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 - Endorsed - Indifferent - Contested
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| The Nashville Statement
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Name:Daniel
Home: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
About Me: I used to believe that evolution was reasonable, that homosexuality was genetic, and that people became Christians because they couldn't deal with the 'reality' that this life was all there was. I used to believe, that if there was a heaven - I could get there by being good - and I used to think I was more or less a good person. I was wrong on all counts. One day I finally had my eyes opened and I saw that I was not going to go to heaven, but that I was certainly going to suffer the wrath of God for all my sin. I saw myself as a treasonous rebel at heart - I hated God for creating me just to send me to Hell - and I was wretched beyond my own comprehension. Into this spiritual vacuum Jesus Christ came and he opened my understanding - delivering me from God's wrath into God's grace. I was "saved" as an adult, and now my life is hid in Christ. I am by no means sinless, but by God's grace I am a repenting believer - a born again Christian.
My complete profile...
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Daniel's posts are almost always pastoral and God centered. I appreciate and am challenged by them frequently. He has a great sense of humor as well.
- Marc Heinrich
His posts are either funny or challenging. He is very friendly and nice.
- Rose Cole
[He has] good posts, both the serious like this one, and the humorous like yesterday. [He is] the reason that I have restrained myself from making Canadian jokes in my posts.
- C-Train
This post contains nothing that is of any use to me. What were you thinking? Anyway, it's probably the best I've read all day.
- David Kjos
Daniel, nicely done and much more original than Frank the Turk.
- Jonathan Moorhead
There are some people who are smart, deep, or funny. There are not very many people that are all 3. Daniel is one of those people. His opinion, insight and humor have kept me coming back to his blog since I first visited earlier this year.
- Carla Rolfe
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| I am not one to complain... but... |
On June 25th, 2009 I spoke over the phone with a representative from Rogers Canada, my wireless provider. I had been looking at the latest iPhone, the 3GS, and decided that I would upgrade my current handset - hence I was talking with a Rogers representative who informed me that the upgrade would go through and that I should expect to have the phone in my hands three to five days after it was shipped. He took my email address so that I could get a tracking number when it shipped.
My expectation, of course, was that in a week to ten days (tops!) I would have a new handset.
Well the first week went by, and no email came announcing an impending shipment, but I was still okay with that. I even ordered a few accessories - a dock, an extra charging cable for the office, and a Griffin™ Reveal™ case. I was a little put out when I learned that the case was sold out, and probably wouldn't even ship until the middle of July. "Oh well," I thought, "I will just have to be very careful with the handset for the first week or two."
When the second week came and went without a whisper, I began to wonder whether or not my order had actually gone through. Did I mention that Rogers is a wireless provider? I mean, they spam me now and again with text messages etc. Surely, if there was some sort of delay, someone would call or at the very least (however impersonal) send me a text message: "Sorry about the delay on your upgrade, please be patient, we are out of stock and backordered." I mean, they have my phone number in their billing system, and they send out mass marketing spams - as a programmer I know how little work it would be for them to type one message and send it to everyone who is affected by a shortage...
I am not one to be impatient, but I can have my patience tested. By week three, my patience was being tested.
My accessories came in two shipments, the first shipment arrived at the beginning of week three, the second (the case) came at the end of week three - but still no phone. Had I not seen the new 6 GB data plan tacked onto my account, I might have pursued the thought that my order had slipped through the cracks, but seeing the data plan on my statement meant that the order had gone through.
This marks the beginning of the fourth week after the order was placed. In that time I have had some opportunity to consider whether or not I should have even bothered with an upgrade. As the calendar flipped through the days, I began to ask myself why I wanted the iPhone in the first place. The data plan was good, sure, it would sync nice with the new Mac Mini at home, okay... my palm pilot is as good as dead, yeah... but really, on judgment day when all that is hidden is brought to light, did I want the phone because it was a practical necessity, or did I justify the indulgence because there were some practical benefits?
There is a passage in Isaiah (3:14) that reads, "The LORD enters into judgment with the elders and princes of His people,'It is you who have devoured the vineyard; The plunder of the poor is in your houses.' " When I read, "the plunder of the poor is in your houses" - I don't picture these Judeans going around and mugging poor people, then returning home and adorning their houses with whatever paltry things they managed to pilfer from the poor. Rather I think it means that one of the ways that sin manifested itself in the Judeans - one of the ways they rebelled against God - is that rather than look after the poor with the abundance God gave them, they looked after themselves. They filled their houses - their lives - with the plunder of their own abundance, and when God says they were robbing the poor, He means that their abundance is not given for their own comfort and ease, but for the easing and comforting of those who lack.
This time of waiting has been fruitful for me, in that I have given the grace to reflect upon some of the choices I make without thinking. I have been reading on a few forums the angst and anger of many who, like myself, are waiting for their new iPhone from Rogers. Where is my phone? Why didn't they tell me they don't have any in stock when I ordered? Why don't they notify us telling us when we can expect the phone, etc. etc. Yet I find myself thinking only about the idols in my life, and whether or not I will ever be godly enough, and possess enough wisdom to see them for what they are. Is my house full of plunder? Will the Lord excuse excessive living simply because everyone who I know lives that way? Does the Lord judge on a sliding scale? Oh, you lived in an affluent land, so your decadence couldn't be helped...?
Anyway, those are my thoughts this morning. |
posted by Daniel @
9:20 AM
 
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| 4 Comments: |
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I did call Rogers tracking number this morning, btw. They are shipping phones today that were ordered on the 20th and 21st. Probably have at least another week to wait.
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Still waiting.. July 28...
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I did call Rogers tracking number this morning, btw. They are shipping phones today that were ordered on the 20th and 21st. Probably have at least another week to wait.