Saturday 28 November 2009

Vegan Double Chocolate Cookies

adapted from http://www.silksoymilk.com/recipes/chocolate-chip-cookies

½ cup vegan margarine
2/3 cups sugar
2 TBSP soy milk
1TSP vanilla
¼ cup cacao
1 cup flour
½ TSP baking soda
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Slowly add soy milk, cream well, then add vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, then fold in the chocolate chips.Drop by teaspoons on cookie sheets. Bake at 350°F degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Monday 23 November 2009

An undeserved moment with God

At the Starfield concert the singer told us to stretch out our arms to God, and a child reaches up to his father. This I did (which is somewhat unusual from me because I tend to go against whatever I am told to do in worship) and without much thought. But then I imagined God lifting me, as a small child, up, spinning me around, and loving me. I was safe, protected, and carefree. I felt Joy, peace and freedom. It was a time when I could do nothing but be with God, and that was enough. I rested in his arms.
Juxtaposition:
I looked at my own life, and what I had felt didn’t seem to line up. I had been running on my own strength, feeling busy, not rested. Strong, not weak. Burdened, not free. Like I had to shield myself, rather than finding a refuge in God.
God, show me how I can live in your arms, in your strength and in your rest. In your love, and under your care and protection.

"The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing." ~Zephaniah 3:17

"as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you." ~Isaiah 62:5

Monday 8 June 2009

GOOD NEWS!!!!!

Luke 18:9-14

9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about[a] himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
13"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

God had mercy, I am perfect!

The standards are set high. The Bible commands us not to murder, it then goes on to say that being angry at someone could be just as bad. It tells us not to commit adultery, but then goes on the say that a lustful look is just as bad. We are commanded to love our neighbour as ourselves, not to be afraid, and to give without expecting anything in return. We are called to a high standard, and if we break one small part of the law, then we are guilty of breaking it all. Jesus sums up what is required of us in Matthew 5:48. We are to be perfect.
Yesterday I realized something. I am perfect! I haven’t killed anyone, so I figure I am doing pretty well. However, in grade 4, I was angry at my friend. I became so angry in fact that caused her to die in the story I was writing about us. It was a few years later when I realized the full extent of how horrible that had been. I was, in a sense, a murderer. There is not much perfection in that. My perfection comes not from what I do. No tithing will make up for my sin. No volunteer efforts will reverse my selfishness.
The calling is high. We all fail and nothing we do can make up for our short comings, but the tax collector went home justified before God. He was acceptable in God’s sight, and God accepts only those who live up to the standards. The tax collector was made right in the sight of God. God saw him as perfect!
God can see us as perfect because he sees Jesus when he looks on us. Christ took for us the debt owed for our sins. He paid it for none of us could have.
I cry out “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” And, he does! This is good news. This is exciting! I am justified before God. My sin has been taken away, and I am perfect!
I must never become like the Pharisees. Far be it from me to think that I can stand before God because of what I have done. It is his grace alone which allows me into his Holy Presence. I have been let into his Presence, a way has been made for me, and since it is a Holy Presence, then logically only that which is perfect could stand before God. I am perfect. I can stand.
God I Thank you for your great love: the mercy and grace you have showered upon me. Your grace is enough. There are no works which bring me closer to you. It is only by grace that I can approach your throne. Amen and Amen!

Thursday 7 May 2009

Beautiful Beyond description

The bus came promptly so I got on, and there in the very back of the bus was a guy and a girl (let's say late 30's) and well, I sat in the furthest back forward facing seat that is not the very back and kinda listened as she slurred her words, and asked "for a swig of that."
She was definitely drunk, and while I questioned his soberness, he was definitely better off than she was.
As the bus rode down the road she asked someone for a light, no one responded to her question, and the man told her that she couldn't ask for a light on the bus.
A while later she asked "What time is it” I turned around to face her and answered "7:49” she slurred back angrily "I wasn't talking to you." But at this time I had a short chance to observe. Definitely, wrapped in a paper bag, was a bottle of beer.
The main thing that kept entering my mine was that I shouldn't fear; not only that, but I was concerned to do anything that would make me look afraid. I just sat where I was, never turning around, but listening.
The bus stopped and a number of people got off. At this point, the driver took the opportunity to confront the couple. I could not hear what he said, and I do not know if he asked them to leave, or just to get rid of the alcohol. Either way, they seemed surprisingly willing to get up and leave.
I watched then as they stood outside the bus; the man supporting the woman. Again, she put the bottle to her lips, but he had had enough. He ripped the bottle from her hand, and though she tried to forbid him, she was unsuccessful. She stomped off in defeat while he poured the drink onto the thirsty ground, threw the bottle in the waste bin, and then ran off after her.
He loved
He cared
He pursued
I don't know if he caught up to her, nor how their story ends, for the bus drove away. A song contemplating God's greatness came into my mind, and I started to sing it, as if to comfort myself. That situation, and God's goodness clashed so severely, that I wasn't sure how to handle that. I changed the words to the song

There is brokenness beyond description
Pain to deep for words
Too hopeless for comprehension
Like nothing I have seen or heard
Who can grasp the depth or her hurting?
Who can fathom the full of her guilt?
There is brokenness beyond description
Sickness and despair

You're still, You're still
In love with her
You're still, You're still
In love with her
Holy God to whom all praise is due
You're still in love with her

And then as I walked home from the bus, there was one more song I found fitting

You are the God of the Broken
Friend of the weak
You washed the feet of the weary
Embraced the ones in need
I want to be like you Jesus
To have your heart in me
You are the God of the Humble
You are the Humble King

To have that heart in me: Oh God I pray that I may have your heart in me; to love the Broken and be friends with the weak. Even if they are weak because they are drunk, oh God, you love them. Give me a love that overpowers my fears. God, so many are weary, so many are in need; give me your heart for all who I come across. Amen.

Thursday 5 February 2009

I am in a place I never thought I would go to...

Meat is not Green
I never thought I would become a vegetarian, though, when I slowly started such behaviours it didn’t seem so far off any more. Even during the last few months of not buy much meat I never thought I would become a vegan... but here I am... thinking.
I am not a Vegan.
I don’t think I will ever become a vegan. I have always felt so blessed to not have food allergies, and be able to accept food from people, and have no reason to be picky. I value my ability to eat everything, so I still don’t want to be picky.
That being said I have a beef with the meat industry. If you know me at all, you probably realize that I do not care very much about animals, though I think I should, and I don’t like the thought of animal cruelty. However, even if there were no animals hurt or killed in the meat industry I still have this against them: they harm the environment and oppress the poor.
God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, is whom I follow. He made a wonderful world, allowed us to live in it and asked us to care for it. Respect for God involves respecting his creation. As I look into the meat industries environmental effects, the statistics I find are repulsive. Animals poop a lot, and when their waste, ends up in water system, this is just not a happy situation. The United Nations has labelled the meat industry as one of the most environmentally destructive forces both globally and locally. It produces more greenhouse gases than all cars, truck, ships and planes combined.
“According to Environmental Defense, if every American skipped one meal of chicken per week and substituted vegetarian foods instead, the carbon dioxide savings would be the same as taking more than a half-million cars off U.S. roads."
Not only is meat industry responsible for a large portion of pollution, it also carelessly uses resources. It takes 16 pounds of grain to create 1 pound of meat. The rain forest is being cut down, not only to provide a place for cow to be farmed, but to grow food for them. About 80% of agricultural land in the U.S. is used in some way for animal production. The world’s cattle alone consume more calories than is needed for 8.7billion people, which is more than this world’s population. It takes 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat; this seems like a lot (and I don’t even know how big a gallon is) until it is compared with the 2500 gallons of water required to produce a pound of meat; in fact, if the water used in the meat industry was not subsidized, it would cost 35 dollars per pound of hamburger meat. Over half of the utilized water in America is used to produce feed for livestock and provide them with water. I cannot justify supporting an industry that is blatantly devastating the world God created and continue to claim that I follow him.
There is something more important to me than all the trees in this world. On the sixth day of creation God created people in his image, and he saw that his creation was very good. Throughout the scriptures God commands us to care for the poor, and Jesus came to preach the good news to the impoverished. As a follower of Christ I have been called to care for the poor, look after the needy and love. Developing countries that are dying of starvation, are exporting their grain to feed cows.
“Human beings who could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by U.S. livestock: 1,300,000,000Number of people who will starve to death this year: 60,000,000
Number of people who could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 60,000,000”
Just not eating meat will not get that food to the world’s poor, but it is standing up against something that is wrong, and reducing my carbon footprint, as I fight for justice.
The first change is to change myself. I have decided against supporting the world’s meat industry in any way. This, sadly includes giving up purchasing milk and eggs. If someone has barbequed me a steak, I am going to eat it rather than let it go to waste, but I am going to try my best to do nothing that will support the meat industry. If I get offered milk, and I know I have other options and that my consumption will cause the other person to need to get more milk sooner, then I sure hope I do not accept it. This will be hard, real hard, but if it is wrong, then it is wrong and I want nothing to do with it.
"It now seems plain that [a vegan diet] is the only ethical response to what is arguably the world's most urgent social justice issue." –The Guardian
My facts are from:
Deep vegetarianism: http://books.google.ca/books?id=Z0s3X_vh1_EC&pg=PA95&lpg=PA95&dq=meat+industry+injustice&source=web&ots=8mA-QcLh45&sig=JlaFHyzceBYBcpN6bSa5WzKCh7M&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=9&ct=result#PPA100,M1
GoVeg.com
EarthSave: http://www.earthsave.org/support/index.htm
Animal Liberation Front: http://www.animalliberationfront.com/
Vegan Outreach:http://www.veganoutreach.org/

James 5:1-6
Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing you.

Tuesday 6 January 2009

Confessions:

How can I expect to please you
When we live so far away
When will my life have meaning
If I’m wandering astray
Is there a reason to be good
If I am pursuing it sadly
Will anything be worth doing
If you are not with me

My fearsome efforts are folly
My friendships just a joke
Feeble hands left lonely
A punch is just a poke

Waiting for you to do magic
Breathe life all around
But I am chasing fantasies
That’s a wearing me down

"God, save me from my self
I just can’t make it on my own
I just can’t make it on my own
I just can’t make it on my own

And hold me to your side" Dayzwage