Book Review - The Murder of Jesus

I am always amazed at the impact the Cross still has on me. To the Christian, the Gospel should never cease to astonish us. Jesus died for us while we were still sinners and that just shakes me to the core. The torture and shame that He endured for someone as worthless as me momentarily brings me to a sense of unworthiness (and rightly so); but then elates me and makes me forever thankful for His salvation. It brings the quote: "God doesn't love me because I am special. I am special because God loves me" to a heightened understanding.

The Murder of Jesus magnifies the last hours of Jesus' life and provides a lot of information of all the surrounding factors that lead to the death of our Savior. The whole book is an exegesis of arguably the most crucial point in Christian history. John MacArthur uses all four Gospels wonderfully as he unravels the story of, as MacArthur states, "the worst crime ever committed". He also provides information about the world of the Pharisees and other religious leaders. He goes into the Greek of many important words several times throughout the book in order for us to get a better grasp of what the author was trying to emphasize. Several times he does give just his personal opinion on things, but he is always clear to say that it is just that, an educated opinion.

Jesus says in John 10:17-18: "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life —only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.” This statement resounds throughout the book. The evil that was done to Jesus confounds us, but it is still easy to forget that Jesus was in control of what was done to Him. Not for one second, did He lose control of the situation.  He allowed this to happen. Jesus even told Pilate in John 19:11 who truly was in control! 


This book was a great read and I recommend it to anyone that is wanting to learn more about the surrounding factors of the trial and execution of Jesus. Because of it, I love my Savior even more for what He did for me and it opened my eyes even more to the sovereignty of God. 

Warnings: The book is not nearly as violent as it could have been. So this book is appropriate for younger readers.
Pages: 243
Rating: 8 stars out of 10
Click here to order the book through Amazon


John MacArthur included a webpage for this book. Click here to view more commentary and information about the murder of Jesus.

The Children of Henry VIII - Book Review

I just can't get enough of this part of history! These stories are better than any soap opera just because they were true! This book covers the stories of Henry VIII's 3 children: Mary, Elizabeth and Edward; and his great-niece Jane Grey - she is also known as the "9 days queen". 
The unbelievable drama of Henry VIII did not end with his death and this book tells of the incredible events that shaped religious methodology and eventually affected every American Christian. If you own a Bible written in English, you can thank this era and the many who died to give the people the Word of God. After the death of Henry VIII, beliefs on polar opposite sides battled for the "true" religion to reign in England. Power swayed between the Church of England and Catholicism and back again. All this lead to was torture, betrayal, intrigue and martyrdom and both sides suffered. You feel sorry for every single one of Henry VIII's children as they all struggle to survive as rulers - most don't.

If you are a lover of Tudor history this is a great read. Alison Weir is an excellent writer and doesn't leave you too long bored with tons of trivial information.

One thing that I didn't like too much was that it didn't speak any on Elizabeth's reign. The book ends with Elizabeth accepting the honor of becoming Queen of England. 

You can order the book here.

I give this book 7 out of 10 stars
It is 366 pages.

God - The Evidence Book Review

The back of this book says: Is Science Uncovering the Face of God?

I picked up this book because it sounded interesting. As a Christian, my faith is not based on science, at all. That is why it is faith. God does not need to prove Himself to me, it is innate in all of us to "know" that there is a God up there. Some just refuse to believe, and point to science as a reason for their unbelief. On the contrary, science is pointing more and more to a Designer and many scientists - because of their refusal to be lowered from their god-status - are forced to take different approaches or make things up to twist their results to their beliefs. Science to me, just brings a new dimension to my faith. I adds to my faith. It compliments it. Faith comes from hearing, not from a science book. Now can revelations in new scientific discoveries open the eyes of a non-believer, of course, but true faith is not based on science, but on who the Holy Spirit points you to - Jesus.

Saying that, this book should be read by the mature Christian. Every chapter contains information to compliment a Believer's faith. Some of the stuff in it is great! It basically proves God exists. The only problem I had with the book is that the author quotes Gandhi quiet a bit towards the last chapter, and the last chapter leaves room for a different way to get to Heaven. So please beware, Christian reader of the last chapter in the book which speaks exponentially on near-death-experiences.

Other than that, the book was great and really got me excited about the new discoveries that are pointing towards God. Other books I would recommend if this topic interests you is Lee Strobel's "Case For" books. You can start your search for these books here.

If you would like to purchase God - The Evidence click here.

I give this book 7 out of 10 stars
It is 169 pages long

Asado de Puerco

This is a very easy dish and is a bit on the spicy side. So if jalapeños are tough for you to eat, you might want to use only 4 chiles instead of the 7.  This is an authentic Mexican dish that is popular in Northern Mexico. I used, as a base, a recipe from "The Authentic Mexican" cookbook, but I did tweak it a bit. I added the flour and peanut butter to thicken the sauce. The peanut butter gave it a smoother texture and removed some of the heat. Click here to buy the book. This came out just perfect! I made some home made flour tortillas to go with it!

Ingredients:

7 Medium dried New Mexico chiles, stemmed and seeded
3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1/2 an onion diced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. cumin
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. pork shoulder cut into 1 inch cubes
2 C water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp. flour
4 tbsp. peanut butter

Directions:
1. Heat a cast iron pan over medium heat and place the chiles on the skillet. Be sure to lay them flat. Toast them on both sides by pressing down on them with the back side of some tongs. Do this for only about 2-3 minutes on each side. You will see them change colors. Then cover them with water and submerge them for about 30 minutes in the water, then drain and reserve 1 cup of the liquid.

2. Transfer the chiles, the reserved water, the garlic, the onions, the cumin and the oregano onto a blender. Blend until smooth.

3. Using the same pan, heat the oil and brown the pork cubes until they have just turned brown. About 8 minutes.

4. Add the puree in the blender to the pan and continue to cook until the sauce turns darker. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to get all the pieces of the pork. Cook for a total time of 5 minutes or so.

5. Transfer the pork and puree mixture to a bigger pot and add 2 cups of water and salt. Bring heat to a low simmer.

6. Whisk in flour and peanut butter.  Simmer over medium heat for 1 hour add more salt if needed. Stir occasionally.

 I hope you enjoy this delicious dish!

Anna

Sherlock Holmes - A Game of Shadows - Movie Review

What a fantastic movie! Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law do a marvelous job in the second movie of Sherlock Holmes! If you loved the first movie, you will absolutely love love love the second one! I will even say that it is better than the first! This movie is definitely going on my Christmas wish list!

In the movie, Sherlock Holmes is dealing emotionally with facing the reality of his best friend (Watson) being married. There is also another crisis afoot and Holmes again menacingly lures Watson into another case. The cinematography is phenomenal and there are several "Holmes' views" in the movie where everything is done in super slow motion with pain-staking detail.

Of course, there are scenes that just plain crack you up and scenes where you're squirming in your seat. Thankfully the movie is free of vulgar language and sexuality.

There is a scene were Watson, at his bachelor party, becomes intoxicated. There is also another scene where both, Holmes and Watson are intoxicated. There is partial nudity scene of Mycroft (Holme's brother), walks around the house naked. His backside is shown, but there is NOTHING sexual about it. Some girls swing on some trapeziums but they are modestly dressed. There is smoking throughout the movie. There is a scene where Holmes dresses up like a woman and there are some sexual insinuations while Holmes and Watson wrestle on the ground. There is a pretty brutal torture scene where Holmes is suspended by a butcher's hook. There are several fight scenes where bones are broken.

Movie length: 129 minutes
Rating: PG-13

My Rating: 10 out of 10

Wheat Challah Bread - Recipes

Our family just enjoys Challah bread. My son loves to smell it! I have to keep them away from this bread with yells and scolds!  I usually use this recipe with normal flour, but decided to use wheat flour this time. With the weather being a little cold outside, the smell of freshly baked bread just makes you feel all warm inside. I can't wait for my husband and the kids to come home to the smell of this delicious bread. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 packages dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
2 Cups very warm water
1/4 C sugar
1/4 C oil
4 tsp salt
3 eggs slightly beaten
1/2 C honey
7 1/2 C wheat flour

Topping:
Egg Wash ( 1 egg with 1 Tbsp water mixed well)
Sesame seeds (optional)

In a large bowl mix the yeast and water well. Add sugar, oil, salt, and eggs. Mix well. Add roughly 3 cups of flour. Mix until there are no lumps. Then add honey and mix in. Let mixture rest for about 5 minutes. Gradually add the rest of the flour (4 1/2 cups).  Oil board and hands and knead for 10 minutes. Put dough back in bowl, cover and let rise for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size. Once the dough has doubled, punch down dough and cut in half. (This amount makes two rings). Cut your half into three pieces and roll out into long ropes. Braid the ropes by placing one rope in the middle and then making an X with the other two ropes on top of the middle rope.  Braid one side down and then the other side. Pinch the ends and tuck them under. Then brush on egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds.


Bake for 25-30 minutes at 375 degrees.

If you hit the bread lightly with the back of a spoon,
and it sounds hollow, it's ready!

Blessings!

5 Signs You Are a Mature Christian

I received this list from episode 822 on wretchedradio.com. All other commentary is mine. Hope this helps your walk in your faith!

1. A mature believer has an appetite for meat.
The mature Christian has stopped drinking milk as a source of nourishment. (Hebrews 5:13). He is never comfortable in his/her faith and always desires to grow more spiritually even if it is slowly. (2 Peter 3:18) The mature Christians enjoys dissecting a verse word by word and loves to hear and read the Word. The meat-eating Christian no longer harbors jealousy, quarrels or finds his identity in anything of this world, but he/she has put those things away and has an identity that is found in Christ (I Corinthians 3:2-3; Galatians 2:20) A mature Christian knows how to defend his faith not just by the way he/she lives, but because he/she has studied God's Word profoundly (2 Timothy 2:15) He also knows to rely on the Holy Spirit when preaching, interpreting and/or teaching. (I Corinthians 2:13)




2. It is seldom that a mature believer feels offended.

Mature Christians aren't easily offended. If you call them a sinner, they know it and would probably say "and some." When someone sins against a mature Christian, that Christian's first instinct is to figure out how they can respond to the person that is offensive in a way to communicate Jesus' love for them. Paul tells us that there is no more condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) and a mature Christian understands that, and doesn't worry about what man does to him or says about him. (Hebrews 13:6; Psalm 118:6; Luke 12:5) This Christian turns to prayer when they are emotionally or verbally hurt by another, not  resorting to the same behavior as the offender. (Psalm 109:4)  And most importantly a mature Christian understands that offenses can be used for the glory of God to expose their own weaknesses providing the Christian a way to rest in God's power (2 Corinthians 12:9) and turn something man used for evil and use it for good (Genesis 50:20)

3. A mature Christian has a conscience informed by scripture, not opinions.
The mature Christian bases his opinions and advice on scripture. He exhorts in love (I Thessalonians 5:11) and in order (I Corinthians 14:40), not ruled by his bias, feelings or emotions. When he/she needs to make a decision, they turn first to prayer or scripture. Decision-making prayer is usually lead to scripture by the Holy Spirit (John 14:26). This is why the mature Christian understands the importance of Scripture memorization. (2 Timothy 3:16; Psalm 119:11)

4. A mature Christian is humbly surprised when God uses him/her in ministry. 
A mature Christian understands that nothing they do or say is of themselves.(Jeremiah 9:23) They are honestly surprised if anything turns out right in their ministry. They know that they are faulty and sinful and dispensable and without the guidance of the Holy Spirit everything they would do, would be a "hot mess" (Isaiah 64:6). They draw their strength not from will power but from God who is their strength. (Isaiah 41:30) A mature Christian doesn't solely depend on odds, statistics, trends or numbers; but trusts that God will use even a broken man/woman for His glory. (Psalm 20:7) And the mature Christian understands that God loves using the underdog, the weak, the lowly, and the foolish things of this world in original and unique ways.( I Corinthians 1:27) (See also the life of Moses, Jesus, Gideon, Jacob, Hagar, children, the tiny mustard seed, the Samaritan woman, the leper, the tax-collector, fishermen, and the list goes on and on and praise the Lord it includes sinners like us!)

5. A tendency to give credit for spiritual growth to God, not people. 
This sign goes along with the previous sign.

You get it. You understand that you are holier now than you were a year ago not because of anything you did, but because of God working in you. You are less sinful, less agitated and more holy not because of some medicine your taking or some twelve step program, but because God is working in you.(I Thessalonians 4:1-12) And you understand that you are a work in progress. (Philippians 1:6) This makes you love the Gospel even more, because while you are still a sinner, Jesus still chose to die for you! (Romans 5:8) And because you understand the incredible show of love of God through Jesus' death on the cross, you never get tired of hearing the Gospel. (John 3:16) The mature Christian knows that without God in his/her life, they would be unrecognizable. (Romans 12:2, Galatians 2:20)


Blessings,


Anna