God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
Most of our bitterness and anger towards others is rooted in an inability to be profoundly amazed at Christ's love for us in our sin. If you are struggling with bitterness then it may be that the Lord is letting the very sin that is flowing from your inability to see Christ be the means by which you come to see him. In other words, perhaps this season of rage, anger, and a fed-up 'I'm out of here and don't want anything to do with you' spirit is where you have had to come in order to see the greatness of your sin as a forgiven and justified saint. And the Lord has done it so that you would be stunned at his grace in a deeper way than you've ever been stunned by the grace of God before. And now, out of that experience can flow grace towards others.
It is neither obedient to Christ, nor in the church’s best interest, to permit an expelled person to attend the meetings of the church so that he can be exposed to biblical preaching. He was expelled because he has already heard, and rejected, the biblical message of repentance. The determination to exclude such a person from all church functions is primarily based on the command for Christians not to keep company with those who are under the discipline of expulsion (1 Corinthians 5:11), which in turn is based on the principle that “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1 Corinthians 5:6). Leaven (sinful influence) can only be prevented from spreading throughout the whole lump of dough (the church) when the two are not allowed to come into contact with each other. It cannot be right, therefore, to give a person who is openly unrepentant the opportunity to exert an immoral and/or divisive influence on the other members of a local church (Jim Elliff and Daryl Wingerd).
ALMOND COOLER, 1 SERVING
To serve, put a few tablespoons in a glass and add cold or sparkling water
and ice.
Bring water to a boil; add almonds and return to a boil. Remove from heat
and allow to cool thoroughly. Squeeze the ground almonds in several layers
of rinsed cheesecloth. Pour almond extract into a saucepan; add sugar,
bitter almond extract, and orange juice. Stir well and bring to a boil;
cook to a thick syrup consistency. Let cool completely. If syrup if not
thick enough, boil again for 5 minutes. Pour into sterile bottles, seal and
refrigerate. Can be used immediately Serve with ice water or with club
soda.
FOR 1 SERVING ALMOND COOLER: Combine a2 tb almond syrup, 2 tb yogurt and 6
oz (3/4 cup) cold water.
MAKES: 1 QUART SOURCE: _From My Grandmother's Kitchen: A Sephardic
Cookbook_ by Viviane Bicheck Miner
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini
A Message from our Provider:
“God: the most lovable person in the universe”
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