The last Home Group study in David really brought home the idea of checking with God before we do  something.  David was in a difficult situation, escaping from cave to hillside – being chased by Saul’s army, no doubt with a bounty on his head. 

As seem by the priest Ahimelek  1 Samuel 22 to help him was basically death, and not just to you but to everyone else around  at that time. 

But David does not forget God and  writes Psalm 57 reminding everyone that God is in control, and thanking  God for saving his life We also found out that this psalm is called a Miktam. It  has a hidden meaning in it, and was believed to have been sung to music that was  called do not destroy, and I bet it was a catchy tune. It is quite possible to imagine this being sung by people around Saul.

So how do we check out an idea  with God before doing it. What we should not do is say “Lord I am going to do X Y Or Z please bless it”, but rather pray and think about it. Sometimes God will  send someone along (or email, phone, call, text etc) that will help give a view.  Or it can be from a bible passgae – and the words just jumpout and you reaslise  this is for you. But in all cases it should be remembered that the initial idea has to be inline with Gods teaching to start with, and if that is not the case then this should corrected initially.
 
So  how does one know if this is the case. Well God has given his handbook to life - the Bible and if we read it regulalrly we will get to know what it says and if we are living in line with it. There are lots of resources available on line to help with this, the Scripture Union's WordLive is a good one to start with.

I wanted something different to up my Omega 3 and of course sardines are very  good at that. Looking at what needed to be eaten from the fridge I made the  following even remembering to take a photo or two. This makes enough for two people.

Ingredients
1  120g cans of
sardines sunflower oil
1  50g can of anchovy fillets in oil
1  can chopped  tomatoes
1  table spoons capers
1  (or less) table spoon of extra virgin olive oil
1  red chilli
1  green chilli
1 pepper lightly chopped
1 generous  handful of basil leaves, (or 2 heaped teaspoons of dried basil)
1  onion chopped finely
1 cup of chopped green veg  (I used stick beans) or
frozen veg e.g. peas
Pasta  of your choice (not lasagne)
Parmesan cheese,  grated if required.

Method
Heat olive oil in frying pan and lightly fry onions, add chilli & basil and chopped pepper. Continue for a few minutes. Then add  chopped green veg, can of chopped tomatoes  and stir. Once come to the boil add the sardines and anchovy fillets siring as required.

At  the same time cook the pasta according to the  instructions. Make up a simple
salad if required. When pasta is cooked add  drain and add sardine and anchovy sauce and server in
bowl.

Preparation time 5 minutes, cooking time 10-15  minutes

To celebrate the fact that my Gamma GT (Gamma-glutamyl transferase) level has fallen by over 100 we thought we would have something slightly different than the normal bit of chicken to eat. Though still on my diet of as low fat tasty food as possible I came across this idea for a recipe. It has been modified it slightly to reduce the fat content and to cope with what was in my fridge/cupboard at the time.
(When cooking I still have not got round to the idea of taking photos of what I am doing. I basically experiment a lot and if it is any good (i.e. get some positive feedback) bother to think about how I did it and record it. Then a set of empty plates do not make good photos. Who know maybe should change the way I do things , but no all my experiments work by any means)

Ingredients

• 1 large (or medium) sized chicken
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Onion
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard
• At least 2 teaspoons of Turkish Spice mix

Turkish Spice mix -
To make this I used the following (It is given as a ratio so you can add as much spice mixture to the chicken as you want – I used the ratio 2 parts equals half a teaspoon)

• 2 parts Tarragon
• 2 parts Oregano
• 2 parts chopped fresh Chilli (or powder)
• 1 part Coriander
• 1 part Cumin
• 1 part ground Cinnamon

Mix these together thoroughly in a bowl with a teaspoon

Method

• Peal and thickly slice the onion
• Place onion in centre of baking dish
• Wash the chicken
• Cut parallel cuts about 1 centimetre apart into the Brest and leg meaty areas going almost down to the bone but not actually to it.
• Cut lemon into quarters and stuff into chicken cavity
• Rub the whole grain mustard into the upper side of the chicken, especially making sure going into the cuts you have made.
• Rub the Turkish spice into the mustard on the chicken again making sure gets right down the cuts
• Place on the slice onion
• Loosely cover with foil and put in oven at 180 C/ Gas 4 for 2-3 hours

Every 20-30 minutes take out of oven and baste top with the natural juices and lemon juice that has come out from the bird and has collected in the dish. Recover with the foil and put pack in the oven.

It will need to cook for between 2-3 hours depending on size of chicken. The skin will become golden and crispy and do not baste just before serving unless this is not going to be eaten

Serve with some combination of salad, pita bread, yoghurt or new potatoes (removing the chicken skin to minimise fat consumption if necessary) depending on what your diet will allow.

It tastes good both hot or cold. (if not on a low fat diet you can use the juices that come from it to fry some vegetables along with the onion rings that come from the backing tray as they hold a lot of spicy flavours)

The next Home Group study on David  caused a lot discussion as to why did God allow David to go from
being the peoples choice as ruler, as shown by their songs and celebrations (It even came to light that one of the surrounding countries thought he was the King already) to hiding in the city of the enemy pretending to be to suffering from  madness and fearing for his life.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,  neither are your ways my ways,”  declares  the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,  so are my ways higher than your ways  and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55 8-9

The fact of the matter is that he goes from being the most popular/famous person in the country at the time, to the most wanted outlaw/fugitive over a fairly short number of weeks. This is a totally unjustified situation  but Saul’s insecurity makes him perceive David as a threat to his position and so  must be got rid of at any cost.  A situation that can be found repeated time and time again over the ages all through power structures.

Fortunately David does not despair and give up trusting in God as the next study will show.

During strong winds we often get  all sorts of bits and pieces blown into the garden. Normally they are bits of  plants or trees, but the other day it was a little ball off fluff. To start with
we just thought it was a small branch from a tree, with some new fresh leaves on  it. But then we noticed it moving. On closer investigation it turned out to be a little baby blue tit, especially when one of its parents turned up.

Presumably it had been trying to  fly and was blown by a gust of wind. The parent then coaxed it with food, and a  fair degree of bullying to pick itself up and to move from the exposed area of  the lawn to a more sheltered area under a plant.

After about half an hour of hops  and small spluttering flights it finally got to the relative shelter of some  plant cover in a flower bed. (about three metres) Quite what happened to it
after that is not quite sure, as it vanished into the ndergrowth. It was more  of a mystery as to how far it had been blown when it first landed as there are  no nests anywhere near where it first touched down. So there is no knowing how
far it's home was.

The other day I was getting up, pulled back the curtain and saw this friendly face looking back at me. I don't know who was more shocked the deer or me. Fortunatley the deer kept chewing it's grassey breakfast, whilst watching me scramble for the camera and allowed me to get this snap off. All in all he and his compainion stayed for about five minutes after I had first seen them. Evidently the grass was better than any risk I might have presented to them.

Recently I have had the challenge of writing down what I believe as a Christian – using as few succinct words as possible, whilst trying to avoid jargon. This is not something I have had to do before, as previously when discussing this, it has always been something that has been spoken and not written down. As such it has been more of a fluid activity responding to questions rather than a one off action.

It has been quite hard to try and avoid jargon, whilst keeping it short, but sill I hope this  meets the brief. What it is not, is a set of rules nor even primarily a philosophy, but a personal relationship. What is important is our relationship with God and with our Neighbour. Jesus when asked about what is important, said that the greatest commandment is to love God and the second commandment is to “love others as well as yourself” Matthew 22:36-40

If you want a longer more detailed text written by experts the Evangelical Alliance is one of the best sources for what it means to be a Christian

But ultimately as a Christian what is important is a persons relationship with the one true God, which includes accepting that Jesus is the Son of God, who died on the cross in our place, paying the price of sin and then with His resurrection defeating evil, so reconciling us with God