Archive for April, 2012

AMERICA’S FAVORITE FOOD – PIZZA!

Saturday, April 14th, 2012

Survey after survey shows that Pizza is the most popular food in America! Contrary to popular belief, this perennial favorite actually had its origins in Ancient Greece where they used to call their flatbread by its Greek name “PITA”! Yes, that’s where we got Pita Bread from.

Those famous old Greeks like Socrates, Aristotle and no, not Jimmy the Greek, loved to put olive oil and various natural toppings on their pita and devour it. All cultures eat bread, a universal food given by God. “Strangely enough” these various loaves of bread all look the same, no matter where you go in the world!
The Pizza we eat in America came from Italy. While the ancient Greeks used a lot of veggies on their flatbread, legend and a lot of historical records have it that about 1000 years ago, Italians were cooking circle flat dough and baked in the primitive ovens of the time with available toppings. These earlier folks had no idea what tomato sauce was because the tomato was not brought to Europe, until after the Spanish conquered Central and South America.
As we know and love it today in the west, our delicacy actually began in Napoli or Naples, where the moon hits your eye, like a bigga pizza pie! This “amore” with the pie was first coated with delicious extra virgin olive oil, sprinkled with garlic and mozzarella cheese and then baked! Believe it or not, anchovies was the favorite extra topping at the time!
The first pizza restaurant recorded in the western world was in Port Alba, Italy. Today, while we have the great pizza chains of America like Domino’s, Pizza Hut and Little Caesar, the local mom and pop shop still have the best pizzas in town! The best pizzas are not necessarily to be found just in Little Italy neighborhoods, because anyone with a flair can cook them. The secret is always the sauce! It is source of delight!

COMBAT ISOLATION & LONELINESS WITH THE WORD!

Friday, April 13th, 2012

A wolf does not usually go after an entire flock of sheep…nor will any other beast of prey. They will try and key in on one particular potential victim, try to draw it away from the herd and then pounce.

It is this way with so many. In a world where we have so much noise, distraction, social networking and mobility, folks are more isolated than ever. We have so much more to do with our busy lives, yet hardly not a moment of peace! It is uncanny. It is almost as if there is a trap laid for us, at any moment, and many get caught up.

You and I have been through this kind of thing, at one time or another. We would be in a crowd of people and still feel rejection; less than the others there and like that sheep who suddenly got lost in the thicket, while our heads were down on the ground, grazing on or living life.

Christians feel this way, as well as anyone else. I know people who go to larger churches, so they could get lost in the crowd and maybe no one will speak to them. The majority of American churches have 60 or less in attendance, and still there are folks isolated there, as well.

So, we know this happens. The question is, what do we do about it – both for ourselves and others. We need to know how to combat this when the enemy lies to us and tells us that no one cares for or loves us.  Once we have mastered that, we then help someone else.  To start that process, I sought out Psalm 91:2 after much meditation last night. Here are two verses in context, below. They contain a 50 cal. gun against despair which we can fire right now, as I, briefly break it out in part:

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