Hey JCP Corp; Get A Clue – Before You Go Bankrupt!
We all know the story well by now; how since JC Penney hired known lesbian Ellen DeGeneres to be featured in some of their advertising, presented an ad with two women with their children as a “family” in their Mother’s Day flyer, and spotlighted and supported similar deviancy with two male “dads” and their “family” of children in their Father’s Day flyer, the company has virtually plummeted down the fast track to nowhere but bankruptcy. According to the AFA in July of this year, “Since February, the company stock has lost more than half its value, and Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services lowered its credit rating on J.C. Penney Co. further into ‘junk’ status.” This has also resulted in a reported 350 layoffs at their home office. Contrast that with this…
When Chick-Fil-A’s CEO, Dan Cathy, did nothing more than just respond to a question by saying that “…we are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit,” and thereby simply just publicly admitted that the Bible defines his understanding of marriage as being the God-blessed and defined, very unique and exclusive bond between one man and one woman, well, the militant, radical, homosexual hate-mongers and spin meisters went to work to discredit him and destroy his business in the eyes of the buying public. …Enter former Arkansas governor “Mike Huckabee’s appeal to patronize Chick-fil-A on Aug. 1 as a display of support for traditional Christian values and as a reminder that our Constitution protects religious freedom,” as I received it via e-mail that morning, and that is where the encouragement – and incidentally, this personal account for me – truly begins…
As I indicated in the concluding paragraph of the morning e-mail which I sent out to just over 275 of my e-contacts inviting them to join me in patronizing Chick-Fil-A for lunch that day:
I would never ask anyone to do that which I would not for the cause of Christ in the defense and proclamation of the gospel (Phil. 1:7). At 11:30 today, I am planning to leave work, pick up Karen, and make the 50 minute or so trip one way to Stillwater to eat lunch at Chick-fil-A. I hope the lines are so long that I have to wait an hour in the 110 degree heat to eat, as I will elatedly do so. I [know from Jesus] that if we are not willing to act on our Christian convictions with more than mere words, that our Christianity isn’t worth anything at all – either here or hereafter (See: Mk. 8:38) What about you? If you believe as I do, may I humbly suggest and invite you to Chick-fil-A for lunch or dinner – even Drive-thru?
And what a wondrous sight greeted our welcoming eyes when we arrived at the Stillwater, Oklahoma, Chick-Fil-A! The parking lot between their restaurant and the local Hobby Lobby was jam-packed, wall-to-wall with cars (I haven’t ever seen it half that busy even in the height of the Christmas holiday shopping season)! The drive-through easily encircled the entire building, and the lines inside were backed up outside! Into the 110+ degree heat! And no one seemed to really care! People were smiling and talking, entertaining their little ones, conversing back and forth with total strangers, taking pictures, and enjoying standing up for their convic-tions from God’s word. What a wonderful, courteous, and well-mannered group! (And those who defend the fanatical attacks and hate-filled antics of the militant homosexuals they support, call us unloving?!? Wow!)
As I stood in line, a gentleman immediately behind me had gotten onto his smart phone and found out that at that exact point in time – 12:55 on a working, weekday, Wednesday afternoon, in the 110 degree Oklahoma heat – that particular small town Chick-Fil-A franchise had reportedly put out one thousand and sixty two orders! And there was no end in sight judging by the lines which still extended two, three, and four wide, all the way out the doors and onto the curb; a line of customers onto the end of which others were adding themselves continually! One had to wonder at that moment just what was going to happen when the lunch-time ‘warm-ups’ were behind us and the real test of the evening dinner hour actually hit!
After a paltry and very pleasant 35 minute or so wait, I got our food and retreated to the car where my wife and I sat and ate (the restaurant was overflowing) immensely enjoying the experience as the flood of convicted customers continued to fall in line. And as we left the parking lot, we purposefully journeyed down past the small JC Penney store that also sets in that same little strip mall, and quickly counted the 7-8 lonely cars that sadly sat in the largely empty parking lot out in front of it. But the story doesn’t stop there…
My daughter and son in law and their two children, along with my other daughter who works in Tulsa, all got together and went out to lunch at the Promenade Mall there in Tulsa. They reported that the lines in the food court at the Chick-Fil-A not only extended out into, but then out of the food court, and even to several stores down the mall aisle, two and three people wide, before finally ending. All of this while the workers at several of the other vendors’ kiosks there in the food court literally had not one customer to serve and nothing to do but stand idly by and watch in amazement.
After happily waiting in line approximately 45-50 minutes to receive their order, my daughters and son in law then sat down to eat and got caught up in yet another friendly conversation with a complete stranger who explained to them that there was a man in Oklahoma who had no Chick-Fil-A within less than 200 miles of his home. Not wanting to not participate in this show of support for what is good and right and decent as far as God-ordained and defined marriage being between a man and a woman and those who would stand up for what God said despite the cost or consequences, he decided to drive the 200 miles, eat lunch at Chick-Fil-A; wait around several hours; order supper at Chick-Fil-A; and then drive the 200 miles back home.
Bottom line? It is way past time that the moral and overwhelming majority of good, honest, hard-working, bible-believing people in this country finally stood up to the liberal, bibliophobic mainstream media and all of their deviant deceptions. If this experience involving JCP and Chick-Fil-A has taught us anything – anything at all – it ought to be this: That we as “Christians” are nowhere near as outdated, outmaneuvered, or outnumbered of a people as the ungodly perpetually seek to convince us that we are; and that those who practice or advocate the God-defined and abhorrent sin of homosexuality (See: Romans 1:18-32; I Corinthians 6:9-10; also: http://www.clevelandcoc.com/?page_id=170; http://www.clevelandcoc.com/?page_id=173) are NOWHERE NEAR AS MANY AS THEY WOULD LOVE TO CONVINCE US TO BELIEVE THEY ARE! Otherwise, JCP would be easily upheld by all of the homosexuals who would wantonly flood their stores, while Chick-Fil-A would be the one suffering and on the verge of financial collapse instead of vice-versa. Satan is a liar; and all of those who choose to believe him instead of the truth of Jesus are Satan’s children whether they choose to accept and/or admit it or not, according to Jesus Himself in John 8:42-47 (which see).
Jesus said repent or perish (Cf. Lk. 13:3). One cannot fight God and win (Cf. Acts 4:18-29). When will JCP, Home Depot, Starbucks, Amazon, the mainstream media, and the God-denying politicians and others alluded to in I Timothy 3:1-9 (which see) finally learn this? Before, or after it’s too late for them and their failed companies, when they’re both out of business and/or office? Let us all as God’s people determine to obey at all cost or consequence, the Holy-Spirit’s divinely-inspired instruction as delivered by Paul to young Timothy in the verses that follow that (I Timothy 3:10-4:5). God has never lost nor will He now with this (Jn. 12:48-50)! Stay strong and fight on (2 Cor. 10:3-6; Eph. 6:10-20); ‘cause in the end those still behind Jesus win – guaranteed (Rev. 19:11-20:15, 21:8)! To God be the glory; always and in all ways!
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A couple of other e-responses received from other faithful brethren who receive our weekly e-bulletin:
- I am happy to share with you that the Village Meadows Church of Christ in Sierra Vista AZ Is supporting this event. We do not have a Chick-fil-A locally, so we are travelling to Tucson. We shall pray for our brothers and sisters who participate across America.
- I just wanted to share with you what I witnessed on my way home this afternoon. I pray many today have even more successful stories to tell than the one below. I will start by telling you that I have lost a lot of faith in the last 10 years concerning the moral integrity of this country. However, what I witnessed today has given me a bit of hope. I drive past a Chick-fil-A on my way home. At 1530 when I drove past the store it was 101 degrees in Kansas City according to the thermometer in my car. There was a line of cars blocking traffic in the street because of people waiting to go through the drive in. There was a line out the door and around the corner of the store of people waiting to go inside. The parking lot was full and people were parking in the Wal-Mart parking lot next door and walking to stand in the line that was growing longer as I sat in traffic watching. The bad part of the story would be how close I came to hitting the car in front of me from watching the out pour of support for this organization and the values its leadership professes. I pray more organizations join in with the Cathy family in their support of Biblical marriage.
“Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life”
~Jesus Christ; as recorded live and resurrected in Revelation 2:10; circa 100 A.D.