Lent Soup Recipes

Beef Chowder

Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cups diced potatoes
1 can cream-style corn, about 16 ounces
1 can (10 1/2 ounces) condensed beef broth
3/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil, crushed
dash pepper
shredded sharp American cheese

Preparation:
In skillet, brown beef and onion; drain. Transfer to crockery cooker. Stir in remaining ingredients except cheese. Cover and cook on HIGH 3 to 4 hours. Top each serving with a little shredded Cheese.
Serves 6 to 8.

Dumpling Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound lean round steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 can condensed beef broth, about 10 1/2 ounces
5 cups hot water
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely shredded
1 rib finely chopped celery
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 cup biscuit mix
6 tablespoons milk
1 tablespon finely chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
Preparation:
With crockpot on low, sprinkle steak with dry onion soup mix. Pour hot water over steak. Stir in carrots, celery and tomato. Cover and cook on low 4 to 6 hours or until meat is tender. Turn pot control to HIGH. In separate small bowl, combine biscuit mix with parsley. Stir in milk with fork until mixture is moistened. Drop dumpling mixture into Crock Pot with a teaspoon. Cover and cook on high for about 30 minutes.
Serves 4 to 6.

Ash Wednesday: Remember Penitence and Mortality

Pentinence and Mortality. What a bummer!

Who wants to think of Penitence...our need to see ourselves in the mirror of Scripture and realize how wretched we are.

Who wants to think of mortality...in an age of plastic surgery and life-saving techniques that keep us 15 years older than we would have normally lived. Who wants to think of the grave when there is so much to enjoy in our culture?

Ash Wednesday is the day for these two words. One of the rare days in the Christian church where we
STOP.
PONDER.
REALIZE WHO WE ARE.
THINK UPON THE CURSE.
REPENT.
LOOK TO THE SAVIOR.

Ash Wednesday is the name given to the first day of the season of Lent, in which the Pastor applies ashes to the foreheads of Christians to signify an inner repentance. But what is the history and the meaning of this Christian holy day?

Ash Wednesday, originally called dies cinerum (day of ashes) is mentioned in the earliest copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary, and probably dates from at least the 8th Century.


Using ashes is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. What is probably the earliest occurrence is found at the very end of the book of Job. Job, having been rebuked by God, confesses, "Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6). Other examples are found in 2 Samuel 13:19, Esther 4:1,3, Isaiah 61:3, Jeremiah 6:26, Ezekiel 27:30, and Daniel 9:3.

In the New Testament, Jesus alludes to the practice in Matthew 11:21: "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes."

In the typical Ash Wednesday observance, Christians are invited to the altar to receive the imposition of ashes, prior to receiving the holy Supper.

The Pastor applies ashes in the shape of the cross on the forehead of each, while speaking the words, "For dust you are and to dust you shall return" (Genesis 3:19). This is of course what God spoke to Adam and Eve after they eaten of the forbidden fruit and fallen into sin. These words indicated to our first parents the bitterest fruit of their sin, namely death.

In the context of the Ash Wednesday imposition of ashes, they remind each penitent of their sinfulness and mortality, and, thus, their need to repent and get right with God before it is too late. The cross reminds each penitent of the good news that through Jesus Christ crucified there is forgiveness for all sins, all guilt, and all punishment.

Many Christians choose to leave the ashes on their forehead for the remainder of the day, not to be showy and boastful (see Matthew 6:16-18). Rather, they do it as a witness that all people are sinners in need of repentance AND that through Jesus all sins are forgiven through faith.

Ash Wednesday, like the season of Lent, is never mentioned in Scripture and is not commanded by God. Christians are free to either observe or not observe it. It also should be obvious that the imposition of ashes, like similar external practices, are meaningless, even hypocritical, unless there is a corresponding inner repentance and change of behavior. This is made clear in Isaiah 58:5-7 when God says,

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for a man to humble himself? Is it only for bowing one's head like a reed and for lying on sackcloth and ashes ? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?


With this in mind, however, the rite of ashes on Ash Wednesday is heartily recommended to the Christian as a grand opportunity for repentance and spiritual renewal.

A blessed Ash Wednesday observance to all.

Romance --February 14---"Dear" Season

It's that week when men all over the country have to scrounge up a gift to embody the love, adoration and unending favor towards that special lady in their life.

Back in college I took a course on 14th Century literature. How great was that stuff! The whole idea of courtly love and a knight adoring, even worshipping a woman from afar is too foreign for our culture. Today's day has so much vulgarity and so little romance.

One defined romance as "the unknown".....that small element of unknown keeps a marriage alive just as a cool rain after a drought. Romance is doing something towards one you love that has been kept secret, been saved, been wrapped in a closet for 3 weeks, been waiting to be given. It is selflish and extravagant.

Isn't the Bible the ultimate love story? The Scriptures say,

"As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God." - 1 Corinthians 2:9-10.

Most people interpret this passage as speaking of heaven someday.....Charles Spurgeon had a different approach:

"But any one who reads the connexion will discover that the apostle is not talking about heaven at all. He is only speaking of this - that the wisdom of this world is not able to discover the things of God - that the merely carnal mind is not able to know the deep spiritual things of our most holy religion.

He says, "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God."

And then he goes on lower down to say, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

I take it, that this text is a great general fact, capable of specific application to certain cases; and that the great fact is this - that the things of God cannot be perceived by eye, and ear, and heart, but must be revealed by the Spirit of God; as they are unto all true believers. We shall take that thought, and endeavour to expand it this morning, explaining it concerning heaven, as well as regards other heavenly matters."


That verse fits the ultimate meaning of true romance.

Something hidden, saved for just the right moment, bursting with love and power into the life of the receiver. God did that for the world. He lavished his most precious gift, "HIMSELF", through His Son in the most romantic gesture ever given. As the song says, this gift was "written in red"...blood red.

Jesus, Lover of My Soul!

Fasting in a "fast and furious" culture

Fasting. A topic that is not usually preached on. Something we plump Americans don't like to talk about. Oh we love our praise music, our singing, our Bible Studies, our youth group activities, but mention "fasting" and the room will get mighty quiet.

Trivia Question: Who was the first person in the Bible mentioned to fast? Answer: Moses. Also note that the Bible calls Moses the "most humble man on earth". HMMMM....there is a connection!

In our culture of personalized American "I have my rights" thinking, we don't like to think of giving up things. The selfish "name it and claim it" Christianity is more about getting, being blessed, etc. than in being crucified with Christ.

Growing up in the Baptist tradition, fasting was rarely mentioned or explained. We were too busy at the pot luck dinners for that! The past 3 or 4 years I felt led to fast or give up something during the Lent season. When I mentioned it to someone on staff at a prominant Baptist church, he scowled at me and said, "Now how can giving up something like food bring glory to God?" I was floored.

I'm relieved to be at a church that openly talks about fasting and openly practices it. It is a very Biblical topic, and Christ fasted. We as His disciples should follow Christ's model.

The Greek word for fasting is nesteia -- a compound of ne (a negative prefix) and esthio which means "to eat." So the basic root meaning of the word simply means "not to eat." Leviticus 16:29 gives another facet. This verse says that fasting is synonymous with "afflicting one's soul." We gain some insight here about how the Hebrews viewed fasting. Fasting is more than just "afflicting one's body". It is "afflicting one's soul."

Fasting is a Christian duty. There are two kinds of fasting:
Abstinence refers to lowering the quality of food, for example not eating sweets or coffee or meat.

Fasting refers to the quantity of food being lowered.

Fasting is an expression of wholeheartedness. This is clear from Joel's call to the nation of Israel: "Yet even now," says the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting. . ." (Joel 2:12).

How do you know when to pray and fast and when to just pray? That is not a question that someone else can always answer for you. But here is a principle: In God's word we always find fasting connected with a very troubled spirit or a very anxious heart before the Lord. So a reason for fasting is not something you choose on the spur of the moment. Rather the reason is a consuming one. In a sense, it's not something you choose, so much as something that chooses you, because it's that important.

Fasting can also be to prepare for a holy day in the church. There is only one fast command in the Bible and that was the fast on the Day of Atonement. This fast was from sunset of one day to sunset of the next (Leviticus 16:29;23:32). Since most of this time was sleeping hours, this was not a long time without food.

Biblical fasting is "not eating" with spiritual communication in mind. How do we know this? Because Biblical fasting always occurs together with prayer in the Bible - ALWAYS. You can pray without fasting, but you cannot fast (Biblically speaking) without praying. Biblical fasting is deliberately abstaining from food for a spiritual reason: communication and relationship with the Father.

Breakfast Butterscotch Oatmeal

INGREDIENTS
1 egg, beaten
1 3/4 cups milk
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons butter
optional: 1/2 raisins, 1/2 pecans, etc..


DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the egg, milk and brown sugar. Mix in the oats. When the oatmeal begins to boil, cook and stir until thick. Remove from the heat, and stir in butter until melted. Serve immediately.