My Little Pumpkins

My little pumpkins have been such great helpers this month. Samuel has shown an increase in wanting to help with different chores around the house. He likes to vaccum, wash dishes, clean the counters and he always wants to help me make dinner. And whenever Samuel is doing something, Abigail wants to be right there with her brother. :)

Last week we made home-made pizza dough! It was a lot of fun to watch Samuel have fun with the rolling pin and the pizza tasted great. There's something special about smelling that home- made stuff baking in the oven. If you would like to try the pizza dough recipe that we used I have adapted the recipe from the following site: www.greatpartyrecipes.com

Here are the ingredients:

• 1 pkg active yeast
• 1 cup warm water (105 deg. to 115 deg, no more)
• 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (I used butter)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the olive oil and yeast mixture into it. Stir until it begins to form a ball, then turn it out onto a clean, floured surface and knead for about 4 or 5 minutes.

Your pizza dough should be a smooth, elastic ball. Lightly oil the ball and the inside of a large glass bowl. Place the dough in the bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour. For better crust, punch down the dough, reshape into a ball and let it rise again. You can refrigerate or freeze the dough at this point.

Next, you can divide the dough into 4 portions if you want to make 4 mini pizzas. We used all the dough and made one big pizza on a rectangular cookie sheet. Work on a lightly floured surface and stretch the dough and work it with your fingers or a rolling pin. The outer edge of the dough should be a little thicker than the body, forming a rim. Add toppings.

Transfer to a pizza pan or pizza stone. Bake in a 500 degree pre-heated oven until the crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted, 10-13 minutes.

Can unforgiveness keep us from the banqueting table with Jesus?

Our lives are not short on opportunities to be offended. In fact, Jesus was tempted with offense until His very last breath. His cross was stationed between two other crosses with two very different men on them. One of these men cried out for mercy and the other was a tool in the enemies hand. The devil in his final assault used a thief on the cross to slander our perfect Savior and give room for Jesus to be offended before His death. If offense was received into Jesus' heart the manifold plan of salvation would have been destroyed.

Offense gives birth to bitterness and unforgiveness. Unforgiveness short circuits our relationship with God and gives legal right to our enemy to torment our lives. Many Christians have diseases, illnesses, tormented minds and souls because they will not forgive.

Recently I met with a Christian friend. Before we met I received a vision from God. I saw my friend sitting at a long, rectangular, banqueting table with a white table cloth. He had a large, eloquent plate before him inlaid with gold, and piled on the plate was food fit for a king. My friend was ready to eat with fork in hand and napkin stuffed in his shirt, but he couldn't. There was a huge black figure behind him with red eyes keeping him from eating. That figure was a demon and his name was bitterness.

When my friend and I met he shared from a place of frustration, desiring to have more experiences with God and hear His voice. I then shared the vision with him that I had before our meeting. I asked if he was holding unforgiveness toward anyone or if he had felt betrayed. His lips lifted up on one side, a kind of half smile, as if he was caught. He began to open up and share a painful experience that presented opportunity for him to become offended. I then led him in a prayer of repentance and he forgave this person by whom he was bitter towards. We bound the spirit of bitterness and unforgiveness and cast them out of his life.

I told my friend that the banqueting table I saw in the vision was the fellowship table with Jesus and that he was made to feast from this table. My friends relationship with God had been hi-jacked and he wasn't having greater experiences with God because he took the bait of offense and allowed tormentors into his life. Unforgiveness can destroy a persons life.

The devil is working feverishly to cause offense in our lives and sometimes through those we care for the most. If the devil gets us to take the bait of offense, demons are released into our lives and they will reek havoc. If we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven. Out of Gods mercy he allows demons to torment those who do not forgive in order that they might cry out and be released from the prison of unforgiveness. (Read Matthew 18:21-25, 6:14-15)

In His last breaths Jesus said, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Likewise we are commanded to do the same. Every time we release forgiveness toward someone we re-present Jesus and release the kingdom of God into men's lives. Mercy triumphs over judgement. Let us feast at the banqueting table with Christ and steer clear of all offense. He who is forgiven much, loves much.

Grace and Peace,

Cody

Samuel the Biker

Joy is irresistable, especially at the workplace.

When heaven invades earth, people come to Jesus. They can't help it, they find out how good He really is. In heaven the joy never runs dry. When joy is released into a world where people are without hope and God, heads turn, and lives change. David is one life that has been changed by the joy of heaven.

My boss has been praying for David to come to Jesus for over 5 years. When I started working for this company four months ago, David's heart was closed to the gospel. David is now believing, experiencing, and hungering for more of God. What was the shift? The atmosphere of Heaven is irresistible. And when we take heavens atmosphere with us where we go, miracles happen, even at work. Imagine that?

Shortly after I started working for this painting company the realm of Heaven started breaking in on the job site. Explosions of joy would interrupt our work. Bummer, I know, joy at the workplace? Outrageous joy and belly laughter would sneak up on us and change everything in the atmosphere. Had I not known that God's kingdom is full of joy I might have been surprised why this laughter came unexpectedly and for no apparent reason. Often as I was filled with increasing joy and mucho laughter, a smile would creep up on David's face, and then a laugh, until he couldn't stop laughing. It seemed as if most of the time I would start laughing, then David, and sometimes it spilled out to others on the job site. But God was doing something special between David and I. God was ambushing David's heart with laughter. This is no exaggeration, in four months the joy of the Lord has come on the job site more than 20 times. Looking back, God was drawing David with His cords of loving kindness, and opening his heart to the gospel.

One night after work I prayed for David and God answered my prayer and did much more than I asked for. David came to work the next morning explaining that after I prayed for him he felt like he was wrapped up in a warm blanket of love. He said that feeling did not leave that whole night. He laid on his bed with a funny look on his face and his fiance asked him if something was wrong. He said, "Nothing's wrong, it's God." After that prayer he has been reading his bible on a nightly basis, talking about God at the job site, and still enjoying the joy of the Lord. One day at work while we painted a base board side -by- side, David began expressing how much he was thankful for me and told me that I have brought happiness back into his life.

David has been moving in the gifts of the Holy Spirit at work and has been exhorting and encouraging my boss and I. The other day he came back from an appointment with his psychologist and he said it was terrible, and he didn't know why he was paying his psychologist money for the last session. He found himself counseling his psychologist when it was suppose to be the other way around. He said his heart was burning to tell her about God. Now that's transformation!

He recently came to work and shared with me that the previous night something amazing had happened. He sat on his bed awake. With his eyes closed and he had a vision. Images played across his mind like a movie. God showed him his future and gave him a list of areas in his life to change and then showed David how to do it. He could not sleep the whole night because he was overwhelmed with happiness.

My boss and I have shared a few words here and there with David about God. But, it wasn't our words that drew David to Jesus. It was the presence of our King that we carry with us. Many prayers have gone before God for David and have culminated towards this wonderful work in his life. Yet, I believe it was the presence of Heaven invading the earth that tipped the scales in Davids heart. The fragrance of Christ rests on His children in varying measures. The more we cultivate the presence of Jesus in our life, the greater the works that Jesus can do in the atmosphere around us. As we draw closer to His heart we begin to love, sound, look, and smell more like Jesus. Where we go, He goes. If we are saturated in Jesus then He supernaturally spills out and draws men unto Himself.

Grace and Peace,

Cody