Faith like Jonathan

First Samuel is a great "guy" book. It's full of bloody action scenes. Not sure why it has never been made into a Sly Stallone or Bruce Willis action movie, because it would make a good one. I've been reading through it (again) the past few weeks. And as I get to 1 Sam. 14 I read it as I have always done. Except this time I don't keep going. I really start thinking about what is really happening in verses 4 through 23. I meditated on this passage for a couple days. I also did a little research on the actual location. And then I had an epiphany. Well, at least some people might consider it an epiphany. I consider it more divine inspiration.

Countless times I had read that story and thought that Jonathan had sort of wishy-washy faith. He believed God would deliver the Philistines into his hand. But not being 100% sure he asks God to give him a sign. If they say "Come up to us", God is with us. If they say "Wait until we come to you", then we stay put (implying God is not with us). Similar situation to Gideon in Judges 6, right? I've read through that countless times, and think to myself that he has a 50/50 chance of getting one answer or the other. I'd be willing to bet you've come to the same conclusion. But I had been wrong. Jonathan knew what the answer was going to be. He knew the Philistines we going to tell him and his armorbearer to "Come up to us". He knew God was going to work a miracle through him and his armorbearer. And he knew, and believed it so profoundly that the only way to keep him from taking this step of faith, would have been for God to perform a miracle to stop him. Why do I make such an assertion, you ask? Well let's think about a couple things for a minute. Who was Jonathan and where was this battle?

Jonathan was a military man. The Philistines were military men. Jonathan knew the Philistines were military men. As I reflected on this fact, I also recalled a number of things I was taught in bootcamp: 1) Never voluntarily give up any advantage you have over your enemy. 2) If you have the higher ground, you have the advantage. These are pretty basic principles. I mean they even teach them to lowly privates in the modern military, so it couldn't be too complicated. Jonathan knew this principle, and knew the Philistines would know this principle. When Jonathan says "if they say ‘Come up to us,’" he knows that that is exactly what the Philistines are going to say. Unless of course God intervenes on his behalf to cause the Philistines to go against their training, and pull one of the lamest strategic follies in history (OK, that may be an exaggeration, but you get the point). The miracle isn't that the Philistines say "Come up to us", that is the expected, trained response. And Jonathan knows this.

So exactly what sort of terrain are Jonathan and his armorbearer facing here anyway? We read that there are sharp rocks on either side. Yeah, OK, so what? Well, I did a little looking around the 'net and found this picture of the Michmash Gorge.

Courtesy of LIFE IN THE HOLY LAND.COM

Now, we may not be able to be 100% certain this is the exact terrain that Jonathan and his armorbearer faced. But it's pretty close. San Diego County and Israel are very similar in terrain and climate. And if you've every been out in East San Diego County you've seen terrain that looks remarkably like this photo. So I would be hard pressed to believe that this, or something very similar to this was not the terrain Jonathan and his armorbearer traversed to attack the Philistines.

Jonathan and his armorbearer were down in this ravine looking up at the Philistines positions. I'm sure you'll agree that anyone in their right mind (military trained or not) is going to look down from a perch like this and of course say "Come up to us". 1 Sam. 14:13 says that Jonathan and his armorbearer climbed up on their hands and knees. So often I've thought that was because they were trying to be sneaky. But after looking at this photo, I now know they were on their hands and knees because that was the only way to traverse the terrain. Fully exposed (no cover at all) and unable to defend themselves until they reached the top. And of course the Philistines would have to have done the opposite if they had voluntarily given up their position. They would have had to traverse down the steep slope, probably on their backsides, losing their footing and/or balance, unable to defend themselves as they approached Jonathan and his armorbearer. Of course the Philistines are going to say "Come up to us".

So now what do I think of Jonathan's faith? There are lots of men in the Bible that act on incredible faith, and because of it God is able to do incredible things. But I can not think of a single other man in the Bible that was so sure of God's direction that he required a miracle from God to stop him from acting on his faith. I know I am constantly requiring God to perform a miracle before I am willing to step out in faith. Maybe someday I will have such steadfast and solid faith that I require God to perform a miracle to stop me from acting on that faith.

Is your faith so solid that you require a miracle from God to keep you from the action He wants to use?

Apple, Inc. Support

I would say that for the most part I am an Apple Fanboy. I have purchased 2 Mac's, 2 Airport Extreme Base Station's, 2 Mighty Mice, an Apple Wireless keyboard, AppleTV, iPhone (on 6/29/07), 2 iWork Family Pack's, and other nifty Apple products. And when it's time to buy something new I almost always check the Apple Online Store before going to Amazon or Buy.com, just to see if they have what I need with the Apple spin on it. I've converted at least one family (including their family business) from PC to Apple (they now have 2 Mac's and 2 iPhone's), and likely others. Mac's are great when they work. But as with any technology there are times when it's going to have problems. It's going to happen at some point in time, and Apple's products, even with their use of the best quality available, are no exception. So what happens when an Apple product fails?

2 years ago this month, I finally committed to working my business full-time. I would no longer be relying on my employer to supply my computer. I would have to use my own personal computer to run my business. Since I was using a Mac for personal use, a Mac would now be the critical path of my business. For the last 2 years this has proved to be a decent decision. However, now I am putting Apple's Support of the small business to the test. And I am finding it to be wanting. Maybe I am holding Apple to an unreal expectation, but I doubt it.

Prior to going out on my own, I was using a company supplied Dell laptop. I despise Windows of all flavors, so I had installed Ubuntu Linux (or was it Fedora?). That computer worked great to development software as well as handle all other management related tasks. About 6 months before leaving the company I had an issue with the CD drive. So I called Dell Support. Talked with someone on the phone for a while and convinced them the CD drive had given up the ghost. Within 24 hours Dell had a technician at my desk repairing my laptop. 45 minutes after the technician arrived I was back up and running. That kind of support is what Small Business owner's need. Dell understands this and supplies the appropriate support by default on it's business class systems. I've perused Dell's site and all business computers, both laptops and desktops come with 3 years of onsite support.

Now, on to Apple. A couple months ago I started noticing problems with my Optical Drive. I finally took a couple hours out of my time to work with an Apple Expert from their support web site. After a while he determined that my drive was bad and that I would need to go to an Apple Retail Store to get it fixed. I then set an appointment (one of the nice features Apple's done) and arrived at the Store. When I do, do I pick up where I left off on the phone? Nope, had to start all over from the beginning, even after giving the Genius the case number. And when they finally conclude that the drive has failed, I hear the Apple party line: "Leave the computer with us and we'll have it back in 5 to 7 days". 5 to 7 days, are you freaking kidding me? I might as well start looking for a job now. None of my clients are going to wait 5 to 7 days for me to be able to do any work for them. None! So after some discussion I finally convince them to "help me out" by ordering the part now, and let me bring my computer back to have it installed. I want you to notice that this is helping me out. So a week and a half goes by and I get the call that the part is in. Please note: a week and a half! Had I left my computer there it would have been 10 days and not the 5 to 7 originally quoted. I surely would have been out of business by then. And likely not able to find a job since my resume is... you guessed it, on my computer.

So today I finally get some time to head over to the store. I figure I'll chat with the store's business Genius and see if he can get my computer repaired and back to me within a few hours. But after a lengthy discussion the best he can do for me is 24 hours. I'm suppose to leave my computer there for 24 hours to do what I know is a 30 minute repair. I offer to set an appointment for more that 24 hours from now. But can't do that either. I can't even put my name in the queue and show up just as it's getting to the top. No other options. I have not choice but to close my business for 24 hours and let them do their thing. The ironic thing is, the Apple Retail Stores are open 7 days a week. So even Apple knows that closing their doors for 24 hours is a bad business decision, but they are more than happy to force that decision on my business.

Now, 24 hours, as compared to the original 5 to 7 day quote is a decent improvement. And had I not had the experience I did with Dell, I'd likely be happy about having negotiated that time frame. But, unfortunately for Apple, Dell has set the bar much higher, and I have to hold Apple to the same standard. I know that it is possible to repair this drive in an hour, and to do so with minimal impact on my business.

I'll have trouble finding 24 hours which I can part with my computer. Especially right now with the work load I am under. And I'm sure I will find the time somewhere in the next week or so. But I am not very happy with the level of service I am receiving from Apple in this matter. And I keep having to ask myself, what if it was a catastrophic failure. What if it was the display or mother board. I wouldn't have any choice in the matter. With the optical drive I can do my best to make the inconvenient convenient. But if my computer was down completely, I would be out of business. Should my computer be holding my business hostage like that?

And quite frankly, if I was the only one, I could see someone telling me to stop whining and suck it up. But I've got a number of friends and colleagues in the same boat. They've had trouble with their Mac's and to get around the incredible lack of proper business support they've had to get very creative.

I do want to point out that Apple does offer a service called ProCare. This is supposed to be for professionals to get front of the line priviledges and some other nifty benifits. While interesting, and seemingly solves the problem on the surface. In practice it doesn't really do much good. If 29 of the 30 Mac's waiting to be repaired have ProCare, your ProCare just got you to position 30 instead of 31. And since Apple does not seem to do any management of the ProCare service, anyone willing to pay the $99 per year can get the service.

Don't get me wrong. I still like Apple products, and will not boycott them completely. But as a business owner, I have to ask myself the fundamental question: Do I really want a Mac in the critical path of my business operations?

Mac's are great. And I'll likely always have one in some capacity or another. But with Dell offering Linux on some of its computers you no longer have to choose Winodows if you want an alternative to Apple's poor business support. And I'm seriously beginnig to wonder if a Dell/Linux alternative would be better for my small business.