What the Lord laments and opposes, Satan applauds and fosters. Few things demoralize, discourage, and weaken a church as much as bickering, backbiting and fighting among its members… Because of quarrelling the Father is dishonored, the Son is disgraced, His people are demoralized and discredited, and the world is turned off and confirmed in unbelief. Fractured fellowship robs Christians of joy and effectiveness, robs God of glory, and robs the world of the true testimony of the gospel. A high price for an ego trip!

John MacArthur

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Eggs		Cookies, And, Bars	4	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1	c	Plus 2 tbsp. sifted all-purpose flour
1/2	ts	Baking soda
1/2	ts	Salt
1/2	c	Butter; softened
1/3	c	Firmly packed brown sugar
1/3	c	Granulated sugar
1		Egg
1 1/2	ts	Very hot water
1/2	ts	Vanilla extract
1	c	Semi-sweet chocolate chips

INSTRUCTIONS

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes. Makes 3 dozen cookies.
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt onto waxed paper.
3. Beat butter, brown sugar, sugar and egg in large bowl with electric
mixer until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in hot water and vanilla.
Gradually beat in flour mixture until blended and smooth. Stir in chocolate
chips.
4. Drop dough by well-rounded measuring teaspoonfuls onto large greased
baking sheet.
5. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 10 minutes or until golden.
6. Cool on sheet on wire rack 1 minute. Remove to wire rack to cool
completely.
busted by sooz
Recipe by: Key Gourmet
Posted to recipelu-digest by sooz <kirkland@gj.net> on Mar 19, 1998

A Message from our Provider:

“I don’t know why some people change churches; what difference does it make which one you stay home from?”

Here are some reasons it is okay to celebrate Christmas: 1. The day itself is not really the day Christ was born. Nobody actually has the exact day down, but most believe it was not during this time of year at all. Probably it took place in the spring, not on a “cold winter's night that was so deep.” 2. Diversity over the years has taken away much of the “Romish” flavor to the holiday. Our Catholic friends do as they wish on the night before and the day of Christmas, that is granted. But we do not have a state church. There are so many other ways Christmas is celebrated that no one really thinks about it the way the Puritans did so many years ago. The problem is not so acute because of so many years of varied expressions. At least this is true in our part of the world. 3. God can be honored in gift-giving and generosity as well as in singing carols and telling the story. They’re both important if done in the right spirit. We don't have to make something spiritual out of giving gifts. You may make a birthday cake to Jesus if you wish, but you don't have to. We do need to be Christian, however, about everything we do. Emphasizing the giving part of the day can heal lots of wounds, open calcified hearts, stir up gratefulness, and just be plain fun. God's not against fun is He? 4. There may be better things to be different about. In other words, we might show our radical difference better in the way we treat other shoppers, the kindness we show to retail clerks, the warmth of our hearts, the largeness of our generosity, the thankfulness we express and really feel. 5. There are admittedly some great opportunities to make Christ known during Christmas. With all that is bad about it, we can still make our point. And we will have some sympathy for our message. For years I've led Christmas Eve services, short ones of only 45 minutes, but packed with meaning. The building will be full and all kinds of our friends and family will hear the truth as clearly as we are willing to express it.

Jim Elliff