I had completed all of my interviews.  I had taken my Predictive Index and my Wunderlick Quiz, I had answered all the questions about why I wanted to be a car sales person, I had pitched the sales manager's pen to him, successfully selling him a 2-year old Mont Blanc that already belonged to him.  I had seen the pay plan and accepted the terms, shaken my sales managers hand and agreed to start on Friday, 2 days away. 

From the sales managers office, I called my mom and told her, "I am going to sell cars."  If I am lying, I am dying; my mom said, with a lump in her throat, "That's as far as you can get from the ministry."  Well, alright!  Thanks mom, for sucking all of the fun out of my morning. 

What I decided in the weeks and months that followed was that I would meet more people selling cars than I would as a pastor of a church.  The problem is that I am the youngest of 10 kids, the son of an ordained Southern Baptist preacher, the grandson of an ordained minister in the Methodist church.  .I am my parents last chance to continue the tradition of having a preacher in the lineage, so obviously, choosing the automotive industry was a disappointment. 

In the 13 years since that day in the dealership, I have had the opportunity to speak with sales people from all different backgrounds, from all different cultures in several different states in the United States,  My "ministry" spans all different brands, all types of people, and has had more influence on the people, young and old, than I believe I ever would have had in full-time ministry. 

Keeping with my promise to my mother, that I would be a good and positive influence on my world, that I would use my gift for teaching for the advancement of my Judeo-Christian beliefs.  Not to shove it down peoples throats, no self-respecting sales person would be so crass, but to use my gift of communication to be an example to the young sales people who would come behind me. 

That is how I have come to take my personal study of the Book of Revelations from the Bible, a book that is historically mysterious, and confusing, and shape what I have learned and am learning to apply to this industry that I have loved and given so much to, and that has given so much to me.

Enjoy!

BRANDED: Applying the Book of Revelations to my Every Day Life