Be not angry that you cannot make others as you wish them to be, since you cannot make yourself as you wish to be.” – Thomas A Kempis

7. leopercer

   “God sends no one away empty except those who are full of themselves.” – D. L. Moody

8. YouQuotedQuotes

   The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer somebody else up. – Mark Twain

9. johncmaxwell

   On keeping it simple: If u can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it enough. – Albert Einstein

10. johncmaxwell

    Connecting is not about YOU. It’s hard to find common ground w others when the only 1 you’re focused on is yourself.

So, which of these is your favorite?  And then, is there a type of favorite you’d like to request from me for next week?

So, I’m at IKEA…one of the best places to shop in all of Central Florida!  Cool stuff…great prices.  Billy Mathis and I are there buying items for the soon-to-be-open Prayer Room at Palmetto Avenue Baptist Church.  And, get this.  Two separate times, I am mistaken for an IKEA employee!

Obviously, Billy thought that this was just hilarious.  He just sat back and watched as the people came up to me asking for assistance in the store.  The crazy thing is that I wasn’t even wearing the trademark IKEA yellow shirt.  I was wearing a solid red polo shirt with our Liberty Christian School logo on it…it’s one of our school uniform shirts.

Despite not wearing the IKEA clothing, I was still somehow mistaken for an employee.  Now, why did this happen?  Was it my gestures in the store as I pointed things out to Billy?  Was it that people recognized me from being there before and assumed I work there?  Was it my international look (many IKEA employees are from overseas)?  Or maybe it was my general I-look-like-I-know-what’s-going-on appearance that made them think I’m an IKEA employee?

Truthfully, I don’t know what the deal is.  But, this seems to happen to me a lot.  Just six days after the IKEA event, I was at Walmart (in the same red polo shirt), and I was mistaken for a Walmart employee!!!  They wear dark blue at Walmart!  Maybe, I should just stop wearing this shirt!

So, what’s the point in telling you all of this here?  Glad you asked.  Are you ever mistaken for someone or something else?  Here’s a thought for you.  If you’re a Christian, does your lifestyle (places you go, people you’re with, things you do) reflect it?  Or, do you think you might be mistaken for an unbeliever?  Hmm.  Something to think about.

So, I took my family to Panera Bread this week because I had a few coupons. Long story short, they took our order and accepted our coupons. Everything was looking good. However, when our food was ready for pick up, I noticed that the napkin dispenser near the food pick up was empty. So, in an attempt to be helpful to Panera and the other customers with messy eaters in their family, I let the staff know the dispenser was empty. Their response was to simply hand me some napkins. Fine for me, not fine for the next person in line.

Fast forward 45 minutes, and we are getting ready to leave. My wife goes to get napkins to clean up the kids, and lo and behold, it’s still empty! Hmm… they didn’t listen and take action when I told them it was empty. I don’t know about you, but this failure to listen carefully happens to me a lot, especially when a server is asking for my drink order. I usually say, “Sweet tea, lots of ice, no lemon.” But the server usually isn’t listening for anything more than the word “tea” so I end up with a warm, lemony tea. Not cool.

So what’s the take away today? Well, it should be obvious…LISTEN! And then, once you’ve heard, take action. When you’re at work (like Panera), listen and take action. When you’re at church meeting visitors, listen and remember their names. Then, use them. When you’re at home, listen and take action. Don’t just sit in your own little world.

By the way, the rest of the story is this. The day after my Panera visit, my parents invited us out to eat at Panera. And well, we went to a different Panera. And guess what… they listened better. Which do you think I’ll want to visit next time?

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

So, I went to Lowes, the local hardware store, this week in search of some items for the new education room that we are putting together for our children.  Now usually, these larger hardware stores are given a hard time for being “big box stores,” devoid of decent customer service.  Unfortunately, this designation is often correct.  However, my experience this week was pretty surprising.  You see, there’s a new leader (store manager) in town, and his presence is making a huge difference (I know a guy who works there, and he tells me that this new leader is really raising the standard).

So, I’m at the store, and the new leader comes up to me as I push my two kids around the store, with merchandise hanging out all over the place, and asks if I need help with anything.  Apparently, he could see the look of confusion on my face as I looked for magnets.  Immediately, he told me exactly where the magnets are kept.  I appreciated that.  Many times people have no clue where items are in their own store where they spend hours and hours a day.  Then, he quickly had a nearby employee escort me to the magnets.  What?! An escort?  That never happens.  Usually, I just get a point of the finger and a “Magnets are over there” comment.  This was a much better experience.

So, the lessons learned from this trip to the hardware store:  1) The leader makes a huge impact on the morale and the standard of excellence.  2) Guiding someone somewhere is better than pointing someone somewhere.  Pointing is good.  Guiding is better.

Have you had a similar experience?  What are your thoughts?

Each Friday you’ll find here a listing of some of my favorite things.  Sometimes it’ll be tweets, sometimes tweeps, sometimes blogs, sometimes restaurants… you get the idea.  It’ll be whatever I decide to make the Friday Favorite.

Here’s a list of ten of my favorite tweets from the past few months.  Enjoy!

1. YouQuotedQuotes
   If your desk isn’t cluttered, you probably aren’t doing your job.” – Harold Geneen
2. YouQuotedQuotes
   Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent. – Marilyn Vos Savant
3. erguncaner
   “The only exercise some Christians get is jumping to conclusions and running down others!” – J.Vernon McGee via Greg Laurie
4. AndyStanley
   RT @CandiPShelton: We need friends who will always have our back but won’t always take our side.
5. erguncaner
   Beware of the man who has nothing good to say about anyone except himself!
6. AndyStanley
   Masking irresponsibility with prayer makes one an irresponsible person who prays.
7. tinybuddha
   “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” – Charles Swindoll
8. tinybuddha
   “Commitment in the face of conflict produces character.” – Unknown
9. johncmaxwell
   Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. – Cicero
10. johncmaxwell
    Ninety-nine percent of failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses. – George Washington Carver

Which of my favorites is your favorite?  And, do you have any favorite tweets/quotes you’d like to share this week?

So, here we are. This is my first post.  Now, let me tell you why I’m going to start blogging.

1. Blogging is an extension of my life MISSION STATEMENT.
Everyone should have a mission statement for their lives.  It answers the question, “Why are you here?”  My mission statement in life is an expression of 2 Timothy 2:1-2.  I am here to pass along to others the truth of God that has been entrusted to me with the goal of pointing them toward Christ.  So then, blogging is really just an opportunity to carry out my mission in life.  This is my greatest reason for blogging.  As you read this blog, expect to be entrusted with God’s truth, and be ready to pass it along to others.

2. Blogging is an opportunity to ENGAGE with others.
When we engage with others, we can be prompted toward growth.  That is the hope here.  I want to connect with people through this blog and experience the sharpening effect of Proverbs 27:17.  Let’s do it!  As you read this blog, expect to be engaged and prompted to think.

3. Blogging is an opportunity to ENCOURAGE others.
There are plenty of negative blogs out there. Hopefully, this blog with have a different slant, an encouraging one.  Hebrews 10:24-25 speaks of how the community of faith should be an encouraging place where we can “spur one another on to love and good deeds.”  We need to make this happen.  As you read this blog, expect to be encouraged to the point of action.

4. Blogging is an opportunity to EMPOWER others.
The old saying goes, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.”  I want to empower you to fish for yourself.  I intend to share through this blog any insights, tips, advise, information, etc. that I receive with the intent that it empowers you to do your work better.  So then, in theory, this blog is less about me and more about you.  So as you read this blog, expect to be empowered with the tools and resources necessary to do great work!

So how about you?  Why do you blog?  Or, why haven’t you started yet?

Thanks for visiting. Enjoy your time here, & please point others in this direction!