Christ was placed midmost in the world’s history; and in that central position He towers like some vast mountain to heaven – the farther slope stretching backward toward the creation, the hither slope toward the consummation of all things. The ages before look to Him with prophetic gaze; the ages since behold Him by historic faith; by both He is seen in common as the brightness of the Father's glory, and the unspeakable gift of God to the race.

Unknown Author

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
		Dip	8	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2	c	Plum tomatoes; chopped
1		Avocado; peeled & chopped
3/4	c	Sweet red pepper; chopped
1/4	c	Red onion; minced
2	tb	Fresh cilantro
1	tb	Red wine vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the ingredients.  Mix well.  Serve.  Yields 2 Cups. Joel Ehrlich
<Joel.Ehrlich@salata.com>
CHILE-HEADS ARCHIVES
From the Chile-Heads recipe list.  Downloaded from Glen's MM Recipe
Archive, http://www.erols.com/hosey.

A Message from our Provider:

“When praying, don’t give God instructions – just report for duty.”

Why twelve? Why not eight? Why not twenty-four? The number twelve was filled with symbolic importance. There were twelve tribes in Israel. But Israel was apostate. The Judaism of Jesus’ time represented a corruption of the faith of the Old Testament. Israel had abandoned divine grace in favor of works-religion. Their religion was legalistic. It was shot through with hypocrisy, self-righteous works, man-made regulations, and meaningless ceremonies. It was heretical. It was based on physical descent from Abraham rather than the faith of Abraham. In choosing twelve apostles, Christ was in effect appointing new leadership for the new covenant. And the apostles represented the new leaders of the true Israel of God – consisting of people who believed the gospel and were following the faith of Abraham (cf. Romans 4:16). In other words, the twelve apostles symbolized judgment against the twelve tribes of Old Testament Israel.

John MacArthur

Faith is not something we conjure up on our own, nor is it something we are born with, nor is faith a result of diligence in study or pursuit of the spiritual. Ephesians 2:8-9 makes it clear that faith is a gift from God, not because we deserve it, have earned it, or are worthy to have it. It is not from ourselves; it is from God. It is not obtained by our power or our free will. Faith is simply given to us by God, along with His grace and mercy, according to His holy plan and purpose, and because of that, He gets all the glory.

Unknown Author