Happy Reformation Day

I did not know till today that not only is today Halloween but it also is Reformation Day.

On this day in 1517, Martin Luther posted a proposal at the doors of a church in Wittenberg, Germany to debate the doctrine and practice of indulgences. This proposal is popularly known as the 95 Theses, which he nailed to the Castle Church doors.

One thing that troubles me is about the Church here is the USA is that we have lost our church history. The quote "those who ignore history, are condemned to repeat it" does not only apply to nations but also to the Church. We must know where we came from so we and future generation can learn from our history. Our faith stands on the shoulders of men and movments in the past and if we forget those we will lose our purpose and direction.

After Joshua brought the Israel across the Jordan into the promise land he told then to set up a memorial of 12 stones to be a sign among them "...so that when your children ask later, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall say to them, 'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off ' So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever." (Joshua 4:6-7)

We need these memorials too so that we do not forget the things that God has done for us. Let today be one if thoses days.

Here is a hymn that he is most well know for:

A mighty fortress is our God
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also;
The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.


sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation_Day
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/i/mightyfo.htm

Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy

Whatever keeps me from my Bible is my enemy, However harmless it may appear to be.

Whatever engages my attention when I should be meditating on God and things eternal does injury to my soul.

Let the cares of life crowd out the Scriptures from my mind and I have suffered loss where I can least afford it.

Let me accept anything else instead of the Scriptures and I have been cheated and robbed to my eternal confusion.

(Author Unknown)

A Call to Christian Jihad

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
(Romans 12:1-2)

In these times we live in we are always hearing about calls to Jihad on the US, Israel, the west, and so on. Muslim Clerics calling on ‘the faithful’ to sacrifice their bodies to wage Holy War against the infidel.

Christians too have a call to ‘Holy War’ given 2000 years ago by one of their greatest Apostles. This Apostle (Paul) not only called us to this, he did it himself. He did not call us the kill ourselves in the process of killing people that don’t believe the way we do but to do something infinitely more difficult and impactful. He called us to be a living sacrifice. The quote “Better to live for the truth than die for a lie” comes to mind.

These people are willing to kill themselves and others for the promise of ‘heaven”. We with the promise of Heaven in hand, must, and should, live for the truth. We must live what we say we believe.

Romans 12:1-2 is a call to Christian Jihad. Not to kill ourselves and others for entrance to heaven, but to live and give our lives to build and further the Kingdom of God around us and to save unbelievers from the ‘wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:10)

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

You Are a Freedom Rocker!

You're stuck in the 70s - for better or worse Crazy hair, pot soaked clothes, and tons of groupies Your kind showed the world how to rock Is that freedom rock?... Well turn it up man!

What Kind of Rocker Are You?

I love that one commercial... "Is that Freedom Rock dude? Well then turn it up!"

p.s. Darrell, I picked cowbell as my favorite instrument just for you!

You a Slacker?

You Are 28% Slacker

You have a few slacker tendencies, but overall you tend not to slack. You know how to relax when the time is right, but you aren't lazy!

Are You a Slacker?

The Pastor Did a Good Job...

Every time I hear someone say, or want to say myself, that the pastor or worship team did a "good job" or something like that it always gives me a queasy feeling inside.

My innards always say to me that they are not there for your critique. If that is the only thing you walked away with that you missed something.
Should not it be more like “WOW, that sermon really spoke to me” or “WOW, I really felt the presents of God during worship”?

Is it just me or does anyone else get that feeling?

MEN’S RULES!

Most of you have probably seen these before but sometimes it is just good to review.
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We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules from the male side.
These are our rules! Please note these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sometimes we are not thinking about you. Live with it.

1. Saturday = Sports. It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Don't cut your hair ever. Long hair is always more attractive than short hair. One of the big reasons guys fear getting married is that married women always cut their hair.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints Do Not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. We don't remember dates. Mark anniversaries on a calendar. Remind us frequently beforehand.

1. Most guys own three pairs of shoes - tops. What makes you think we'd be any good at choosing which pair, out of thirty, would look good with your dress?

1. "Yes" and "No" are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Check your oil! Please.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us. We refuse to answer.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did not need directions, and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like the Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not a color. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. We are not mind readers and we never will be. Our lack of mind-reading ability is not proof of how little we care about you.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to - expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine. Really!

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as navel lint, the shotgun formation, fishing, or monster trucks.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. NO! No, you really do have too many shoes.

1. It is neither in your best interest or ours to take the quiz together. And, no, it doesn't matter which quiz.

1. I'm in shape. Round is a shape.

Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know I have to sleep on the couch tonight. But did you know we really don't mind that? It's like camping.

"Pandering Prophets"

Darrell over at the The Dawg Howse found this one but I thought it worth while to post on it too. His post and my reply says it all so I will not comment any further here.

Here is the link: Joel Osteen Is At It Again.

Fire the Plumber!

Sometimes at work after lunch I take a walk to get some fresh air and some natural light (I work in the basement). Yesterday was one of those days I did. Right as I walked back in the front door of the building my cell phone rang and the ladies that work the front door said “Call your wife you have a leak in the basement!” It was my wife calling on the cell phone to tell me the same.

(note) We have been putting in a bathroom in our basement and a week ago I finally got a working sink installed.

My wife said that there was water on the floor around the sink. One of the guys at work had talked her through shutting off the main water value to the house so the leak was stopped for the moment.

After some questioning of my wife to get a idea of the magnitude of the problem I decided to take off work early and go see what the problem was. To make a long story short I found that the "plumber" had not screwed the hot & cold water hoses on tight enough to the sink faucet.

I think my wife actually caught the “plumber” in action NOT getting the hoses tight enough!



After a few turns with a crescent wrench the problem was solved. I need to have a talk with the "plumber"!

Blessed or Cursed?

My continued trek through Deuteronomy, chapter 11

Is God’s blessing on your life? Do not say “Yes, I’m a Christian, of course” to soon. God’s chosen people the Israelites had some conditions to God blessing on their life. Just because they had been unconditionally given the Promise Land they did not automatically have God’s blessing (favor) on their lives. Read this:

Deuteronomy 11:8-28
Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day, that ye may be strong, and go in and possess the land, whither ye go to possess it; (9) And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey.

(10) For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: (11) But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: (12) A land which the LORD thy God careth for: the eyes of the LORD thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year.

(13) And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, (14) That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. (15) And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

(16) Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; (17) And then the LORD'S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you.

(18) Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. (19) And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. (20) And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates: (21) That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth.

(22) For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; (23) Then will the LORD drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. (24) Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. (25) There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the LORD your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you.

(26) Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; (27) A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day: (28) And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

Are you constantly struggling? Nothing ever seems to go “your way”? Every time you get some extra money something breaks? Constants strife in your family or relationships? You do everything right but you constantly fail? A one hour project takes all day?

In this passage I see no middle ground, if you are not blessed then you are cursed. “Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse…” The lack of the blessing is the curse.

So I ask again, is God’s blessing on your life? If you have the signs of the curse let’s look at the cause of the blessing.

“Therefore shall ye keep all the commandments which I command you this day”

“And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul”

“For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him”

God wants your obedience. Do you reward your children for being disobedience? This ain’t rocket science folks! No need to send me a love gift so that I can send you a 7 part CD series on this.

Don’t live your life under a curse. Choose the Blessing of God on your life.

Sunday is the First Day of the Week

Sunday is the First Day of the Week, not the last!

I read Deuteronomy 10 this morning. Here is part of it.

Deuteronomy 10:12-22
And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, (13) To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?

(14) Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the LORD'S thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is. (15) Only the LORD had a delight in thy fathers to love them, and he chose their seed after them, even you above all people, as it is this day.

(16) Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more
stiffnecked. (17) For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward: (18) He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment.

(19) Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of
Egypt. (20) Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God; him shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name. (21) He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.

(22) Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.

What is your idea of God?
What is God like?
Does He care about you?
What does He require of you?
Where is God in your life?
Is He really first?
How does this affect the way you live your life?
How does this affect how you interact with other?

Is Sunday the first day of your week?

Deliverance Comes By Deliverers

Another Tozer Devotional...
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Revival: Deliverance Comes By Deliverers

Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.
--Exodus 3:9-10

Yes, if evangelical Christianity is to stay alive it must have men again--the right kind of men. It must repudiate the weaklings who dare not speak out, and it must seek in prayer and much humility the coming again of men of the stuff of which prophets and martyrs are made. God will hear the cries of His people as He heard the cries of Israel in Egypt, and He will send deliverance by sending deliverers.
It is His way.

And when the deliverers come--reformers, revivalists, prophets--they will be men of God and men of courage. They will have God on their side because they are careful to stay on God's side. They will be coworkers with Christ and instruments in the hands of the Holy Spirit. Such men will be baptized with the Spirit indeed and through
their labors He will baptize others and send the long-delayed revival. This World: Playground or Battleground?, 20.

"Lord, send those men to the church soon. Raise up a mighty army even among young people today who will become that kind of men. We need a great movement of the Spirit of God that would bring the much-needed revival. Amen."

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source: http://lmi.gospelcom.net/

A Growing Hunger After God

September 14
A Growing Hunger After God

As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
--Psalm 42:1-2a

In this hour of all-but-universal darkness one cheering gleam appears: within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct "interpretations" of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water.

This is the only real harbinger of revival which I have been able to detect anywhere on the religious horizon. It may be the cloud the size of a man's hand for which a few saints here and there have been looking. It can result in a resurrection of life for many souls and a recapture of that radiant wonder which should accompany faith in Christ, that wonder which has all but fled the Church of God in our day. The pursuit of God, 7.

"O Father, may their numbers increase more and more--those who 'are athirst for God, and [who] will not be satisfied till they have drunk deep at the Fountain of Living Water.' Amen."

source: http://lmi.gospelcom.net/

milk for free?

If this was a problem in Tozer's time it has become an epidemic in modern times and almost considered a 'legalism' by some.

August 29

Evangelism: Salvation Apart from Obedience

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
--Ephesians 2:10

Therefore, I must be frank in my feeling that a notable heresy has come into being throughout our evangelical Christian circles--the widely accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior and we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as Lord as long as we want to!...

I think the following is a fair statement of what I was taught in my early Christian experience and it certainly needs a lot of modifying and a great many qualifiers to save us from being in error.

"We are saved by accepting Christ as our Savior; we are sanctified by accepting Christ as our Lord; we may do the first without doing the second!"

The truth is that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred Scriptures. Peter makes it plain that we are "chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience" (1 Peter 1:2).
I Call It Heresy, 1-2.

"Lord, as I rejoice in the free gift of salvation, by grace through faith, remind me regularly that it is a salvation unto good works, that we're saved to serve. Amen."

source : http://lmi.gospelcom.net/

It reminds me of today's relationships. "Men" tell their girlfriends "I love you, I love you" but they do not want to get married.

Remember the saying "Why buy the cow when I can have the milk for free?"

Are we trying to say this of God Grace? Is this what we are saying when we live in continual disobedience to God's word and claim "No worries, I am saved"?

To me that is a fearful place to be...

Church Of God Grill

I heard a reference to this on the radio today:

When I lived in Atlanta, several years ago, I noticed in the Yellow Pages, in the listing of restaurants, an entry for a place called Church of God Grill. The peculiar name aroused my curiosity and I dialed the number. A man answered with a cheery, "Hello! Church of God Grill!" I asked how his restaurant had been given such an unusual name, and he told me: "Well, we had a little mission down here, and we started selling chicken dinners after church on Sunday to help pay the bills. Well, people liked the chicken, and we did such a good business, that eventually we cut back on the church service. After a while we just closed down the church altogether and kept on serving the chicken dinners. We kept the name we started with, and that's Church of God Grill." This incident is not unlike many churches, denominations, and individuals who over time, have drifted away from their original purpose. -- Charles Paul Conn
[Borrowed from Swindoll's "Dropping Your Guard," p. 53 -Holwick]

Have you drifted away from God's purpose? Are we in the church just teaching, preaching, and doing the things that are 'popular'? Are we thinking that if we get a good turnout that we are doing God's will?

If souls are not saved and lifes are not changed we are just serving chicken dinners.

Obituary - Someone Else

The speaker at my "Cross Trainers" group read this this week. I thought I would post it for everyone.

Our church was saddened to learn this week of the death of one of our most valued members, Someone Else. Someone's passing creates a vacancy that will be difficult to fill. Else has been with us for many years and for every one of those years, Someone did far more than a normal person's share of the work.

Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a meeting to attend, one name was on everyone's list, "Let Someone Else do it." Whenever leadership was mentioned, this wonderful person was looked to for inspiration as well as results; "Someone Else can work with that group." It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the most liberal givers in our church. Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed Someone Else would make up the difference.

Someone Else was a wonderful person; sometimes appearing superhuman. Were the truth known, everybody expected too much of Someone Else. Now Someone Else is gone! We wonder what we are going to do.

Someone Else left a wonderful example to follow, but who is going to follow it? Who is going to do the things Someone Else did? When you are asked to help this year, remember - we can't depend on Someone Else anymore.

~ Author Unknown

What Could Really Be That Important !?!?

What could really be that important that it can not wait?

Lately I have been looking at things we have and things we do and wondering if they are really that important from an eternal perspective. Unless this person pictured is sharing Christ with a person about to commit suicide or something then it can probably wait.

Some Thoughts:
How much of the chaos of life do we create our self?
Do we just go, go, go all the time because we are afraid that if we stop we might have to really deal will something?
Is busy-ness our ‘drug’ to keep from dealing with issues?
Do we think if we juggle many issues we can avoid really have to deal with any of them?
If one starts to hit to close to home we can just switch gears and ‘work’ on a different problem..

Dumber than Jonah…
At least when Jonah was running from God he had a destination! Are we, by our busy-ness, running (to nowhere) from God? It’s time for all us to slow down and let God speak to us before a ‘great fish’ swallows us up.

MAN IT'S HOT!

Temperature could hit 100 degrees today

I hope you all are staying cool!

Church of Rote

I was reading my daily Tozer devotional email today. It is included below. I got to the line "They want people to help them celebrate the rote and finally join in the rot" and was not sure what 'Rote" meant so I looked it up:

Rote (American Heritage Dictionary):

1. A memorizing process using routine or repetition, often without full attention or comprehension: learn by rote.
2. Mechanical routine.

Is that not the condition of the church? We do so much in the church out of obligation and routine without an understanding of why we do it or the significance or purpose of the thing that we are doing. After a few generations of doing the routine without understanding, it just becomes another religious duty that we faithfully do because "that's the way it has always been done". Then, without understanding of it's significance or purpose, we loose heart and become tired and weary of it.

How many of you can recite the Lord Prayer without even hearing the words? How many of you have a good answer for your kids when they ask "why do we go to church?" or "Why do we sing at church?" or any of those other questions that our young children have not been trained not to ask yet...

It's like when you are training for a new job and you ask the person why you do something and they say "I'm not sure, that's the way we have always done it". Even if it is the "correct way" of doing it, if you do not know why, then you are missing something. So then, as Tozer so eloquently put it, we ask the newcomers to "celebrate the rote and finally join in the rot".

No wonder so many have become "inoculated" to the church.

July 20

The Church: The Dry Rot of Nonexpectation

"...but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word."...Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
--Acts 6:4,7

The church is afflicted by dry rot. This is best explained when the psychology of nonexpectation takes over and spiritual rigidity sets in, which is an inability to visualize anything better, a lack of desire for improvement.

There are many who respond by arguing, "I know lots of evangelical churches that would like to grow, and they do their best to get the crowds in. They want to grow and have contests to make their Sunday school larger." That is true, but they are trying to get people to come and share their rut. They want people to help them celebrate the rote and finally join in the rot. Because the Holy Spirit is not
given a chance to work in our services, nobody is repenting, nobody is seeking God, nobody is spending a day in quiet waiting on God with open Bible seeking to mend his or her ways. Nobody is doing it-- we just want more people. But more people for what? More people to come and repeat our dead services without feeling, without meaning, without wonder, without surprise? More people to join us in the bondage to the rote? For the most part, spiritual rigidity that cannot bend is too weak to know just how weak it is. Rut, Rot or Revival: The Condition of the Church, 8,9.

"Lord, not more people, but more of You. Let me wait upon You, keep me faithful, send Your Holy Spirit. If You then send growth as well, I'll thank You and see it as an added blessing. Amen."

It's time to quit playing church, Church!

Men Are Just Happier People

Men Are Just Happier People?

What do you expect from such simple creatures?

Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack. You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth. The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.

Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them. The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time.

Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. Your belly usually hides your big hips. One wallet and one pair of shoes -- one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier.