Surely Paul could have made the gospel more palatable – and less dangerous – by saying it was about something else. Something cleaner and less ridiculous than the cross. Something more glorious. Less disgusting. He didn’t do that, though. “I decided,” Paul said, “to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). In the face of the worst cultural prejudice imaginable, he fixed the entire gospel squarely and immovably on the fact that Jesus was tacked to a stauros and left to die. If he had been trying to find a surefire way to turn first-century people off from his “good news,” he couldn’t have done better than that! So why did he do it? It’s simple. He did it because he knew that leaving the cross out, or running past it with a glance, or making it peripheral to the gospel, or allowing anything else to displace it at the center of the gospel would make it, finally, no gospel at all.

Greg Gilbert

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Vegetables	American	Vegetables	4	Servings

INGREDIENTS

2	md	Onions
1/2	ts	Kosher salt
1/8	ts	Cracked black pepper
2	tb	Olive oil
1/2	tb	Champagne or sherry vinegar
1		Onion
1	tb	Butter
3	md	Beets
1/4	ts	Kosher salt
		Black pepper, to taste
2 1/2	tb	Sugar
		Chopped chives or parsley

INSTRUCTIONS

FOR THE ONION VINAIGRETTE
FOR THE GLAZED BEETS
VINAIGRETTE Peel onions, trim root and top ends. Halve onions from top to
bottom,then slice lengthwise into thin julienne strips, about 2 inch long,
1/8" by 1/8" thick. Place onions in a glass bowl or other microwave safe
container; season with salt and pepper. Add olive oil and vinegar. Marinate
20    minutes.
BEETS Peel, trim and cut onion as for vinaigrette. combine onion and butter
in a 1 quart glass baking dish. cover with plastic wrap and pierce twice to
allow steam to escape.  Cook on 100 percent power for 1 minutes in a
microwave oven.  Reserve.  Wash and peel beets; trim root and stem ends.
Slice 1/8th inch thick; cut slices into 1/8 inch strips. Julienne strips
should be the same size. Salt and pepper, toss gently. cover with vented
plastic and cook on high, stirring occassionally, 7-8 minutes or until
almost tender. Sprinkle with sugar,toss gently, and cook on high for 7-8
more minutes or until the liquid has a syrupy consistency. Remove dish from
oven and let stand, covered,2-3 minutes. Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Cover bowl containing onion vinaigrette with plastic wrap. Cook on high
foor 5 minutes or until onions soften slightly. Spoon hot vinaigrette onto
four to six plates, arranging onion in a ring. Divide the beet mixture
among the plates, mounding it in the center of each ring of onions.
Sprinkle with chives or parsley. Makes 4-6 servings.
Origin: Journal American, January 13, 1993. Shared by: Sharon Stevens
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

A Message from our Provider:

“Let Him therefore send and do what He will. By His grace, if we are His, we will face it, bow to it, accept it, and give thanks for it. God’s Providence is always executed in the ‘wisest manner’ possible. We are often unable to see and understand the reasons and causes for specific events in our lives, in the lives of others, or in the history of the world. But our lack of understanding does not prevent us from believing God. #Don Fortner”