experiences

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Make Good On Your Promise

In my last blog, I wrote about how saying “sorry” doesn’t make good on your promise to deal with the hurt one’s received. (Check out that blog here!)

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I just got a new credit card for the precise purpose of collecting reward points. This will eventually enable me to purchase a new cell phone on points.

The reason the credit card company was trying to communicate how terribly sorry they were is because they declined my card on my third purchase … MY THIRD PURCHASE!

My card is through Rogers Bank, and why wouldn’t they have a bank? They own television stations, a cable company, an internet service, and a cell phone provider. They need a bank.

My first purchase on the card was for $24 at Swiss Chalet for a meal with my wife and son. With my initial purchase I got 5,000 points, and that’s $50 towards a new phone.

Two days later, I followed that purchase up with one for about $100 to my auto mechanic. That’s the first time I’ve actually been slightly disappointed that my repair bill was so low.

I had anticipated a bill of around $300-$500 and in my head I was thinking cha-ching – rewards points, come to papa!

You can imagine my dismay now that my bill will be getting me less than half the points I had pre-calculated.

The very next day we had scheduled a hot water tank replacement. I specifically told Lily we would be using my new card since the purchase would be around $1000 and I would pocket about two thousand points for the purchase.

That’s when Rogers Bank ran out of money. I just started with the guys, but they weren’t expecting me to purchase something over $500, I guess.

I have a limit of $10,000 on the card – you’d think they would allow me to put that much on it … I only wanted a thousand.

Their reason for declining my card was that it was out of my regular pattern.

I replied to the guy on the phone, “Out of my regular pattern?! How can I have a pattern?! I just got the card four days ago and this is my third purchase!”

Of course, he was very sorry for the inconvenience, “and the embarrassment” I added.

I’m not sure Rogers Bank is going to make it. The guy I talked to couldn’t give me rewards points for my lost points on the declined purchase. His supervisor also didn’t have the authority to give me those rewards points.

These Rogers rewards points must really be worth a lot or they are running this bank on a shoestring.

It’s been four days since my decline, eight days since I’ve had my card. I haven’t seen any reward points yet – not the bonus points I was promised and no word from the president of Rogers as to whether they will break their piggy bank and give me some “sorry” points. I’m waiting . . . patiently.

Heres the thing: Have you promised God that you’d give Him your life? But you’ve actually kept control of some or a good portion of it for yourself? All that does is cause Him to question your sincerity. Make good on your promises and let Him lead. Don’t frustrate God’s plan by holding back and not giving Him everything you promised.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What are you most tempted to hold back from giving to God? Leave your comment below.

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When Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word

Sometimes saying sorry just isn’t enough. That’s true when the words used to say sorry are hollow or come without sincerity.

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It’s not hard to ascertain a person’s genuineness when saying sorry; we pick it up in their voice,  their facial expression, their posture and gestures.

When someone is truly sorry, it’s often easy to forgive them. Our heart goes out to them for we see the pain they are in. Even though they may have inflicted pain on us, we are moved to ease the pain they are in.

But when the words used to express their sorrow come out as a memorized line that they have rehearsed for a play they are starring in, well, it takes more than words to prove there is depth to the expression that lies beneath the thin wavelengths of sound coming from their mouths.

Sometimes sorry doesn’t make the mistake go away.

This week I had a credit card declined when making a purchase. That was just a little embarrassing.

So when the credit card company called to say sorry, I wanted to know they were more than just Easter chocolate words … you know, fully formed chocolate outside shell, but hollow on the inside.

The company representative on the other end of the line must have said he was very sorry about a half a dozen times. But every time I heard the word, I thought to myself “Oh, that makes it all better now – NOT!”

You see, I had just received the credit card no more than four days before this incident. I got the card because it’s my latest scheme to get a new cell phone. With every dollar purchase I make with this card I get two points that I can use towards purchasing a new phone.

But even better than that, I got 5,000 points for just taking the card. It was a no-brainer for me! I slipped my old MasterCard out of my wallet and slipped the new one in. Awesome! – and we had a large purchase to make right away which would get me a lot of points.

We needed a new hot water tank so it made perfect sense to me to put this on my new Rogers MasterCard and get 2,000 points for the purchase, rather than put it on Lily’s PC MasterCard and get about the same number of points towards groceries.

What do you need food for anyway when you have a chance at reducing the price of a new phone?

Not only was having my purchase declined an embarrassment, ending up missing out on all those points that went to Lily’s grocery bill really fried me.

So I said to the guy on the other end of the phone, after his 5th or 6th “sorry for the inconvenience”, “How about you give me some reward points on my card?”

Apparently, he was only authorized to express hollow words. For a truly sorry gesture on the part of the credit card company, he would have to have his supervisor give that.

To be continued . . .

Here’s the thing: When we have sinned, we may be sorry before God, but our words better not be hollow. You see, being sorry for sin also means you have to do something about it, and that involves not continuing in your sin. Be sure that when you ask God for forgiveness you mean it, by way of ensuring you take steps not to commit that sin again.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How have you felt when someone’s sorry words are nothing more than hollow? Leave your comment below.

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What A Mind I Have!

Sometimes our minds surprise us; sometimes they let us down.

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It is a rare occasion when I’ve finished writing my sermon before about 6 pm on Friday night. But this past week I finished writing my sermon at 1:40 pm.

I can’t tell you how good it felt to be done that early in the day. It was like a burden had been lifted from me.

There is a weight that preachers carry with them as they prepare sermons. It feels heavy like a backpack that you can’t take off until you get to your destination.

But when the sermon is done, the backpack comes off and you feel light again.

I celebrated by going for lunch. I decide to try a new chicken fast food restaurant close by and I even got myself a pop. I was feeling good.

The crazy thing was, though I finished my sermon in record time for once, I still had more writing to do. So after a not-so-inspiring chicken lunch celebration, I was back at it. This time writing a funeral message.

The amazing thing was I was still focussed and by 6 pm I had finished that message and I was really done for the night.

I was feeling great, mentally exhausted, but ecstatic that I was all done.

In the evening, Lily and I went to a store and saw someone we knew from a distance. About two minutes after that I realized how my mind had let me down despite how focussed I’d been in writing messages that day.

Seeing that guy reminded me that I had forgotten to do something very important earlier in the day.

My message had flowed out of me like a tap turned all the way on, but I had forgotten to fill the baptistry tank in the sanctuary!

You see, another church had asked to use our church for a baptism service on Sunday afternoon and the guy I saw Friday night while shopping was from that church. Seeing him triggered my memory.

For a Sunday baptism, the tank must be filled and the heater turned on by Friday so the water will be warm enough.

I was ripped, upset at myself for not remembering. I was devastated that I would have to spend the rest of the evening babysitting a baptistry tank (it’s a 2 hour process).

How could my mind be so sharp that day but still let me down so badly?

I wanted to blame someone, or something, for how my day turned out. But in the end I had no one to blame but myself.

Here’s the thing: When something goes wrong, we want to blame someone else. It doesn’t change the outcome, but we feel justified being angry at whomever we pin the fault on … even if it’s God. However, accepting responsibility enables us to see how God works things out. I normally have a long day writing a sermon. This week God enabled me to write both messages in the time it usually takes to write one. Though the baptistry issue cost me time Friday night, God used that guy I saw to remind me about what I’d forgotten. When I put the blame in the proper place I can see how God helps me even when my mind lets me down.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: How has your mind amazed you and failed you in the same day? Leave your comment below.

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My Car’s Been Talking To Me

Car maintenance has never been my strong suit. I have not always even been successful at making sure I had gas in the tank to keep my cars rolling – my dad used to call this practice “driving on fumes”.

car on hoist

It takes discipline to keep an automobile in good shape and I’m not even that disciplined at getting regular oil changes … “regular” for me is between 5,000 – 12,000 kilometres, or every three to five months.

I have a neighbour who faithfully washes his cars in his driveway. If I can take my car through the carwash at the gas station a couple of times a year I’m doing good.

That’s what we have rain for, isn’t it? I figure rain is nature doing its thing, helping the grass grow, making the leaves shine, and bringing back the glimmer to the cars on the road.

I am also not good at getting the mechanical parts of the car taken care of. Since the fall I’ve had a little rattle in the front end. I know what it is; I’ve had it before.

I need a new link kit. Now, I can’t really tell you what a link kit looks like or exactly what it does, but it has something to do with stopping that sound my car makes when I drive over a pot hole, or an uneven surface.

This link kit may even be instrumental in maintaining connection between my front wheel and the car, because now that it is long past the fall, my wife is telling me that she fears the wheel is going to come off some time when she’s driving.

Though it’s true that any mechanical failure that could happen to the car will happen when she’s driving, I’m not positive but I don’t think the wheel is going to come off.

Still I need to “put a man on it”, and get this work done on the car.

It used to be easier to do this kind of thing. I would book an appointment and Lily would shuttle me in our other car. It was that simple.

That process is not as easy right now. Our son has our other car most of the time so I need to coordinate with his schedule which seems to be rather full and unpredictable.

I just haven’t made an attempt to figure out a time.

And while all this nothing has been going on, the roads in Kingston (that were once paved with gold but now need some gold plating work) are really making my car sound worse and worse.

Lily is amazed that I’ve been able to put up with the sound for so long, but I just turn up the radio a little louder.

OK!  . . .  I’m going to make an appointment today to take my car in.

Here’s the thing: There are things you know you should do. Maybe God revealed something to you in prayer, and then you read something in the Bible that challenged you in the same area.  You may have even had other people in your life speak to you about that very thing. But there’s that sound, it’s getting louder but you’re not doing anything about it. Don’t put it off any longer. Decide today, right now, and begin to address that something that God wants you to work on.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you been putting off that you need to do today? Leave your comment below.

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Inspiration Can Be Unexpected 

This is a re-post of a blog I published on November 20, 2012. What I wrote is good for me and all of us to keep in mind. Enjoy.

Inspiration can come at any time – sometimes when we least expect it.  This week I was woken up at 5 am with inspiration.  I don’t normally get up at 5.  

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My alarm regularly goes off at 6 am and if it doesn’t, I’m afraid that I would naturally wake up around the time my 21 year old son does on a Saturday.  Does noon sound like a good time to get up?

Five in the morning was pretty early for me to wake up on my own, but there I was, wide awake, looking at the red glowing numbers on our ceiling. 

I like my projection clock because I don’t find the blazing white light of an alarm clock staring me in the face when I turn in bed … that’s too much like heading down a tunnel with a bright light at the end of it! 

This particular morning I wasn’t just awake; I was awake and focused.  My mind was fully engaged and I was ready to get out of bed.  

I had struggled the day before putting my sermon outline together, and just couldn’t see how I should organize what the passage was communicating.  

I was extremely frustrated and my deadline for completing my sermon was clearly on my mind and getting closer.

In the midst of my frustration I did what you are supposed to do when you are in a jam – I prayed. I asked God to help me complete my outline.  

After all, I want to preach what God wants the congregation to hear; it’s really His message.  Maybe that bugged me even more when I didn’t get the outline by the end of the day.

The week before I had been in a similar place and somehow it all came together by Friday.  But that was last week.  That was little comfort given my current situation; I was not happy.

It’s totally quiet in our house at 5 in the morning … not even the turtle is stirring at that time of day.  What woke me up, and what captivated my thoughts was my message.  

I popped out of bed, and for the next hour I finished putting together my outline.  It was all in my head; my mind was brimming with words and verses and how they connected together.  

It wasn’t like I was working; it was more like I was a secretary taking dictation. God had filled my mind with what He wanted communicated. 

I closed my computer at 6:08 and got ready for my 7 am men’s prayer meeting.  

I was energized, my outline was complete, and I wasn’t just ready to write my sermon, I was eager to get at it!  It’s funny how God didn’t give me the outline piece by piece the day before when I had asked Him.  

Instead, He put it all in my head during the night.

Here’s the thing:  I write a sermon every week and I can become comfortable thinking that it is my sermon, my message that He’s helping me complete.  This week God reminded me that it is His message, and His sermon that I preach.  No matter what we do, we work for Him; He doesn’t work for us.  How often do we forget that? 

That’s Life!

Pastor Paul

Question: What has God inspired you with this past year?  Leave your comments below.

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We Need A New Best Before Date

When you buy a bag of potato chips – not that I would buy one – but if you did buy a bag, you would find a “best before date” stamped on it.

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That’s a good thing because many things have a shelf life, and after that much of their goodness is gone.

In the case of fruits and vegetables, they have a “best before date” built right into them. When a banana’s skin gets brown, we say it’s overripe. It’s a nice way of saying it’s rotting (it doesn’t hurt the fruit’s feelings).

We toss things out if they’ve gone past their “best before date”, whether it’s stamped on their package or written all over their face … I mean, skin.

I wish we could have a “best before date” for snow. If snow had a “best before date” I think that February 28th would be a really good date to stamp on it.

But better than a stamp, it would be great if snow just started to rot around that date. In Canada we call that melting – and that would be perfect right about now!

What’s bugging me today is that it’s near the end of March, the temperature outside is -14 C and the snow on my front yard is still very … let’s say “ripe”. It’s showing no signs of going bad.

To be fair, it’s getting thin in some spots, but there is still lots of it in most places. … It’s like a guy who is going bald. At first you can see through a patch of hair and tell that he’s thinning, but you don’t think bald because he still has so much hair.

That’s all I can say about the snow on my front lawn: it’s thinning. But what if it had a “best before date” of February 28? By now it would be all gone; it would be bald.

At one time going bald was not considered something to cheer about. But today being bald is a fashion statement for men. Some guys shave their heads just so they can have that look.

So, I think that when it comes to snow, we really need to consider that trend. If the end of February really is a good “best before date” for snow, one of two things needs to happen:

Either the sun cooperates and melts that snow away, or the city has to take measures to shave it bald, and in the case of snow that would mean haul it away.

Maybe the city could hire their summer staff a little early on years when the snow was only thinning in March and have crews come along with shovels and dumpsters for the snow.

Better yet, have them come with industrial-sized hair dryers and dry out the snow. I understand that for guys going bald using a hair dryer speeds up the process … at least that’s what a friend told me years ago before he went bald.

Here’s the thing: When life bring hardships, hassles and hurts, we just want them to go away; we want to get past them. The best way to see that happen is to apply some heat and effort.  Turn your attention to the heat of prayer and the effort of searching God’s word. As you pray and study during difficult times, you will find that God brings you into a new season.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What do you need to spend more time praying and studying for right now? Leave your comment below.

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My Cell Phone Has Sent Me Into Depression

I’ve been getting a little depressed lately and the cause has to do with my cell phone. I’ve been thinking about getting a new phone but the thought of it has got me down because of what it’s going to cost me.

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To just purchase a new iPhone will cost me more money than I’ve spent on my last two iPhones put together. I realize I purchased my first iPhone 6 years ago and then my last one 3 years ago, but still! – to get a new one I will have to pay about $100 dollars more than my combined purchases so far!

That’s kind of ridiculous. And I just saw a statistic that Apple has sold 700,000 iPhones. I thought the whole idea of manufacturing was that it brings the cost down.

I’m sure there’s a good reason why the price is so high. It’s probably because they’re making the cell phones so thin now that it’s hard to get Siri to fit inside.

Somebody has to be in there to answer my questions.

But I could live with the increased cost of the phone if that was it. But no, there’s more cost involved. To get a new plan (which I have to do because they don’t offer my old plan any more), I’m going to have to pay more money and get less for it.

I’m sure they have a team of bald-headed, hairy eye-browed men wearing dark-rimmed glasses figuring out how to extract the most from us.

On a new contract, I’ll have to pay $10 more per month to get one twelfth the data that I presently have!

This is significant for me because that data is my internet connection when I’m at my cottage. If I buy a new phone I’m going to have to spend more money to get internet while I’m there.

But as bad as all this sounds, what makes it more depressing is seeing US cell phone commercials on TV.

In Canada our big phone companies pretty much own all the television networks in the country.  Instead of blocking Super Bowl commercials, they should block out those US cell phone company ads.

They are depressing the average Canadian, making us feel worse than we did from all the extreme cold and snow we faced this winter.

I don’t know if I can take it to watch another T-Mobile commercial offering unlimited talk and data to its costumers for the mere cost of $50 a month! … Our big companies don’t want to even sell you a smart phone unless your monthly plan will be at least $60 per month.

And my cell phone company wants me to share everything with other people, only I have no one to share with. My kids are on their own and my wife has a plan with her work.

Maybe Rogers would like me to adopt someone … but I looked on their website and didn’t see any profile pictures of Canadians looking to be sponsored on a monthly basis.

I’m too depressed to make a decision. I guess I’ll just keep using what I have for a while longer.

Here’s the thing: There is all kinds of pressure on you to get on board with some kind of plan for your life. God has a plan, but He won’t force you into it. Be sure that the loud voices out there, trying to sell you on their plans, don’t keep you ignoring the plan God has for you.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What pressure to conform have you found yourself under lately? Leave your comment below.

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The Cashier Read Me Like A Book

The cashier rang my purchase through and said “Cheerios and chocolate milk – nice.” I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was visualizing my breakfast meal for me.

checkout cashier

She was pretty much right on. Most days of the week my breakfast consists of a half a grapefruit and a small bowl of hot oat bran cereal. However, Saturdays I really go big with breakfast.

I indulge – I mean, I  splurge – and typically that entails my half a grapefruit, a small bowl of Chocolate Cheerios and a piece of toast with peanut butter.

The lady on the cash at Metro this morning was pretty sharp to connect the dots of my morning ritual, especially since it was still the early part of the day.

The chocolate milk was a random thing; it happened to be on sale and my wife, Lily had it on the list to buy for our son. I decided to take advantage of the sale myself, score a litre and use it with breakfast.

It’s quite possible from the way she said it that the clerk took the same combo of products home with her after her shift. Her comment had a, “hey that’s a good idea” kind of emotion to it.

And believe me, it is a great combo. The Chocolate Cheerios are a perfect balance of whole wheat goodness (I got that from a commercial, I think) and chocolatey sweetness. When you add a little chocolate milk into the mix, it enhances the flavour of the cereal, while providing a richer taste experience than just plain white milk.

I’d recommend it to you but only for occasional use. There is a sugar factor in this concoction that, by some means unknown to scientists or chemists, supercharges your blood stream with a high concentration of blood sugars.

For a lady who was going to be standing behind a cash register for several more hours, I wouldn’t be surprised if on her mid-morning break she cracked open a box of Chocolate Cheerios, drowned them in chocolate milk and allowed the energy high she got from her fix to carry her through the rest of her shift.

For me, I have to be careful that I don’t get a hypo-glycemic reaction where I get all weak and shaky when I come down from my sugar rush. Lily better have lunch planned for right at 12 noon because this morning I’m not going to last much past that time.

It’s the price I have to pay for the enjoyment of having a breakfast that tastes like something. My regular breakfast doesn’t taste like anything. The grapefruit is good and tasty, but the oat bran is on the bland side of bland.

That cashier had me all figured out with my purchases this morning … only she didn’t have a clue what my usual morning breakfast is like. It’s hardy and would keep her going throughout her whole shift, but satisfyingly tasty? – not a chance. She better choose the Cheerios.

Here’s the thing: We can read into people’s lives and guess what’s going on. Usually we don’t know if we are right or not. But we can know what God wants for us by reading His Word. We won’t be guessing what He’s thinking either; we will find His will and plans for us as we apply His scripture to our lives and circumstances.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What insight from God for your life have you discovered lately? Leave your comment below.

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I Wish My Printer Could Talk

Last week my printer stopped working. A red light came on indicating there was a serious problem.

360 printer

My printer is not that old so I was a little upset thinking that I might have to replace it. If you’ve had to replace a printer, or even purchase ink or toner for a printer, you’re probably having the same gulping reaction right now that I had when that red light came on.

Now I didn’t panic – I know there are things you can do to trick a printer into extracting ink on a page beyond its normal capabilities.

If it’s a laser printer, you can take the toner cartridge out and shake it from side to side, and that usually extends your printing ability for at least another hundred pages or so.

If it’s an inkjet printer, the best trick is just to buy another printer because you will pay more for replacement ink than you will for a new printer!

We have a colour laser printer; I really like it, but it’s more complicated than a plain monochrome printer. When the red light came on, unfortunately it didn’t speak up for itself and tell me exactly what was wrong.

In the Bible God caused Balaam’s donkey to speak, to inform Balaam about serious danger ahead. … It didn’t matter how long I looked at that red light or abused the buttons on the machine, no word came forth to tell me what was wrong!

I had to resort to the manual, which of course was not printed, though you might think that a company that makes printers would print their manual.

I found the manual online and looked up troubleshooting. It was a pretty weak troubleshooting section because it didn’t seem to cover the red light problem I was having.

I had to resort to google. I typed in my question and it was there that I found the solution to my problem.

My printer doesn’t just have toner cartridges that need to be replaced when they are empty; my printer also has a toner waste container that needs to be replaced when it’s full.

Get that – the printer has you coming and going. It’s like double dipping in the printer world!  They charge for toner AND they charge to take the residue away.

What I needed to purchase was a new toner waste container before my printer would work again.

I have lots of toner; I can print for another half a year or more before I will need to replace any.  But I couldn’t print because I had to remove the waste the toner leaves behind.

Once I found that out, I was off to the store. I found a container that looked just like mine except the number was different and it seemed bigger. I looked harder and found the right one.

That’s right, the one I needed was smaller and ten dollars more! Figures.

Here’s the thing:  Life can be complicated, difficult to figure out. Often we try our own solutions (tricks) to get us back on track again. Some solutions may work for a little while. But when a red light shows up in your life the best thing to do is investigate with God what the root issue is that needs to be solved. Let Him reveal that to you and help you find the right solution.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What have you tried to solve yourself rather than seek God’s help? Leave your comment below.

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A Flashback Memory

I had a flash back the other day to a memory about 30 years ago. To be fair, this memory has surfaced itself in my mind a few times over the years. But it’s still a special memory.

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Usually there is something that triggers the flashback. For me, that’s as easy as a song on the radio, or looking at an old picture.

It doesn’t take much to cause us to start to reminisce about the past. The older we get there is more to be reminded of, partly because we forget it so quickly, and partly because there are so many memories to catalogue in those brains of ours.

This memory I had the other day was definitely triggered by something. The night before I had taken my son, Mike, to a hockey game. We connect well over hockey and, being Leaf fans, there’s alway something to discuss on that front.

During the game, I mentioned that I was playing hockey in the morning and, to my surprise, he seemed a little interested. He asked me what time I played and I told him 6:30 am.

I think I saw him shutter when I said the time; let’s just say he’s not an early riser, though I remember going to 6 am midweek practices for him when he was young. I’d take him to practice and then straight to school in the morning.

To my shock, Mike said he’d come and play if there weren’t too many guys already. I checked the numbers and it worked that we could use another guy.

Now when he was a kid I would have to wake him up and get his hockey gear together. Now, however, Mike lives on his own … but that didn’t stop me from having to give him a wake up phone call, and gather his hockey bag together that he leaves at our house.

I even had to carry his gear into the arena just like way back when. But that’s not the memory.

The game was good; we made a couple of nice plays together; he scored a few pretty goals. I always had my eye on him even when I was on the ice. A couple of times I threw Mike a pass and then coasted up the ice as I watched him make a play on the net.

But that’s not when the memory came to me.

The 30 year old memory came after the game. I got home, walked through the living room, and as my feet hit the kitchen floor, I remembered thinking when I got married, “I sure hope I’m able to play hockey with my kids when they become adults.”

It was a concern of mine, a dream, a hope that has stayed with me all these years. Now he’s almost 24, I’m almost 59 and I’d say my hope and my dream is not a concern any more – it’s a reality!

Here’s the thing: My passion for hockey rubbed off on Mike, because I have consistently just kept playing the game all these years. What do you want your relationship with God to be like in five, ten years from now or even longer? May your passion for Christ keep you consistently meeting with Him so that one day your walk with Him will be what you’ve dreamed it would be … and may your passion for Christ rub off on those around you!

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What old memory or dream have you had that’s become a reality? Leave your comment below.