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Can You Feel It?

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JohnDB said:
My favorite time of year.
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As a child, there was always something wrong about people and Christmas. It was such a good feeling with friends and family, and the atmosphere of good cheer. There was no time for anger, everyone was happy. People would give to the poor, feed the hungry (cheerfully). But after the first of the new year, it was doom and gloom! If the birth of Christ is so glorious (and it is) Why is not the death and RESURRECTION of Christ more glorious? It is salvation to the world. Of course there is the shame of our sins that put Him on the Cross, but Christ NEVER wanted man to live under that shame, but to have life more abundantly without fear of death anymore (Heb. 2:14-16) (Rom. 8:15, 21) (2 Tim. 1:7)
When Satan beguiled (lied) to Eve into believing him over believing our creator "Jehovah", and Adam obeyed his wife's request,(Gen. 3:1-6). Adam lost his dominion over the earth and became subjected to the principles of Satan (The curse) (Gen. 3:16-24) (Rom. 8:18-23). For even now, the world lives under the principles of "The power of the prince of the air" (Eph. 2:1-3). Even a free people are free, but only by a standing army. We are subjected to lying merchants and car, insurance, and salesmen that practice deceiving the customers. And what about government officials (lairs all!). Hard time and you can't pay your rent? Your belongings go out on the curve along with you. Thank God for some charitable organizations.
But the Sons of God are not to live under those principles. (1 Cor. 6:11) (Eph. 2:2-4) (Eph. 2:10-12) (Eph. 5:5-7) I hate being taken advantage of, But I refuse to treat others that way. I can't, The Spirit does not have that nature. I never lend, I give.....not I, but Christ in me. That is the Spirit I was born again with. Not assuming I have a Spirit, but having the Spirit. Not because I think I have the Spirit because, I think I understand all mysteries of the Bible, but because of the heredity passed on by the Father, Not because I would give my life for the Gospel, but because I have no life without it. I'am a foreigner here, I have no place to settle in comfort. Even in the visible church, there are those who seem afar off, not because they do not agree with the Gospel of the kingdom and Jesus the Christ, (Acts 1:3) (Acts 5:42) (Acts 8:12) (Acts 14:21-22) (Acts 19:8) (Acts 20:24-27) (Acts 28:30-31) but because they show no love or compassion, usually with the same nature I left behind. We have to die to self, to give birth to the Spirit, that the world may see it (but even so) the world will reject it (Act 14:21-22)
 
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Douglas Summers said:
As a child, there was always something wrong about people and Christmas. It was such a good feeling with friends and family, and the atmosphere of good cheer. There was no time for anger, everyone was happy. People would give to the poor, feed the hungry (cheerfully). But after the first of the new year, it was doom and gloom! If the birth of Christ is so glorious (and it is) Why is not the death and RESURRECTION of Christ more glorious? It is salvation to the world. Of course there is the shame of our sins that put Him on the Cross, but Christ NEVER wanted man to live under that shame, but to have life more abundantly without fear of death anymore (Heb. 2:14-16) (Rom. 8:15, 21) (2 Tim. 1:7)
When Satan beguiled (lied) to Eve into believing him over believing our creator "Jehovah", and Adam obeyed his wife's request,(Gen. 3:1-6). Adam lost his dominion over the earth and became subjected to the principles of Satan (The curse) (Gen. 3:16-24) (Rom. 8:18-23). For even now, the world lives under the principles of "The power of the prince of the air" (Eph. 2:1-3). Even a free people are free, but only by a standing army. We are subjected to lying merchants and car, insurance, and salesmen that practice deceiving the customers. And what about government officials (lairs all!). Hard time and you can't pay your rent? Your belongings go out on the curve along with you. Thank God for some charitable organizations.
But the Sons of God are not to live under those principles. (1 Cor. 6:11) (Eph. 2:2-4) (Eph. 2:10-12) (Eph. 5:5-7) I hate being taken advantage of, But I refuse to treat others that way. I can't, The Spirit does not have that nature. I never lend, I give.....not I, but Christ in me. That is the Spirit I was born again with. Not assuming I have a Spirit, but having the Spirit. Not because I think I have the Spirit because, I think I understand all mysteries of the Bible, but because of the heredity passed on by the Father, Not because I would give my life for the Gospel, but because I have no life without it. I'am a foreigner here, I have no place to settle in comfort. Even in the visible church, there are those who seem afar off, not because they do not agree with the Gospel of the kingdom and Jesus the Christ, (Acts 1:3) (Acts 5:42) (Acts 8:12) (Acts 14:21-22) (Acts 19:8) (Acts 20:24-27) (Acts 28:30-31) but because they show no love or compassion, usually with the same nature I left behind. We have to die to self, to give birth to the Spirit, that the world may see it (but even so) the world will reject it (Act 14:21-22)
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The reason for the grumpy feelings in January is buyer's remorse. They felt guilted into giving and when the bills come due they have to tighten their belts too much (in their opinion).

Never once pondering the widow's mite,
First fruits, or fasting.
 
thanksgiving is looking more and more appealing. mama's got the fixings for a made from scratch, genuinely homemade apple pie (using green apples, btw). me? the caramel apple thing is sounding good, plus I'm thinking about revisiting some recipes for brownies, for the parents and some friends who may be visiting soon-ish.

fun tip: when you're making brownies from your favorite box mix, take it up a couple notches...use butter instead of oil, milk instead of water. combine your butter and milk in a small sauce pan, over medium(ish) heat. Once the butter is all melted, lower the heat a bit and stir in your favorite chocolate chips (I go for semisweet, usually Ghiradelli, because they come in that shiny bag and they are forever on sale during the holidays...). one can also add a bit of vanilla and/or some instant coffee, if you're into that sort of thing.
 
Christ_empowered said:
thanksgiving is looking more and more appealing. mama's got the fixings for a made from scratch, genuinely homemade apple pie (using green apples, btw). me? the caramel apple thing is sounding good, plus I'm thinking about revisiting some recipes for brownies, for the parents and some friends who may be visiting soon-ish.

fun tip: when you're making brownies from your favorite box mix, take it up a couple notches...use butter instead of oil, milk instead of water. combine your butter and milk in a small sauce pan, over medium(ish) heat. Once the butter is all melted, lower the heat a bit and stir in your favorite chocolate chips (I go for semisweet, usually Ghiradelli, because they come in that shiny bag and they are forever on sale during the holidays...). one can also add a bit of vanilla and/or some instant coffee, if you're into that sort of thing.
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Another tip is to use extra butter or oil.

The mixes are chuck full of emulsifying agents...too much in fact. (Mostly because people can't follow directions)

So a little extra oil/fats makes them a little bit richer without destroying the brownies.
 
But today I'm having issues getting my chocolate to temper properly.

Practice Practice Practice

I got bottles and spheres....but am unsatisfied with the results. *Sigh*
It's been 30 years since I did this last.

The chocolate is good.... great in fact.
Just having issues. I'll get the hang of it yet. Got three weeks to practice and get acceptable products.

So much of my skills were by feel after mastering the precision methods. I guess that with time my feelings have died.

But that's the nature of good gifts made by hand...it takes time and Practice to make them great.
 
GOT IT!!!!!
Just gotta look closer at what I'm doing.

Also I picked a lousy day for a first attempt. 80°F and raining. Not exactly a great day to do this. Dropped the temp on the AC and tried again.

For those who have done this the seeding method of tempering is not for true beginners. Couple that with warm and humidity...recipe for disaster.

Soooo
Looking for cold weather and low humidity.

I got hollow bottles and spheres. Just not crispy chocolate from proper tempering.

I'll get it when time for production. Getting my eyes and timing down.

It would be awesome if I had one of those machines that automatically temper it for you. *Sigh*

I wonder what they cost.

$6,800 and does 4 blocks at the same time.
 
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74 days to Christmas
imgres
 
jasonc said:
I may have a cute 6 year old indian residing with me come this Christmas. yall know her
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While this is great,it's part of the prAyer request. I do miss them but it's a broken situation. Texts and conversation seem to indicate a possibility. It depends on how monica holds out on a job .I prefer to stay more up beat,aND won't say more.I will kill me a male indian in jail if I get myself thinking about the wrong he has done.
 
jasonc said:
While this is great,it's part of the prAyer request. I do miss them but it's a broken situation. Texts and conversation seem to indicate a possibility. It depends on how monica holds out on a job .I prefer to stay more up beat,aND won't say more.I will kill me a male indian in jail if I get myself thinking about the wrong he has done.
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Children at Christmas rock
 
JohnDB said:
My favorite time of year.
Click to expand...

Me too.
I love September, October, November, December because
Christmas is my favorite time of year. I love to celebrate the
Lord Jesus's Birthday with my family and friends-fellow-Christians.

And Christmas is the John 3:16 time of year --- never gonna leave
out John 3:16

Love going to church year round, but its special come Christmas
time. I love it. Christmas plays. Christmas music. Good Christmas
cheer and all of it centered around John 3:16 --- in one way or
another.

But I will confess I have a problem with all the shopping and all the
money being spent. My problem is that Americans are not doing
enough shopping during the Christmas Season and they're not
spending anywhere near enough money.

I love to give stuff away to people who both like stuff and need stuff.

Gifts for other people is what they call it.

Its more blessed to give than to receive.

It makes my heart very happy to see "them Walmart shopping carts"
piled up so high all that stuff is about to spill over the edge of the cart
around Christmas time.

Most of that stuff is going to be used for the benefit of human
beings --- even the dog food --- its a good thing for young children
to learn how to take care of pets. They learn valuable lessons from
doing this.

I have another problem with how they do things this time of year. They
don't put the Christmas stuff out early enough to suit me. I want it out
on September 1st each and ever year. And the "Old Scrooge's" in my
area of America wait till late in September to put out Frosty the Snowman
and all the other bright cheerful stuff. Not good!

America has an 18 trillion dollar annual economy and she spends a huge
chunk of this 18 trillion around Christmas time. But it saddens me that America
does not have a bigger annual economy and that she does not triple the amount
of money she spends around Christmas time. For example, our church supports
Samaritan's Purse Christmas Shoe Boxes so that the gospel can go forth around
the world with the gifts inside those packed shoe boxes --- gifts for the children all
over the world. I'd like to see America pumping out a $50 trillion dollar annual
economy with MONEY flowing like a river. The Lord's Great Commission needs
$FUNDING and barter is outdated --- we need lotta "moola" to fund it aka "dough",
"Benjamins", "bread", "cash" etc I want Samaritan's Purse to be able to triple
the number of shoe boxes it sends around the world during Christmas time.

"Samaritan's Purse: Helping In Jesus Name" --- is their motto.

Amen to that.

I say "pile those shopping carts high" this Christmas time. That's what I am going
to. I'm going to give that stuff in those carts away to other people.

One more thing. I have a real problem with both Walmart and with Sam's Club.
Its the size of their shopping carts. Way way way to small. I want them shopping
carts made three (3) times as large as they are now, so they can hold three times
more stuff . . . . stuff I want to buy to give away to both my family, friends, and to
some of the homeless during Christmas time.

:)
 
Ok...
Tempered another batch of chocolate.
SUCCESS
I got my molded chocolate to turn out.

I was able to cut some cigarettes and cigars off the granite.

I attempted some butterflies on parchment...not a one of them flew. So I asked my wife to find me a stencil. A coloring book one would be great. Been too many years since I was proficient and professional with my bag skills.
But when I concentrated I could feel the rhythm and motion coming back...it was great. Too bad the scroll work was pathetic.
 
I have completed all my Christmas shopping already! :biggrin One of the presents I ordered for a friend came in today
 
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