Chick-fil-A

With all the emotion of the last few weeks with the Chick-fil-A boycott and the subsequent best day in their history, I thought I would explain something I said on Facebook. I said there was no such thing as a Christian business. I had several things in mind when I said it.  One was that it should be obvious that Chick-fil-A was not a Christian business, because most of the outlets are franchised. That means they have local owners. There is no way that Chick-fil-A could limit its franchisees to Christians, or to heterosexuals for that matter. You may have noticed the picture of the McDonalds francisee that used their sign to support Chick-fil-A. McDonalds is as much a "Christian" business as Chick-fil-A. 

Right?

While Chick-fil-A could not legally prevent non-Christians from owning a franchise, there are many ways that this could be done in a subjective way though out the franchise process. Acceptance of a franchisee is fraught with subjective decisions. Chick-fil-A has a standing policy of being closed on Sunday. Can they in a franchise agreement force a Jewish franchisee to be open on Saturday and closed on Sunday? Can they force me, as a Sabbatarian Christian, to be open on Saturday and closed on Sunday? I do not see how they can, yet Chick-fil-A is closed on Sunday. 

Here is how they do it:

Chick-fil-A uses a model significantly different from other restaurant franchises, notably in retaining ownership of each restaurant. Chick-fil-A selects the restaurant location, builds it, and retains ownership. Whereas franchisees from competing chains pay almost $2 million up front to open a franchise, Chick-fil-A franchisees need only a $5,000 initial investment to become an operator. The company gets 10,000–25,000 applications from potential franchise operators for 60–70 slots they open each year. Chick-fil-A gets a larger share of revenue from its franchises than other chains, but the formula works well for operators – franchisees make an average of $190,000 per year. In 2010 Chick-fil-A took the industry lead in average sales per restaurant, making an average of $2.7 million per restaurant in 2010 (McDonald's was second with $2.4 million per restaurant). 

So for $5,000 you get a job that pays $190,000. Note that there are a huge number of applicants, so subjectivity must play a part. 

If you are a Moslem for example? Forbes tells us:

Chick-fil-A, the corporate parent, has been sued at least 12 times since 1988 on charges of employment discrimination, according to records in U.S. District Courts. Aziz Latif, a former Chick-fil-A restaurant manager in Houston, sued the company in 2002 after Latif, a Muslim, says he was fired a day after he didn't participate in a group prayer to Jesus Christ at a company training program in 2000. The suit was settled on undisclosed terms. 

I am surprised there have not been more lawsuits. Now, with the publicity, there will be. 

I am reminded of my days selling mobile homes. We had a competitor that had a big sign at his business. It said "Jesus Saves" Sale. What was this businessman saying? He was trying to attract Christians as customers by wrapping himself in Jesus. His wrapping himself in Jesus was offensive to me. I never did find out what a "Jesus Sale" was. 

Is this what Chick-fil-A is doing? Maybe not, but looking at the results of the controversy, surely you can see why I think this might have been planned all along. 

There is little chance that a Jew, a Sabbatarian like me, a Moslem, or a homosexual will become a franchisee. I am sure there are a few here and there to avoid lawsuits. Personally I think this should be legal, but is it right? I will leave that up to you. 

Facebook and Prayer

Apparently Will Rogers popularized the phrase. “You can’t beat something with nothing.” This is one of the underlying philosophies of the Prophecy Podcast blog.  

So in order to fight the advertising industry I suggest a DVR so one can fast forward through the commercials. That way if you decide to remain connected to Hollywood the Great, at least you can eliminate the most negative aspects of it. 

So you take a negative and make it as positive as you can. 

Facebook has many negative attributes. How can you moderate them? 

First never click on an ad, just use the free Facebook service. Be selective about which companies you “like.” Finally, use Facebook to help focus your prayer life. 

What? How does that work? 

I want to be the kind of person Paul talked about in 1 Thessalonians 5:1—

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

Facebook does not help in being cheerful no matter what, just the opposite. That is its main negative trait. However, I do use Facebook as a template for prayer.

When Pam Dewey posts another of her humorous animals posts (please Pam stop!), I am reminded to pray for her eyesight. When she mentions her family, I am reminded to pray for them. 

I have several Facebook friends with an absolutist way of looking at things. This can prevent them from fully being cheerful. You know who you are! When I see this attitude in a post I can pray about that. Since I too have this fault, I can pray for myself as well. 

When Eric posts on economics, I can pray for his health. When Marilyn posts, I can pray for her Lupus. When a family member posts, you can pray for them. 

You know your friends and family, you know their needs. Pray. 

I am not saying I am some sort of prayer warrior. I am just an average guy trying to become the kind of person God wants me to be.

I bet you want that too! If so consider the advice of Paul in 1 Thess. 5.

^{While this is a little frou-frou for me, I still liked the photo.16-18}Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

 ^19-22Don’t suppress the Spirit, and don’t stifle those who have a word from the Master. On the other hand, don’t be gullible. Check out everything, and keep only what’s good. Throw out anything tainted with evil.

 ^23-24May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable. If he said it, he’ll do it!

 ^25-27Friends, keep up your prayers for us. Greet all the followers of Jesus there with a holy embrace. And make sure this letter gets read to all the brothers and sisters. Don’t leave anyone out.

 ²⁸The amazing grace of Jesus Christ be with you!

Using Facebook as a prayer technique? Who’da thunk it?  

Update on Wednesday, August 15, 2012 at 10:06AM by [Positive Dennis]

As many of you know Pam Dewey edits most of the blog posts on the Prophecy Podcast. In an earlier post I had confused the origin of the phrase, “Who’d have thunk it?” I thought it was from the Disney Movie Pollyanna. 

Here is the note Pam attached to the above post after editing (radio ventriloquist?). 

In the early days of radio and TV, Edgar Bergen (yes, Candace’s dad) had a ventriloquist act which featured a dummy named Mortimer Snerd. Mortimer was pretty dumb, and most of the time when something was explained to him, he’d shake his head and say “Who’d have thunk it?” 

You might also be familiar with another of Mortimer’s inventions - the word “DUH!”

Mortimer Snerd with Fozzie Bear 

Mortimer Snerd and Harold Camping: Twins separated at birth?

Cartoon And Opera

This video is rather odd—but it did seem an interesting viewing, and I needed another opera clip. Yes, such times may be coming, although I am not sure what the NIV translation of the Bible has to do with it! 

What Would Jesus Do?

There may be a few more people with whom Jesus is angry. 

Jesus and the Bankers

I mentioned Saturday one group of people that Jesus was displeased with—the religious bureaucratic hypocrites. But there is another group he was not too happy with. Matthew 21 tells us of one time that Jesus was in the temple. This is from the translation The Message:

^12-14Jesus went straight to the Temple and threw out everyone who had set up shop, buying and selling. He kicked over the tables of loan sharks and the stalls of dove merchants. He quoted this text: 

   My house was designated a house of prayer; 

   You have made it a hangout for thieves.

Now there was room for the blind and crippled to get in. They came to Jesus and he healed them.

 ^15-16When the religious leaders saw the outrageous things he was doing, and heard all the children running and shouting through the Temple, "Hosanna to David's Son!" they were up in arms and took him to task. "Do you hear what these children are saying?"

   Jesus said, "Yes, I hear them. And haven't you read in God's Word, 'From the mouths of children and babies I'll furnish a place of praise'?"

 ¹⁷Fed up, Jesus turned on his heel and left the city for Bethany, where he spent the night.

In this case Jesus made the religious leaders, the religious bureaucracy, upset. Why were they upset besides the obvious fact that their offices were in question by the popularity of Jesus?  

There were several rules designed to implement the principle that when one offered a sacrifice, the animal should be without blemish. So you would select one of the better animals of your flock to sacrifice. The priest would then examine the animal to determine if it was suitable.

For some reason, in the time frame we are talking about here, the second temple period, the animal was usually “not good enough.” That meant if you wanted to offer a sacrifice you had to then purchase another animal.  Naturally, right there was the solution! You could sell your lamb and buy a dove, right there in the temple. How convenient! The religious leaders really cared for their "flock."

Not exactly. Since there was limited space at the temple, who do you think got the space to sell the doves? The answer is, whoever gave the biggest bribe to the religious leaders. Of course this meant that an approved animal was a lot more expensive than it should have been. The public was being ripped off by their leadership. As Jesus noted, they were thieves. 

While I like the translation in The Message, I feel that the term “loan sharks” might be misleading. I am sure The Message wanted it to be clear that they were crooks, but no loans were taking place. What was happening was that if you wanted to make a contribution of coins toward the temple you could not use the normal coins of the time. They were “dirty.” You had to use special coins from Judah's past. So you would go to the "loan sharks," the money changers, and exchange money. Naturally the cost of the special coins was greater than the value of the normal coin in precious metals. So this increased the cost of making an offering. Naturally, as the temple bureaucracy had no need for the special money, they would sell it back to the money changers, and so the process continued with each side getting their cut from the faithful. As Jesus noted, they were thieves. 

Jesus was not happy with these bankers, as they were crooks. 

I do want to make one thing clear. There is nothing wrong with the supposed banking model. (I say supposed as the traditional banking model is not used by the big banks.) A well-run bank is designed to be an intermediary between savers and borrowers. I have known, and continue to know, reputable bankers. But our large money center banks have long abandoned that model. They live only to plunder. They fix rates. They sell securities they know are trash. Then they retire to warmer climates. Yes, they may very well be headed for a very warm climate.  

So there are two categories of people Jesus has been known to get angry at—the religious bureaucrat and the crooked banker. I do not think I would want to work for the Vatican Bank!

Here is one cinematic interpreation: