Who wears the pants?

Who wears the pants in your family? I have heard this saying all my life and always thought of it as a contest between the husband and the wife of who got their way, who got to do what they wanted more than the other. In short who dictates what goes.  At some point in my life another player has been added to the mix and this may offend some of you. But in many families today it’s the kids who wear the pants in the family. The kids dictate where the parents go, what the parents eat, the list goes on and on. Like with a lot of things I think at first it starts with good intentions but gets elevated to the point that it is dangerous. If a person is not careful a parent can actually worship their children as idols and place more importance on them than God himself. Anyone who has kids knows it changes your life forever but don’t let it change who you are and your relationship with the LORD. Who wears the pants in my family? Teresa of course, no not really for the last little more than 10 years Jesus wears the pants in this family and if He didn’t I shudder to think where we would be now.

Simply Smart

I have been through a stage in my life where I read everything I could find by all the top theologians from the 1800’s on. I was filling up knowledge to get smarter which is not really a bad thing. But was I becoming more effective that is the question? Yes I have learned things that I need to know but can I use them in a simple way? The best theologian in the history of the world was none other than Jesus and as I was reading in Matthew today I was struck by 13:3

³ He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one: “Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds.

The Son of God says a farmer went out to plant some seeds to tell a great truth about the Bible. Simple yet effective if only we could be so simply smart.

Jesus goes on to explain simply smart in verses 10-13

¹⁰ His disciples came and asked him, “Why do you use parables when you talk to the people?” ¹¹ He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets^[a] of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not. ¹² To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. ¹³ That is why I use these parables, For they look, but they don’t really see. They hear, but they don’t really listen or understand.

We all would be best if we just would keep it simple.

Sometimes intelligence is not very smart

When it comes to sharing our faith we tend to keep quite for fear of sounding dumb, however the so called smart people are the ones who make the Gospel message boring, uninteresting and dry. Just simply tell others the changes Christ has made in your life. They say there is no such thing as a dumb question that some may argue. But I am convinced there is no such thing as a dumb testimony. Don’t be afraid or ashamed of yours. Common sense will go much farther than any degree or the number of big Biblical words you know. Like the guys in the picture just becasue you can use those big words donesn't mean you should.

Gone fish'n latley?

I think too many of us forget that at the beginning of his ministry Jesus did not say come follow me and I will make you Theologians, monks, religious, or Bible scholars He said I will show you how to fish for people. When it comes to people do you want them to be impressed with you, your church, your theology or with your Jesus? Have you gone fish'n latley?

Matthew 4:

¹⁸ One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. ¹⁹ Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” ²⁰ And they left their nets at once and followed him.

BBQ joint reviews: Oklahoma Joe's

Oklahoma Joe's Olathe Kansas ***** 

Not much on atmosphere I mean it’s in a gas station and who ever heard of good food coming from a gas station.

Sauces:  Two to choose from, they are good but not the best I’ve had. However they compliment the meat very well.

Ribs: Simply the best I have ever had.  Good rub, good smoke, meaty and cooked to perfection  

Pulled Pork:  Again the best I have ever had, just the right amount of smoke.

Brisket: I almost did not get the brisket but it was advertised as the best in the world and I think they were right. It was so tender I think you could have eaten it through a straw.  I may dream about this brisket

Sides: Good, but not great but who cares

Overall:  When you can sit down at a barbeque place and say three times that is the best I’ve ever had, that is some place. It's not the prettiest I've had but it is the best.

Here is the line to get in. It moved very quickly they know how to get people in and out.

The Carolina Pulled Pork with a spicy slaw.

The 3 rib dinner with that amazing drink through a straw brisket

Free Stuff

I am always amazed what lengths people will go through to get something for free. They will push and shove, stand in line, you name it they will do it for something free. In short they will make fools of themselves just to get something for nothing. I know you’ve seen it and if you’re honest with yourself you know you’ve done it. However there is one free thing that is really hard for many to accept and that’s grace. When a person stands in line for a freebie they have already made a choice to do so. With grace there is no choice, and not having a choice is what really bothers people. It takes mankind out of the equation and as humans that’s extremely hard to do, to give up power, control, or the ability to choose. Having to give up these things is offending to most people and no one will do it on their own.  It takes the hand of God for anyone to receive the handout of grace even then it’s still hard for even the Christian to turn everything over because we still like to think we have a choice. If God chooses something for us the only choice we have is to trust Him.

Romans 5:16
And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins.

Locked Up Abroad

The following words are right off of the home page for the TV show Locked Up Abroad

Locked Up Abroad tells first hand experiences of unsuspecting travelers who embarked on what they thought would be a vacation, only to barely make it home ...

I may have seen 5 minutes of the show one time but I get the premise. Today as I was reading 1 Peter 2 and was reminded of this show when it said

¹¹ Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

Everyone is on this earth only temporarily and we don’t think of this enough. For the Christian we are locked up abroad, we cannot yet go home.  Some day the Christian will be released, either when they die or Jesus comes back again, and not a minute sooner. As the trailer for the National Geographic show says “only to barley make it home” So it is with the Christian, we do not have the right within us to be released from this place and to enter Heaven it is only by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus that we are able to get our pardon and return home. Now for the ones who don’t trust in Jesus even though they think this place is Hell on Earth they have no idea that as bad as it is, this is as close to Heaven they will ever get, compared to Hell this is paradise. Then for the Christian some think that they should be on vacation here until it’s time for Heaven but that is far from the truth because Satan, the jailer of earth makes it difficult for those who love Jesus thus why we all long for home so much and praise God for His promise to get us there.