Saturday, September 28, 2013

At Cavalry

 

William R. Newell (1868-1956) is remembered fondly as a pastor, evangelist, Bible teacher, author, conference speaker and writer of the beloved hymn At Calvary. And he is remembered as a humble man who recognized that it was only by the grace of God that he was able to accomplish so many good things.

William was a very troubled and wayward teenager. In desperation, his father wrote to the president of Moody Bible Institute, and begged him to allow the enrollment of his son. Since the college was open to serious Bible students, the president was at first resistant, but finally agreed that Newell would be enrolled with the proviso that he would meet with the president daily, and would take his studies seriously.

Read more about William Newell here. What an amazing testimony!

Have a blessed weekend!
~Esther

Saturday, September 21, 2013

How to Cook a Pumpkin

I was helping Mum in the kitchen tonight, and told her about how I needed to come up with a post for JOJ. “You could tell how to cook a pumpkin!” She suggested. I wasn’t so sure about that because—truth be told—I was just learning myself for the first time how to do it!

After she told me that she hadn’t known how to cook a pumpkin until she was living by herself for a while, I felt a little better about it. So…here is how to cook a pumpkin!

First, select your pumpkin. This time, we used a Banana squash, but you could use any kind of pumpkin to do this. Cut it into quarters.

One of the quarters.

After cutting it into quarters, we scooped out the seeds and tried to get most of the strings out. It doesn’t matter if there are some left—you just want to take out the bulk of them.

If you want to, you could stop here and stick them in the oven like this (actually, if you are using something like the Grey pumpkin we can get here you wouldn’t even have to cut it into quarters—cut in half would work fine). If you wanted to do that, place them upside down (with the skin up) in a roaster pan. Bake at 175°C (350°F) for an hour, or until tender and well done.

Pumpkin wedges.

We decided to go further tonight, though, and cut it up into wedges about 1 inch (2 ½ cm) thick. For some of the wedges, we cut the quarters in half lengthwise, but for others we just left them whole.

Finished and delicious!

Toss them into a roasting pan (like a baking sheet with deep sides—if you don’t have one, a baking sheet should work just fine), and bake at 175°C (350°F) for an hour, or until tender and well done. Serve with butter or gravy. Yum!

And that is how you cook a pumpkin. Well, one way anyway…. :)

Have a blessed weekend!
~Esther

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

New Magazine!

Hi, friends!

I’m just dropping in quickly to say that we’ve just completed another magazine! :)

This one covers a lot—from prayer to answered prayer, dwelling in God’s love, memorising scripture, recipes, and a couple stories. Hopefully you’ll be able to find a nugget to take away when you’re done reading! :)

Jewels of Jesus Magazine Issue #7Click on the picture or go here to read Issue #7.

God bless!
-Rachel and Esther

Thursday, September 12, 2013

And the winners are…

Bonnie and Latisha!

Congratulations!

Bonnie, you will be receiving Twice Freed, by Patricia St. John, from Esther.

Latisha, you will be receiving Amy Carmichael - Selfless Servant of India, by Sam Wellman, from Rachel.

And, in other news…I’m working on finishing up the magazine! Lord willing, it should be ready sometime next week. I can’t guarantee that, but I’m hoping to have it finished by then. :)

May the Lord bless each one of you!
Esther

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

September 11th...

The head of a company survived 9/11
because his son started kindergarten.

Another fellow was alive because it was
his turn to bring donuts.

One woman was late because her
alarm clock didn't go off in time...

One was late because of being stuck on the NJ Turnpike
because of an auto accident.

One of them
missed his bus.

One spilled food on her clothes and had to take
time to change.

 One's
car wouldn't start. 

One couldn't
get a taxi.

One man put on a new pair of shoes that morning and took the various means to get to work, but before he got there, he developed a blister on his foot. 
He stopped at a drugstore to buy a Band-Aid.
That's why he's alive today...

Now when I am
Stuck in traffic,
Miss an elevator,
Turn back to answer a ringing telephone...
All the little things that annoy me.
I think to myself,
this is exactly where God wants me to be
at this very moment...

Next time your morning seems to be going wrong,
You can't seem to find the car keys,
You hit every traffic light,
Don't get mad or frustrated;
It may just be that
God is watching over you.

May God continue to bless you
With all those annoying little things
And may you remember their possible purpose. 

(I don't know the source of this...sorry)

Monday, September 9, 2013

Don't forget!!!



Don't forget ...
to enter our giveaway below! :) 

It ends tomorrow (Sept. 11 NZT) so don't wait! ;-)

Hope you enter! :D

Rachel for the JOJ team

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

A Look Back (and giveaway!)

Well, this is the 100th post on Jewels of Jesus, and we thought it might be nice to have a small giveaway. First, though, we’ll have a look back.

God has been very good to us this past year. Almost exactly a year ago (it will be a year on the 13th), He led us to start this blog. At that time, there were just two writers—Tiffany, and myself. A lot has changed since we started this new venture, there has been some sad points, but over all God has ruled with grace and love.

A brief outline of JOJ’s history:
  1. The first magazine was published in September, 2011.
  2. We had published two more by June 2012, and then in September 2012 we started this blog.
  3. On September 13th, Tiffany posted the first post.
  4. Posting on here continued fairly sporadically until December 2012, when we asked for writers and Rachel joined our team (I really don’t know why I didn’t announce her myself…oh well. :)). After Rachel came along, she was able to hold up the posting part very well. I was very thankful for that! :)
  5. Near the end of June, Tiffany decided to leave. That left two writers/editors—Rachel and me.
  6. At that time, we asked for more writers. And, praise the Lord, you were there! I’d have to say—I’m feeling very blessed right now.
  7. Currently, there are three writers besides Rachel and myself. We have started a small Google Group, where we can write, edit each other’s writings, and encourage each other. (If you want to join, we’d be very happy to have you with us, but don’t feel pressured in any way!)
Now, almost a year after starting this blog, we’re amazed at how God has worked. And very blessed, too. So we’d like to share with you some blessing, too!

Rachel and I have both picked out a book, and we will give them away to two winners. One will get Rachel’s book, and one will get mine.

I’ve chosen Twice Freed, a book by Patricia St John about the slave Onesimus. I’ve never read the book myself, but Mum has and really, really liked it. I’ve read other Patricia St John books though, and they’re all excellent.

Rachel has chosen a surprise book. Well, to actually tell you the truth she hasn’t chosen one yet—she has several choices, and she’s having a hard time deciding. So the winner of her book will get a surprise. :)

Please enter using the Rafflecopter form below. For those who were wondering—yes, this giveaway IS open to international entries.


The giveaway will close at 12 am NZT on the 11th of September, and we will announce the winner as soon as possible.

Once again, we’d like to thank all of you for your support this last year. Thank you so much for praying for us, and sending us words of encouragement. May the Lord bless each one of you!

Esther, for the JOJ team.