- In 1984-85 Wendy’s had a commercial running featuring a four foot eleven inch tall, gray haired old feisty Grandma named Clara Peller. If you remember the commercial Ms. Peller would walk up to the counter of the fast food restaurant with about a four inch hamburger patty on a 12 inch bun, slap the counter and loudly asked, Where’s the Beef? It became a national catch phrase that was used even in the presidential elections in 1984. The premise behind the ad was that there was no place except Wendy’s that you could get a hamburger with enough beef to satisfy your appetite. The expectation was that if you went to Wendy’s for your hamburger, you would not have to ask…Where’s the Beef!
Mark 10:35-45 .
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 38 Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to him, “We are able.” And Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized, 40 but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.” 41 And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John. 42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Unflattering List of People that God used!
“Moses stuttered.
David’s armor didn’t fit.
Hosea’s wife was a prostitute.
Jacob was a liar.
David had an affair.
Solomon was too rich.
Abraham was too old.
David was too young.
Timothy had ulcers.
Peter was afraid of death.
Lazarus was dead.
John was self-righteous.
Jesus was too poor.
Naomi was a widow.
John Mark – rejected by Paul
Paul was a murderer.
So was Moses.
Jonah ran from God.
Miriam was a gossip & bigot
Gideon and Thomas both doubted.
Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal.
Elijah was burned out.
Martha was a worrywart.
Samson had long hair.
Noah got drunk.
And did I mention that Moses had a short fuse?
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
42 And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:42-45
Tampa Bay.com ran an article some time back about street gangs. In it they told the story of a preacher who was trying to reach out to the slum dwellers for Christ. “When he first moved into this neighborhood, as a refugee from Harvard, Rivers sought out a local drug dealer (to ask him why he was so successful in dragging people into his lifestyle)… and he gave Rivers, a Pentecostal, a lesson in why God was losing to gangs in the battle for the souls of inner city kids. “Selvin explained to us, ’I’m there when Johnny goes out for a loaf of bread for Mama. I’m there, you’re not. I win, you lose, It’s all about being there.’”
https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1998/07/28/street-ministries-can-save-kids/?outputType=amp