Friday Photo; Plus Tony Dungy, Bold Ambassador for the Kingdom; Narnia Update; Hallmarks of True Christianity; Isidor of Seville; Vodka-Buying Tips, More

It’s been a while since I shared some food p0rn…

Garlic Chicken; Golden Raisin & Almond Rice Pilaf

Yet another delicious dinner (sorry, no dinosaur meat this time).

Based on a Middle Eastern recipe for…well, garlic chicken.

Where’s Larry King when we need him? Garlique!

Drool. It’s all right.

The rice was tossed with golden raisins, cumin, and slivered almonds. Yum. There’s just a little too much parsley there, but..eh. It’s good for us. As usual, I added minced garlic to the freshly slivered stuff. Very tasty.

Okay, there’s a lot going on, but my parents are coming to visit for the weekend so we’ll make this kind of quick.

Barack Obama: People, he is a Marxist. His wife is even worse. Michelle Obama as First Lady would make Hillary Clinton look like nothing more than a petulant, tantrum-throwing child. And we all know how much influence wives have on their husbands. Do not elect this man. It could destroy this country.

Also, anyone else find it interesting that Reverend Wright is a “former” Muslim? We all know there can be no such thing without rather negative feedback from the Muslim community. So…what gives?

By the way, Reverend…what, was Islam not hateful enough for you?

Discouraging news for Narnia fans: it looks like Prince Caspian is straying much too far from the book. Sad, sad news. Thanks to Cindy for the heads-up; Hubby and I both found some of the changes to the character of the Pevensie children in the first film bad enough, though they didn’t ruin the movie for us. Looks like Disney can’t leave well enough alone and intends to destroy the opportunity they have with Narnia. Sigh.

Interestingly (this also from Cindy), Lewis’ stepson, Douglas Gresham, doesn’t seem too disturbed by this. He says people take things too seriously, but Lewis portrayed his protagonists the way he did for a reason. Changing them in the way they’ve been changed takes a lot away.

Anyhow, there’s another interview with Gresham here at Narnia Fans. Far too many exclamation points, but interesting information therein.

Still more proof that ethanol is stupid and harmful to the economy, to your car, and, yes, to the earth. Nitwittery.

Mike Ratliff on true Christianity:

And He said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26 ESV)

The act of changing the Gospel in the name of ‘relevancy’ is the same thing as being ashamed of Christ. It is a demonstration of unbelief that God will accomplish His will and save His people if we will obey Him and simply preach the Biblical Gospel.

It’s part of a series well worth reading.

Good points from Clifford D. May about the “100 years of war” silliness, points never apparently considered by the left or the Libertarians.

…there is a hard truth that McCain did not state: A hundred years from now, Americans might still be fighting militant Islamists in Iraq and other places. What could be worse than that? A hundred years from now, America and the West could have been defeated by militant Islamists.

Al-Qaeda, Iran’s ruling mullahs, Hezbollah, and others militant jihadis have told us what they are fighting for. The well-known Islamist, Hassan al-Banna, described the movement’s goals succinctly: “to dominate . . . to impose its laws on all nations and to extend its power to the entire planet.” He said that in 1928. Who would have believed then that his heirs would acquire the wealth, power, and lethality they enjoy today? Who can say where they may be 100 years from now? Who can say where the West will be? Survival is not an entitlement. Freedom must be earned by every generation.

…Let’s suppose it will require a hundred years to defeat such people, the ideas they espouse, and the movements they represent. Do we really have anything more important to do?

I’m starting to believe that, just like many things, what we’re seeing is willful ignorance on the part of many regarding this situation. To say it is plain stupidity is quite tempting, but the fact is there any many otherwise intelligent people who just don’t see the truth. This is not about oil, or occupation, or war, or Americans having the temerity to want to visit Persia or Saudi Arabia or supporting Israel. It is civilization versus anti-civilizational evil. Deal with it.

I’d never heard of Isidore, 7th-century bishop of Seville, but enjoyed the very short piece posted on the Touchstone blog last week. Talk about food for thought.

Last week, I mentioned that young people are showing a greater interest in traditional, time-tested theology. Over at Reformation Theology, Nathan tries to explain why some young folks are seeking the Truth instead of frippery. Very interesting list, not all of which I’m sure I agree with, but it gives us things to consider.

However, it seems to me Nathan is missing the most vital reason for this: the call of God. His sheep hear His voice, know His voice, and will follow no other. The HappyFluffy churches do not preach the Word (recall, too, that the Word was made flesh), but there are still a handful who do proclaim the Truth. The sheep, the flock, His own, recognize those whose words and actions reflect what is in the Bible instead of the latest popular theological train of thought. Their hearts and minds having been enlightened by God, they’re better attuned to that voice.

Of course, Jesus calls all of us, but not all choose to listen; still, the call is there, He beckons, and all we must do is turn to follow the true Shepherd. Without Him, we can do nothing. Without that call, there is nothing to turn to. So it has to be Him! He is so wonderful, isn’t He?

Of course, reading the comments for the first time, I see at least one person agrees with me.

It is only through His love and grace we are saved; as we read in Proverbs, if the righteous are barely saved by grace, what waits for those who reject or ignore Him?

At the same time, though, we need to remember there will be a “great falling away” before He returns. There already is a great falling away occurring, people wanting their ears tickled and worries soothed. You’ll find something along this line over at Tim Challies’ blog.

One last thought about this: Joel Osteen and Rick Warren and others point to the size of their churches and huge book sales as “proof” that “God is blessing this, who are you to question?” Yet did not Jesus Himself warn we’d be hated for His name’s sake? That the Word of God would be a stumbling block to some, abhorrent to others? Something does not jive here.

The Absolut story is old news, but the blogosphere sure had fun with it, didn’t they? I found it outrageous, but…let’s face it, Absolut isn’t really a very good vodka in the first place. Grey Goose is far better (though if you are putting vodka in your martinis…what is wrong with you?), SKYY is not only made in the USA but has come out “proud supporting” the 1848 Treaty of Gudalupe Hidalgo, so much so they fired off a press release about it:

In 1848, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo officially ended the Mexican-America War (1846-1848). With the signing of this treaty, the United States gained control of what was to become the Golden West, including California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada and parts of Colorado and New Mexico. Today, SKYY® Vodka, the number-one vodka produced in the United States, spoke out against suggestions by Absolut® Vodka to disregard that treaty, as well as the joining of Texas to the Union in 1845, as depicted in Absolut’s recent advertising.

“Like SKYY Vodka, the residents of states like California, Texas and Arizona are exceptionally proud of the fact that they are from the United States of America,” said Dave Karraker, SKYY Vodka. “To imply that they might be interested in changing their mailing addresses, as our competitor seems to be suggesting in their advertising, is a bit presumptuous.”

…“Don’t get me started on the Gadsden Purchase,” continues Karraker. “I think the folks in Tucson and Yuma would be rubbed the wrong way if they hear this landmark deal was somehow nullified as suggested by Absolut, a Swedish-owned brand.”

Ketel One is another decent alternative, though I suggest the first two. SKYY is farmed, harvested, and created in the Midwest. Grey Goose, invented by an American, is now owned by a French company, but with Sarkozy in charge, it’s okay to purchase now, right?

I still remember the scorn and mockery my ad agency coworkers heaped upon Absolut for being an extremely inferior vodka. Since the majority of ad agency people (especially those from big agencies) are definitely connoisseurs of hard liquor, my guess is they’re right.

Finally (oddly, after a discussion of vodka), Steve Camp took his young son Marshall to meet Superbowl champ Tony Dungy at a banquet where some thought nearly 50% of the audience did not know Jesus.

Unsurprisingly, Camp came away with some great stuff for us. The whole post is absolutely worth reading, but my favourite bits?

One of the things I quickly came to realize was that Tony was not a Superbowl winning coach who happened to be a Christian; he was a Christian who happened to be a Superbowl winning coach.

…Coach shared that evening on the theme which I used for this post: “our goal is to be champions; but our purpose is to be Christlike.” He made the point to this astute audience that people confuse those things greatly in our day. When we make our life’s purpose our vocation, making money, fame, etc. and maybe don’t achieve all that we thought, it can leave us in despair, disappointed, broken, depressed; resulting in even turning to things to fill up that void with things that are usually sinful to help deaden the pain of an empty heart.

BUT, when our purpose in life is to honor and glorify the Lord in all things – to be like Jesus, then even if we fall short of our goals in this life we have set for ourselves, we can rests in the confidence that God is still at work being glorified; that all is good because the main thing has remained the most important thing: living daily in light of the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Praise God! How wonderful that this well-regarded, admired, and marvellously successful man speaks so boldly, truthfully, and clearly for Christ. It’s also a clear reminder that no matter what it is we do or where we go day-to-day, it can and does speak to the lost; we must always be “on guard”, remembering we, too, speak for Jesus. Furthermore, the people we come into contact with at work, in the store, or on the highway may not know we belong to Jesus, but God does, and He is watching to see how we react, how malleable we are to His hands, to see if perhaps He can use us to bring another sheep home.

Be malleable, y’all.

Have a wonderful weekend. God bless America and Israel, and may He guide and protect our troops.