Saying "I'm Sorry"

I had to swallow my pride tonight and say...

"I'm sorry."

Why is that so hard to do?

It's especially hard to do when you think the other person was in the wrong to begin with. But when you respond to the wrong in a way that is wrong, that's wrong.

Right?

Well, tonight a young kid at a guitar store working behind the counter refused to take a bookmark gospel tract from me when I was buying some guitar strings. He sort of sneered, "I know what that is."

It was obvious he wanted nothing to do with my bookmark tract.

I replied, "Don't you like to read?"

He mumbled something in return and had a disgusted look on his face.

Then I really blew it - I said, "Well, I appreciate your friendliness tonight."

Not the right thing to say, because I said it very sarcastically.

He retorted with another mumbled zinger and we sort of both went our way giving each other the kind of look that says, "You're an idiot."

Of course, I got in my car and I was pretty mad. I mean after all, I was the customer. And after all, he was a jerk about not taking my tract. And after all...

But no matter how hard I tried to justify my bonehead behavior, the Holy Spirit was convicting me that I had not heeded the words of Jesus: "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also" (Matt. 5:39).

Why does Jesus always do that? He always has just the right thing to teach you right when you aren't feeling very teachable.

Well, about a half hour later, I called the store and asked to speak to the kid who I treated badly. Unfortunately, he had already left for the day. But I was able to speak with the manager. I told him that I had treated his employee poorly and that I was calling to apologize.

He was shocked. He said he never gets calls like this one - most customers who call are calling to chew him out, not to apologize.

He assured me that he would pass along my apology to the employee the following day, and he thanked me for calling.

Boy was that a hard call to make. I really had to swallow my pride.

Believe me, I am not patting myself on the back here. I'm just sharing this with you to encourage you to not return evil with evil - return evil with good.

Just like Jesus said to do.

Yo, Adrian...

Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, yesterday I saw the latest and greatest Rocky movie, "Rocky Balboa."

To my surprise, it was very well-done.

Of course it was very predictable. But what else would you expect from a Rocky movie?

I mean, that's part and parcel of being a Rocky movie - the underdog digs deep down inside to muster up the will and courage to overcome all the odds and achieve victory in the end (in this case, personal victory).

Interestingly, there was very little bad language in the movie. Of course any bad language is too much bad language for me. (Insert "prude" comment here.)

Unfortunately, Sly Stellone had to throw in the obligatory "babe" shot - some hot-to-trott, surgically-enhanced starlet who pranced around the ring holding up the "Round 8" and "Round 9" signs, showing WAY too much flesh. And in light of yesterday's blog, that's the LAST thing that guys need to see.

Why does Hollywood almost always throw in the "babe" shot and the bad language? It does nothing to enhance the movie. Some say, "It makes the movie more true-to-life; it makes it more realistic."

Baloney.

It makes it more pleasing to the flesh is what it does. We just say that it makes it more realistic, don't we guys...???

The "babe" shot is just another opportunity for guys to lust, and the foul language does nothing but get in the way of a good story line.

The best movies I've ever seen have no "babe" shots and no bad language.

I'd love to take my kids to see "Rocky Balboa," but in all good conscience, I can't.

And before you say, "Oh you're sheltering your kids," let me ask you this - do you take your kids to dine at the dump? You don't? Why not? Aren't you sheltering them from the real world?

Of course you are sheltering them. You shelter your kids from germs, you shelter your kids from the cold weather, you shelter your kids from drugs - so why not shelter them from "babe" shots and bad language?

Make sense to me.

Kill the Monster

How many of you Christian men out there are being crushed by the brutal, unrelenting, and very, very real monster of Internet pornography?

Anyone?

Surely you get attacked from all angles like I do.

It seems that no matter where I surf on the Net, there is always some banner or some link or some flashing advertisement that leads into the never-never world of free sleaze.

When are you going to do something about this?

When are you going to strike back at this enemy that seeks to destroy your mind, not to mention your marriage, your family, and your life?

Or are you one of those guys who says, "I can handle it - it's really not a big deal for me"?

Baloney.

It is a big deal. And even if this monster hasn't dug its claws into you yet, believe me - it will.

So what can you do?

There are many things that you can do.

First of all, pray. Do what Paul told the Thessalonians: "Pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17, NKJV).

Second, cultivate a true fear of the Lord by spending a lot of time studying God and His many attributes (the best resource for learning about God's attributes, in addition to the Bible, is Systematic Theology, Volume Two: God, Creation. Bloomington, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers, 2003 - written by Dr. Norman Geisler).

Some say that fearing God isn't cool, because God just wants to be our friend, our buddy, our homeboy.

Wrong.

There is a good reason why the word "fear" is used over and over again in the Bible with regards to God - it's because we should fear Him.

Third, go to www.covenanteyes.com and sign up for their accountability program.

The cool thing about this program is that you don't have to install a filter on your computer that blocks you from going to various sites - you are still free to roam the Internet as you please. However, you have an accountability partner who gets a report about the places you visit.

The report breaks down the various websites into categories, such as "very mature and objectionable" and "somewhat mature and objectionable," and so on. You get to choose your own partner, and I would recommend you choose someone who you know well and someone who you would be so incredibly embarrassed if they found out you were surfing porn sites.

That's the person you want as your partner.

So starting today, pray without ceasing, cultivate a fear of the Lord, set up some accountability, and thereby strike back at the monster that longs to steal, kill, and destroy - I guarantee you won't regret it.

Where are the Goodies?

When I was first encouraged to become a Christian, I was made to think that "coming to Jesus" was the ultimate life-enhancement plan - that Jesus was the key to making my life here on earth the very best it could be.

So my question is simply this: Where are the goodies?

I was basically told to put on the parachute to improve my flight, when I should have been told to put on the parachute to prepare for the jump to come (Heb. 9:27).

Notice to all well-meaning Christians who promulgate the watered-down and misleading message that Jesus is the key to a really groovy life here on earth:

PLEASE STOP!