The Quote of Wednesday

Today's quote comes from John Piper's book Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die from chapter 5, page 29.

"I have heard it said, 'God didn't die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans.' This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren't bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it.
There is only one explanation for God's sacrifice for us. It is not us. It is 'the riches of his grace' (Ephesians 1:7). It is all free. It is not a response to our worth. It is the overflow of his infinite worth. In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his infinite beauty."

Memorizing Psalm 66

I guess I'll start right where I left off, since I haven't been memorizing this past week. So this is this week's set.

Psalm 66:

Monday
v.16 - "Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He has done for my soul."

Tuesday
v.17 - "I cried to Him with my mouth, And He was extolled with my tongue."

Wednesday
v.18 - "If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear."

Thursday
v.19 - "But certianly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer."

Friday
v.20 - "Blessed be God, Who has not turned away my prayer, Nor His mercy from me!"

And that is the end of Psalm 66. I will be thinking of another psalm to begin memorizing.

Cheesecake

A photograph of cheesecake

One of our favorite cheesecake recipes is Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheescake. I made this for Dad's birthday.


Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake

Begin first with the crust.

Crust

9 Graham crackers
1/4 c. of confectioners' sugar
4-5 tbsp. of melted margarine or butter

Put three graham crackers into a sealable bag. Crush them with a rolling pin or have your sister walk all over them. When they are sufficiently crunched, pour the crumbs into a medium-sized bowl.
Stir in the sugar.
Pour the melted butter all over the crumbs. Mix all the butter into the crumbs. Grab a handful of crumbs from the bowl. If they stick together, the crust is done; if they don't stick together, add more butter.
When the crust is ready, press it into a 9-inch springform pan. Press the bottom flat and push the crust up the sides. Don't expect it to reach the top of the pan.

Now you can move on to the filling.

Filling

2 8oz. packages of cream cheese or nufchatel cheese
1 14oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
4 eggs
2 tsp. of vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until it is soft and fluffy. Slowly pour in the condensed milk while still beating the cream cheese. Add the eggs one by one. Add the vanilla last.
When the batter is smooth and completely mixed, pour a little less than half of it into a medium-sized bowl.
Now melt:

1 c. chocolate chips or 2 1oz. baking squares
1/2 c. peanut butter

Pour the chocolate into the large bowl of batter and stir immediately. Then pour the peanut butter into the smaller bowl of batter and stir.
Pour the chocolate batter into the springform pan. Fold the peanut butter batter in the middle. Swirl the top with a knife.
Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit for 65 minutes or until it is set. Cool the cake.
Store in the refrigerator if you are going to eat it soon, if not wrap in aluminum foil and freeze. Thaw it by taking it out and leaving it in the refrigerator for a couple hours.

Please feel free to experiment with this recipe and come up with your own variations.

Our 50th Post

This is our 50th post.
Hmm, that is very little for all the time we have had this blog, but we hope to increase that number soon. In fact, as soon as we get our act together and write down all those thought that are rolling around in our heads, we shall soon outstrip this small number.
So, by God's grace, we shall continue until we come to the hundreth post.


Blessings,
Kirk and Jo

Yesterday, I meant to explain why there had been next to nothing posted last week, but a catastrophe occured and delayed me once again.
The verse we leaned on most heavily yesterday was this:

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." ~Romans 5:3-4

Actually it wasn't all that bad. Our washing machine just overflowed and flooded the laundry room and half the kitchen and leaked down into the basement right over the financial records. So we pulled out rags and sponges and mops and cleaned the kitchen floor first. Then we pulled out the stuff from the basement and left in the sun and wind to dry. Nothing was ruined by the grace of God. But we certainly learned perseverance. I was so tired at the end of the day, that I was singing every word or phrase that was spoken or thought (ask Jo what that means). After dealing with an ant invasion in our pantry, we scrambled to get dinner 'cause Mum had a Bible study she had to get to. I think that explains the delay of the explantion.

What I was going to write yesterday, was this: All last week, we've had dreadful cold things (the kind that start as allergies but then get worse), plus three of my siblings had to take their New-York-required-achievment tests.

In conclusion, praise God in all your circumstances and remember that He is in control and keep an eye on your washing machine.

HE'S ALIVE!! HE'S ALIVE!!!!

We pray that you all have blessed day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord.
The Two Sisters

Friday Vocabulary - Shcwop

This weeks vocabulary word is shcwop. Now I bet you never heard of that word before. I hadn't either until recently when Kirk told me about it. Shcwop basically means to grab someone hard and kiss them. I'll see if I can get a picture of it later.
So anyway, thats what shcwop means.

The Quote of Wednesday

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disapoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now recieved the reconcilation." Romans 5:1-11

Memorizing Psalm 66

Here is this week's set.


From Psalm 66:

Wednesday
v.12 - "You have caused men to ride over our heads; We went through fire and through water; But You brought us out to rich fulfillment."

Thursday
v.13 - "I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows,"

Friday
v.14 - "Which my lips have uttered And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble."

Saturday
v.15 - "I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals, With the sweet aroma of rams; I will offer bulls with goats. Selah"