The Truth About Hot Dogs

A couple of blogs back (What the good guys are looking for in a woman. Part VI), I mentioned hot dogs. It has since come to my attention that my remarks may have caused some confusion. Sometimes I have a thought that is perfectly clear to me, and not at all clear to anyone else. So, with all that being said, I give you the truth about hot dogs; or at least my version of the truth.

I have often heard it said, that if you ever saw a hot dog made, you would never eat another. Not that I mean to turn anybody off of hot dogs, but they aren't exactly cutting up rib eyes and t-bones to make them. Hot dogs are the remainder of the remainder of what goes in a cow and comes out steaks, hamburger, liver and the like; not to mention, that they also make them out of pork and chicken. So it should be understandable, that one might say if you had seen them made, you wouldn't want to eat them anymore.

With all of that in mind, I still consider a chili dog to be one of nature's perfect foods. I used to have a boss who would say with frequency, "I don't need to know how the hot dog is made; I just want to enjoy the hot dog." He didn't want to know the ugly details about the process, he just wanted to enjoy the end result of the process. So, back to my confusing blog.

(Note to good guys who may be reading this: If a girl, to whom you have formed an attachment, demonstrates a willingness to spend time around a lesser man, for whatever her reason; my advice to you is to let her marry the lesser man. Trust me, you don’t need to know how the hot dog is made; just enjoy the hot dog.) First, everything between the parentheses is addressed to "good guys." Second, it is a warning about girls, who for whatever reason seek out the attentions of another man or other men. Third, the hot dog, you can devote your time to figuring out why this girl behaves this way, and bit by bit examine all of the ugly details behind this behavior. After wasting months of grief, you come to the conclusion, that based on her behavior and her irrepressible desire to continue in it, she isn't for you. Or, you can take my advice, and walk away and find a girl who won't take all of your affection and give you nothing but grief in return (enjoy the hot dog.) And that folks, is the truth about hot dogs.

What the good guys are looking for in a woman. Part VII

1. A sincere relationship with God
2. Modest
3. Kind
4. Sense of humor
5. Courageous
6. Trustworthy

7. Willing to be alone

The final installment. Why would “willing to be alone” be a quality that would interest a good guy? Very simply put, it demonstrates that you aren’t on a man hunt. Sorry, but its true. But, much more worthy of respect, it shows that you are not willing to be with the wrong person.

It takes a lot of faith to be willing to be alone. Just about nobody would actually condone being single as a legitimate lifestyle. Although, the apostle Paul managed it quite well, few are forward thinking enough to allow that God can make good use of people who can travel all over the world without having to first sit down and think about how it would affect the wife and kids. And for those of you who may think me a chauvinist, and to some degree are probably right; I include this quote from Lottie Moon, “Our Lord does not call on women to preach, or to pray in public, but no less does He say to them than to men, ‘Go, work in my vineyard.’” Part of the reason she did such a wonderful work was that she realized that the best person to tell Chinese women about Jesus, strangely enough, was a woman. She could have married, but she broke off the engagement for religious reasons. She, however, had a fulfilling life serving the Lord.

Let me make this clear: If God hasn’t put a significant other in your life, then God has not put a prospective husband or wife in your life. Are you going to marry some dolt, because your friends at church or your mom and dad are turning up the heat for you to marry “anybody”? Will you be single your whole life? Maybe, but if that is what God has for you, it is His best for you. If you do get married, it had better be to the one God picked out for you; because, the “anybody” who will shut your friends and family up won’t measure up to God’s best for you. Until then, single and unmarried only happens once in a life: make the best out of it.

What the good guys are looking for in a woman. Part VI

1. A sincere relationship with God
2. Modest
3. Kind
4. Sense of humor
5. Courageous

6. Trustworthy

Trust is something that simply isn’t sought as a prerequisite for a relationship; and as a result, breaches of trust have littered our country with failed relationships and failed marriages. True, you are putting your trust into a fallible human being, but you also have the perfectly reasonable expectation that the person you have trusted will not behave with little regard for your feelings. I have noticed that girls, whether in church or out, trade relationships with guys, very much like they are swapping used cars. (Note to good guys who may be reading this: If a girl, to whom you have formed an attachment, demonstrates a willingness to spend time around a lesser man, for whatever her reason; my advice to you is to let her marry the lesser man. Trust me, you don’t need to know how the hot dog is made; just enjoy the hot dog.*)

A good guy is looking for someone he can trust with everything. This is what many today mess up. Either, they do not allow enough time for someone to prove themselves trust worthy, or they continue to carry on a relationship with someone who hasn’t proven themselves to be worthy of trust. Let’s tackle the first one. The Bible says, “to whom much is given, much will be required.” To start with, let that be your guide in trusting someone. Trust is something that is built over time.With the passage of time, you will see that what is important to you becomes something that is important to them. Trustworthiness is something that is proven over and over again. If trust is breeched in little things, you can certainly expect that it will be breeched with greater things. Good guys are interested in girls who demonstrate that they care about the responsibility of being trustworthy.

If you continue to carry on a relationship with someone who has proven themselves to be a person who can not be trusted, you are not just wasting time, you are throwing your life away. You may be pitied by good guys, but that is all of the interaction you will have with them. This is going to be exceedingly ugly, but I am going to say it: When you swear allegiance with a devil, you have embarked on the path to destruction; and you erase any hope of having anyone descent in your life. If you accept that kind of behavior, it is much more than likely that you will exhibit that same behavior. Be someone who can be trusted, and surround yourself with people who can be trusted.

7. Willing to be alone

* The Truth About Hot Dogs

What the good guys are looking for in a woman. Part V

1. A sincere relationship with God
2. Modest
3. Kind
4. Sense of humor

5. Courageous

I was listening to a sermon this week, and the preacher said, “Any dead fish can go with the flow, but it takes a live fish to swim against the current.” Courage is just that, the ability to swim against the current. Popular opinion (the current in this example) is that girls have to trade off parts or whole chunks of an ideal relationship, to be in a relationship. It takes courage to stick to the ideal; it takes the courage of one’s convictions.

The courage of one’s convictions is a person’s ability to hold to their belief system when it gets increasingly difficult to do so. You see, if you can set aside your belief system; then it is of no effect at all. It is what you know to be right, and if you are willing to compromise on what you know is right, then you have to accept that you are willing to pursue what you know is wrong.

When you drive across a bridge, you hope that the engineers and builders did not compromise on what they knew was the right way to build the bridge with the right materials. The potential for this bridge to collapse, and the potential for the tragedy that it brings, is directly tied to the willingness of the engineers and builders to compromise what they know is right. The same holds true for a life.

Let me tell you plainly, if a guy does not measure up: Get rid of him! Let me also tell you, that I frankly do not care what his issues are, and that he wasn’t loved enough growing up. It is not my problem, nor is it your problem; and you are doing yourself no favors by letting him make his problems to be your problems. In fact, the only way that you can help him, is to let him know that he doesn’t bring enough to the table to merit any further consideration. Guys that are worth having, expect that girls will be looking for a man who is made of something. The good guys respect and admire girls who have the courage of their convictions; girls that will not compromise on their standards.

6. Trustworthy
7. Willing to be alone

What the good guys are looking for in a woman. Part IV

1. A sincere relationship with God
2. Modest
3. Kind

4. Sense of humor

The ability to laugh is really the ability to enjoy life. If we all walked around like monks, forbidden to speak or laugh, how fun would that be? Well, it wouldn’t be fun; in fact, it is a fairly miserable way to spend a life, but that is what some people choose. A merry heart is commended in Proverbs. One of the things that good guys are looking for is a girl who still has a smile on her face when things aren’t going her way. Oddly enough, a sense of humor demonstrates strength of character. It indicates a steadiness of heart. Surely no man sets out to find a woman, who when trouble comes, she seeks to multiply it by her squawking and flapping of her wings. It is the steadiness of heart, displayed in a sense of humor, that attracts the good guys. Things may not always go according to plan, things may seldom go according to plan, or things may never go according to plan. It’s nice to be around someone who can laugh when things don’t go as planned; however often that occurs.

5. Courageous
6. Trustworthy
7. Willing to be alone

What the good guys are looking for in a woman. Part III

1. A sincere relationship with God
2. Modest

3. Kind, sadly, is a rare quality. It certainly is difficult to put into words, its an abstract. In other words, you can buy a gallon of milk, but you can’t by a gallon of kindness. Like the wind, you can’t see it, but you can certainly feel it; you can even fly a kite in it. So, let’s go with the wind analogy.

Men for some reason or another have to dig holes or dig things up. Honestly, I can’t remember a year going by, that I didn’t dig a hole or dig something up. Well, a by product of digging is getting hot and sweaty. Nothing in the world, at that point feels better than a cooling breeze. That is what kindness is to us.

So you see, kindness is another quality that gets attention of the good guys. Kindness is part of one’s conversation (which in times past, carried with it the meaning of a great deal more than just an exchange of words), so much a part of it that it can not be cut away from it. Not something that is used as a tool, like someone picking up a saw or a hammer. I wish very much that a lot of this went without saying, but it must be sketched out. Good guys are looking for girls to whom kindness is part of their makeup. They are wary of those who use kindness as a tool of ingratiation, while acting with little care for those other than themselves.

Kindness is something that men need; but frankly, we don’t know how to ask for it. Let’s face it, if it were up to us, we’d still be sleeping out in the woods around a fire. In fact, when men spend an extended period of time around one another; it’s usually in the woods around a fire. It’s important that you understand this: in a world where natural selection occurs with regularity and absolutely nothing is given to us, we’re okay with that. That is what also makes kindness such a rare jewel. It’s what makes us want to come out of the woods, and fly kites.

4. Sense of humor
5. Courageous
6. Trustworthy
7. Willing to be alone

What the good guys are looking for in a woman. Part II

1. A sincere relationship with God

2. Modest

Modesty is something that has largely been forfeited (I started to say lost, but it has been forfeited.) Our society, much to our detriment, has convinced girls that they are a piece of meat. Girls are so hungry for male attention, that they walk around in various states of undress. They are sent the message over and over again, that nobody cares what you are like on the inside. And I say with much sorrow, that those thoughts are what govern many girls behavior and dress. What they are told is that men will only like you if you look sexy. What they are taught is: that men are only interested in your lack of virtue. In fact, that virtue is the currency spent for the affection of a man. Sadly, when older girls have learned this lesson, they begin teaching it to their younger sisters and friends.

Let me tell you plainly, good guys take note when a woman who is dressed modestly walks into a room. (By modest, I don’t mean a Holly Hobby dress and a bonnet on her head; I mean everything that is supposed to be covered is covered, and her clothes do not look as if she were vacuum-packed in them.) Just by the way she is dressed, she stands out as an individual. It shows that she understands that she wasn’t put here just to please a man. It shows that she has standards. It is an outward sign that there is something of great significance on the inside. It is among girls like these, a man finds a girl whose beauty wells up and spills over from the inside. And once you’ve found a diamond . . . everything else is just a rock.

3. Kind
4. Sense of humor
5. Courageous
6. Trustworthy
7. Willing to be alone

What the good guys are looking for in a woman.

I am very sorry to subject you to another multi-part series, but there is no way around it. Let me start by saying, I am writing on this subject, because God has laid this on my heart as something that is necessary. Girls are growing up with damaged or nonexistent relationships with their fathers, the men who are supposed to be the defenders. And sadly, there are too few descent men to stand up for these girls.

These girls need to understand what it means for a man to care for them, not because of what they can trade for his care, but simply because they are. I hope that you are blessed by this, and I hope that you may use this to help some girl that is, as so many are, struggling to figure out who she is and why she isn’t comfortable in her own skin. So, with that being said, here is a list of what the good guys are looking for, and my first installment.

1. A sincere relationship with God
2. Modest
3. Kind
4. Sense of humor
5. Courageous
6. Trustworthy
7. Willing to be alone

1. A sincere relationship with God is of the utmost importance. Simply put, good guys want a girl that will not trade any part of her relationship with God for them. The reason I used the word sincere, is that sincerity is something that is self-evident. You can’t just say you are sincere about something. Anyone can say that they sincerely love God, but if you are not sincere, there will be ample evidence in your life. There is a distinct and clearly visible difference in a girl that sincerely loves God, and one that says she loves God because she thinks that is what the guy wants to hear. In accounting parlance, a good guy is looking for a spiritual asset, not a spiritual liability. He wants a person who will add to his relationship with God, not take away from it. You see, in finding a girl that loves God the way she is supposed to, he has found a girl who can love him the way she is supposed.

Real Christianity

There remains a great deal of conjecture about what God would allow His children to go through. Some believe the Lord will rapture His saints before the tribulation based on one simple thing, they frankly don't believe that God will allow Christians to go through any kind of persecution. (I'm not taking issue with those who believe that the rapture will come before the tribulation, in fact I will be perfectly happy if that is the way it happens.) What I am getting at is this, Christians are going through persecution today, not far off in history. Just because we aren't going through persecution here in America, doesn't mean that there are not Christians being persecuted in other parts of the world.

Some where along the way, we have to take this new crop of Christians from pizza boxes and friendship rings into real world Christianity. Take a look at the New Testament: John the Baptist, the Apostles, the deacons and everyday common Christians all face persecution. Beheaded, crucified, stoned and only John died of old age; after having been boiled in oil. Paul, who the Holy Spirit used to pen most of the New Testament spent a great deal of his time in jail. John who was used to pen five books of the New Testament, gave us the book of Revelation, and he wrote it when he was in exile on Patmos. Peter, I and II Peter and largely responsible for the book of Mark, jail time followed by crucifixion. Do you see a trend? Check out what the book of Romans has to say about it. So what in the world did we sign up for? Look at what Paul says in II Corinthians 4: 6-12. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts; think about that for a minute. Paul said we pour our lives out so that you may come to know that light, the treasure that we have in earthen vessels. What works for death in us, works for life in you. That's why we do it, someone poured their life out so that light could shine in my heart, so we pour our lives out that the very same light can shine in the hearts of others. God bless you all.

Brother Sankya

I was going to write about Job, but sometimes things change when you sit in front of the blank page. I recently mentioned my friend, Brother Asheervadam Sankya. I had the distinct pleasure of watching him introduce himself all over Texas and in neighboring states. He would tell the story of his father, who was in World War II, and how he was born after his father had returned from war. He would say, "After the war, my father said that God had blessed him with a son, so he named me 'God's blessing.'" Asheervadam means God's blessing. What an awesome gift he gave his son. Think about it; every time he has heard his name, he hears "God's blessing." Even when his father was upset with him, he still heard "God's blessing."

Let me tell you a little bit about the man. He left everything he knew, and his wife and three daughters in India, to go to Texas to prepare for the calling God had placed on his life. He would spend hours on Sunday, and I mean hours, praying in his churches intercessory prayer ministry. Whenever I would tell him of my problems, he would say, "Pray brother, pray." I thought it was his blanket answer for everything, but I know the wisdom of his words now. He spent two years away from his family, and funds were finally raised to bring his family over for his third year in seminary. And in that year he did, through classes and correspondence courses, two years of work for his Bachelor's. Now he is back in India, and God is blessing through "God's blessing." So, the next time you feel like the going is getting too tough, remember God's blessing. Galatians 6:9
God bless you all.

What happened to the Sabbath? End notes

So, what if you have a job that your already working on Sunday? Very simply put, God honors the commitments we make to Him. So if you are already working on Sundays, start praying about it. Tell God that you want to honor Him and His Word, and allow Him to work in your situation. If you commit to doing what God wants, He will answer your prayers. If you are not working on Sundays, don't start. Commit in your heart to honor God with His day.

Here are some references for your own reading and study. Exodus 20:8-11, Nehemiah 10:31-33, Nehemiah 10:31-33 NASB, Nehemiah 13:15-31, Nehemiah 13:15-31 NASB, Hebrews 3:12-4:13 and Hebrews 3:12-4:13 NASB. All links are KJV unless otherwise stated.

God bless you, especially as you study His Word.

What happened to the Sabbath? Part V

Simply put, the Sabbath is a day that you set aside for God. Not to catch up on all of the things you've been meaning to do. One day out of the week, we are supposed to give God our best: not the leftovers of our overly tired life. Nor should we ignore God all together to pursue what ever it is we want, more than we want Him. And even for those of us who are in church every time the doors are open, the Lord's day is more than a Sunday school lesson and a sermon. It is the whole day that belongs to the Lord. And that shouldn't be a grievous thought for us. It is about getting the very best that God has for us.

I am not attempting to be dictatorial, but I will have done you a disservice, if I shy away from what the Bible teaches, in order that everyone can remain happy. The reason I am telling you all of this, is so that you can lay hold of this fact: Nothing can change your life like being in fellowship with God and His purpose for your life. I want you to have the very best in your relationship with God. And I hope that you will enjoy the Sabbath, the way God intended.

God bless you all.

What happened to the Sabbath? Part IV

Now we get back to the fourth commandment. We, in light of the Scriptures in yesterday's post, see that the fourth commandment is as valid as all of the other commandments. And I hope along with that, the concept that we do not follow the Sabbath observance as a legalist, but out of a heart that wants to please God by serving Him. Not by constraint, but willingly and cheerfully. God didn't put a commandment out there, so that we find a weekly obstacle that is so impractical that we can't help but transgress it. The Sabbath is not an obstacle, the Sabbath is a gift.

I have listen to co-workers all of my adult life moan about more time off. From what? Work! Most of America has been hoodwinked into giving up all of their time in pursuit of money; whether it is making ends meet or making extra money. We simply are not designed that way. God created us for a six days of work, and not seven. That is why workers every where cry like the children of Israel for more time off.

The Sabbath is for both a rest from physical labor and a rest unto the worship of God. The Sabbath is the gift, that now, most people do not know they are missing. Let's get at the heart of the matter:

How much of our time belongs to God?

One day in seven? Or do all of our days belong to Him? If all of our days belong to Him, giving back one of them is not going to be a problem. You can literally have the time of your life, every Sabbath day. You just put your work away, then you can spend time in fellowship with God, and then enjoy an even greater fellowship with loved ones. Let me just stop here and say, don't take my word for it. Try it for yourself. Make the day truly the Lord's day, pretend everything is closed on Sunday. Give the whole day to the Lord, take the rest from your labor and spend the day, the whole day in worship to God.

Once again, we'll talk more tomorrow. God bless you all.

What happened to the Sabbath? Part III

I have to introduce a parenthetic element to the discussion at hand. Legalism. It seems that whenever a discussion of the Sabbath is started, some believe it is only to exercise a form of legalism. In yesterday's blog, I mentioned the quote from Romans 6:14 "for ye are not under the law, but under grace." Sometimes this quote is misapplied. It must be reconciled, that there are still valid laws in the time of grace. The law is and always has been the schoolmaster that teaches us that we need grace. So then, this quote can not mean that because of God's grace, the schoolmaster has been thrown out of the proverbial window.

Let me prove that: Are there still lost people in the world? Yes. How then will they come to the knowledge that they need Christ? Someone has to teach them. Teach them what, you ask? The Law. Why? Because, the law is the (definite article) schoolmaster that teaches that we are hopeless and undone apart from the grace of God that comes through Jesus. So then: How can we teach them, if the law is no longer valid? Aha! The law has to be valid, otherwise no one could break it. You see, if no one could break the law, no one could be a sinner.

Now, let's go one better. The caveat to being under grace is found in Galatians 5:18 "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." Going on from Romans 6:14, Paul writes, "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid." Paul goes on to say that in practice you are a servant to whom you obey. If you yield to sin, then you are its servant; and if you yield to righteousness, then you are its servant. At this point, let me commend to you a judicious reading of the sixth chapter of Romans. You see, we have been liberated from sin, in order that we could become servants of God, with all of the benefits that it entails. That is what Christ is teaching in Matthew 5: 38-45. He said, and this is a loose paraphrase, you guys have been running around here for centuries poking each others eyes out, but its time to change that, then he teaches about turning the other cheek, and if you are compelled to go one mile, go a second. In Roman times a soldier could order a person to carry something for him for a mile, so Jesus said if they tell you to go one mile, go another mile with them. (This is where we get, "Going the extra mile.") We do this so that we can be recognized (by the world) as the children of God.

Once again, we'll talk more tomorrow. God bless you all.

What happened to the Sabbath? Part II

It occurs to me that if I were to mention the ten commandments in reference to the Sabbath, some may immediately say that we are no longer under the law, but under grace. Bare with me, we'll get to that. My question is this: Why is it that most will readily acknowledge that nine of the ten commandments are still valid, but give no thought to the fourth commandment? Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy (in case you're wondering.) So let me ask the question, does the fourth commandment still apply?

You see, this is something that I have seen change in my life time. Even when I was a teenager, people at church had very strong opinions about whether or not it was alright for some one's kid to bag groceries on Sunday. I'm not talking about missing church to bag groceries, I mean it was a hot button issue if a teenager worked at all on Sunday, even if they were able to attend church. If you go back twenty years before that, things were very different. Now, it is perfectly acceptable and even expected that they will miss church if the job requires it. It doesn't even raise an eyebrow. When I was a child, Christians had convictions about the Sabbath, but in this day and time we, to put it flatly, do not have any convictions at all about the Sabbath. And if our grandparents or great-grandparents were right; then we've lost something.

Once again, we'll talk more tomorrow. God bless you all.

What happened to the Sabbath?

What is a Sabbath? Many people believe that Sabbath means Saturday. Sabbath means rest, as in on the seventh day God rested. Of course, as Christians, we do not observe a Saturday or seventh day sabbath. It was on the first day of the week that Christ was raised from the dead, so for the Christian the day of worship becomes Sunday. Now, in our culture, even in the most religious of circles, we have people who no longer know whether or not there still is a Sabbath day.

From www.merriam-webster.com we find the following: from Hebrew shabbāth, literally, rest; 1 . . . b : Sunday observed among Christians as a day of rest and worship. Now, from the out set, let me say that I am not building my doctrine from an on-line dictionary, but I would like you to notice how they define "sabbath" for Christians. Sunday observed among Christians as a day of rest and worship. Fewer and fewer of you are aware of what the world was like when I was young. When I was a little boy, I remember my father going all over East Texas preaching on Sunday. What I do not remember as a boy was going out to eat on Sunday, and the reason not solely attributed to the fact the we were poor is: there wasn't anything open. There were actually laws about when a store could and could not be open for business. If you were to go back fifty years before my time, you would see that people were even subject to church discipline for plowing on Sunday. Now in today's time the only examples that we have of any Sabbath observance are Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A being closed on Sunday. So, what happened to the Sabbath?

I'm sorry to say that this is a bigger topic than I can follow in one blog. We'll talk more tomorrow, God bless you all.