God hates you. And loves you.

Did you ever hear the expression, "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner?" We've all been revolted by Westboro Baptist's signs, "God hates fags!", right? Sorry, but they're partially right. If he hated only the sin and only loved the sinner, he would send only the sin to hell. But he doesn't! The sinner is the one that is cast into hell. Psalm 5:5 says, "The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong." Revelations 21:8 promises that sinners will burn in hell. "This is the second death." Eternal separation from God is proof of how much God hates sin and sinners.
But please don't tune out there! That's not nearly the end. The end is that, though God hates the sinner, he also LOVES the sinner! Perhaps the most famous verse in the Bible testifies to that. John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." The Bible screams out God's love for us, the sinners. I John 3:1 - "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" I John 4:9-10 - "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." Romans 8:38-39 - "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Do you think you love somebody? You gave your whole heart to them? There is nothing more that you can do to love them more? It's nothing compared to how God loves you. John 15:13 - "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." To come and die for people who hated him. Humanity mocked, despised and rejected its Messiah. But he came and died. That, my friends, is love at its greatest.

[A nearly comprehensive but not quite] List of Things I Do On the Night Shift

Some people have asked me exactly what there was to do while working at Dunkin' Donuts from 10 PM to 6 AM. I don't know why they asked; a sort of morbid curiosity, I suppose. In answering them, I usually find myself scratching my head and struggling to say something that sounds like it's worth $7.25/hour. So, tonight I made a list of what I do. It is not really in any particular order, though  the last two take up not nearly enough time.

• Clean my fingernails
• Yawn
• Drink coffee
• Practice twirling my pencil
• Clean the same spots on the counter twenty times
• Watch the clock (Avidly!)
• Wander aimlessly
• Accidentally fall asleep (No lie.)
• Get lost in thought
• Re-reorganize my wallet
• Come up with blog post ideas
• Curse the day I agreed to this shift
• Drink more coffee
• Ignore the mumblings from the Indian, non-English-speaking baker
• Ice/sprinkle donuts
• Serve customers

So, yeah... I think we should close at 10 or 11 like a normal place.

Psalms 19:1-14  To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  2  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  3  There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.  4  Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun,  5  which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.  6  Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.  7  The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple;  8  the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;  9  the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.  10  More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.  11  Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.  12  Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults.  13  Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression.  14  Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.

Fields of Fire

"We've lost a sense of responsiblity, at least on the individual level. We have too many people... who believe that the government owes them total, undisciplined freedom. If everyone thought that way, there would be no society. We're so big, so strong now, that people seem to have forgotten that a part of our strength comes from each person surrendering a portion of his individual urges to the common good. And the common good is defined by who wins at the polls, and the policies they make. Like it or lump it."

Webb, James. Fields of Fire. New York: Bantam Books. 1978. Print.

Stalemate!

So, my most recent post came off slightly crabbier than I wanted. I offer you this as appeasement.

Donuts 101

In the course of your life you may find yourself at a Dunkin' Donuts, wondering if you want to risk getting a baked goody. Perhaps the following will assist you in determining if the pastries are worth your while.

1. Bagels! We love 'em, right? But are they "Fresh! Hot! Just Baked!"? One way to tell is by how they're cut - if they have slight triangular shape to them, that means they are fresh. The slicer used at Dunkin' has two angled blades that will smush your bagel ever so slightly if it is fresh. The old ones are dry enough to retain their shape. However, if you're really lucky, the barista will cut it with the serrated knife - that means just out of the oven! The slicer would wreak havoc on these bagels.
2. Glazed donuts, whether plain, chocolate, blueberry or the glazed munchkins, will readily divulge the status of their freshness. If the glaze is cracked and flaking, that means that it has dried and been handled quite a bit since its creation, and these are the ones that you want to avoid. Glaze that has melted where one donut leaned against another is past its prime, too.
3. The same goes for sugared donuts - if the sugar has had a chance to melt, you'd be better just going with a different choice.
4. Powdered donuts are slightly more difficult as far as determining freshness goes. You can't really tell from across the counter, as the powder tends to mask the staleness. Also, powder generally absorbs more moisture from the donut than any other kind, so unless you watch the donut man bring them out in front of your face, move along. (Powdered donuts are the messiest, too!)
5. As for any donut with icing, the freshest ones shine and reflect the light better. The old ones are dull, and generally not as easy on the eyes as the new ones. Of course, if you watch the frosting drip down onto the paper it's a safe bet that the donut was just iced.
6. As for coffee rolls, they tend towards wrinkling on the top as they get towards old age. And of course, these are glazed too, so #2 applies here as well.

That's about it as far as my tips go; if you are a regular customer at a donut shoppe, you can start to tell which ones are generally fresh and which ones don't sell and are the oldest. Also, most of the time you can ask the person behind the counter. Many of them would be more than happy to say which variety they just finished, or which is the freshest. We can also tell you which is our favorite if you're having trouble making up your mind! So come on in, and let us help you find the right donut to fill your needs.