IT'S FLANTASTIC! MY FAVORITE DESSERTS:

EXCLUSIVE FROM TWINAS LATINAS (CHERI & ANA) MAGAZINE!

  Assorted Flans

COFFEE FLAN                                   

Time: 1h and 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Price: Affordable

(Flan mold is needed)

INGREDIENTS
  1/2 tablespoon Water 
2 cups Water
4 tablespoons of Sugar
6 Eggs, beaten 
1 can of sweetened Condensed Milk
2 tablespoons of Instant Coffee 
Whipped Cream.

DIRECTIONS:
Fill a large pan or casserole-baking dish (large enough to accommodate a Flan mold) with water and bring it to a boil on the stove top. 

Add four tablespoons of sugar into the flan mold, plus 1/2 tablespoon of water, and heat it until becoming a light brown caramel color (do not burn). Once the caramel is made, take it off the heat.  Carefully add the Flan mold in the middle of the pot or baking dish with the boiling water.

In a mixing bowl add 2 cups of water, the can of sweetened condensed milk, 6 beaten eggs, and 2 tablespoons of instant coffee. Beat well and pour into the Flan mold, over the caramel.

Put the mold back into the pan or baking dish, and cover only the Flan mold with a pot lid, not the entire pot. Leave it boiling but be careful that the water does not boil up and inside the mold.

Water should reach up to about an inch (two centimeters) below the top of the mold. Boil for 60 minutes (1 hour) then remove from heat, and allow to cool. Once cool, turn mold out onto a platter, and top with whipped cream

CLICK HERE FOR MORE YUMMY FLAN RECIPES FROM TWINA ANA!

SIN IS CROUCHING AT THE DOOR - KEEP IT SHUT

THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

You shall not murder (Exodus 20:13 ESV)

There is a blatant disregard for life in the world, and it did not start yesterday...or even the day before yesterday. It began with the first murder in recorded history - when Cain killed Abel in an act of jealousy. Genesis 4:3-5a: "In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard".

If you examine this horrid sin, it cover the spectrum of emotions:
Envy: - because of Abel's better sacrifice of worship before the Lord. He had given of the first fruits of his labor while, as we see in the passage above Cain only brought AN offering. Our unwanted seconds is not what God demands from us. If you are not prepared to give your best and everything to Him. It is better you and I do not pretend and have total disregard for His Holiness and purpose, because it will not go well for us. Just ask Ananias and Sapphira!

Hatred: - because it led to Cain ignoring the warnings of God to get over himself. He then let sin rule over his wicked heart. (verses 6 and 7 here). You and I have to guard our hearts against letting the devil and his evil schemes infiltrate our minds, even in the purest of environments! It could be a fellowship moment in the church or a family gathering. We should be very careful not to take our eyes off the Lord and His work. Let's cease worrying about what the other guy is or is not doing and focus instead on our own actions and motives.

Pride: - despite being completely wrong in his conduct, Cain acted offended that God would not accept his after-thought, but would accept Abel's. God warned him that "sin is crouching at the door" ready to devour him (which it did). But God also gave him the option to grow out of his hatred and pride and disappointment by "ruling over it" (Verse 7). We ignore the warnings of God (via His Holy Spirit Who lives in us, if we are born again) at our own perils. Remember every thought, acted upon, has terrible consequences.

In the end, because of these three major emotions, the first murder in Biblical history was committed. The original word which God gave to Moses for this Sixth Commandment is "ratsach"...meaning manslaying; killing; murder etc. It basically means the 'taking' of any life: from crimes of passion like Cain's to the willful destruction of human life in the abortion industry.

Abortion is nothing new. Women, from millennia gone by, have been ridding their bodies of God's babies for some of the following reasons: to hide adultery; to keep their figures; to keep from having another child and as a form of birth control so their wanton lifestyles can continue.  Since unredeemed politicians and judges enabled the multi-billion dollar abortion industry to flourish legally, over 55 million American babies have not been allowed to be born. Like Cain, the blood of each of these babies rest eternally and horribly on the souls of every president; doctor; administrator; church leader; judge; man and woman who actively or passively allowed this to happen....unless, like Roe (of Roe vs Wade, which gave us legalized abortion in 1973), they repent and put their complete trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Finally, for the believer and child of God, we must guard our own emotions. In Matthew 5:23, Jesus said “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” This "something against your brother" can lead to hatred if we don't keep "short accounts" and dispatch immediately this emotion. We must do this daily to keep in a right relationship with Father above. This intense dislike of others, for the christian, is similar to murder if we let it fester in our souls and do not get rid of it through reconciliation and if possible, restoration with the person(s) involved.

Therefore, in the long run, it behooves us to walk in a manner worth of our King, Who is the Lord of our lives and Who lives and reigns in love...as well as judgment.  Sin will always be "crouching at the door". Therefore, let us resolve to keep it locked out there, that Faith, Love, Hope and Charity and well as zeal for winning lost souls from the kingdom of darkness, will rule in our hearts! 
Amen.

RECIPES FOR THOSE YUMMY SUMMER TOMATOES!

FROM TWINAS LATINAS MAGAZINE 

(OUR FAVORITE CULTURE JOURNAL)

HOT SASSY MEXICAN SALSA & PASTA PRIMAVERA SAUCE!

(both made from the same base)

Red-Sweet Peppers add bright red color

Ingredients for Base

10   large, red, ripe Tomatoes (any variety)

  5   large, trimmed, Red-Sweet Peppers (same shape as a Bell Pepper) remove all seeds

  5   peeled Garlic cloves 

  2   Onions (any color or variety)

  1   cup Olive Oil

  3   tablespoons salt

Finely chop all ingredients by hand, or in a food processor.  Pour half into a mixing bowl to make Hot Sassy Salsa, and the other half into a large cooking pot for Pasta Primavera Sauce. 

 CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE

it does NOT TAKE a village....!!!

FIFTH COMMANDMENT

The first four of the Ten Commandments of God define our relationship with God. There are clear;  absolute and there is no way ANYONE can mistake HOW we are to conduct ourselves before Father, through the Son, Jesus the Lord and Savior.

The next six of these Ten Commandments of God define our relationship with each other. Jesus Christ summed up all the in Luke 10:27 (“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”) What we shall do here is examine each of the remaining six and see how we are to "love our neighbor as ourselves"!

The Fifth Commandment says “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12 ESV). It is no accident that this is the first of the Relational Commandments. How we honor, love and respect Abba, our Heavenly Father, depends on how we do the same with our earthly parents! 

The ancient Hebrew families all lived together and the family could all be found in the same compound, for the most part. Everyone had a part in helping aging elders in this setting, which was indeed the earthly ideal set up by Holy God. For example, Jesus was on the Cross and as He looked over to His Disciple John, He said in His dying moments to him "Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home....(John 19:27). The Messiah was not saying that His earthly mother Mary was ANYTHING other than she was now John's responsibility to care for, as was the Hebrew family custom! This is ALL that verse means. Jesus' earthly half-brothers - Mary's two REAL sons - James and Jude (who wrote two New Testament books) were not yet part of the body of the Disciples. They would join in later as the entire group ended up living and travelling together.

Fast forward to 2012...how does this affect us today? The same! The nucleus of the family was determined in Heaven along with Marriage between one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24). Whereas marriage today has been degraded as America and the west slouch towards Gomorrah, all children today still have parents! Children growing up in single (and unmarried) households are increasing, even faster than those in traditional families, as God intended it. Ungodly liberal policies and politicians are attempting to redefine God's plan for families by saying over and over, that the infrastructure of the local community is the one which children should honor. In other words, these people say - "it takes a village"! Well, God says in His Word that it does not take a village or a public school teacher or some social activist. It takes a parent.

Are some parents not deserving of respect and honor? Yes. 
Are some parents not raising their children with the fear and knowledge of the Lord? Yes.
Are these parents going to be held accountable by the Lord for NOT teaching these children His statutes and precepts? Yes, Yes and a thousand times Yes! Still, this does not absolved our children...as we once were, from their responsibility to be polite and respectful of their parents (or parent if the natural mom or dad is absent).

This command from the Lord sets up the foundation for the future behavior of children, as we will see over the next five commandments!

SABBATH OR LORD'S DAY?

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.....(Exodus 20:8-11 ESV)

This is an easily misunderstood commandment and one of the trumped up weapons which the high priests and religious hypocrites used to persecute, and then, execute King Jesus! To grasp the entire message here, we should look to what the Lord said "the sabbath (shabat in Hebrew) was made for man, not man for the sabbath (Mark 2:27).

Looking back to the verse above, when God gave the 7th Day as the Sabbath Day, He was not saying He was tired. He was demanding obedience from the Hebrews. All their work should cease on that day and it should be a time dedicated to worship Him. That did not mean the religious authorities should have treated the people harshly as they did by adding rule upon rule to this commandment to the point where Jesus' Disciples could not even pick some food to eat. Even today, extreme orthodox practicing Jews would not drive to the Temple or cook, under some notion that they are obeying the Law.


Here is what Jesus said about all of this harsh pharisee rule making and oppression “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! (Matthew 23:23-24 ESV)


So what does this have to do with Christians today? First of all, since the Cross of Calvary, we are under the dispensation of Grace. Our Sabbath is not the Saturdays of the Hebrews but the Lord's Day of the New Testament. Ever since the Resurrection, the Lord's Day is now the first day of the week. There is ample proof in the New Testament:
1 Cor. 16:1-2, "Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week let each one of you put aside and save, as he may prosper, that no collections be made when I come."
Rev. 1:10-11, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea".


This is the only one of the Ten Commandments which was NOT carried over into the Age of Grace (until the Second Coming of Christ and His 1000 year Reign from Jerusalem). In fact, Paul warns believers to not let others "judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ." (Col. 2:16b-17).

The bottom line of all of this should be the following:
- Christ is the Fulfillment of the Law. We are under Grace not Law (Romans 6:14-15)
- Christ is our Sabbath (i.e. our rest; see Hebrews 4).
- We are to worship God daily, not just once a week.
- If your church wants to meet on Saturdays (as some churches do for nurses, cops etc who have to work on Sundays), there is nothing wrong with that.
- The Lord's Day is Sunday: the Roman Calendar as Luke wrote in Acts 20:7 as this gospel writer and Paul took the message of the Gospel of Grace to the Gentiles.
- The Lord's Day is meant to fellowship with fellow believers and those who wish to be and to praise Him mightily, in one accord.

NEXT: THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT

(image by google)

GOD IS NOT YOUR CUSSWORD, USE YOUR OWN NAME

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT

THE NAME!

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain...(Exodus 20:5)


This is such a profane and corrupt society and it seems as if there are no boundaries left in America. We can blame the culture primarily - mainly the movies, TV and music, but we share a lot of the culpability. We are partly to blame because we have allowed the frog to boil slowly. We did that by compromising here, shaving there, little here, a little there...and before you know it, we have all kinds of people, including a cussing pastor in Seattle, blaspheming the Name of the LORD, my God!


Here is just as a simple and obvious reminder to all of us: it shows just how serious Jesus and the Father are about taking the Name of the Lord - not just in vain (as in "OMG" and worse) but how EMPHATIC He is about it. We know that from the very first line of the LORD's PRAYER: "OUR FATHER, WHO ART IN HEAVEN - HALLOWED (HOLY, MAGNIFIED, GLORIOUS...AND MORE) IS YOUR NAME!


The ancient Jews/Hebrews/Israelites so revered the Name of God (or G-d), they would not even call Him Jehovah or YahWeh! They would call Him - HaShem! All that means is -"THE NAME"!  In that Biblical culture especially, a name is given to you to describe not just WHO you are, but your attributes and characteristics! Because there is no one greater than God, all He has to say, as when Moses asked Jesus "Who should I say sent me?" and Jesus replied "....I am that I am sent you" ...or...YahWeh (Jehovah)!


HaShem is so righteous, powerful and all-knowing, that the Hebrews dare not blaspheme Him and would not even dare go there, even to this day, in the religious orthodox areas. Western culture seems to have no problem blaspheming the Name of the Lord - in conversations; songs; all kinds of multimedia and even from the pulpit. It flows out of an unredeemed people's mouth like nobody's business. In the office, in the factories or diners, His Name is a cuss word, an exclamation point and worse...everything except Who and What He, HaShem...REALLY IS, Hallowed be His Name!


But God, has promised in the verse above, to hold us accountable for not just everything we say and do, but especially for this offense. As I was meditating on this verse yesterday and what it means, I asked the Lord to please forgive me for everything I have ever said out of line in the past. I repented right there and there for following the world and using His Name in the specific circumstances He brought up to my mind from over 30 years ago, even! Repentance is a purifying thing, my friends.


Finally, just one tip, instead of saying "OMG" in a text message or something, why not say "OMW" (Oh my word)....that way, you and I would not be taking the Holy Name of the Lord in vain! Amen

TOMORROW: THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

(image by google)

IDOLATRY- AMERICA'S MIDDLE NAME?

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT

You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth (Exodus 20:4)


In these so-called enlightened and educated 21st Century, would you believe we still have people and religions all over the world (and here in the west), bowing down and praying to idols and false gods.


For instance, the hindus have a god for almost every aspect of life with many of them idols of animals and strange looking creatures...IN DIRECT CONTRADICTION and rebellion against the Law of the Holy One! They are the biggest culprits. It is so horribly bad, that they revere rats and refuse to eat beef while walking carefully around deadly snakes, just in case it is their "reincarnated" uncle or sister! This is how far the foolishness of man in their rebellion has led him. 

Yet we have sensible people in the west following the practices of these pagans! One of them is Yoga and its accompanying meditation! No matter how much one dress up this pig, it is still a pig. People are kidding themselves thinking they can "christianize" these religious exercises and not be held accountable by God for them! By definition, Yoga, is what Webster's (and any other dictionary) calls "a Hindu theistic philosophy teaching the suppression of all activity of body, mind, and will in order that the self may realize its distinction from them and attain liberation"!


This slippery slope of these modern American or other Yoga enthusiasts leads to a lot of them selling out Christ and going into ungodly Buddhist/hindu meditation and chants.  This reminds me of the conduct of the just freed Israelites who were accustomed to all the pagan gods of Egypt. We know that each of the plagues which God had Moses declare over Pharoah's Egypt represented a different pagan god (from the frogs to the locusts etc). The Israelites had just seen all the miracles of God - from the Emancipation from 400 years of slavery to the Parting of the Red Sea - still they rallied around Moses' brother as he built a golden calf!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL EXPOSE ON SO-CALLED "CHRISTIAN YOGA"!

Are there other things which we do that violate this Second Commandment apart from Yoga? Yes, there is! Idolatry is America's middle name! The entire culture is based on Celebrity of some form. Whether it is the soccer mom or football dad living vicariously through their kids for the championship trophy or ring...or the famous actor or musician driving mercilessly for the Academy or Grammy award...it is all the same! The twenty-somethings are into fame and becoming the next American Idol or Reality TV star, no matter what the cost or the embarrassment.  Everything most of these people do is geared towards obtaining some sort of graven image (or like representation thereof), to the point that the process of getting there, becomes the act of their entire worship. This is the bane of de-construction of Faith and a moving away from the Pure, Holy and Living Christ. Contrary to the hopes and plans of God for His people, this idolatry eventually leads to eternal separation from Him. How sad.....

TOMORROW: THIRD COMMANDMENT

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SO, FATHER, JUST WHO IS HE?

FIRST COMMANDMENT (Part 2)

Yesterday, we examined the First of Ten Commandments of the Moral Law, which is written on every human heart who ever lived. Today, just briefly, I wish to take a look at just WHO was it who gave that Law to Moses on Mt. Sinai...and WHO was it Who led up to four million Israelites out of Egypt in the Great Exodus! The reason that THIS is important is we MUST know WHO this God is that says He is to be God above all those other things man call god!

The Lord said in Exodus 20:2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery" The word for LORD here is Adonai. This is Hebrew for Master...or as in "my Lord and Master". Who is this? JESUS CHRIST!  It was Jesus Who was in the Pillar of Fire that led by night and the Cloud by day. It was Jesus Who then appeared to Moses and gave Him the Law. It was Jesus Who was in the Rock that Moses struck for water, when Moses was only told to SPEAK to it (this led to Moses' death). It was Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!

They missed it! THEY MISSED IT! The Jews not just missed it in the Wilderness for forty years and were destroyed except for their children, Joshua and Caleb, but they missed it 3500 years later when Messiah showed up in Jerusalem for His three years of ministry! He was prophesied about throughout the entire Old Testament and especially in this verse below....but they missed Him!

Who has ascended to heaven and come down?

Who has gathered the wind in His fists?

Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment?

Who has established all the ends of the earth?

What is His name, and what is His Son's Name?

Surely you know!

                                                     (Proverbs 30:4 ESV)

How can a seemingly religious people miss the fact that the God of this Universe has a Son - whose Name is Adonai? Well, do we miss it too? We can talk as much as we want about them, and we KNOW WHO HE IS, and we too miss it! We sing about Him, write about Him, call on His Name, PRAY in His Name....some pagans even cuss in His Name, liberals and heathens are trying to stamp out His Name in the public square....but friends, as His followers, do we miss just Who He really is and what He should mean to us?

My dear brother Doc, a spiritual mentor to me as an older man in the faith, was talking to me yesterday about the Gospel of the Kingdom. I exhort you, as well, to read Matthew Chapter numbers 23-25 and ask the Lord, I mean Adonai, to not just reveal to your own spirit (who is indwelled by HIS Spirit if you are saved) not just what those 3 chapters mean...BUT AS YOU READ ASK "SO, FATHER, JUST WHO IS HE?!!!"

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NO OTHER!

THE FIRST COMMANDMENT 

(First of a Series on the Ten Commandments)

Exodus 20:3 (NASB):

Part 1:

This world is full of false gods - the idols which men and women have made unto themselves because it is easier to so do, in their rebellion.  It has been like this during the entire history of man, after the fall of Adam and Eve in the LITERAL Garden of Eden. But in this amplified hi-tech world of the 21st century, we see it reaching Sodom and Gomorrah proportions.

The pagan idols and gods are not just the demonic of the eastern and other religions with their shamans. Those are obvious to the discerning Christian. What is increasingly disturbing are the millions caught up in the spiral into the pit of Santeria and other blending of the demonic and Catholicism. Most of these people live in places like Cuba, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Venezuela etc. Through the elite and immigration, the practice has spread to Florida and other parts of cosmopolitan USA.  

When you add the increasing acceptance of Yoga into the mainstream, we see the infiltration into the last bastion of Christianity in the west - the declining Evangelical church of America. Church leaders are allowing "Christian Yoga" into God's church, claiming they are not doing the accompanying hindu chants, but are just worshipping our God through exercise....by the way our God Himself said "Can a make take fire into his bosom and not be burned?" ....just saying!

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ MY ARTICLE ON SO-CALLED CHRISTIAN YOGA

Adonai was very specific here. He is representative of the Father of the Universe - Jehovah God - Abba! There is to be NO OTHER WORSHIP of these false dieties and for the Christian who thinks he/she is being tolerant and "loving all peoples" by bowing down to this....then going to church on Sunday, there is going to be a bill come due one day! 

This has manifested itself in the Barna polls. They now reveal that 57% of so-called evangelical christians say that there are other ways to heaven than Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior! These non-believers are the fifth column in our churches! When the tribulation comes, they would be the ones used to persecute real believers.  We see them all over the media now....having interfaith meetings; promoting pro-abortion candidates and seeing nothing wrong with alternate lifestyles equating itself with Biblical Values and Biblical marriage. In addition to these obvious violations against Holy God, we see a watering down of the True Gospel of Christ and more emphasis on entertainment and psychology, instead of Sola Scriptura (The Bible alone)!

These are just some of the manifestations and bitter fruit of a race of people - the human race - which has removed itself far from the Law of God.  This is the Law that gives Life - eternal Life, but man has destroyed it...and himself in the process, because he has no concept of the wrath which is to come.

The good news is that this is one Law easier to keep than most! There is ONLY One God, three in essence but One God. 

He is a jealous God in that He knows His Worthiness, Holiness and Perfection. 

He has revealed Himself in the pages of the Bible. 

When we are saved and brought into the Kingdom, we know these things. 

When we are saved and see Him as He is, through His Word and the Spirit, we know He is the One True God and worship Him - ONLY HIM. 

When we are saved, we see His Law as it really is - LIFE!

Glory to His Name!

PART 2 TOMORROW: WHAT IS HIS NAME?

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