“Our lives, after all, are public. We live before the face of God. In some sense, our spiritual lives-our faith and our willingness to follow Christ in obedience- is the entire church’s business.” (Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave, Ed Welch, 99)
Like a traitor, scorning justice,
Head unbowed before God’s Law,
Given glimpses of the Holy,
Tyranny was all I saw.
Soul infused with serpents’ venom,
Purposing unholy war,
Hands devising clever mischief,
All of this was I, and more.
He, dispensing awful justice
Haled me up before His throne,
Bound on me the grave indictment
Of commandments hewn in stone.
“Answer now,” the judge demanded,
“Justify yourself to me.
Saints and angels wait your answer—
Enter your judicial plea.”
I, exposed by blinding justice,
Naked in its righteous glare,
Stripped of every self-deception,
Stood with nothing to declare.
“Guilty!” uttered heaven’s ruler.
“Guilty!” echoed hosts on high.
“Guilty!” charged my trembling conscience.
Guilty, and condemned to die.
Then the shouting storm grew soft, the
Shuddering of the earth grew still,
Blazing glory darkened, smoldered,
Waiting for the judge’s will.
Crushed beneath the graven statutes,
Prostrate in the judgment hall,
Cringed I from impending judgment—
Dreadful fire about to fall.
Multitudes in glooming silence,
Wrath inscribed on every face—
Heard each one a small voice utter,
“I will take this sinner’s place.”
“Lay his guilt on my account, and
Let Thy righteous will be done.
May Thy Law be satisfied!” Thus
Pled for me the Judge’s Son.
“Thou art My Beloved Son, Thou
Firstborn from eternity.”
These words spake the Holy One, then
Turned His loving gaze toward me.
“Strip this sinner of his guilt, and
Grant My Son as He has prayed.
Lay on Him the Law’s demand—now,
LET THE PRICE BE PAID.”
Thirsty whips and thudding hammers,
Iron nails and angry thorns—
Darkness grows as guiltless suffers;
Stunned to blackness, Heaven mourns.
Like a Lamb, offered to justice,
Bloodied, broken by God’s Law,
In His person, ever holy,
Guilt—my guilt—was all God saw.
* * *
Stands the sacrifice complete, for
Justice has been satisfied.
Vengeance here is spent, exhausted,
Once the Lamb of God has died.
Now again the Mighty Savior
Lives enthroned as God the Son:
Goodness, justice, judgment, mercy
Reconcile in Him as one.
My whole duty now to trust, for
He alone can free the soul.
Rightly seeks He my submission
Lovingly I yield, heart-whole.
Here I kneel in adoration,
Fear displaced by grateful trust,
In the Captain of Salvation—
Justifier, yes! and just.
An army of humanitarian organizations has been unable to end years of recurring hunger in conflict-torn Congo. Now a South American research group says it may have found another way to fill hungry bellies: with guinea pigs.
Guinea pigs such as these are popular pets, but new research indicates that the rodents may help solve a growing food crisis.
DAKAR, Senegal — An army of humanitarian organizations has been unable to end years of recurring hunger in conflict-torn Congo. Now a South American research group says it may have found another way to fill hungry bellies: with guinea pigs.
Better known as cute pets in Western nations, the small rodents could provide war-battered villages with “a much-needed source of protein and micro-nutrients in a country with some of the highest incidences of malnutrition the world,” according to the Colombia-based agricultural research institute, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, or CIAT.
Congo’s hilly east has been plagued by violent turmoil since Rwanda’s 1994 genocide spilled war across the border, displacing millions of people and sparking years of skirmishes between soldiers, rebels and militia from both nations.
It’s not known how or when guinea pigs — native to South America — arrived in Congo, but CIAT researchers discovered them last year being kept as “micro-livestock” in the nation’s hard-hit North and South Kivu provinces, which border Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
“Small and easy to conceal, guinea pigs are well-suited to (Congo’s) conflict zones, where extreme poverty and widespread lawlessness means that the looting of larger domestic livestock is commonplace,” the group said in a statement.
The furry animals have other advantages: they can be fed kitchen waste and are a relatively low-cost investment compared to other livestock. Crucially, they reproduce quickly, with females giving birth to multiple litters that total 10 to 15 offspring per year.
“They also suffer from fewer diseases than pigs, chickens and rabbits, and in the event of disease outbreaks, their high reproduction rate means populations have a much shorter recovery time,” the group said.
Guinea pigs are widely eaten in parts of South America, notably Peru. The taste of the rodent has been compared to pork, dark chicken meat and rabbit. The rodents are not a common sight in rural Congolese households, unlike chickens, goats and other domesticated animals.
CIAT scientists have been investigating ways to boost livestock production through a project funded by the German government which had originally targeted pork and poultry. It has now been expanded to include guinea pigs, with trials underway in four South Kivu villages to try to find ways to improve the quantity and quality of the meat.
“None of the scientists had contemplated guinea pigs as an option in (Congo) when the project started,” said CIAT’s Michael Peters. “Now they really could turn out to be indispensable.”
Crystal had some of the youth group girls over to make Valentine Cookies. The goal was to give the cookies, along with a verse about God’s love to someone who does not know Christ – the greatest demonstrator of love!
We celebrated our third wedding anniversary in December. It has been quite the adventure! We have visited various countries, served in different compacities, and learned many new things. I have been so blessed to be married to Crystal!
Friday night we had some friends over for games and hanging out. Reuben was astounded at the actions of two of the other players and their inability to play fairly.
Tanna was unimpressed.