January 2: National Cream Puff Day

I really didn’t need to hear about this commemorative day. The best thing about cream puffs is everything. But the worst thing about cream puffs is … well, everything.

Yes, there is the crust’s buttery flavor and crispness, its flakiness, and its slight sweetness. And then there’s the cream filling’s rich flavor, its smoothness as it slides over your tongue and down your throat, leaving only its memory, and the compulsion to consume more.

The “more” part is what gets to this blogger. “Everything in moderation” works, unless one’s craving overcomes his self-control. That’s where the whatever-holic’s dogma comes into play: “Not even one!” The old Lay’s potato chip commercial comes to mind, “Betcha can’t eat just one.”

In Jesus’ time they enjoyed their locusts and wild honey, an epicurean's delight. How would Jesus have responded to cream puffs? Good grief, he was human. How would you respond to them? But Jesus enjoyed the power to back up his wisdom. I have no doubt he would have tasted it and declared, “Get thee behind me Satan.”

cdkitchen posted an article about this commemoration, including recipes and irresistible photos.

January 2: National Buffet Day

When I think about buffets, feasting and all other excuses for belt-stretching, I think of the Wedding Feast those who obey Jesus will enjoy. Indeed, we will be the guest of honor, as the bride of Christ. No need to worry about dieting there; we can have as much as we want, without guilt.

Jesus told us all we need to know about wedding table dress and etiquette:

Luke 14:7-24 ESV
(7)  Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the places of honor, saying to them,
(8)  "When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him,
(9)  and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give your place to this person,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place.
(10)  But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you.
(11)  For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
(12)  He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid.
(13)  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,
(14)  and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just."
(15)  When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!"
(16)  But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet and invited many.
(17)  And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
(18)  But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.'
(19)  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.'
(20)  And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'
(21)  So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.'
(22)  And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'
(23)  And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.
(24)  For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'"

Learn about Today’s Food History on John-Bryan Hopkins’ blog, Foodimentary.

Here’s some expert advice about stuffing yourself responsibly at your favorite buffet, complements of The Gazette:

Do your research: Before you even think about grabbing a plate, take a walk around the table. Check out all the offerings so you can plan accordingly.

Pick up a smaller plate: Instead of looking for the biggest plate at the event, choose a salad or a dessert plate. Studies have shown that smaller plates lead to weight loss.

Think appetizers: You can have a little bit of everything if you stick to the little bit part. One bite of several desserts won’t derail your diet, as long as it’s only one bite.

This is not a competition: There’s no need to pile your plate sky high from the get-go. Start off with something lighter at the beginning, like soup or salad, and move to the appropriate course from there. But don’t be confused! Healthy portion control is always important.

Break for it: A lengthy break in the middle of your meal will give your body a little room to digest. When half the food on your plate is gone, put down your fork, breathe deep, and take stock of how you’re feeling. During this allotted break time, take note of what how much you’ve eaten, your hunger level, and your emotional state.

Remember to hydrate: Forgo soda for water instead. You’ll feel less full and sleepy at your desk, which we all need after holiday vacations.

Check out out a foodie who spent 2011 honoring each food holiday with photos, recipes and fun food facts: http://nationalfoodholidaytour.wordpress.com

Answers In God’s Time

“… the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played (the harp) with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice.” (1 Samuel 18: 10,11)

      That, and other Scripture passages, beg a question that’s puzzled me for years, How could an “evil” spirit could come from God?

      Today’s Our Daily Bread meditation by Julie Ackerman Link suggested an answer:

“Sometimes when I want to start a fire, the wind puts it out. But when I try to keep a fire burning, wind keeps it going. So, in the first situation, I label wind “bad” because it thwarts my plans; in the other, I label it “good” because it helps me accomplish what I want to get done. where What’s the difference between an “ill wind,” and a “fair wind,” or “a destructive fire,” and “a productive fire?” One works against you, and the other works for you, but both are simply natural functions, with no agenda of their own.”

      For further insight, I consulted some classic commentaries in eSword ,^* discovering that actual theologians agree with me about God unleashing anything bad on his people. Characterizing phenomena as “good” or “evil” is the human perception, but in God’s economy all is ultimately good for those who follow Jesus. So many Scripture passages support that idea that laying them all out here would defeat the purpose of a blog post. Those who want to study it out can find many excellent tools such as the one I mentioned. When we study out answers to our own questions we’ll have them ready for anyone who asks us about it. Being prepared could pay eternal dividends.

*   The free Bible-study program from Rick Meyers, whose life work is making Bible-study tools freely available to all who want to wield God’s sword more effectively.

Taking Out the Trash

Good theology. Politicians, as well as every one of us, need to carefully consider our attitudes and positions on life's issues. This is as true for pro-lifers as for Pro-abortionists. How many "pro-lifers," in lockstep with conservative doctrine, staunchly defend capital punishment?

      The "Justice" System’s fundamental injustice, including its decisions about who receives the death penalty, never really dawned on me until I heard Paul Harvey deliver a special program clarifying the issue. Research continues to show that capital punishment kills people, irrespective of their guilt.

      We conservatives glibly demand capital punishment for the “really bad” people, saying this world will be better without them. Will our enthusiasm for “taking out the trash” continue when we, because of our conservative activism, become the trash?

Is BONES Going Pro-Life? Episode 4-2

     Dr. Brennan’s pregnancy creates a sub-plot where she has an ultrasound and doesn’t see the need to mention it to baby’s daddy, agent Booth. Well, daddy gets upset at being left out, which creates an opportunity for some Hollywood-style reconciliation. Surprisingly enough, this crime drama somehow manages to inject sound relationship advice into the script when Bones suggests that she walk for a while in Booth’s shoes—which surprised the heck out of me, considering the program’s track record of liberal claptrap.

     When Bones finally produces a still image taken from the ultrasound video, Booth grabs it under the pretense of wanting to study the baby’s development, and it winds up just inside one of his desk drawers where he can “study” it often. By the final scene, Booth and Bones watch the video together, completely in awe of the fetal work-in-progress. In all this, they never refer to the baby as a fetus, but as a baby or a little girl.

     So, what makes this baby so special that she is a little girl, and not a fetus? Just one thing: She is wanted! Biologically and anatomically identical to millions of terminated fetuses, her value lies in her parents’ intention, and not in her budding human life. If the show’s plot had involved a bald eagle’s egg, a fetal grizzly bear, or any other endangered species’ progeny, its ultimate value would have been assumed, but this was a human, pre-born baby, and everyone knows they’re expendable at a whim.

This Is Only a Test

The same could be said for life … This is only a test! The true reason for which I was born, my destiny, is to glorify my God and Savior for eternity. Worldly people will read those words with a quizzical smile, thinking it’s just a bunch of religious bunkum. But I know whom I’ve believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep me safe in him for the day that I will enter his presence to praise him in person. What a wonderful day that will be!

AliensЯus

Sci-Fi dramas have one thing right: Aliens are out there. But they’re also here, among us. In fact, they are us.

Need proof? How did you react last time you encountered someone who looked, acted or talked fundamentally different from you, especially if they were on your turf? Suspicion is the entry-level attitude, even if one considers him/her-self an egalitarian. And if you’re on their turf … fear.

Don’t believe me? Drive your Lexus to the other side of the tracks, slowly, with the doors unlocked and the windows down. Fight your impulse to panic when Lexus Link asks, “Are you insane,” or when you spot a half-dozen youngish guys with bulges under their hoodies, sauntering toward you, and all you can see of their faces is grinning, white teeth. If you’re as liberal as you think, just offer them jobs; that’ll win them over.

Name any subculture, race, or religion, and if you’re not one of them you don’t understand them. Even if you’ve “converted” from one group to another, you may think you’re objective toward them, but you wouldn’t have switched if you really had nothing against something about them.

My frame of reference takes me to religion, or to anti-religion. In my early-twenties I jumped tracks from Catholicism to what they call Protestantism, even though I’d never admit to being a Protestant. As a Christ-follower, I won’t hate Catholics, even though their religion has done some awful things throughout history. Even if the Romanist church were to officially deny those blemishes on history, they couldn’t deny what evil people have done in the church’s name.

But the Catholic Church isn’t the only sect that’s blasphemed Christ by pillaging and plundering in his name. The long and bloody war between Catholics and Protestants still rages, though not as publicly as it once did. And yes, they both claim Christ as their Savior.

Think that’s bad. What about the wars between Eastern, Middle-eastern, and pagan religions? No wonder secularists, including atheists, point condemnatory fingers at religion as the bane of humanity or the people’s opiate. But blame isn’t the only thing they’ve pointed at religious people throughout history. Does the name Lenin strike a sour chord? How about Stalin? But we don’t have to scrutinize atheism, or even, Communism, to find oceans of blood outside of historical religion. Hitler embraced, or at least winked at, most any religion but Judaism and Biblical Christianity, if he thought it would advance the Reich and glorify the Fatherland.

I would say Biblical Christianity is the only religion not to have engaged in hatred and murder throughout history, but that wouldn’t be true—Biblical Christianity is not a religion in any traditional, human sense. Rather, it is the spiritual way of life espoused by the eternal, self-existent God, through his living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Christ-followers pursue that way religiously, but not as a religion.

To those blinded by materialism and other naturalistic beliefs, we are indeed aliens.

Shooting At Newtown Connecticut School

Tragically, shock, but not surprise, reflect my reaction to this morning's wanton, mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Predictably, our government will blame this calamity on America's failure to control guns, screen unbalanced people and detect their reprehensible intentions, and monitor dissident groups such as Evangelical Bible-believers. But oddly, accusations aimed at Christians and patriots will at once, be 180° off, and right on target.

God's church may not have physically pulled the fatal triggers during this carnage, but the fundamental responsibility for those terrible events falls squarely on our apathetic, Christian shoulders. If Christ-followers were truly obeying their Savior, tragedies such as mass-murders and bombings would be rare, rather than the stuff of daily headlines. Christ's Great Commission should have been all the instruction we needed to minister His redeeming love and grace to fallen mankind. Instead, grass-fires of error and disobedience began consuming the young churches, as they still do today.

We American evangelicals pride ourselves in our patriotism, clinging to our Constitutional rights as if they were holy writ. When we see those rights threatened, as they are today, we get irate, even hateful, toward those "accursed" liberals who want to rain on our 200 year old parade. So we spend far more time finger-pointing and name-calling than searching out our own responsibility in society's moral decline.

Church, we've not only dropped the ball, but we've picked it up and begun running toward the wrong goal line(Ephesians 6:12). So we must not simply wring our hands in despair over today's horrible events, but rather, fall to our knees in prayer, getting to know the lovely Savior who died to redeem us, and our sinful, broken world.

They Tremble ...

... at the mention of His name—demons, that is.

    In America, “Holy warriors” are scary, but tolerable, as long as they’re Muslims. Those Christ-following holy warriors? “Fundamentalists! Bigots! Homophobes! Haters! Skinheads!”

    As long as Christians stay in their churches like good religious eunuchs, America has no problem with them. But demonstrate proactive, fired-up, Spirit-filled Christianity, and you discover a whole new level of panic. Better hope the secularists don't see this video; they'll wet themselves.

I'm posting Our Daily Bread for December 4 partly because of the good message, but mostly because of the "punchline" at the end, which is one of the best non-Scriptural summations of love that I've seen. If you've already read it, enjoy it again.

Open-Handed Help

December 4, 2012 — by Jennifer Benson Schuldt

A homeless man spends time in our local library. One afternoon, while I was writing there, I took a lunch break. After I finished the first half of a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich, an image of the man’s face came to mind. A few minutes later, I offered him the untouched part of my lunch. He accepted.

This brief encounter made me realize that with all that God has given me, I needed to do more to help those who are less fortunate. Later, as I thought about this, I read Moses’ instructions on providing for the poor. He told the Israelites: Do not “shut your hand from your poor brother, but . . . open your hand wide to him” (Deut. 15:7-8). An open hand symbolizes the way God wanted His nation to provide for impoverished people—willingly and freely. No excuses, no holding back (v.9). God had given to them, and He wanted them to give generously enough to supply whatever was “sufficient” for the need (v.8).

When we offer open-handed help to the poor, God blesses us for our kindness (Ps. 41:1-3; Prov. 19:17). With His leading, consider how you might “extend your soul to the hungry” (Isa. 58:10) and freely give to help others in Jesus’ name.

Grant us, then, the grace for giving

With a spirit large and free,

That our life and all our living

We may consecrate to Thee. —Murray

You may give without loving,

but you can’t love without giving.