For those so inclined, here is the recipe:

1. 1 hamburger bun
2. regular tuna
3. mayonaise (and your normal ingredients for making tuna sandwich spread- however you normally do)
4. pringles chips

Instructions-

1. Mix the tuna into your regular mayonaise and other ingredients making your normal tuna spread, as you wish
2. Gently toast both sides of the hamburger bun.
3. apply tuna as desired to bottom bun
4. place Pringles chips on top of tuna.
5. apply top bun.
6. finish plate with a few more pringles.

Lunch is served! Chow down my friends.. for step by step.. .watch the video below...

Media and culture try to broach this subject occasionally. The concept of the "Spotless mind", as portrayed well in the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind ", is a measure of man's desire to hide knowledge from not just his intellect, but from his heart.  The absolution of knowledge is an attempt to atone for sins.  An attempt meant to reverse the curse of responsibility placed on us when we grasped for immortality by eating from that tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  Wiping the mind clean removes the knowledge of good and evil, undoes the work of the conscience and atones for sin.  Or so the world believes.  But the stain is already there.  The indelible ink of sin has tainted not just the body, mind, memory and experience of the temporal human, it has smeared death on the eternal soul of true person.

Spotless mind can't ultimately become spotless soul.

It's such a cutting thing for me to think of Christ's work at such an atomic level.  His commission and journey to acquire our redemption becomes a deeper reality.  A reality that it goes beyond the body and flesh- beyond his whipping, beyond his brutal torture on the cross, beyond the mocking of the once "worshiping crowd", beyond the rejection and abandonment of his "faithful friends".  His commission and journey went to the "great beyond", the place where eternity began.  It is not a location. It is the covenant relationship of God as father and son. It is of this place that Jesus spoke, in John 17:5, when he said "And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began".  Again, he reiterates this later in verse 24, when he says "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world."

Jesus and the Father have a love unparalleled in the universe.  It bound Jesus while in his earthly form to his task of pursuing freedom for us.  I believe Jesus saw his pursuit of our atonement from the perspective that he was trying to draw us into the community of love that he had with the Father.  In other words, this love he enjoyed and relationship that was with the father, he was looking to draw us into that circle of life.  Redemption wasn't just about rescuing us from painful, eternal results of our bad decisions (though it was that).  It was about pulling us into the place of triune love and life, where we could know God as He knows himself.  John 17:20-26 is so clear on this point, it is almost unreadable.  You can't dodge the bullet of God's intent- he wants to make us part of his closest inner circle of love. But how could we move "in" to a place of love and relationship with God, where only the Godhead had dwelt? What power is great enough to allow for the displacement of God, for the benefit of mere man?  No power other than God himself.

And this is where conjecture rises to the top for me. I believe that Jesus knew his life was needed for our redemption. I believe he knew (as it unfolded) his path and actions as he walked out his life on earth, in ongoing contact with his father.  He was not at "home" here, but he was still at peace because he remained in fellowship with his father.  Many things he was told ahead of time, and knew what to do, as his journey unfolded. But clearly, his deepest strength was in His father's love for him.  Yet, I believe that the Father did not allow Jesus to see all that would be required to bring us into the eternal dance of love with the Triune God.

How could God keep this from himself? Clearly part of this is explained in Philippians 2:5-11, where Christ emptied himself of Godly stature and power, as he lived a needy life in human skin.  Jesus was able to thrive not because he was God, but because he stayed in life-giving connection with Father God. In His human form he was limited. Further, Jesus admitted that even he was not given access to everything, and that there were some details kept from him by the Father. This becomes obvious when he prays and asks the Father  "if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done".

All this matters because there was a cost for Christ that was beyond his human torture.  A cost that is screamed out in the tragic hour of its payment, when Jesus cried "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The great cost of relationship is more than just cleaning us up presentable for the Father without our dirty clothes.  It was the ripping of Christ from the fellowship of the Godhead, as he became sin for us. During that time, there was a sin-man (Jesus on the cross), and he could no longer be in fellowship with the sinless God.  Alone, with his very identity unhinged from the Father's love, the son cries out from his heart.

The process is still a mystery. Perhaps my above speculation makes it even more a mystery, and I am completely wrong.  But in the next moment, Christ was reunited in fellowship with his father.  The tearing apart did the final thing needed.  It placed a true sense of loss and hurt into the experience of God- a direct, real, first person experience of loss and disconnection from the Father's love.  He indeed suffered as we suffer, lived as we lived, was well acquainted with our temptations and pain and yet was without sin.

Jesus rending of sin from us, was a deeper work than the removal of sin from the mind, which is the level man has always tried to apply (and that is laid out in the "spotless mind").  Jesus work is more profound, because it deals with the actual problem not with the place dirtied up by the problem (our mind).  Jesus dealt with the real problem, which is:

1. our knowledge of good and evil - our lives lived in judgment as though we were God
2. our living (willing participation) in the actions and desires of what we know is sin

A truly cleaned soul, free from desiring the place of judge and God and free from the insatiable desire to live in the way of sin, has just one author-  Jesus.

So while "ignorance is bliss" and "spotless mind" may give mental disconnection from our wrong actions, they do not have freedom from sin or atonement for the sin-stained soul.  Full forgiveness comes not from hiding truth, but embracing it and conquering it through love. A love which Christ completely demonstrated by His work on the cross.  Easter, then, is ultimately all about truth working itself out in love.

From the start, God has provided for us and given us sustenance (food), even in His creative acts in Genesis.  Our sinless progenitors (before the fall) were given food (Genesis 1:29).  In fact, God didn't just provide plants and fruit for food, he also provided it as enjoyment, something that was pleasing- "...trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food..." (Genesis 2:9a). God blessed and made provision that was:

1. Pleasurable - "pleasing to the eye"
2. Sustenance -  "good for food"

In the midst of the sustenance and enjoyment, there stood two trees in the center of the garden: "...the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." (Genesis 2:9b).  In this second reading of the creation (the first is in Genesis 1, the second begins in Genesis 2:4 and continues to verse 25), there is a bit more detail of the timeline in regards to God's provision and instructions on the food/trees in the garden.

Specifically, it is clear that God formed Adam from the dust and breathed life into him.  God had planted the garden and the trees in it (Genesis 2:8-9) and provided a river to water the garden (Genesis 2:10-14). God then placed Adam in the garden to work it (Genesis 2:15). At this point, God gives His specific instructions about the trees in garden.  He specifically then tells Adam not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17).  After giving Adam this instruction, God then considers that Adam is alone and decides to make a helper for him. At this point, God creates woman and introduces her to Adam (Genesis 2:18-25).  It is interesting to note that Adam is given the instruction about not eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, before Eve is yet created.  Even if you believe that both man and woman were created before this instruction was given (Genesis 1:26-30 has a more compact rendering of details that could be interpreted as a different event sequence), it is still very clear in Genesis 2:16-17 that the command was given to Adam, not Eve.

Tempted: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil

The events that follow are well known to all of us.  The serpent comes to tempt the woman.  The woman clearly has been told what God had said about the  tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 3:2-3). The serpent responds not with an incontrovertible lie, but with a lie ("you will not surely die" Genesis 3:4) mixed with truth ("...your eyes will be opened...knowing good and evil" Genesis 3:5). The choice before the man and woman (both where there- "...her husband, who was with her..." Genesis 3:6b) is summarized clearly in verse 6-

"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom..."

This statement is in clear contrast to Genesis 2:9, which specifically lists just the first two components of pleasure and sustenance. Now the woman sees this list of attributes to the provision:

1. Pleasurable - "pleasing to the eye"
2. Sustenance -  "good for food"
3. Knowledge of good and evil - "desirable for gaining wisdom"

In seeing this, "she took some and ate it." (Genesis 3:6b) The husband quickly followed suite "and he ate it" (Genesis 3:6b). Strangely, they had not completely misinterpreted the list of attributes that the serpent had promised when he had said "...your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). In fact, upon taking the fruit, "then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked;" (Genesis 3:7). In a very real sense, Adam and Eve received what they had desired- pleasure, sustenance and the knowledge of good and evil.  Yet, omitted from the summary of attributes of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was two important points in the conversation:

1. God had declared that eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would ensure they would die (Genesis 2:17)
2. The serpent had promised that they would "be like God"

Believing Lies

The temptation of Adam and Eve happened through a series of accepting lies.  Regarding the first point, they believed the serpent's word that they would not die over the word of God that stated contrary. But verse 6 is quite self-revealing about the thought process of the woman- aside from just lusting for the illicit promises of sin, it abstains from thinking about the cost of sin.  Death is not mentioned in verse 6, though it is mentioned in every other passage by God, the woman and the serpent up to that point.

The language of verse 6 also has an important adjustment to the wording of the consequence of their actions.  Instead of "you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5)- the woman imagines that the fruit is "desirable for gaining wisdom" (verse 6). The commonality is that in both statements, the serpent (who speaks in verse 5) and the woman (seeing in verse 6) agree with the implication of acquiring knowledge. But what kind of knowledge is it?  It is the knowledge of good and evil.  It is the ability to comprehend and discern what is right and what is wrong.  But it is even more than this, because the serpent's promise implied some activity that only God could engage in "you will be like God" (Genesis 3:5).

We know this could not have been simply the recognition of truth and lie.  Adam and Eve already had this ability to hear an untruth and to parse it as a lie, and to respond back with correction.  In Genesis 3:1 the serpent first presents the lie (in the form of a question). The woman replies in verse 2 and 3, correcting the serpent's questioning of what God had said on the subject.  The mechanism for seeing truth and lie and maintaining a correct perspective was already part of the human comprehension.

Sin Takes Hold

So just what was it that the tree was promising?  The serpent presented it as this- "you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). Indeed, God acknowledges that man did "become like one of Us, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:22). However, this knowledge that Adam and Eve gained did not bring wisdom. Instead, it brought shame (Genesis 3:7 "they knew they were naked") and fear (Genesis 3:8 "[they] hid themselves from the presence of the Lord" and verse 10 "...I was afraid because I was naked").

What Adam and Eve gained was to discover a new depth of knowledge about good and evil.  One that went from simply knowing of it to venturing into the experience of it.  They could see it before (as dissociated, impersonal knowledge) in Genesis 3:1-3, but once they became immersed in the experience of it (actually being disobedient to God by eating the fruit from the tree) they were at a loss. Why? Because along with this experience of good and evil, they did not gain the power and wisdom of God to touch it without being changed by it.  The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was both the truth and metaphor in one.  The tree contained a consummate comprehension that only God Himself had power over.  Not that God was "discovering" anything, but simply the "having" of the knowledge was corruption to mortal beings, while God would not be changed by its understanding, because He was Himself, unchangeable.

Judgment

Until recently, it was at this point that I had settled my understanding of Genesis.  In the last few days, I have seen a bit more about this section of Scripture through the help of a book by Gregory Boyd ("Repenting of Religion").  In revisiting the Genesis account, Boyd asserts, that something even more important was happening in regards to the knowledge of good and evil. What else did this knowledge bring? Boyd says, it is judgement.

Why? Because actually having the knowledge of good and evil requires a wisdom that only God can both preside over and act upon- the wisdom of judgement. In acting outside of God's instruction, Adam and Eve determined themselves to be better judges of what was best for them than God.  The tree exemplified this crucible of judgement.  And to take for ones self the fruit of that tree meant you intended to become the one who could judge. In his book "Repenting of Religion", Gregory Boyd takes the concept of judgment as the core offense attained to man at the initial sin act. He expands on it to say that through our disobedience in the garden we transplanted our primary purpose in existence -to love and be loved in God- for an unholy convening with judgment. (if you want to read in more detail on Boyd's thoughts, go get yourself a copy of "Repenting of Religion")

Tempted Away From God's Provision

As I was thinking about all this, I realized that the provision of God (including the trees of the garden and the allowable fruit from the Tree of Life) is a clear metaphor for so much of God's sustenance.

God gives an abundance of provision.  In the case of creation, God did not just give us a few trees. Genesis 1:29 clearly states that the entire earth was populated with plants and trees yielding fruit and seed that was ours for food.  As if that wasn't enough, after planting a garden the Lord specifically places fruitful trees in it for food and encourages man to eat from them.  He even includes the fruit of the Tree of Life as available to Adam and Eve.  Yet, instead of choosing from all that God had provisioned for both pleasure and sustenance (Genesis 2:9), we chose instead to walk into disobedience in hopes of getting something forbidden, something "unknown".

This brings me to my question for this journal entry- where are you eating from?  What place are you drawing your sustenance (food) and enjoyment (pleasure) from?  Is it from the deep well of God's current revelation to you (the scriptures, His operative will in your life, your family, your community of faith)?

Or are you looking to another place for your food? Perhaps you are looking towards the wistful aspirations of what you may "gain" by getting something you do not have. Perhaps you are looking for something much bigger than your current life, much more important than your current job, much more noble than the simplicity of loving your family.  Over the years, I have seen people allow their appetites to consume their conscience.  They have become driven by desires rather than deepening the integrity of their current lives.  Some have allowed even a quest for revelation to overrule their commitment to relationships.

Jesus: The Bread of Life

As I read the Genesis account again, I have to ask myself these kinds of questions.  They help steady my passions (pleasure) and my needs (sustenance) to where those questions are answered with pure love. They are answered not in a location, a teaching, a church, or even a new revelation from God.  They are answered in the words we read in John 6:

it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.

There is just one place we can go for our sustenance, our life- the person of Jesus.  He does not just have the answers and the sustenance of life- He is the bread of life.  He is our completeness, not through external provisions, but through direct personal relationship with Him.  He may indeed bring many things with Him, as we encounter His pouring out of love through His blessings. But He never intended anything else, including His blessings, to become our provision. He, Himself, is our provision.

Understanding this and living in Christ as our provision is more than theory.  It happens right now, even as you read this.  Are you worried about your romantic relationship with your spouse?  Are you concerned about your monthly bills bearing down on finances that simply are failing? Are you broken by the rebellion of your children? Are you lost in a sinful pattern of inescapable addiction or painful hopelessness?

The Answer

Jesus does not just have answers, He is the answer.  Any condition you find yourself in right now has just one point of resolution: the person of Jesus. Whatever place in life you are at, stop right now.

Stop and speak from your heart to Him. Pour out your heart, your pain, your emptiness and even your fullness of your own success.  Admit that nothing satisfies. Admit that your emptiness and your fullness still seem desolate in comparison with actually knowing Jesus. Speak this out to Him.  Invite Him to become the bread of your life, the sustenance of your existence.  As you turn yourself over to Him, He will trade your life for His.   You will never go hungry again, and you will never be thirsty again (John 6:35).  This is not a vague promise, it is a simple truth.  It means you have a relationship with the person Who spoke the universe into being and personally created you. He will not leave a relationship with you or rip His sustenance from your life. Just as Adam and Eve had the entire earth covered with the provision of God (Genesis 1:29), God has now permeated the universe with His love (Romans 8:38-39) so that you cannot escape from His presence.

When you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by fear, look to Christ, whose love overpowers all fear. When you feel hopeless, look to Jesus, who is your Hope. When you are flooded by the demands of this world, let your heart rest in the counsel of God Himself, who says :

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)

• http://www.churchmedia.net/ (both free and paid forums available)
• http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=12
• http://osministry.com/forum/ (techie idea exchange)
• http://www.churchsoundcheck.com/

• http://www.howaudio.com/ (professional training)

VIDEO & GRAPHIC TECH INFORMATION/TRAINING

• http://www.churchvideoideas.com/ (great for churches and video)
• http://www.lynda.com/ (professional training)

• http://www.tfwm.com/
• http://www.churchandworship.com/

I especially like the writings by Quentin Schultze and would encourage you to read any of this writings and articles on technology and the church. Such as follows:

• http://www.byfaithonline.com/partner/Article_Display_Page/0,,PTID323422%7CCHID664014%7CCIID2238650,00.html
• http://www.calvin.edu/~schu/publications/hightechworship.htm

• http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/
• http://www.corbis.com/ (not Christian focused, but excellent quality image database)
• http://www.midnightoilproductions.com/
• http://www.istockphoto.com/ (again, not Christian-centric site, but contains good selection of useful images)
• http://www.sermonspice.com/
• http://www.bluefishtv.com/
• http://www.highwayvideo.com/
• http://www.barnafilms.com/
• http://www.worshipfilms.com/
• http://www.digitalstocksource.com

• PlusDeck2c - (hardware) A computer device that actually plugs into your computer (Windows/PC) and lets you convert all those old sermon tapes and music library tapes to MP3 files (or CDs) directly on your computer. It's a great technology device for churches wondering how they are going to get their history of teaching and sermon tapes on to the web or mp3 disc or such. You can see an online review of it at http://churchvideoideas.com/2007/01/09/plusdeck2c-cassette-deck-for-converting-cassettes-to-mp3/ or you can look at it directly on our site at http://www.worshipmusic.com/plusdeck2c.html (be sure to watch the demo video online- page down to half way down the page to view it).
• Transposer - (software download) Transposer 2.0 allows you to raise or lower the pitch of any MP3 song without changing the tempo. You can also change the tempo of an MP3 song without changing the pitch. The quality of the recording remains the same, within reasonable limits (pitch changes of 3 semitones higher or lower, and tempo changes of less than 25%). The good thing is, you can try out the software for free to see if it works for you before you ever buy it. http://www.worshipmusic.com/gen-trans-pc.html
• Sweetly Broken Video - (digital download) modern worship song with an example of a wonderfully Cross-centered theme, but with humanized video images. http://www.worshipmusic.com/sweetly-broken.html . Go down to the sub-section for video of this song in the right-middle of the page and choose the video format best suited for your church (there are online samples for each).
• Mediashout - (software) In my opinion, the best video display program for Windows computers. http://www.worshipmusic.com/9847100000.html
• ProPresenter - (software) In my opinion, the best video display program for Mac computers. http://www.renewedvision.com/pp.php
• EasyWorship - (software) the video display software that is the easiest to learn and get up and running in your local church quickly. But has some important high-end limitations. Good for churches who want basic video support, but aren't wanting to tax it with extensive live video, compressed video files and running direct from DVD (all things EasyWorship does not do, or does poorly) http://www.easyworship.com/home.php
• God Songs - (book) a great book and resource for songwriters. I know its not exactly technology specific, but its an amazing resource for your worship and music people http://www.worshipmusic.com/1933150033.html
• Finale Music software - (software) the best music software for notation, in my opinion. http://www.worshipmusic.com/software-coda-music.html
• Praise.net - (website) a free online resource with discussion forum for worship leaders and worshipers.
• WorshipMusic.com - (website) my online company that is specifically meant for equipping churches in worship, music, technology and tools that encourage and bless worship. http://www.worshipmusic.com/
• WorshipTeam.com - (website) a new online web service for weekly worship planning. (this is what I have been working on for the last 4 years :) ) This is a legal, authorized online service that brings a complete suite of tools into a single solution environment to meet the needs of local church worship leaders, ministries and their team members. This complete tool set includes scheduling, personnel, document mgt, communication, songs, and order of service/list development all within a unique "workspace" that integrates this for your team. This service is in BETA test mode right now, and any one can check it out for free. http://www.worshipteam.com/

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) ...

...The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he." Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."

But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."

Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

John 4:4-8, 25-34

Going through life, each of us develop little formula's and recipe's for nourishing ourselves. Often times we are able to survive and satiate the hunger in us by filling up with what seems obvious. Yet, the more we pile on the food of temporal life, the less nourishing it seems. We hunger, but we continue to eat fluff because it's what is being served. But that is not how it was meant to be. Jesus was tired and (one can assume), like his disciples, hungry and thirsty from the long journey. But it is clear that his recipe for sustenance included one main ingredient- obedience. And not just obedience to a mindless cause, but focus on the healthful food of heaven.

Jesus said it succinctly, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work". Are you hungry? Are you empty for real meaning? Are you in need of something, but don't know what it is? Are you finding what you do to be void of satisfaction, even in success? David, the psalmist, found the food of life, as he says in Psalm 34:8, "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him."

Nothing is as deeply fulfilling as knowing you are acting on the advice of God, according to both His nature found in His word and the Holy Spirit's inspirational direction at the moment. One of those such moments came to me a few years ago. It was in the quiet place of my own home. During a time of contemplation, I felt inclined to pray and fast for the life of Christ to grow more evident in my family. As I took that journey, one day it seemed important to me that the real purpose of this particular fast was so that I could concentrate on the needs of my family. To serve them instead of myself. Seems obvious, but quite different when you are fasting for many days so that you can prepare and serve your family. One of those days, I remember making some burgers for them and God speaking in the kindest of voice- "Kim, how does this taste?" I hadn't eaten for a very long time, but my family was enjoying a meal. I realized what He meant. It was at that point that I knew part of selfish life cannot be simply mentally confronted, it must be done away with through action. Part of the power of the Christian disciplines is that you act in line with your theology to "exercise" your thoughts through obedience. You must push through the feeling of struggle in doing the discipline, and that gives a very real, very touchable understanding to the battle we are in. You begin to see that you really do play a part of this earthly conflict between the two kingdoms of light and darkness. And while we wouldn't account for anything on our own, He chooses to make us unbelievable valuable, and in fact places us in the midst of the important crucible of decision and action. If we decide and act along with Him, we confer our agreement to the kingdom of goodness and push the territory of the heavens further across this planet, as His glory covers earth.

In that journey, obedience is both thought and action. It will feel, it will hurt and it will bless. Taste and see that He is good. He really is! Kind of a fun encouragement to me was the quirky discovery while I was doing just a bit of cooking. My mom used to make burgers when I was a kid. I remembered she made a hearty combination of meatloaf type ingredients. When used in burgers, it made a plump and juicy burger. Attempting to recreate that from memory, I looked for some spices to add. In this process, I found out that spices normally meant for use on grilled chicken work quite a nice zesty flavor into juicy burgers. So, here is a fun little burger recipe that you are welcome to try, ala the accidental discovery of yours truly. It isn't the food of life, but it is tasty for the body!

Hope you like it:

Kim's Burgers
makes 10 large burger patties

Ingredients

• 3lbs of ground beef (lean)
• 1 tube of saltine crackers (crushed into semi-fine grind)
• 4 eggs
• 1/8 onion (super finely ground/cut) - chopped dry onions are ok
• garlic salt/powder (to taste)
• McCormick Chicken Seasoning (4 teaspoons) -- you can substitute your own mix of salt, pepper, and paprika if you do not like the MSG that is added by the seasoning pre-made mix.
• black pepper (1 teaspoon)
• salt (2 teaspoons)- optional

1. Mix crushed saltine grind with all spices
2. Combine eggs, meat and dry mixture. Hand knead until completely mixed throughout.
3. Form into patties
4. Cook as desired. Medium/well burgers can be made at 18 minutes at 200F on a grill. Then let sit 5 minutes on low heat to melt real cheddar slices and settle juices in meat.
   

• Don't they know that there is literally 564 emails per person per day already advertising their very wares?
• Aren't they aware that branding their products only now ensures their inclusion in spam filter databases?
• And honesty, how can they think that after 6,000 recorded years of human progeny from a few thousand people to over 10 billion earthly inhabitants that there is something so wrong with the majority of male virility during the last 5 years that we need everyone to take a special pill to make them "better".

• "he must" - being a disciple means you do not have a choice. You must consider, accept, prepare, plan, receive and walk into the suffering Christ calls you to. No man can call you to suffer for Christ, just as no man could assign Jesus his duties on the cross of Calvary. Only God himself can call you towards what He knows to be both painful and perfect for your life and His glory.
• "deny himself" - in taking up Christ's sufferings, you can only do so when you make room out of your own "self" life. To make room for transformation, or even simple obedience to Him, there are things that must be set aside. Your comfort, your wishes, your preferences, your time, your money, your goals, your life. Anything that begins with "your" or "my" must be on the table when we think of denial. If we look at our lives and find something we could not believe we have strength to let go of- those things look like a shining targets to a jealous God. He loves you passionately.
• "take up his cross" - removing things that are "ours" is not the only active movement to be made in our journey. We must move into the sufferings assigned for us. What has Jesus himself ordained for your discipleship, your life. Advance towards them, don't wait for them to drop on you. "Take up" your cross, don't wait for it to crash down on you.
• "follow me" - the journey of self-denial and taking up the cross assigned to us is only possible as we "fix our eyes on Jesus". The writer of Hebrews correctly understood the absolute dependence on having a vision of Christ. The hope and real assurance of following a real God, Jesus, not an arbitrary cosmic master. He understood that following Jesus had to do with both being set on him as our ultimate goal and enduring through the cross assigned to each of us on the journey there.

Hebrews 12 is a clear synopsis for the tension that holds together a life of joy and suffering in the same person following a faithful God:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)

As a follower, Mark 8:34 is one of the most difficult and hard sayings for me to live. Living is not just understanding and accepting and waiting. Living is pursuing and engaging. We don't "create" our cross or "make" trouble, but we are called to pursue the cross Christ assigns to us.

One of my favorite new songs is called "Sweetly Broken" by Jeremy Riddle. When I get a chance, I will post a link to a audio sample of the song. It speaks well of this paradox of joy and pain at the cross.

His life!
Kim

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