Resurant Review: Top of the Rock

This is the toughest review that I have ever had to write. Probably the strangest dining experience I have ever had. We arrived at 6:00 and you actually walk through the Red Rock Tavern to get to the Top of the Rock hence the name. When we got upstairs the décor was rather nice. Started out with the dinner salad the waitress suggested the balsamic vinegar dressing, good greens tomatoes and cucumbers. The dressing was awesome. Next was the sautéed vegetables to be honest they were just all right, however they were all things that I didn’t really like to begin with. I could eat them and they weren’t too bad. So they must have been really good. Next I had what they called gourmet potatoes, I call them hash browns the best I have ever had, they had some sour cream, spices and they said a touch of cheese. For the entrée I chose the ribeye I was nervous because I now compare every steak to the $9 sirloin at The Texas Road House.  Even though it was $23 it did not disappoint. Very good flavor cooked well. Teresa had the fettuccine alfredo she reported it was just okay. Now comes the strange part the service started out okay and went downhill after that. Not sure if it was just a bad waitress or just the fact we were in a different country or culture after all we were in Fairfield. The time between each stop she made was further and further apart. I really think she just forgot us a couple of times. It was 8:00 when we left and our food came quickly. It took over 40 minutes to get Teresa’s complimentary birthday cream brulee and the check. Of course the highlight of the evening was the $18 coupon she got from the Top of the Rock again for her birthday. Then it go really weird when we went to leave. Leaving what for me is a really really nice restaurant and then having to walk through the “bar” with a completely different clientele, then there were the half a dozen of Fairfield’s finest standing outside the door smoking really was surreal. Thus the low atmosphere score, strange that a place can get such high food scores and so low on everything else.  

Price range: (everyday, a night out, a special occasion only) special occasion only  

Overall rankings all based 1 to 5

Atmosphere: 2

Service:        2

Food:           5

Value:           2

Overall          2.5

Top of the Rock

Fairfield IA.

Who's holding you?

There are some things in Christianity that to the unsaved eye just do not make sense. One is the fact that it is God who decides who becomes a Christian that it’s not anything that we do. We live in a works based society that we must do things to get things, even though I am starting to wonder about that. But all in all there are many who think that if they do this or do that God will surely say you’ve earned it come on in. That is not the way it works. There is nothing that you can do to earn your way to Heaven it’s impossible. Grace is the only way and grace cannot be earned if it could it ceases to be grace. Grace was made possible through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Good luck on trying to outbid that. Ephesians 1:5 is like many other verses in the Bible that make these things clear if you really stop and think about them. It says:

⁵ God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

God decided in advance. Advance means before you did anything good or bad. To adopt us (Christians) into His own family, this means Heaven. Through Jesus Christ, this means the only way to Heaven is through Jesus and no way else. This is what he wanted to do and it gave Him great pleasure. That is Grace. So if you have trusted in Jesus relax, He’s got you. Who's holding you? Who or what ever it is can't be trusted. They or it will eventually let you down. So if it's not Jesus that's holding you ask Him into your life and trust in Him there your emptiness will be filled and your security found.

The face of evil

2 Thessalonians 3

² Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer

Today’s blog went in a direction that I certainly did not see coming. When you think of wicked and evil people what images come to mind? Perhaps it’s something like today's picture. However an interesting thing happened to me as I prepared today’s blog. The face of evil may not be what you think. Every day as I prepare this blog I look at perhaps hundreds of pictures to find just the right one. I am continually amazed when searching a completely innocent word the number of offensive pictures that show up. Today was different I Google image searched evil people and found less offensive pictures than most of the other words I have searched.  When I searched evil people there were many who did not look evil. There were of course politicians, world leaders, athletes, and actors whose faces showed up. As well as others who may have indeed have been evil I had no way of knowing. The point is that you can’t tell whose evil just by looking. So when you look at today’s verse Paul is asking for prayer to be rescued from wicked and evil people for not everyone is a believer. I’m sure the people he was talking about did not look like the guy in today’s picture either. People who passively or purposely persecute believers don’t have a specific look. They can not only be normal looking but they could also be very close to you.  Not everyone is a believer and if they are not, they are against Christ and therefore may come against you. That is why it is so important to know these things and to spread the Gospel message so that God can use you to convert the evil and wicked people of the world.

Tattooed Tot...... Baby gets inked

Call me old fashioned but I think a baby getting tattoos is going a bit too far. This is a picture of little Joey Madison who is from Waco Texas. I think his parents are actually from Wacko Texas. I mean really, this child will have to live with this ink for the rest of his life. I’m sure baby Joey didn’t go in to the shop and pick out the tat he liked best and said I think I’ll take that one. I’ve never had a tattoo and don’t plan on getting one for the simple fact I like to stay away from pain. I mean what were the parents thinking? This is just wrong. Please tell me you agree?

If you think that this picture and this story is a fake you’re right. The picture was photo shopped and I made up the story. If you believed any of this for just a second you should read 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 very carefully, it says:

⁹ This man (the Antichrist) will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. ¹⁰ He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. ¹¹ So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. ¹² Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

The Antichrist will come someday and he will fool people. The ones he will fool the easiest are the people who say they believe in God but don’t trust in Jesus, the ones that go to church but don’t have a relationship with Christ, the ones who don’t regularly study the Bible or pray. Don’t be that person, don’t fall for it.

Last night the VMA’s were on (the MTV video awards) I watched for a total of 2 minutes and saw two people thank God. On the surface that’s great, I am certainly not here to judge if those two people are saved or not, however my thoughts were which God were they thanking and do they have a relationship with Christ. That is for God to decide and not me. However there are many people who saw the same thing I saw and just by the fact they thanked God they immediately just assumed that they were a Christian and would be going to Heaven. Just remember in this fallen world things are not always as they seem.

Hell will have two kinds of people in it, surprised and very surprised. Be prepared don't get surprised and especailly don't get very surprised.

What's that you say?

2Thessalonians 1:11(b) May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do.

Yesterday was about where our help comes from to do the things we are called to do. The second half of verse 11 talks about the good things your faith prompts you to do. To this I have two questions

1.       Do you hear the prompts?

2.       What do you do when you hear them?

Sometimes to hear the prompts is a challenge because of all of the noise in our lives. I believe the prompts are there continually we just choose not to hear them. If you take a phone call and having trouble hearing you will find a place where you can hear better. We should all do the same when it comes hearing the prompts of the Holy Spirit, we need to find that place where we can hear better, a place where we can get away from all of the noise of the world.  Just like in this next picture God prompts us because He loves us. Again the question is do we hear them?

It then can come to the point of hearing the prompts and coming up with excuses not to follow through? Some day you will have to account for every single one of those excuses. The excuses not follow through with what God prompted you to do.

Today is as good as any to start listening and removing the excuses.

Help Wanted

2Thessalonians 1:11(a) So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call.

 I started writing this blog almost 9 months ago missing very few days however this is the first time that I remember splitting one verse into two days, living a life worthy of His call. When I first read this my first reaction was that this was indeed impossible, that on my own I am unable to live a life worthy of His call. Then I realized that I was right, on my own I can’t do it. Sometimes when you read something your mind is drawn to just one part of what you are reading, when I first read this my mind went straight to living a life worthy of His call. I skipped right past the part about God enabling. I so want to live a life worthy of His call but I know I can’t do it on my own. I would covet prayers from anyone for God to enable me to live that life. But in turn I have to do a much better job of deliberately doing the same myself for others. Just thinking about being worthy is intimidating. God is such a high standard that cannot be reached without His help and the help He offered was Christ. If you put the help wanted sign in your window Christ answer.

The Pinnacle

2Thessalonians 1:10

 ¹⁰ When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.

When I read this verse I immediately thought of the word pinnacle. (the highest point; the culmination) since the day the world was created it has all been pointing towards the day when Christ returns. It says here that He will receive glory and praise from those who believe. This verse comes from a letter to the people of Thessalonica and it says this includes them. The questions is does this include you? When Christ returns, that is when the sorting takes place for those that are still alive. Some will go to Heaven to be with Him, others will go to Hell to be ever separated from Him. For those choosing Hell, I really feel sorry for you. For those who were chosen by God and headed to Heaven if you’re going to be bringing glory to and praising Christ why not start practicing now? I don’t know about you but the Lord knows I need practice. We are headed towards the pinnacle and there is no turning back. The questions remains when the pinnacle is reached will you stay to glorify and praise Christ or will you be forever banished?