Lent – Day 1

Posted on 03/09/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Spiritual | 1 Comment

Every year when the season of Lent comes around I promise myself that I am going to do something awesome to spend time with God and give up something that will really draw me closer to God. But then every year I get started and I don’t finish. Maybe I am trying to hard or dreaming to big or maybe I am missing the point of Lent all together. Regardless of what has happened in the past, here we are again, the beginning of Lent.

A tradition that started sometime in the 5th or 6th century, Lent is the period of forty days leading up to Easter Sunday. Today, Ash Wednesday, is the beginning of the forty days of fasting, prayer, repentance and sacrifice in preparation for the celebration of what Jesus did when he died on the cross for the sin of all mankind. Jesus, the son of God, forfeited His own life for the sin of all the world. Traditionally during the season of Lent we give up something to remind ourselves of the sacrifice that Jesus made when He died for us.

In short, Lent is a season to forgo something as a reminder of the sacrifice Jesus made for us. What are you going to give up? What is something so dear to you that you can not give it up without it being a sacrifice?

Diet Coke.

Just kidding. But society has taken Lent and turned it into something to skip for the sake of our waist lines. Lent is not about ditching chips, or soda or any other simple food item because of an excuse to diet, but Lent is as season to spend time without something to remind us of what Jesus did on the cross in replacement for my sins. I will ask the question again: what is something so dear to you that you can not give it up without it being a sacrifice?

Sugar.

This time I am serious. I am addicted to sugar. I have read that an average adult male should only consume 37.5 grams of sugar per day. I am guessing I have that much sugar in my system by the time I finish my breakfast and morning coffee. I tracked my sugar in take for one week, I was average 220 grams per day. The sugars I was consuming were not healthy ones from fruits either! I decided that for Lent I should give up sugar. I am going to try to cut back to the point where I am consuming what the average adult male should consume (this would mean roughly a 500% decrease from my current average that sounds like more than a sacrifice to me, it almost sounds impossible). I will keep track daily and see how it goes. Every Wednesday I plan on posting how my progress is going.

How does giving up sugar draw me closer to God? Honestly, it doesn’t. However, sugar has been stealing time from my family, my friends, my work and most importantly from God. The side effects from sugar consumption are too numerous to list here, but I am convinced that the sugar that I intake makes me more lethargic which causes my body to imbalanced chemically which in turn causes me to be imbalanced emotionally. When I am imbalanced nutritionally and emotionally I have a hard time connecting with other people and spending time with God. I believe, and I am going to test during Lent this year, that when I cut back on sugar it will help me feel more balance and in turn I will want to spend more time being active with my family and spend more time reading and talking with God. I also plan on intentionally setting aside 45 minutes everyday to read, something I have not done for a couple years.

What about you? What are you sacrificing for Lent? What are you doing to remind you of the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf? What is your action plan for the next 40 days?

Update: Have you seen this person?

Posted on 03/08/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | 2 Comments

A few weeks ago I posted that someone had been stealing Bibles from the store. As a person who cares deeply about grace and second chances, this has been a tough road to travel. What would happen if I caught the person? What would happen if they stole again? What would I do?

All of these questions were answered recently when the person I saw steal Bibles from our store return again to steal more Bibles. To protect the person and our store I can’t go into any details, but the situation has come to a close except I don’t feel any closure. Second chances are easily offered when the person or persons are distant from you, like what I wrote about yesterday. But what I have come to find out is that the closer you are to a tough situation like the theft we have been experiencing the harder it is to offer grace and second chances.

Everyone deserves a second chance. Sometimes giving those second chances are harder to do than to talk about.

What does a second chance look like for Brandon Davies?

Posted on 03/07/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | Leave a comment

Everyone deserves a second chance.

For some of us it is a hard sentence to bite off. We want people to receive the punishment for the crime and we carry around our gavel to leverage justice on those we think must get what they deserve. The opposite of revenge is grace. If you have been around me for any length of time you know that I am huge fan of an organization called The People of the Second Chance. Founded by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite this movement of radical grace and second chances in life and leadership is a conversation I love to engage in.

At a time when my life was spinning out of control and I was making bad decisions I needed grace. I needed a second chance. Thankfully Jud Wilhite was more than a talking head for the conversation of grace but he was actively practicing grace dispenser. I was given a second chance and I haven’t wasted it. The second chance provided hope, opportunity and a renewed sense of life. I will never go another day in my life without being reminded of my second chance.

Last week, Brandon Davies was kicked off the BYU men’s basketball team for having premarital sex with his girlfriend. BYU has a very strict honor code. I give the university a lot of credit for the standards they hold in an era where players are paid to play and where rules are overlooked all over collegiate athletics. However, as a dispenser of second chances I am torn on what I think about the Davies situation. I agree wholeheartedly that the young man broke a code of conduct that he signed and said he would follow. But where does the conversation of grace and second chances enter into the story?

Tim Tebow from the Denver Broncos chimed in last night asking a similar question:

“I do always think that people definitely deserve second chances because no one is perfect and we mess up everyday,” Tebow told the Orlando Sentinel. “There should be a punishment, but I don’t know that he should maybe … I don’t know. I don’t even know the situation, but I just always think about giving people a second chance. Maybe he deserves one, but I don’t know the situation.”

I always think of giving people a second chance. I love that line. I don’t know if kicking Davies off the team or suspending him for the season or a few games is the right thing to do or not, but I tend to think that if I was in that situation I would be the first one in line to dispense a second chance. Speaking of second chances, Brandon you could always come play for UNLV!

Update: What would you do with $100?

Posted on 03/06/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

A few weeks ago I posted that I had come across $100 and I felt like I needed to give it away. A lot of people emailed me privately offering great ideas on how to spend the money. I kept praying for the right opportunity would cross my path. Nothing felt right. But eventually two great opportunities crossed my path in which I have supported:

My old friend Tim Blacke posted a need for their son Aaron. A few years ago Tim had brain surgery and the insurance company would not cover the costs of the surgery that removed a brain tumor. Tim’s family was stuck with over $115,000 in medical bills. As a result of the surgery Tim has been unable to hold a steady job in the last few years. Out of money and with limited insurance Tim’s youngest son, Aaron has suffered some severe dental complications. Here is an excerpt from the website:

“Our son Aaron woke up this morning crying because his teeth were hurting him again. We recently took Aaron to a dental specialist that we were referred to in Springfield. Aaron has been having major trouble with his teeth. When he was born he quit breathing and was on antibiotics. We think that the antibiotics have weakened the integrity of his teeth. As a result they had to pull one of his teeth that were causing him major pain and he has 16 other teeth that need major attention. They said that if this is not taken care of immediately that Aaron will suffer much more pain and long term ramifications with his permanent teeth.”

As a young man my life was transformed by various short term mission trips. A family was very significant in supporting me on all my trips. I found out that one of the kids in this family is now old enough to go on a mission trip (last time I saw her she was 8 years old!) and is going with North Point Community Church on a trip to the Philippines. I am a passionate supporter of missions so I am happy to help the next generation of young people experience life change through missions.

If you are interested I would love for you to help support Aaron’s surgery, please visit: www.gofundme.com/blacke and you can also follow the blog from the Philippines trip.

Are you hidden?

Posted on 03/04/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

A week or so ago someone posted this picture on Facebook:

Ouch.

But haven’t we all done it? I know that I have blocked aka “hidden” plenty of people on Facebook. I am sure their might be some of you reading this that are apart of my “hidden” list because I really don’t care for politics all that much. Others of you might never read this because you have hidden my posts because you could care less for the religious “mumbo jumbo” that I post.

How many people are you hiding on your Facebook page? 10? 20? 100? Why be friends with them in the first place? This graphic and this idea of hiding people on Facebook is very sobering to me and I found myself wondering how many people have hidden me from their news feed?

A humbling reminder from Matthew Paul Turner

Posted on 03/03/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | 1 Comment

Matthew Paul Turner aka Jesus Needs New PR, is a widely read & popular Christian author and blogger. MPT is known for his off the cuff comments and challenging debates with the Christian status quo. Matthew likes to ruffle feathers and is not afraid to throw a few punches in the process. Personally I have never read any of Turner’s books but we do carry them in our store and I have thumbed a few chapters of a couple of them and is a talented guy with an honesty that can be appreciated on this website.

Every so often I will swing by Matthew’s blog and read some of his recent posts. Most of the time I don’t engage in the posts, I usually just read and move on. However the other day when I stopped by Turner had just posted a new post containing a video about tithing and how mega churches were lining their pockets. Maybe it was my mood or the topic, but for whatever reason I decided to post a comment. I actually was one of the first few people to respond to the post. I made the mistake of clicking the box “subscribe to all comments” after posting my brief comment. Over the next 48 hours I received 91 emails telling me what people had posted on Turner’s blog! That was for just one blog post, sometimes Turner posts up to three things a day!

Here is the humbling part to write:

Deep in the recesses of my wounds, fears and ego there is a big part of me that wants to be Matthew Paul Turner. I don’t want to be as snarky or write like Turner, but I want to be an author and popular blogger. As much as I am wrestling through my own layers of the onion, I still find myself with a wounded desire to be known and be able to have influence in this world.

Turner’s post and the subsequent amount of comments regarding the video left me wondering how in the world I would handle that kind of traffic? I can barely manage my life, my family, my job and my own website with just a couple hundred readers, what would it be like if I had a couple thousand or tens of thousands? I am pretty sure that Turner’s full time job is blogging and writing books, so he has more free time on his hands to tackle the debates he facilitates. Even with more time on my hands I don’t know how I would handle the traffic Turner gets, or the controversy surrounding Rob Bell or Justin Taylor’s post this past week.

I am reminded by Turner’s post of something that I heard Jud say in a staff meeting once and he repeated again at the Catalyst labs yesterday: “Don’t become preoccupied with greatness, just do a good job and love people.” The amount of traffic that Turner gets is irrelevant to my quest to be known and have influence. What is relevant is the fact that it has reminded me that I have become preoccupied with becoming great rather than doing the work of loving God and loving people.

One Word – Part III

Posted on 03/02/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | 1 Comment

On Monday I posted a question: “If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?” I couldn’t answer the question. Later, I added some more dialogue that I had with my wife. The dialogue with my wife still left me searching to find out if even asking this question was important? Today I think I have an answer.

On Tuesday night our small group met, my wife and I have been responsible for bringing various Nooma videos to group and this week I grabbed a video that I thought had to do with the question I was asking, but I didn’t realize just how much it would hit at the core of where I am personally. Nooma #18, Name, takes the one word concept and expands it like my wife had said the night before. We all have a name, but sometimes that name is assigned to us by others: flake, loser or jerk. Sometimes our names are passed down to us from our parents: not wanted, not good enough, or maybe your name is just a family name like Zimmerman.

All of us have names attached to us, better yet we have one word labels: Wife. Husband. Father. Daughter. Helpful. Lazy. There are billions of one word labels living on this planet and many of us have come to act and live a certain way because of these labels. The labels we wear come in layers. I believe that the layers look something like this:

What we think others think of us
What we think our family thinks of us
What our family & others really think of us
What we think of ourselves
What we actually are.

The more we peel back the layers (some might use an onion as an example of the this) the closer we get to the core of who we are. I really appreciate this Nooma video, my small group and my wife’s conversation for helping me to get to a place where I can say that I do see that this pursuit has not been in vain. The question: “If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?” is very important and I believe that it can be answered.

In my own personal journey I think that I have peeled back some of the layers of the onion. I think I am somewhere between what our family & others really think of us and what we actually think of ourselves. I know I have come a long way in the last four years. I think that four years ago I was barely scratching the surface of what others think of me. Those labels mattered to me and I focused on them day and night. Now with each passing year I am getting letting go of what others think of me. I find myself moving closer and closer to knowing who I actually am.

Who am I? What is my one word?

Unique.

I think no matter where you are on the journey of life and self-discovery, eventually we will all land in the same place. We are each unique. One of a kind. Special. God made me unlike any other in the world with my own talents, my own abilities and my own journey. I haven’t finished the journey. I haven’t arrived at the destination but I know that I am on the path to discovering the many names that make Benji, but the first real label on the core of my onion . . .

. . . is unique.

What names are on your inner onion layers?

The Benefits of Borders – 3 tips for Independent Stores

Posted on 03/01/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Other | Leave a comment

A few weeks ago Borders Bookstore and their other named store Waldenbooks announced they would be closing 200 locations nationwide. In a statement released by the company:

“It has become increasingly clear that in light of the environment of curtailed customer spending, our ongoing discussions with publishers and other vendor related parties, and the company’s lack of liquidity, Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor and which are essential for it to move forward with its business strategy to reposition itself successfully for the long term…We are confident that, with the protection afforded under Chapter 11 and with the support of employees, publishers, suppliers and creditors, and the reading public, a successful reorganization can be achieved enabling Borders to emerge from the process as a stronger and more vibrant book seller.”

The complete article can be read at the Wall Street Journal including a list of the 200 stores closing. With the closing of 200 chain bookstores nationwide and the addition of many independent stores closing on a weekly basis the industry is either falling apart or it is prime for a smaller market. I like to believe that the closing of 200 Borders will help create a better market and here are three ways I see it benefiting independent stores nationwide:

Competing in a Smaller Market: With less stores competing for the share of the market, readers who are still looking to buy books still have to go somewhere. Even though reports are coming in more and more often of E-books outselling their printed counter parts (only 19 of the top 50 did this past Christmas season) the popularity of E-readers is not nearly happening as fast as many industry executives had hoped for. Michael Hyatt writes a compelling post about why he thinks that the market will still continue to grow slowly on his blog a few weeks ago. With E-readers still slowly taking off, the print share of the retail market will still exist for another 15-20 years at a similar or slowly decreasing trend. What does this mean? It means for the next ten plus years you have the opportunity to emerge when other stores close. If you can hang on during the down times and create a way to keep your store relevant and moving product, you are going to be able to continue to thrive as other stores close.
Cheap Fixtures: For smaller stores it creates an opportunity to get nice stuff at a great price. Corporate stores like Family Christian, Lifeway, Barnes & Noble have custom furniture, signs and media departments. In our store we do all of our own graphics and we have to contract out for new (expensive!) shelving units to be built. With the closure of 200 Borders nationwide there is a great chance that your store can pick-up some designer shelves or display fixtures at the fraction of the cost. More shelves = more inventory? No. In our store we were able to pick up three shelving units and and end-cap from a local Borders for $265 vs. the roughly $2500 it would have cost to custom make them. We did not use the shelves to carry more inventory but rather to feature (face out) more of the current stock we already had. Result? A dramatic increase in the sale of books that were not faced out over the previous four years. One title for example went from selling two units in two years to selling four units in four weeks. With the addition of three bookshelves to our store we were able to feature 250 more titles.
Inventory Sales: Borders carried a portion of the retail market. As a result of the number of stores closing my hunch is that publishers are going to be stuck with stock they had planned on sending to Borders around the country. As a result publishers are going to have back stock that they need to move. Publishing houses will move stock to smaller stores through various promotions that in turn you will be able to pass on to the customer. I hear it every weekend, “I will just shop on Amazon, it is cheaper.” I love when I can pass on a publisher special that allows our store to profit, the customer to get what they are looking for all at a competitive price with Amazon and others. I foresee this trend happening only for a limited time, so if you have the funds available I suggest you jump on any of the specials in the next few weeks.

How else do you think we as store managers or as customers can benefit from the closing of 200 Borders stores?

One Word – Part II

Posted on 02/28/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | 3 Comments

This morning I introduced a question from Mark Batterson’s book, Soulprint: “If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?” I didn’t have an answer. Last week when I first started this journey one night lying in bed right before we were both about to drift off to sleep I unfolded the whole story of Mark in Soulprint to my wife and I asked her if she could describe me in one word. My wife, despite being nearly asleep shot up and basically went off. It went something like this:

“That question is so stupid. People can’t know people from one word. You can’t use one word to describe yourself because it has a different meaning for you and a different meaning for me. Plus you have different areas of your life so there is not one word that will capture a description of your spiritual life or your social life or your work life. These types of questions are just so dumb they should never be asked in an interview situation. I mean come on, really Benj, one word?”

Mind you I was paraphrasing but you get the point, my wife didn’t like the question nor did she want to give me a one word answer. At this point I rolled over and called it a night, I really didn’t want to engage the subject further. I would let life run its course over the next few days, maybe as I went through day-to-day routine I would have a revelation about what the true, honest and real one word was available to describe me. Guess what?

Nothing happened.

No revelation. No prophecy. No enlightenment. No answers.

I was still left searching, asking and wondering if it was possible to describe myself with one word that would best encapsulate who I am to the core. Honestly my wife’s comments had rattled me and I was left wondering after a couple days if this was even a worthwhile exercise? Do I really need to know how to describe myself in one word? Is that even what I am searching for anymore or is this something deeper?

Do you agree or disagree with my wife? Is this a trivial pursuit of some question that is not important or is this a worthy hunt to know oneself?

One Word – Part I

Posted on 02/28/2011 by Benji Zimmerman Posted in Honesty | 3 Comments

For the last week or so I have been diving into Mark Batterson’s book Soulprint. I will surely be posting a review next week but something hit me today when I was reading. Mark was telling a story about his ordination. In order to become an ordained pastor, he had to sit before a review board and field questions. Mark was prepared to answer all kinds of questions about church history, the Bible and theology, but the first question he was asked through him for a loop:

“If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?”

Mark admitted in Soulprint that he knew a lot about God but knew very little about himself. Mark went on to tell his story of the word he choose (driven) and how great he thought it sounded. In the end it was Mark who had egg on his face. Driven was his word, but selfishness was his motivation.

Mark’s story got me thinking: what is my one word . . . Adventurous. Honest. Hard-working. Or better yet maybe the best one word to describe me is . . . Brash. Proud. Selfish.

I feel a lot of pressure welling up inside of me. I am not even sitting in front of a review of my peers or am I? Getting honest about the one word to describe your life is really tough. I am sitting here typing full of anxiety because I am torn. I want to write what will make me look good. I also want to write what is truthful. The last factor in this algebra equation is that I don’t want to write what I have always been told, I want to write what I am.

But who am I?

If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be?

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