Sunday, May 29, 2011

Saints, Heroes, and Heroines Part 2

Today I am going to begin sharing with you a partial list of some of my favorite heroes.  In the future, I will share a little more in depth about some of my favorites.  For now, it will just be a list to give you some ideas for the next time you go to the library.  By the way, your library probably won't carry most of these, but they can order any of these books for you.  These are not listed alphabetically.

These books are all published by YWAM:

Amy Carmichael:  missionary to India
William Carey:  missionary to India
Mary Slessor:  missionary to Africa's Calabar region
Corrie Ten Boon:  Imprisoned for hiding Jews during Hitler's reign of terror. She wrote her own story in a book  titled,"The Hiding Place".
William Booth: founder of Salvation Army
Hudson Taylor: missionary to China
Eric Liddell:  Refused to participate in Olympic race which ran on Sunday, he also became a missionary to China
Jim  Elliot:  One of 5 missionaries who died  at the hands of the Auca Indians  with whom they hoped to share the gospel.
Nate Saint: missionary pilot, also killed by the Auca Indians.
Gladys Aylward:  maid turned missionary  to China.  She made a daring rescue of many Chinese children through the mountains.
Betty Greene:  helped to found MIF Missionary Fellowship Aviation
Lottie Moon:  missionary to China. Her life inspired the Lottie Moon Christmas offering each year with the Southern Baptists.

Other heroes from assorted publishers:
George Mueller: founded an orphanage and was an excellent example of a person of prayer.  He made the orphans needs known only to God to demonstrate God's power. The book is, "The Autobiography of George Mueller".
Fanny Crosby:  famous hymn writer who wrote hundreds of hymns as a blind person.
Billy Graham: world famous evangelist.  His autobiography is titled ,"Just As I am". A good dvd about his life is, "Billy the movie"
Ruth Graham:  wife of Billy Graham, daughter of missionary doctor, Nelson Bell.  A wonderful book about her life is titled, "Ruth A Portrait".
Monsignor Hugh O'Flaherty: ran an escape operation for Allied POW'S and civilians, including Jews.  The book is titled, "The Vatican Pimpernel"  .  There is also an excellent movie about his life starring Gregory Peck, titled,"The Scarlet and the Black". (He is probably one of my favorites)
Father Damien missionary priest to a leper colony.  A book about his life is:"The Heart of Father Damien. A movie about his life is:"Molaki theStory of Father Damien.
Father John Bosco:  an Italian priest who put his faith into practice by starting an orphanage for boys  who were living on the street.  He started the Salesian Society who still help orphans today.  The movie about his life is,"Saint John Bosco Mission to Love".
Pope John Paul II, book is:,"Man of the Century"
Maria von Trapp:  an extraordinary woman who raised a dozen children and was the faith filled woman who wrote the book," Trapp Family Singers", most of you will be more familiar with the movie about part of her life in, "The Sound of Music".
Doctor Walter Wilson:  a doctor who evangelized hundreds of his patients and any person who God brought into his path.  One of his many books is titled, "Just What the Doctor Ordered".




                       

King Ranch Chicken


Ingredients:
1/4 cup margarine
1 medium green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 can cream of mushroom soup\1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Ro tel tomatoes  (hot or mild)
2 cups cooked deboned chicken
12 tortillas, torn into pieces
2 cups shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Spray pan with Pam.   Saute onions and bell peppers in butter.  Add the soups, Ro tel and chicken.  Heat through. Make 3 layers of tortillas, the chicken mixture and then the cheese.  Bake for 40 minutes.

Bread and Butter Pickles

Ingredients
2 1/2 pounds pickling cucumbers (I just used my regular garden cucumbers-you want to use very fresh)
1 pound white or yellow onions
1/4 cup pickling salt
1 1/4 cups white distilled vinegar
1 cup apple cider vinegar
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 Tbls mustard seeds
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon celery seeds
1 inch cinnamon stick
6 whole allspice berries, plus a pinch of ground allspice
6 whole cloves, plus a pinch of ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon turmeric

5 pint sized canning jars(sterilized) plus unused lids and rings
1 16 quart canning pot with lid
jar lifter or tongs
wide mouthed funnel

Method

1. Rinse and scrub the cucumbers, removing all dirt. Slice off 1/8 inch from each end and discard.  Slice 1/4 inch and place in a large bowl.  Thinly slice the onions and add to the cucumbers.  Pour the salt evenly on the cucumbers and onions.  Stir to completely cover. Cover with a clean thin tea towel.  Put about 2 inches of ice on top of this.  Place the bowl in the fridge for four hours.




2. Sterilize your jars by placing them in your canning pot.  Cover with water, bring to boil and then turn fire down to keep them warm.
3. In a 4 or 6 quart pot, place the vinegar and all of the spices.  Bring to a boil and then add the cucumbers and onions (first, you must take ice off and discard, then rinse the cucumbers twice in a bowl of water, discarding the water and re filling the bowl with fresh water).  Bring to a boil a second time, then turn off the fire.

4.  Use the tongs to remove a jar (pouring the water back into the canning pot).  Use a slotted spoon to fill each jar with the pickles and onions. Pack the jar to 1 inch from the top.  Next, fill the syrup into the jar to 1/2 inch from the top.  Wipe the jar off with a clean paper towel.  Put the lids and rings on the jars.  Place the jars back into the hot water in the canning pot.  Bring to a boil and boil for 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Remove jars from pot and let cool.  You will hear a popping sound as each jar cools and their will be a slight indentation in the lid if it seals properly.  If this fails to do this, keep the jar in the fridge.  The jars must seal properly to keep out bacteria.  If you follow directions this shouldn't be a problem.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Saints, Heroes, and Heroines

        Over time, I  would like to share with you some of my favorite saints, heroes, and heroines.  By saints I do not mean those that have been canonized by the Catholic Church, although some of them have been.  By saints, I mean a Christian who has led an exemplary life of faith and courage and is worthy of imitation.

One problem in our modern culture is to think of a saint merely as a person in heaven, someone so perfect in holiness that we  would never consider ourselves as ever being saint material.  Today, I want to encourage you that if you are a Christian, then you are a saint.  With that realization should come a very sobering thought that we should live like the saints we are called to be.  Some people in this world have had their hearts hardened towards belief in Jesus as a result of knowing someone who called themselves a Christian, but didn't live like a saint.

I would like to share with you a few scriptures on the topic of saints.  In the future, I will share with you some of my favorite saints, heroes, and heroines.  We are living in a culture where it is getting harder to find men and women who are worthy role models who would inspire us to greater lives of love, service, and faith.  I hope to encourage you with some of the worthy people that I have discovered.

You will notice that I want to include heroes and heroines as well.  Not all heroes and heroines are saints,but all saints are either heroes or heroines.  Some of my examples will be people who have had a great impact spiritually and others will be inspirational lives from history.  Some examples that I share will be saints that I know or have known in this life.

Here are some scriptures to start your own thinking:

First of all, we have some responsibilities towards other saints.
1. We are to pray for other saints

 Ephesians 6:18:  With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit , and with this in view, be on the
  alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints.

2. We are to minister to the needs of other saints.
    Hebrews 6:10: For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward      
    His name, in having ministered and in still ministering to the saints.

3.We are to contribute to the needs of the saints.
   Romans 12:13...contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality...

4. We are to live lives of integrity.
   Ephesians 5: 3 and 4:
   But do not let immorality or any impurity or greed even be named among you, as is proper among saints,
   and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather of giving
   thanks.

5. We have the help of the Holy Spirit.
    Romans 8:27:  ...and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He
    intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

6.We will be with Jesus when He returns.
   1st Thessalonians 3:13:  ...so that He may establish your hearts unblamable  in holiness before our God and
    Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

In future posts, I will begin sharing with you some of my favorite saints, heroes, and heroines.  If you are looking for something positive to do with your children this summer, I encourage you to pick a few biographies of some of these exciting Christian heroes.  Some of my favorites are missionaries. YWAM publishers writes some great missionary books.  Look them up on the internet.  They even include unit study books to enrich your studies.  You could end each study with a special meal including foods from the country of your current missionary hero. Have a special time of prayer, thanking God for this hero of the faith.  Ask God to help develop in you the qualities in this saint's life that would bring glory to God.
 

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Squash halves stuffed with ground beef

6 medium yellow summer squash and or zucchini
salt and pepper
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup green onion
2 Tbls butter (I skipped this)
1 cup tomato sauce
2 slices bread, torn in small pieces
grated Parmesan cheese

Slice squash in half, lengthwise and par boil for 20 minutes.  Drain and scoop out (like you would for twice baked potatoes).  Mash up and add salt and pepper.
Brown onions , celery and ground beef in butter. If you have grease afterwards, drain the grease.
Add tomato sauce, squash and bread crumbs.
Place squash halves in a  9 by 13 dish, sprayed with Pam.  Scoop the meat-squash mixture into shells.  Top with Parmesan cheese.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.