Enter By the Narrow Gate

You MUST head over here: http://www.gatewayyouth.org/

This is THE website now! Check it out and tell us what you think. You will probably have to register to make comments and the like.

This site will no longer be updated, please change your bookmarks and homepages accordingly.

“BAM! Pick it up a notch.”

Thanks for that awesome intro Emeril. Today for lunch I had a delicious Tuna Melt from my favorite bagel place. I thought this might be a good time to enlighten those kiddies out there about to hit the college scene, on how to make your very own Tuna Melt.

Feel free to mass make this recipe, I mean you do need to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the next week right? You think I’m joking, but seriously make everything in huge quantities that will last you a week at least.

Ingredients:

• Multiple cans of Tuna. I prefer the ones in water versus oil. (Deal ALERT: Costco sells like 12 cans in one package for a good deal, remember MASS production is key.)
• One jar of sweet pickle relish. (If you are a master chef, make your own relish with sweet gerkins. Now we’re cookin’ boys and girls.)
• Mayonnaise. (If you want to ensure the freshman 15 use REAL mayonnaise not the low-fat pansy stuff.)
• Sharp Cheddar cheese. Feel free to mix different cheeses for a variety of tastes through your week. (Helps to last on this stuff the needed 3x a day.)
• Bagels or Texas Toast
• Bonus taste: add a dash of ranch salad dressing. For real, its tizzight.

Instructions:

1. Drain the tuna……….ALL of it. Drain that junx as much as you can, it’ll help the texture at the end.
2. Mix in a substantial amount of mayonnaise and the dash of ranch. Use just enough to cover most of the tuna well.
3. Throw in the relish, mix as much in as your liking. This adds texture and taste, use the juice too.
4. Toast the bagel or texas toast. Heat up the oven to 350 degrees F.
5. Put a layer of the mix on the pretoasted bagel and add the cheese. Thicker the better with the cheese in my opinion.
6. Cook for about 15-20 minutes. Cheese should be bubbly.
7. Serve with pretzels or better yet Cool Ranch Doritos.

I hope this recipe makes its way to your kitchen and then your stomach. Its helped me out of a few all nighters in my day. Mix it well and let it sit in the fridge for a day to make it nice and tender! Keep refrigerated once its all made.

“All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the LORD.” (Proverbs 16:2 NIV)

Let’s get right down to it. This whole Narrow Gate thing is really nifty and hip, but whats the bottom-line? Whats the point? We talked last Sunday about how the two gates that Matthew presents us can be viewed as decisions we make in our lives. The broad gate leads to destruction, while the narrow gate leads to life along with persecution. Regardless each gate leads to something, the gates are only a means to an end NOT the end in itself.

This verse in proverbs sheds even more light on the narrow gate. We see here that God weighs the motives of a man. Its not just about what you do, but also why you’re doing it. Is the right thing still the right thing if it’s done for the wrong reason? We can go through the motions a lot of times, but our hearts are still far from God.

This is the toughest of the tough! The reasons and motives behind why we do things are so deep and hidden from the outside world. You can fake it easily! I know because I do it a lot. Truly only God knows whats on our hearts and its not the norm to open up with people and tell them the actual reasons and convictions behind our actions and choices.

When you’re faced with your next narrow gate vs broad gate moment, take a step back and ask yourself: am I doing this because I really do want to glorify God and grow closer to Him?

I’ll leave you with one more verse: “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” (1 John 5:3-5 NIV)

Hiyyoooooo, ’tis the Uber-tern here. I wanted to update this site and in doing so, update you guys on whats going on. I headed over to the Fairfax government center for the annual Fairfax Fair. It was a BLAST! Did any of you guys make it out this weekend for it?

I got to see “OK Go” in concert on Friday night and was pleased to be right up front. They were pretty entertaining and the crowd could easily get into the catchy, soft punk sounds. At one point the lead guitarist/vocalist through his guitar pick into the audience, and who do you think was there to snag it? Yours truly…….it was quite the moment.

I also walked away from the fair with a $25 gift certificate to Coastal Flats in Fairfax Corner. Saaawwweeeeettt. You’ll hear more about this and a great sermon from John on this coming Sunday.

The website is well under way to a big change. As was rumored earlier, the three Pro’s that Narrow Gate has enlisted are working hard. The new website will be or more like is at http://www.gatewayyouth.org

Oh snap thats easy to remember.