One of the perks of working for the Pizza Ranch Restaurant Support Center is that we get to eat food every so often. A few weeks ago, we had an opportunity to judge entries into our Great Ranch Cook Off. For this contest, employees and managers from our restaurants send in their own recipes for items. The entries get narrowed down based on recipes, then the top 8 get made, and the office staff get to choose their 3 favorites. Our Culinary Director, Nancy Jordahl, had an idea. Rather than just allowing the office staff to just eat, she charged admission. All items donated would be given to a local non-profit called The Bridge. The Bridge helps local women and children in need of transitional housing and assistance. As a team, we raised over $170 and 3 large boxes of goods for this group. Thank you Nancy for organizing this, and thanks to all at the Restaurant Support Center for donating to a good cause.
I’m a firm believer that food nourishes not only the body, but also the soul.
Your mission this week is to share your food with someone. This could mean making cookies for a neighbor or a shut in. It could be inviting someone over for dinner that would otherwise eat alone. It could just mean calling an old friend you haven’t seen for a while and going out for lunch. Take time this week to share food (and your heart) with someone around you.
Devotions today is on the topic of money. A subject that captivates our attention so often. Money can be, and is, such a major issue in our lives. Sometimes way too major. It’s no accident then that Scripture speaks of this subject so often. In our passage today, Paul was actually telling Timothy that it becomes a god for many. I’ve personally had to learn some tough lessons because I didn’t first seek the wisdom already provided in the Bible. These lessons are ongoing for all of us…no doubt.
It really comes down to what’s at the center of our life. If money, the desire for money, or the desire for gain is at the center of our life….then there will be negative consequences. If God is at the center of our life…our life will be full, our life will be blessed, and we’ll enjoy true riches. It’s really that simple. The question is…where are you and I on this topic?
Along with this, one does not have to be rich, to be putting money at the center. Many people who worship wealth aren’t even rich according to the worlds standards. Many of us struggle with money because we’re under the illusion that wealth will solve all our problems. It won’t.
1 Timothy 6: 9-10 says: “9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
Let’s be rich in our faith.
On Sunday, May 5th, the town of Brandon, SD, held their 47th annual Loyalty Day Parade. The parade was not only led by a US Navy veteran and longtime resident of Brandon, but also featured the Brandon Pizza Ranch as the Loyalty Day Business of the Year. The Brandon Pizza Ranch, which opened in 1988, has been a pioneer, so to speak, in the Pizza Ranch chain in many ways. It was the first location to have a basketball court, and the first location to offer a daily buffet and out-of-town delivery. The Brandon Pizza Ranch also boasts they have the most seats in their restaurant in the chain: 424 seats.
Choosing the Brandon Pizza Ranch as the Business of the Year was a unanimous choice. They are a family favorite in the community, and they do so much for the community and for veterans. Thank you, Brandon Pizza Ranch, for the impact you’ve made. Congratulations on your award!
Hebrews 13: 2
“Do not forget to entertain strangers for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.”
Who has shown you hospitality when you least expected it but so needed it?
‘Hospitality’
Webster defines it as “generous and friendly treatment of visitors and guests.”
It is usually pretty easy to show hospitality to friends or to those with whom we are familiar. But if you are like me, I often find it difficult to show hospitality to those I do not know.
The Bible addresses hospitality as a concern for those who are oppressed; care for orphans and the poor; love for the stranger.
Make it your goal this week to show hospitality to someone who most needs it.
- Someone who today needs reinforcement in the battle against loneliness
- Someone who needs to be asked out or asked in because they are alone
- Someone who seems to be on the outside
- Someone new who is different from you
God works through hospitality. And it can be as simple as taking someone out for a cup of coffee and listening to their story.
The longest Winter of many of our lives is slowly coming to an end and Spring is arriving. Watching the powerful weather systems that have come through this winter/spring has again reminded me that God is in, and in control of all things. His power and creation astound me in their bigness and quietness. His creation is a beautiful mystery. Here are a few thoughts from Scripture:
Genesis 1
God spoke into creation the heavens, the earth, the waters, plants & trees.
He separated day from night with the stars, moon and sun.
God created fish, birds and all sorts of wild animals.
God created human beings in his image to be stewards of his creation.
God looked at all he had made; it was so good, so very Good!
Romans 1:20
Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse.
Job 12: 7-12
It doesn’t take an expert to know these things…
“Ask the animals what they think—let them teach you;
let the birds tell you what’s going on.
Put your ear to the earth—learn the basics.
Listen—the fish in the ocean will tell you their stories.
Isn’t it clear that they all know and agree
that God is sovereign, that he holds all things in his hand—
Every living soul, yes,
every breathing creature?
Isn’t this all just common sense,
as common as the sense of taste?”
On one of our recent, long Winter nights I was introduced to the works of Bill Mason, a canoeist, naturalist and artist (I’m not sure in which order, which is part of the beauty). For those that share my Christian tradition, it seems we live in a culture that minimizes how we are supposed to relate with and care for nature. Bill Mason’s beautiful film, “Waterwalker” is a beautiful exploration of God’s creation and our place in it. The National Film Board of Canada graciously shares the entire “WaterWalker” film by Bill Mason on their website for free at: http://www.nfb.ca/film/waterwalker/
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