This is a message from Searl Miller’s wife:

I am posting this to you all to let you know Searl lost his battle with terminal cancer Friday morning about 7:30.  He wanted you to know why he hasn’t been writing.  I’m not the writer nor never will be the writer my husband was. He also wanted you to know that everything he has told you was to the best of his ability and from God.

Searl left behind a wealth of information from his decades-long study of Bible prophecy. Although this blog will not be updated further, it will remain here as a resource for those seeking information and understanding of these things. I have disabled comments to avoid having to come in and clean up spam. Those wishing to comment can do so at the JTOL forum.

Dan Mitchell

I have been struggling with how best to present this for quite some time. In the face of all the awful situations that many Americans are encountering on the home-front, in their personal lives, and their health; it begs the question: “What in the world is going on here?” Never in my life have I ever seen so many people so sick and so desperate. Every imaginable form of cancer is rampant. Hospitals are over-loaded. People are dropping dead all over the place.

Sorry to open on such a “bright” note but these problems that people are and have been enduring are also screaming: Why?

A possible explanation recently occurred to me why there might be this present intensified level of afflictions. My wife agrees that this just might well be the case. The answer is likely to be found in what God said regarding the End-Times that they are to be “a time of testing for the Saints”.

I cannot definitively say, “This is the Word of the Lord”; so I am playing it safe and will go only so far as to say it is a theory. If this theory is correct, it remains for the Lord to confirm it to us.

——————–

I must apologize again because in order to put this in its proper perspective we must re-hash the End-Time scenario yet once gain. I’ll try to keep it brief.

And briefly: there are 7 Seals, 7 Trumpets, & 7 Bowls - which occur consecutively.

The first 4 Seals are popularly called the “4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse”. While many expect that the End-Times will begin with these 4 Horsemen charging across the sky, I am telling you that the symbolism of the horses is akin to the cavalry in an army where-in they charge ahead while the foot soldiers follow behind. That signifies that they have already gone before us.

These first 4 Seals serve to answer in part the age-old question: “If there’s a God, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world?” They serve to tell us: “This is why things are the way they are”.

That then puts us in the 5th Seal, watching and waiting for God to do something about all this. Like the souls under the Altar, we are wondering; “How much longer, Lord?” And God says, “Wait a little longer.” So here we are in the 5th Seal awaiting the 6th Seal.

6th Seal. This is THE Event that sets the End-Times in motion and brings on the Judgment Period. This is the Event concerning which Jesus foretold would be preceded by the “Last Sign” (Matthew 24.14) and that “No-one knows the day or the hour…” (Matthew 24.36).

The 6th Seal Event is the Destruction of Babylon the Great. This will be the singular most violent event to happen in the final days as it will be the cause of the collapse of everything around the world as described in the Trumpets and Bowls.

It is important to see that the 6th Seal Event represents the execution of God’s Wrath. This is indicated by the reflection upon the Destruction of Babylon at Rev. 16.18 thru 21 which is the Chapter dealing with the 7 Bowls which are the Wrath of God. This fact bears on the theory being presented here.

I want to emphasize here that God does NOT cause these things that are termed God’s Wrath but His Wrath is achieved by the fact that He allows such things to happen.

As quickly as the 6th Seal Event occurs, the 7th Seal is opened ushering in the Judgment Period. The Judgment Period itself consists of all the Trumpets and Bowls occurring in the order given.

These things are cumulative - the effects of one event are simply compounded by the effects of the next event and so on. The result is an exponential curve that peaks to a crescendo with the coming of Jesus accompanied by the Hosts of Heaven and all the Saint at the Battle of Armageddon.

I call this the “Judgment Period” drawing on Rev. 14.7 and as an alternative to the thoroughly confusing concept of the commonly used “Tribulation Period”.

It is important to understand in all of this, that WE JUDGE OURSELVES by how we deal with the things that confront us.

——————–

The period of the Bowls is the period of God’s Wrath. It is to this that the Promise applies which states that we “are not appointed unto His Wrath”.

But again, since the 6th Seal Event is again mentioned at Rev. 16.18 thru 21 - which is within the Chapter describing the 7 Bowls (the Wrath of God), the 6th Seal Event is thus also to be seen as a precursor of His Wrath. So it is that God pours out a “cup” of His Wrath on Babylon the Great at the beginning and then pours our all His Wrath wuth the sounding of the 7th Trumpet which itself ushers in the 7 Bowls of God’s Wrath.

Also to be understood is that the Battle of Armageddon is the third major pivotal Event of the End-Times. It is when God’s Kingdom and Satan’s kingdom clash head-on. It is the climax - the capstone of all these End-Time events and of this Age.

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Here’s something I rarely ever post simply because this entire End-Time scenario is so different with respect to what has been taught in the churches that should I emphasize this, it would merely serve to make this scenario even less believable to those who are skeptical anyway. But I have explained it to others in E-mails.

It is this: Revelation intimates that there will be 3 Raptures or Rapture-like events during the End-Times. In short, they are at the 6th Seal, the 6th Trumpet, and the 6th Bowl - or that is to say just before the 7th Seal, the 7th Trumpet, and the 7th Bowl.

A minister who used to attend our home Bible Study rejected this because in his mind this is supposed to be an awesome display of God’s Power - to have more than one Rapture would “dilute” it.

Well, no it is NOT intended to be God “showing off”. God is superior to all others and has no need to “prove Himself”. Who could He possibly impress with such grand-standing? Us? We don’t have much of a clue what’s going on - so cannot possibly appreciate the magnitude of this. Satan’s kingdom? Why would He care what Satan’s kingdom thinks? His own Angels? They have already been impressed by a much more major Event: the Creation itself.

No, God is NOT doing this to “impress” anyone - He is doing it to bring our time of testing to an end and to leave the rest to endure His Wrath. It is a time of separating the Wheat from the Tares - the Sheep from the Goats.

——————–

The Rapture that has long been the center of debate as to whether it is “Pre-Trib”, “Mid-Trib”, “Post-Trib”, or “No-Trib” is indeed real. It took God Himself to convince me of that. Whether it is before, during , of at the end of the Tribulation Period are totally meaningless arguments simply because there is no such time period given in the Bible called the Tribulation. That idea is purely the invention of the minds of men.

The Rapture that is the subject of the above debates is the middle one - the one that occurs just before or just as the 7th Trumpet sounds (the difference in timing between “before” and “as” here is like ONE second). Since the Bible tells us PRECISELY when it will occur - there never should have been any debate about it.

Scriptural support for this Rapture is found within Revelation at Rev. 10.1 thru 7 and again at Rev. 11.12.

——————–

The Rapture that comes at the 6th Bowl just before or as the 7th Bowl is poured out is for the purpose of removing all the other souls of men so that the Battle of Armageddon will be strictly between the Kingdom of God and Satan’s kingdom.

This one has been mistaken as the so-called “Post-Trib” Rapture. Years ago, J.R. Church taught this one but he has since jumped on the “Pre-Trib” band-wagon.

Scriptural support for this Rapture within Revelation is found at Rev. 16.15.

——————–

The one Rapture or Rapture-like event that will occur just before the Destruction of Babylon the Great (6th Seal Event) involves God Calling-Out His people from America just a little ahead (maybe as much as 45 minutes) of its Destruction.

Why would He do this? Because; would it be “just” to allow us to suffer His Wrath yet save all the rest of His people around the world from His Wrath at the 7th Trumpet? Well, not really. So He has it covered.

Scriptural support for this Rapture-like event within Revelation is found at Rev. 18.4 & 5.

——————–

So, there will be 3 such events, the first being at the beginning of those Last Days, the second being the anticipated Rapture at the 7th Trumpet and the last at the end of the Judgment Period.

Who knows? Maybe there will be other Raptures in-between. I don’t see any certain evidence that this might be so - but after all, God can do this any way He needs to.

——————–

The Calling-Out:

The first of these we are calling the “Calling-out” because if you read Rev. 18.4 & 5, you will see that just before Babylon the Great is Destroyed God will call out to His people saying “Come out of her…” Therefore; UNLIKE the last 2 Raptures, our souls will NOT be suddenly extracted much to our surprise - but He will call us with an Audible Voice. Only His People will hear Him and MAKE NO MUSTSAKE about it it, you WILL KNOW Who it is. “My sheep know My Voice.”

In this, He is giving you a choice; obey His Call or you will be destroyed along with Babylon the Great. It is somewhat paralleled by His rescue of Lot and his family before the destruction of the Cities of the Plain.

The difference is that we cannot physically leave America but we CAN walk out that door and leave our homes and everything behind in obedience to His Call. If we make that choice, He will take it from there.

Where do we go? It really doesn’t matter, all that matters is that we start walking to who-knows-where and when the moment comes, He will physically take us out of here. But again we mist OBEY before we will be taken out in accordance with the rest of what He said, “…lest you partake of her punishments”. So it is clear, it a choice WE must make when the time comes. In this respect it is NOT like the other Raptures - but it is “Rapture-like”.

——————–

If you understand what the Judgment Period will be like, you realize that it is something to anticipate with no little fear and trepidation. After all, it is going to be A TIME OF TESTING FOR THE SAINTS.

So, if we are taken out ahead of the Judgment Period, we are going to miss out on all that, are we not? To that we are inclined to say. “YAY !!!”

But, is it “just” to let us off the hook and make everyone else go through the Judgment Period? And this is where my theory enters into this.

If you re-read the first paragraph of this Article, it is an assessment off the dire sorts of things that are happening to Christians at present - but NOT all Christians. I suggest to you that the reason these things are happening is that we are NOT escaping the time of testing of the Saints but those of us who will be called are going through our own time of testing right now. So ALL Saints must endure a time of testing whether they are taken out early or not.

The time of testing during the Judgment Period is 900 days (plus perhaps a maximum of 8 days). The persecution of the Saints will intensify as that time progresses hitting its peak during the 6th Trumpet period (a period of 150 days). How intense it might be prior to this, I don’t know.

What all this says to me is that if we are undergoing such testing right now, then the time of the End must be very close. But the earliest it can possibly be is the end of March/first part of April 2009. If it doesn’t happen then; it cannot happen until the same period in 2010 - and so on.

This exact timing is based on my Dream (see 70419 Calling-Out Dream) and is somewhat supported by the Parable of the Fig Tree (Matthew 24.32 thru 35) which Scripture hints at the time of year.

Shalom,

Searl Miller

I picked on Texans and on the French, it is now the Chinese’s turn. While these are basically spoofs, the details are real and my own experiences which maybe you can (or not) identify with.

It happens that if anyone says, “Want to go somewhere and eat?” I of course do if it’s going to be Chinese - but if not; I’d prefer to stay home and have a bowl of Rice Chex.

The Chinese are wily. I KNOW you must have had something like this happen to you. They pretend to not understand what you are saying until you finally give in and accept things the way they want to do them.

Take for example the standard practice of accompanying every take-out entrée with a box of steamed rice. You end up with more steamed rice than anyone can et. So my usual take-out practice is to order two entrees and TRY to get them to replace one box of steamed rice with a box of fried rice. That way, if the fried rice is “too much” anything, you can tone it down with the steamed rice.

You know how many times and in how many places I’ve tried to get a substitution? Every time I’ve ordered Chinese take-out. They say, “Aw-oh, yeah - Hokay” So do you get a box of steamed rice and a box of fried rice? No, you still get 2 boxes of steamed rice AND a box of fried rice. They make absolutely sure you don’t save a buck on the steamed rice and they are laughing all the way to the bank.

The last 2 years we were in Las Vegas, we rented a house from a Chinese guy. Allegedly, he is an attorney and the house belongs to his brother in California and he manages the property for his brother.

Right off we had to laugh because the last place we were in had this cheap gas stove which we hated. So when we were looking at this house, the first thing he showed us with great pride was this new stove he installed. It was an exact duplicate of that cheap stove we hated.

We were there only a month or so and the refrigerator died. So in they come with a new refrigerator , ice-maker, the works. And he bragged it up like he had found a gold mine. Here’s the catch: all the appliances in the kitchen were white - except for this new refrigerator which was onyx black. Somehow this echoed of years of failing to get a box of fried rice substituted for steamed rice.

A curious pattern began to develop. When-ever anything broke down and needed replaced, he got very angry. Which is exactly what happened when the garbage disposal quit. At least he put in one with a bigger motor.

Here’s a tip if you ever are so foolish as to consider buying a house in Las Vegas: New “homes” are built by developers to SELL - not to live in.

Things kept failing because they were the original equipment that came with the house. The house was between 8 and 12 years old which OUGHT to be still like new but the equipment installed in those houses are what is called “contractor’s grade” which means it is the absolute cheapest equipment possible.

So anyway, the next thing to die was the water heater. When I went out into the garage I discovered a growing puddle of water. The water had eaten a hole through the bottom of the tank (says something about the water quality in Las Vegas).

I went in and called him right away because it needed to be taken care of immediately or our niece’s furniture that was stored in the garage would be damaged. He was very angry, and said, “Why didn’t you call me before about this?” I said I called him as quickly as I found the problem.

Just about 4 maybe 5 months before we left, the air conditioner died. That last one cost him major big time. Was he mad? Yes, of course. But at least he had replaced all the major things and it should be a long time before he will have to do it again.

So I’d say to him, “What if you …?” And he would get real animated and say, “Oh no - no; my brutta - he would not like that - and I gotta do for my brutta what makes him happy, you know?

Here’s what we REALY think. There never was any “brother” - it was just a convenient excuse for anything he didn’t want to do. HE owned the property and that’s WHY he got so upset when anything broke down; it was costing HIM money.

Anyway, I really like Chinese food although what we eat here in the U.S. has been Westernized. For example, they use quite a lot of carrots, yet there never were any carrots in China. Broccoli and peas are from Europe yet you find pea pods and broccoli in a many Chinese entrees. Pea pods or “Snow Peas” were as far as I know developed here in the U.S. over the last 50 years of the 20th Century. Even while they were developing “Snap Peas” and “Snow Peas” I was wondering why - but the Chinese figured out something to do with them and it works very well. Actually, I think the Chinese did have an indigenous plant of the Rape family which would make it Broccoli-like.

I suspect that they made their meals from a little bit of meat, ginger-root, and whatever kind of weeds they could find on the hillsides - plus some rice. The Chinese seem to have a taste for things half-putrid - or completely putrid like those black eggs. This is not as noticeable in American Chinese cooking - except their Pot stockers (Chinese Dumplings) have a slightly foul taste.

Although many of the ingredients in Chinese American food is native to the Americas, the one thing I cannot remember any Chinese dish containing is tomatoes.

If you are eating at a buffet, I recommend that you do not get egg rolls because they are filling and kill your appetite.

There was place on West 4th Street in Mansfield, Ohio called China Express that was a sit down and order kind of restaurant but for about $4 you could get the buffet. The buffet was extremely limited - not many choices. I think you could count the choices on your ten fingers. But what I recall most were the egg rolls which were pretty good. They were so neatly made they had to have been mass-produced un a factory somewhere - probably in California. They looked exactly like short sticks of dynamite.

Also in the same town there was a Chinese carry-out called the China Wok or something like that - in the Johnny Appleseed Shopping Center on Lexington Avenue. That’s where I got introduced to General Tso’s Chicken. It is breaded chicken done in a barbeque-like sweet & sour sauce with Broccoli. It was excellent. In Las Vegas most Chinese restaurants have the dish but they don’t put any broccoli in it and just call it “General Chicken”. Maybe they got tired of hearing Anglos trying to pronounce Tso. Anyway, it ranged from good to awful depending on where you got it. Tip: it should NEVER be crunchy.

As you go from Chinese restaurant to Chinese restaurant, you learn what things they do very well and what things they do poorly. So you select the General Chicken at Restaurant A but never t Restaurant B but if you’re in the mood for Moo Goo Gai Pan you go to Restaurant C - or Restaurant D if you want Beef & Tofu because it’s the only one in town that makes it.

Chinese restaurants range from excellent to poor. In Las Vegas you could see a cycle among Chinese restaurants. One would just open and the food was un-beatable. This brought in a lot of business. But over time, the food would get progressively worse until business got so bad they had to close. Another Chinese family would then take over the place and the whole cycle started all over again.

There is or was a Chinese buffet un Galion, Ohio that was (and maybe still is) closed down periodically by the Health Dept. A friend of ours says the best time to eat there is right after they re-open because they are minding their P’s & Q’s then. Actually, I always found their stuff pretty good.

They had an older Chinese woman there whom I suppose was the mother - about 40 something or maybe 50. She was kind of a “greeter” and welcomed you and would show you where to sit. Then she would follow along as you filled your plate. Each time you’d put something on your plate, she’d stand there with her hands together sort like clapping and say “Awwww, Good choice ! Very good choice !” She was sort of a cheer-leader I guess.

O.K. same woman. Bunyan Brown from Texas who was a hefty guy. He was a bouncer in Texas and 8 guys couldn’t take him down, often ended up in jail for brawling. Well, he went to this same Chinese restaurant when he was in Galion. The deal is “all you can eat for $X amount” (can’t remember the price but it was not over $5). So, he sat there and talked and ate, got another plate (heaped) talked and ate, and he did for nearly 3 hours. Finally, the woman said, “Awwwr - you go HOME now - you eat TOO much.”

We took our time coming to the DFW Metroplex from Las Vegas - 3 days virtually to the minute. Stayed over-night in Williams, Arizona, Santa Rosa, New Mexico, and Vernon, Texas. In Vernon we found a Chinese buffet across the street from the Pizza Hut that was one of the best ever. Good thing, too because we ain’t seen one since. There was one here that was combination Mexican and Chinese but the very idea of serving Mexican and Chinese in the same place was more than we had the courage to try until after they had gone out of business. There is another one here in town but they are from that school of thought: “Don’t cook it - threaten it” - which means it ends up being hot but raw.

While still in Ohio, I wanted to learn to cook Chinese-style so we got a Chinese cook-book. We went through it over and over again trying to fund out how they make their sauce. Didn’t give us a clue. So we experimented and finally came up with a good one for Moo Goo Gai Pan. As for the veggies, we substitute pea pods (snow peas) for the broccoli - which really works better. Incidentally, when you go to a Chinese restaurant, you have to say “snow peas’ and not “pea pods” - otherwise they will absolutely NOT understand what you mean.

Anyway, we eventually realized that the Chinese do not make a sauce. The sauces form themselves from the seasonings and juices sweated from the meat and vegetables. The Chinese are ingenious.

For example: When I was a kid, the two things always left over at the end of a chicken dinner was the neck and the wings - no-body wanted them. As a result these things either got their precious little meat stripped off to use in noodles or the like - or Mom ate them. So now-a-days they sell barbequed wings, “Buffalo wings”, etc. and charge big bucks for what we considered discards. This turn of events still boggles my mind. Anyway, the Chinese came up with another ingenious way to use the wings. They cut the wing tips off keeping just the section with meat on it. Then they push the meat from the thin end until it all piles up at the big end and Voila ! They have little drumsticks.

The Frugal Gourmet used to say that the Chinese are the best cooks in the world and I agree with him. He also noted that a Chinese woman would be totally embarrassed if ever the food she serves is not ready to eat but needs cutting up. It must be already prepared bite-size so all you have to do is just eat it.

I don’t know how many people already know this but I thought it is interesting. Customarily, every person in China carries his/her own personal chop-sticks on him or her so there are no knives, forks, and spoons left for the host to clean up.

The wok allows one to cook ingredients according to how long it takes each to cook. Cutting them bite-size means less cooking time - less fuel needed. As each is done, it is scooted up on the side of the wok where it is kept warm. When everything is cooked, all the ingredients are brought down to the bottom of the wok to heat them together before serving. No extra pans - and minimal dishes.

Way down south in Malaysia, etc. they serve the food onto fresh green banana leaves so there are no dishes to clean. There are still bowls for soup, etc. though. In India the bowls are stainless steel. Easy to clean and you don’t have to worry about breaking them - last a lifetime.

Unfortunately, Chinese restaurants tend to come and go. But there on the square in Mansfield, Ohio was a Chinese restaurant that I remember back as far as 1946 called I think Jong Mei. It finally closed here in recent years after being in business more than 50 years. Believe it or not, I never ate there once.

By contrast, there was the Peking Duck which went in where Sandy’s Drive-In was on Park Avenue West. It wasn’t there very long and was replaced by the Brew’n’Whatcha. While it was open I stopped in once. It was a sit-down and order restaurant. Forget what I got other than Won Ton soup. It was like hot water with 3 or 4 different things tossed in and not many of them. One of the things tossed in was a couple narrow strips of ham.

Most Chinese restaurants call it War Won Ton when it has meat in it. I guess “War” means “meat”. Most toss in a few strips of chicken as well and some also add 2 or 3 peeled shrimps (usually “popcorn“ type). Frankly, I don’t see that adding meat does anything positive for the soup yet some insist on having meat in it. Usually they charge more for it if the soup has meat in it. However; the little meat they add couldn’t possibly cost them more than 25 cents if it includes shrimp. Much less if it doesn’t.

Anyway, while in Las Vegas, we sometimes went to a Chinese buffet that later renovated the place and called themselves the Red Dot. On one occasion they had both Won Ton and Seaweed Soups. So I tried one and then the other, I tried putting won-tons in the Seaweed soup and found that was a bit better than in the Won Ton soup. I also tried pitting in a fried “Pot-sticker” (also called Chinese Dumpling). Found that would work quite well if it wasn’t fried.

After that I said, “I can do this”; and went down to the International Marketplace and bought Knorr vegetable bouillon, dried Sea Weed, dried Szechuan peppers, Wong Bok (Chinese Cabbage), Bok/Pak Choy, and frozen Chinese Dumplings (pork & vegetable).

Chinese Dumplings come in two sizes. If the larger size, there are 19 to 21 dumplings in the bag. If the smaller size, there are 28 to 32 in the same size bag. I went for the smaller size so that by splitting the bag I had about 15 dumplings to a batch of soup.

Put the frozen dumplings in a large pot of water. Throw in ONE Szechuan pepper. Boil. While the dumplings are coming to a boil chop rather coarsely the Chinese Cabbage (Wong Bok) on one plate, and the Pak/Bok Choy on another plate. Also take 2 vegetable bouillon cubes and cut them into smaller pieces so they will dissolve faster - do this on their wrappers. And set aside a heaping tablespoon of dried Sea Weed.

When the dumplings rise to the top of the water, remove them with a slotted spoon and place them to the side on a plate. Also fish out the Szechuan pepper which should have softened up by now.

Using scissors, cut up the pepper. Tip: You never know if Szechuan peppers are going to be “hatter than blazes” or just so-so. So, play it safe and cut it up a little coarse if you are not into pungency - or if you are, cut it up fine. Actually, the hot pepper is not standard in Won Ton soup but is a Vietnamese touch.

Toss the pepper pieces back into the cooking water. The cooking water is becoming a mild watery broth by virtual of the essence imparted to it by boiling the Chinese Dumplings in it.

Also put in at this point the Sea Weed and the Bouillon. You will see an amazing phenomenon here. The dried Sea Weed looks ever so much like dry Tea leaves. As the Sea Weed absorbs the moisture, it will expand into complete leaves up to 3 inches long.

When the Sea weed leaves are expanded and pliable, add the Wong Bok (Chinese Cabbage). When it comes back to a boil and has boiled a couple of minutes, then add the Bok/Pak Choy. Give it about 1 to 2 minutes and turn off the heat.

You will note that there are essentially two stages, first the preparation of the Dumplings and then the adding of ingredients. During all this, also finely dice a brown onion (or white - I don’t care) and have it ready so when you turn off the heat you dump the onions on top. Customarily, the Chinese chop up either Chives or Scallions (green onions) and sprinkle them on top AFTER you have ladled out a bowl of soup. Just using a plain old bulb onion avoids the need to buy something most people do not usually have on hand. Putting the onions in the pot rather than adding them later gives the onions a chance to soften up a bit and I think lends more character to the soup.

Won Ton soup is not normally very salty. Both the Bouillon and the Sea Weed add salt to the broth. So as not to over salt it, if in tasting you think it needs a little more salt, use a salt shaker to add it. If you think the broth needs more flavor, add a teaspoon of Chicken Bouillon granules.

This whole process takes little more than half an hour - so you might want to begin chopping up the ingredients before you start. Once you turn off the heat, you can begin serving it right away. Just put one Dumpling in a bowl and ladle the hot soup over it. By now the dumplings have cooled, but the soup is so hot that by the time people get to the dumpling as they eat their soup, the dumpling will be reheated.

Let me warn you: do NOT let people serve themselves. If you do, some uncouth person will put 2 or 3 Dumplings in his or her bowl and there will not be enough for the soup remaining.

There are many more things of interest about Chinese food but this piece has gotten long enough for me.

Shalom,

Searl Miller

I know I have done all of this before but gonna do it again - trying a slightly approach so that just maybe some clarification will come of it.

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Tribulationists claim that there will be a 7 year period at the End of this Age which they call the “Tribulation Period”. People who teach or believe this I call “Tribulationists” as that easily defines what they believe with that respect.

Where does this idea of there being a 7 year period at the End of this Age come from?

Is such a time frame given in the Book of the Revelation?

No.

Is such a time frame at the End of this Age found in any of the Gospels?

No.

O.K. then; how about in the Epistles?

No.

This idea is based on ONE VERSE and one Verse only - and that Verse is Daniel 9.27.

Here is the entire Prophecy of Weeks - Dan. 9.24 thru 27 (NKJV):

Daniel 9.24:
Seventy weeks are determined
For your people and for your holy city,
To finish the transgression,
To make an end of sins,
To make reconciliation for iniquity,
To bring in everlasting righteousness,
To seal up vision and prophecy,
And to anoint the Most Holy.

Daniel 9.25:
Know therefore and understand,
That from the going forth of the command
To restore and build Jerusalem
Until Messiah the Prince,
There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks;
The street shall be built again, and the wall,
Even in troublesome times.

Daniel 9.26:
And after the sixty-two weeks
Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;
And the people of the prince who is to come
Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
The end of it shall be with a flood,
And till the end of the war desolations are determined.

Daniel 9.27:
Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week;
But in the middle of the week
He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.
And on the wing of abominations shall be one who
makes desolate,
Even until the consummation, which is determined,
Is poured out on the desolate.

This last Verse is the entire basis of the Latter Day theories of “The Antichrist” and the “7 years of Tribulation” aka “Tribulation Period” - the last half (3 ½ years) of which they are calling the “Great Tribulation Period”.

At this point let me remind you of a basic principle in proving Scriptural interpretations. What you understand a Verse or Passage to mean must be in complete agreement or harmony with all other Verses speaking to the same thing. Here is the Verse that is our justification for this:

Isaiah 28.10 (KJV):
For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:

So let’s look at how Tribulationists interpret Verse 27. They substitute “The Antichrist” for the first pronoun “he” - then they stretch “covenant” to mean “treaty” (ala Hal Lindsey). Granted, there is not a lot of difference in the two words but the implications of “treaty” is not quite the same as “covenant” such that the interpretation becomes skewed here.

How do they justify substituting “The Antichrist” for “he” here? The “he” they take to refer to “the prince who is to come” in Verse 26. However; MOST Biblical scholars interpret “the prince who is to come” to be the Roman general Titus. It was NOT Titus who destroyed the Temple, in fact he gave explicit orders NOT to destroy the Temple - but rather it was his soldiers who did it. Thus as Verse 26 says, “THE PEOPLE OF” the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Now let’s look at the final sentence of Verse 26: “The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.” Jerusalem was destroyed, the Jews were desolated and it finally ended with the Diaspora (circa 130 AD).

So there is no basis in Verse 26 for interpreting this to have anything to do with “The Antichrist”. To whom then does “he” in Verse 27 refer”. Obviously it cannot refer to “the people of the prince who is to come” because if so the pronoun would have been “they” instead of “he”. There is only one other “he” in Verse 26, and that is the “Messiah” - that is; Jesus. So clearly the “he” in Verse 26 is Jesus and thus if you interpret Verse 27 as talking about “The Antichrist”, you are calling Jesus “The Antichrist”.

Line upon line:

Let’s put together all the essential lines which refer to the Messiah (Jesus):

25 - There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks until Messiah the Prince, [7+62=69]

26 - And after the sixty-two weeks [7+62=69] Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself;

27 - Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week [7 years]; but in the middle of the week [3 ½] he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.

Hello? Is any of this beginning to sound familiar to you?

When was the Messiah supposed to come? AFTER the 69 weeks - in other words: the 70th Week. That 70th Week was the Messiah’s NOT “The Antichrist’s”.

Did Jesus “make a covenant with many” for the entire Week? But was He not “cut off” in the midst of His Week?

How long was Jesus’ Ministry on earth until He ascended into Heaven? 3 ½ years?

Was Jesus the sacrifice to end all sacrifices so that He put “an end to sacrifice and offering”? Do we any longer need to make blood sacrifices and offerings at the Temple?

If Jesus already completed half of His Week, how much does that leave to be completed at the End of this Age?

Now let’s look at the rest of Verse 27:

“And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined is poured out on the desolate.”

This is jumping to that last half of the Week remaining to be completed. And clearly the reference is NOT to “The Antichrist” but to “the Abomination of Desolation” cited in Daniel 12.12 and in Rev. 11.2 with Rev.13.5 where we are given to know that the Abomination of Desolation is the End-Time Beast.

Let’s look again at Verse 27; in particular this line: “He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering.”

Since Tribulationists say this “He” is “The Antichrist”; in order to make that interpretation work there MUST be a Temple - but there isn’t one, Solution? BUILD one. And there you have the entire basis for the so-called “Tribulation Temple” aka “Rebuilt Temple” aka “3rd Temple”. This invention is another deception that leads Christians to remain in their comfort zone because if one believes this - and there is no Temple yet; then there is no need to be overly concerned about the End-Times yet - is there?

Wrong. If the “He” is Jesus and the sacrifices and offerings are not animals but are our prayers and praises, then no new Temple is needed and the End can come at any time.

Let’s do this part over again: When was the Messiah supposed to come? AFTER the 62nd Week which period was itself preceded by a period of 7 Weeks. So, the total elapsed time her is 69 [7+62] Weeks. The Messiah was supposed to come AFTER this, then what is left? The 70th Week. The Messiah’s Week is the 70th Week - plain & simple.

If you INSIST on claiming that the 70th Week is “The Antichrist’s” week; then you are declaring the Messiah (Jesus) to be “The Antichrist”. If you believe that Jesus is God, then you calling God “The Antichrist”.

Does anyone out there finally understand that the Tribulationists’ interpretation of there being a 7 year “Tribulation Period” at the close of this Age is flat wrong?

Shalom,

Searl Miller
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I suppose I should be writing something for this Blog. Despite the fact that I have over 5 dozen Articles started, right now none of them inspire me enough to finish any of them. And yes it takes inspiration to write this stuff.

I have been enduring pains like you would not believe. So much so that I have not been able to get to sleep earlier than 4:00 AM. And at least a couple of times not until 6:00 AM - having gone to bed at Midnight. This has been going on every night for minimally 3 weeks.

Needless to say perhaps; it wears a person down and I haven’t been posting much on other sites either.

When I don’t have any great message to give, what I do is throw together a hodge-podge of little things. So be fore-warned.

——————–

So, what am I going to write about? I’d like to write about Chinese food but I’m not there yet. Instead, I think I will pick on the French and give Texans a break.

People wanting to develop their culinary skills attend French cooking classes. It is not about learning great recipes but about techniques for efficiency in the kitchen, handling cook-ware and processing food. Presentation is the key; no messy plates, a balance of colors - it’s an art.

So, every fancy-shmancy restaurant touts a French chef. He’s got the hat, the pencil mustache, and a fake French accent (because he’s really from Erie, Pennsylvania).

Why is it that when some-one says they have a French chef, we think that the food is going to be great? Can you name one Fresh dish that is absolutely delicious? I can’t.

Take Eclairs for example. I thought “Oh boy !” when I was about to eat my first Éclair. What a disappointment. A Twinkie beats it hands down.

Now I will admit that although I really don’t care much for cake, I do like a Torte - but then again, I’m not sure if that’s actually French. It might be though - who else would make a cake and then slice it into a stack of wafers with icing between every wafer and then coat the whole thing with chocolate? Very good but way too much work.

I also like the idea of dipping French bread in broth. How simple can you get? Not sure that’s uniquely French though. And I like Italian bread for this much better.

Talking about that…you have no doubt seen the pictures of French people on bicycles with a couple loaves of bread sticking out of a bag or basket or strapped to their backs. We’re talking about a loaf of bread that is maybe 3 inches thick and up to 3 feet long.

Why would you make a loaf of bread shaped like that? Apparently the French like a lot of crust. Who hasn’t as a child tore off the crust and refused to eat it? If you do that with French bread, you don’t have much left.

Is there any French pastries that are great? Well, if there are any, I haven’t ran across them. Danish pastries win that one - it’s no contest.

Can anyone remember the name of even one French main course? Nothing comes to mind. I can think of a number of Italian dishes that just thinking about them makes one salivate. You see, with the French it’s what it looks like but with most other folks it’s what it tastes like.

Wives everywhere worry about burning dinner - but not the French. They bring your food to the table and douse it with high octane alcohol and set it afire. The culinary art of a pyromaniac.

Some may argue that French wines are superb. Well, I don’t drink that much wine that I am able to appreciate it enough to male a judgment.

The one thing the French do exceptionally well is make cheese. They are hard to beat. Roquefort is made only in France from sheep’s milk in a particular cave where the mold occurs that makes it. That mold has been transported to other cheeses such as Bleu Cheese (cow’s milk), Gorgonzola (goat’s milk), Stilton, etc. Also great are Brie and Camembert.

O.K. Cheddar is probably England’s most famous product and probably America’s favorite cheese. And nobody beats the Norwegians at making Kippers. Everybody has their own niche.

The point is; the French are unique. These people haven’t won a war since Napoleon but as World War II came to a close they somehow convinced the UN that French should be the language of diplomacy. Never mind that it is a dying language that sounds like you’re trying to talk with a mouthful of oatmeal.

So why did the UN adopt it? I’ve been asking myself that question for some 60 years.

So, as an observer, all one can do is observe the French and shake one’s head. The French are completely weird.

No better example of this is to be found than in my old Peugeot 403. I could write a small book about all its idiosyncrasies but I’ll try to keep this short.

This particular car was rated by John Bond - editor of Road & Track magazine; as being one of the 10 Best Cars in the World.

The Peugeot 403 epitomizes the Pininfarina design school. It is an excellent example of his work. The essential design features in that car were at one time used in the majority of all cars built in the world during the 1950s and 1960s.

First let me tell you that Pininfarina is Italian - not French. So the Italian contribution ends with the styling. From that point onward we are talking about French engineering. There are a lot of very humorous things about French engineering and I hope I do them justice. It helps to know something about engineering or at least about the mechanics of automobiles.

The French like easy riding cars. Their cars ride smooth, drive smooth, and are great for taking on long trips. But sometimes when you need to fix something, THEN you get to experience the weirdness face to face. The Peugeot 403 just might have cornered the market on weirdness. But then I look at the Citroens (also French) and think maybe those were even weirder.

I will start with the horn. Most French cars have two horns; a town horn and a country horn. The one is so as not to make a lot of noise in town and the other is so you can be heard at speed on the highway. Well…that seems reasonable.

In my case the horn didn’t work. So I thought I’d fix it. It had a horn ring as many cars used to at the time. Basically the way they work is when you push down on the ring it depresses a switch in the steering wheel hub. In American cars this switch is comparatively low voltage and activates a relay (somewhere in the engine compartment) that does the actual connecting of the horn to the battery.

Ah, but we are talking about a French car. After I had the steering wheel all apart I discovered that there was no horn switch. What there was instead was a hollow steering shaft with a rod passing down through it. When you push down on the horn ring it pulls up on the rod.

So now we go under the hood. Well, the steering shaft is every bit of 6 feet long and goes into the steering gear in front of the front axle. So now we have to get down under the front end of the car. The rod that activates the horn switch passes through the steering gear housing and the horn switch is attached on the other side.

This places the switch almost at the front of the car - only about 4 inches off the pavement. The whole switch has a rubber boot around it because if it didn’t the horn switch would get splashed with water from the road and not work. The problem is that rubber under such conditions does not hold up very well, it rots, it cracks, it leaks. And that was my problem. So then I had to put the steering wheel back together again.

I want to also tell you that this car was made way back in 1962. At that time it was one of only a handful of cars that had a steering wheel lock. You know, you stick your hey in the side of the steering column so that once the key is removed the steering wheel is locked so that the front wheels cannot be steered - and so it cannot be moved without the key.

Yes, the car was full of novel things. One of these was overdrive. Now, Ford had overdrive way before this but they provided a separate lever to engage it because the overdrive unit was a separate unit installed behind the transmission. On the Peugeot it was 4th gear. In this case overdrive was achieved by gearing within the transmission itself.

What is “overdrive”? All it means that your drive shaft is rotating faster than your crankshaft. The object is to maintain road speed while letting your engine loaf along and save gas.

But let me warn you: if you have overdrive: NEVER loan your car to a woman. Women simply do not comprehend its function. If the shifter has an extra speed, they think it is supposed to be used at all times. They will drive in city traffic in 5th gear. Listen people: you should NEVER be in overdrive unless you are traveling at least 40 MPH on level ground or downhill - but you should shift down one gear to go uphill.

Why? Because otherwise you’ll burn out your clutch. It’s not only women but many American MEN also do not use it properly. Such was the problem with my Peugeot; some-one before me had slipped the clutch several tines. However; I was able to drive it in spite of this for quite a long time.

Very closely associated with this problem was another ingenious French idea. Maybe some of you have had experience with this but some times when people clutch a lot the lubricant in the throw-out bearing fatigues (dries up) and soon you hear an irritating squeal when you use the clutch. To fix that problem you have to separate the transmission from the engine and open up the clutch housing to get to the throw-out bearing to replace it. This is too involved for most of us to take on.

If however you could freshen the throw-out bearing lubricant on occasion, you could circumvent the problem. Enter the French. On the Peugeot 403’s firewall was a clear plastic tube with a cap on it. That tube entered the bell (clutch) housing and allowed you to lubricate the throw-out bearing from outside. Sounds like a good idea.

NOT ! No, give an American an oil can and an oil cap to squirt the oil into and he will make sure it is well oiled. The idea was to add ONE drop occasionally - not oil it for life in one shot. What happens when you put too much oil in the tube is the excess runs out of the throw-out bearing and gets all over your clutch plate and you have a slipping clutch that cannot be fixed without tearing everything apart and replacing the clutch plate. The easy part at the time was buying the clutch plate which was $14.

It doesn’t end there. Most of you drive cars with either hydraulic lifters or your engine is equipped with an overhead cam. But back then only exotic cars had overhead cams and I don’t know if any had hydraulic lifters. So most had push-rods (mechanical lifters). And so did the Peugeot. So after a few thousand miles they would get noisy because they had worn and developed too much gap, so you had to go through and re-gap them.

Many over-head valve engines could be adjusted while the engine idled. Ah but not the Peugeot. Why not? Let me tell you why not.

In order to adjust over-head valves you need to first remove the valve cover. With most cars this is no big deal. But…I had a Peugeot.

First, you had to remove the spark plugs. Why? Because the spark plugs were at the bottom of a deep well in the top of the valve cover sorta pinning it down. Let me tell you about those spark plug wells in the valve cover. They were so deep that you needed 5 inch extenders screwed onto the spark plugs in order to be able to attach the spark plug wires.

Oh we ain’t through. The Peugeot had a nifty cast aluminum valve cover - with the carburetor bolted to it. The valve cover doubled as part of the throat of the carburetor so that when you took off the valve cover you automatically took off the carburetor. That meant you could not idle the engine while adjusting the valve clearances.

In order to do this with an engine at rest you must adjust each cylinder with the piston at top-dead-center. Well, how do you get the piston to stop at such an exacting point - say if you were trying to do this by jogging the starter? Forget jogging the starter - that doesn’t work.

Aha ! NOW we know why Peugeots came equipped with a crank - that’s right: a crank just like on an old Model T. I don’t suppose any of you are old enough to remember the old wood cook stoves. Well, anyway, they came with lifters and pokers, and an ash shovel - all having wire-wound handles. The Peugeot crank also had a wire wound handle and nearly every time you turned the engine over once the end of the wire took another gouge out of the palm of your hand. Other than that it was a great idea.

In most overhead valve engines, the spark plug is at the side of the cylinder combustion chamber - but not on THIS engine. The spark plug is on top between the valves. Seeing that I had already removed the spark plugs, this actually worked to my advantage. By using a wood dowel passed through the spark plug hole and resting on the top of the piston, I could crank the engine and watch the dowel rise and fall and thus tell where top-dead-center was.

So now I am ready to adjust the clearances, I have #1 cylinder at top-dead-center then I will have to crank it one complete turn and do the other valve on #1.

So I look at my book to see what that clearance should be - and guess what? The French are completely backwards to the rest of the world. In American and British cars, #1 cylinder is the cylinder closest to the radiator and #4 is the cylinder closest to the firewall. BUT NOT ON FRENCH CARS. Their #1 is next to firewall and their #4 is next to the radiator.

Other than that (and injuries sustained to my hand) I made it through the process O.K. but then I had the nightmare of putting all the stiff back where it belonged. Needless to say, adjusting valve lash is NOT a project that you opt to do frequently on a Peugeot.

One of Peugeot’s bragging points was that they had the strongest unit body going. It boasted two heavy box members that ran at an angle from just behind the front bumper up along each side of the engine to the firewall. The box members doubled as air passages from the front grille providing cool fresh air inside the car.

Worked pretty good out on the open road but worked horribly in bumper to bumper traffic - especially with a bus in front of you and all those exhaust fumes filling the car.

What else can I tell you about this car? I could tell you about the nightmare I went through trying to remove the plastic shroud that enclosed the steering column so I could work on the steering wheel lock - but I don’t think I even want to relive it.

Let me tell you instead about the dimmer switch. It was a floor switch that put American floor switches to shame. Many foreign cars had column mounted dimmer switches but all American cars had floor mounted switches at the time. It was artfully made (cast brass) and had a very gratifying “Ka-lick”.

So, one night a car came over a hill suddenly I quickly stomped at the dimmer switch but missed it catching it only with the edge of my shoe - which slipped off and the switch blew apart - the beautiful HEAVY brass button/cylinder whizzing by my left temple like a billet. It was a wonder it didn’t break the back glass. Also makes me wonder how many former Peugeot owners are out there missing a left eye.

I suppose I could tell you about many other quirks in that car and French engineering in general but I will end it here. The reality is that Peugeot made great engines that lasted and lasted and had plenty of power. For all its quirks, I really liked that car. It would be nice to have one like it even today - but in new condition.

Yes, the French are a weird bunch - in a class all their own. I don’t understand them at all. So, all you can do is observe them and shake your head.

They make great cheese though.

Shalom,

Searl Miller

Let’s talk about poverty. What the heck is it? It seems what it is depends on who is defining it. The government defines poverty by income level - if you make less than X Dollars a year, you are living in poverty. Maybe next year they’ll adjust X up - maybe not, but what-ever they do you can be sure it will lag far behind the reality.

I suppose it can be said that anyone making less than $15,000 a year in most circumstances that would be poverty. But consider that if you are a bachelor living back in the woods and you have need of nothing and make $15,000 a year - are you really living in poverty? I don’t think so.

Poverty is relative. A person living in Rwanda making $15,000 a year is certainly not at the poverty level. But a person living in Los Angeles who makes only $15,000 a year is indeed living in poverty.

I think when we hear the word “poverty” we think “squalor” - but they are not necessarily the same things. A person can be a millionaire and live in squalor - look at Howard Hughes for example.

In that vein, I recall an incident back in the 1950s (I think it was) where two un-married brothers lived together in an old mansion. Being that it was an old mansion, no-one bothered them.

They saved things. Especially newspapers - they had stacks and stacks of newspapers higher than your head. And their bed was stacked up with stuff, too - so they slept in their easy chairs. So much stuff that there was only a narrow passage through all the rooms including to the room with their easy chairs.

As I recall it, the one brother was crippled and the other looked after him. Apparently, the crippled brother suffered a heart attack and the other brother in trying to get to him knocked over hose stacks of newspapers and he was crushed to death. Investigators discovered the scene after neighbors complained about a foul odor coming from the house.

Were these guys living in poverty? No - but they WERE living in squalor - and it was their choice.

Aha ! So one can be poor without living in squalor because it is a matter of attitude.

Let me tell you a similar story:

There was a guy in our county who was not married - whether or not he was ever married at one time I don’t know. But he NEVER kept things repaired - NEVER painted his house, NEVER mowed his yard. In fact, I thought the place was abandoned.

But no, this guy lived there and like the two brothers above he was a saver of things. He too had stacks of newspapers and magazines as high as a 6 ft man’s head - complete with a narrow passage-way through the stacks to his easy chair. In the same room he had an old iron bed with only half of it stacked up because he did at least sleep on it. I take it he spent a lot of time reading. He had one bare light bulb hanging from the ceiling. He only heated a small area. One thing to be said for all those newspapers is that they afford great insulation. But my concern was that they also made the place a fire trap.

Anyway, people might think that poor education is the blame for such things. No, this guy was a college graduate with a degree in mineralogy. And he had boxes and boxes of rocks. Yes, I said boxes of rocks. He had a lapidary outfit; microscope, tumbler, jeweler’s loupe, and an array of rock-hound tools. Actually, he was extremely interesting to converse with - knew the minerals and geology of the entire county. It was his passion.

I don’t know what he did for income but apparently it was adequate. All I know is that he was very much in his right mind and happy.

Case #2:

About 13 miles away in another part of the county was another guy who happened to have the very same last name. One would expect that they were related but I think not.

The story is that this last guy worked for a county down in south-eastern Ohio and was seriously injured on the job. He was no longer able to work and was collecting Workman’s Comp. And he got a sizeable settlement from the county. He took that money and came up and bought a farm in our county.

I think he tried farming but not for long and he there-after rented the farm ground out to another farmer - so there was a little income from that. He also bought a dump truck and did grain hauling for farmers, hauled gravel for the township and others, and in my case he drove all the way to the mines in West Virginia and Kentucky and brought me back a load of coal each year

His farm was on the corner and I lived about a mile down the side road from him. Since I drove by his place every day going back & forth to work and they also sold eggs I would stop in on occasion and get a dozen eggs.

Just like the other guy, this guy never mowed his yard, painted his buildings, etc. Just like the other guy, his entire yard was full of young trees so that it seemed like the place was in a thicket of trees.

Unlike the other guy, this guy was married. His wife was the egg manager of that house-hold. The chickens were everywhere as well as a whole bunch of cats. To get to the back door, you had to negotiate through the saplings, chickens, and cats.

For some reason, people who live like this never use their front door. The young trees block the front door and inside you will usually find some piece of furniture or boxes of stuff blocking the front door anyway. They ALWAYS use only the back door and that is usually the only remaining way in and out of the house.

In talking to him, you might think this guy was dull-witted. To do all these things the way he did, I’d have to conclude that he wasn’t as dull-witted as he’d like you to think.

His wife was another case altogether. She too was a saver of things, her cats were her babies. She was extremely bright and quick-witted. Every time I stopped for eggs she insisted on having a discussion about politics or something equally deep. Her husband was no conversationalist She kept stacks of all sorts of magazines; Time, Newsweek, Plain Truth, etc. - so she was right up-to-date on current events.

I imagine every day was like an Easter egg hunt for her because when you have chickens running loose you frequently have to hunt to find the eggs. I also was a saver and I saved egg cartons (if they were in pristine condition). So when I had several dozen egg cartons I’d take them down and give them to her.

Some suspected these two were loaded with money. I don’t know but I doubt it. I’d say they probably had enough to get by without much concern. So were they living in poverty? No - but they were living somewhat in squalor although the things such as tables, etc, that you could get to were clean.

A few years later after I had moved on to another location, I heard that he was using the public toilet in the city building in the county north of us and I believe he was robbed and had a heart attack and died. I never heard what became of her.

I still saved egg cartons but gave the to an Amish lady down the road from where I now lived.

Case #3:

We were down in the more southern part of the county where the insurance company sent us to repair a farmer’s barn roof of which a large portion had been had been ripped away rafters and all in a tornado. The barn was made of mortised beams - which most of the barns were at the time. So we shaped the rafters and spiked the ends in place using 50 penny bridge spikes, re-sheathed it and re-roofed it. This was an interesting project as being 40 feet in the air you had to lock your legs around something so your arms were free to use a sledge to drive the spikes.

Anyway, the farmer was a bachelor and he farmed the place alone. He had a cellar where he stored home-canned food that he canned himself. Never went in his house but what I could see was taken well care of - he mowed his grass - no trees growing up in the yard.

So he was not at all like the other guys. He was a real likeable guy. Had what I thought was a strange name: Jonathon Johns. I would say this guy was living neither in poverty nor squalor but he was not by any means living fancy.

Case #4:

This time I take you to West Virginia on WVA 2 between Hogsett and Apple Grove. My mother-in-law at the time wanted to go back and visit this old guy - another bachelor. To get there you go up the “holler” to where the road splits. The road to the left goes back up a ways and ends. The road veering to the right however goes back and does a huge semi-circle against the mountain and eventually comes back out about 3 miles down the road on WVA 2 near Apple Grove.

As far back as you can get on the inside of this loop is where the guy lived. To get there you drove over extremely rough road including a smooth area that had no gravel but was bare flat rock, through a creek, and when you come to the guy’s place, he lived back a lane so you hand to drive downhill, through the creek again and then uphill to his house.

I’m thinking you could count on one hand the number of visitors this guy gets in a year. So naturally you would expect to see complete squalor.

But that wasn’t the case at all. His yard was well mowed and manicured. He had beds of flowers planted, he had little sheds that were mostly unpainted but in pretty good shape, and chickens penned up. The house was in good shape. From the moment you drove in, you could see this guy worked at keeping things neat as a pin. The wood porch was clean and neat - obviously he mopped it frequently. Inside the house he only had a very few items of very old furniture, bare wood floors - not even a throw rug. And you could tell he mopped everything regularly - in fact the kitchen had that freshly mopped smell.

There were no kitchen cabinets just a couple of old kitchen furniture - a sink that was by itself and a stove that was by itself, and an old wood table and chairs in the middle of the kitchen - no table-cloth. Can’t remember now if he had any curtains but I’m thinking he had the old-style lace curtains. Everything was spotless, he didn’t have much bit it was also spotless, not a fleck of dust anywhere. There were no boxes of stuff, no stacks of anything.

The whole thing blew me away. Here’s a guy living so far off the road that maybe NO-BODY would ever see the place - yet it was immaculate. And he’s a MAN - whose natural tendency would usually gravitate toward sloppiness and clutter without a woman nagging him.

Was he living in poverty? I’d have to say No. And he definitely was not living in squalor.

——————–

In the case of the rock hound above, eventually, his property was condemned and the fire department burned it as practice for controlling fires.

In all of these cases, the home-owners never meddled in anyone else’s business but kept pretty much to themselves. So much so that one often wondered if they were still alive. Who then did they hurt by their life choices?

The Foundation Stone of the Constitution of the United Sates is the Declaration of Independence. It established the founding principles upon which the Constitution was based. With respect to Human Rights it did so with the following passage:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

When they condemned that man’s property and took it upon themselves to burn it to the ground, were they not completely disregarding Human Rights and revoking his Rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”? There cannot be any other truthful answer except: Yes.

That act was morally reprehensible and a day of reckoning is coming for all who joined in that atrocity - they will stand before the Great Judge and give their excuses. In the end he will be invited to the high seat and they will be relegated to the low seats. Perhaps you don’t immediately see it but there is in this instance a repeat of the Parable of the Rich Man & Lazarus.

I say if anyone wants to live like that, let ’em. It’s none of our business - as long as what they do is not endangering anyone else - because to endanger anyone else is to infringe upon those others’ self-same Rights to “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness”.

Everybody along the street owns Fords but one guy has a Chevy parked out front. This is an insult to the neighborhood. Accordingly, this gives them the right to call a wrecker and have the guy’s Chevy towed off to the impound lot or junk-yard, right? No, not in America - not in a “free country” - but yet that is a very prevalent mindset in this country.

You buy a new car. You are of so proud, all the neighbors are envious - it’s the most beautiful piece of art to ever grace these streets. 10 years from now, same car - but neighbors are now calling public officials and complaining about that “eye-sore” you have parked in front of your house - in THEIR neighborhood. Wait a minute - how could the same car be a magnificent machine and be considered an eye-sore? Doesn’t make sense.

But in the same way, husbands get new wives because the old one isn’t pretty anymore - and wives get new husbands because the old one was boring.

Is it true that the pursuit of Happiness of one supersedes the pursuit of Happiness of another? Apparently so.

So if any of the cases I described above are in the country, no problem - but if any are in town, well maybe there is a problem. Let’s say that the house in town is so bad that rats are infesting the neighborhood. Well then, poison the man’s rats but leave his house alone.

Let’s say it’s in the country. You drive by and go “Yuck !”. You know what? You are entirely within your rights to say “Yuck” but your rights end there - otherwise you are infringing on the other guy’s rights.

Never-the-less, people in America everyday deny others their rights for a variety of reasons.

When you say “It’s an eye-sore” you are expressing your opinion. To get to the point that you will actually say such a thing out-loud in the hearing of others, you have already condemned the man in your heart. It is judgmentalism.

A very common even lower-class statement is “He’s gonna bring down our property values”. Is THAT all you care about: YOUR property values? This is an issue of fundamental Human Rights - NOT economics. You would deny him his rights so that your house will have a higher market value? That’s motivated by selfishness and greed and is certainly not morally righteous.

So, you would have the man thrown out on the street and bulldoze his house down. Is that really any different than a mugger beating him up and taking his last $40? No, it’s the same thing.

I have a different perspective: the worse his place looks, the better mine looks by comparison.

So we go to Africa and some places there we see houses made of sticks, some of mud, some of stones, and some of cow-dung. Despite all that, y’know? They sweep their floors.

Are they living in poverty? Depends…are they doing O.K.? If so, then maybe it’s wrong to assert that they are. Are they living in squalor? Well, you’d have to determine that on a house by house basis - just like in America.

“But they’ve got nothing but dirt floors !” So what else is new? Has everybody forgotten that the log houses and the sod houses in American ALL had dirt floors? And those Colonials and Pioneers swept their dirt floors just like those people in Africa.

When you see people living in poverty and squalor around the world, the worst case scenarios are inevitably in towns and cities because by contrast those that live out in the country have at least the means and skills to get by.

Point is: That to get from Point A to Point B, you MUST begin with Point A. If point A means having dirt floors, that’s where you begin and work your way up to Point B. Likewise the Africans will work their way up to wood floors, too - but they must be given the chance to do so.

Rising up from one’s poor economic conditions is a lot like climbing a ladder. You do not skip rungs on a ladder without risking a fall, but instead you make certain you have firm footing with each step up before trying to climb higher.

People must have the Right to succeed and if they have that Right, many will. Some will fail and some will resign themselves to remaining where they are. But there is no real freedom until everyone not only has the Right to succeed but also the Right to fail.

ANY laws that interfere with this process are contrary to Human Rights - and SHOULD be abolished, because that is the right thing to do.

Shalom,

Searl Miller

I said I could keep on going with this food thing - so guess I will.

Now, guys…on this Chili thing. I got my info from my pastor some 20 years ago. He had lived in Arizona and loved to travel into old Mexico - even had a place down in Mexico he rented repeatedly for a week or so at a time. He looked down his nose at Tex-Mex. So I asked him (because I’d heard all the arguments about beans - no beans, etc,) what actually was basic “Chili”. He is the one who told me that is basically a tomato soup seasoned with chili peppers.

However; everyone this side of the border has his own concept of what a good Chili is - and it is almost as varied as there are numbers of people making the claim. One old timer from Colorado (think I saw this on TV) claimed that REAL Chili has no tomatoes in but is made from stewing down Buffalo meat. He claimed Chili was invented by the Indians. That certainly was a different twist. Actually, Italians do stew down beef in that manner and call it “ragu” (meaning “rags” as I understand it).

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Chili Con Carne - I know exactly what you are talking about because there was a period back in the 1950s when Chili Con Carne of the sort you describe was the “in” food to be served at get-togethers for a time. (Yes, I know - hard to imagine.)

It came in a can and was not all that appealing to look at nor smell. Reminded me of something you might find in a can of Ken-L-Ration. I think it sill can be purchased in cans but they also sell it in what they are these days calling “chubs”. A “chub” is a thin plastic tube filled with what-ever and pinched together with a metal ring at both ends. They have been using this method for more years than I can remember but the first time I recall ever hearing them called “chubs” was when we moved to Las Vegas.

In Ohio they sold hamburg and sausage bulk in trays and the price varied depending on how much was in a tray. This was a nice convenience because you could select a size that suited your needs and budget - and you could SEE what you were getting and it was ground fresh right there that day. As for that stuff in “chubs” you didn’t know WHEN it had been ground or WHERE or WHO ground it or even for sure WHAT was inside. NOT very appetizing and probably NOT very healthy. Talk about “buying a pig in a poke”. E-Coli here we come.

O.K. Back to the Chili Com Carne. I was thinking on this and I suppose one could dissolve a can or “chub” of this stuff into one’s own chili and make it a little more Texican. Otherwise I’m not sure what it’s good for.

And that’s the art of cooking at the poverty level; figuring out how to utilize a thoroughly un-desirable product like canned Chili Con Carne and making something edible out of it. It’s not easy because what makes it a disagreeable product is the Chili Powder in it.

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I am going to offend a bunch of Texans here but the reason you put beans in Chili is because it otherwise has very little substance to it. The beans also moderate the war between the seasonings in it. So beans are am absolute must.

And why would you add something like Cheddar Cheese to “Mexican” dishes? I mean Cheddar Cheese is Britain’s most famous export. When you put Cheddar Cheese in anything it tends to make it “English”. Oh well, who said any of this has to make any sense?

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Being from Yankee land, our food is largely a blend of British, German, Dutch, and Italian cooking incorporating native American foodstuffs. Spaghetti is virtually a mainstay. We don’t use a lot of seasoning. When I was growing up in the Mid-West, absolutely no-one used garlic - everyone said they hated it - except in the Italian communities where they used it in abundance. One day I smelled some-one cooking hamburgers with garlic on them - the smell was irresistible and I became an instant convert.

Most things I cook have only salt added - and depending on what it is maybe a little garlic powder - although others use also pepper and onions and probably no garlic. My cooking is basic and simple - rarely do I make concoctions - but it is not bland. I was shocked to discover that the South-West has cornered the market on bland meals.

However; once in a while I find regional foods that lend themselves to making simple concoctions that work. One such is Wolf brand Chili (without beans). The flavors are well balanced but it has no substance to speak of. You can give it some substance by combining with it 2 or 3 cans of Ranch-Style Beans and then put the whole thing over a bed of rice. It then all comes together rather nicely.

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Back in Ohio, we occasionally bought canned Beef Stew. To be honest, this stuff sucks - especially Dinty Moore - however I will say that Dinty Moore Beef Stew is VERY much the same as Hungarian Goulash. I found some lesser known brand of canned Beef Stew at Save-A-Lot (Kelly’s - I believe it was) and it is not as intense as Dinty Moore. Eating the Beef Stew as it comes from the can is sorta like the Wolf Brand Chili - not much substance and so it is not very satisfying to just eat straight.

So we begin by chopping an onion coarsely which we boil until clear. Add enough water to make 2 cups total of liquid to which is added one cup of Quick Barley (also called Pressed Barley). You don’t need to remove the onions to do this - cook exactly as you would rice but leave it stand a little longer. Meanwhile you open a can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew and one of Kelly’s Beef Stew. And stir and heat the two brands together. Combing them moderates their extremes. Make a bed of barley and sprinkle Black Pepper over the top, then top it off with the Beef Stew. Works pretty good.

I always have a pretty good supply of Barley on hand. Great for making soup. Make sure it is NOT “Pearled Barley” because that stiff takes about 50 minutes to cook.

Also at Save-A-Lot we were getting frozen Banquet (I believe it was) Veal Parmesan and it has something akin to Spaghetti Sauce on it. We would eat the stuff and it did not quite hit the spot so I got this idea of putting the whole thing over a bed of rice. DID NOT work. Also tried it over Spaghetti noodles. DID NOT work. Ah, but it DID work over a bed of Barley and so that’s how we stretched it from then on. For this we just make barley with a little salt - no onions.

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I like to keep things simple. Most things I cook are very easy and un-complicated. There’s very little that I fry. When I make eggs (which is rarely) I “fry” them in water - no salt - no nuthin’. Yes, effectively they are poached - no fried. Then I heavily butter a couple of slices of lightly tasted bread. The salt in the butter compensates for the absence of salt on the eggs.

I open a can of small whole beets and heat them up - no seasoning. That’s the neat thing about beets they don’t need any seasoning what-so-ever. - whether out of a can or fresh from the garden. Unlike a banana, you do have to cook a beet or they are hard and woody and not all that flavorful - but like a banana you don’t need to salt and pepper them.

My favorite beet is Snowhite (also called Albina Verunda). Even Sue will eat these and she don’t like beets. A good red beet is Ruby Queen and another is Cylindra. Neither is as bitter as Detroit Dark Red. The nice thing about the white beet is that you don’t have a beet stain mess. Burpee’s Golden is yellow - uh…I don’t know - not all that good in my opinion. An Italian beet called Chioggia us strange. If you cut it in two cross-wise you will see alternate rings of red and while - like a Bull’s-eye. Has a good flavor but cooks up mushy.

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Canned peas versus frozen peas: These are simply two different ball-games. A lot of people don’t like canned peas because they are mushy. Depends. First you need to shop around and find a good brand. Albertson has a good one but the best is Freshlike. The secret to them is that you put them in a pan, add NOTHING to them, and heat them only as much as it takes to get them hot. DON’T overheat them or let them boil - that ruins them.

If you are going to add peas to your vegetable soup it MUST be canned peas - frozen peas are completely out of place in vegetable soup. Problem is that you won’t need more than half a can so then you have to think about what you are going to do with the other half. By all means DRAIN them before adding to your soup or the pea flavor will overwhelm your soup.

Frozen peas are best for salads, in pot pies, and making creamed peas if you can’t get fresh peas. They also work as a side dish in place of canned peas when everyone is getting tired of canned peas as a side.

Sorta in the same ballpark are Green Limas. It used to be you could buy then in cans but the most common source is frozen. The frozen ones work just fine - just remember you have to add a little salt to the cooking water - and maybe a little butter if’n you have a mind to. They have already added salt in canned ones.

However; as it seems with everything else; you will find allegedly canned green limas at the grocers but read more carefully. You will find that they are reconstituted from having been first dried and then shipped to the cannery. The result is not a tender green thing but a pasty almost starchy bean. Nevertheless, they will work in your vegetable soup.

But the el supremo of all green limas is when you raise your own. Pick then before they fill out very much and are still extremely green in color. Put them in a plastic bag and freeze them. You don’t need to blanch them like you do some things before freezing. When you cook them add a little salt to the water and a dab of butter. Unbeatable.

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This brings me to the issue of “Baby Limas” and “Baby Carrots”. Millions of Americans think that “Baby Limas” are Lima beans that have been picked young. No - Baby Lima Beans are a Variety like any other. They may have named them that because they grow on small bush plants rather than larger plants such as the vining varieties. But at any rate they are picked at the same stage of maturity as any other green lima.

These things they sell in grocery stores are NOT “Baby Carrots”. Baby Carrots are a class of varieties that all produce miniature carrots. Those you buy in the store are carrot rejects broken in the course of handling - which are shaved to create the appearance of small carrots. They are then sprayed with something to keep them from discoloring. Look closer the next time you are in the store and you will see what I mean. They look like they have been shaped by some device like a pencil sharpener. What they really are; are the same California style long “Imperator” class carrots you have been buying for years.

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It’s all about money. What can they do to cut losses and make the most profit. So they come up with schemes like “Baby Carrots” rather than discard them. Consumers not knowing any better believe they really are baby carrots.

It’s not about quality, it’s about appearance. You see, consumers no longer compare quality, they compare prices. If a thing LOOKS good and it’s priced low, they THINK they are getting good quality for less. And that’s what the grocer wants you to think and that’s what the producer wants you to think.

So the seed developer works on what looks good and will hold that appearance in shipping and on the produce aisles. The grower is easily persuaded to plant that variety because he don’t have to be as careful harvesting, the truckers don’t have to be as careful handling them, and the grocer likes it because the stiff will stay looking good on his shelves longer less ends up in the dumpster.

Anything that stands up to rough handling has “superior quality” although the consumer gets inferior eating quality as a result. Commercial varieties are judged according to how well they hold up to machine harvesting, how well they hold up during shipping, and how long they will last in the produce section before rotting. If they can treat produce with anything that will inhibit aging and decay, that’s what they do. As long as they LOOK good after all that, they are considered to be “High Quality” even though these same “qualities” makes them poor quality for consumption.

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It used to be that commercially canned produce was of extremely good quality - all except peaches which were packed a little on the green side because ripe peaces would show bruising, So commercially canned peaches although some were quite good have never been like home-canned peaches.

With commercially available canned goods that good and reasonably priced, many wives started buying canned goods rather than canning their own because it saved time, mess, and trouble and it didn’t really cost much if any more to just buy stiff already canned.

Over time as Americans more and more relied on good quality commercial canning, we forgot how to raise and preserve our own food. And when we forgot, they began to reduce the quality of their products to keep costs low. Did we notice? Not at first because it changed gradually and if they advertised the dickens out of anything we bought it because they were the “experts” now - and besides; “they wouldn’t lie to us”.

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The all-time BEST commercially canned tomatoes were American Beauty - canned in West Virginia. They were indistinguishable from home-canned tomatoes.

It is the nature of canned tomatoes that they get a bit mushy in the can or jar, This can be limited somewhat by canning tomatoes as whole as possible. When I was a teenager, they made a new discovery. They found that if they added just a little Calcium Chloride to commercially canned tomatoes they would stay a bit firmer in the can.

Calcium Chloride is toxic. When we poured concrete in freezing weather, we used it in the mix to create heat and help the concrete set faster and not freeze and ruin the work. Farmers used it in their tractor tires, it being a solution of Calcium Chloride and water. The water gave the tractor more weight and thus more traction. By putting Calcium Chloride in the water, it prevented the tractor tires from freezing during the Winter. The State and County use Calcium Chloride on the roads during the Winter to melt off ice and snow. So what do you think? Is this a good thing to be putting in our canned tomatoes for us to eat?

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It was in 1965 that I first planted my own complete garden. I had helped with planting as a kid but this was the first one that was entirely mine. The following year I took stuff to the Country Fair and won all sorts of blue ribbons except for an “honorable mention” for my peppers. That irked me because my peppers were perfect in appearance and held up all during the fair while the competition’s all shriveled up. In fact, I brought them home, washed them, and ate them and they were still in great shape.

I also experimented. My Dad gave me a pack of Chinese Cabbage seeds. Well, I’d already planted the garden so there was no more space left. So I planted them between plants all over the garden. I had an outstanding crop of Chinese Cabbage which all came ready at the same time. What do you do with that much Chinese Cabbage? I tried to use some of it but Chinese Cabbage has limited uses. Finally it just about all went to waste.

I read in Organic Gardening and Farming about a technique for growing clean potatoes that you don‘t need to dig. You lay the potatoes on top of the ground and cover them with straw and soak the area with water. When the time comes, you pull back the straw and pick up your potatoes. Sounded good to me so the landlord had some oat straw and I tried it. The potatoes didn’t produce worth a crap but I did have a mighty fine stand of oats.

Each year I took summer squash, tomatoes, etc. into town and sold them to the grocer. It was then that I got the bug to do this on a larger scale much as my grandfather had done. And it was also then that I began the process of saving my own seeds. After 25 years of this I had developed 24 extremely excellent, reliable, high quality tomato varieties and had another dozen or so varieties that were very good. Then we got burned out and lost it all.

It happens I have some very old seeds of 4 of those varieties, one of which I renewed last year - the seeds being about 12 years old if I remember right. The seeds of one variety may be at least 15 years old and there are only 30 of them.

But up until the time of the fire I canned MANY quarts of tomatoes and froze some. The frozen ones work fine in cooking but if you simply want to eat them you open a jar.

So after all these years of having relied on out own tomatoes, we moved to Las Vegas and I went down the canned goods aisle at Smith’s and could NOT find any just plain old canned whole tomatoes. All they had were diced tomatoes. Until I moved to Las Vegas I had never even heard of any such thing as “diced tomatoes”. What in the world do you do with them I asked. Also puzzling was: How do you “dice” a tomato? They would turn to mush.

But they don’t. Neither do they cook up properly, the dices remain firm even after cooking so that your special dishes just don‘t turn out right. What is going on here? I confess, I am not sure just what is going on here. Here’s my theory: They use a very coarse fleshed tomato in this process - something akin to those horrid things in the produce section. They pick them green and gas them to turn them red, then dice them and cam them.

Here’s the kicker (this part I am pretty sure of). The tomato juice capital of the world is Ohio - not California. Heinz and Campbell’s have huge operations there and in Indiana, They turn tomato juice into concentrate, ship it to the tomato dicers and the tomato dicers add water and pour it around their diced tomatoes in the can - which helps give it a more tomato-y flavor.

Same way with their “whole” canned tomatoes. They do not use canning tomatoes, they use paste tomatoes - of the Roma class. Romas make lousy canning tomatoes because they have a weak tomato flavor and they have thin skins. Canning tomatoes have thick tough shins which make them easier to scald and peel and the skin comes off often in one piece. But Roma’s thin skins tear easily and comes off in pieces - so it is that you find sections of tomato skins in your canned tomatoes now.

Also since Romas have very small cores, they don’t bother to core them and thus they save a step in processing. However; this is VERY low class.

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Americans - now completely dumbed-down about all these things simply accept them as normal. Sheeple.

Shalom,

Searl Miller

So…what shall I write about today? Can you spell “duh” boys and girls?

Reaction to the Black Dahlia has been mixed. I decided to look at that crime myself and see what reasonable conclusions might be reached. I was gratified to see that others considered that the killer might have been a woman. Whatever the case may be, it has been a :cold case” far too long to likely ever be solved - especially with irrefutable evidence leading to a conviction. So, this case is destined to join Jack the Ripper as an unsolvable crime.

There is a possibility that Elizabeth Short’s killer is still alive and there might yet be a “death-bed confession”. Trouble is; if that happens will anybody believe it?

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There are precious few Chinese restaurants in these parts. I told about one here in town that completely dumbfounded us in that they specialized in both Chinese and Mexican. How disparate can you get?

But this Summer we finally got up the courage to try it. Turned out it had went out of business - which fact might or might not be a testimony to the quality of fare there. I asked another resident here if they had ever eaten there. Turns out they did not have the courage to try it either. There is something about serving Mexican food and Chinese food in the same establishment that is a “put-off” on the face of it.

So, if you ever consider opening a restaurant that serves more than one ethnic cuisine, make sure the second one is American or at least one in the same ballpark - such as Mexican and Cuban.

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Mexican food is un a class all by itself. It is NOT like Spanish food or much like other Latin American food. But to be fair, Mexican food changes considerably from region to region within Mexico and that available in the U.S. has been modified over the years (especially in more recent years) to represent the American concept of Mexican food. What makes it vary from region to region is the availability of things to create it coupled with what seasonings are compatible with what is available.

What we have come to call “Mexican” is for lack of a better term commonly called ”Tex-Mex”. By and large it is simply the same basic ingredients “bent” in different ways - so it all tastes pretty much the same. You have a corn meal tortilla, usually yellow corn, toasted, fried, baked or not - folded over, open-face, or rolled. Some seasoned beef or chicken with maybe some cilantro, some refried beans, and a tomato sauce - variously seasoned. The seasoning is invariably a combination of chili powder and cumin with salt. And that’s Tex-Mex. No matter what they call it, it all tastes pretty much the same - because by golly it IS pretty much the same.

It’s pretty good but nothing to write home to Mamma about. I have to be in a receptive mood to eat Mexican or Tex-Mex. No matter how good it might be, it NEVER “hit’s the spot”.

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Refried Beans. What’s that all about? Well, it began as a method of using left-overs A pot of beans served the night before were simply fried to re-heat them for breakfast. Just a matter of being conservative.

But some enterprising Mexican mother came up with the idea of serving the fried beans wrapped in a tortilla and the burrito was born. They got that name because a cluster of them on a platter looked like a group of “little burros” - which tells us that they used to wrap them somewhat differently than they do now. Anyway, by doing this, that clever momma saved herself a lot of breakfast dishes to be washed.

Now, burritos range all over the map as to the way they are wrapped, what is in them, size, etc. The absolute worse wrap is the masa tortilla. Trying to eat it is about as pleasurable as eating a surgical glove.

I prefer just a basic bean burrito. I would not mind a beef & bean burrito if it weren’t for the fact that everyone has substituted ground beef for beef boiled until it falls apart. The reason for that substitution is obvious; it only takes minutes to cook ground beef where-as it takes in excess of 3 hours to cook beef until it falls apart properly.

Save-A-Lot sells frozen burritos that are pretty good. You micro-wave them for 2 to 3 minutes on one side then turn them over and micro-wave them for 1 to 2 minutes. That works if your micro-wave has a rotisserie but if not you have to stop it in-between and swap ends as well - which might add another minute to heating time (this is based on a one-speed low energy micro-wave) These are somewhat similar to what we make ourselves at home. I usually do the seasoning and use a bit more cumin than they do commercially.

Re-fried beans also vary all over the map - from barely mashed to a paste. If it is essentially a bean paste, “purists” like to stir in some whole beans. Some places make burritos so huge you cannot possibly get them in your mouth - but if you cut them in two, you can feed two people. Unfortunately, these “burro-grandes” are usually wrapped with a generous sheet of masa tortilla the size of a pillow case.

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One Mexican dish I developed a taste for is beans & rice. The usual way this is served is a helping of Mexican rice with a helping of re-fried beans beside it - the beans having a light topping of melted Mexican cheese (you can substitute Monterrey Jack). You eat a fork of rice and then a fork of beans, a fork of rice, a fork of beans. The combination is very good.

That was the only thing I ever got at Michaio’s (not sure of spelling) in Las Vegas and then only as take-out. The pronunciation is Mi-Kye-O’s - which sounds VERY Japanese but they swear to me it’s really Mexican. Guess it’s a chain of restaurants.

O.K. so…they call this stuff “Spanish rice” but it unlike anything I ever ate called Spanish Rice. It tends to be very dry unlike most Spanish Rice which is varying degrees of moist. So I have come to refer to it as “Mexican Rice” as it is unique to that cuisine. Very dry - difficult to eat all by itself.

Mexican Rice is rice and tomato sauce cooked together until the rice absorbs all the tomato sauce. Seasoning? Salt for certain and MAYBE just a little chili powder - hard to tell.

Cuban Spanish Rice is different and Puerto Rican Spanish Rice is apparently similar to the Cuban because a Puerto Rican girl told Sue that her mother always told her “You are not a good wife if you cannot make Spanish Rice.” The seasoning the Puerto Ricans favor is what they call “Cuban seasoning”.

It turns out that Goya of L.A. makes the seasoning, it is called “Sazon”. It is a blend of various things - don’t know what exactly other than chili pepper. I have several packets of it but have never tried it yet.

Spanish Rice has long been around Yankee land. It was usually served one a week in the school cafeteria - but my mother almost never made it. I loved the stuff. It was more moist than Mexican Rice and the only seasoning was likely salt and maybe sugar. You know about the 24 Thrones in Heaven - I always said there should be a 25th Throne for who-ever it was that invented Spanish Rice.

It is quite flexible. It is the basis of Jambalaya. All Jambalaya is; is Spanish Rice with a bunch of other stuff stirred into it. That other stuff is usually Andouille sausage, chopped onions, a bell pepper, a carrot, and celery. Since we don’t have that sort of sausage in Yankee land, I substitute a combination of smoked beef sausage and medium hot Italian sausage. Truth is (and I may ruffle a few Louisiana feathers) Andouille sausage sucks. Being raised around Germans, Dutch, and Italians, our sausages rock.

Now I want to warn you that New Orleans cuisine is different from basic bayou cooking. For example, you have a hard time telling Jambalaya and Gumbo apart. There is no Gumbo in New Orleans Gumbo. Both rely on an extremely dark roux which dominates (and in my opinion RUINS) the dish. Many demand that it have an assortment of shell fish in it as well. This is NOT necessary. Remember that these two foods originated as peasant food, easy to throw together and the meat they contained was whatever they could find that day - both are a sort of “Soup D’jour” (keeping in mind that Gumbo might or might not be made as a soup, Jambalaya is never a soup - I‘m just using that term to say that you never knew what was going to be in it).

Anyway, Jambalaya is in its essence; Spanish Rice.

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Lemme tell you about my own Spanish Rice. I make the rice separate and then add spaghetti sauce until I have the right balance of moistness. Since you can’t really get a good spaghetti sauce in a jar or can, I prepare the sauce in a separate pan and doctor it up. Works great. Put a bunch of meatballs on top and you’re good to go. Guess it’s really an “Italian Rice” though.

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It was back in the early part of the 20th Century that Chili was introduced to America. - maybe during the Theodore Roosevelt administration, but prior to World War I. It was I think the Ambassador to Mexico who brought this stuff to Washington and it caught on from there.

What is “Chili”? It is simply a tomato soup seasoned with Chili peppers. All the arguments about whether it should have beans or not are groundless. If it has beans, it is called “Chili con Frijoles” (Chili with Beans). If it has meat in it, it is called “Chili con Carne? (Chili with Meat). And if it has cheese in it, it is called “Chili con Queso” (Chili with Cheese). If you put all 3 in it, it is “Chili con Carne e Frijoles e Queso”.

In Yankee land it has been the tradition to have just neat and beans in it - no cheese. The meat is ground beef instead of shredded beef, the beans are Dark Red Kidney beans as opposed to Pinto beans in many parts of the South-West (if theirs has any beans at all).

Truth is I have never liked Dark Red Kidney beans so many years ago I began using Light Red Kidney beans instead - which was a mild improvement. Then I discovered Red beans sold under various house brand names such as Fame and Flavorite and under their own product name: Elf - by Preferred Products in Minnesota. That did the trick. Red Beans in Chili is the best bean for chili.

Then when I moved to Las Vegas I discovered that not all Red beans are alike. There are large Red Beans and there are small Red beans and in each size there are Dark Red beans and Light Red beans. O.K. so what you want is the Light Large Red beans.

That proved to be a guessing game because processors do not necessarily distinguish between them. So, then I discovered Pink beans from Goya and that solved the problem. Pink beans have become my bean of choice for use in chili, minestrone and other soups - including my own concoction “Pseudo-Chili”.

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Pseudo-Chili:

Back in the mud 1980s we drove to Texas to visit Sue’s sister, her niece, her nephew, and their families. They treated us to Texas cuisine…a chicken place that tasted like they cooked it in oil that was 3 weeks old, a fish place that tasted like they cooked it in the same oil as the chicken, and a pizza place because of the stained glass windows in the ceiling.

I was desperate for some just plain ole food but no. For breakfast I was treated to fried eggs and tamales. I begged to go to the German restaurant (the Eidelweis) but no-one else wanted to go there. It’s not that I was un-grateful but this stuff I was eating was making me nauseous. They on the other hand drank much beer which I suppose killed their taste buds and numbed their stomachs.

So when I left Texas I made it a point to stop in Arkansas to get something to eat. Forget it. In the mid 1980s there was NO place to get something eat along I-40 in Arkansas.. The choices were beef jerky or Honey Buns.

Thinking maybe I could find some real food in Memphis, I drove on. But when I got to Memphis I was sick and Sue had to drive.

To cut a long story short, when we got to Mt. Gilead, Ohio it was about 7 in the evening and Sue wanted o stop at Geyer’s grocery store and pick up something to fix when we got home. Guess what her mouth was watering for? Chili. Yes, after the ordeal I’d been through, she wanted to add insult to injury.

To tell you the truth, I have never really liked chili all that much anyway - so I grudgingly went through the aisles getting the necessary ingredients. It also fell to me to make the crap when we got home.

So anticipating the acid indigestion and flatulence that was sure to result, I began making the chili. I theorized that half-cooked onions might be part of the problem, so I chopped up an onion and boiled it in water with a little salt until they were clear. I carefully browned the ground beef so that it wasn’t over-cooked and “pebbly”. It was then that I discovered we were out of chili powder. Well, I was not about to run over to the neighbors to see if they had any so I substituted cumin. I heated up one quart of home-canned tomatoes and 3 cans of Elf brand Red beans, thoroughly drained the greasy water off the ground beef and threw the whole mess together and said, “Soup’s on”. I did not drain the beans, nor the tomatoes nor the water I cooked the onions in but just threw it altogether.

Well, it worked. And huess what? No acid-indigestion and no abdominal gas. In fact, about 3 days later Sue wanted me to make it again. So I had to recall what I did and re-construct the process. The result has become one of our frequently used recipes. I call it “Pseudo-Chili” because there isn’t any chili in it what-so-ever yet it seems like Chili.

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Tamales is something else that have been available in Yankee land a long time. My dad used to buy them occasionally as far back as World War II. They came in a glass jar, Derby was the brand name and they still make that brand today.

While in Las Vegas I ran across a brand at the 99 cent store that is in cans called Paramount. They aren’t too bad. The nice thing about them being in cans is that those in the jar are a bit difficult to get out but you can remove both ends from the can - and using one of the ends push the tamales out. Also works for removing cranberry sauce (jelly in reality) out in one neat piece.

These tamales are good enough for me. I’ve tried frozen ones - found one that is pretty good, wrapped in corn leaves, paper, whatever. Have bought them at Mexican markets, from street venders, etc. These latter range from fair to poor. You don’t know what you’re buying from a street vendor and often it is a lot of corn meal mush with very little filling.

Of course being a Mid-Westerner we were very familiar with mush. Basic mush is another one of those things we learned from the Indians. You grind up corn, add water and boil it the same as you do rolled oats. We also had such products as Cream of Wheat and Wheatena. Cream of Wheat had all the bran removed but Wheatena didn’t (and Wheatena tasted better). In any event, we made mush from all of these. Once you have it cooked up, you let it cool and it sets up or congeals where-upon you slice it and fry it the next morning in lard or bacon grease until the outside gets kinda crunchy and then salt it a little and eat. Actually, it ain’t bad.

Well, the mush used in tamales appears to be finely ground white cornmeal but it’s NOT masa as some people think: it is cornmeal mush. They are two different things although both start from the same kind of corn.

To make masa, you soak the corn until it softens and then squeeze the insides out. The insides become the masa. Hey, we learned all these tricks from the Aztecs and Indians all the way up to the Atlantic. They pressed the corn innards into thin sheets on a rock and dried the sheets in the sun and that’s what became the tortilla.

Indians also taught us how to make hominy. You soak the corn in lye water which makes the innards swell way up and pushes the outer shell of the kernel off. Then you rinse it real good to get rid of the lye.

One of the things one learns about Indians is that NO WHERE in the Americas did anyone make bread. Popcorn and masa came about the closest to bread as it got. So all this Mexican food? It is the result of applying Spanish cooking to Aztec foodstuffs. Which brings us to the fact that most all the stiff that makes up our diet was not available until America was found. Stuff like tomatoes, potatoes, corn, beans, squash (includes pumpkins), sweet potatoes, chocolate, vanilla, pineapple, mango, papaya, and the list is quite long - so long in fact that one wonders how people got along without all these things.

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Now I want to talk about empanadas. I don’t know if Mexicans make empanadas or not - my experience comes from a Columbian restaurant.

What is an empanada? Well, for you Yankees out there it is kinda like a small knish. Except the outer part is once again thin cornmeal mush. Apparently the cornmeal mush is rolled out and cut with a cookie cutter into a round wafer about 4 inches across. It is then filled with roast beef hash (NOT corned beef hash) and folded over to create a half noon and the edges sealed. It is then either deep-fat fried or brushed with oil and baked - not sure which.

That’s another thing that was problematic in Las Vegas; you could find corned beef hash just about anywhere but not a single can of roast beef hash. Weird, eh?

Anyway, what made them exceptionally good was that they were accompanied by “aji”. I suppose the Columbians pronounced it “Ah-hee” but I pronounced it in Portuguese (easier) “ah-zhee”.

What is “aji”? Actually it’s pretty simple. You make a water or “brine” of water with a little vinegar in it and add maybe a dash of salt and a dash of cayenne. Then you finely chop a handful of scallions (green onions) tops and all. Then you put the chopped onions in the water/brine and weight it under the liquid until you’re ready to use it. Here’ the catch; it’s only good for the same day you make it - tomorrow you have to start over again.

You eat empanadas when they are hot or at least good and warm. Take a nip outa one end and using the tip of a spoon put some aji with its water/brine in the end and take another bite - and so on. The empanada without the aji is not nearly as good as with it. The aji really compliments the empanada. Highly recommend the combo.

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Lastly I would like to talk about Sopapitas. This is a light pastry often available at Mexican restaurants. Sometimes they are good and sometimes not so good. For you Yankees, a Sopapita is kinda like Baklava. Sue came back from Texas the first time raving about Sopapitas and she even brought me one. Well, they don’t transport all that well but I got the general idea.

Later I got her to try Baklava. She liked that. Too. Both are made with very light dough - the Baklava with multiple layers of file dough, crushed hazelnuts (filberts), and honey. The Sopapita is also sweetened with honey so that they are somewhat similar. However it is best to eat Sopapitas while they are freshly baked where-as Baklava needs to cool first. I’m not too much into deserts, so I can take ‘em or leave ‘em.

Believe it or not, I could just keep on going with this. Butt I think I have enough here for this time around.

Shalom,

Searl Miller

This is a different sort of subject for me. It was prompted because as I walked past the TV two days ago, they were doing one of those Top Tem or Tem Most things they do such as the World’s Ten Best Beaches. This time it was about Unsolved Murders I guess because all I caught in passing was “Number 4 - the Black Dahlia”.

I have seen stories on that case repeatedly and have absorbed quite a bit of details. There is a Black Dahlia website:

http://www.bethshort.com/

If you are able to handle the macabre and gross, you might want to check it out.

Here’s the deal; the corpse of Elizabeth Short Age 22 was found in mid- January, 1947 not far from Hollywood, California just off a sidewalk along a series of undeveloped lots. Presumably her body had been deposited there as recently as the previous night. Had she not been murdered she would now be 82.

Who did this to her has never been solved. There is a possibility that the killer is still alive. However; if the killer were to be found out, what good would it do other than close the file? If the killer is still alive, and if put on death row or given life imprisonment, it would be very little justice served at this late date.

But, it seems to me that determining who did this is not beyond the realm of possibility. Proving it might be a different matter. Probably a confession would do the trick - however; several people over the years have already confessed to it.

The scene was a unkempt grassy area just a few feet off the side walk. But being that it was not a highly developed area at the time, not many would have chanced upon her body. Apparently a woman and her very young daughter (or grand-daughter) from the area were out for a walk and discovered the body which was first thought to be a mannequin.

Elizabeth had been cit completely in two at the waist and both halves been lefy not far from each other. The story that who-ever did this placed the top and bottom sorta so they were back together is untrue. The claim that he or she “posed” her seems unlikely. It does seem likely that the killer intended for the body to be discovered pretty quickly - either that or he or she simply deposited it where it was most convenient.

Obviously (or so I think) the killer was somewhat familiar with the site. It suggests to me that the killer may have also lived somewhere near that area or possibly was one of the developers along that street or maybe even one of the owners of one of the vacant lots - but probably not that one.

The scene: Elizabeth was completely naked. She had been cut completely in two at the waist. Her upper torso was just beyond her lower torso. Her cheeks had been cut from each corner of her mouth all the way back to her ears. Her arms were arced beond her head, her lower torso was maybe 2 feet away with the legs spread as far apart as the killer could spread them (spread eagle) and her vagina was stuffed with bunched-up grass. Her body had been completely drained of blood before she was taken to that spot. And here and there patches of skin had been cut away. Both parts of her were laid on her back so she was fully exposed.

Couple of facts to remember: they did not have plastic bags or sheets of plastic or plastic tubs and buckets in those days. So draining the body of blood (no doubt in the killer’s bathtub) would have kept blood evidence from leaking out of the car trunk.

Cars did not have overly large trunks in those days. You had mostly just the space between the wheel wells, about 30 inches to 3 feet from the trunk lid to the rear seat back, and maybe 30 inches of height tapering to nothing. So cutting the body in two would make it easier to arrange in the trunk. Stack the body parts on blankets so that no mess would get on the trunk floor and that’s probably how her body was transported.

Cutting her in half was NOT part of mutilating her. I suggest to you that although a known weight for her had earlier been 115 pounds; that at the time she was murdered she was more fleshy than that - I am guessing about 128 pounds. Removing all her clothing and draining her blood would have probably reduced her weight to about 112 pounds.

Cutting her in half would result in the heaviest half weighing maybe 65 pounds tops. To me this suggests that the killer was slight of build and could not carry her full weight so he or she made it possible to carry her by making two trips.

The police said she was “posed” with her arms above her head. I say not - I think the upper part of her torso was wrestled out of the trunk and dropped on the other side of the sidewalk. The killer then drug the upper part by her wrists to where it was found - and that is why her arms were in that position.

Then the lower portion of her torso was removed from the car and perhaps the killer did intend to more or less re-loin the two halves but simply didn’t have the strength left to do it.

The puzzling part is why did he or she spread her legs like that and why was grass stuffed into her vagina? I cannot imagine what kind of a statement that would make. My question is: Was the grass in her vagina ever compared with the grass at the scene? Quite possibly the grass was put there at the killer’s home.

It is presumed that a man did this but I think there a few things that suggest that a woman may have been the killer. Why was Elizabeth’s mouth cut like that? Quite possibly because she was “mouthy” and said something that really angered the killer.

Why would anyone stiff grass into her vagina? This is a bit gross but maybe it was a stop-gap measure to prevent leakage. Otherwise I cannot imagine any motive that would ,ale sense. It doesn’t seem like the sort of thing a man would have done - but maybe a woman.

Reportedly, she had multiple bruises but nothing is reported as being the cause of death. Several patches of skin had been removed on both the upper and lower torso. It appears to me from what I can make of the pictures that her nipples and skin on her breasts were removed also. Elizabeth may have been alive when some of these things were done to her. If so, then she had to have been tied down.

The question is: Why were these things done to her? By all accounts, she was not a prostitute. She dated a number of men. She worked as a waitress and made extra money as a paid dinner date. You would think that those familiar with her would have had their suspicions as to who did this. But the case is now over 61 years old and apparently no progress has been made in solving it.

My conclusion is that the killer was small of build - robust maybe; but not robust enough to carry the body out and put it in the trunk of a car. Before leaving the body, the killer took the time to spread her legs as far as possible - I’m not sure why.

And there’s a few things as I mentioned that suggest to me that the killer might have been a woman - or maybe a small man - but very definitely a sick-o in either case.

Shalom,

Searl Miller

The Miracles of Jesus:

This list follows a general Chronological Order of Events as nearly as I can discern it from comparing the 4 Gospels. Anyone who thinks a different order is better is welcome to re-arrange it.

It includes Miraculous Events attending Jesus’ Ministry which some do not list.

Attempting to “count” the number of Miracles performed by Jesus is pointless and silly. The Text often tells us that He traveled about healing the sick and casting out Demons without providing any clue what-so-ever as to the total figures.

This begins with John and Andrew who had been followers of John the Baptist until Jesus emerged from just having fasted 40 days and nights and then they left John the Baptist to follow Jesus.

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1. Boy Jesus has Marvelous Knowledge (Luke 2.41 thru 52)

2. Holy Spirit Like a Dove Alights on Jesus (Matthew 3.13 thru 17 - Mark 1.9 thru 11 - Luke 2.21 & 22 - John 1.32)

3. Jesus Fasts 40 Days & Nights and Resists Satan (Matthew 4.1 thru 11 - Mark 1.12 & 13 - Luke 4.1 thru 13)

4. Jesus Knew Nathaniel Before Meeting Him (John 1.47 thru 51)

5. Knows the Samaritan Woman’s Life (John 4.16 thru 26)

6. Has Food of which Disciples Knew Not (John 4.31 thru 38)

7. Turns Water into Wine (Wedding at Cana) (John 2.1 thru 11)

8. Jesus Slips through Angry Mob (Matthew 13.54 thru 58 - Mark 6.2 thru 5 - Luke 4.16 thru 30 - also a mention at John 6.42)

9. In the Synagogue Drives Out an Evil Spirit (Mark 1.21 thru 28 - Luke 4.33 thru 37)

10 The Nobleman’s Son (John 4.46 thru 54)

11. The Large Catch of Fish (Luke 5.1 thru 11)

12. Heals Peter’s Mother-in-Law’s Fever (Matthew 8.14 & 15 - Mark 1.29 thru 31 - Luke 4.38 & 39)

13. Heals Many in Galilee, Casts out Demons (Matthew 8.16 & 17 - Mark 1.32 thru 34 - Luke 4.40)

14. The Leper in Galilee (“If You are Willing”) (Matthew 8.1 thru 4 - Mark 1.40 thru 45 - Luke 5.12 thru 15)

15. Paralytic Lowered on Litter at Capernaum (Matthew 9.2 thru 8 - Mark 2.1 thru 12 - Luke 5.17 thru 26)

16. Centurion’s Servant (Matthew 8.5 thru 13 - Luke 7.1 or 2 thru 10)

17. Calming of the Storm (Matthew 8.23 thru 27 - Mark 4.35 thru 41 - Luke 8.22 thru 25

18. Expulsion of Demons at Gadara (“Legion”) (Matthew 8.28 thru 34 - Mark 5.1 thru 20 - Luke 8.26 thru 39)

19. Again Many Healed (Luke 6.17 thru 19)

20. The Widow’s Son (Luke 7.11 thru 17)

21. Woman with Issue of Blood (Matthew 9.20 thru 22 - Mark 5.25 thru 34 - Luke 8.43 thru 48)

22. Jairus’ Daughter (Matthew [part 1] 9.18 & 19; [part 2] 9.23 thru 26 - Mark [part 1] 5.22 thru 24; [part 2] 35 thru 43 - Luke [part 1] 8.40 thru 42; [part 2] 49 thru 56)

23. Healed a Few in Nazareth (Mark 6.5 & 6)

24. Again Healed Many (Mark 6.12 & 13)

25. 2 Blind Men (Matthew 9.27 thru 31)

26. Demon-possessed Mute (Matthew 9.32 thru 34)

27. Feeds the 5000 (Matthew 14.14 thru 21 - Mark 6.32 thru 44 - Luke 9.10 thru 17 - John 6.1 thru 15)

28. Walks on the Water (Matthew 14.22 thru 33 or 34 - Mark 6.45 thru 52 - John 6.16 thru 21)

29. Heals Many Sick at Gennesaret (Matthew 14.34 thru 36 - Mark 6.53 thru 56)

30. The Syro-Phoenician ( or “Canaanite”) Woman (Even Dogs eat crumbs from their masters’ table) (Matthew 15.21 thru 28 - Mark 7.24 thru 30)

31. Deaf-Mute Healed at Decapolis of Galilee (Mark 7.31thru 37)
33. Blind Man at Bethsaida of Galilee (Mark 8.22 thru 26)

34. Many Crippled, Blind, & Mute (Matthew 15.29 thru 31)

35. Demon-possessed Blind-Mute (Matthew 12.22 & 23)

36. Feeds the 4000 (Matthew 15.29 thru 38 - Mark 8.1 thru 9)

37. Blind Man at Bethsaida (Mark 8.22 thru 26)

38. The Transfiguration (Matthew 17.1 thru 13 - Mark 9.2 thru13 - Luke 9.28 thru 36

39. Demon-possessed Boy (Throws self into fire) (Matthew 17.14 thru 21 - Mark 9.14 thru 32 - Luke 9.37 thru 43)

40. Cure at the Pool in Bethesda in Judea (John 5.1 thru 15)

41. Healed Man’s Shriveled Hand (Matthew 12.9 thru 13 - Mark 3.1 thru 5 - Luke 6.6 thru 10)

42. The 72 Report Being Able to Cast Out Demons (Luke 10.17)

43. Temple Tax provided in Mouth of Fish (Matthew 17.24 thru 27)

44. Man Blind from Birth (John - All of Chapter 9)

45. Crippled Woman Healed on Sabbath (Luke 13.10 thru 17)

46. Healed Man with Leprosy on Sabbath (Luke 14.1 thru 6)

47. The 10 Lepers (Luke 17.11 thru 19)

48. Blind Bartimaeus Healed (Mark 10.46 thru 52)

49. Blind Man (2 Blind Men) at Jericho (Matthew 20.29 thru 34 - Mark 10.46 thru 52 - Luke 18.35 thru 43)

50. Raised Lazarus from the Dead (John 11.1 thru 45)

51. Fig Tree Cursed (Matthew 21.18 thru 22 - Mark [part 1] 11.12 thru 14; [part 2] 11.20 thru 26)

52. High Priest’s Servant’s Cut Off Ear Restored (Matthew 26.51 - Mark 14.46 & 47 - Luke 22.49 thru 51 - John 18.10)

53. Darkness Comes upon the Earth (Matthew 27.45 - Mark 15.33- Luke 23.44 & 45)

54. Veil of the Temple Split (Matthew 27.51 - Mark 15.38 Luke 23.45)

55. An Earthquake (Matthew 27.51)

56. Dead Raised and Walked About (Matthew 27.52 & 53)

57. Stone Rolled Away from Tomb (Matthew 28.2 - Mark 16.4 - Luke 24.2 - John 20.1)

58. Jesus Appears in Garden (Matthew 28.9 - Mark 16.9 - John 20.11 thru 17)

59. Jesus Appears on Road to Emmaus (Mark 16.12 & 13 - Luke 24.13 thru 35)

60. Jesus Appears in Upper Room
(Mark 16.14 thru 18 - Luke 24.36 thru 49 - John 20.19 thru 23)

61. Jesus Appears to Thomas
(John 20.24 thru 29)

62. The 2nd Large Catch of Fish (John 21.1 thru 14)

63. The Ascension (Mark 16.19 & 20 - Luke 24.50 thru 53 - Acts 1.6 thru 11)

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I have generally followed the order given by John as much as possible seeing that according t o John Himself, he and Andrew were Jesus’ first disciples quickly followed by Philip and Nathaniel.

Jesus spent a short time in Judea and then headed to Galilee, going direct through Samaria which was highly unusual for a Jew to do. It was then He met the Samaritan woman at the well.

He went all the way to Cana for a wedding and then back to Nazareth to announce Himself as the Messiah in his home Synagogue. This had to be His 30th birthday that very day.

Basically rejected by His neighbors, He went on to Capernaum where He picked up Peter and James. Peter already knew of Jesus because his brother Andrew had gone on ahead to tell him that they had found the Messiah.

After going around the city and countryside healing people and casting out Devils, Jesus was beginning to have huge crowds following Him and it was at that time He gave the Sermon on the Mount.

I base this mostly on John because he was the only one of the 4 Gospel writers who had been with Jesus from the beginning. Peter came into it early after that, Matthew (Levi) quite a bit later, and John Mark toward the very end of Jesus’ Ministry. Paul and Luke had neither one been a disciple but Luke did meticulous interviews of eye witnesses (including even Jesus’ mother) to confirm his accounts - so he is not to be discounted.

The most difficult problems for us at this late date is the fact that the Gospel writers were not overly concerned about the order in which the events occurred - all that was important to them was that they made a record of them.

So, this has befuddled Bible students for years because WE want everything in chronological order as well.

Shalom,

Searl Miller