MEATLOVER’S PIZZA PIE

 

Ingredients

1 BAG OSCAR MYER REAL BACON BITS  

1 POUND HOT PORK SAUSAGE        

1 PACKAGE  SLICED PEPPERONI

1 POUND GROUND BEEF

1 JAR PIZZA SAUCE

2 CUPS SHREDDED PIZZA CHEESE       

2 DEEP DISH PIE SHELLS

¼ TEASPOONS GARLIC POWDER

¼ TEASPOON OREGANO

Directions

COOK SAUSAGE AND GROUND BEEF AND DRAIN.

MIX ALL OTHER INGREDIENTS WITH THE MEAT EXCEPT THE CHEESE.

SIMMER FOR 15 MINUTES ON MEDIUM/LOW. 

FILL PIE SHELLS WITH MEAT MIXTURE AND TOP WITH CHEESE.

BAKE AT 350 DEGREES UNTIL THE CHEESE MELTS.

*IF YOU LIKE SUPREME PIZZA, ADD ONIONS AND PEPPERS ON TOP OF THE PIE BEFORE THE CHEESE.

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Watch Your Mouth - Martin Wiles

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29 NLT

Four years had passed since my youngest brother and his family visited the rest of the family. Not that they live that far away. Just a matter of family issues. But in the fifth year, they decided to visit after Christmas. We spent the afternoon talking and reminiscing, then went to a downtown restaurant for a meal together. It was wonderful having all the siblings, cousins, nieces, and nephews together again. 

Following our meal, we returned to our house to play a game called “Watch Your Mouth.” Participants pair up, don a mouthpiece—which forces their mouths into ridiculous shapes—draw a card, try to read it, and then have their partner interpret what they said—which usually sounds only vaguely similar. 

I’m not sure why the game is named what it is. Watching your teammate’s mouth doesn’t help. Maybe it’s because the mouthpiece can make someone pronounce a word they wouldn’t normally use. 

I can’t remember whether my parents ever used the command, “Watch Your Mouth,” but I still got the message. Theirs was the same as Paul’s to the early church. Saying words I shouldn’t in their presence would get me a stint of restriction. 

Foul and abusive language can fall into several categories and include cursing, off-color jokes, crude language, sexual innuendos, acronyms, or other questionable words. Using such language makes us no different from those who don’t claim to follow Christ. Speaking like unbelievers keeps our light for Christ from shining. Jesus hung around those He knew needed to follow him, but he didn’t adopt their ungodly mannerisms to win them over. 

The world already has enough discouraging news without us adding to it with language that tears down instead of elevates. Our speech should be filled with good and helpful words that encourage and build others up. 

The tongue can be an unruly piece of meat, rolling out words that are better left unsaid. But with God’s help, we can control what comes out of it. What comes out reveals my character to others and whether I’m a person of integrity.

What portrait of you is your tongue painting for others?

Father, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight.

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Stomping Out Prejudice - Martin Wiles

If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 1 John 4:20 NKJV

The one place he didn’t want them was … the church.

The monthly deacons’ meeting had rolled around to a popular topic: racial relationships. I can't remember what brought up the matter, but I do remember the conversation. The church “policy” was rehashed. If a person of color entered the sanctuary, the pastor was to close the service as quickly as possible.

After scanning each deacon, I said, “Well, you will have to find someone else to do it because I won’t.” I was willing to risk my job over that conviction. 

More discussion followed. One deacon said he worked and even ate lunch with people of color. Then came the bombshell, “But I want to be able to go one place where they aren’t.” 

Church was his getaway. The place that Martin Luther King, Jr., said was the most segregated place at eleven o’clock every Sunday morning. 

Although laws have been passed and wars fought, prejudice lives on. And it extends its ugly claws far beyond race. It creeps into the political, cultural, gender, social, economic, ideological, and even religious arenas of life. Sadly, it affects many believers. Those who allow it to reinterpret the above verse and haven’t learned what God taught Peter when he asked him to go to a Gentile’s house: “God has shown me that he doesn’t think anyone is unclean or unfit” (Acts 10:28). 

Our sinful nature makes all people struggle with areas of prejudice—but it doesn’t make it acceptable. Pride creeps in, making us think we’re better than another person or group. 

Examining one’s family history often reveals the roots of prejudice. I never fell prey to racial prejudice—though my family of origin did. Perhaps because I lived through the various “rights” movements of the 1960s and 1970s. 

Trying to justify feelings of prejudice with remarks such as, “That’s just the way I am,” or “That’s the way my parents were,” won’t rid it from our lives or justify it. Confession and repentance are necessary. 

God created and loves all people. His word is clear: if we claim to love him but hate others, we’re a liar. But the good news is that he can rid our lives of prejudicial feelings. All we have to do is ask and be willing to do the hard work. 

Give God your feelings of prejudice so your work and witness for Him won’t be hindered.

Father, help me to love all people as you love me. 

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Traveling with Firm Footing - Martin Wiles

He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. Psalm 18:33 NLT

I learned the art of careful walking while backpacking in the mountains. Trails were littered with rocks, roots, and dead leaves, making the path uneven and slippery. If I wasn’t careful, I could twist my ankle, catch my foot on a root, or slip on wet leaves. More than once, my feet magically disappeared from under me. 

Having to watch my step while hiking made me wish I was like a deer. While visiting our friends in Henderson, Colorado, we traveled to the Rocky Mountain State Park. The mountains are aptly named and peered at us through the car window as we wound around the curves. Suddenly, they were there, and we pulled over for a better view. Mountain goats. They were like deer—surefooted. They scaled the rocky surfaces—never slipping, as I would have. 

I doubt the psalmist meant God gave him the ability to climb a mountain without falling, though he was familiar with mountains. The mountains he needed help climbing are like ours: financial, spiritual, emotional, relational, educational, and parental. I’ve discovered life is filled with such mountains. The psalmist scaled them because God steadied his feet. 

Slipping on the mountains we climb is inevitable if we don’t let God help us scale the heights. Through prayer, meditation on his Word, and wise counsel, God gives us the wisdom to take the right step. Even when we neglect these things and fall, he’s more than happy to pick us up, steady our feet, and nudge us along. 

Although we sometimes fall out of neglect, we periodically fall because God lets us. Falls teach important lessons. We need to pray before we make decisions. When we make decisions that take us out of God’s will, he will discipline us because he loves us. Occasionally, God leads us over rocky, slippery paths to prepare us for an upcoming assignment. 

While it’s our responsibility to watch the path we’re traveling, God will give us sure footing so we can travel it. 

Travel your life paths with confidence. God will give you sure footing as you walk each one. 

Father, I trust you for the ability to travel each path on which you lead me. 

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Po Man's BBQ Chicken and Bacon Hoagie

 

Ingredients

1 bag of frozen Tyson’s Shredded Chicken

1 bottle BBQ sauce

1 pound of bacon

Tomatoes

Muenster Cheese

Hoagie Buns

Directions

Thaw chicken and place in a crock pot on low.

Mix in barbecue sauce and cook until warm.

Fry bacon and set aside.

Place cheese, bacon, BBQ chicken, and tomatoes on a hoagie bun.

Toast in a toaster oven. 

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

To Forgive or Not to Forgive - Martin Wiles

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

To forgive or not to forgive, that is life’s dilemma.

Mickey had faced a lot in life. He’d had to forgive his first wife for walking out on him. So he wasn’t prepared for the words his second wife whispered one night in their bedroom: “I don’t love you anymore.” 

Mickey’s world also crumbled when he learned his wife had been unfaithful. Containing his anger took every ounce of energy he had. When his wife finally walked out, forgiveness was the last thing on his mind. When it became clear the marriage was not salvageable, he had to choose: forgive her and move on, or resent her and be miserable. 

God’s choice was similar. He created humans, placed them in a garden where all their needs were met, and gave them one prohibition. Shortly thereafter, they failed the test. He could assign them and their descendants a murky future or forgive them and provide a way for reconciliation. He chose the latter and made a path of reclamation that was foreshadowed by the skins he secured to cover their nakedness.

Thousands of years later, Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice that those first animal skins had symbolized. But why couldn’t God simply forgive without the gruesome suffering the cross demonstrated? The answer lies in the association between forgiveness and suffering. The first always entails the second.

Choosing to forgive entails suffering. If someone wrongs us and we choose not to forgive, resentment, hatred, anger, and plans for revenge will assume the place of forgiveness. We may think refusing to forgive hurts the other person, but we’re the one who suffers. Doing the opposite, forgiving, also involves suffering. 

Our willingness to forgive automatically brings suffering because we release someone from a debt they owe us for a wrong they’ve committed against us. Doing so goes against our human nature and brings pain. Jesus showed how to do it well. God allowed him to take on our sin so we could receive his righteousness. When we forgive others, we assume the pain they deserve to endure for hurting us. 

God forgave because he loves. He gives us the power to do the same. Let Him teach you how to forgive those who’ve wronged you. Failing to forgive leads to a life of misery.

Father, give me the grace and strength to follow your example of forgiveness. 

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.

Where Can We Find Absolute Truth - Martin Wiles

God’s way is perfect. All the LORD’s promises prove true. Psalm 18:30 NLT

Befriending a liar is taxing.

Ben was a friend who entered my family through marriage. Initially, I took everything he said at face value. Then I talked with someone who had known him longer than I had. Suddenly, Ben’s stories took on a new appearance. His stories seemed too good to be true. Perhaps the truth was somewhere in the story, but he embellished it so much that it was unrecognizable. My friendship with Ben never became what it could have been because I couldn’t trust his words as the whole truth. 

Ann also entered my family through marriage. Whereas Ben exaggerated to make himself look better or to make his stories more interesting, Ann told plain lies. Not so much in what she said as in what she withheld. As with Ben, I initially took her words at face value. Then I spoke with people who had known her longer than I had. Their stories agreed: “You can’t believe anything she says. She’s a perpetual liar.”  

But the story doesn’t stop with two. Charlie, another family member by marriage, also struggled to tell the truth. Not initially when she entered the family, but later when she went through some type of mid-life crisis. Deciding whether I could believe her made associating with her taxing—and unpleasant. 

Thankfully, God doesn’t mince words, renege on his word, or utter untruths. Every command God gives has a purpose, and every promise he makes will come to pass. Friends and family who keep their word and speak the truth are much easier to have relationships with. When we’re never lied to, we never have to worry about whether what they say is true. We accept it as fact. 

Every word God speaks is truth. In a time when many wonder where to find truth, I’m betting my life on the truth of God’s Word. It testifies to its own inspiration, relevance, and freedom from error. God’s Spirit inspired the writers, and they penned what He wanted them to say. God’s truth has stood the test of time and will endure to the end of time. 

When you’re looking for something you can depend upon, look to God’s Word. 

Father, I thank you for giving me your Word, which is dependable, trustworthy, inspired, and profitable in any situation we face. 

If you seek hope and healing because of hurts you have faced, then Hurt, Hope, and Healing is for you. Click on the title above to order your copy. And thanks to all our faithful followers who share our posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin.