Wild Game Recipes

Wild Game Recipes

by | Nov 23, 2020 | article

Venison Tenderloin Marinade.

This is a great recipe to be cooked on the open grill, to be enjoyed with your favorite beverage. Make sure your tenderloin has been aged and then combine

5 green onions

¾ cup vegetable oil

½ cup soy sauce

1 ½ tsp. ginger

1 ½ tsp. garlic powder

3 Tbls. Honey

2 Tbls. Vinegar

all ingredients. Pour marinade into gallon sized Ziploc bag. Add tenderloin and seal. Marinade whole venison tenderloin up to 2 days in refrigerator. Cook on hot grill. Don’t overcook it!

Wild duck Breast Wrapped with Bacon.

Whether you have domestically grown ducks or enjoy hunting these winged birds at your favorite spot, a good recipe with bacon goes a long way to rounding out the day. Ducks can be cooked as whole or breasted. This recipe is to simply,

6 wild duck breast, skin removed

1 pkg. Italian dressing mix prepared according to package instructions

2 Tbls. Worchester Sauce

1 clove of garlic crushed

¾ tsp. ground cloves

1 lb. pork bacon

Soak duck breasts in salt water for 30 minutes, dry with paper towels and place in shallow pan. Combine dressing Worcestershire, garlic and cloves and pour mixture over duck breasts. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Remove duck from marinade and wrap each breast in two or more slices of bacon.

Place duck breasts on broiling pan and broil about 3 inches from heat for about 5 minutes on each side, or until internal temperature reaches 155 degrees. Let rest 5 minutes before serving. Alternatively, you may also cook them on the grill over hot coals (must use water soaked tooth picks to hold bacon together if you decide to grill them rather than broil).

Serve and enjoy.

Courtesy of Mapleleaffarms.com

Honey Roasted Wild Rabbit in Honey Mustard Sause.

These little fellows can be found almost anywhere or again breed then at home. There are very high in protein and low in fat. First you need a roasting pan and

1 2.2lb whole rabbit

5 Tbls. butter

1 tsp. finely chopped parsley

½ cup hot chicken stock

2 Tbls. Honey

1 heaping teaspoon wholegrain mustard

Pinch of salt, if needed

Take the rabbit and place it in a roasting pan. Take butter and pinch off pieces and smear it onto the rabbit, all over inside cavity and outside. Scatter with the parsley and roast uncovered in 165 C oven for 30 minutes.

Remove pan from oven, pour the hot stock into the bottom of the pan and cover with foil. Slide back into oven and cook for one hour.

Remove rabbit from oven and leave to rest for a few minutes while you make the sauce. To make the sauce, mix the honey and mustard together in a small bowl.

Serve the rabbit, seasoned with a little salt, with the sauce alongside. This would pair well with creamy mashed potatoes and a salad.

Serves 3-4

www.comfortbites.co.uk 

Wild Boar Pulled Pork Recipe.

Wild pig or boar are being seen more and more in Alabama. Either will do the job with this recipe. I enjoy this with a good Shoulder Roast. Start with a good 5 or 6 pounds of meat and

1 wild boar roast or shoulder roast (5-6 pounds)

Olive oil

1 Tbls. Smoked paprika

½ Tbls. Dried rosemary

½ Tbls. Garlic powder

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2-3 celery stalks, diced

3 to 4 carrots, peeled and diced

Water

Coat all sides of roast with olive oil.

In a small bowl, combine paprika, rosemary, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Rub over entire roast.

Heat a little olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add meat, and sear on all sides until evenly browned.

Place roast, onion, celery, and carrots in a slow cooker. Add enough water to cover the bottom by ¼ inch.

Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or until meat pulls apart easily.

Remove meat and set aside to rest for 20-30 minutes before shredding.

Enjoy as a sandwich, wrapped in a tortilla, or as a stand-alone pulled pork dish with sauce

Good cooking and good hunting

Are You Satisfied With the Status Quo?

Are You Satisfied With the Status Quo?

by | Nov 23, 2020 | article

   Status quo is defined as the existing state of affairs.  In other words, status quo is a phrase describing the current circumstances of your life.  Are you staisfied with yoour current circumstances?

   Some of us may have employment troubles.  Or we may have burdensome family issues or personal trials.  The current state of affairs in this nation certainly give rise to many conflicting opinions.  Are we satisfied with these things, or do we want something different, something better?  The bigger question is: if we are not satisfied, can we somehow change the status quo?

   The Holy Scriptures gives us the resonding answer YES!  The Bible tells us that there is an ordained means to change the status quo of our lives.  That means is prayer.  In James 5:16. it is written: “The effectual prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.”  It goes on to describe how Elijah prayed for long-term, big changes to the status quo of natural events (the weather) in response to a rebellious people, and his big prayers were answered multiple times.  We are also reminded that Elijah “was a man with a nature like ours” (James 5:17).  So, in many respects, Elijah was just a normal guy like you and me.

    In the scriptures, almost all prayer is petitionary.  This means that we ask (petition) God to do things in the earth.  We ask God to change the way things are.  In doing so, we are in fact admitting that we are not satisfied with the status quo.  Our dissatisfaction will and should gives rise to prayers asking for change.

   But, we need to be carful to distinguish between godly and ungodly dissatisfaction.  Ungodly dissatisfaction is when God does good things for us (even things we think are not good), and we do not accept what He has done.  Make no mistake: God only does good things,  He is alll wise and purposeful, and our response of unacceptance is sinful and dishonoring to Him.  On the other hand, godly dissatisfaction can arise when things of this world are out of balance, displeasing or harmful to us, or impeding the Kingdom of God, and we ask God to change them.  In particular, we ask Him to make things better align with the truth and purposes of the Bible and His holy will.  There is nothing wrong with this type of godly dissatisfaction.  In fact, we need more of it.

   So, let us learn to rightly evaluate the current circumstances of our life, and then pray occording to His will.  If prayer is difficult for you, pray words from the Bible.  The book of Psalms is particularly helpful in this regard.  God is pleased to hear His own words prayed back to Him.  Prayer spoken to Him with a right spirit are always heard and answered.  Though, be prepared, that sometimes, perhaps many times, His answer may be to persevere in your present trials.  Why is this?  He has His purpose that we may not fully understand.

   Nevertheless, press on in your petitions to God as did the widow in her petition to the judge in Luke 18: 1-5.  If we are genuinely respectful and humble, we can be bold in our requests to God (Psalm 141:1) and can ask honest, difficult questions to Him (Psalm 13: 1-2).

   Prayer can change the staus quo in your life.  Always seek to improve your current life circumstances through prayer.

Ephesus and Thyatira

Ephesus and Thyatira

by | Nov 23, 2020 | article

    In the 2nd and 3rd chapters of John’s apocalypse we see some of the most pastorally poignant writing in Revelation: the letters to the churches.  These letters were penned to actual churches located in modern day Turkey.  And these letters continue to be relevant to the life of the church today; even now you have your faithful Smyrnas pleasing to the Lord, and your lukewarm Laodecias, teetering on the edge of judgment and oblivion.

   I want to look at two of these churches: Ephesus and Thyatira.  On the surface, you could not find two more different churches: Ephesus with its doctrinal purity and emotionlessness, and Thyatira with its warm, embracing nature and theological heedlessness.  Ephesus was in some ways a truly commendable church.  The Lord gave them two very meaningful commendations: they could not tolerate evil, and they tested the claims of those who come bearing a word from God.  They found them to be false witnesses, and drove them out.  Yet, the Lord chided them for “abandoning their first love.”

   Thyatira, on the other hand, was a church that was loving.  Christ said he knew their love and faith. These were clearly discernible, and flowed out in their service to God and to people.  Put in modern words, they were a church intent upon “living the gospel”.  Yet, he had a criticism to level against them: they tolerated false teachers.  They allowed anti-gospel teaching to infiltrate the church and put the church itself in danger of falling under the wrath of God.

   These two churches illustrate a divide we often see today: Love vs Doctrine.  Too many churches place such a priority upon “loving people” that they fail to heed all that scripture teaches about the Law, and Holiness, and indeed even about the purity of the Church.  In such churches compromises are made, sins ignored or even celebrated as “inclusive” or “tolerant” (both are words God hates in their modern definitions).  On the other hand, you have the Ephesuses of the world.  These churches practice doctrinal rigor, but in a life choking way.  Doctrinal purity, if pursued rightly, is life giving and enhances the vitality of the church.  But these churches are so concerned with making sure to check every box that in the process they lose their love for God and for their neighbor, thereby nullifying their practice of the two great commandments. 

   These are two different problems to which Christ, through John, gives the same solution: repent.  Has the love of your heart for Christ grown cold, even while your theological rigor remains strong?  Christ says repent, return to your first love.  Have you failed to maintain purity, allowing worldly teaching and philosophy to cloud and taint the doctrine of your heart or that of your church?  Repent, repudiate the works of the world, cast off every form of worldly inclusivism that may have crept in, and cultivate the zeal for God that caused Christ to drive the money changers out of the temple with a whip.

In a simple way, the answer to all of our problems is the same, though in practice it takes a myriad of different forms. If we slip away, the corrective is always the same: return to Christ. Stop making something in our lives more important than his word, his will, his presence. In Revelation 2 and 3, at the end of each letter, Christ enumerates the rich rewards that attend those who faithfully hold to him. It is my prayer that each one of you partakes of the good things which abundantly flow from the hand of God to those who faithfully cling to him. 

Biblical Local Church Membership. Headship, and the Year 2020

Biblical Local Church Membership. Headship, and the Year 2020

by | Aug 24, 2020 | article

   As the unfolding events of 2020 have seemingly brought every human institution to its knees, the American church is in an unprecedented time in its short history.  Church attendance, without a doubt, is the lowest it’s been in recent history.  No doubt 2020 has been a challenging time for local church leadership.  Unprecedented decisions have had to be made.  In the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, as government guidelines were mandated, the majority of churches complied and adapted for the safety of the flock by holding online services.  Hopefully, some data will be out soon, but it seems that many churches are still primarily online five months later.  Some churches adapted by holding drive-in services held in parking lots.  Sunday schools, small groups, and other discipleship groups have either gone to Zoom meetings, or other platforms, or have not met at all.  Essentially, church attendance and church involvement has declined drastically.

   Two things that I want to submit to you all is that this year has reinforced the essential need for biblical church membership and biblical headship.  This is a call that the local church must be calling and answering at all times, not just in moments of crisis.

   Here are just a few reasons, and certainly not exhaustive, for why I think that the call to biblical local church membership and headship is essential, at all times, but certainly within our current context of 2020.

Biblical Local Church Membership

   First, let’s start with a brief but helpful definition of a biblical local church.  A biblical local church is a church that devotes themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the braking of bread and prayers; all who belive join together, attending church, and praising God.  With church attendance and involvement declining, membership will likely decline and if membership declines, many churches will eventually be forced to shut its doors.  Sound biblical local churches need to be in place and ready to minister to those that will carry on in the faith.  In challenging times like these, biblical local church membership is essential to shepherding the flock as God has ordained.

Biblical Headship

   For the sake of clarity and because this topic can be a hot button topic, a clearly defined role of biblical headship would be most helpful.  “… [U]nderstand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of the wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God’ (I Cor. 11:3) (Col. 1:18).  In a time where regular local church worship and discipleship has been restricted, it is the responsibility of the male headship to disciple his family.

Where Are The Dads?

Where Are The Dads?

by | Aug 24, 2020 | article

   To say that our country is going through a crisis, is not an exaggeration. With COVID-19 forcing families to stay in their homes, the stock market up one day and down the next, rioting in the streets by people who have no respect for persons or property, hospitals and jails at maximum capacity, families more and more in disarray, with more and more single mom trying to raise their children alone. Where are all the dads? Are they working extra ours, staring at a computer screen, watching sports, or hanging out at the corner with their buddies?

    At the very beginning when God created the world He proclaimed that it was not good for man to be alone and through Adam he instituted the family as the foundation of society. And at the center of the family God gave the man responsibility for the family. The most important job in our society is for men to teach, protect, care for, and guide their families. Within the family men are to train young boys to be responsible, establish good habits, and build character! So what has happened? Many dads are out of the picture. Why do we say that?

 Let’s look at some statistics.

  •    Only 41 percent of today’s children will grow up in a two-parent family.

·         Over 100,000 children are left with one parent because of divorce each year. Nine out of 10 of these are with their mother.

·         Over 20 percent of children born are born without a father in the picture.

·         The majority of special needs children at school are boys.

·         It is not surprising that the FBI estimates that a massive amount of burglaries, drug abuse violations, motor vehicle theft, aggravated assault, and arsons are committed by youths under the age of 18. Eighty percent of these youths are boys.

·         In some cultures, the rate of infants being born to unwed mothers is in the 70 percent range.

 What does this lead to?

·         90 percent of all murders are committed by men

·         85 percent of all robberies are committed by men

·         80 percent of rapes are committed by men

·         75 percent of people arrested are men

And of young man without a father around:

·         71 percent will be high school dropouts

·         63 percent will be teenage suicide

·         70 percent will end up in prison

    This is an epidemic and it is generational. These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. They do not take into account the number of wives that say their husband’s done really communicate with them. Men have copped out and dropped out and abandoned their God given role of father in the home either from ignorance or for various reasons that may even be either conscious or subconscious.

    This is the reason that our approach at A Call for Men is to teach men to accept responsibility, accept accountability, and to lead courageously with purpose to protect and grow family and community.

    This problem is the greatest challenge of the twenty-first century: turning the hearts of the fathers to their children so that the hearts of the children will turn back to their fathers.

    May the Lord grant us Grace and Strength to accomplish this.

Authentic Christianity

Authentic Christianity

by | Aug 21, 2020 | article

Authentic Christianity

                                  {An Exposition of The Theology and Ethics of The Westminster Larger Catechism}

Joseph C. Morecraft III

A Review

I have been blessed with a copy of this reprint commentary on the Larger Catechism.  I am currently on page 143, “E. The Biblical Hermeneutics of the Westminster Standards” ; Chapter 2, volume 1 of this 3,800-page 8 volume set.  My purpose for beginning this commentary was for proofreading, but I have also begun to enjoy the thorough explanation of the catechism, the confession of faith, and what the circumstances where in England and Scotland when these documents were drafted.  Joseph C. Morecraft III has masterfully crafted a work that I pray is used to glorify our God for the education of the saints.

Morecraft gives the following as to the need for the Bible:

2. The Need for Special Revelation
God was under no compulsion to give the human race special revelation in addition to general revelation, nor can any such revelation be forced out of Him (Rom. 11:33–34).  Any revelation from God flows out of His sheer and sovereign mercy. “Jesus said, ‘I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.  Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.  All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son, except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father, except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him” (Matt. 11:25–27).  However, a special written revelation from God is necessary for human beings if we are ever to know God, His will, and His ways.

This is true for three reasons:
   First, we need a special and written revelation from God because of our created limitations and the complexity of revealed truth.  Our memory, imagination, and rationality are too limited and the truth of God too vast, intricate, and above us (Isa. 55:8–9).  We need a written revelation of the mind of God in words and sentences that accurately reveal the mind of God and that, at the same time, are meaningful to us.

   Second, we need a special and written revelation from God because of the incompleteness of the revelation in creation.  General revelation is insufficient to give the knowledge of God that is necessary for salvation:  “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. …we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, …which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; but just as it is written, ‘Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’ For to us God revealed them through the Spirit” (1 Cor. 1:21; 2:7–10).

   Creation reveals a Creator but not a Redeemer.  Even unfallen Adam needed additional special revelation to interpret what he saw in creation around him (Gen. 1:28).  Mankind was created to live by the word of God from the very beginning to the very end (Deut. 8:3). To say that general revelation is not a complete revelation of God is not in any way to imply that there is any defect in general revelation.  When we speak of the insufficiency of general revelation we do not wish to suggest that this revelation is as such insufficient for its purpose.  It has been noted how all creation, including man’s own psychological constitution, is inherently revelatory of God.  This revelation was so clear and unavoidable that man was always confronted with the face of God. But in sinning, man, as it were, took out his own eyes, so that he could no longer see God in his general revelation.  Moreover, through this act of self-immolation, man not only made himself helpless but also guilty and polluted before God.  It is therefore to the condition of man as a sinner, not to man as finite, that the idea of the necessity of a special or saving revelation must be attached.

   Third, we need a special and written revelation from God because of the darkness and perversion of the human mind caused by sin (Gen. 6:5; Rom. 8:6–7; John 3:19, 20; Rom. 3:9; Eph. 2:1–2).  The twisting, distorting, and polluting effects of sin greatly influence the human mind along with all other aspects of human experience (2 Cor. 4:3–4).  The mind’s reasoning and perceiving abilities are not reliable guides to truth and knowledge apart from the Biblical revelation and Spiritual illumination.  Man’s condition after the entrance of sin is, therefore, not that of a poor innocent man, but that of a criminal who has committed high treason.  Thus the necessity for a special revelation lies primarily in the subjective rebellion of man.  The special revelation that must be given to man, if he is to be saved, must consist not only of the “objective” work of Christ in his death and resurrection, but also result in a subjective change from this state of rebellion to a state of obedience.  The work of the Holy Spirit in granting regeneration to God’s people is therefore implied in the work of Christ.[i]

Morecraft gives these reasons for the catechism:
   What is the value of the Larger Catechism for the church today? [I]t contains some outstanding summaries of Biblical Doctrine,…it gives a rich and full exposition of the Ten Commandments. No other such exposition gives us a more helpful and detailed treatment of the ethical and social teachings of the Bible…it gives a full-orbed doctrine of the church, …it is a full, balanced, edifying summary of the Christian Faith, a useful aid to the Christian growing in the knowledge of the Word of God…[ii]

   When I first obtained this commentary, I was almost intimidated by its size.  As I have moved further and further into it, I have come to enjoy the ease of navigation (the whole of volume 8 is a navigation tool, including a complete table of contents and scripture index; among three other indices, and a bibliography) and this commentary’s easy readability.  I use this commentary as a tool to do my “…best to present [my]self to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth” 2 Timothy 2:15.

[i] Morecraft III, Joseph C., Authentic Christianity (Four Falls Press, 2019), 125-128.
[ii] Ibid., 60, 61.

 

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