Answers to 4 questions

So I have been sitting the past few weeks considering where life has brought me and I found myself asking some questions repeatedly. Here are four of them and the best answers I've found so far:

1.) What should I do to get a life?
2.) What is the meaning of life?
3.) Why should anyone know the answer to the question "What is the meaning of life?"
4.) What should I eat today?

So far I’ve found the best answer to these questions in the Gospel of John chapter 6
For question 1 "How to get a life" and 4 "What to eat" verse 35:

"Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; He who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

While this won't satisfy my stomach, it speaks to the truth. A dieing world needs the life that only God can give through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Bread to fuel the soul.

For question 2 "The meaning" verse 29:

"Jesus replied, This is the work that God asks of you, that you believe in the One Whom He has sent-that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger." AMP

At the core of the question "What's the meaning of life?" is another question: What is it I'm supposed to be doing? If the meaning of life is 42, then it might stand to reason that I should be doing as many things as I can 42 times. If it were sushi it might be true that I should be using my talents to better enjoy, and if I still have time, help others to enjoy sushi. But Jesus told us that we are to believe in him. If we want to find meaning in our lives there's nowhere else we need to look than on Jesus and his teaching. Concerning the commands of God, one of those teachings is this:

"'Hear oh Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:28-31 NAS)

So, if you're looking for a start, the greatest (most important) commandments of God are a good place. Paraphrased recap: Love God with all you have and love your neighbor as yourself.

Now, for question 3 "Why should anyone know":

Well, simply put: Jesus is God. In John 6, Jesus several times references his father (God) and who else would know but God? For further reference to the deity of Jesus I looked up John 1 verse 1, 2, and 14.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning." "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." NIV

May God be your guide today and every tomorrow.

Bachelor Food: Broccoli & Chicken Stir Fry

I got part of this recipe from the back of a box of Lipton® Onion Mushroom soup mix. I REALLY enjoyed the modified version I made so I thought I would pass along the tastiness to you.

Ingredients:

12 oz. of Chicken Breast meat (you can use canned so you don’t have to spend extra time cooking the chicken or you can use and cook raw chicken. I won’t give instructions on cooking the chicken since this is Bachelor Food)

1 packet of Lipton® Onion Mushroom Soup Mix

10 oz. of frozen broccoli. (or use about 1 or 2 medium stalks)

1 and ¼ cup water

2 tablespoons of packed brown sugar (more or less depending on personal taste, I like more)

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

½ tablespoon of balsamic vinegar (½ tablespoon more if you think you’ll like it tangy, I do!)

1/8 teaspoon of ground garlic (or use a clove of fresh diced garlic if you like garlic)

and basil, oregano, and rosemary to taste

Cooking Directions:

1.) In 12-inch nonstick skillet, pour in water and stir in soup mix, brown sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar. Bring the sauce to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and stir occasionally for 2 min.

2.) Next add the broccoli and spices to taste. Let it simmer until the broccoli is cooked to your desired tenderness. (I like it fairly crisp)

3.) Finally stir in the chicken until it’s hot!

I usually eat the stir fry with hot white rice

Note: If the sauce starts to get too thick add a little water. On the flip side if the sauce seems to be a bit too watery let it simmer a little longer.

For those of you who like to know about nutrition here’s my attempt at nutrition facts:
NOTE: THIS IS NOT OFFICIAL BUT IS FAIRLY CLOSE, IT ALSO USES THE VALUE FOR 2 MEDIUM STALKS OF BROCCOLI FOUND AT http://freshcutproduce.com/nutrifax/broccoli.html
It also doesn’t include the rice.

The serving size on the packages for the chicken and soup is about 5 per package/can. So although I’ll always eat more than a fifth of what is cooked (I know I’m a pig but I get hungry!) that’s what the facts are tabulated for. I added the facts on the chicken and soup. Then I calculated the amount for the broccoli from the above site and added that in. The Daily Values are guesses based on the information and not by any means official or completely accurate.

Calories: 125
Fat: .7 grams (.2 from broccoli .5 from chicken)(about 1 or 2% DV)
Protein: 16 grams
Sodium: 942 mg (about 38% DV)
Total Carb.: 10.2 grams (about 3% DV)

If you’re like me and eat more like a third of what’s cooked this is more like what you’ll be eating:

Calories: 280
Fat: 1.2 grams
Protein: 27 grams
Sodium: 1570 mg
Total Carb.: 17 grams

The rice probably adds about 160 more calories, and 35 grams of carbs. The broccoli and rice add some vitamins and minerals but they will vary depending on the rice and broccoli, although broccoli is a very good source of vitamin C.

Hope you enjoy the food!

From a Story I'm writing

James sat by the dancing flames of the camp fire digging through the assorted supplies of his bag in search of something. His fingers strayed across the book of mostly blank pages his youngest sister had given him two years before. He felt again the loss of all he had known. The harsh truth was that his father and sisters had passed away “years beyond counting” ago. A grim smile touched his lips as he remembered Rimnik’s words about the country he had called home. He pulled out the journal and read his own words from that now distant time.

There is a balance, perhaps a simple balance, seemingly mastered by the majority of the people I of the Faith I have met. This balance is between the living out of what most would call “a normal” life and the duty to do the will of God. They go on living as if it were simply the way it is supposed to be. But what of the task left undone? The task The Almighty set: for his people to bring His message to all the world. Do we truly march toward this goal? Or do we live in blissful, sometimes willful ignorance of our duty unfulfilled?

And I do see some people, some assemblies, laboring towards this goal. But their numbers seem few. How many are idle for every one who is active? And what have I done? I have been idle! Asleep! Frozen! Mere questions about small things enough to stop me before even making tracks in the dirt just outside my door. I am paralyzed by the all the scholarly dogmas that swirl about. I am paralyzed because I would not bind myself to the minute doctrines so many believe are written in stone. So I seek a different way to further the Faith, to find my function, my use to God, but slow is the finding of it. Perhaps the texts of the ancients will be of some help.

He had written it the day that the School of Stars had begun experiments on the samples from the planet nearest their star on the day they had begun unleashing the ancient forces that took him from his home and erased it from the memory of all but the most tenacious of historians. A breed in rare supply from what he had seen of this new world. And what of the Faith? What had Lord Addamon called it…? Whatever its name now, there were only murmurings of an underground in the Empire he had escaped. James put his forehead in his hands and prayed for deliverance in the north land into which he fled. He prayed for a refuge from the hatred that seemed to nip at his heels.

Here's a link to the journal of a friend of mine who posted some links to some funny animations I think you'll enjoy them.



http://drieheren.livejournal.com/