Chick-Fil-A

Based on the gift they have received, everyone should use it to serve others, as good managers of the varied gift of God. 1 Peter 4:10 HCSB

It is not enough to give the customer excellent service. You must subtly make him aware of the great service he is getting. Michael Leboeuf*

There’s a Chick-Fil-A that I love visiting. The building is clean and attractive. I’m greeted at the door. There are plenty of smiling workers offering to take my order. The clerks who are not serving other guests prepare my drinks for the one who is serving me. If my order is not extremely prompt, they offer to carry my tray for me, but even then it is ready before I can pull my straw from its sleeve. The food is delicious, but if it wasn’t, the manager, who stops by twice to refill our drinks and offer us moist towelettes, would remedy the situation. Christian music plays and posters on the wall advertise the WinShape Foundation, a Chick-Fil-A funded organization which sponsors marriage retreats, foster parenting, and camps for underprivileged children.

The church can learn a lot from Chick-Fil-A.

Lord, help us use what you’ve given us to serve others.

*thinkexist.com

Dying

You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring-what your life will be! For you are a bit of smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. James 4:14 HCSB

Somebody should tell us, right at the start of our lives, that we are dying. Then we might live life to the limit, every minute of every day. Do it, I say! Whatever you want to do, do it now! There are only so many tomorrows. Pope Paul VI*

I just learned that one of my cousins passed away. She was only in her forties. The news hit me surprisingly hard and made me think about my own life. What is it that God really wants me to do? Have I been everything that He wants me to be? Have I wasted my life? What would I do right now if I found out that I had six months to live?

The fact is, no matter what our health situation, all of us are dying. We only get one turn in this life. Let’s stop wasting it. Let’s start really living as God intended for us to live.

Lord, help us live life to its fullest.

*thinkexist.com

Dwell On These Things

Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8 HCSB

People say I’m extravagant because I want to be surrounded by beauty. But tell me, who wants to be surrounded by garbage? Imelda Marcos*

I moved back into New Orleans three weeks after Hurricane Katrina hit the city. My home was basically untouched by the storm, but my community was drastically changed. Huge piles of garbage lined the streets and a disturbing odor permeated the air. In order to find relief from these unpleasant surroundings, I took regular trips outside of the city where these circumstances did not exist. Pure air, uncluttered paths, and beautiful scenery helped to clear my disgruntled mind.

Even in pristine environments, many of us involved in creative ministry allow ourselves to be distracted by the garbage of the world. However, if we are to be effective worship leaders, we must focus on the pure, uncluttered, beautiful things of God.

Lord, help me to focus today on things that bring You glory.

*thinkexist.com

Your Gift

Do not neglect the gift that is in you 1 Timothy 5:14 HCSB

Everyone is gifted, but some people never open their package. Anonymous*

Greg played first chair trumpet in high school and college. He loved every part of playing in the band. He loved making music. He loved the community that he shared with his fellow instrumentalists. He loved being a part of something larger than himself. However, since getting married and moving into his career in marketing, he has stopped playing altogether. In fact, he can’t even remember where he stored his horn.

Last year, Greg moved to a new city and joined a church with an orchestra. Nobody there knows that he has a musical background, but every time the instruments play, he squirms in his seat just a little. His wife encourages him to audition for the trumpet section, but he laughs her off. Each week, he sits in silent agony and dreams about introducing himself to the director, but he pushes his thoughts away and tells himself that his trumpet playing is a thing of the past.

Lord, help us not neglect the talents that you have given us.

*thinkexist.com

Unbelievable

But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 HCSB

I think love is the most unbelievable, and critical, thing in civilization. Everything else is very mechanical and predictable, but love, you can’t catch it. Anonymous*

When I was in elementary school in South Carolina, the grade above me did an interesting project. The entire class wrote letters, sealed them in glass bottles, and threw them into the ocean. One of those bottles floated across the Atlantic Ocean to the Azores Islands, off the coast of Portugal. A teenage girl found the bottle, wrote to our school, and we raised enough money to bring her to visit America. It’s an unbelievable story, but it’s true.

What’s even more unbelievable is that God loves people so much that He left the glories of Heaven and lowered Himself to be born as a human being. He lived a perfectly sinless life, then died a horrible death on a cross to pay for the consequences of the sins that mankind had committed and even now continue to commit. That is a simply unbelievable story, but it’s true.

Lord, You are unbelievable!

*thinkexist.com

Content

“For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.” 1 Timothy 6:7-8 HCSB

“He that deserves nothing should be content with anything.” Charles H. Spurgeon*

Once, while on vacation, my wife Kathy and I had a severe tire blowout. A few miles down the road, we found a very modest hotel room for the night which was not far from a tire dealership. Since we were stranded, I told Kathy that we would splurge and eat at the nicest restaurant that we could walk to. We stepped out of the hotel and the only establishment we could see was a Waffle House.

“Surely there must be something else down the road,” Kathy said.

I looked down the road and replied, “I only see one other place.”

“What is it?” Kathy asked.

“Another Waffle House,” I answered.

“Waffle House it is!” Kathy said with a laugh.

Even though we had experienced a humbling and modest evening, that meal stands out to me as one of the top dinners we’ve ever shared with each other.

Lord, thank You for what You have given us.

*thinkexist.com

Nowhere Man

“But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:33 HCSB

“Church isn’t where you meet. Church isn’t a building. Church is what you do. Church is who you are. Church is the human outworking of the person of Jesus Christ. Let’s not go to Church, let’s be the Church.” Bridget Willard*

I used to watch a television series called Nowhere Man. The show was about Thomas Veil, a photojournalist, who while dining out with his wife, returned from the restroom to find that his entire life had been erased. His credit cards didn’t work, his best friend had been killed, his mother was in a coma and therefore could not confirm his existence, and his wife didn’t recognize him. He truly was a nowhere man.

Do you think that Jesus ever feels like a nowhere man? His people acknowledge Him in church, sing songs about Him, and read about Him from a book that He wrote, but then they often go out into the world following the worship service and deny that He exists by the lives that they lead.

Lord, help us to be the church no matter where we are.

*thinkexist.com