Bible Merit Test Tonight (Matthew)

I teach 3-5th grade gentlemen on Wednesday nights at church. Tonight they have to take the following test to get their Matthew Bible merit badge...

Mathew Bible Merit Test

Matt 2:1-12
1. Why was King Herod worried about Baby Jesus?
A. The Wise Men said that he would be the King of the Jews. Herod did not want to lose power.
B. The Wise Men told Herod that Jesus would be born in a barn. Herod did not want Jesus to get sick
C. Herod suffered from pedophobia, also known as fear of children. Small babies really scared him out of his royal mind!

Matt 5:21-26
2. What did Jesus compare to hating your brother or sister?
_________________

Matt 14:22-33
3. The disciples saw Jesus walking on water. Why did they freak out?
A. They thought they were all dead and he was the Grim Reaper
B. They thought that the they were all having the same dream
C. They thought Jesus was a ghost

4. Which disciple walked on water when Jesus called him?
A. Peter B. James C. John D. Matthew E. Commander Steven

Matt 19-23:30
5. Can man get to heaven on his own?
______________

Matt 26:17-30
6. In Communion, what does the bread stand for?
__________________________

7. What does the cup stand for?
___________________________

Lucky 13

In May of 1998, fresh out of college, I packed up my things left Dallas TX, and moved to Tulsa. I had no job and no prospects for one. At the time, Tulsa's attraction to me was its low cost of living and affordable housing. I moved into a great little two story house in East Tulsa and started preparing my house for my soon-to-be wife. In a few months I would be married, and I needed to find a job.

It wasn't long before I found a temp job working at Williams Tower installing software. On my first day at the job I left home at 6:45 so I could get downtown by 8 o'clock. Five minutes later I found myself on 244 heading downtown at 70MPH!!! I got to work a little early. That was my first indication that there was something special about Tulsa.

Tulsa has been very generous to me in the ensuing years, and I've discovered many more special things about Tulsa other than the cheap houses, and amazing commute times. In fact,these have been the best years of my life. Tulsa has given me a place to worship that is so important to me that it was difficult to even consider a move to another city just a few years into my career as a computer programmer. Tulsa has witnessed the birth of my three wonderful children. As they have grown, I've discovered that it is an amazing place to raise a family. It has provided me life long friends and colleagues. I discovered its rich history, heritage and culture.

I love Tulsa, I'm so glad to have laid down deep roots here. I'm honored to be involved as a blogger, as a member of the Sales Tax Overview Committee, and as an adopted son of this great city. I hope to find that the next 13 years are as fortunate to me as the first 13.

Fireworks, Apple Pie, and The American Flag

This afternoon while I was driving home from work, I noticed several American flags on the ground at 61st and Garnett. If you have even been to that intersection then you know that is where all the local fireworks stands are kept.

Without giving it much thought, I parked my car and proceeded to pickup the flags off the ground. I noticed a lady on the property talking on the phone and looking at me, so I decided to go talk to her.

It isn't clear to me where the owner of the land ends and the owner of the firework stands begin, I couldn't determine that from our conversation. However, I did determine that the folks moving the fireworks stands were more concerned with their schedule than they were with protecting and respecting the very emblem of independence that fireworks are supposed to celebrate. When I asked why they left flags on the ground the lady said, "They didn't have time..." To which I replied, "They didn't have time to be respectful to The Flag?" The excuse was "They're no good."

Eventually she let me talk to the owner of the property. He told me that some of his workers had left the flags on the ground and that he had not had time to pick them up, and that he was on his way back to get them off the ground. I told him that I had already picked up the flags for him. Another recurring theme in our conversation was the idea that I wasn't welcome on the land and that I was trespassing. I told the owner that I certainly appreciated his desire to not have people on his land, and that as soon as I got off the phone with him I'd leave. I asked him if he would tell his workers to try to be more respectful of The Flag in the future, and then I left.

[UPDATED] - I've added a video I took while I was there...

John Sullivan on his Debt Limit Vote

Friends,

This week, I voted against President Obama’s request to raise the federal debt limit by $2.4 trillion while failing to include any spending cuts or long term plans for deficit reduction.

I voted no because there is only one way to regain fiscal sanity in Washington, and that is to stop spending money we don’t have. Our nation is already facing a record setting $14 trillion debt and this legislation would have added another $2.4 trillion to it while doing absolutely nothing to end the taxpayer funded spending spree that has plagued the Federal Government for far too long.

There is an old saying that when you are in a hole, you need to stop digging – well the Obama Administration would rather keep digging than to actually listen to the American people and cut spending.

Click here to read my statement on the vote.

Sincerely,

Representative John Sullivan