Seasons greetings from the Autumn fruits

What the fruit display in our kitchen looks like.

Thank you Howards for the pomegranates from your pomegranate tree
Thank you Werzinskis for the persimmons from your persimmon tree
Thank you Aunt Dorie for the lemons from your lemon tree
Thank you Raleys for the apples from the um...um...the aisle

Nov: Pita Bread

Here's the Pita recipe I promised you. It comes out of The Armenian Table. Pita is super with Hummus, either fresh or toasted. And I think the effort is worth it. Not every time you make Hummus, but sometimes.

Makes twelve 8 inch pita breads

2 cups warm water
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp active dry yeast
3 more cups all-purpose flour

If you have a Bosch or other kitchen mixer, add the water, oil, sugar, and salt and spin. Add the first three cups of flour and mix to combine. Add the yeast and mix. With the motor running, add the last three cups of flour until the dough pulls from the side of the bowl. Knead for five minutes.

Dump it out and form into a nice tidy ball. Put it into an oiled bowl and oil the top of the ball. Cover and set aside in a warm place for an hour or so until it is doubled in bulk.

Punch it down and let it rest for a few minutes. Preheat oven to 500°F. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions. On a floured surface roll out each portion to make an 8 inch circle about 1/8 inch thick (get your tape measures ready :). Let each pita rest for about 10 minutes before putting them in the oven. Bake for 5 minutes, until the pitas are beginning to turn golden but not at all crispy. Halfway through cooking check the pitas to make sure they’re cooking evenly…you might need to rotate baking sheets or something. Of course, you don’t have to bake them all at once. Bake them in batches Roll out the last ones while the first ones are baking.

The pitas may be served right away or toasted to get a nice crispy effect (which is quite good for Hummus). Or, cool completely and store in plastic bags at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Click here for a printer friendly version of this recipe.

Good Post on Fairy-Stories

Here's a really good post by Aaron (and Tolkien) on fairy-stories.

Through all the crannies of the world we filled
with Elves and Goblins, though we dared to build
Gods and their houses out of dark and light,
and sowed the seed of dragons - 'twas our right
(used or misused). That right has not decayed:
we make still by the law in which we're made."

This is not a whole thing

If you asked me if I had any favorite artists, one of the first I would mention is Bebo. I like Bebo Norman. I’ve collected all his CDs now...there’s not a bad one in the stack. Got to see him in concert the other day and stuff. Totally awesome.



I thought about writing this whole thing about how I like Bebo as an artist. But what can I say? If you like pop/rock type folk Christian contemporary music you’ll like the stuff. Great music and it even has a little depth.

Picture of me with bebo after the concert :)

A Useless Debate?

Well here’s my first post about a book I read. I hope you find it interesting. If you are familiar with the subject you probably know it can be a hot topic.

The King James Only Controversy by James White was a book assigned to me to read, that I ended up finding quite interesting and informative. It is truly too bad that such a thing as bible translations can separate the church. Whether you use this version or that should be everyone’s personal choice and your faith and devotion to the Lord should not be questioned based on that issue. Whether or not it should be an issue, it’s still an issue; one we find ourselves in the middle of sometimes. And so, in such situations, it helps to be informed on the facts if we desire to be peacemakers (Mat 5:9). And that is one of the things this book is useful for.

There are those people, who are “missionaries” for the KJV only cause, trying to convince Christians that the new versions are heretical and satanic by presenting them with unproven “facts” and misrepresentation. They say that if you’re not reading the KJV, you’re not reading the word of God, and so we find this group of people appropriately called “King James Only Advocates”. White does an astounding job in dealing with the claims these people make that cause people to wonder as to whether or not what they hold in their hands is the Bible. So what causes KJV only advocates to be so strong and adamant in their position?

I think what it comes down to is tradition. If someone grows up with the KJV, then something new comes out that is different, and may I say improved, they’ll raise a suspicious eyebrow and then compare these new translations with their KJV. And here, my friend, lies the problem. True, the NIV or NASB differs from the KJV in many areas, but the translations differ because the texts they are based on differ. One cannot simply take the KJV, the Bible they’re used to and the assumed standard, and compare it with another and say, “see this deletion?” or “see this change?”. If we look past the surface we’ll find how the various Hebrew and Greek texts vary.

There are no two texts that are word for word. Scribal error, harmonization, and/or expansion of piety (for example, extending Jesus to Jesus Christ or Lord Jesus Christ) make up a lot of the differences between the translations. And so, Textual Criticism is used to determine which of the variant readings the manuscripts give is the original one. When God preserved his word, he did so in such a way that it could not be altered in any fundamental way. But he did so in a way that allowed for Textual Variation. I might add that reading this book also convinced me that none of the differences in translations or texts are doctrinally significant.

To illustrate how people’s traditions influence their view of new translations, let’s look at some history. I quote James White from page 17 with reference to the opposition and resistance certain scholars received when translating their works.

"Jerome takes the heat for translating the Vulgate, which eventually becomes the standard. Erasmus then takes the heat for challenging Jerome and for publishing the Greek New Testament. Then, four hundred years later, it is Erasmus’ work itself, in the form of the Textus Receptus, which has become enshrined as “tradition” by advocates of the AV! He who once resisted tradition has become the tradition itself. The cycle continues. Will there someday be an “NIV Only” movement? We can only hope not."

It's amusing and sad at the same time. What I say is take whatever translation you happen to have on your shelf, pray for understanding, and God will reveal his heart to you through it. If what thou findest thyself reading is an old English KJV, then mayest thy God bless thee. If you find the Lord in the NIV, then cool! If you’re Hispanic and all you can read is the Santa Biblia, then muy bueno. If it’s Da Jesus Book, well, den all you guys betta watch out cuz dem fellas who thinks yous gotta have dat King what’s-his-name bible and none oda are gonna come afta ya and kick a you offa yo heals.

James White is an apologist and the president of Alpha Omega Ministries.

This book is separated into two parts. I didn’t read Part two (The Textual Data), which goes deeper into the subject and makes up the last 30 pages of the book.

P52
(the oldest known manuscript fragment of the new testament)

Deep Enough To Dream

Lazy summer afternoon

Screened-in porch and nothin’ to do
I just kicked off my tennis shoes
Slouchin’ in a plastic chair
Rakin’ my fingers through my hair
I close my eyes and I leave ‘em there
And I yawn, and sigh, and slowly fade away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people for a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch the face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

Awakened by a familiar sound
A clumsy fly is buzzin’ around
He bumps the screen and he tumbles down
He gathers about his wits and pride
And tries again for the hundredth time
‘Cause freedom calls from the other side
And I smile and nod, and slowly drift away

Deep enough to dream in brilliant colors I have never seen
Deep enough to join a billion people for a wedding feast
Deep enough to reach out and touch the face of the One who made me
And oh, the love I feel, and oh the peace
Do I ever have to wake up

‘Cause peace is pouring over my soul
See the lambs and the lions playin’
I join in and I drink the music
Holiness is the air I’m breathin’
My faithful heroes break the bread and answer all of my questions
Not to mention what the streets are made of
My heart’s held hostage by this love

...Do I ever have to wake up
Do I ever have to wake up
Do I really have to wake up now

- Chris Rice

Happy First Day of November

Thank you all for voting. We're going to keep the new look! I was going to anyway. :)