Day 279- A Peachy First

We had revival services at our church tonight.  Before the worship time, some very sweet people from our church cooked a meal for everyone. This was so helpful. We did not have to concern ourselves with cooking and cleaning before church.  People could come to church, eat, oray, talk with each other, and/or do homework. This was really a sweet time.

I walked up to one table to say hey and chat with the folks for a minute.  The guy at this table is a tremendous cook and I have great respect for his culinary skills.  As I said hey, I noticed he had peach cobbler with black pepper sprinkled on it.  I have never seen someone put black pepper on peach cobbler before.  Part of me thought that was disgusting and part of me thought as good a cook as this guy is, he may be on to something.

So, I ask him bout the pepper and peach cobbler.  IO course, he said it was good.  I expected that unless it had been an accident which I did wonder about. He assured me that it was no accident and he meant to put black pepper on his peach cobbler.  He then explained that a bit of cayenne pepper on peach cobbler is really good.  I would add to that thought, "to him."  His family assured me that he did this regularly. 

I ate peach cobbler with black pepper on it for my "first."

My friend explained that it did not take away from the taste but left a bit of heat afterwards. I was not sure I wanted a bit of heat after my dessert.  Laura came by and saw what we were doing. I asked if she would like some of it and she said no.  She did not even pray about it. One of her friends came by and I offered it to her and she turned me down as well.  So, I was alone on this one. 

I was surprised at how the pepper did not overwhelm the peach cobbler taste.  When my friend described the taste as leaving a little heat, he was right on.  I really did not understand that until I tried it and that's kind of how it tastes. It was better than expected.  Will I pepper my peach cobbler next time? Probably not, unless I want to freak somebody out.

As I thought about this "first," I thought about how God can bring things together that you would not expect and make it really good. This week in our revival we have a young man and his 3 teenaged boys (he has 5 boys, but these are the 3 older ones) leading the music. We have a man in his 70's preaching.  That might sound like that would not go together. Maybe I would need a younger preacher for the teenagers leading music or an older guy leading music for the 70 year old preacher. It has worked beautifully.  God can bring people together of different races, cultures, ages, political beliefs, and nationalities and make something beautiful out of those relationships.  In fact, the Bible says in Colossians 3:11, "where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all." One way the body of Christ is to stand out is that we love each other with all of our differences.  That is to be the distinguishing characteristic of Christians.  Jesus said in John 13:34-35, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. ³⁵ By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  We are to excel at love. 

It is good that we are not all alike.  If we were, our love for each other would not stand out.  When people see followers of Jesus who are obviously different genuinely loving each other the world notices something different.  How beautiful it is when the body of Christ loves and accepts rather than criticizing and condemning. 

Hey, if pepper and peach cobbler can get along in the same bowl, why not Christians?

Loving the abundant life
Barry

3 things I thank God for today
1. Sweet people who cook for revivals
2. The song, "I am Redeemed"
3. The song, "How Great is our God"