Which One Do You Follow?

The Bible says one thing. Your heart says something completely different. The people around you give yet another suggestion. Which one do you believe? Two of the suggestions are misguided and one involves believing the truth but at times making the right choice is difficult. That’s when our real beliefs are exposed and we either pass or fail the test of our faith. This is a test that comes with one major question: A question that is both simple and at the same time very difficult. What is this pass or fail question? When confronted with a choice between the words of the Bible, the voice in your own head and the voices of those around us, which one do you follow?

In chapter 27 Matthew describes Jesus’ crucifixion. While He was on the cross, the people around him taunted Him and challenged Him to come down from the cross. In their eyes Jesus was a fraud, someone to be ridiculed for finding Himself in the position He was in. I suspect that in their taunts we see their belief of what should have happened if Jesus were really the Son of God. In their minds, the Son would be able to come down or would be saved from the cross by His Father. This was their view of God and anything other than what they chose to believe had to be fake.

Human wisdom says that God would never let His Son die on a cross and that anyone with the power of Christ would come off the cross. The world around Jesus believed that anyone with the power of the Savior would fight before suffering, hence why one of His disciples initially chose the sword over standing by while Jesus was arrested (Matthew 26:51). In the eyes of those around Jesus, the cross could never be the will of the Father and using Christ’s power to work a miracle escape sounded like a good idea.

Christ heard their taunts, and I wonder if they sounded like a good idea. In a way the suggestions/taunts must have sounded a lot like Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:39). While praying, Jesus revealed a desire that He knew conflicted with the will of His Father. He asked if there was a way that this cup, this plan for His death, could pass from Him. Like us, Jesus would have chosen an easier path, even mentioning this to His Father. But He was more interested in doing His Father’s will than He was in giving into temptation.

As I read Matthew 26 and 27, I find myself wondering what it was like to be bombarded with so many ideas that, for a normal human, would have seemed more palatable than the path ahead. How many times have I called out to God asking Him to do something different: asking Him to help me avoid the trial that He wants me to go through. How many times have I (though I hate to admit it) entertained suggestions that if God were loving He would help me avoid the trials or He would keep those around me from suffering. It’s easy to believe that the easy road is the best choice and that I know better than God. It’s also foolish to believe that and Jesus understood this as He obeyed His Father’s will over the other choices (be they serious or choices delivered as a part of taunting).

When confronted with multiple choices on what we should do, there is a right answer: Follow God’s will. Doing so comes because of our faith in God. Any other choice is us saying we know better than God and that is a form of idolatry. So, in difficult times, where do you put your trust? Which path do you follow?

Book Review: The Fixer

Full disclosure: The author of The Fixer (Gary R. Hamilton) is my brother-in-law.

The Fixer is the second published book by Gary R. Hamilton but he wrote it before he wrote Daydreamers which I reviewed last year. Like Daydreamers, The Fixer is an action-packed crime thriller with a nice flow that leaves just enough time to introduce you to the characters. And that’s a good thing as Mr. Hamilton has a gift for delivering characters that the reader really cares about, while putting them in just enough trouble to keep things interesting. After reading The Fixer, I hope there are plans for a sequel as what is overall a good book leaves many (perhaps too many) questions about why certain characters do the things they do but those questions do not detract from what is a very good book.

After their daughter goes missing, and after concluding that the authorities might be involved, Donald and Catherine Martin turn to Kenneth Johnson for help. Kenneth agrees to help only to discover that there is more to this case than meets the eye and the reader gets to tag along as he, along with his family and friends, stumbles into a hornet’s nest of corruption that puts them all in danger.

I enjoyed reading The Fixer but, as I said before, I feel left with several questions which lead to feeling a little less fulfilled than I did with Daydreamers. The plot is easy enough to follow but, in a way, it is hard to tell who the true hero of the story is. It also seems as if the real villain has little to do with the story, although not unusual for a crime story, especially if there is going to be a sequel and this book begs for a sequel.

I recommend The Fixer for anyone who enjoys reading crime dramas and for those who are not real strict on the rules for story development. My recommendation does come with a language warning as Mr. Hamilton gives us real world characters with real world and colorful language. My recommendation also comes with the warning that I suspect (and hope) that Mr. Hamilton is setting us up for an investment of time that will go beyond this first book.

The Fixer by Gary R. Hamilton, Published by CITIOFBOOKS Inc., Copyright 2025

The Worst Restaurant Service Ever

What’s the worst experience that you have had at a restaurant?

I still remember a particularly bad situation which for a long time caused me to avoid an entire restaurant chain. Our local franchise has since closed but even when I travel, that restaurant chain is never going to be my first choice. In fact, I’ve only eaten at that chain one time since this incident happened.

I thought about the incident over the weekend when my wife and I wanted to find a decent slice of cake to finish off a very pleasant evening spent together. We stopped at a local Cheesecake Factory where we had previously received bad service, giving the franchise a second chance. They redeemed themselves with good service and we likely will go back. But while our previous Cheesecake Factory experience was bad, it was nowhere near the worst service we have ever received. That incident happened at a restaurant which shall not be named in this post: a restaurant where the staff and management completely dropped the ball, almost like they did not want my business.

I should name the restaurant, but I’ll be nice. It was a place where we had gone several times before because we knew that the quality would be the same across the country, even if it wasn’t the best food in the area. My wife and I, along with our son (we only had one at the time) walked into the lobby of the restaurant and asked how long we would have to wait. The woman who was greeting customers told us it would be 20-30 minutes, so we gave her my name.

Because it was a bit crowded, we stepped into the hallway of the mall where the restaurant was located, where we stood just outside the door for about 15 minutes. The people who were there before us were just being seated, so we figured that we had to be coming up on the list. After another 15 minutes we asked the greeter if she had an estimate of how much longer we would have to wait. The woman responded by having some sort of breakdown and ran back into the restaurant. We all have bad days and at that point I was more concerned about her well-being than I was about our table.

It took another five minutes for her replacement to come to the door, at which time we again asked if our name was going to be called soon. This new greeter, without any real knowledge of the situation, told us that we missed our name being called and that we should have stayed in the lobby. I’m not sure what she based her answer on since she was not around to see what had happened prior to her coworker running away. And even if we had missed our names while in the mall, her response was not very customer friendly.

At this point I asked to speak with a manager but instead of a manager I found myself talking to yet another greeter who told me that they did not have a table large enough to seat my family. This answer came after they had already called in two groups that were much larger than my own, so I asked how they had tables that could hold six people but not a table that could hold three. Her response was enough to trigger protests from other customers who stepped in to defend me and my family after witnessing how we were being treated. I knew things were bad when bystanders were getting upset about the service that I was receiving and yet this new greeter stood her ground as if defending some cherished land.

I asked for the second time to speak to a manager and an assistant manager came to the lobby. Once again, I explained what happened and asked if there was a number I could call to contact their corporate parent. In response the assistant manager gave yet another excuse, telling me that the restaurant was having trouble because they had no hot water. At this point I was thinking it was time to call the health department as I’m fairly certain they were not supposed to be open without hot water.

Eventually we were given a table and the manager gave us a complimentary meal, which we reluctantly accepted. Something about not knowing how they were washing their hands without hot water made us hesitant to try the food. We ate and didn’t get sick (thank God) and I still tipped the waitress. After all, it wasn’t her fault that we received such bad service, but we never again set foot in that particular franchise.

I understand that people make mistakes and that in all likelihood the first greeter overlooked our names. I’m even willing to accept that the mistake may have been on our end and that we may have missed hearing our name called. However, there were several better ways to handle this situation without the breakdown and without all of the questionable explanations. Because of this, the situation ranks as the worst service I’ve ever received, not just at a restaurant but in any business.

What’s the worst service that you have ever received? Has anyone ever done something that cost them your business?