Monday, October 6, 2008

Oscar Meyer Weiner revisited

You might recall I was at Women of Faith last weekend. One of my favorite parts of the weekend was seeing Nicole C. Mullen perform. I love her music and it's so fun to watch her dance on stage with the group of teenagers she mentors. One of the teenagers is her daughter and another is her nephew Andrew Thompson. Here is a clip of them dancing and singing.



When they introduce the kids, they always have Nicole's nephew sing the Oscar Meyer Weiner song. In 1997, when he was four years old, he beat out 65,000 kids from across the nation to sing the Oscar Meyer Weiner song. He was a guest on Oprah to sing then and again in 2007. Take a look.



All that talk about Oscar Meyer weiners made me hungry. It also made me want to revisit this post from January.

You guys know this song… “Oh I wish I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner that is what I really want to be. Cause if I were an Oscar Meyer Weiner, then everyone would be in love with me.” (I know - now you are going to have this tune in your head all day… but at least it isn’t “It’s a Small World.”) I’ve decided that there is truth in this song. I’ll explain more in a moment.

Did you know that a recent survey showed Americans consume 20 billion hotdogs each year? That equals 70 hotdogs per person a year. I don’t know about you, but somebody is eating my hotdogs. I really don’t care for hotdogs all that much; however, sometimes when I am watching television at night with my husband, a commercial for Sonic will come on and they will show a foot long coney with cheese and chili and mustard… or a Ballpark Franks commercial will come on and some little kid will be smiling while eating a hotdog…and right at that moment…I REALLY WANT A HOTDOG! Sometimes that commercial is then followed by a Coke commercial. You know the one where you hear the ice tinkling in the glass, then you hear the familiar pop of the can or of the lid being unscrewed, then you hear the pouring and fizzing of the Coke over the ice and then the person gulping. Well then, I REALLY WANT A HOTDOG and A COKE!

The power of suggestion is amazing isn’t it? Advertisers use it to their advantage all the time. One night several years ago my husband and I were watching television and a “Be like Mike” Gatorade commercial came on. Greg got up, went to the refrigerator, got a Gatorade and sat back down. He did it without even thinking about it. I made fun of him that he was too easily manipulated; but the reality is when we see someone else enjoying something; we often want that thing too.

Wouldn’t it be great if we as Christians used the power of suggestion to advertise Jesus? If others saw us enjoying Jesus so much that they wanted Him too? If our lives were so changed by the presence of the Holy Spirit, that others wanted to be like us? I am currently teaching an Angela Thomas study called “Living Your Life as a Beautiful Offering” and in it she says: “When I am empty or without spiritual hunger, if I can come alongside someone who desires God, then I feel my spirit being renewed in their presence… After I have been with a spiritual giant, my heart is renewed. My spirit longs for more of God. She has sloshed out Jesus and made me thirsty.”

This is where the truth in the song comes out. I kind of want to be an Oscar Meyer Weiner so everyone would be in love with not me but Jesus in me. Changed so much by my Redeemer that people want to know what the difference is. I want to have people come alongside me and hunger and thirst for Christ because I have “sloshed him out” all over the place. I want them to see Him in me and then want to taste Him too. Christ says in the Sermon on the Mount “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) In this day and time when so many people are searching for something to fill them because they feel so empty – shouldn’t we be advertising Jesus as much as possible with our lives? We should let them know that He is worth hungering and thirsting for (much more than a hotdog and a coke). Let’s let our lives make others want to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)

Gotta run. Sweet Blessings. I think I'll fix hotdogs for dinner tonight.
Amy

10 comments:

Skoots1moM said...

i so agree with you...the last time i saw her in Atlanta they performed FREEDOM...i came home and bought the video because i wanted to teach our youth the dance...love it...

speaking of food...i've posted my food that I made today remembering and celebrating our Lord's roots in the Hebrew faith...
come visit anytime...

Runner Mom said...

Gotta love this!! The You Tubes were wonderful!! Thank you, Amy!

And I love the scripture from Psalm. I too desire to have those around me hungering for Him. We share that hunger and study His Word to fill that desire and quench our thirst for more of Him and less of ourselves.

Great post!!
Hugs,
Susan

LAURIE said...

Great post. I so remember the oscar mayer song when I was little. My kids love hot dogs - for me - the only time worthy to eat them is at a ballgame. Good thoughts today Amy. -Blessings, Laurie

Kimberly said...

I remember this post! It was one of the very first ones I read by you. I loved it then and I love it now! That is the cry of my heart, too, Amy. I want to be so full of Him, genuinely full of Him, that I slosh Him out on others! Less of me, Oh Lord, and more of You!!!!

Hmmm...now I think I need to go eat a hot dog. That or drink a Coke. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi Amy!

I was so flattered to find a comment from you on my brand new fledgling blog today! I confess I've been lurking at yours and several others for a while now, dipping a toe into the blogging world to see if I wanted to jump in. Your blog is always a joy and always makes me thnk, and usually pray, which is good. I'm looking forward to participating in TSMS, if I can figure out how to do the embed videos thingy.

Thanks again!

Blessings,
Susan

Wifeof1Momof4 said...

I had a BLAST at Women of Faith this year! Thanks for the post and the reminder.

Ok, now I need to add hot dogs to this week's menu .. wow the power of suggestion!

Jenny said...

Yep, someone else is eating my hotdogs too!

Great post Amy!

Jen

Laurie Ann said...

I'm so not a hot dog eater but guess what we're having for supper now, hah hah! Seriously, the power of suggestion is amazing. Don't you wish commercials for Jesus came on? Wowza at the potential!

Andrea @ Mommy Snacks.net said...

OK, so I know I shouldn't be jealous but I would have loved to been there and seen Nicole! I have always wanted to go to a WOF and have never been able to.

Deborah said...

I got the chance to see her at my workplace chapel a few weeks ago and meet her. I told her about my daughter and there is a possibly that she will get to do a internship with her organization. If only I had her energy!
Deborah