The Apple Butter Church

  

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Acts 2:41 KJV

The apples are in so apple butter is in the making. It's really quite simple when you have the right tools. I use a crank apple peeler. I can crank out a 1/2 bushel of apples in about an hour. Try hand-peeling that many and see how long it takes. I have a large turkey roaster that holds my apples. It will cook a 1/2 bushel of apples into apple butter while I sleep. The next day, all I need to do is put it in the jars. The apple peeler will take out the core, peel the apple, and slice it into rings all at the same time. I use a large variety of apples so the mixture brings out the best apple flavors. Winesaps and Cameos are my favorites. I also added Mutsu, Golden Delicious, Fuji, and maybe a Gala or two. Add a little apple pie spice and sugar, and a few splashes of apple cider, and the apples have a new purpose, the makings of great homemade apple butter.

I was thinking about how we tell the kids about the salvation transformation with pumpkins, taking out the yucky stuff and putting the light inside to shine through the smiling face. That put me to thinking about apple butter and the church. Apples have a core with seeds. The seeds contain a cyanide compound. It won't hurt us to eat the seeds. A person would have to eat a tremendous amount to cause harm but our mothers told us apple seeds were poison. We take out the core before we make apple butter.

We have a core that has to be removed before we can become a Christian. That core will kill us if left inside. You know I'm talking about our sinful heart. We have to allow Jesus to cleanse us of our sins if we want to be saved. That's the first step in becoming part of a church. Just as a rotten apple would spoil the whole batch so an unsaved person will spoil the witness of the whole church.

The appearance of an apple has to change before it becomes apple butter. The peel has to be removed. Leaving it on would add a tough consistency to the butter.  It has to become soft, sweetened, and spiced to have the right smell and taste. It needs to be cooked on low for several hours to get the tenderness and consistency needed to create great butter.

What do you think we might need to be a great church? With salvation, our tough exterior will come off. We become the tender-hearted, loving person that desires to be like Jesus. We become part of a church where we can become that sweet odor of God to the world. Our lives are spiced with the truth of God's word. We are warmed to the things of God. We mix with others who may be of other races and cultures to create a wonderful mix that is able to reach out to a lost world, telling them, once, we too were lost but now we're saved. Once, we too were tough guys who didn't need help. Once, our attitudes stunk, but with Jesus, we have a new life, a new attitude, and a new purpose.

Good apple butter is the best mix of apples. Just put it on a little homemade bread and see how delectable it is. Apple butter on a foundation of homemade bread, that's another analogy in the making. Got it? The church on our foundation, Jesus Christ the Bread of Life.

Heavenly Father, may those who do not yet know You, allow You to take away their sinful core, their heart that poisons their spirit. Father, replace it with your sweet savor. Mix them into Your church built on the foundation of Your Son, Jesus Christ, so that the world may know Your plan of eternal salvation. In Jesus's name, I pray. Amen 

Hey Kids:

Apple butter can be as easy as pie. If mom has an apple peeler, ask if you can help crank it. 

Wash and peel about 12 apples.

If you don't have an apple peeler, have an adult peel the apples. 

Slice the apples into small pieces with a plastic picnic knife. 

Place the apples in a crock pot.

Add about 1 cup of apple cider, juice or water.

Add 2 cups of sugar (optional)

Stir in 2 1/2 tsp of apple pie spice.

Place the lid on the crock pot and turn it on low overnight. Stir once in a while, especially in the morning until the apples have cooked down to the consistency you desire.

Sterilize 4-6 jelly glasses (1/2 pint jars)

Spoon apple butter into glasses.

Bring to a boil in a water bath and boil for 5 minutes.

If you don't have a water bath, place several table knives in the bottom of a large pot. Place the jars on top of the knives so they don't touch the bottom of the pot. Cover with water and boil the same way as with a water bath.

Prepared for Battle

 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: ~I Peter 5:8

Have you ever been to a reenactment? On the first weekend in October at Walnut Grove Plantation there is a reenactment of a revolutionary battle in which Bloody Bill Cunningham was killed. He massacred many patriots in the weeks before. No one seemed to know he was near Walnut Grove. The children were playing in the yard when the alarm sounded that the British were coming. People ran to get the children to safety. The British stormed the house where a patriot was being treated. Militia filled the yard along with British soldiers and a battle ensued.

What if no one warned the children? What would the enemy have done to them? The patriots didn’t just rush in and shoo the children to safety. They stood their ground and fought against the invaders. They didn’t just rush in untrained. There were sessions to drill the men in resisting the enemy. The children and wives were at the training drills as well. It was almost a social day. Everyone watched and prepared to meet the enemy. Even the little ones played militia games.

Have we trained ourselves in God’s Word to stand against the Devil? Are we training our little ones? Do we rush our little ones to safety and stand our ground in defense of our families and our country? As one of the men in the film “Courageous” says, “Where are we men of courage?” And might I add, “Where are we women of courage?”  The enemy walks about even now seeking whom he may devour. Our enemy is not the British. The enemy is Satan himself. He will devour our children, our homes, and our country if we are not vigilant in watching and training children to watch as well. They innocently play while Satan uses every means available to reach into their hearts and minds to destroy.

Where does the enemy lurk? 

• Do we need to change the TV channel often? 
• Do we need to monitor the music our children hear? 
• Do we need to monitor our children's social media and web history?
• Are we having trouble finding clothes that are modest? 
• Are the popular clothes covered with worldly or demonic symbols? 
• Are we aware of the books our children are reading or having read to them in school? 

Heavenly Father, help us be aware of the enemy surrounding our families. Show how to live in the world but not be of the world. You have given us the most precious gift in our families. Help us defend it by being vigilant in training them to be aware of their surroundings and resist the devil's attempts to capture their hearts and minds. In Jesus's name. Amen 

Learning to Fish

Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  ~Matthew 4:19

When I was a child I loved to go fishing with my dad. He had a V-bottom boat that we took to the lakes around our state; Lake Greenwood, Lake Hartwell, Santee, and others. There was a pond near our house. My brothers and I would take our fishing poles down to the pond during the lazy days of summer. We learned to dig worms and thread them on our hooks. We learned to hook a minnow just under the spine so it didn't slip off. We learned to wait patiently for the fish to drag our bobber under the water before snatching out our catch. Now my sons teach their children to bait a hook, feel the tug of the line, and reel in their catch. We were an "eat what you catch" family when I was growing up but my boys are catch and release. One son has his own flyfishing business. 

I could never see the point in catch and release until I thought about Jesus telling his disciples he would make them fishers of men. Jesus wanted to teach his disciples to tell others about the message of salvation but he didn't want them to just sit on the mountainside or hold up in a monastery when they became believers. He wanted believers to go and tell others, to become fishers of men. That's a gospel version of catch and release. 

Before you fish you have to learn how to bait the hook, how to cast the line, how to feel the tug or watch the bobber. When you fish you have to give the fish something they want - the worm or the minnow. How can we prepare to offer the gospel to the people we meet? 

• Prayer
• Bible study
• Assurance that you are a believer
• Allowing others to demonstrate how to approach others with the gospel

What can we offer the person we meet? Maybe they need help or maybe they are looking for peace. When we were on mission trips to Nicaragua we saw lots of hungry people. We fed them. It's easier to listen when we have full stomachs. Sadly in the winter, we see people who have lost their homes to fire or in summer to a tornado. When we see people who have encountered a tragedy. We can try to offer help, do they need clothes, or water, or some other immediate need. Before we can give people the gospel we must first try to meet their immediate need. 

But first, we must meet our immediate need. 

• Does your church offer a discipleship class?
• Do you have a daily routine of prayer and Bible study?
• Do you have others who will go with you when you witness to others?
• Do you have a personal message of salvation to share with others?

Jesus said, Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Are you willing to gather the things you need to be a fisher of men? Fishing is one of the most enjoyable things I know. 

Heavenly Father, teach us to be fishers of men. Help us be willing to learn by following you. In Jesus's name. Amen. 

 

Worldviews in Children's Literature

 We often recognize stories as having a beginning, middle, and end but do we recognize the smaller points of the Gospel, the pointing to God in literature and storytelling?

The Beginning: What happens in the beginning? The characters are introduced so we know who to look for in the story. The Main Character is introduced with flaws. This character's flaw(s) will lead us to the conflict, the struggle in the story. Fairy tales, picture books, children's books, and novels all contain the flaws of the main character. We relate to this character because we too are not without flaws.

• Red Riding Hood - disobedient to mom, talks to stranger
• Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle- poor diet, overeating
• Owl Moon by Jane Yolen - immaturity is implied
• Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder - disobedient to parents, sneaking breaking cultural norms
• Code of Silence by Tim Shoemaker - lies
• 
  

The Middle: Here in the middle the consequences of the flaw begin to show themselves. The turmoil and struggle to overcome those consequences.

• Little Red Riding Hood - confronted by the wolf in Grandma's bed
• Very Hungry Caterpillar - becomes sick and tries to fix his problem by eating well
• Owl Moon - The child puts a hand over his mouth to keep any noise from escaping.
• Little House in the Big Woods - spanking
• Code of Silence - teens are confronted with life-threatening consequences if the truth is told.
• 
  

The End: In the end, the main character has overcome the struggle. There is a new person with a new vision in the end.

• Red Riding Hood - the woodcutter (Jesus) enters the scene to kill the wolf (Satan) with Red's realization implying that disobeying and talking to strangers can cause her and others to become entangled in dire consequences. She and Grandma are thankful for the woodcutter.
• Very Hungry Caterpillar - the caterpillar must become a cocoon (die to self) and become a new creature never to return to its old way of life (salvation).
• Owl Moon - the child receives a slight shush from the father but is warmly invited into a conversation after the "hunt" signifying the child has matured, has become "grown-up" like brothers.
• Little House in the Big Woods - Father tans his own jacket as well as that of the boys. A picture that we all suffer the consequences of our sins, sometimes because we choose to impose legalism instead of God's love.
• Code of Silence - there is far less consequences when we tell the truth.

Perhaps as we read to our children beginning at that very young age we can begin to point out more than just the beginning, middle, and end. There is so much more to the story, so many twists and turns just as there is in our lives. It takes a dire consequence to wake up the characters in the books to make a change. Even if that consequence is just missing out on a hunting trip until they are mature enough to follow the rules. It takes a wake-up call to our sins for us to see the need to change and let Jesus have charge. Beginning to show an author's purpose opens the doors to our children's understanding of the gospel.

Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever. Psalms 119:160

Heavenly Father, please teach me to view everything through the eyes of the gospel so I am not deceived by the ideas of man. Let my mind be renewed with the truth of your word. In Jesus's name. Amen.