Casi-style Chili – We Love God!

There is a grave danger in ritual familiarity with holy matters, even if you are not a professional. It is all too easy to go spiritually brain-dead when the prelude begins, to “say” prayers rather than pray them, to use the cadence of a confession as a rhythmic anesthetic, to mindlessly mouth the words of great hymns and gospel songs, to nod off during the sermon, to glibly mouth evangelical creeds – and then imagine that we’re really spiritual.

Kent Hughes

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Meats, Vegetables	Texan	Beef, Stews, Texan	6	Servings

INGREDIENTS

4		Jalape#o chiles
		stems & deveined halved
4	T	Chili powder
1	T	Paprika
2	lb	Beef chuck
1		Onion, chopped
2	T	Kidney suet, chopped
		substitute vegetable oil
8	oz	Tomato sauce
12	oz	Beer
2	c	Beef stock
3	t	Cumin, ground
2	t	Garlic powder
1	t	Pepper, black
1/4	c	Masa harina, finely ground
		maize flour

INSTRUCTIONS

Cut beef into 1-1/2" cubes.  Brown the meat and onions in oil or fat.
Add the tomato sauce, beer, beef stock, chiles, cumin, garlic, black
pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the Chili Powder. Simmer the chili over  a
low head for 2 hours until the meat is tender.  To thicken, make a thin
paste of the masa and water. Quickly stir  this into the chili -- if
done too slowly it will lump.  Add the remaining Chili Powder and
Paprika.  Simmer for an additional  15 minutes.  Remove the Jalapenos
and serve.  [CASI (Chili Appreciation Society International)
chili-cookoff  winners tend to use blended chili powder and also
Jalape#o chiles,  which are usually removed before serving. The beef is
cubed, and  masa, which is flour made from ground dried maize available
in Latin  markets, is used to thicken the chili.]  The Whole Chile
Pepper Book by Dave DeWitt and Nancy Gerlach  From Gemini's MASSIVE
MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

A Message from our Provider:

“He who kneels before God can stand before anyone.”

Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients) ---------------------------------------------- Calories: 793 Calories From Fat: 523 Total Fat: 58.1g Cholesterol: 160.8mg Sodium: 1034mg Potassium: 787.9mg Carbohydrates: 20.3g Fiber: 3.8g Sugar: 4.8g Protein: 43.3g

Some would suggest that Jesus was “seeker sensitive” in that He worked His miracles in order to attract large crowds to which He could share the gospel. But in several passages it is plain this is not His motive: Mark 5:43; 7:36; 8:26, 30; and Luke 4:9-12 (and these are by no means exhaustive). Clearly, Christ did not intend these miraculous works for public exploitation. There is little to indicate Christ worked miracles in order to draw a crowd. He was opposed to selling the gospel by appealing to their love for the sensational. (See Jn. 2:23-25)… He sharply rebuked the five thousand for seeking Him for merely physical satisfaction. Jesus did not teach us to draw people to Him by appealing to their senses. Instead He claimed full responsibility for drawing all to Himself by way of the cross (Jn. 12:32); therefore, exalting Christ, "and Him crucified," is to be the primary object in worship, as well as evangelism. (See Rev. 5:8.)

Bill Izard