Name: Fig Gems
Ingredients: 20 California dried figs; 1/2 c Seeded raisins; 1 c Pecan meats; 1/2 c Confectioners' sugar; 3 tb Peanut butter; 1/2 c Strained honey

Calvinists insist that the sole cause of regeneration or being born again is the will of God. God first sovereignly and efficaciously regenerates, and only in consequence of that do we act. Therefore, the individual is passive in regeneration, neither preparing himself nor making himself receptive to what God will do. Regeneration is a change wrought in us by God, not an autonomous act performed by us for ourselves. Man’s status in regard to regeneration is that of a recipient, not a contributor. Man is spiritually, in relation to regeneration, what Lazarus was physically, in relation to resurrection: dead, passive, unable to do anything at all, wholly subject to the will of Him who gives life and breath to whomever He desires.

Sam Storms

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Fruits, Grains, Meats	California	Desserts, Candies, Fruits	1	Batch

INGREDIENTS

20		California dried figs
1/2	c	Seeded raisins
1	c	Pecan meats
1/2	c	Confectioners' sugar
3	tb	Peanut butter
1/2	c	Strained honey

INSTRUCTIONS

Warm your food grinder.  With medium blade, grind figs, raisins and nuts.
Stir together with sugar and peanut butter.  Add honey to soften enough to
make fruit pliable.  With your hands, make balls the size of small
walnuts, and roll in confectioners' sugar.  Place on a pretty plate or
tray, surround them with figs stuffed with candied cherries or nut halves,
for festive (but fast disappearing) centerpiece.
Source: 48 Family Favorites with California Figs
Reprinted with the permission of The California Fig Advisory Board
Electronic format courtesy of Karen Mintzias
File ftp://ftp.idiscover.co.uk/pub/food/mealmaster/recipes/califfig.zip

A Message from our Provider:

“Conviction of sin is God’s way of inviting you to restore fellowship with Him.”

Seven Tactics of Temptation: 1. Satan especially likes to tempt us when our faith is fresh, i.e., when the Christian is only recently converted and thus less prepared to know how to resist his seductive suggestions. 2. Satan especially likes to tempt us when our faith feels strongest, i.e., when we think we are invulnerable to sin. If we are convinced that we have it under control, we become less diligent. 3. Satan especially likes to tempt us when we are in an alien environment. 4. Satan also likes to tempt us when our faith is being tested in the fires of affliction. When we are tired, burnt out, persecuted, feeling excluded and ignored, Satan makes his play. His most common tactic is to suggest that God isn’t fair, that he is treating us unjustly, from which platform Satan then launches his seductive appeal that we need no longer obey. 5. Satan especially likes to tempt us immediately following both spiritual highs and spiritual lows. Periods of emotional elation and physical prosperity can sometimes lead to complacency, pride, and a false sense of security. When they do, we’re easy targets for the enemy’s arrows. 6. Perhaps Satan's most effective tactic in tempting us is to put his thoughts into our minds and then blame us for having them. 7. A related tactic of temptation is for him to launch his accusations as if they were from the Holy Spirit. In other words, he couches his terms and chooses his opportunities in such a way that we might easily mistake his voice for that of God.

Sam Storms