Thom Rainer did a study a number of years ago asking formerly unchurched people the open-ended question, “What factors led you to choose this church?” A lot of surveys had been done asking the unchurched what they would like in a church. But this study asked the formerly unchurched why they actually were now in a church. The results were surprising: 11 percent said worship style led them to their church, 25 percent said children’s/youth ministry, and 37 percent said they sensed God’s presence at their church. For 41 percent, someone from the church had witnessed to them, and 49 percent mentioned friendliness as the reason for choosing their church. Can you guess the top two responses? Doctrine and preaching – 88 percent said the doctrine led them to their church, and 90 percent said the preaching led them there, in particular, a pastor who preached with certitude and conviction… When it comes to reaching outsiders, bold, deep, biblical preaching is not the problem. It’s part of the solution.

Kevin DeYoung

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Meats, Vegetables, Grains	Chinese	Chicken, Vegetables	3	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1	tb	Soy sauce
1	tb	Rice wine
2	ts	Cornstarch
1 1/2	ts	Minced fresh ginger
1	ts	Sesame oil
1	lb	Boned and skinned chicken,
		Cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2	ts	Minced fresh orange peel
2	tb	Chicken stock
1 1/2	tb	Soy sauce
1	tb	Rice wine
2	ts	Cornstarch
1	ts	Sesame oil
		Pinch freshly ground white
		Pepper
1/4	c	Peanut oil
6		To 8 snow peas
		Cooked rice

INSTRUCTIONS

CHICKEN
GARNISH
SAUCE
Combine first five ingredients in small bowl.  Add chicken and toss to coat
well.  Cover and marinate at room temperature at least 30 minutes, stirring
occasionally. Soak orange peel in enough water to cover, about 5 minutes.
Drain and set aside. Combine stock, soy sauce, rice wine, cornstarch,
sesame oil and pepper. Mix.  Set aside. Heat 1/4 cup oil. Drain chicken.
Stir-fry in small batches, about 2 minutes. Remove. Heat peanut oil with
orange peel; stir-fry 1 minute. Return chicken to wok with snow peas and
soy mixture; stir-fry 3 minutes. Serve immediately over rice.
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

A Message from our Provider:

“I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that, I still possess. #Corrie ten Boom”

We have not advanced very far in our spiritual lives if we have not encountered the basic paradox of freedom…that we are most free when we are bound. But not just any way of being bound will suffice; what matters is the character of our binding. The one who would be an athlete, but who is unwilling to discipline his body by regular exercise and by abstinence, is not free to excel on the field or the track. His failure to train rigorously denies him the freedom to run with the desired speed and endurance. With one concerted voice, the giants of the devotional life apply the same principle to the whole of life: Discipline is the price of freedom.

Elton Trueblood