My LIfe Review in Encouraging Stories

How To Make Matzah

In their hurry to leave Egypt, the Israelites did not have time to wait for their bread to rise so they made matzah. What better way to teach your children about the Passover story than to make matzah with them like the Jewish slaves made matzah thousands of years ago.

Difficulty Level: average
Time Required: 45 minutes

Here's How:
1.Oven: Put the oven through a full self-cleaning cycle to make it kosher for Passover.
2.Ingredients needed: 1) cold water from the faucet 2) special flour called kemach shel matzah shamura (flour watched from the moment of harvest to the moment of packing to make sure it has not come into contact with any moisture).
3.Utensils needed: 1) measuring cups 2) large bowl for dough 4) roll of paper 4) rolling pin 5) tool for making holes in the dough 6) tiles for lining oven shelf 7) peel - flat metal plate with a handle for taking the matza out of the oven. All utensils should be kosher for Passover.
4.Prepare the oven by lining the oven shelf with floor tiles. Leave some space between the tiles and the sides of the oven.
5.Set oven on highest temperature setting.
6.Place clean paper on work surface and prepare utensils.
7.At this point, the clock starts to tick. There must be no more than 18 minutes from the time the water is mixed with the flour until the time the matzah has been completely baked in the oven.
8.Depending on how many matzot you want, measure 1 part water and 3 parts flour.
9.Quickly mix and knead into a firm ball of 1-2 inches.
10.Roll out dough as thin as possible.
11.Poke holes in the dough.
12.Check to make sure no more than 15 minutes passed since the flour and water were mixed. 13.Put matzah onto the tiles in the hot oven.
14.Bake on tiles for 2-3 minutes until done.
15.Remove using the peel.
16.Put clean paper on the work surface, and repeat steps 7-14.

Tips:
1.It is best to have a few people working together when making matzah. Have one person do the mixing and the kneading, another person rolling out the dough, and the last person putting the matza into the oven.
2.This can be a fun activity to do the afternoon before the Seder. However, while having fun, make certain the matzah you are making is kosher for Passover. No more than 18 minutes can pass from the time the flour and water are mixed until the time the matzah is completely baked.

Interesting Conversation

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problem science has with God, The Almighty. He asks one of his new students to stand and.......

Prof: So you believe in God?
Student: Absolutely, sir.
Prof: Is God good?

Student: Sure.
Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes sir.
Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.
Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How is this God good then? Hmm?
Student: (Student is silent.)
Prof: You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?

Student: Yes.
Prof: Is Satan good?

Student: No.
Prof: Where does Satan come from?

Student: From...God...
Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student: Yes.
Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student: Yes.
Prof: So who created evil?

Student: (Student does not answer.)
Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student: Yes, sir.
Prof: So, who created them?

Student: (Student has no answer.)
Prof: Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Tell me, son... Have you ever seen God?

Student: No, sir.
Prof: Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student: No, sir.
Prof: Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student: No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.
Prof: Yet you still believe in Him?

Student: Yes.
Prof: According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student: Nothing. I only have my faith.
Prof: Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.
Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof: Yes.
Student: And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof: Yes.
Student: No sir. There isn't.

(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)
Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, mega heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anything called cold.
We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that.
There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat.
We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.

(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)
Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof: Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?
Student: You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something.
You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if you have no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it?
In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof: So what is the point you are making, young man?
Student: Sir, my point is that your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof: Flawed? Can you explain how?
Student: Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there is life and then there is death, a good God and a bad God.
You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can
measure.
Sir, science can't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one.
To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing.
Death is not the opposite of life; just the absence of it. Now tell me, Professor…..
Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?

Prof: If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.
Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

Prof: (The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)
Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavour, then are you not just teaching your opinion, sir?
Are you not a scientist but a
preacher?
Prof: (The class is in uproar.)
Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?

Prof: (The class breaks out into laughter.)
Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain, felt it, touched or smelt it?.....No one appears to have done so.
So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable
protocol, science says that you have no brain, sir.
With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir?
Prof: (The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.
Student: That is it, sir.. The link between man & God is FAITH. That is all that keeps things moving & alive.

Narrator: I believe you must have enjoyed the conversation... and if so... you'll probably want your friends/colleagues to enjoy the same... won't you?... forward them to increase their knowledge...

What does God think of you?

If you're like most people, you're concerned about what other people think of you. You hope that others think of you as successful, thoughtful, attractive, etc. You hope that people like you.

In reality, you should be far more concerned about what God thinks of you...

When God made you, you were an original thought in his mind!

"You alone created my inner being.
You knitted me together inside my mother."

When God made you, he made someone wonderful!

"I will give thanks to you because I have been
so amazingly and miraculously made.
Your works are miraculous,
and my soul is fully aware of this."

When God made you, he didn't make any mistakes!

"My bones were not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret,
when I was being skillfully woven
in an underground workshop.
Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus."

When God made you, he had a specific purpose and plan in mind!

"Every day of my life was recorded in your book
before one of them had taken place."

When God made you, he knew he would never stop loving you!

"How precious are your thoughts
concerning me, O God!
How vast in number they are!
If I try to count them,
there would be more of them
than there are grains of sand.
When I wake up, I am still with you."
~Psalm 139: 13-18

Who you are (as a believer in Jesus)


I'm Accepted!

John 1:12 I'm God's child.
John 15:15 I'm Christ's friend.
Romans 5:1 I have God's approval by faith. I have peace with God because of what Jesus has done for me.
1 Corinthians 6:17 I'm united with the Lord and one with him in spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:20 I've been bought with a price; I belong to God.
1 Corinthians 12:27 I'm a part of Christ's body.
Ephesians 1:1 I'm one of God's holy and faithful people.
Ephesians 1:5 I'm one of God's adopted children.
Ephesians 2:18 I have direct access to God through the Holy Spirit.
Colossians 1:14 I've been forgiven of all my sins.
Colossians 2:10 I'm complete in Christ.

I'm Secure!

Romans 8:1,2 I'm free forever from God's condemnation.
Romans 8:28 I'm assured that all things work together for good.
Romans 8:33,34 I'm free from any condemning charges against me.
Romans 8:35 I cannot be separated from the love of God.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 I've been established, anointed, and sealed by God.
Philippians 1:6 I'm confident that the good work God has begun in me will be completed.
Philippians 3:20 I'm a citizen of heaven.
Colossians 3:3 I'm hidden with Christ in God.
2 Timothy 1:7 I have not been given a cowardly spirit... but a spirit of power, love, and good judgment.
Hebrews 4:16 I can find kindness and mercy at the right time.
1 John 5:18 I'm born of God and the evil one can't harm me.

I'm Significant!

Matthew 5:13,14 I'm the salt and light of the earth.
John 15:1,5 I'm a branch of the true vine.
John 15:16 I've been chosen and appointed to produce fruit that will last.
Acts 1:8 I'm a personal witness of Christ.
1 Corinthians 3:16 I'm God's temple.
2 Corinthians 5:17-20 I'm a minister of restored relationships.
2 Corinthians 6:1 I'm God's coworker.
Ephesians 2:6 I've been given a position in heaven with Jesus.
Ephesians 2:10 I'm God's creation.
Ephesians 3:12 I can approach God with confidence.
Philippians 4:13 I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me.