The time is near....

I had a dream this morning that the day of the rapture was being preached from pulpits across the land. In the dream, Christians were preparing, because they knew the day that Christ was coming back. Christians were closing down their shops and giving away their possessions in anticipation for Christ's return. There was a supernatural feeling in the air like no other. Christians were deemed as crazy by nonbelievers. It was a very strange world, but then again it was a dream.

I woke up thinking, What would be different if Christians did know the day of Christ's return? How would we act? Would we be more actively telling nonbelievers about God's love for them? Would we be more giving and loving? Or would we just act like it was every other day and go about our normal business? The time is near though. The Bible says that we don't and won't know when, but that we should be looking forward to Christ's return.

Romans 13 says....8Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet,"and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 10Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

The time is near.....are you ready?

Easy Chicken Parmesan

This is the recipe that everyone oooohhh's and aahhh's over. It is also one of the reason's that my husband married me. My husband and I love Semolina's International Pasta, so I looked at their Chicken Parmesan and made up a recipe based on what I thought it had in it. Recently, I have simplified this even further, but not using the bread crumb crust. I will write down both ways of doing it and let you decide what is best!

You will need for the traditional recipe:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup Italian bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus some extra for sprinkling on top

1 egg, beaten

1/4 cup oil, your favorite kind...I use olive oil.

Adobe seasoning, found in the Latin foods isle of your local grocery, if not use garlic salt.

1 jar of your favorite tomato based red sauce, I like Ragu Robusto! Parmesan and Romano

1 container of your favorite alfredo sauce, I like to make my own and will post that recipe soon, but in a pinch I use Buitoni in the refrigerated section.

1/2 box of your favorite pasta, I like Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta because it has fiber and fills me up faster and longer.

Start your water to boiling and set out all your ingredients.

Pound your chicken breasts out to your desired thickness. I cut the chicken breasts in half to get 4 breasts, so I can stretch my grocery budget and keep from stretching my waistline. Sprinkle each one with a little Adobe.

Mix the cheese and bread crumbs.

Dredge the chicken breasts in the egg then the bread crumbs.

Fry the breaded chicken breast in the oil until completely cooked through.

While cooking the chicken breasts, I heat the two sauces in the microwave and cook the pasta. I'm also swinging my daughter in the swing that hangs in the dinning room doorway too, but that is totally optional for you. Yup, I can mulitask!

Drain the pasta. Drain the chicken on paper towels and prepare assembly.

Toss the pasta with the alfredo sauce. Make a mound of pasta on each plate. Top the pasta with a piece of chicken and then ladle some red sauce on top. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

If you want to simplify this further, don't beat or bread the chicken and cut the oil down to just 2 tablespoons.

Yummy!!!

Desire

What is desire? According to Webster’s, it is “to wish, long for, crave, or covet.” Vine’s Dictionary of the Bible, it is “a craving or lust.” Vine’s also reminds us that there are good desires and evil desires. So often in our lives, we pray for healing, for financial blessings, for peace, for freedom from trials and trouble, but often our desires are not God’s desires. Sometimes, I think God allows us the suffering to bring complete glory to Himself. We have to go through the valley to get to the mountaintop. No one desires to live in the valley of life, but the valley is where God is actively teaching through love and compassion. Sometimes, we desire to do things for God, but He tells us to wait. David desired to build the temple, which was a Godly desire, but not God’s will for him. God. What is your deepest desire? Is it for a quick end to a painful situation that you are in, is it a Godly desire that may not be God’s will for your life or is it that God would be praised in all of your life experience?
Max Lucado says it so perfectly, “In all of our thoughts, all of our actions, in every part of our character, the ruling principle that motivates and guides us should be the desire to follow Christ in doing the will of the Father.” Psalm 40:8 "I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart."Proverbs 11:23 "The desire of the righteous ends only in good. . ."

Seeker Sensitive Ministry

Seeker Sensitive Ministry: It is all the rage now among churches. Churches are foregoing the preaching about sin, Hell and God, for a softer, gentler approach to ministry. Churches are evolving from the core valued taught in the Bible to fit the marketing strategies of the business world. Serving lattes and crumb cake with their scripture, seeker sensitive churches focus on the personal needs of people in the here and now, not the spiritual needs of people. Sermons are short, light and heavily decorated with humor. Pastors are becoming more like Jay Leno than Billy Graham. Seeker sensitive churches have gone so far as to say that churches need to remove the cross from the church's identity. Smaller churches look at the mega churches and try to figure out what they are doing right. Mega churches are able to offer lots of services; child care, workout rooms, private schools, fellowship groups. Mega churches are doing opinion polls to find out what people want in a church rather than looking to God to lead their church.

What does the Bible say about "seeker sensitivity"?

1. 1Peter 4:14 “If you are rejected for the name of Christ, Blessed are you, for the spirit and glory of God rests upon you."

2. Luke 6:22,23 “Blessed are you when men hate you, when they reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for Joy! For great is your reward in Heaven. . ."

3. 2 Timothy 4:2 "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction."

4. John 15:18-20"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘a slave is not greater than his master,’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also."

Today, my dad challenged me to study Psalm 119. Although, I have read it many times before, one verse jumped out at me tonight. Psalm 119:139:

My zeal wears me out, for my enemies ignore your words.

Oh! that we all had a zeal for our enemies like the psalmist! Where is your church? Are your trying to make everyone comfortable? Are you trying to entertain instead of correct, rebuke and encourage? Are you focused on providing services or teaching eternal life?

One more passage....For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." Romans 1:16-17

We are all called to tell people about this gift we have been given by Christ. The Bible says some will be offended. We can not stay silent any longer! Let the Holy Spirit move!

In the Garden

Nebraska is a wonderful and magical place in my mind’s eye. I moved there when I was five and left when I was 11. I miss the snow up to my thighs and the streets that are lined up in perfect rows and columns that are numbered for ease of getting around. I miss getting lost in the cornfields when the stalks were taller than my daddy. When my family moved to Nebraska, we moved into a house with a large backyard. The yard had two of my favorite things, a garden and a swing. That vegetable garden taught me several lessons about life. Mom and Dad would take us out and give us hoes and rakes to break up the dry brown earth. It was some of the hardest work I have ever done. We would make perfect rows of beans, corn and cucumbers. “Don’t put the seeds too close together.” Mom would tell me. I never understood why we couldn’t just scatter all the seeds like we did the radish seeds. I do now; crowded plants like people struggle for light and resources. As the garden was beginning to sprout new life, we would go out and hoe again to give the sprouting seeds a better chance to grow. Dad taught me to recognize the weeds from the important stuff in the garden and in life. In the fall, we would take bushel baskets to the garden and harvest the fruits of our labor. My parents showed me how to tell when the vegetables were ready for picking and the patience to wait on those that weren’t.

Christianity is like a garden, We have to sow the seeds of the Gospel carefully and on good soil. We need to tend to the tender seedlings as they are growing. We have to hoe the weeds of sin and worldly influence out of the garden to help young plantings grow strong. Finally at harvest time, we have to realize that not all of the garden will be ready to harvest at the same time, but loving patience will prevail.