. . . Defend the cause of the fatherless . . . Isaiah 1:17
Isn’t this what families are for? We stick together and help the weaker among us. Right?
I’m not a Catholic, but we’re all part of the family of man, right?
This from Life News:
“Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is at it again, bashing Catholics for their pro-life position when she has promoted abortion in defiance of Catholic Church teaching at every turn.
“This time, Pelosi is upset that the nation’s Catholic bishops are protesting a potential O**** administration decision forcing insurance companies to cover birth control, contraception and drugs that could cause abortions. They say certain religious groups may not be exempt from providing the insurance, which would violate their moral and religious views.”
And then Pelosi added, ” . . . they have this conscience thing . . . ”
Now. May I talk you into smoking a turkey sometime soon? We have found it a most welcome way to introduce turkey into a meal. Many people prefer the taste of it.
Some say smoked meats keep better because of substances in the smoke that penetrate the surface of the flesh. It makes sense if we consider that charcoal is a good purifier and preservative. This does not mean you need not refrigerate a turkey that has been smoked, but everything we can do to make meat safer to eat is probably wise.
It’s definitely the easiest way to prepare turkey.
Besides, don’t you think the Pilgrims smoked theirs?
Smoking food is not hard but you will need a smoker.
I saw one that a friend had built of brick and it made wonderful smoked chicken. If you have natural stone you could probably build a small smoker with almost no cost. I’ve heard of hanging meat down a chimney, but I know nothing factual about that and I am a terrible climber. A stainless steel smoker with electric start costs in the hundreds, too fancy for me. The most reasonably priced smoker at our local discount store is less expensive than a stand mixer, and comes with good instructions and recipes. When I consider how often we smoke something, it is worth it to me.
Do make or buy the type that can have a water pan and a temperature gauge. Our gauge says “ideal”, instead of 170 to 210 degrees, which is the ideal temperature range for hot smoking meat. (Cool smoking can take weeks.)
In a smoker like ours, which is a cylinder about three feet tall and eighteen inches in diameter, use about five pounds of charcoal. Light it (do not use petroleum type lighters) and wait for it to turn white, just as you would if grilling food.
At this point you may add a couple handfuls of green hardwood chips, such as hickory or apple, for extra flavor, or you can buy dry chips and soak them in water for this use. DO NOT ADD PINE OR OTHER SOFTWOODS. They give a chemical taste.
Place a wide enamel pan holding about a gallon or two of hot water over (not on) the charcoal. Set a wire shelf or grill on the pan and the turkey on this shelf. Close the smoker and wait 10 to 12 hours. The turkey is done. It is that easy.
If you bought a fresh turkey (or if you raised it yourself) you can serve this luscious food guilt-free and hassle-free. It even should have fewer calories than conventional recipes because it doesn’t stew in its own drippings; they drip off.
Apart from these quality improvements, the one great benefit of smoking a turkey is that it can make the celebration of God’s bountiful blessings much more fun. Giving thanks is supposed to be joyful and all are supposed to participate. Smoking the meat gives you more free oven space and more free time for other wonderful things like letting your children help.
I suggest you practice smoking meat a few times before trying any big important meal. You’ll need practice to learn to trust the temperature gauge and leave the smoker closed. Any loss of precious smoke and heat just slows you down. Do not open it, especially for bigger cuts of meat, unless the temperature shows that all is not well. Then you must open it and fix the fire. This rarely happens.
A smoked turkey will look raw, if you judge by color, for the meat will be pink, like ham. So the test should be for tenderness and meat temperature. Juices should run clear. Joints should be loose or separating.
It is better to plan to have your turkey done somewhat earlier than “on time”, about an hour or two. The extra time is for deboning. People want to get at the meat, not inspect a dead bird. Once deboned, it can be warmed in a pan with a few dribbles of water and a lid or foil over it, set into the oven at 350 degrees. A thorough heating should remove all doubts of safety for the cautious.
It smells and tastes good enough to eat!
Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy unto the Lord . . . Nehemiah 8:10.
I am not forgiven. In the book of Matthew 6:14-15, as Jesus is teaching His followers how to pray, He adds the admonition that if we do not forgive others, then God does not forgive us. Unforgiveness sounds like the unforgivable sin, to me!
I bind the sin to my children. In the book of Exodus 20:5-6, God tells us the consequences of unforgiven sin pass down to several generations. It makes sense. If I dwell on someone else’s sin for years, I start acting on this input. But there is more. If I am not forgiven, then instead of being in covenant with God, I covenant with His enemy. How can that bring any good?
I do not loose the sinner. In Matthew 16:19 and 18:18-35, even Jesus’ own followers had questions about forgiveness. (It’s always been a tough topic!) He then taught them: when we forgive something on earth, it is forgiven in Heaven. This very thing happened to Saul of Tarsus, who later changed his name to Paul. When Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 7:60,) his last words were of forgiveness for his killers, one of whom Saul was. What if Stephen had not forgiven him? Would we have the writings of Paul, today?
Here is what I used to teach my children when they were young and beginning to discover that relationship is not always all fun. Sometimes they would experience childish tussles and strike back or hold anger against others. So I said:
“If someone does something bad to you, it hurts. I know.
“But if you just do something back to them, it does not help you. You still hurt, and now they hurt, too. What good does that do?
“If you stay angry and then someone innocent comes along and, because of your hurt that you failed to get rid of, you strike out at that person, you STILL hurt, and that new person hurts, too.
“You are trying to get rid of your hurt by giving hurt to someone else. But when you give it to someone else, it does not mean they can take it AWAY from you. They may take it, but they cannot take it AWAY. You leave them hurting, too, and they may try to get rid of their hurt by giving hurt to yet someone else, who also cannot take it away.
“It’s a little like the flu. I can give it to you, but then I still have it; we both will have it. It just spreads.
“Only One person can take hurt AWAY, and that is God. If you give your hurt to Him, He can take it away from you and make you feel much better.”
Usually, if I talk on this subject, I ask everyone who has ever suffered unfair treatment to raise his hand.
This is not about illness, but about medical error. This is not about car wrecks, but about DUI. Ever suffer from either of those? This is not about miscarriages, but about forced abortions—I know you are out there.
If you have never suffered from someone mistreating you, then I KNOW you know someone else who has so suffered. It is altogether common.
I want to begin addressing it and giving you tools to help yourself or help that acquaintance. Someone you know needs this post and the ones that will follow, so listen up and spread the word.
Why Does Suffering Come to Us?
1. God. Common folks blame the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Why do we never blame any other presumed gods?!) But those who blame Him must first believe that He exists, so if you claim atheism or agnosticism, do NOT let it be because you blame what you consider a non-existent entity. Is that fair? Of course.
So if we believe He exists, if we believe He is “up there” to be blamed, then the main way we can know anything about Him is to consult His writings.
In His writings, we find that He made everything very good. Not messed up, like it is now.
It. Is. Not. His. Fault.
2. Man. God gave man choices, Life and Death, and we chose death. So here we are. He TOLD us, for our own good, what to do and we did the opposite, did not obey. Even today, even those who think maybe there is a God, even those who claim to love Him totally, do not always obey and thereby choose death. Admit it.
And what a lie, today, that the only way to be pro-choice is to choose death! Really, we do NOT think!
However, the only way God’s creation can work well, is if every part is working together, just like a motor or a body. Anything wonky messes up everything. We must fall in line with His business plan if we hope to benefit from all His goodness.
Many people do not line up with Him. They line up with His enemy, instead. This is the constant battle between good and evil. Helping the hurting. Protecting the innocent. Guarding the airports. It is a constant battle—even inside ourselves—to make any good thing happen, because of the constant attack on all things good.
3. Satan. According to the words of the God we are tentatively agreeing might exist, Satan hates God and all things good. So—he hates all creation. He personally hates every human being because they are all potential containers for God, his chosen enemy. He especially hates firstborn children, because they remind him of Jesus. Are you a firstborn? Ever notice anything?
To give himself significance, Satan thinks he must fight God. Steal! Kill! Destroy!—that is his motto. And his secret formula is to get man to join him. Anything he can do to trick man into cooperating with him, he will do, if he can. Anything to cause thievery, death, destruction will suit him just fine.
So, if you are not a Christian, you truly could say, “The devil made me do it.” But it doesn’t get anyone off the hook . . . .
Okay, all this was introduction. Tomorrow we begin the main deal and you won’t want to miss it, so sign up, so you won’t forget!
If this concept is new to you, it will be hard. Nevertheless, it is truth. You want the truth, I know. You want your husband to overcome. Reality is very important. If you are practicing witchcraft, you are opening the door to all the demons of hell to have their way with you and your family. You may not have heard of this before, but it’s in your Bible. You need to question why you’ve never heard of it.
Solution #4: Of course, the answer is to stop, confess, repent, renounce, and never look back. Let’s begin with the obvious, and this is not a complete list:
If you are now, or ever have done horoscopes, D&D, Ouija, etc., then you must stop.
Read occult fiction? Stop.
Watch occult movies? Stop.
Demonic computer games? Stop.
“Into” Indian religions? Stop.
TM, yoga, ninja, jujitsu, karate, etc., all have to go.
Own pagan statuary? It is an offense to God.
Throw all this, and any similar trash, into a big pile and burn it. Yes, burn it. Find people to pray with you. Find friends who believe God about what He said on these matters to explain to you: How much he meant what He said!
It’s an emergency. There is no time or room for arguing about this. You are in danger. Get help. You’ll love being free.
If you are thinking how good you are to be so free, you are the primary target of this post, because you do understand. So, look at one verse of Scripture, 1 Samuel 15:23: “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” Is the Lord already speaking to your heart?
Dear Sister, if you are rebelling against your husband’s leading, you are opening the door to witchcraft in your home. I know this is a heart-breaking Word, if you’re taking it seriously. Please, take it seriously. You are playing with fire.
When your husband expresses his will and your thoughts turn rebellious, you’re rebelling against God, similar to Saul. Your excuses are sounding like Saul’s. It doesn’t matter if your husband seems mistaken. It doesn’t matter if you are expert at the subject about which he reserves judgment. It doesn’t matter if his decisions are untimely, or even waste time. Nothing else matters if witchcraft is in the home. How unfair to expect good decisions from a man living alongside witchcraft!
The first move is up to you, no matter what your husband has done. Go to God and repent. Weep and wail for the misery that has and will overcome you. Then apologize to your husband. After that, you must commit the rest of your life to walk in submission to God, through your husband.
If you see you’ve caused the problem, do whatever you must to stop. How can anyone survive, spiritually, living within an invitation to witchcraft? Close the door to the enemy and watch your husband begin to walk freer. Watch your children begin to walk freer. Watch them begin to understand submission and submit more freely to you.
The enemy will hate this move. He’ll batter the windows of your soul with storms you never dreamed of. Don’t be afraid: fear is another storm to make you give up. Don’t give up. Close the windows. Walk in love for your Savior and for your husband. Love will give you bravery. Ask God to perfect your love for Him, and your family. His love will tame the raging rebellion lion. Then you’ll experience one of my favorite Scriptures: Ps 85:10 Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
It sounds so good, doesn’t it? It is good. It is the peace that passes all understanding, dwelling in your heart, your home, and your life—worth any price. Invite the Prince of Peace into your existence. You will never be sorry you did.
The truth is that our husbands face many draining words in the course of a normal day;
Those nagging words you speak: “Why can’t you remember a thing I say?!”
Those foretelling words his mother always spoke: “Darling, you know Mother wants you to avoid all the mistakes your father made!”
Those fiery words from the boss: “Herman, you just HAVE to shape up!”
All these words can work as curses with bad effects. They cause him to dwell on and believe in his faults, real or imagined, and to take his eyes off the Author and Finisher of his faith. These words tell him he is not good enough and perhaps never will be. He can easily sink into depression or despair instead of standing against the enemy.
Solution #2: Pray to break word curses spoken over your husband. Try this for a morning prayer: “In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I break every curse and negative word spoken over my husband, (name). I declare every curse and negative word spoken over my husband to be broken and null and void in the mighty name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, I ask you to put a hedge of protection around my husband’s soul and to guard and protect him from the evil one’s attacks.”
Then stop cursing him. Bless him. We are called to be a blessing, so…be one!
If you had a female roommate, would she stay with you if you talked to her the way you talk to and about your husband? Just because someone is bound to stay with you, by an oath before God, as your husband is, is no reason to take advantage of it and be mean. Tell him how much you appreciate something about him. Tell him you love him, but make it obvious, too.
Do not stop at speaking blessings, be a blessing.
Fix his favorite food, sometimes, just for him, even if it is barely this side of edible. One fried chicken dinner with gravy will go far in saying, “You matter to me,” even if you hope your kids grow up vegetarian. Create a space or two inside his “castle” where things are done his way, where he can feel like he’s at least part owner.
This also goes for when he is not present. Your friends are not being true if they are tempting you in the “roast hubby” game. Look at the Song of Solomon to see how the bride described her groom . . . all the girlfriends wanted to check him out by the time she finished! Your husband isn’t that perfect? Her husband worshiped idols and she likely had no choice in whom she married. How would you like that?
Yet her attitude was godly as ours should be, too.
Maybe you grew up in a matriarchal home.
Maybe you never even considered that your attitude and words could be adding to your problems.
Ask God’s forgiveness. Ask your husband’s forgiveness.
Then walk purely, as a blessing.
Or you cannot expect him to.
All you can expect, then, is bad attitudes in your children, and in your children’s children . . .
Everyone who comes to God must believe these two things:
That He exists
That He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
This is truth, according to His Word, which is what we must accept if we accept that He is there to deny, to hate, to dispute, to blame, to doubt, to question, to quote, to copy, to seek, to find, or to acknowledge.
Another truth: all God-haters must admit He exists or their whole life-work has been wasted, right? Same for blamers, questioners, etc. They just miss, entirely, the BENEFITS of His existence, because they do not, also, believe that He rewards, and would joyfully reward THEM.
But He does. He would.
So, it is mandatory to reward our children; we must raise them up in the discipline of the Lord. Reward is one way He disciplines us.
“What?!” you say. “I thought discipline meant things like time-out or skipping dessert!”
While unpleasant consequences are, indeed, a valid part of discipline, God’s Word also shows us that He adds rewards to His method of discipline, which He has commanded us to use.
Why do we fear rewards? I have heard parents say, “I refuse to bribe my children to do right.”
Again, we show our ignorance, because, according to the Word of Him Who requires we do right, bribery—rewarding to do WRONG—is wrong, and rewarding to do right is right.
God’s discipline also includes praise. Consider this: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant . . . ” Or: “This is My Beloved Son, in Whom I AM well pleased . . . “ We cannot deny that He does praise us, also.
So we should praise our own. This is truth.
There is one facet of all this truth that escapes notice, though.
Humility.
His Word says, “Humble yourself, therefore, under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time.”
His Word says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
As one of His most famous followers said, “He must increase; I must decrease,” and “I am not worthy even to untie His shoe . . .”
We sometimes hear someone who has received great praise saying something like, “Oh, you are setting me up for a fall!” referring to the Scripture that reads, “Pride goeth before a fall . . . “
Still we should praise and reward good jobs, wherever we see them, and especially in our children’s lives. Missing this facet of childhood has caused many adults to grow up warped, never praised, never rewarded, and also never pitied and probably never sent to the corner or switched when they needed that. Undisciplined, they grow up with no self-discipline and probably no healthy concept of God, either, since we learn those from our parents.
Many adults fail to praise or reward other adults, though, and a job well done can make a hurting person jealous. People raised wrong envy beauty, industry, discipline, etc., and often grow snarky instead of praising. We just have to forgive them.
However, it is God, not people, Who watches our ways to give us joy. Humans will praise and reward us, if that is God’s chosen pathway for our praise and rewards to come, but only in due time. He may, though, choose to use His audible voice, instead! Or, our rewards may mostly come in the next life.
But we don’t care. It is a joy to wait upon the Lord. So we patiently seek out His will and try hard to do right, for the joy of pleasing Him, and we humbly wait for that due time, when He will, most assuredly, reward us. Because He IS a rewarder.
And for the snarky-jealous? Maybe we should find some way to give them a bit of the praise they never got during childhood?
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