The latest impeachment is designed for just one thing: to finish Trump forever in the political arena.
National leaders Nancy Pelosi (D), Chuck Schumer (D), Mitch McConnel (R), Liz Cheney (R), and Mitt Romney (R) have led the media mob in crying out, “GIVE US TRUMP! IMPEACH HIM!”
President Joe Biden said this about the latest impeachment of Trump: “Today, in a bipartisan vote, the House voted to impeach and hold President Trump accountable. Now, the process continues to the Senate — and I hope they’ll deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on impeachment while also working on the other urgent business of this nation” (January 14, 2021, the New York Post).
Perhaps Bill O’Reilly was right when he wrote, “The smart play would have been for (Biden) to discourage impeachment in the name of national unity. Instead, Biden did his best impression of Pontius Pilate and stood aside.” The mob and its leaders got their way. Now comes the scourging in the Senate.
Will the Senate trial convict Trump for the assault on the Capital building January6, 2021? The odds are Donald Trump will not be convicted by the Senate. However, if the Senate continues down the road of impeachment and the liberal policies of the Democrats fail, Americans will be looking for someone to stop the madness. And it will not be Pelosi, Schumer, McConnel, Chaney, or Romney.
As Bill O’Reilly wrote, “Somewhere Barabbas is smiling.”
It is sunny and 63° degrees here in North Texas. We are on our way to the mid-70s. Now that my non-Starbucks coffee is at my side….
Pastors and worship leaders are still telling their congregations worshiping remotely to stand, sit, raise their hands, clap their hands, and greet their neighbors. But they had no way to verify that: a problem now addressed by this innovative congregation. Grace Church of the Foothills released a fleet of surveillance drones Sunday morning to make sure families worshiping at home were sitting, standing, and raising hands when they were instructed to. The church also found that they were able to verify that everyone was both wearing their Sunday best and taking attentive sermon notes. (Catholic churches, in particular, may benefit from this new method as they tell you to stand and sit an average of 4,273 times per service.)
“Let’s all raise our hands together, church!” shouted worship leader Jim “Headbang” Mollison. Then, the tech team checked the footage coming back from the drones to make sure everyone was doing it. “Looks like the Johnsons aren’t raising their hands in Sector 4,” tech guy Wayne Peterson muttered. “Deploy countermeasures.” The drone then fired a warning shot into the air, causing the Johnsons to scramble to raise their hands as instructed. “That’s right. Dance, monkeys, dance!”
I could not help sharing the above parody from the BabylonBee.com. You have to admit, at first some of you were thinking, “What the h*ll?!” We live in that kind of culture right now. Everyone seems to be watching what everyone else is doing:
“Can you believe she’s not wearing a mask?”
“Why are they wearing a mask? That’s stupid!”
“All over the world, public health and safety officials are employing drones to monitor public spaces and enforce social distancing rules, to help slow the spread of coronavirus.” (CBSNews.com, 04-27-2020)
“Elizabeth, New Jersey, are already deploying drones with automated voice messages reminding people to keep their distance.” (ABC7NY.com, 04-15-2020)
“… drones integrate cameras, data services to monitor medical care and sensors to check an individual’s temperature and heart and breathing rate from a distance. They have also designed algorithms that make it possible to interpret human actions like coughing or sneezing in a context of epidemiological monitoring.” (BBVA.com, 04-16-2020)
“Authorities everywhere are using smartphones to track the coronavirus, and it’s part of a massive increase in global surveillance.” (BusinessInsider.com, 04-14-2020)
At Cold Dead Hands religions and governments do not define us, Jesus Christ does. If we are not careful, religion and government can manipulate, shackle, and enslave us. As “Christ-followers,” we believe our identities lie in our relationship with Jesus Christ and the tenant’s Christ laid out in both the Old and New Testaments. We would never claim perfection, but we do know the forgiveness that runs through Christ and His cross. Like our founder, Patrick James is fond of saying: “Being a follower of Christ isn’t about being perfect… I’m just an imperfect guy, living in an imperfect world, trying to serve a Perfect Christ. It’s not easy… but it makes a difference in my life. It helps highlight truths… and it helps me to be a better person tomorrow than I was today.”
Quite honestly, people, governments, and religion have probably been surveilling us for a long time. When it seems like we cannot escape the peeping-tom eyes our nation or the world around us, and it appears we are on the brink of destruction, be made strong by these words from King David of the Bible and Jesus Christ:
“I have already run for dear life straight to the arms of God. So why would I run away now when you say, ‘Run to the mountains; the evil bows are bent, the wicked arrows aimed to shoot under cover of darkness at every heart open to God. The bottom has dropped out of the country; good people do not have a chance’? But God has not moved to the mountains; His holy address has not changed. He is totally and completely in charge, as always, His eyes taking everything in, His eyelids unblinking, examining Adam’s unruly brood inside and out, not missing a thing.” [King David, Psalm 11:1-6 (MSG)]
“Do not let your heart be troubled or afraid or distressed or agitated, or cowardly. Believe confidently in God and trust in Him, have faith, hold on to it, rely on it, keep going, and believe also in Me, Jesus Christ… Peace I leave with you; My perfect peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let My perfect peace calm you in every circumstance and give you courage and strength for every challenge.” [Jesus Christ, John 14:1, 27 (AMP)]
According to the US Small Business Administration, America has about 30.2 million small businesses, making up 97+ percent of all businesses in the US. Many of these small businesses face extinction because of the COVID-19 shutdown. While their income has evaporated, they still owe wages to workers, rent to landlords, and invoices for vendors. How do small businesses maneuver through these COVID-19 crazy times?
Pandemics are not new to America. COVID-19 is not the first disease to bring American life and business to a halt, and it certainly will not be the last. *Cholera visited America four times, the first in 1832, and the last in 1873. Each time, Cholera brought death and economic chaos to many parts of the world and the US. *According to the CDC, the 1918 flu killed roughly 675,000 people living in the US and upwards of 50 million worldwide. There were as many as 500 million infected globally. *The Asian Flu recorded almost 70,000 US deaths. *H1N1 struck the US in 2009. The CDC estimates there were 60.8 million cases in the US. *The CDC estimates that during the 2018-19 flu season, there were more than 35.5 million illnesses, 490,600 hospitalizations, and 34,200 deaths in the US alone. *From October 1, 2019, through April 4, 2020, the CDC reports upwards of 56 million confirmed flu (non-COVID-19) illnesses, 740,000 hospitalizations, and as many as 62,000 deaths. *The CDC tells us there have been as of April 24, 2020, the US has reported 800,000+ confirmed COVID-19 cases in the US and 50,000+ deaths. New York has recorded almost half of all COVID-19 deaths in the US.
The point is this, COVID-19 is not the end-all of deadly diseases. America and the world will face other “silent killers.” How will businesses and individuals respond during our current pandemic and future catastrophes? Here are three positive questions small business owners maneuvering through this COVID-19 crazy time should be asking employees, management, clients, and themselves:
1) What can we do to make things feel better?
Throughout history, pandemics have had profound economic consequences. Smart businesses, who have navigated economic rough waters, learned to keep themselves and their business poised for an uncertain future by making the painful list of every expense and then, taking the red pen out, began to cross things out – “We don’t need this, this, or this”.
When you push through and make those changes, don’t fall out of that mindset. Do not get locked into expensive, non-essential costs. Resist the urge to overspend during all times.
2) How can we plan on surviving this as a group?
Floral entrepreneur, Nic Faltos, says, “During a crisis, a lot of things are out of your control. Focus solely on what you can control. The objective during a crisis isn’t just to survive; it’s to come out stronger.”
20th-century evangelist, Oswald Chambers, once said, “There are some things only learned in a fiery furnace.” Justen Noakes, director of emergency preparedness for the San Antonio based H-E-B grocery chain found this to be true. He writes: “We have been working on our pandemic and influenza plan since 2005. That’s when we first developed what our plan looked like, [as well as] some of our requirements and business implications. In 2009, we actually used that plan in response to H1N1. We’ve continued to revise it, and it’s been a part of our preparedness plan at H-E-B ever since.” Because team H-E-B took the initiative to develop a present and future plan in the 2005 pandemic of H5N1. Noakes says it allowed H-E-B to be on top of COVID-19 and the oncoming crisis the 2nd week of January.
“The current crisis makes it obvious, if it wasn’t already, how many people have been living financially fragile lives. There’s this oft-quoted statistic that 40% of Americans aren’t prepared for a $500 emergency, and now, we’re all having that emergency together” (FastCompany.com). It seems many individuals and companies are drowning in the same waters. They weren’t prepared for a crisis, because they were busily dog-paddling to stay afloat. Because there was no plan or saving of funds, crisis downturns began to sink them.
The clock is ticking. Americans will break free of the shackles of quarantine to breathe life back into the US economy. When that happens, be ready. Use this pandemic as an opportunity. Have a plan to survive and a strategy to become stronger on the other side. The steps you and your team take now will determine what your business will become during and after the pandemic.
3) What are we going to do differently once this is over?
Shahzad Bhatti, founder and, co-owner of The Co – Dubai writes at Entreneuer.com, “Events such as COVID-19 can be a wake-up call to reconsider how you have been doing business. Is your business model able to survive the changes that will come from the COVID-19 pandemic? How do you expect your customers to behave moving forward? What will and won’t matter to them, and how can you accommodate who will likely be a new type of customer?”
Switching up your business model may be the last thing you want to think about right now, but it could be what keeps you in business. The changes and adaptations we make individually and as a business will allow us to do better — to be better — and to lead us out of a crisis. Once the pandemic is over, and it will end, if we haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity to change those aspects that need changing, we won’t be ready for the next crisis.
“Be ready when the time is right and even when it is not, keeping your sense of urgency, whether the opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable, whether convenient or inconvenient, whether welcome or unwelcome” [The Apostle Paul, 2 Timothy 4:2 (AMP)]. The New Testament Apostle, Paul, learned preparedness many times at the hands of unforeseen circumstances. He wrote, “I know how to get along and live humbly in difficult times, and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of facing life, whether well-fed or going hungry, whether having an abundance or being in need” [The Apostle Paul, Philippians 4:12 (AMP)].
“Do your best, prepare for the worst — then trust GOD to bring victory” [Proverbs 21:31 (MSG)]. Great advice.
Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed by Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver. The film is based on DC Comics characters and follows Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian who turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City. Fleck, who lives with his mother, works as a party clown in Gotham City. Gotham is rife with crime and unemployment, leaving segments of the population disenfranchised and impoverished.
Arthur suffers from a neurological disorder that
causes him to laugh at inappropriate times. After a gang attacks him in an alley,
Arthur’s co-worker loans him a gun. While entertaining at a children’s
hospital, Arthur’s gun falls out of his pocket. Arthur is fired.
On his way home on the subway, still in his clown
makeup, Arthur is beaten by three drunken Wayne Enterprises businessmen;
he shoots two in self-defense and executes the third. The murders are condemned
by billionaire mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne, who labels those envious of
more successful people as “clowns”. Demonstrations against Gotham’s
rich begin, with protesters donning clown masks in Arthur’s image. Funding cuts
shutter the social service program, leaving Arthur without medication.
Arthur pursues a comedy
show which goes poorly; he laughs uncontrollably and has difficulty delivering
his jokes. Talk show host Murray Franklin mocks Arthur by showing clips from
the routine on his show. Arthur is invited to appear on Murray’s show due to
the unexpected popularity of his routine clips. Before the show goes live,
Arthur requests that Murray introduce him as Joker, a reference to
Murray’s previous mockery. Arthur walks out to a warm reception, but begins
telling morbid jokes, admits that he killed the men on the train, and rants
about how society abandons the disfranchised and how Murray mocked him. Arthur
kills Murray live on television and is arrested as riots break out across
Gotham; one rioter corners the Wayne family in an alley and murders Thomas and
his wife Martha, sparing Bruce, who later becomes Batman. (Wikipedia).
Forty-eight-year-old Todd Phillips, the Director, and Producer of Joker
has devoted 20 years of his life producing one box office comedy hit after
another with flicks like 2003’s “Old School” and 2009’s “The Hangover.” He told
Vanity Fair for its November cover story that he is leaving comedy behind
because of the “woke culture.”
The word “Woke” first came into circulation in the 1800s when it simply meant
the state of not being asleep. The Urban Dictionary defines “Woke” like this: “being
woke means being aware… knowing what’s going on in the community related to
racism and social injustice.” It has
since morphed into a kind of watchword — a call to arms — for groups like the
Black Lives Matter Movement, Antifa, and other militant groups.
John Nolte (Twitter @NolteNC) writes,
“Now all of that, everything that
defined (Phillips) work and passion, has been declared ‘problematic’ by
nobodies, by losers whose only skill is tweeting out their mindless
cancellation requests.”Nolte
continues, “Joker is not tomorrow’s mass shooter. He is the golden calf worshiped by
the very same woketard critics looking to blacklist artistic expression; Joker
is those on Twitter and on Rotten Tomatoes who have never accomplished a single
thing in their own pathetic lives other than to tear those down who have… Joker
is the god of those who condemns Phillips for coloring outside the ‘approved’
lines, for putting RESIST signs in the hands of losers, for daring to speak out
against the destruction of his beloved comedy genre in America’s new Woketopia.”
WHO SAID IT?
“Uh, Duh… Hey, der, if
you do anything wrong in your life, and I find out about it, I’m going to try
take everything away from. I don’t care what I find out. It could be today,
tomorrow, fifteen, twenty years from now — If I find out, you’re f******g
…. Duh … finished.”
Did you guess who said
it? Popular black comedian Dave Chappelle said it during his latest
Netflix special. Chappelle then asked and answered this question for his
audience: “WHO IS THAT? That’s you! That’s what the audience sounds like to me!”
Watching a weekend matinee of JOKER, one can’t help but sense that the movie mimicked Chappelle’s question and answer.In his review of the movie, Nolte (Twitter @NolteNC), quotes producer/director Phillips asking and answering:“Who are Joker’s mindless followers? Who are these maladjusted malcontents, these adult losers who live with their mothers; these useless idiots who exist in literal garbage and keep voting for the same politicians to run their Gotham City…? Who are these crybabies who worship a murderer, these nihilists who hold RESIST signs, who scream KILL THE RICH!, who hate cops, who ‘don’t believe in anything,’ who think something’s wrong with society because they’re not ‘happy all the time’? Who covers their faces with masks so they can riot and go wilding under the pretense this criminal and cowardly behavior is an act of virtue…?” Phillips goes on, “WHO IS THAT? That’s you! That’s what YOU in the audience sounds like to me!”
Nolte writes, “(Phillips) An artist who turned his legitimate
frustrations with the Antifa-Occupy-Black Lives Matter-Resistance crybabies,
these anarchist-fascists seek to marginalize men like Todd Phillips for who he
is, punish him for his success, and then censor his art… Phillips took all of
that and turned it into his muse, not only to create the stunning Joker but to reinvent
himself as an artist… Phillips is saying. “Joker is YOU!Joker is the
godless god you spoiled losers’ worship; a sociopath who believes in
nothing, who wants to burn down society because he’s not happy all the
time — your leader is Madness, Anarchy, Intolerance, Jealousy,
Envy, Bigotry, and Hate.”
ANY OF THIS RING A BELL?
Nolte and Phillips call them “woketards.” After seeing the movie, I
like to call them JOKERTARDS. Do you know any Jokertards? Do you know any “mindless, maladjusted malcontents,
adult losers who live with their mothers”? Know or seen on TV any “useless
idiots, who hate cops, carry RESIST signs, and who keep voting for the same
politicians who have destroyed their cities”?Those who “worship at the feet of Madness, Anarchy,
Intolerance, Jealousy, Envy, Bigotry, and Hate”? They are not just living
with mother types. Many of these Jokertards are educated business types, media
types who have their own shows, and politicians. Heck, some even call
themselves “Reverend”. They are so caught up in their hate speech and hate
thought that they fail to see that, “Joker is YOU!”
Then there’s THE GUN!
Joker doesn’t get his hands on “The Gun” due to lax gun control
laws. The Gun comes to him illegally.
The Gun empowers a dangerously mentally ill individual who is not getting
the mental health help
he requires because he lives in an urban nightmare run by incompetent urban
politicians.
Reviewer after reviewer has attacked the movie as siding with
Joker, who picks up a gun and lashes out at society to solve his problems. “What movie did these idiots watch? Phillips doesn’t
empathize with Joker. He reverse-engineers him. This character has been around
for nearly eighty years, so we already know what he becomes. All Phillips does
is take him apart, piece by piece, and give us a tour of his mind… Joker is not
tomorrow’s mass shooter. He is the golden calf worshiped by the very same woketard
(Jokertard) critics
attacking Joker … They’re too stupid and too blinded by their
own sanctimony to get it: Joker is YOU!” (Twitter @NolteNC)
This not a movie for everyone. Those looking for a superhero
thrill-ride need to look elsewhere. Joker
is a monster movie. Every shot is disturbing. Arthur Fleck/Joker, Joaquin
Phoenix’s performance is a jaw-dropper. Joker
warns us of what happens when a society allows the government to control everything.
The movie warns that what the government giveth, the government can also taketh
away, and take away from Fleck it does, and without his medication and with The
Gun, Fleck at long last finds a way to
matter.
TRUTH? WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH “CHRISTIANS”?
Whether you agree or not with Phillips and Nolte, the truth
is we do live in a society that can’t handle real truth. It seems, over time,
the words of the cultist, Aleister Crowley, has made its way into society and
perhaps even into the Christian church: “Do as thou wilt which is the whole
of the Law” and “Thou hast no right but to do thy will.” In other
words, whatever you believe to be “right” is “right” for you. Whatever you
believe to be “truth”, that is “truth” for you. How dare anyone question what your
“truth” or “behavior” is — even if the person doing the questioning is God
Himself.
Tying some modern-day Christian churches to Crowley’s words
will no doubt rattle some people and make them upset. But, let’s ask the
question: How many Christians and church leaders are there trying to pass off “their”
truth, “their” teachings, and “their” rules, as if they came from Christ when
in reality, they are man-made-up? Has the church helped to create Jokertards
who are Tweeting and Facebooking out their attacks, gossip, and mindless
dribble, trying to pass it off as “truth” and something “noble”? Know any Christians
who complain about what’s wrong with society and never seem to be happy? They
cover their faces with masks, pretending to be Christian by day and someone
different by dark? Have we Christians become cowards who are afraid to speak
Biblical truth?
Look, I love the church that Christ established and died
for. I love to worship a Holy God and listen to Biblical teaching with those
who do, too. The TRUTH? Not one time does the Bible mention a building called “Church.”
The Church as a building was never the point to Jesus and the early Church. The Church was never about brick and mortar. It was greater than that. The
Church is about Christ and His people and a way of being in the world, but not
of it. Jesus always taught relationships and Kingdom, not buildings.
Recently, a non-Christ-follower said to me: “Tell me, name one (Christian) church
in our city that is changing people’s lives in ways that honor your God. There
are many organizations that have good people and are doing good things. What
are the good people in your churches doing? I hear them complain and tell me
what I’m not doing right. I see their social media posts. They are no different
than me. They act like they are a god. What makes your Christ’s way the only
right way?” When Christians are confronted with these types of
questions we are easily offended and begin to, “Uh, Duh… Hey,
der….” It was almost like this guy was saying, “Whois the god
these mindless, spoiled losers claim to follow? Who are these crybabies who always seem
to complain? Who are these people who cover their faces with masks so they can
go wilding under the pretense of cowardly behavior and show reverence to Intolerance,
Jealousy, Envy, Prejudice, Gossip, and Hate? WHO IS THAT? That’s
you! Joker is YOU! YOU are the JOKERTARDS! That’s what YOU IN the CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY
sounds like to me!”
We would love to hear your comments and questions to this
post. How would you answer my friend’s questions?
If you are not a Christ-follower, know that we
would never infringe on your right to believe differently than us. We would
like to hear from every segment. Your questions or comments are important to
us.
Here in our part of the world in North Texas, grass fires can flare up at any time, especially during the Summer when it’s hot, dry, and the wind is blowing. Years ago, I read about a large grass fire that swarmed a neighbor’s farm. It took firefighters most of the day to finally get it contained. Days after the fire had been extinguished, it fired back up for no apparent reason. Firefighters realized the tree roots underground had become so hot during the original fire when hot dry air accompanied by winds and low humidity had settled into the area, it provided the perfect conditions for the smoldering embers underground to ignite. Bitterness and anger that has not been dealt with are like that smoldering fire. On the outside, everything seems good. However, deep down in the roots of the heart and mind, the embers of bitterness smolder, waiting to be set ablaze by just the right comment or reminder of someone who has offended us.
Like the picture of Jesus walking
beside a German soldier down a long and dusty road, forgiveness is a word that
can somehow strike fear in us. “Forgive them? Are you serious? Are you
freaking crazy! If you only knew what they did to me! To my family! To my
business! How they hurt me.” And yet, God asks us to forgive.
To forgive or not to forgive is
something everyone wrestles in life. Perhaps you grew up in a home where hurts
and offenses are held onto and even held over you. Maybe a friend or co-worker
or relative or spouse has offended and hurt you so deeply that letting go of
the pain means letting go a part of yourself. It’s like we keep hurts and
faults in a little plastic bag, so they stay fresh and when we feel the time is
right, we take those injuries and offenses out of the bag, and relive the pain
as if it just happened, and we make everyone involved, including ourselves,
suffer through it again.
When the Apostle Peter asked Jesus, “Explain this
parable about what defiles a person” [Matthew 15:15], Jesus answered: “19 For out of the heart come evil thoughtsandplans, murders, adulteries, sexual
immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, slanders (verbal abuse, irreverent speech, blaspheming). 20 These are the things which defileanddishonor the man.” [Matthew 15:19-20 (AMP)]. The
Apostle Paul wrote, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and
clamor [perpetual animosity, resentment, strife,
fault-finding] and slander (evil-speaking, abusive or blasphemous language) be banished from you, along with every
kind of malice [all spitefulness, verbal abuse, ill will,
malevolence intent]” [Ephesians 4:31 (AMP)]. Both Jesus and Paul make the point that bitterness, anger, and resentment —
unforgiveness — affects who we are and how we behave. The roots of unforgiveness
sprout bitterness and anger and feed on continuous animosity, resentment, strife, fault-finding,
and slander. When unforgiveness takes root, we find ourselves speaking evil and
abusive words fueled with every kind of malice, spitefulness, ill will, and
malevolence intent. All of which defiles and destroys a person and
relationships.
The Bible
is full of men and women whose families were dysfunctional and themselves
misfits. They knew what it’s like to need forgiveness and the need to forgive
and to forgive themselves.
* Noah was a drunk (Genesis 9:21)
*Jacob was
a liar. (Genesis
25:26-34)
*Joseph was
abused by his family and sold into slavery. (Genesis 37:18-36)
*Samson was
an angry vengeful womanizer. (Judges 13-15)
*Rahab was
a prostitute. (Joshua
2)
*King David
was a liar, an adulterer, and a murderer. (2 Samuel 11)
*Elijah suffered
from depression and was suicidal. (1 Kings 19:3)
*Isaiah
preached naked. (Isaiah
20:1-2)
*Peter
denied Christ… three times. He embarrassed the disciples and said things he
shouldn’t. (Luke
22:54-62)
*The
Samaritan woman at the well had multiple partners. (John 4:17-19)
Look, I’m no expert on forgiveness, but I do know what it’s
like to forgive and be forgiven. What I have found to be true is this, without
a divine transformation authentic forgiveness is incomplete. All of the lives
above (and countless others throughout time) eventually found life worth living
— they found forgiveness. Forgiveness that came through a holy, loving, and just
God. When the power of forgiveness is applied by the Holy Spirit, the power of
forgiveness, then, flows from God to you, then, from you to others, and,
mercifully, to yourself. That kind of forgiveness is life-changing. Life-altering.
Life-giving.
When I choose to become a Christ-follower, something amazing
happened. What God promised through Ezekiel the Apostle Paul became true: “I will give you a new
heart and put a new
spirit within you, and I
will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh.27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause
you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My ordinances and do them” [Ezekiel 36:26-27 (AMP)]. The Apostle Paul wrote, “17 When someone becomes a Christ-follower, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun! 18 All these new things are from Godwho brought us back to himself
through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the
privilege of urging everyone to come into His favor and be reconciled to Him.19 For God was in Christ,
restoring the world to himself,
no longer counting men’s sins
against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful
message He has given us to tell others.” [2 Corinthians 5:17-19 (NLT)].
“Psychologists generally define
forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of
resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless
of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness” (Greater Good Science Center
at UC Berkeley). Just as important as defining what forgiveness is, though, is
understanding what forgiveness is NOT.
Experts who study or teach forgiveness make clear that when you forgive, you do
not gloss over or deny the seriousness of an offense against you. Lewis B. Smedes in his book, “The
Art of Forgiveness”,
gives us an idea of what forgiveness is NOT: “Let me make sure that we clear
up a few misunderstandings about forgiveness. Before we can build, we have to
blast. We have to blast away the erroneous thoughts on what forgiveness is not.
1. When we
forgive a person, this does not mean we are immediately healed.
2. When
we forgive a person, this does not mean we are going to be buddy/buddy.
3. When
we forgive a person, this does not mean we surrender the right to restitution
or justice when appropriate.
4. When
we forgive a person, this does not mean that we trust them, yet.
5. When
we forgive a person, we are not avoiding pain, we are opening the door to
healing.
6. When
we forgive, we take the journey at the pace we are able to handle… the deeper
the hurt, the longer the journey.”
The Apostle
Paul had the right idea when it came to forgiveness: “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I
have already reached perfection. But I
press on to possess that perfection
for which Christ Jesusfirst possessed me.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
I press on to reach the end of the
race and receive
the heavenly prize for which God, throughChrist
Jesus, is calling
us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If
you disagree on some point, I believe God
will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have
already made. Dear brothers and sisters pattern your lives
after mine and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you
often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many
whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They
are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about
shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth. But we
are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly
waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal
bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power
with which He will bring everything under His control.” [Philippians 3:12-21 (NLT)]
That picture of Jesus and the German soldier walking down
that long dusty road hangs on my office wall. It reminds me that no matter what
state I find myself in, Jesus is willing and able to put my life back together
through the healing of forgiveness. I’ve often thought to myself, “What was
that was that walk like? What would that soldier and Jesus have talked about?
How did Jesus make that (many would include the word ‘disgusting’) soldier
feel?” Jesus was the perfect example of how to begin to
forgive others and yourself. He said: “41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two.42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow. 43 “There is a saying, ‘Love yourfriendsand hate your
enemies.’44 But I say: Love yourenemies! Pray for those whopersecuteyou!” [Matthew 5:41-44 (AMP)] I have a feeling Jesus
and the soldier talked about life, healing, and… forgiveness.
At
Cold Dead Hands religion doesn’t define us, Jesus Christ does. Religion shackles
and enslaves folks. Religion manipulates people. As “Christ-followers,” faith
lies in our relationship with Jesus Christ and the tenants Christ laid out in
both the Old and New Testaments. We would never claim perfection, but we do
know forgiveness that runs through Christ and His cross. Like our founder,
Patrick James, is fond of saying: “Being a follower of Christ isn’t about being
perfect… I’m just an imperfect guy, living in an
imperfect world, trying to serve a Perfect Christ. It’s not easy… but it
makes a difference in my life. It helps highlight truths… and it helps me to
be a better person tomorrow, than I was today.”
Do
something extreme today. Let it begin with loving your enemies by praying for
those who have mistreated you. As you pray, remember, sometimes the enemy is
you.
If
you are not a Christ-follower, know that we would never infringe on your right
to believe differently than us. In fact, we love hearing from every sector of
our readers. Your questions and comments are important.
In
the meantime, I’ll leave you with these lyrics. The song is called, “God Only
Knows” and it was recorded by the band, For King & Country. It would be
worth your time to listen to it on YouTube.
“Wide awake while the world is sound asleepin’ Too afraid of what might show up while you’re dreamin’ Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you Nobody, nobody would believe you
Every day you try to pick up all the pieces All the memories, they somehow never leave you Nobody, nobody, nobody sees you Nobody, nobody would believe you
God only knows what you’ve been through God only knows what they say about you But God only knows the real you There’s a kind of love that God only knows There’s a kind of love that There’s a kind of love
You keep a cover over every single secret So afraid if someone saw them, they would leave But somebody, somebody, somebody sees you Somebody, somebody will never leave you
God only knows what you’ve been through God only knows what they say about you God only knows how it’s killing you But there’s a kind of love that God only knows
God only knows what you’ve been through God only knows what they say about you But God only knows the real you There’s a kind of love that God only knows
For the lonely, for the ashamed The misunderstood, and the ones to blame What if we could start over? We could start over, we could start over
Oh, for the lonely, for the ashamed The misunderstood, and the ones to blame What if we could start over? We could start over, we could start over ‘Cause there’s a kind of love that God only knows
God only knows what you’ve been through God only knows what they say about you God only knows the real you But there’s a kind of love that God only knows
God only knows what you’ve been through
God only knows what they say about you
But God only knows the real you
There’s a kind of love that God only knows”
I used to be an avid hiker spending weeks at a time with friends in the mountains of New Mexico. There is nothing like pitching your tent thousands of feet above sea-level. The air is crisp and clean. Your whole body gives way to a relaxed state. You want to stay there forever.
One night my friends and I were camped in a clearing approximately seven-thousand feet above sea level. We stood outside our tents mesmerized. Speechless. The brightness of the stars — the universe — it’s hard to put it into words the feelings and thoughts gushing through your body and mind at that moment. As I stood looking up at the gathering planets and stars, I closed my eyes and began imagining the God who had created it all standing to address the galaxies. At that moment the universe became quiet. Then all of heaven — stars, planets, moons — suddenly stood and erupted in applause. After a bit of time, I felt the heavens again grow quiet as the universe bowed in worship. In that moment I stood in awe with my hands lifted towards the heavens and repeated the words of Nehemiah: “YOU ARE THE LORD, YOU ALONE; YOU HAVE MADE THE HEAVENS, THE HEAVEN OF HEAVENS WITH ALL THEIR HOSTS, the EARTH and EVERYTHING THAT IS ON IT, the SEAS and EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THEM. YOU GIVE LIFE TO ALL OF THEM, and THE HEAVENLY HOST IS BOWING DOWN IN WORSHIP TO YOU!” [Nehemiah 9:6 (AMP)]
Over the years I have looked into the expanse of the “known” universe and discovered some amazing things. Before the invention of the telescope in the 1600s, stargazers could only count a few hundred stars. In the Old Testament (O.T.) book of Genesis, God compared the number of stars to the number of grains of sand on every seashore (Genesis 22:17). You would think that linking the number of stars in the heavens to the sand on the beach would be an absurd conjecture for a mere human author to make 6,000 years ago and, yet, throughout the O.T. God compared the number of stars to the grains of sand on Earth.
For the next 3 centuries following the invention of the telescope, mankind only knew of several billion stars — still not enough to compare the stars in the heavens to the sand on the seashore. Until 1989, that is….
In 1989, two astronomers, Margaret Geller and John Huchra, discovered a “Great Wall” of galaxies spanning millions of light-years. This “Great Wall” is estimated to be 500 million light-years (3 quintillion miles) long, 200 million light-years (1.2 quintillion miles) wide, and 15 million light-years (90 quadrillion miles) thick.
The “Great Wall” consists of more than 15,000 galaxies, each with billions of stars. Based on detailed measurements of each galaxy’s brightness, astronomers can render an approximate number of stars each galaxy contains. They estimate that this “Great Wall” consists of 1,500 trillion (1,500,000,000,000,000) solar systems! It is not known how much farther the Wall extends due to light absorption in out Milky Way galaxy.
The following year (1990), astronomers discovered more than a dozen other evenly distributed clumps of galaxies, suggesting a structure to the universe that is so regular and immense that it defied the then-existent theories of cosmic origins. A team led by an Australian astronomer calculated the number of stars in the “known” universe to be 70 sextillions. Seventy sextillions is 70 followed by 21 zeros; so 70 sextillions is 70 followed by 21 zeros x 70 followed by 21 zeros (or 343,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000)! One scientist made the statement that this unfathomable number is “more than 10 times the grains of sand on every beach and desert on earth!” In 2003, speaking at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union meeting in Sydney, Dr Simon Driver said, “The actual number of stars could be infinite. The universe is so big light from the other side of the universe hasn’t reached us yet.”
Mind… BLOWN!
Ready to have your mind blown again? Creation.com writes, “Suppose we used a computer that could perform 10,000 million calculations in one second. Even at this great speed, it would require 30 million years of non-stop counting to count the stars.” The Psalmist wrote, “GOD COUNTS THE NUMBER OF THE STARS; HE CALLS THEM ALL BY THEIR NAMES. Our Lord is great, with limitless strength; we will never comprehend what He knows and does” [Psalm 147:4 (AMP)]. As a Christian author, John Piper, rightly noted in “The Pleasures of God”: “What is this universe but the lavish demonstration of the incredible, incomparable, unimaginable exuberance and wisdom and power and greatness of God! What a God He must be!”
If that weren’t enough, around the 5th century B.C., the first documented reference of the “Spherical Earth” concept was mentioned by ancient Greek philosophers. However, the God of the Bible taught the earth was round in approximately 739 B.C.E.: “Don’t you understand the foundation of all things? Are you deaf to the words of God — the words He gave before the world began? Who else could have done it except God, who sits enthroned high above THE CIRCLE OF THE EARTH…? From such a vantage people seem like grasshoppers to Him. Who else but God could stretch out the skies as if they were a curtain, draw them tight, suspend them over our heads like the roof of a tent?” [Isaiah 40:21-22 (VOICE)]. And long before it was accepted by astronomers, God has repeatedly told us the universe is ever-expanding (Isaiah 42:5; Jeremiah 51:15; Zachariah 12:1). Even Einstein believed the universe was static and should have collapsed on itself. He later admitted his mistake when in 1929, astronomer Edwin Hubble showed that distant galaxies were receding from the earth, and the further away they were, the faster they were moving.
It wasn’t that long-ago scientists insisted the Sun was stationary. Of course, now we know the Sun is traveling through space at approximately 600,000 miles per hour. It is moving through space in a huge circuit. In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus finally put forth his theory the earth rotated around the Sun. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe said this about Copernicus’ discovery: “Of all discoveries and opinions, none may have exerted a greater effect on the human spirit than the doctrine of Copernicus. The world has scarcely become known as round and complete in itself when it was asked to waive the tremendous privilege of being the center of the universe.” However, the O.T. scriptures taught this more than 3,000 thousand years ago: “The SUN’S RISING IS FROM ONE END OF THE HEAVENS, and ITS CIRCUIT TO THE OTHER END OF THEM; and there is nothing hidden from its heat” (Psalm 19:6). There was a time when scientists scoffed at God’s teaching in Psalm 19:6.
We’ve barely touched on the universe and our minds are blown. We haven’t even mentioned the intricacies of the human body or plants or vegetation. Who can fathom those things? When I think about God’s hand in all of creation I can’t help but say, “OUR LORD IS GREAT, with LIMITLESS STRENGTH; WE WILL NEVER COMPREHEND WHAT HE KNOWS and DOES” [Psalm 147:4 (AMP)].
Often times I have wondered, as the Psalmist did: “When I gaze to the skies and meditate on Your creation — on the moon, stars, and all You have made, I can’t help but wonder WHY YOU CARE and are MINDFUL ABOUT EACH OF US INDIVIDUALLY, for we are like specks of dust floating about the cosmos” [Psalm 8:3-4 (VOICE)]. So, why me? Why you? I have contemplated King David’s words many times: “HOW PRECIOUS ARE YOUR THOUGHTS TO ME, O GOD! How vast is the sum of them! IF I COULD COUNT THEM, THEY WOULD OUTNUMBER THE SAND.” [Psalm 139:17-18 (VOICE)].
None of us will ever know why this strong creator God of the Bible cares for each of us. His love for mankind is mind-blowing in itself. Yet, over and over again, God reminds us of His love. All we have to do is look around and, “SEE WHAT AN INCREDIBLE LOVE THE FATHER HAS SHOWN TO US! [1 John 3:1 (VOICE)].
God’s love calls out to us every day. He wants us to “comprehend with all God’s people the WIDTH and LENGTH and HEIGHT and DEPTH OF HIS LOVE [to FULLY EXPERIENCE HIS AMAZING, ENDLESS LOVE]” [Ephesians 3:18 (VOICE)].
As a Christ-follower, I am constantly reminded and overwhelmed by the greatness of God. There are times when I look at the night sky and all I want to do is applaud God. To stand in that moment applauding, lifting my hands, and worshipping the strong creator God. Yet, as Louie Giglio says, “Singing stars and earth’s ovation cannot drown God’s desire to hear your voice. In the midst of a miraculous and immense symphony of praise, God is still mindful of you, going to extraordinary lengths to give you life and breath through His Son (Jesus Christ).”
At Cold Dead Hands we are not about religion. Religion binds and enslaves people. Religion manipulates people. We call ourselves “Christ-followers.” Our faith lies in our relationship with Jesus Christ and the tenants Christ laid out in both the Old and New Testaments. Like our founder, Patrick James, reminds us: “Being a follower of Christ isn’t about being perfect… I’m just an imperfect guy, living in an imperfect world, trying to serve a Perfect Christ. It’s not easy… but it makes a difference in my life. It helps highlight truths… and it helps me to be a better person tomorrow, than I was today.”
If you are not a Christ-follower, know that I would never infringe on your right to believe differently than me. In fact, I love hearing from every sector of our readers. Your questions and comments are important.
In the meantime, whether you are a Christ-follower or not, I hope these words will encourage you. They might even motivate you next time you find yourself under the dome of galaxies.
“ON YOUR FEET NOW — APPLAUD GOD! SHOUT JOYFULLY TO THE LORD, ALL THE EARTH. SERVE THE LORD WITH GLADNESS and DELIGHT. BRING A GIFT OF LAUGHTER, SING YOURSELVES INTO HIS PRESENCE WITH JOYFUL SINGING. KNOW and FULLY RECOGNIZE WITH GRATITUDE that THE LORD HIMSELF IS GOD. HE MADE US; WE DID NOT MAKE HIM. WE ARE HIS — HIS PEOPLE WE ARE, HIS WELL-TENDED TO SHEEP. (Therefore), ENTER HIS GATES WITH A SONG OF THANKSGIVING and HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE. BE THANKFUL TO HIM, BLESS and PRAISE HIS NAME.” [Psalm 100 (MSG)]
“THANK GOD BECAUSE HE IS GOOD, because HIS LOVE NEVER QUITS. TELL THE WORLD… ‘HIS LOVE NEVER QUITS!’ And you, clan of Aaron, TELL THE WORLD, ‘HIS LOVE NEVER QUITS!’ And YOU WHO FEAR GOD, JOIN IN, ‘HIS LOVE NEVER QUITS!’ PUSHED TO THE WALL, I CALLED OUT TO GOD; FROM THE WIDE-OPEN SPACES, HE ANSWERED… GOD IS MY STRONG CHAMPION… FAR BETTER TO TAKE REFUGE IN GOD THAN TRUST IN PEOPLE; FAR BETTER TO TAKE REFUGE IN GOD THAN TRUST IN CELEBRITIES… I WAS RIGHT ON THE CLIFF-EDGE, READY TO FALL WHEN GOD GRABBED and HELD ME. GOD IS MY STRENGTH, HE IS ALSO MY SONG, and NOW HE IS MY SALVATION… I DID NOT DIE. I LIVED! And NOW I AM TELLING THE WORLD WHAT GOD DID… LET US CELEBRATE and BE FESTIVE… GOD IS GOD, HE HAS BATHED US IN LIGHT… O MY GOD, I LIFT HIGH YOUR PRAISE. THANK GOD — HE IS SO GOOD. HIS LOVE NEVER QUITS!” [Psalm 118 (MSG)]
Therefore, “PRAISE GOD, EVERYBODY! APPLAUD GOD, ALL PEOPLE! HIS LOVE HAS TAKEN OVER OUR LIVES; GOD’S FAITHFUL WAYS ARE ETERNAL. HALLELUJAH!” [Psalm 117:1-2 (MSG)]
The Hustle’s, Zachary Crockett, has a new article titled, “The Restaurant Owner Who Asked for 1 Star Yelp Reviews.” It is a great read about “How one small business owner flipped the online review ecosystem on its head.” Restaurant owner and chef, David Sorrentino, had enough of social media sites dictating and manipulating his business through algorithms and sales tactics. As Sorrentino says, “It was time to pry the stars from the cold, grubby hands of Yelpers and take control of my own destiny.”
BeExtreme.me
In 2014, chef Davide Cerretini advertised a special that would forever change his fate: Anyone who left his restaurant a 1-star review on Yelp would get 25% off a pizza.
See, his Bay Area-based Italian joint, Botto Bistro, was at a crossroads. Like many small businesses, it was enslaved to the whims of online reviewers, whose public dispatches could make or break its reputation.
He’d
had enough: It was time to pry the stars from the “cold, grubby hands of
Yelpers” and take control of his own destiny.
But
the move would set Cerretini at the center of a long-standing battle between
Yelp and disgruntled business owners — a battle including cries of “extortion,”
review manipulation, and predatory advertising tactics.
A young chef’s journey
Born to vineyard operators in Collemontanino, Italy, Cerretini
enjoyed a childhood of culinary delights — home-cooked meals, pure ingredients,
and simple cuisine.
In the mid-’90s, he immigrated to America to try his hand in the restaurant trade.
After years toiling in backroom kitchens, he went in with a partner and opened his first restaurant, Cacciucco Cucina Toscana, in Sausalito, California. With his gregarious personality and “Italian charm,” Cerretini became a staple of the community and established strong ties with loyal customers. Business was booming.
A young Cerrentini takes a drink with his grandfather in Italy.
Then, the
recession hit.
By the end of 2008, Cerretini lost everything and was forced to
sell off his restaurant for a small sum of cash. “I thought everything was
over,” he says. “Then, I found this little place in Richmond,
California.”
The new location was everything he wanted: It was cheap, close to
his loyal customers, and, best of all, unpretentious. He called it Botto
Bistro.
Botto goes digital
As a restaurateur, Cerretini had been an early adopter of Yelp.
Launched in 2004 by former PayPal employee Jeremy Stoppelman, the platform’s user-submitted 5-star rating system quickly became an integral part of every small business’s online footprint. As Cerretini knew, a mere half-star difference in a restaurant’s rating could increase peak-hours foot traffic by as much as 19%.
By the time Botto Bistro opened its doors in 2009, Yelp boasted some 26 million unique visitors per month. And whether intentionally or not, the platform had entrenched itself as the controller of every small business’s online reputation — and fate.
In the months after Botto Bistro’s grand opening, Cerretini began receiving dozens of calls from Yelp salespeople, who implored him to buy ads.
According to Cerretini, when he rebuffed these offers, he’d often
notice that freshly posted 5-star reviews would be removed from his page —
often no less than 24 hours after getting off the phone with a Yelp rep.
“I came from Italy, and know exactly what mafia extortion looks like,” he says. “Yelp was manipulating reviews and hoping I would pay a protection fee. I didn’t come to America and work for 25 years to be extorted by some idiot in Silicon Valley.”
Faced with undulating star ratings, Cerretini resulted to a
devious measure.
“I wrote myself 5-star reviews,” he admits. “I wasn’t a good guy. I was writing fake ones to replace the real ones they removed.”
Documented records shared with The
Hustle by a Yelp spokesperson tell a fuller story of Cerretini’s
actions.
Under the alias “Babghanoush I,” [Arabic for “Daddy is spoiled”] Cerretini posted 13 fake positive reviews for Botto Bistro, as well as fake critical reviews of neighboring restaurants — sometimes going so far as to disparage fellow owners. Yelp rebuffed Cerretini’s extortion claims, instead attributing the removal of positive Botto Bistro reviews to the platform’s algorithm, which routinely filters reviews based on a number of criteria (which are not public). These “filtered” reviews are still visible to customers, but do not factor into a business’s overall star rating.
Cerrentini poses in front of his Richmond, CA restaurant
Eventually, Cerretini relented, plunking down $270 per month to advertise his business on Yelp. But after 6 months, he found the service “useless” and cancelled it. Once again, his star rating plummeted.
In the spring of 2014, after turning down another Yelp salesperson, Cerretini claims that four 5-star reviews were filtered from his page, and three 1-star reviews were suddenly catapulted to the top of the page. For the chef, this was the final straw.
“Those 1-star reviews were from people who never even set foot in my restaurant,” says Cerretini. “One complained about our waiters… we didn’t even have waiters!”
Cerretini began to realize that Yelp was “completely controlling [his] reputation.” And after mulling things over, he decided it was time for more extreme measures.
Good meal? Leave us 1 star on Yelp!
At the time, Cerretini had a reputation for being snarky.
In the vein of Edsel Ford Fong (who gained a reputation in 1960’s San Francisco for being the ‘World’s Rudest Waiter’), his sassy attitude with diners was part of his appeal.
He maintained a Hall of Shame featuring facetious Yelp Eliters (or “Village Idiots”). He compiled idiotic customer inquiries (e.g. “Do you sell burgers?”) and sent out a newsletter of the “Stupidest Questions of the Month.” He posted an FAQ on his website stating that the customer is not, in fact, always right.
To loyal diners, it was Davide being Davide; to transient Yelpers,
it was 1-star service.
Soon, he came to a realization: “What if I don’t give a shit about reputation? What if I take away their power by actually making it worse?” One morning in September of 2014, he placed a simple sign in front of Botto Bistro: Give us a one star review on Yelp and get 25% off any pizza! Hate us on Yelp. (The discount was later increased to 50%.)
A news producer films Botto Bistro’s ad in 2014
“I knew the people at Yelp were going to hate me, but that’s exactly what I wanted,” says Cerretini. “I didn’t want them in there anyway.”
His protest came at a perfect time. Days earlier, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that Yelp had the right to manipulate reviews, and its advertising tactics were a form of “hard bargaining” — not extortion.
Small business owners were furious, and they were looking for a vigilante hero.
“Delicious food priced fairly. One star.”
The next morning, Cerretini pulled into his parking lot and was greeted by an “avalanche” of journalists, fellow restaurant owners, and supporters. They all wanted to know the same thing: How did it feel to just… not care about reviews?
That Friday, Cerretini did more business than he typically did in
an entire month.
“I had to ask the restaurant community for help, extra pizza dough,” he laughs. “It was an absolute madhouse. I’d never seen anything like it.”
Most supporters refused to take the discount, but were thrilled to
write a review and partake in what they deemed to be a grassroots, anti-Yelp
uprising.
In a few days’ time, Botto Bistro’s Yelp page attracted more than 2,300 1-star ratings (95% of its total reviews) extolling the good food, proper service, and rustic ambiance. “Botto Bistro sucks,” wrote one reviewer. “Delicious food priced fairly. One star.” This earned the restaurant the distinction of being the worst-rated restaurant on Yelp.
Botto Bistro Yelp page, via Wayback Machine
“I got thousands and thousands of letters, thousands of emails a day,” says Cerretini. “People were sending me boxes of chocolates, cash, checks. Business owners from all over the country stopped by to thank me and write a bad review.”
Yelp was none too pleased about Cerretini’s newfound fame.
The chef soon received a threatening email from a member of Yelp
support, claiming he was exchanging reviews for “incentives” (a discount on
pizza) — a clear violation of the platform’s Terms of Service.
Cerretini replied with
mocking language, then posted both emails publically on social media, further
stoking his followers’ Yelp hatred.
Emails between Yelp and Cerrentini, edited for brevity
“It wasn’t about the discount, or the pizza, or even the reviews,” he says. “It was about the general public saying enough is enough. They no longer wanted to be surrounded by Yelpers’ bullsh*t.”
The uprising
Cerretini wasn’t the only one to act on this sentiment.
In isolated bids to circumvent the “oppression” of online reviews, business owners have plunked “NO YELPERS” signs in their windows, shamed rude reviewers on Instagram, and launched anti-Yelp websites.
Dan Neves, a waiter at a fine dining establishment in Austin,
Texas, created YELP BULLIES EXPOSED, a private Facebook group that tracks
down rude Yelpers and sends them a one-pound bag of animal feces procured from poopsenders.com.
“I’ve had friends get fired over bad Yelp reviews, even if the review was untrue,” says Neves. “If you cost someone her job, the least I can do is send you a pound of sh*t… elephant sh*t, rhino sh*t, dog sh*t — any other type of sh*t I can get my hands on.” While business owners say Yelp is a “Mafia” that extorts them by manipulating star ratings, Yelp brushes this off a “conspiracy theory” trotted out by “fringe commentators.”
Cerrentini poses with a list of Botto Bistro’s rules
A Yelp spokesperson we spoke with says the extortion claims are
really just a “misconception” about how Yelp’s recommendation software
works. To back up this claim, the company often notes that every class-action
lawsuit and FTC investigation against them has been ruled in their favor or
dropped.
The truth is likely somewhere in the middle. Yelp is undeniably aggressive in its sales tactics (according to earnings reports, 85% of its ad revenue comes from small businesses) and reviews on the platform do, indeed, frequently fluctuate.
But despite legions of anecdotal evidence from business owners,
the linkage between these two things ultimately can’t be proven without
transparency around Yelp’s filtering algorithm.
The 1-star chef
Today, Cerretini has forged a career out of his 1-star publicity: He does private cooking classes and events that run up to $3,000 a pop.
In the aftermath of his press, he’s become a celebrity in the
restaurant scene — a Davide who went up against a tech Goliath and emerged
self-empowered.
“I’m the only person who beat them at their own game,” he says. “I left a black mark on that company. I trolled them. I humiliated them. And now, they avoid me like the plague.”
Yelp says that Cerretini is giving himself too much credit. Botto
Bistro is an atomic particle in an ecosystem that contains 185m reviews. A
member of the company called the act of defiance a publicity stunt that had a
negligible impact on the platform’s operations.
But the chef still enjoys immunity: On occasion, he’ll screw around by changing his listed business hours, or renaming Botto Bistro “The Worst Chinese Food in the World.” “Most people are not ready to stop caring about reviews — it’s a big risk,” he says. “But I’d rather sit alone in my restaurant then get business from Yelpers.”
THE LION HAS TORN US, IN ORDER TO HEAL US!
Hosea 6:1-3
“COME and LET US RETURN [IN REPENTANCE] TO THE LORD, for HE HAS TORN US TO PIECES [like a predator grabs its prey, shredding it with its sharp teeth], SO THAT HE WOULD HEAL US! HE HAS WOUNDED US, BUT HE WILL BANDAGE US. After two days HE WILL REVIVE US (QUICKEN US, GIVE US LIFE); on the third day HE WILL RAISE US UP THAT WE MAY LIVE BEFORE HIM. YES, LET US [FULLY] KNOW (recognize, be acquainted with, and understand the greatness of the) LORD; LET US BE ZEALOUS TO KNOW THE LORD [to appreciate, give heed to, and cherish Him]. HIS APPEARING IS PREPARED and is AS CERTAIN AS THE DAWN, and HE WILL COME TO US [IN SALVATION] [JUST AS THE HEAVY] SPRING RAIN THAT WATERS THE EARTH.” [Hosea 6:1-3 (AMP)]
Hosea 6:1 includes an intriguing phrase: God “HE HAS TORN US TO PIECES, SO THAT HE WOULD HEAL US.” The word torndescribes how a predator grabs its prey, shreds the animal with its sharp teeth, and consumes it. It’s the same word Jacob used when his malevolent sons brought back Joseph’s coat of many colors, shredded and dipped in blood:
“Jacob immediately recognized (Joseph’s coat) and said, ‘It is my son’s tunic. A fierce animal has devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces!’”
[Genesis 37:33 (AMP)]
Tornis a severe word — and it is rather unsettling to read that God tears us.
Who “has torn us”? Make no mistake. God is behind the hurt in our life. When our life feels torn in two, God has not abandoned us. He does not callously move away from us; He compassionately moves toward us.
Why? Why does God approve pain’s intrusion into our lives? Like an electromagnet, God draws our heart back to His. Whatever the particular point of pain, the circumstance we most want to change, the unwanted source of shock and sadness that we beg God to reverse or resolve — God has a purpose for that pain. And the pain will not subside until its purpose has been completed in us. What is more, when God has finished His work in that part of our life, He will move on to His next project in us. God’s love is not a pampering love; it’s a perfecting love. Through pain, God calls us back, further, and deeper into Him.
The closing verses of Hosea 5 paint a picture of God’s ravaging work:
“For I WILL BE LIKE A (CHARGING) LION to Ephraim (the most dominant of the tribes of Israel), and LIKE A YOUNG LION to the house of Judah. I, EVEN I, WILL REND (tear, rip, slash, shred) and GO ON [RENDING]. I WILL DRAG THEM OFF, and there will be no one to deliver them. I will return to where I came from [on high] UNTIL THEY ACKNOWLEDGE THEIR OFFENSE and FEEL THEIR GUILT and SEEK MY FACE; IN THEIR AFFLICTION and DISTRESS THEY WILL SEEK, INQUIRE FOR, and REQUIRE ME EARNESTLY, saying, ‘COME and LET US RETURN [IN REPENTANCE] TO THE LORD, for HE HAS TORN US TO PIECES [like a predator grabs its prey, shredding it with its sharp teeth], IN ORDER THAT HE WOULD HEAL US!”
[Hosea 5:14–15; 6:1 (AMP)]
Like a lion, God uses those painful circumstances in our lives and waits until we acknowledge and seek Him. By faith, can you see the Great Lion in your life? Can you see past the struggling marriage, difficult work environment, stubborn child, or physical sickness to the Lion by your side?
PAIN IS NEVER THE END. We move through pain to purpose. ‘”HE HAS TORN US, SO THAT HE WOULD HEAL US!” We want the healing without the tearing, and if that were possible, God would want that for us too. God wants to heal our finances, our failures, and our families, and He tears us to heal us.
“HE HAS WOUNDED US, BUT HE WILL BANDAGE US.” Do not misunderstand God or judge Him harshly. He is the Lion that tears — so that He may heal. He strikes us down — so that He can bind us up. God always uses pain to bring us to a better place. Surgeons do not lament the pain of a procedure. They wound to heal, re-breaking a bone to set it or cutting through tissue to remove a tumor. In the same way, God inflicts precise pain to draw our hearts closer to Him.
God’s role in our suffering is always for our good. Even Job could attest:
“Consider the JOY of those corrected by God! DO NOT DESPISE THE DISCIPLINE OF THE ALMIGHTY WHEN YOU SIN. For THOUGH HE WOUNDS, HE ALSO BANDAGES. (REMEMBER), THE SAME HANDS THAT STRIKE, HURTING YOU, ARE THE HANDS THAT HEAL YOU.”
[Job 5:17–18 (NLT)]
God loves us so much that He would rather see us anywhere else than living in rebellion against Him. God would rather see us in a hospital bed or bankrupt, broken, or hurt than separated from Him.
Will you let life’s pain bring you to God’s purpose?
Will the Lion have to tear that silly, self-indulgent, sordid something out of your life? OR will you move quickly through the pain to His purpose for you?
Trust me; we are human. Therefore, the pain will come. Maybe there is no pain now, but it does come. Not to spite us, but to heal us.
PRAY
Lord God, help me to see more clearly who You are. You are a mighty Lion, willing to tear me — because You love me and want what’s best for me. Help me to look past the pain in my life to Your purpose for it. Use the pain to draw me closer to You and to make me more like Your Son, Jesus Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, in whose name I pray, Amen.
James Riddle Hoffa’s name was plastered all over his thick FBI files. He beat multiple raps that included racketeering, extortion, embezzlement, bribery. Hoffa ruled the Teamsters Union with a heavy-handed and even murderous reign. The infamous Teamsters boss and mafia figure disappeared in 1975. Hoffa’s disappearance was due, in no small part, to the fact that his Mafia contacts were not exactly happy with the autobiography he was currently writing — an autobiography that would likely reveal all his misdeeds and illegal dealings with the mob. Even though his body has never been found, Hoffa was declared legally dead in July of 1982, seven years after his disappearance. No one has been able to prove what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. Depending on what you believe, he was:
Shot by a hired killer at a house in Detroit and his remains cremated.
OR he was dispatched with a hunting knife and then buried in a 55-gallon drum, which was then placed in an old car, crushed in a compactor and sent to Japan as scrap metal.
OR he was buried under a residential driveway.
OR he was interred in a shallow grave in a field near a restaurant.
OR he was entombed in concrete beneath the end zone at the stadium in Meadowlands, New Jersey.
Whatever you believe, what is almost certain is that somebody did to Jimmy Hoffa what he had very likely ordered done to others.
“7DO NOT DECEIVE YOURSELF, GOD IS NOT MOCKED[He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for WHATEVER A MAN SOWS, THISandTHIS ONLY IS WHAT HE WILL REAP.8For the ONE WHO SOWS TO THE FLESH[his sinful capacity, his worldliness, his disgraceful impulses]WILL REAP FROM THE FLESH RUINand DESTRUCTION, but the ONE WHO SOWS TO THE SPIRIT(OF GOD), WILL FROM THE SPIRIT, REAP ETERNAL LIFE.9Therefore, DO NOT BECOME WEARYor BECOME DISCOURAGED IN ACTING NOBLY and DOING WHAT IS RIGHT, for AT THE PROPER TIME WE WILL REAP if we do not give in.10So then, WHILE WE[as individual believers]HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY, let us DO GOOD[morally]TO ALL PEOPLE[not only BEING USEFUL or PROFITABLE TO THEM but also DOING WHAT IS FOR THEIR SPIRITUAL GOOD and ADVANTAGE]. BE MINDFUL TO BE A BLESSING, ESPECIALLY TO THOSE WHO ARE OF THE HOUSEHOLD OF FAITH[those who belong to God’s family with you, the believers in Christ].” [Galatians 6:7-10 (AMP)]
You can believe God will forgive your sin when you repent, but that does not mean you will always be free from sorrowful consequences. That is why it’s so important to be intentional about how you “sow.”
Jimmy Hoffa delved into evil practices that brought about his demise. Do not deliver evil for evil. Instead, sow your time, talent, treasure and prayers wisely in ways that will reap goodness — for you, your family, and for America.
“7WHATEVER A MAN SOWS, THISandTHIS ONLY IS WHAT HE WILL REAP.8For the ONE WHO SOWS TO THE FLESH WILL REAP FROM THE FLESH RUINand DESTRUCTION, but the ONE WHO SOWS TO THE SPIRIT(OF GOD)WILL FROM THE SPIRIT REAP ETERNAL LIFE.” [Galatians 6:7-10 (AMP)]
“8Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], stay alertand cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around LIKE a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.” [1 Peter 5:8 (AMP)]
The key word is “LIKE.“ Satan only stalks “LIKE” a lion. He is NOT a lion. JESUS IS THE LION of the Tribe of Judah [Revelation 5:5].
Satan is only a copycat and impostor roaring “LIKE” a lion, to frighten and intimidate. The devil’s warfare against us is purely psychological. He is, in truth, rendered powerless by Christ’s victory over him on the cross and he cannot do the Christian any real harm.
Never forget:
“Since GOD IS FOR US, who could ever be against us? Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? WHO WOULD EVEN DARE MESS WITH US — one of GOD’S CHOSEN?… ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can ever separate us from God’s love! Not trouble, hard times, hatred, hunger, homelessness, threats, backstabbing, not even the worst sins in Scripture. Not death, life, angels, or demons — NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM GOD’S LOVE! OVERWHELMING VICTORY IS OURS through Christ, who loves you… NOTHING in all creation will ever be able to separate you from God’s love through Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:31-39 AMP)]
Be Extreme! 