1237AFC091412 Bread of Life
Read it online here, please. There are a lot of links in this message; I hope you’ll use them to supplement the content.
John 6:47-51 – 47 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; 50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Unleavened Bread
Preheat oven to 475
4 cups flour (can be half white or half whole wheat)
1½ cups water
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (optional, oil will make it soft like a tortilla; no oil and it will be a cracker)
Combine ingredients and knead for ten minutes
- Roll into a ball, cut in half, then cut each half into 8 pieces
- Roll out each piece as thinly as possible into ovals
- pierce with a fork several times, to eliminate air holes
- place on baking sheet covered with Parchment Paper
Bake at 450 to 500 for about 5 minutes, or until slightly browned.
It was one of those AHA moments, I guess. Last Sunday, I had the first reading from Isaiah 35. The Second reading was from the second chapter of James – one of my favorite referenced. The Gospel was about the deaf man with a speech impediment – the reading that contains that fascinating word “Ephphatha!”– that is, “Be opened!” The homily ended with the recommendation to keep our ears and minds and hearts open. Then when the Eucharistic Host was elevated a silent thunderclap went off and it sounded like “unleavened bread.” I was also distributing communion that day, so as I went into the sanctuary to receive a chalice, that thunder kept shaking my brain: “Unleavened Bread.” And the answering voice – that guy in the back-right corner of my head again, says “Why? What’s in it?” Then came the spine-chill that alerts you to the Presence. I had to know more about this!
I sort of had an idea about the ingredients, but looked it up on the Internet. Mostly it’s just flour and water; no baking soda and certainly no yeast. Sometimes there may be a hint of salt, and in certain circumstances a wee-bit of oil. Sounded like flour tortillas to me, except those generally have a smidgeon of baking soda, and they might be a little “wetter” being made with more fluid and the dough is more elastic. So basically it is flour, water, and oil with maybe a pinch of salt. Then came the spine-chill again. Water, oil, salt – all three of these items are used that make something or someone sacred, sanctified, set apart for God. Water is for the Spirit. Oil for Holiness and healing and it is for the anointing of Kings. Salt is for sacredness (see Numbers 18:19) that is universal and perpetual. Mix water, oil, and salt together with wheat flour and you have unleavened bread – bread that is put together with several signs of holiness and sacredness. And what if the wheat represented us, earthlings, living in community as wheat lives in a field?
If that were the case, then when we mix in the things that make us Holy, we begin with water, symbol of The Holy Spirit as well as about 75% of our body-weight, and one of the most-needed natural elements required to stay alive. Water and flour makes … bread? When I was a kid, we used to mix flour and water together to make “paper mache” glue with just flour and water right out of the tap. Little did I know that – made just a little thicker – it could be baked as bread!
Now, if you add salt to that mixture, and turn that into bread, you get a bread that’s still unleavened but ever-so-slightly tastier than the plain-old water and flour stuff. Mix is a little oil and you have something that is simple, nutritious, tasty, and a little more flexible – a little softer and with a different flavor. So there it was. In a matter of a few seconds between the Fraction of the Host ending with “Only say the word and my soul shall be healed” and Communion in the form of the Body of Christ, my mind was filled to overflowing with “Unleavened Bread.”
Beloved, become the unleavened bread of sacrifice. Be filled with and enlivened by the Holy Spirit and you will be prepared to fulfill your role as part of that “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” At times in your life also become a more savory offering with the sacredness of salt, for we are the salt of the earth that makes the earth and all life in it and on it sanctified unto God and at peace with one another. When you are called to anointed service, you will need to be pliant in your patient service to others as an anointed servant of God.
Finally, Beloved, as you become bread, be more and more like The Bread of Life who gave his flesh for the life of the world. The follow-up message on that is, “Be careful what you think. Your thoughts run your life.” In other words, If you’re going to be bread, don’t live like pound-cake – or for that matter chopped-liver. Be bread. Be Holy. Be sanctified. Be consumed for the life of the world. If you follow him you will be where he is and become what you eat. The Living Bread Come Down from Heaven calls you, calls me, calls all of each of us to be like him: Bread made without the yeast of sin.
On September 14 and 21 the Aloha Friday Message may come from my gmail address, chickotiii@gmail.com, instead of my Roadrunner address, ctodd@hawaii.rr.com. God bless you all!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.
Share-A-Prayer
“On Tuesday there was a violent protest in Benghazi over a film posted to YouTube. Outrage over the film swept the Middle East and led to the killings of four diplomats in Libya, including U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens. Stevens, 52, was killed in Benghazi when the American embassy there was hit with a fusillade of rocket-propelled grenades.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/guy-koran-burning-pastor-terry-jones-backs-anti-muhammad-movie-article-1.1157522#ixzz26HdysH9I
The protests were over a sacrilegious movie about the prophet Muhammad. Its content is too vile to be described here. The film was the clumsy work of an amateur filmmaker named Sam Bacile (as in IMBECILIC) and it was promoted by the equally deficient man known as pastor Terry Jones – the same nut who promised to burn a Qu’ran last September. This is irresponsible beyond comprehension. You can see that Jones considers himself some sort of prophet – and I agree. Check into the idea of false prophets, and see what effect they have on Truth. Jones’ thinking is whack, and though a false prophet of the lowest form, he nonetheless has incited violence that resulted in deaths. Pray for Jones and his followers with the intent that they will recognize that evil thought produce evil results. Pray also for the people of Islam around the world with the intent that they will recognize that these two crackpots do not represent the true Americans who still favor “One Nation Under God With Liberty and Justice for All,” even for the spiritually insane. Beloved, pray for Peace and that the world can embrace all goodness without rancor or judgment. Pray for the men and women among us who truly are prophets. Jesus said “by their works you will know them.” (Matthew 7:15-20) And no, Islam is not of the Devil.
Please pray for one another daily. We have so many requests for prayers on behalf of loved ones with cancer, addictions, financial troubles, heartaches over family members who’ve abandoned their faith; some have all of these things happening at once in their lives. Pray also for marriages that are under attack by the foes of righteousness. Pray for the brave souls who go out into this world to preach the Gospel – pastors, missionaries, lay people, you and me, and all who bear witness to the Power of God. Pray that we may be “bread blessed and broken … bread of life for all.” Bravely pray for our troops, and for all the emergency services providers – fire-fighters, police, civil servants, and the people who keep our infrastructure running. And this week – with so many tragic stories in the news – pray for the conversion of sinners everywhere that they may recognize and nourish the spar of the Spirit that dwells in every living soul.
1237AFC091412 Bread of Life
Read it online here, please. There are a lot of links in this message; I hope you’ll use them to supplement the content.
John 6:47-51 – 47 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; 50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Unleavened Bread
Preheat oven to 475
4 cups flour (can be half white or half whole wheat)
1½ cups water
½ teaspoon salt (optional)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (optional, oil will make it soft like a tortilla; no oil and it will be a cracker)
Combine ingredients and knead for ten minutes
- Roll into a ball, cut in half, then cut each half into 8 pieces
- Roll out each piece as thinly as possible into ovals
- pierce with a fork several times, to eliminate air holes
- place on baking sheet covered with Parchment Paper
Bake at 450 to 500 for about 5 minutes, or until slightly browned.
It was one of those AHA moments, I guess. Last Sunday, I had the first reading from Isaiah 35. The Second reading was from the second chapter of James – one of my favorite referenced. The Gospel was about the deaf man with a speech impediment – the reading that contains that fascinating word “Ephphatha!”– that is, “Be opened!” The homily ended with the recommendation to keep our ears and minds and hearts open. Then when the Eucharistic Host was elevated a silent thunderclap went off and it sounded like “unleavened bread.” I was also distributing communion that day, so as I went into the sanctuary to receive a chalice, that thunder kept shaking my brain: “Unleavened Bread.” And the answering voice – that guy in the back-right corner of my head again, says “Why? What’s in it?” Then came the spine-chill that alerts you to the Presence. I had to know more about this!
I sort of had an idea about the ingredients, but looked it up on the Internet. Mostly it’s just flour and water; no baking soda and certainly no yeast. Sometimes there may be a hint of salt, and in certain circumstances a wee-bit of oil. Sounded like flour tortillas to me, except those generally have a smidgeon of baking soda, and they might be a little “wetter” being made with more fluid and the dough is more elastic. So basically it is flour, water, and oil with maybe a pinch of salt. Then came the spine-chill again. Water, oil, salt – all three of these items are used that make something or someone sacred, sanctified, set apart for God. Water is for the Spirit. Oil for Holiness and healing and it is for the anointing of Kings. Salt is for sacredness (see Numbers 18:19) that is universal and perpetual. Mix water, oil, and salt together with wheat flour and you have unleavened bread – bread that is put together with several signs of holiness and sacredness. And what if the wheat represented us, earthlings, living in community as wheat lives in a field?
If that were the case, then when we mix in the things that make us Holy, we begin with water, symbol of The Holy Spirit as well as about 75% of our body-weight, and one of the most-needed natural elements required to stay alive. Water and flour makes … bread? When I was a kid, we used to mix flour and water together to make “paper mache” glue with just flour and water right out of the tap. Little did I know that – made just a little thicker – it could be baked as bread!
Now, if you add salt to that mixture, and turn that into bread, you get a bread that’s still unleavened but ever-so-slightly tastier than the plain-old water and flour stuff. Mix is a little oil and you have something that is simple, nutritious, tasty, and a little more flexible – a little softer and with a different flavor. So there it was. In a matter of a few seconds between the Fraction of the Host ending with “Only say the word and my soul shall be healed” and Communion in the form of the Body of Christ, my mind was filled to overflowing with “Unleavened Bread.”
Beloved, become the unleavened bread of sacrifice. Be filled with and enlivened by the Holy Spirit and you will be prepared to fulfill your role as part of that “chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” At times in your life also become a more savory offering with the sacredness of salt, for we are the salt of the earth that makes the earth and all life in it and on it sanctified unto God and at peace with one another. When you are called to anointed service, you will need to be pliant in your patient service to others as an anointed servant of God.
Finally, Beloved, as you become bread, be more and more like The Bread of Life who gave his flesh for the life of the world. The follow-up message on that is, “Be careful what you think. Your thoughts run your life.” In other words, If you’re going to be bread, don’t live like pound-cake – or for that matter chopped-liver. Be bread. Be Holy. Be sanctified. Be consumed for the life of the world. If you follow him you will be where he is and become what you eat. The Living Bread Come Down from Heaven calls you, calls me, calls all of each of us to be like him: Bread made without the yeast of sin.
On September 14 and 21 the Aloha Friday Message may come from my gmail address, chickotiii@gmail.com, instead of my Roadrunner address, ctodd@hawaii.rr.com. God bless you all!
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever — at your service, Beloved.
Share-A-Prayer
“On Tuesday there was a violent protest in Benghazi over a film posted to YouTube. Outrage over the film swept the Middle East and led to the killings of four diplomats in Libya, including U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens. Stevens, 52, was killed in Benghazi when the American embassy there was hit with a fusillade of rocket-propelled grenades.”
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/guy-koran-burning-pastor-terry-jones-backs-anti-muhammad-movie-article-1.1157522#ixzz26HdysH9I
The protests were over a sacrilegious movie about the prophet Muhammad. Its content is too vile to be described here. The film was the clumsy work of an amateur filmmaker named Sam Bacile (as in IMBECILIC) and it was promoted by the equally deficient man known as pastor Terry Jones – the same nut who promised to burn a Qu’ran last September. This is irresponsible beyond comprehension. You can see that Jones considers himself some sort of prophet – and I agree. Check into the idea of false prophets, and see what effect they have on Truth. Jones’ thinking is whack, and though a false prophet of the lowest form, he nonetheless has incited violence that resulted in deaths. Pray for Jones and his followers with the intent that they will recognize that evil thought produce evil results. Pray also for the people of Islam around the world with the intent that they will recognize that these two crackpots do not represent the true Americans who still favor “One Nation Under God With Liberty and Justice for All,” even for the spiritually insane. Beloved, pray for Peace and that the world can embrace all goodness without rancor or judgment. Pray for the men and women among us who truly are prophets. Jesus said “by their works you will know them.” (Matthew 7:15-20) And no, Islam is not of the Devil.
Please pray for one another daily. We have so many requests for prayers on behalf of loved ones with cancer, addictions, financial troubles, heartaches over family members who’ve abandoned their faith; some have all of these things happening at once in their lives. Pray also for marriages that are under attack by the foes of righteousness. Pray for the brave souls who go out into this world to preach the Gospel – pastors, missionaries, lay people, you and me, and all who bear witness to the Power of God. Pray that we may be “bread blessed and broken … bread of life for all.” Bravely pray for our troops, and for all the emergency services providers – fire-fighters, police, civil servants, and the people who keep our infrastructure running. And this week – with so many tragic stories in the news – pray for the conversion of sinners everywhere that they may recognize and nourish the spar of the Spirit that dwells in every living soul.
