T.J.I.F.A.

THANK JESUS IT’S FRIDAY AGAIN!
PASS IT ON…& ON…& ON…& ON.
AUGUST 26,2005

HAVE A WONDERFUL LABOR DAY OBSERVANCE

SUBJECT: EDITORIAL BY TRUE E. READYWRITER (TER)
YOU CAN’T MISS THE NEWS. JEWS ARE BEING MOVED IN LARGE NUMBERS FROM THEIR PRIVATE HOMES, IN GAZA TO . . . ? WHY? IS THERE ANYONE TO BLAME? IS THE END ANY CLOSER? ARE THEY BEING PUNISHED OR PRUNED? WHAT ABOUT THE CHRISTIANS? NONE OF THESE QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED IN THIS NEWSLETTER, BUT . . . READ ON!

NOTEWORTHY: GAZA BIBLICAL DEFINITION

T.J.I.F.A.’S BOOK SHELF: SOME SIGNIFICANT WORDS IN THE BIBLE.

FRIDAY’S WORD: GAZA – SECULAR DEFINITION FROM ENCARTA ENCYCLOPEDIA.

IN THE MIRROR: MARTIN LUTHER WRITES ABOUT THE STORY OF ABRAHAM.

O TASTE AND SEE! BLUEBERRY COBLER – A FAMILY RECIPE, BEING SHARED WITH ALL OF OUR READERS. SUBMITTED BY THE MONARCH OF OUR FAMILY- FWR…THANKS AUNTIE. HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY!

LOOKING FORWARD

SEE YA NEXT TIME!

TER
EDITORIAL BY: TRUE E. READYWRITER (TER)
August 15, 2005.In an area called Gaza, in Israel, the Jewish settlers were instructed to move. All Jewish inhabitants were to evacuate the area. This morsel of land has been a source of contention and fierce disagreement for centuries. If you are anything like me and some of my Christian brothers and sisters, you may know very little about this spot on the map called, Gaza. So, taking this assumption, I have gathered some pertinent information about this place called Gaza. The following information is both ancient and modern knowledge.
What we see happening in Israel now, could be in our own backyard tomorrow. Everything that is occurring around us, has to be measured with the magnifying glass of prophetic understanding. And with this understanding we’ll know that the time is very short.
America, we won’t be exempt. Christians, are the grafted branch. According to Romans 11:17-21; “17And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; 18Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. 19Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. 20Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.”
Can that happen in America? Recently there have been laws passed proclaiming the right of commercial enterprise to request and take private property if the commerce is needed in the neighborhood. (Imminent Domain)And, don’t forget how farmers were put out of business because of their property being declared a natural habitat for a wild animal or even a bug, to ensure its longevity. Is it fair?
‘Fair’ has been so manipulated, that we don’t even know what fair looks like anymore. Many laws have been changed to resemble those from other countries, and so, the once Land of the Free has become old, arthritic and diseased as it oozes off its foundation toward the crumbling infra structure whose fulminating sore is sleeping sewage.
A Palestinian businessman was interviewed by a reporter from ABC’s Ted Koppel show. He was asked. ‘With this removal of the Jews, are the Palestinians satisfied that there will now be peace?’ His answer was. ‘What has happened is good. But we will be very happy when we can move into the West Bank; and when we can have our Capital…Jerusalem.’
Thousands of Jews have been displaced…Where will they go?
Thousands of Jews are returning to Israel…Where will they go?
Israel is a country that will fit into Texas twenty times. It is also “The apple of GOD’s eye.”

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.” Ps.122:6.

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TER

NOTEWORTHY: GAZA (Gay' zuh) Place name meaning, “strong.” Philistine city on the coastal plain about three miles inland from the Mediterranean Sea. It was the southernmost town of the Philistine city-state system which also included Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath (1 Sam. 6:17).
While the site is especially associated with the Philistines, many other groups have inhabited it throughout history. That history extends from a period prior to the arrival of the Philistines, a period when the Avvim occupied the village (Deut. 2:23), on down to the present. The inhabitants of Gaza at times were referred to as the Gazites or Gazathites (Judg. 16:2).
Gaza’s important role in ancient history was due to its strategic location on the major coastal plain highway which connected Egypt with the rest of the Ancient Near East. Because of its strategic location, Gaza witnessed the passage of numerous caravans and armies and often got caught in the middle of the political struggles of the Ancient Near East. This is reflected in a brief review of the highlights of Gaza’s history. According to the records of Thutmose III, Thutmose captured Gaza on his first campaign to Palestine and made it a major Egyptian center. The Amarna Letters identify Gaza as the district headquarters for Egyptian holdings in southern Palestine. For Solomon, Gaza was the major center on the southern border of his kingdom which ran “from Tiphsah even to Azzah (Gaza)” (1 Kings 4:24).
Gaza was often affected by the political struggles and turnovers that took place during the Assyrian and Babylonian periods. Tiglath-pileser III collected tribute from Gaza during his military campaign against Israel and Syria about 734 B.C. Hezekiah “smote the Philistines, even unto Gaza” as he tried to re-establish Judah’s independence (2 Kings 18:8) about 705-704 B.C. Sennacherib reinforced his control of Gaza as a vassal state as he invaded Judah in 701 B.C. Pharaoh Neco conquered Gaza about 609 B.C. and made it an Egyptian holding, but it remained in Egyptian hands for only a few years. Sometime after 605 B.C. the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar conquered Gaza and made it a part of his empire.
In addition to the biblical references sighted above, Gaza is mentioned in other biblical accounts. Many of Samson’s encounters with the Philistines apparently took place in or near Gaza (Judg. 16:1-3, 21). Amos charged that along with the city of Tyre, in Phoenicia, Gaza engaged in slave trade with the Edomites (Amos 1:6-10). Gaza’s role as a major site on the coastal plain highway during the New Testament period is reflected in the story of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40). While both biblical and extra-biblical sources attest to Gaza’s lengthy history, the site has never had a thorough archaeological excavation. A work of that nature is virtually impossible because the remains of the biblical town are buried presumably under the modern city. See Philistines.
LaMoine DeVries: From Holman’s Bible Dictionary

TJIFA’S BOOK SHELF:
THE HOLY BIBLE:

“The saddest word in the Bible – Sin;
The word that never comes back – Now;
The hardest word in the Bible – No;
The most dangerous word in the Bible – Tomorrow;
The weakest word in the Bible – If;
The inevitable word in the Bible – Death;
The most beautiful word in the Bible – Forgiveness.”
From “The Greatest Words In The Bible” Author Unknown.

According to Dr. David Jeremiah, “The most beautiful scenes in the
Bible exemplifying forgiveness are:
-The welcoming back of the Prodigal son, by the forgiving Father.
-The repentance and the forgiveness of the Apostle Peter.
-That day when Jesus forgave the woman taken in adultery.
-And by far, the most beautiful in all the Scripture, is the scene on the cross, when the Savior said. ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
From an audio tape series, “Forgiven and Guilt Free.” By Dr. David Jeremiah.

FRIDAY’S WORD: Gaza (Arabic Ghazze), principal city of the Gaza Strip. Gaza is located on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Sinai Peninsula and southwest of Jerusalem, on a road that links Egypt with central Israel. A city of historical and religious importance, Gaza has been disputed since ancient times. Along with the rest of the Gaza Strip, Gaza came under Israeli occupation in 1967. In May 1994 the city became the headquarters of the new Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which administers Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Gaza is the economic center for a region in which citrus fruits and other crops are grown. The city contains some small industry, including textiles and food processing. A variety of wares are sold in Gaza's street bazaars, including carpets, pottery, wicker furniture, and cotton clothing; commercial development in the city is minimal. Gaza serves as a transportation hub for the Gaza Strip, and contains a small port that serves a local fishing fleet. Points of interest in Gaza include the Great Mosque, a structure built during the Crusades and later transformed into a mosque; Samson's Monument, which commemorates the biblical hero Samson, who is believed to be buried under the Great Mosque; and Al Jundi, or the Square of the Unknown Soldier, built by the Egyptian army.
Gaza's population is composed almost entirely of Muslim Palestinian Arabs (see Palestine); nearly all of the city's Jewish inhabitants left during the early 20th century, due largely to ethnic strife. A massive influx of Palestinian refugees swelled Gaza's population after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948; by 1967 the population had grown to about six times its 1948 size. The city's population has continued to increase since that time, and poverty, unemployment, and poor living conditions are widespread. Gaza has serious deficiencies in housing and infrastructure, and an inadequate sewage system has contributed to serious problems of hygiene and public health.
Strategically located on the Mediterranean coastal route, ancient Gaza was a prosperous trade center and a stop on the caravan route between Egypt and Syria. The city was occupied by Egypt around the 15th century bc. Philistines settled the area several hundred years later, and Gaza became one of their chief cities. Gaza is mentioned a number of times in the Bible, most famously as the site where Samson brought down the Philistine temple on himself and his enemies.
Gaza was captured by Arabs in the ad 600s. Believed to be the site where the Prophet Muhammad's great-grandfather was buried, the city became an important Islamic center (see Muhammad; Islam). In the 12th century Gaza was taken by Christian Crusaders, under whom the city declined in prominence; it returned to Muslim control in 1187. The city fell to the Ottomans in the 16th century and was taken by the British during World War I (1914-1918).
Following World War I, Gaza became part of the British mandate for Palestine. After Israel declared its independence in 1948, Egypt attacked Israel and took over Gaza and its surrounding area. Israel occupied the city and the Gaza Strip during the 1967Six-Day War, and Gaza remained under Israeli administration for the next 27 years.
With the onset of the Palestinian uprising known as the intifada in 1987, Gaza became a center of political unrest and confrontation between Israelis and Palestinians, and economic conditions in the city worsened. In September 1993 leaders of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) signed a peace agreement calling for Palestinian administration of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho, which was implemented in May 1994. Most of the Israeli forces left Gaza, leaving a new Palestinian National Authority to administer and police the city, along with the rest of the Gaza Strip and Jericho. The Palestinian National Authority, led by Yasir Arafat, chose Gaza as its first provincial headquarters. In September 1995 Israel and the PLO signed a second peace agreement extending the Palestinian National Authority to almost all West Bank towns populated by Palestinians. The agreement also established an elected 88-member Palestinian Legislative Council, which held its inaugural session in Gaza in March 1996. Population (1997 estimate) 353,632.

   Abraham was told by God that he must sacrifice the son of his old age by a miracle, the seed through whom he was to become the father of kings and of a great nation. Abraham turned pale. Not only would he lose his son, but God appeared to be a liar. He had said, "In Isaac shall be thy seed", but now he said, "Kill Isaac." Who would not hate a God so cruel and contradictory?
   How Abraham longed to talk it over with someone! Could he not tell Sarah? But he well knew that if he mentioned it to anyone, he would be dissuaded and prevented from carrying out the behest.
   The spot designated for the sacrifice, Mount Moriah, was some distance away; "and Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering." Abraham did not leave the saddling of the ass to others. He himself laid on the beast the wood for the burnt offering. He was thinking all the time that these logs would consume his son, his hope of seed. With these very sticks that he was picking up the boy would be burned.
   In such a terrible case should he not take time to think it over? Could he not tell Sarah? With what inner tears he suffered! He girt the ass and was so absorbed he scarcely knew what he was doing.
   He took two servants and Isaac his son. In that moment everything died in him; Sarah, his family, his home, Isaac. This is what it is to sit in sackcloth and ashes.
If he had known that this was only a trial, he would not have been tried. Such is the nature of our trials that while they last we cannot see to the end.
   "Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes, and saw the place afar off." What a battle he had endured in those three days! There Abraham left the servants and the ass, and he laid the wood upon Isaac and himself took the torch and sacrificial knife. All the time he was thinking, "Isaac, if you knew, if your mother knew, that you are to be sacrificed."
   "And they went both of them together." The whole world does not know what here took place. They two walked together. Who? The father and the dearest son-the one not knowing what was in store but ready to obey, the other certain that he must leave his son in ashes.
   Then said Isaac, "My father." And he said, "Yes, my son." And Isaac said, "Father, here is the fire and here the wood, but where is the lamb?" He called him father and was solicitous lest he had overlooked something, and Abraham said, "God will himself provide a lamb, my son."
   When they were come to the mount, Abraham built the altar and laid on the wood, and then he was forced to tell Isaac. The boy was stupefied. He must have protested, "Have you forgotten: I am the son of Sarah by a miracle in her old age, that I was promised and that through me you are to be the father of a great nation?" And Abraham must have answered that God would fulfill his promise even out of ashes.
   Then Abraham bound him and laid him upon the wood. The father raised the knife. The boy bared his throat. If God had slept an instant, the lad would have been dead. I could not have watched. I am not able in my thoughts to follow. The lad was as a sheep for the slaughter. Never in history was there such obedience, save only in Christ. But God was watching, and all the angels. The father raised his knife; the boy did not wince. The angel cried, "Abraham, Abraham!"
   See how divine majesty is at hand in the hour of death. We say, "In the midst of life we die." God answers, "Nay, in the midst of death we live."

   Historian Bainton adds: "Luther once read this story for family devotions. When he had finished, Katie said, 'I do not believe it. God would not have treated his son like that.'"
   "'But, Katie,' answered Luther, 'he did.'"
   -- Martin Luther in "Martin Luther-The Later Years and Legacy," Christian History, no. 39.
A beautiful story, and I believe every point well taken. If you were to allow me to amplify one point in this beautiful illustration, it would be what is italicized; “If he had known that this was only a trial . . .” Every Christian life is “on trial”; that is your life, and mine. God made us a “Body”, fitly joined together (Eph.4:15,16). I see us as having a gr opportunity at everything God is offering in His Word, and all we have to do now is to take full advantage of it.
How about taking on a Christian challenge today; When you read about ‘Father Abraham, the Father of Faith’; Let’s see if we can’t somehow match or surpass his record as a son or daughter in Jesus Christ.  God Bless, SLC

O TASTE AND SEE!

FAMILY’S BLUEBERRY COBBLER

FILLING:
5 CUPS BLUEBERRIES    ¾ CUP SUGAR
2 TBLSPS FRESH LEMON JUICE     2 TBLSPS WATER
2 TBLSPS CORNSTARCH     ¼ TSP CINNAMON
½ TSP. GRATED LEMON PEEL

TOPPING OR CRUST:
2 TBLSPS. SUGAR (DIVIDED)
1/8 TSP CINNAMON
¼ TSP NUTMEG
1 CUP FLOUR   1 ½ TSPS BAKING POWDER
1/8 TSP SALT
¼ CUP COLD BUTTER
¼ CUP HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM

DIRECTIONS:    PREHEAT OVEN 425 DEGREES f.
COMBINE FIVE INGREDIENTS IN A LARGE SAUCE PAN; BRING TO A BOIL STIRRING CONSTANTLY, ABOUT 1 MINUTE. STIR IN LEMON PEEL AND LEMON JUICE.   POUR ENTIRE MIXTURE INTO A 9 INCH BAKING PAN.
TOPPING OR CRUST:
(IN A CUP) COMBINE CINNAMON, NUTMEG, AND 1 TBLSP. SUGAR.(SET ASIDE)
COMBINE FLOUR, REMAINING SUGAR, BAKING POWDER AND SALT IN A SMALL BOWL.   WITH A PASTRY BLENDER CUT IN COLD BUTTER UNTIL MIXTURE RESEMBLES CORSE CRUMBS. STIR IN CREAM, JUST UNTIL BLENDED; KNEAD DOUGH JUST UNTIL   MIXTURE HOLDS TOGETHER.
ON LIGHTLY FLOURED SURFACE GENTLY MOLD THE TOPPING INTO A SQUARE TO APPROXIMATE THE 9 INCH BAKING PAN. LIFT THIS SOFT DOUGH AND PLACE IT ON THE HOT BLUEBERRIES IN BAKING PAN. SPRINKLE THE RESERVED (SET ASIDE) MIXTURE IN THE CUP OVER THE TOP OF YOUR COBBLER.
PLACE THE 9 INCH BAKING DISH FILLED WITH UNCOOKED COBBLER ON A COOKIE SHEET IN THE OVEN TO CATCH ANY SPILLAGE WHILE COOKING.
BAKE 20-25 MINUTES OR UNTIL GOLDEN. SERVE WITH YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM.

THIS IS A WONDERFUL RECIPE, WHICH IS BEING PASSED AROUND IN THE FAMILY, AND WE WISH TO SHARE IT WITH ALL OF TJIFA’S READERS. HOPE YOU . . . ENJOY! SUBMITTED BY: FWR