God’s delegated authority, the necessity of submission, the role of government in acting to protect and preserve the health of the people, the call for respect and honor—I find myself joyful, grateful. I am joyful to obey the mandates of my government as it tries to lead through a grueling, opaque situation. I’m grateful for God’s good gift of government, and grateful even for my government. Behind it, I see Him. In its authority, I see His. Of course, this government will lead imperfectly. They will make poor decisions. They will make mistakes. They will even act sinfully at times. They are, after all, human beings and subject to every kind of frailty, sin, and limitation. But God was not unaware of what was in the heart of men when he commanded through Peter “be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme or to governors as sent by him” (1 Peter 2:13-14).

Tim Challies

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Meats, Seafood	Vietnamese	Vietnamese, Soups, Beef	3	Servings

INGREDIENTS

4	lb	Beef shin with bones or 2 medium oxtails, cut up.
1	md	Onion, unpeeled
5		Slices fresh ginger
1		Piece star anise
1	ts	Salt
2 1/2	tb	Chinese fish sauce
1		Bundle medium Chinese vermicelli
		Boiling water
1/2	lb	Leftover cooked sirloin (or beef tenderloin or eye chuck), thinly sliced
3		Scallions, chopped
		Fresh cilantro sprigs
		Pepper
		Fresh chiles, sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

Boil beef (with bones) or oxtails in 3 qts cold water. Skim off foam and
fat. Cover and simmer for 4 hours. Broil onion until flesh is soft, turning
often. Peel. Add onion, ginger, anise, salt, and fish sauce to beef broth
just before it has finished simmering. Also just before beef broth finishes
simmering, drop vermicelli into a pot of boiling water. Cook 8 minutes,
remove from water, rinse in cold water, and drain. Divide vermicelli into
three equal portions and place in 3 individual serving bowls. Divide beef
into 3 equal portions and place on top of vermicelli in the bowls. Garnish
each bowl with scallions and 2 or 3 fresh cilantro sprigs. Strain broth,
reserving beef and flavorings. Pour one cup broth over contents of each
bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and chiles. Serve immediately. Reserved beef,
flavorings, and extra broth can be eaten separately.
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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