A Psalm of Thanksgiving 1 Chronicles 16:8-36

Oh give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders.
Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.
Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face continually.
Remember His wonderful deeds which He has done,
His marvels and the judgments from His mouth,
O seed of Israel His servant,
Sons of Jacob, His chosen ones!
 He is the Lord our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded to a thousand generations,
The covenant which He made with Abraham,
And His oath to Isaac.
He also confirmed it to Jacob for a statute,
To Israel as an everlasting covenant,
Saying, “ To you I will give the land of Canaan,
As the portion of your inheritance.”
When they were only a few in number,
Very few, and strangers in it,
And they wandered about from nation to nation,
And from one kingdom to another people,
He permitted no man to oppress them,
And He reproved kings for their sakes, saying,
“Do not touch My anointed ones,
And do My prophets no harm.”
Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.
Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
He also is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before Him,
Strength and joy are in His place.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come before Him;
Worship the Lord in holy array.
Tremble before Him, all the earth;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
And let them say among the nations, “ The Lord reigns.”
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord;
For He is coming to judge the earth.
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Then say, “Save us, O God of our salvation,
And gather us and deliver us from the nations,
To give thanks to Your holy name, And glory in Your praise.”
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting even to everlasting.
Then all the people said, “Amen,” and praised the Lord.

 

Ravenous Sheep

An excellent article about shepherding by RC Sproul, Jr. of Ligonier Ministries.

I had already failed my first test in becoming a gentleman farmer. Three years and roughly 200 chickens produced eggs for my family at a rate of roughly $1… each. A few years had passed though since my experiment in folly, and I was ready to try again. I purchased three recently weaned lambs, set up portable fencing on my land and became a shepherd.

Things went rather smoothly, until they didn’t. Two weeks into the experiment I looked out into my field and saw a third of the fencing was down. I raced outside to find two of the lambs safe and content, still eating grass. The third also had not run off. No, she had managed to turn the downed fence into a straight jacket. She had gotten herself hopelessly entangled, was on her side and kicking about wildly, tangling herself all the more. I remember grabbing one of the rubber “posts” and pushing the pointed metal end into the lamb’s side, trying to pin her down so I could begin to untangle her. She just kicked all the more. I was sweating, frustrated, and a smidge frightened, and screamed to this little one, my voice echoing across the valley, “Be still. I’m trying to help you.” That’s when I learned what it means to be a shepherd.

Most of us have a rather distorted, city-fied understanding of sheep. We remember from Sunday School that picture of Jesus, smiling as He carried that smiling lamb, the one, over His broad shoulders back to the 99. We never stopped to ask how that one managed to get so far away.

Now the world is full of failed shepherds. Some fail by confusing shepherding with bullying. Most fail by being hirelings, by just not caring. There is, however, a reason why sheep need shepherds, on earth, flesh and blood shepherds. Because sheep are sinners too. They don’t just wander off out of ignorance. They jump over fences to get at what has been forbidden them. They close their ears to the voice of the Master and follow their own downward path. They hide when they sense a shepherd has come for them. And when cornered they will hiss, bite and kick. Worse still, so often after being carried back to the flock they run off again. Some are so anti-shepherd it’s hard to tell if they’re even sheep at all. Whenever I am blessed to visit another’s pulpit I always try to work this nugget into my address. I tell the gathered saints- “The hardest thing about being a pastor is not being poorly paid. If that needs to be fixed and you can, please do. The hardest thing about being a pastor isn’t the long hours. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t call when you are in the emergency room. It does mean if you have a theological question at 9:30 Saturday night, try to wait until after Sunday service to ask. The hardest thing isn’t the lack of respect in the church and the world over his calling. If you can help there, please do. The hardest thing about being a pastor is the pain of watching the sheep you love banging their heads against the wall until their wool is like scarlet.” The hardest thing about being a shepherd is the pain of loving the sheep.

This, though, is the calling of the shepherd. Jesus repeatedly told Peter the implication of his love for Him- feed, tend, feed His sheep. He didn’t say the sheep would joyfully receive their food. He didn’t say they would return the shepherd’s love. He didn’t say they would run to you joyfully when you call them. He said to tend them, and to feed them, to love them. Feed them the Word. Love them. And know that the Great Shepherd of the sheep promises to turn the bloodiest of fleece into the whitest of wool, for them, and for you.

 

Back to Eden

 If you are even considering growing your own food, you will not want to miss seeing this video. If you are already growing your own food, but want to do an even better job at it, watch this video. Click on this link to view "Back to Eden". 

http://vimeo.com/provisionsproductions/backtoeden

 

Queso Blanco

Queso blanco is a very basic cheese.  All you need is:

-1/2 gallon milk (any kind except ultra pasteurized)
-2 to 4 tablespoons white vinegar or lemon juice
-1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
 -large pan
-thermometer
-strainer
-cheese cloth or flour sack towel or old t-shirt (that is clean:)

Put milk into large pan, heat to 185 degrees.

Remove from heat, add 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice, stir gently until curds appear, if curds don't appear right away add another 2 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice. Let set for 5 minutes.  Put a cheese cloth, flour sack towel or t-shirt into the strainer to cover it, put strainer into another pan or bowl to catch whey. Gently pour the curds and whey into the covered strainer. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Put curds into a bowl and add salt, gently mix. Return to covered strainer and gently squeeze more whey from it. Put strainer on a plate and put into the refrigerator to chill.

Put onto a plate and slice.  It is a mild soft cheese. It will not last long so eat with in a day or two. 

You can add the whey to smoothies, pet food or drink it.

(I am sorry there are no photos. I couldn't find my camera. I will try to add some next week when I make some more, hopefully.)

 

NATURAL Soy is Not the Problem...GMO Soy Is

August 1, 2012
by David Christopher MH  of the School for Natural Healing

There is a lot of controversy about soy. Both sides have valid points, but let us start by clearing up one thing. Soy beans are not a new food. They have been consumed for 5,000 years, and have a proven safety record. GMO soy beans are a new food, created by Monsanto® and do not have a proven safety record. The majority of concerns are with the Monsanto® soy beans. By purchasing organic soy beans and 100% organic soybean products (which by law cannot contain GMOs) the majority of concerns are resolved. It should be remembered that any highly processed food, even organic, is problematic, so do not use them. Whole soy bean products, such as soy milk are nutritious. Fractionated or part some soy bean products, such as soy milk made from isolated soy proteins, are not nutritious, can be problematic, and should be avoided.

Natural soy does not cause cancer and does not contain estrogen, as is claimed by its’ opponents. Soy does have phyto-sterols (plant hormones) that are vilified by certain entities and erroneously linked to these cancers. Actually these plant hormones can help prevent cancer. For example, Asian women who consume soy rarely develop breast cancer until they move to America and/or adopt American eating habits, then the cancer rates increase. The same can be said for Asian men and the incidence of prostate cancer.

The anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory phytic acid which is linked to faulty mineral absorption is a problem only when isolated. All foods have some chemical in them that when isolated can cause a myriad of conditions and can even be fatal. However in their whole state these chemicals are buffered and are of no concern. The safety of other foods and many herbs has been questioned because of research conducted with isolated components and then testing these isolates. These types of studies only confirm that isolated chemicals are dangerous and should be avoided, but the whole plant containing these isolates remains safe.

Some claim that soy increases the risk of heart disease, however the opposite is true. If more people would eat soy instead of animal products they would have less cardio vascular disease. Again let me reiterate that I am referring to non GMO whole soy bean foods which should be sprouted. This is a food that contains all of the essential amino acids and has a high content of vitamins and minerals. It does lack vitamin E and carotenes but those are easily obtained from eating your veggies.

Another concern is that some people have allergies to soy; in fact it is the third leading cause of allergies in America. Cow’s milk is number one and Wheat is number two. I find it interesting that these three most allergic foods are the same three substances found in baby formula. Perhaps babies need mothers’ milk from their own species and not two other foods that unprocessed would require teeth to consume them. By feeding these foods to babies whose digestive systems cannot break them down or block their entry, allergies are created. This is how it happens: The Immune system protects self-made proteins and attacks foreign proteins. That is how the immune system works, it recognizes self and leaves it alone, but protein from another species is targeted and attacked. When it attacks the undigested foreign proteins in the wheat and soy that have been absorbed into the babies’ system, allergies are created, which is simply an immune response.

If you have violated principles of health and have allergies to soy try avoiding it for six weeks and during that time desensitize your immune system by taking Dr. Christopher’s Immucalm Formula in large amounts, 5 capsules 5 times per day for two weeks and then 2 capsules three times per day thereafter. Stay away from all allergy potential foods during this six weeks. This is accomplished by eating a fresh produce only diet. (Summer is a great time for fresh foods.) At the end of this six weeks introduce sprouted organic soy beans in small amounts and see if the allergy is ameliorated.

In conclusion wholesome, organic, sprouted, soy is a good food when eaten at the right time, after weaning, and if not allergic. Babies need human mother’s milk not soy or wheat or cow’s milk.

David Christopher is a Master Herbalist and the director of The School of Natural Healing. He also co-hosts the popular radio show "A Healthier You" and is a popular international teacher and lecturer.