The 69th psalm is one of those bits of scripture that speaks, and the echoes of that word carry far into the future. This psalm came from King David, yet it speaks prophetically of Jesus, and we can see ourselves in it as well.
Psalm 69:1-3 KJV - [1] [To the chief Musician upon Shoshannim, [A Psalm of David.]] Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. [2] I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. [3] I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.
King David was going through a really painful period in his life. Have you ever been there? Sure you have. Have you felt sorrow grip you and pull you down, like being pulled down into quicksand? Have you felt despair choke you? King David was there. He knew the love of God, and yet still went through awful times in life. Some of those times were of his own doing, and he knew he was to blame. That knowledge provided little relief, though. Suffering is suffering regardless of where it came from or who is to blame.
Psalm 69:4 KJV - [4] They that hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of mine head: they that would destroy me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty: then I restored that which I took not away.
This is one of those verses that cross over many areas. King David wrote of his enemies here, and this verse speaks of Jesus also being condemned.
John 15:25 KJV - [25] But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
Maybe you have experienced being hated without a cause. Jesus did.
Psalm 69:5-6 KJV - [5] O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. [6] Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord GOD of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel.
This verse certainly doesn't speak of Jesus but it sure speaks of us. I know my sins are not hidden from the eyes of God. He has seen my foolishness time and time again.
Psalm 69:7-8 KJV - [7] Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. [8] I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.
Now we're back to speaking about Jesus. He took our sins upon himself, bearing our shame upon the cross. Earlier in his life, his brothers tried to get him killed (John 7:1-3). Maybe you have experienced rejection from your own family and friends.
Psalm 69:9 KJV - [9] For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.
Early in Jesus' ministry, He used a whip and beat the money changers out of the Temple. His disciples remembered this psalm, and it is recorded in the Gospel of John.
John 2:17 KJV - [17] And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Looking back at Psalm 69, we see that Jesus lived a hard life.
Psalm 69:10-12 KJV - [10] When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. [11] I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them. [12] They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
Jesus was mocked in His day, just as sure as some of you don't want to hear about Him right now. Not all of you, but some. In Jesus' day, alcoholics were making up drinking songs about him, probably remembering fondly when he turned water to wine, or perhaps mocking his mother's insistence that he was born of a virgin. He was the laughingstock of the town to some. And people mock Him to this day. I pray you aren't one of those folks.
Psalm 69:13-15 KJV - [13] But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. [14] Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. [15] Let not the waterflood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me.
Now this is something we can relate with. Deliver me out of the mire. Don't let me drown. Deliver me from my enemies. Keep me from Hell.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 KJV - [1] To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: [2] A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; [3] A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; [4] A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; [5] A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; [6] A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; [7] A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; [8] A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
If you're old enough, you recognize that passage from a famous song, "Turn, Turn, Turn", sung by the Byrds back in the '60's. The words, though, were penned by King Solomon thousands of years ago. And they still ring true today. You may find yourself today at the lowest point in your life, or you might be experiencing victory and breakthrough. Everybody will experience low points and high points in life. Everybody will experience suffering and joy, love and hate.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 KJV - [14] I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
God is eternal. His work will stand forever. His judgements will stand forever. I think this is where one can find the truth about atheists. There are no true atheists, just anti-theists. Atheists are really people who know full-well there is a God, they just hate His guts. They hate His eternal rule and reign, they hate His decisions, they hate His judgements. God is eternal, God is in charge, and they hate Him for it.
Ecclesiastes 3:15-17 KJV - [15] That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. [16] And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. [17] I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
There truly is nothing new under the sun. Wars are nothing new. Technology is nothing new, there have always been great life-changing discoveries. Evil is also nothing new. Corrupt judges are nothing new. Corrupt politicians are nothing new. God will bring every work into judgement because some day, we will all give an account for our lives.
A time for judgement
2 Corinthians 5:10 KJV - [10] For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Now here is the thing which many people find so maddening. What you do in life, that isn't what is going to get you into Heaven or Hell. This is a judgement of reward. This is not a judgement where you sit in a scale and somebody weighs out to see if you have more good works than bad works to see if you get into Heaven or Hell. In this judgement, you are either perfect or condemned.
Romans 3:23 KJV - [23] For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Isaiah 64:6 KJV - [6] But we are all as an unclean [thing], and all our righteousnesses [are] as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
God will not have sin in his presence, and our best just is not good enough. Take heart, though. God, in His mercy and love, has not left us condemned. While our own efforts will not do, His son Jesus has paid for our sins in full by His death on the cross,
1 Peter 3:18 NKJV - [18] For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
So that now, that payment has been made once and for all. All you or I need to is to appropriate it. You
Rom 10:8-13 KJV - [8] But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, [even] in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; [9] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. [11] For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. [12] For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. [13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The true purpose of life
There is only one "work" you can do that will stand on Judgement Day, and that is to believe on Jesus. Not just say "I believe", but to truly believe on Jesus. That is our job, our role, our purpose here. Believe on Jesus. Is there more to it than that? Of course there is.
I haven't even gone over important topics such as repentance, or walking the Christian walk. If you truly believe on Jesus, you will find your self repenting of your sin. If you truly believe on Jesus, you will find yourself walking with Him. The Christian walk starts with that first step, and you can take it today.
Fundamentally, Heaven or Hell for your permanent address hinges on one simple question: Do you believe on Jesus?
Don't want to believe? There is a verse for that, too.
2 Corinthians 4:3 KJV - [3] But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. - [Matthew 24:3-8 KJV]
As I write this, two days ago, a massive earthquake has rocked a portion of Japan to the ground. Just a few weeks earlier, Christchurch, New Zealand, was rocked. Are we experiencing more earthquakes? I googled "Recent earthquakes" and one of the top links was a news story telling people not to worry. Yeah right. Here, as plain evidence is a snip from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqinthenews/
Still thinking we aren't seeing an increase in earthquakes? I think we can agree we are indeed seeing an increase of quakes. What about world tension? Wars? Rumors of war? See what is going on over in Libya? Tunisia? Yemen? Saudi Arabia? Not to mention our ongoing battle in Afghanistan, of course. Will Iran or North Korea decide to step in and stir up more trouble? I think the case can be made that the conditions of Matthew 24:7 are upon us. If the world right now is in fact a fulfillment of Matthew 24:7, then we can only accept with grim resignation and trust in our Savior that Matthew 24:8 is also upon us. "All these are the beginning of sorrows."
Complaining? Who, us?
The children of Israel can tell us a lot about complaining. They personally experienced God deliver them from slavery. They crossed the Red Sea on dry ground. They saw the dreaded Egyptian army consumed in the very same sea. And as soon as they not see where tomorrow's meal would come through, the complaining began.
And they took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness: And the children of Israel said unto them, Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger. - [Exodus 16:1-3 KJV]
Do you think those people were any worse than we? Do you think they were all a bunch of godless heathens with no faith? If we were there, do you think we would have fared any better? Anyhow, in spite of their lack of faith, or perhaps because of it, God meets their need in a way nobody would have ever expected.
Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. - [Exodus 16:4 KJV]
And Moses said, This shall be, when the LORD shall give you in the evening flesh to eat, and in the morning bread to the full; for that the LORD heareth your murmurings which ye murmur against him: and what are we? your murmurings are not against us, but against the LORD. - [Exodus 16:8 KJV]
So, God heard their complaining, and He is acting on it, but do you think He is pleased? I think not. The people were complaining about Moses, but God says they were complaining about Him. He delivers them bread falling from heaven, and they no longer have to worry about food. They get out each morning and there it is. But once the thrill is gone, the complaining starts back up.
And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. - [Numbers 21:5-6 KJV]
God does not like complaining!
Korah was a complainer. He complained about Moses' leadership, and even had a "new teaching" about everybody being holy he wanted to dump on Moses.
Now Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men: And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown: And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD? - [Numbers 16:1-3 KJV]
So Moses could have spent some time arguing back and forth with Korah, but instead decided to kick it up a notch. Why squabble amongst the servants when you can take it up with the Master?
And Moses said unto Korah, Be thou and all thy company before the LORD, thou, and they, and Aaron, to morrow: And take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the LORD every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer. And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron. And Korah gathered all the congregation against them unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the congregation. And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment. - [Numbers 16:16-21 KJV]
As you can see, God does not like complaining.
The lesson for us? When we complain about our circumstances, the lot life has dealt us, who are we truly complaining about? Has God provided for us? Indeed He has. It may not necessarily be the way we would have it, but He has meet our needs. And sometimes, at the moment, there is no escaping that the situation is pretty grim.
Handling personal tragedy
Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed? - [Lamentations 3:38 NKJV]
Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? - [Luke 13:4 KJV]
When the world turns against us, it is easy to fall into a pit of despair and complaining. You want to know who could handle whatever life threw his way? Job could.
Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. - [Job 2:9-10 KJV]
Even Job reached his breaking point, though. That's why the book of Job is 42 chapters long. Job lost almost everything he had, and it took a face-to-face encounter with God to come to grips with it all.
Then Job answered the LORD, and said, I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes. - [Job 42:1-6 KJV]
Conclusion
Simply put, we may never know why suffering comes our way. How we respond, though, will demonstrate where our heart and treasure reside, and to which God we owe our allegiance. We may be entering a period of time that, as Chuck Missler says is "a time about which the Bible says more than any other time in history." We will need to hold fast in the face of disaster, in the face of tragedy, in the face of misery.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. - [Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 KJV]
Or perhaps more fitting for our today:
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. - [Luke 21:36 KJV]
Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; - [Philippians 2:14-15 KJV]
What comes to mind when you hear that name? "Murderer?" Probably so, and rightfully so. Cain was the first murderer, this is undeniable. But there is something else about Cain you might not have noticed before. Let's take a look at the Scripture:
[1] And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. [2] And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. [3] And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. [4] And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: [5] But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. [6] And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? [7] If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. [8] And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. - Gen 4:1-8 KJV
Check out verse three. Abel did not bring the first offering to the LORD, Cain did. Not Adam, not Eve. Cain. We do not know why Cain sought to bring an offering to the LORD, and we do not know why the LORD paid no respect to Cain's offering. Of course we can speculate. It may be that Cain's offering did not fit the archetype that the LORD wanted for an offering, an offering of blood which would never cover all sin until the perfect sacrifice was made (Hebrews 10:4). But we do not, as a matter of record, know exactly why the LORD rejected Cain's outreach.
For a moment, forget everything you know about the Cain and Abel passage. Instead, pretend you picked up your local newspaper, and read about a domestic violence incident that resulted in murder. Two sons, and one seeks to gain his father's favor by presenting a gift to his father. The younger son decides to do the same, and he also presents a gift. The father is loving to both, but clearly enjoys the younger son's gift more. The elder son is fuming. It was after all, probably his idea, and even if it wasn't, he was the first to act on it and present a gift. And who gets the glory? The younger son. While nobody is condoning the violence which follows, you can at least see a glimpse as to what was behind it.
So now, with that in mind, re-read that fourth chapter of the Book of Genesis. Do you see how any of us could have been Cain that day? Have you ever toiled at at your job only to see somebody else get the credit? Did you have a younger brother or sister who on occasion stole your thunder?
I'm not trying to be an apologist for Cain. He was the first murderer and nothing can ever excuse that. But perhaps you might now see how Cain came to commit that awful act, how any of us could come to that murderous point should the circumstances turn against us. What makes us any better than Cain? Even as a believer in Jesus Christ, we still have that human nature which will take over if we turn our eyes from the cross of Jesus. The LORD reached out to Cain, and Jesus reaches out to us. Amen.
I had a dream last night. I was in Israel or somewhere in the Middle-East. I was with a group of fellow believers and we had a busted up old pick-up truck, like an old Toyota. One of the bolts holding the rear axle was gone, and we had to drive through a dangerous neighborhood. I believe I was with Israelis trying to drive through a Palestinian area, but being a dream, I was not entirely sure.
Those who could crammed into the front of the truck, and somehow I was the lone rider in the back. That was not good. The driver of the truck gunned it and as best as the truck could, we started driving through the streets, which were reminiscent of those one sees on TV over in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Out of nowhere, hoards of people came running out of their houses, their shops, whatever, to yell at us in some foreign tongue, and hurl rocks. I was covering the back of my head as best I could, but of course the truck was flailing about madly as we ran the gauntlet. Rocks were smashing the windows out, the sides of the truck were being destroyed, and the din of the seething crowd was terrifying.
I believe we made it through, but I awoke and thanked God there I was in a bed in a home in Alaska. This dream I had could just as easily have been somebody else's reality. There are Christians in the Middle-East who live that life; persecution, hateful mobs, rocks thrown at them by any number of anonymous enemies. Jesus, give those true martyrs an extra dose of strength today.
On Saturday, September 11, 2010, we put on a pig roast. God totally blessed it, and without a doubt, it was fabulous. I thought it might be a good idea to assemble some thoughts, a sort of debriefing, if you will.
First, the disclaimer.
The Disclaimer
Everything you read here is purely a recounting of how we conducted a pig roast. This not to be taken as instruction or advice on how you should conduct a pig roast. What you choose to do with the information here is entirely your decision, and is done You agree that using any information here is done entirely at your own risk.
Next, the photos. Everybody wants to look at photos, right? Right.
Okay, I'll guess you took a look at the photos, and want more information. Here we go. Pastor Dwight and I have toyed with the idea of doing a big ol' barbecue for years. The previous month, Don McClure of www.calvaryway.org came up and spent a few days with us, passing along his wisdom to us. Don is great brother in the Lord, and I'd highly recommend him for encouraging your fellowship.
Anyhow, one of the things Don McClure suggested was hosting a barbecue. That was the catalyst for us. His version included beef, as they had a rancher friend who could supply it as a donation. We didn't have any rancher buddies, but did have a longtime love for pork ribs. The idea of a whole pig roast quickly flew together, and as things with God's blessing do, the idea took on a life of it's own and pretty much exploded into reality.
So here starts the lessons learned. Get people praying! That's lesson #1. Get the folks in your fellowship praying for your event. If you do this and ignore the rest, you'll be better off than if you do everything but pray. Okay, so let's move on.
We started the real work about 2 weeks prior. Researching the cooking method took us straight to 3 Guys From Miami, where we obtained the knowledge to construct our pig pit and cooking racks. We did modify the design a bit, which I'll expound on later.
The Pit
If you go over the 3 Guys from Miami site, you'll see in their commentary that they say not to construct the pit over asphalt. We had no choice as we had to work with an asphalt driveway. Our modification to their 48-block design was to lay down a 60-lb. bag of pea gravel on the asphalt, then arrange a 30-block (5x6) foundation stacked so the air could flow through the openings in the blocks. The thought was that the pea gravel would keep the blocks from making intimate contact with the asphalt, and the air flowing through the blocks would keep them from getting too hot. In the end, this system worked so well, I'm wondering if the gravel was needed. It was cheap insurance at what, $7 for a bag of gravel? Oh yeah, on top of that foundation of blocks, we added sheets of aluminum foil for additional thermal protection, and to block any stray grease drips. We didn't spill a drop of grease on the ground, so it worked quite well.
The 3 Guys from Miami say to line the first two rows of blocks with foil, and that's what we did. We also poured in a bag of sand into the bottom, for more insulation and grease capture protection. We placed a row of foil pans on top of the sand. In retrospect, we might have not needed the foil pans, but they worked out well.
I should note, also, we did not pay retail for the cinder blocks. We contacted Anchorage Sand & Gravel, where the blocks were made. They sell "blowout block", which are overruns from custom orders. Our nice sand-colored blocks cost $1.25 each. We also obtained the 10-foot lengths of rebar and sand and gravel from them, too. Funny, their name is "Anchorage Sand & Gravel" and that's exactly what we bought from them. 100 blocks, 4 10-foot lengths of 5/8" rebar, 1 bag of pea gravel, 1 bag of sand.
We had to store the blocks in my garage, and now that the barbecue is done, we have left them there at church for now. Coming up with a storage location for materials is something you should keep in mind.
The Grill
We initially were using a pure rebar grill, but decided on changing the design. We used 1o-foot rebar for the lengths, and on top of those, tied on four wire racks which started out life as a two 4-piece shelf kits from Costco. This grill configuration gave us a nice chromed cooking surface which would also accommodate smaller items such as chicken or even hamburgers. The assembly was done using rebar wire, which one can obtain from Home Depot. When we were done with the event, I cut apart all the rebar wire, cleaned off the grills, and stored everything. If you check out the 3 Guys From Miami, you'll find they have plenty of info on constructing a grill. Anyhow, using shelving worked great, and I've cleaned the shelving off and stored it, so come next time, it's ready to go.
While at Home Depot, buy a set of those bright orange rebar protective caps. They keep people from getting hurt from the rebar ends, and also serve as a visual cue as to where the bars are at. Safety first, you know.
So looking at the photo, you can see there are two grills total. You put the pig on one, place the remaining grill over the pig, and use rebar wire to wire 'em both together tightly. This is done so that they survive the pig flip.
The Fire
As described earlier, we had placed foil pans in the bottom of the pit. We filled the four corner pans with charcoal and lit them up. We proceeded with pig prep while the fire was burning down.
Each hour I would add four armloads of coal into each corner pan, along with a big handful of damp hickory wood chips for that nice smoke aroma. This was accomplished by carefully removing a corner brick and dropping in the coal and wood into the corner. I didn't need to see exactly where they fell, it worked out fine.
The Pig
So obtaining a pig, how does one do this? I went to Red Apple, my favorite grocery store here in Anchorage, AK, and talked to the butcher lady there. They sell whole pigs for $140, which gets you a 50-60 lb. pig, already prepped. You pay on a Monday, and pick it up Saturday . This is what we did. I indicated we would be coming early Saturday, and was told the staff would know what to do. During the week, I called the butcher lady up and asked if they could butterfly the pig. She said they would try but if necessary, they would saw it down the middle. In the end, they did indeed saw the pig in two, and I'm glad they did. This proved to make the pig much easier to handle, and I'll request it be sawn down the middle from now on.
When we showed up Saturday morning, the staff absolutely did not know what to do. They told me to come back later. No way. We needed that pig, we paid for that pig. I asked for the manager, and he totally knew what was going on. He had us get our cooler and walk to the back, into their walk-in fridge. There was our pig, sawed down the middle, and nicely cleaned. They did a really good prep job, and I would heartily recommend obtaining pigs from Red Apple. Just be prepared to ask for the manager if the regular staff give you the brush-off.
Pick up a pack of cheap disposable razors. Give the pig a shave once you got him laid out. While our pig was prepped very nicely, he did still have a few hairs on his chinny chin chin. This is normal. Pig shave.
Now this part is important: While the pig was prepped quite well, he wasn't entirely defrosted. This did create some trouble. Come to think of it, next time I order a pig, I'll do it a full week ahead of time and explain that he wasn't fully defrosted when I did a "Monday order, Saturday pickup".
The 3 Guys from Miami do this liquid marinade overnight thing, which I did not do, and wouldn't bother with. I'm a big fan of the dry rub, and this worked out just great. We dry rubbed the pig just prior to tossing him on the pit. We got rave reviews for the flavor, so I wouldn't bother with an overnight marinade.
Okay, with the pig rubbed down and the fire all nice, we tossed the pig on the fire, and placed the other grill over the pig. Wire it all together with rebar wire, and cover with heavy foil to keep the heat in.
A lesson learned: Next time I'll bring along some 2x4s or maybe 1" wood strips or even some rocks or whatever to hold the foil down. The smallest breeze of wind would make the foil blow, and we used wire to tie it down. This was a pain, and having some holddowns for the foil would have made things better.
Pig Flip
Halfway through the cooking process, the whole grill assembly needs to be flipped over so the other side of the pig gets some heat. We had a very successful pig flip, with only minimal shifting of contents. We had plenty of people on hand to assist with the flip, the bars where we grabbed the grill were not too hot, and the two grills were pretty well wired together so that if the pig did shift, it wouldn't have likely fallen out anyway. Well, praise God, all went without a hitch.
Pig Pull
We had two tables set up for pig pulling. The two tables were arranged so that they formed a "T". Both tables were covered in heavy plastic sheeting. One table had four bricks arranged so that we could get the grill moved directly from the pit, and onto the bricks.
So about 30-40 minutes prior to serving, we moved the pig grill off the pit, and onto the bricks at the pig pulling station. After a 15 minute wait for the pig to cool down sufficiently, the pulling began. We found it worked best with two people, on either side of the table. Our pig wasn't entirely "falling apart off the bone", so at times, we found a knife helpful for cutting a chunk off and then shredding. The shredded meat was placed into foil serving pans, which then were transferred to the serving area. We used a nice disposable chafing dish setup from Sam's Club which uses burners to keep the hot food hot. Those worked out very nicely.
During the pig pull, we had a separate pan for the pig skin. There just isn't anything better than a cracklin' juicy piece of perfectly done pig skin. We would offer the pig skin to people as an optional item, and most folks took it gladly.
People serving pig pull duty have to exercise restraint to not start chowing down on that pig there at the pull table. The temptation is so great, oh yes it is.
The Rest of the Menu
Okay, clearly the pig is the star of the food show. I would highly suggest you keep the menu simple. Unless you have the additional space and personnel to handle it, do not get caught up into preparing hamburgers, hot-dogs, chicken, or anything else not-pig for people who might not want to eat pork at a pig roast. It's a pig roast. Let them eat pig. I do not say this out of callousness, but out of a very real sense of being overwhelmed. Just getting the pig done properly is a monumental task. When you add in something as "simple" as hamburgers, you're also implying there will be cheeseburgers, there will be ketchup, mayo, lettuce, onions, mustard, buns, and so on. Not to mention, you'll get people wanting their burgers done a certain way. A hamburger barbecue is an event in and of itself. Keep the menu simple.
That being said, pre-packaged items such as individually bagged chips are a total blessing. You put out one of those 50-pack variety boxes of potato chips, and folks can pick which flavor the want. Same for stuff like cookies. Pick items that are individually wrapped, though. You don't want somebody with the flu grubbing their hand through a loose bowl of potato chips or cookies. Use pre-packaged items to supplement the menu and add variety. These items also can be left out on the table without requiring additional serving staff, thus conserving your most precious resource, people!
So just what did we serve? In the serving line, we served pulled pork on hamburger buns, cole slaw, and baked beans. After that, people could pick up individually packaged chips, soda, bottled water, and cookies. We had a large variety of barbecue sauces at the end of the line, allowing to fix up their pulled pork sandwich as they desired.
The Cole Slaw Nightmare
Just the week prior we had been to Costco and they had bags of ready-to-serve cole slaw. Our menu was planned around using this. The day of the event, when we went to buy some, it was all gone. Gone! The word was that cole slaw was a seasonal item, and I guess we were exactly one week too late. Sam's Club had none, either. We were forced at the last minute to prepare cole slaw from scratch. While the resulting slaw was very good indeed, it put a lot of unnecessary stress on our staff, and really took a bite out of our schedule. The lesson here is to not count your cole slaw chickens before they are hatched. Either plan for making cole slaw from scratch at the event, or have ready-to-serve cole slaw read. Municipal health regulations in Anchorage do not allow for preparing these items at home for consumption at a public event, so either get it ready-made, or make it there at the event. Next time we know better.
Various tips
Pray for sunshine. In fact, just pray. A lot. Have a contingency plan for rain. Get all the tables you can. Too many tables is not a problem. Too few tables is a problem. If you see something at Costco or Sam's Club a few weeks prior, ask if it is a seasonal item. Try to not overload your volunteers. Speaking of which, the more the merrier. Don't be stingy. Serve a lot of food on each plate. Keep the menu simple. If you have bottled water, folks will drink it. Have a handwashing station set up for both the volunteers, and your guests. Get big paper plates. Don't buy wimpy paper plates.
[Luke 19:2-5 KJV] - And, behold, [there was] a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus who he was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see him: for he was to pass that [way]. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.
I think Zacchaeus must have been a single guy, because we don't read anything about Jesus raising Zacchaeus from the dead.
Men, imagine you ran into Billy Graham and his entourage. Billy tells you "{your name here}, the Holy Spirit told me that I must fellowship with you at your home this evening." You stammer a bit, and say "Okay, sure! Can you wait here a moment?"
You duck around a corner and whip out your cell phone. You call your wife and ask how her day is going, then tell her you'll be bringing home some guests. She flips and is upset about how she doesn't have any time for cleaning, nothing is defrosted to fix up, and so on. Exasperated, she asks just who is this person you're bringing over?
"Billy Graham."
Click. You call back and for some reason, she won't pick up.
Now you start thinking, "Do I have anything I need to hide? Any DVDs I'd be ashamed of? Any magazines I never want other people to see? What if he wants to check his email and looks at my computer browser's history?"
Suddenly you start wondering if you really want Billy Graham coming over or not. But then, you remember, it was the Holy Spirit calling Billy to visit you, not you asking him to visit. You're in a pickle now!
[Romans 14:12 KJV] - "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."
