Name: Beans for Burritos
Ingredients: 1 lb Pink beans; 1 sm Can Ortega green chiles, chopped; 1 ts Salt; 1 lg Onion, chopped; 3 Cloves garlic, minced/pressed; 1/2 ts Chili powder; 4 tb Salsa or to taste

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
Grains	Mexican	Beans, Mexican	6	Servings

INGREDIENTS

1	lb	Pink beans
1	sm	Can Ortega green chiles, chopped
1	ts	Salt
1	lg	Onion, chopped
3		Cloves garlic, minced/pressed
1/2	ts	Chili powder
4	tb	Salsa or to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Soak the beans overnight, changing water several times. Put beans in
crock-pot and cover with an inch or so of water. Add salt, onion, garlic,
and chili powder. Cook on low until beans are soft (about 18 hours? I
forget).
When beans are cooked, ladle off and reserve some of the liquid from the
top.  Mash the beans well.  (I never do this as well as I'd like; I've
tried a potato masher and an empty iced-tea jar.) Add reserved liquid as
necessary for consistency.  (I never have to add any, myself.) Stir in the
chopped chiles and the salsa; heat through.
From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

A Message from our Provider:

“Jesus: right way, only truth, best life.”

The Scripture likens bitterness to a root (Heb. 12:15). Roots have to be planted. So, what's the seed that sprouts into a root of bitterness when planted? It's a hurt. When someone hurts you it's as if a seed has been dropped onto the soil of your heart. You can choose to respond in two ways: You can either reach down and pluck up the seed by forgiving your offender, or you can begin to cultivate the seed by reviewing the hurt over and over again in your mind. Bitterness is the result of dwelling too long on a hurt; it's the result of not truly forgiving the offender (Mt. 18:34-35).

Lou Priolo