The Four Points of the Gospel

English Club - Transport part one

Tongue Twisters in four languages

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Psalm 23 (In 4 languages)

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Authority

Summer camp wasn't exactly Ben's favourite activity of the year. He took a deep breath, trying to summon the energy to confront some of the young campers from his group as they ran riot.

‘Hey, get down from there!’ he called to a little terror as he did his literal Fiddler on the Roof impression. The summons was not heeded.

‘I mean it right now!’ The little boy continued to fiddle away.

Ben sighed, wishing that he was elsewhere. Suddenly, he was aware that a number of the other little terrors...er, boys, had rushed in from playing outside. He overheard one saying, ‘the badest boy is coming!’ (no care for grammar!)

This announcement caused panic. Boys, who up until then had been all over the shop, began ordering themselves, arranging clothes and other items that were strewn everywhere. Each one took up position by his bed and stood shaking, but trying to look inconspicuous. Then he arrived.

In strutted a lean, tall young man with slicked back hair. He surveyed all before him. The little boys remained nonchalant, endeavouring to not attract attention. The young man who had entered, the ‘badest boy' if you will, paced some around the living quarters, and then began to speak. All ears were wide open....

People can command authority for different reasons. In the example above, maybe the older boy was viewed with respect by the younger ones due to his demeanour and way of handling things. Other times, it can all just be about brute force. In any case, we all have people who we submit to in our lives, but also would like to have a certain air of authority over others.

Biblically speaking, we see that Jesus was a man who had authority. When he spoke, people took note, although not all obeyed. Indeed, it was probably His authority that got Him into trouble as the Pharisees realised that due to Him, they were loosing their own dominant position in society (Mark 1:22). He not only had authority in His teaching, but also over evil spirits, sickness, the weather and even death.

Obviously, in His case the source of His authority was more than just His swaggering style; He was God come to earth. This is the only possible conclusion if we take the Gospels at face value and that explains why there exists so much debate about them and who Jesus really was, as people look for other explanations, which allow them to discredit Jesus, so they don't have to submit to His authority.

One line of attack against His authority is with regard to the authenticity of the gospels themselves. Who wrote them? Can they be trusted? Is the text reliable? Well, Jesus passed His teaching, and the work of spreading it, on to the apostles (13 men including Matthias who replaced Judas and Paul).

After, their many years of verbally transmitting the message to those around, towards the end of their lives they assured that the Good News about Jesus would remain accessible to the coming generations by either writing it down, or liaising with others who subsequently wrote it down.

In terms of what has become known as the Gospels, there are two that fall into the former category and two that belong to the second one. Both Matthew and John were disciples of Jesus. Matthew’s gospel doesn’t explicitly name him as the author, but his identification with authorship of the gospel arises from early church tradition. Likewise, John’s gospel doesn’t clear state an author, although in its case there is at least an internal note at the end which claims that it was written by the ‘disciple whom Jesus loved’ (John 21:20, 24).

In the case of the other two gospels, the claim is that they were written by men who were closely associated with the apostles. Indeed, Luke at the beginning of his gospel says he has carefully investigated everything that has happened concerning Jesus, using those who were ‘eyewitnesses and servants of the word’ as sources.

Luke himself was not one of the apostles, but he seems to have been closely linked to the apostle Paul. For example, in Paul’s letter to the Colossians (4:14) he is mentioned as being a ‘dear friend’ and a ‘doctor’. Furthermore, some of the passages in the Acts of the apostles include the pronoun ‘we’ thus suggesting that the author was present during the events. An example is in chapter 16 verse 11, where we see the author of Acts setting sail with Paul and his companions. If we accept that Luke was the author of Acts, a probability due to the similarities, such as both books being addressed to ‘Theophilus’.

Finally, with have the gospel of Mark. He also was not an apostle himself, but in his book, there seems to be an autographical note in chapter 14 verses 51 and 52. Here, we see a young man fleeing naked after witnessing Jesus’ arrest. Could this have been John Mark as he was also known? It is a possibility, especially seeing as that in Acts 12:12 we discover that there was a prayer meeting in the home of John Mark’s mother in Jerusalem. This fact gives rise to the speculation that maybe Jesus ate the last supper in the upper room of Mark’s home, and then Mark followed Jesus and His disciples to the garden of Gethsemane. There is an early church tradition that this Mark was a helper and translator for the apostle Peter, something that is supported by Peter’s first epistle which contains at the end the words ‘my son Mark’.

So, when it comes to the authority of the gospels it all boils down to whether one excepts that those who wrote them were genuinely connected to Jesus, be it as His disciples who were with him since the beginning of His ministry, learning from Him and then being sent out as apostles with authority (Acts 1:21, 22) or as those who were closely associated with these apostles.

Ben watched as the so-called ‘badest boy’ departed. He had given the little boys a bit of a chastising. Something about an incident involving a balloon and water. In any case, for all his air of superiority, as soon as his back was turned, the boys began once again their giggling. Indeed, on the ‘badest boy’ had been out of ear shot, choice words had arisen, some of which Ben didn’t even know.

Ben was glad for the temporary order that had been instilled, giving him a little respite. It hadn’t lasted long though. He surmised that this was the problem with human authority. It was always limited. If only he could have some authority from above. That  would certainly have a lasting impact!

Cheese Substitute

Ben surmised the fare before him. The table was well spread with what you might expect for a continental breakfast; bread, butter, sour cream, a sort of runny, fruity, homemade looking jam, a kettle containing boiled water, surrounded by the necessities for making a cup of tea (except of course for the milk!), and the centre piece of a large plate, piled high with pancakes. Not the thick, stodgy kind, but rather what some might call crêpes, neatly rolled up, suggesting a delicious filling.

This was not the first time in Moldova that Ben had encountered pancakes for breakfast and so without hesitation, due to a keen appetite that had been worked up during the previous day’s exertions, he heartily filled his plate with a good selection of them. Without further ado, he smothered them in jam, adding a little sour cream, although with measure, partly because at times he suspected that it was responsible for stomach discomfort, but also in an attempt to cut down on the calorie count of what appeared to otherwise be not the lightest of meals. These type of pancakes were invariably filled with fresh white cheese, not dissimilar to ricotta, and although Ben loved dairy, he was conscientious that you could have too much of a good thing!

After his host from the church that he had been helping at gave thanks, Ben tucked heartily into the tasty looking breakfast before him. However, he quickly drew his ingestion to a halt. What he had taken for granted to be cheese pancakes, where actually potato pancakes! Ben had nothing against potato pancakes, although he wasn’t used to them, especially not covered in a homemade black current jam, with a little sour cream for good measure. The sweetness of the jam complemented the cheese in cheese pancakes well, but somehow didn’t seem right when combined with potato.

Ben took a moment to contemplate what to do. He slightly regretted his bull in a china shop approach and realised that he would have been much better off sampling the pancakes before adding the jam. Potato pancakes wouldn’t have been all that bad on their own, however Ben’s presumptuousness now meant that he was confronted with the unfortunate situation of having to eat potato mixed with jam! Not a usual combination, but it was too late and so Ben, not being one to waste food, or indeed wanting to upset his hosts, decided that he would just have to plough on.

He scraped off as much of the jam as he could, casually so as to not attract too much attention from those around him, and then he tucked in. At first, he suffered some unusual sensations in his mouth, but as he pressed on, he found to his surprise that the potato jam mixture wasn’t so bad after all. Well, this just gives a new meaning to the term ‘sweet potato’ he though to himself. By the end, the sweet potato had started to grow on him, although he felt like in the future, he would stick to eating ordinary potatoes in the more traditional savoury way, rather than creating his own play on a theme.

Cheese is a product that is not often substituted by potato, although as Ben learnt to his cost it can be! When we talk about cheese substitutes, we usually could have one of three things in mind.

The first would be substituting one particular cheese for another. A simple example is using Grana Padano instead of Parmigiano Reggiano. Why would we want to do that? Well, Grana Padano and Parmigiano are two very similar cheeses, but the former is usually a little cheaper as it is produced in larger quantities and in a more industrialised way than Parmigiano, and hence also more readily available.

The second way of looking at substitute cheese would be in terms of so-called processed cheeses. As the name suggests, this is cheese that has had other products added to it and then via various industrial processes been converted into a new, man made product that resembles cheese. A classic example would be single cheese slices or spreadable cheese. Processing cheese in this way has a number of advantages. The properties of the final product can be controlled, for example many cheeses don’t melt well, but by processing them a final product can be achieved that melts uniformly as can be seen by cheese slices, which make possible the world-renowned cheeseburger. Not only this, but the quality of the final product can also be assured, something important with regard to a food like cheese, which in its natural state is widely susceptible to environmental influences and thus the final cheese produced can potential vary greatly in terms of taste, self-life and so on.

A third reason why cheese is often processed is that cheesemaking is a very involved endeavour, needing a big investment in order to produce the milk that is then treated and matured to result in the final cheese. In many cases, this means that cheese is an expensive product. Processed cheese on the other hand, means a way of producing a good amount of product with less investment and so makes more economic sense.

Overall, one might think that processing cheese lessens its nutritional value, but actually, as has already been mentioned, processed cheese can have some advantages over natural cheeses, especially uniform quality, low fat versions and long self-life. Most cheese have a large amount of salt added in order to make them keep, so in some respects it boils down to whether we trust more the salt or the alternative preservatives.

The third approach to cheese substitutes are cheese analogues. This is where the word substitute really comes into its own. Here, we are talking about non-dairy products that completely replace cheese. An archetypal example would be vegan cheeses. These are plant-based products that have some similarities to cheeses in the way they are made, and the appearance, taste and possible uses of the final product.
Vegan cheeses can be made from a variety of sources, but soybeans, nutritional yeast and various nuts, such as almonds or cashews are common ones.  It could be argued that these are not cheeses in the classic sense, but their similarities to real cheese, is what confers to them the title of cheese. In any case, there are a number of benefits of substituting real cheese for these plant-based versions, in particularly health benefits as these products can contain much of the nutrition of actual cheese, but with less fat or salt. Also, they are good for those who have problems digesting the lactose from dairy products and there are of course many who for moral or religious reasons prefer non-animal based products.

Evidently then, there exist sufficient alternatives to cheese inasmuch that only those who want a particularly different experience need substitute cheese with potato!

Prayer

#prayer #bible #meditations #devotions

Five Italian Cheeses to try

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Marriage

It seemed like the much-anticipated moment had finally arrived.

Ben spied out of the corner of his eye a figure moving towards him. It didn’t take much for him to realise that it was Nina. She was a tall, dark haired young lady of much beauty. Ben speculated that it wouldn’t be long until she was married, and he had made his own hopes of who she might want to marry. Indeed, he had prayed many a time for and about her and had even attempted more than once to approach her and talk to her but to no avail. She constantly slipped through his fingers. It looked now though like things were going to be different.


Ben was standing next to the refreshment table as people mingled after the end of the church service. Ben wasn’t accustomed to doing much mingling, so he stood alone enjoying the atmosphere and waiting to help with clean up once people had enough of socialising and began leaving.


However, things were now changing and as a long-awaited moment approached. Ben had been unable to enter of his own initiation into a meaningful interaction with Nina, but now it appeared that after much prayer she herself was moving towards him. Ben allowed himself a brief glance as she came closer, lapping up a little of her considerable beauty, but the more he looked, the greater his heart began to pound. What would he actually say when she arrived in his presence?


This dilemma was though short lived. Nina came within a whisker of him, causing Ben’s emotions to reach fever pitch, however they were quickly diffused as Nina veered to the right to avoid collision with Ben, then opened her hand and tossed the waste paper that she had from the snacks that she had consumed onto the refreshment table, finally heading onwards and exiting the room without saying a word to Ben, not even giving him a glance of recognition.


This experience made Ben review his marriage plans!


Marriage is indeed a tricky issue. There’s the old adage that who you will marry is the second most important decision you will make (for some it might even be the first, but from a Christian point of view the decision to accept and follow God’s plan for our lives could well be considered the most important decision). In a cross-cultural setting the complexities increase as different cultures have different perspectives.


The place to start is singleness because everybody is born single and lives for at least a while as an unmarried person (even if they are betrothed!). In the western world this can be seen as a good thing as it allows the person freedom to enjoy life and invest time and energy in career and friends. In other places such as Moldova this is not the case. Here singleness is not generally viewed as a good thing and there is a lot of emphasis on getting married from a young age. This is maybe at least in part due to economic reasons as there are not many opportunities to develop a career here, so it is seen as better to invest in forming a family and it is also easier to get by as a couple, especially if agricultural work is the order of day. In addition to this, due to economic migration, the country’s population is declining, so it’s important for families to be forming and producing children to maintain the population level.


Of course, marriage is not just about practical concerns and the importance of values, companionship, love and romance probably also play their part in making marriage a prevalent aspect of a society.

In Moldova, something else that probably plays a role in attitudes to marriage is the influence of religion and faith. Christianity at both a traditional and living level is very active and widespread and it’s clear from the Bible that God’s plan is for people to live in families of one man and one woman. Admittedly, and tragically, some churches may well promote the importance of marriage as they have something to gain by it, whether financially or by affiliating an outsider to an existing church member. However, once again, beyond such practical concerns there is a Biblical teaching that God created us to have companionship and, as it says in the much-quoted words of Genesis 2:18 ‘It is not good for the man to be alone.’


In the New Testament, Paul echoes this idea at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 7, where he talks about the fact that it is good for husbands and wives to come together regularly as a way of protection from certain temptations and for unmarried people likewise to get married to avoid burning passions. He throws though something extra into the equation. The first verse of this chapter contains the words, ‘It is good for a man not to touch a woman’ and later on in verse 7 ‘For I wish that all men were even as I myself. But each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that.’  Thus, we understand that he is not promoting marriage as the only option.


In the Old Testament, marriage was very much the thing as the world needed to be populated and indeed, it was God’s plan for his people, the descendants of Abraham, to become ‘as numerous as the stars in the sky.’ By the time we reach the New Testament though, this need has already been fulfilled and the perspective begins to change.


In Genesis 1:28 God tells humans to ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it,’ however in Matthew 28:19 Jesus says, ‘go and make disciples of all the nations’. Hence, the emphasis from the Old to New testament has moved from being on physical to spiritual reproduction.


The result of this is that a Christian’s main goal in life (or at least should be!) to spread the gospel so that people convert and become disciples of Jesus. Christians can be meaningfully involved in this work, whether they are single or married thus the issue of getting married or not is more to do with our calling, as God’s plans can be served in both states, than other practical or personal considerations.

Prayer

‘Hello! Can I interest you in a personality test?’

Ben had only been out for an afternoon stroll along the High Street and certainly hadn’t been looking for any deep internal retrospection. However, the solid, middle aged man who was now standing before him didn’t look like he was going to take no for an answer.

‘It’ll take just twenty minutes and it is absolutely free,’ the man insisted.

Ben, not being one to turn down a freebie, agreed. The man gleefully beckoned him to follow and took off done a side street. This wasn’t quite what Ben had expected and so he was taken slightly aback. The man turned, realising Ben’s uneasy about where they were headed and reassuringly encouraged him with a pleasant expression and a summoning hand motion.

Ben felt strangely captured and couldn’t resist. He followed until the man stopped, opened a door and ushered Ben in. As he entered, he glanced the words on the door ‘Church of Scientology.’ This raised some questions in Ben’s mind, but it was too alte to turn back.

Once inside, Ben discovered a well laid out facility with a central table area surrounded by bookcases and side rooms. A bit like your local library. A few other people were milling around, perusing various resources which at least created a more friendly atmosphere than if Ben had been alone there. The man showed Ben a seat and put before him a couple of pages which were full of all sorts of questions.

‘I’ll wait in my office until you’re done.’

So, Ben plonked himself down and got on with it. There were all kinds of questions about Ben’s behaviour in different situations. In conflict situations I always…… give way and get myself into problems thought Ben!

Ben wasn’t one to beat around the bush, so he polished the questions off in just under the aforementioned twenty minutes and then handed them in to be graded. He then spent an uncomfortable further twenty minutes waiting for the result. At last, the man called him into his office.

‘You are very bad at communication and that’s not good because communication is life,’ was the man’s rather blunt verdict. ‘But don’t worry, I have a selection of books for sale on how to communicate better.’

Ben understood that communication is important, although it seemed a but much to say that communication is life. Surely, it’s just an important aspect that facilitates our relationships? In any case, Ben was already aware that he wasn’t the best communicator. Handy, that the man had some books for sale on the topic, but also somewhat suspicious.

‘Thanks, but I am reading my Bible and some other books at the moment.’ Was Ben’s polite refusal.

‘Well, I also have a seminar on how to communicate better next week.’ Ventured the man, not giving up.

‘Thanks again, but I’m a but busy at my church.’

This would have been the end of the matter except that the man obviously hadn’t gone to the trouble of catching Ben in order to easily let him slip away. There followed a twenty minute remonstration as the man tried to convince Ben of his need for his services and Ben doing his best to convince him otherwise. When the man had first talked to Ben, he hadn’t mentioned these other twenty-minute periods, a bit amiss of him, but in any case, Ben held his resolve and managed to escape spending any further twenty-minute periods in his presence.


Communication is life may well be an overstatement but nevertheless it is clear that it is an important aspect of our daily lives. This explains the popularity of mobile applications such as Whatsapp, which has over 5 billion downloads.

If we read the Bible like Ben, we see that communication has been important since the very beginning. Many people view God has a distant force, who maybe set the universe into motion but now isn’t involved in anyway. Others see Him as a force that pervades throughout nature. However, on the first page of the Bible we see God creating the universe and using words to do it! He said and it was!

After this, He then communicates with His creation. He talks to Adam and Eve and indeed Cain. Even after their exile from His presence, we still see that this is not the end of communication between humans and the divine. In Genesis 4:26, it is mentioned that after Seth’s son, Enosh, is born people began to call on the name of the LORD. In other words, we could say that they began to seek to re-establish the connection that they had lost with their creator.

This idea is also reinforced in Ecclesiastes 3:11 where we are told that God has set eternity in human hearts. Often people live like this world is all there is but in reality we have a longing deep down for something more, beyond the material that we see around us and hence all the different religions and philosophies that have developed as humans have sought to make sense of the world we live in.

So, in one, simple sense, we could define prayer as trying to communicate with the divine. Throughout the Old Testament we see that God communicated with His people, so knowing, consciously or subconsciously, that God is a personal God makes it logical for us to try and interact with Him.


Over the centuries, different people have approached this communicating with God in different ways.

Simeon Stylites was born in what is now Turkey around 390 A.D. Like any young man he made plans for his life, although in his case his plans were a little different to most youngsters. At the age of 13 he decided to dedicate himself to Christianity, which he understood to mean spending his time in self denial and prayer. For example, he is said to have spent at least a year and a half shut up in a small hut, much of this time spent standing in prayer. Eventually, he moved onto a new method which was to sit atop a column that he found amongst some ruins of an old building. It is said that he spent 37 years sitting atop such columns, spending his time in prayer.

Alternatively, a lady from Romania made the observation once, ‘In the hospitals in Romania everybody prays!’ This could be taken not just as a negative comment about the standard of health care in Romania but also as a remark that reflects the human tendency to turn to prayer when we have a serious problem. It’s interesting that whenever something bad happens, celebrities often put messages on the internet which include the icon of two hands clasped together in prayer.


For Christians, the person who is our example of how to live is Jesus Christ. Thus, if want to know how to pray, we need to learn from him. In the gospel of Mark 1:35-39, we see an example of when Jesus prayed.

The first thing we learn from here is that Jesus prayed! Even though he was a part of the trinity, he still needed to pray, and if He needed to pray to maintain His relationship with God the Father and Holy Spirit, how much more must we, imperfect human beings, need to pray to keep a good relationship with God.

Indeed, we know from our own human experience that by communicating with people we develop relationships and that we suffer when we don’t communicate with those we love.

Henry Martyn was a missionary to India just over two hundred years ago. In order to go out on the mission field, he left his girlfriend behind, hoping that at a later stage, once he had assessed the scene, she could join him to be his wife. Shortly after arriving in India, he wrote her a letter to propose marriage. He had to wait fifteen months for a response, and it was negative!

One can only imagine the suffering of waiting those long months for an answer. It’s natural that we want to communicate with those who we love. Thus, as Christians who love God, it’s normal that we should desire to spend time with Him in prayer and if we don’t desire this, we should start thinking about why.

The second thing that we can take from this example of Jesus is that even though He was very busy, He still made time for prayer. We see in verse 34 of this first chapter of Mark that many people were coming to Jesus for healing. Indeed, towards the end of the chapter we see that so many people were looking for Him that He couldn’t enter towns anymore. And in the beginning of chapter two there are so many in the house listening to Jesus that the men can’t get their paralysed friend through and have to take him up on the roof and lower him through the ceiling!

In the midst of all this busyness nevertheless we read in verse 35 that Jesus got up early, when it was still dark, to go to pray. This shows that it was a priority for Him. A great Christian leader of the past is quoted as having said, ‘I am so busy that I need to pray for three hours before I start the day.’ We tend to think differently, something like ‘I am so busy that I only have time to pray for three minutes.’ However, we usually find time for the things that are important to us.

Recently, at a Ski camp with Moldovan students, I decided spontaneously on the second day to go skiing (having rested on the first day). This meant I was slightly delayed as I got my equipment together. I felt that this wouldn’t be a problem as Moldovan students are not renowned for their punctuality. However, as I came out of the chalet to go to the bus, I saw it already pulling away and leaving for the mountain. In other words, usually tardy students, were right on time when it was about getting the bus for skiing!

Hence, if prayer is something important to us, we will make time for it.

Thirdly, we see that through prayer Jesus clarified God’s will for Him. Jesus is Himself also God, but He nevertheless submitted to the Father’s will (Mark 14:36). When Simon and His companions find Jesus, they are probably expecting and hoping that He will return with them to get on with work in Capernaum, but Jesus has other ideas. He informs them that His plan is now to move on to ministry in other places. This plan seems to have formed after His time in prayer. Thus, prayer is one way in which we conform our wills to God’s and discover His plans for us.

More so, it also shows our dependence on Him as instead of getting on with what we think is best, we stop and seek His guidance. Indeed, in the busyness of life, just as Jesus took time out here before making His next step, it seems like a good principle that sometimes we need to withdraw to deserted places to be free to reflect and search for the way forward.

George Mueller is a great example of some one who depended on God in prayer. He was from Germany but became a minister in Great Britain. He opened one and later other homes for Orphans. It is said that he never directly asked for money but trusted in God’s provision. One evening he confessed to a visitor to the orphanage that although 2000 orphans were staying there, they had no food for the next day’s breakfast. He began to pray. The next day they found that the necessary food was there! How? Over night a Christian in the city hadn’t been able to sleep and had felt that God was prompting him to get food and bring it to the orphanage, something that he did. Indeed, it is said that he provided enough to last for a whole month!


Assuming we understand the necessity of prayer, another question would be what should our prayers contain? There are different ideas about this, but a basic model would have four points.

The first would be adoration. To adore someone means to be focused on their qualities and to give them glory for them. How often do people for example give praise to a footballer for scoring a great goal that helps his team win the cup. Being there in the mountains of Romania it is hard to not to be in awe of the God who created it all.

Next there is confession. This is where we recognise our weaknesses as human beings and openly say in our own words what we have done wrong. A well-known Biblical example is Psalm 51, where David confesses his sin after having committed adultery.

Thirdly, comes thankfulness. This is similar to adoration, but it focuses on what God has done for us, rather than on who He is. In Ephesians 5:20 Paul tells us to give thanks for all things.

Finally, there is supplication or requesting things. In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says to ask and we will receive, although this needs to be understood in the light of what has been said above about seeking God’s will in prayer thus what we ask for might not be according to God’s plans so we might not receive it!

Five Italian cheeses

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Moldova

History

‘So, where do you live?’


Ben’s face sank. He looked incredulously at the jolly, rotund face that was staring back at him, waiting for an answer. Usually, you would expect such a simple, basic question to receive an equally straightforward response. However, not in Ben’s case. His living arrangements were complicated to explain and as such, he liked wherever possible to avoid the question. Nevertheless, it had been asked, so as always, out of politeness, Ben was going to answer.


‘Moldova’, straight away bracing himself to see which of the varied responses he was going to get this time.


A blank expression followed by a slight smirk was this time’s offering. ‘Oh, I was expecting you to say somewhere like Coventry!’


‘No, I’ve never ever even been to Coventry’, said Ben, glad at least that there had been no comment about never having ever heard of Moldova or further inquisitions about its location.


‘I’ve never heard of that. Where is it?’


Ben had jumped the gun with his gladness. He did at least have his stock reply prepared. ‘In Eastern Europe, sandwiched between Romania and the Ukraine’.


He hoped that this would be enough information. It usually was, most people having some sort of idea where those countries are, and the mention of Eastern Europe was thrown in to sure things up.

Ben had been attending his aunt’s church for a short visit and conversing with a plump young man at the end of the service. From Ben’s personal experience most people, except for those who are fans of the Eurovision song contest or European football, are not too hot on their knowledge of Moldova. Indeed, questions such as ‘where (or even what) is that?’ were frequently encountered. This young man obviously didn’t fall into the category of Eurovision or football lovers.

So, for the uninitiated, Moldova is a small country (relatively speaking as a population of around 3 million could by some standards be considered as medium sized), located geographically in Eastern Europe, although politically it has been torn between different empires.


Historically, it would appear that since well before Christ people lived in the area which includes modern day Moldova. There are various archaeologic signs of different peoples and cultures. However, this land is in an area which separates East from West and so there was much squabbling over the years as different groups invaded moving in one direction or the other.


The first signs of a more established settlement are from the 1350’s. At this time, a Vlach (the precursor people to the Romanians) ruler called, ‘Dragoș’ came with some of his people and took charge of the area forming the Principality of Moldavia, a territory which included what we now call Moldova but was much larger, incorporating much of the surrounding area as well.


There are various legends regarding this, one being that he was hunting an aurochs (extinct type of Bull). He pursued it as far as the Moldova river where he caught and killed it. At the spot where he dismounted from his horse, he realised this land was better that the Marumureș land where he was currently living so went back and brought back his people to take over this new territory.


A sad, but probably not too likely aspect of the story, is that his dog was called Molda. He was so exhausted from chasing the aurochs that he collapsed into the river and drowned. Hence the river being named ‘Moldova’ (‘of Molda’ as it were) and so the origin of the name Moldova.


This initial Moldova, or ‘Principality of Moldavia’, stretched from the Carpathian Mountains in the west to the Dniester river in the East and included much of what is now Eastern Romania and a little bit of today’s southern Ukraine.


As mentioned above, this was a much sought-after land as it was situated at a convenient location between East and West, not to mention contained very fertile soil. Thus, Moldavia was only able to retain its independence for less than 200 years. Indeed, Moldova’s most celebrated figure, Stephen Cel Mare (Stephen the great) is renowned for exactly that, defending the Moldovan territory against various attacks and so keeping it together as a whole.


After, Stephen the Great’s time (1457 to 1504) Moldova’s grip on independence waned and by 1538 it had become subject to the influence of the Ottoman empire. Since then it has had a long history of being ruled by various empires, subsequently being part of the Russian empire, Romania and the Soviet Union. Finally, in 1991 it declared independence again, creating what is today’s Moldova, a much smaller land than the Moldavia of Old, covering just the land between the Prut and Dniester rivers, having lost its western territory to what is now the Moldovan part of Romania and land in the south and North East to Ukraine.


Ben looked at his new acquaintance, who stood opposite him, obviously not really longing to become too immersed in the history of land that he had never even really heard of and certainly never thought about. Ben had no intention of foisting too much information upon him, although a brief history lesson couldn’t do any harm and indeed, knowledge of the past helps us understand the present and gives wisdom for the future.


So, Ben endeavoured to give a brief summary of the above-mentioned history, which was outwardly well received at the very least.


‘Ok, so I know a lot more about Moldova now than I did five minutes ago,’ was the reaction that Ben received to his brief history lesson. Indeed, one way or another this was the reaction he always received.


His discussion companion now turned to attend to other business and so Ben let him go without further ado, at least partially fulfilled that he had educated him in at least a little of what he knew about Moldova. He himself also turned the other way to look for another vict..…..er……willing student.

Italiancheese

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Taleggio

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Vegan Substitute for Parmesan Cheese - A way for everyone to enjoy the benefits of parmesan!

Veganism is the practice of not eating any animal related products. It can be taken a step further and include not using any products, which contain material taken from animals. This is something more than standard vegetarianism, which is generally just not eating meat. Indeed, the term vegan was born in 1944 when some members of the Vegetarian Society in Great Britain decided to give up dairy products as well and formed the word 'vegan' by abbreviating 'vegetarian', in order to refer to their new approach to eating.

There are a number of reasons why people adopt veganism. One of the main ones is due to the potential health benefits of consuming a natural, low-fat diet based on plant products. There could be other reasons, such as in the case of people who react badly to certain animal-based products (for example lactose found in milk) and so need to avoid eating them. Some people want to fight against cruelty to animals, to promote a green lifestyle, or simply belong to a religious group that believes in veganism.

Whatever the reasons for veganism, one thing's for sure and that's that it's on the rise! Statistics show that many countries in the world have at least a small percent of the population who are vegan. In Great Britain for example, the number of vegans has grown from 150,000 in 2006 to 542,000 in 2016.

Obviously, if someone converts to a vegan diet it will mean giving up a lot of the foods that they enjoy and are used to eating. However, these days, due to the popularity of veganism there exist many plants based alternative foods that people can include in their diets. Following on, we are going to look at just one example, that of a vegan substitute for Parmesan cheese.

Parmesan, the king of cheese toppings

Parmesan is a cheese well-known for its use in grated form as a topping for many dishes in order to add flavor. The authentic Italian version of Parmesan cheese is called, 'Parmigiano-Reggiano'. This is a hard cheese, which has been produced for hundreds of years in certain regions of Italy. Its hardest and crystalline texture combined with strong pleasant taste is what makes it is ideal for grating and adding to dishes as a flavoring.

Buying original Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese produced in Italy can be expensive due to a number of reasons; it can only be produced by manufacturers in certain regions of Italy; it undergoes a traditional, well-controlled manufacturing process and finally, once made has to be shipped out all over the world for sale. As a result of this, a number of cheaper alternative Parmigiano-Reggiano style cheese exist, which are cheaper and generically known as Parmesan cheese.

Unfortunately for vegans, both Parmigiano-Reggiano and these other Parmesan cheeses are all off limits as they are made using cows' milk. However, the good news is that a number of plant-based alternative Parmesan cheeses exist.

Soybeans to the rescue.

Soybeans were cultivated in East Asia long before records even began and gradually over the centuries their cultivation has spread throughout the world. Initially, their use was more for practical purposes, such as in crop rotation due to the fact that the soybean plants helped renitrogenese soil. Also, they were used in animal feed. Gradually though, people been to discover and appreciate their many other uses as a food substance.
Soybeans are an excellent source of protein and can be used as a meat substitute due to the fact that they contain a good spread of proteins, such that by consuming them someone obtains the proteins they need without having to worry too much about eating other foods. For this reason, they are a good option for vegans who are in danger of lacking proteins in their diet as a result of not eating meat or dairy products.

By boiling soybeans and then filtering the product soy milk can be produced. Yogurt or a yogurt starter can then be added to this milk, which after being left to stand in a warm place, will start to separate into liquid and solid, mimicking the process of curdling cheese. The curd produced can be used just like any other cheese, giving rise to, amongst other things, the possibility of Parmesan cheese suitable for vegans.

Almonds, a nutty alternative

As well as beans such as soy, nuts are also a good source of protein for vegans. This is good news for vegan cheese lovers as nuts can be very easily blended into a cheese-like food that can be used in many ways.

In the case of almonds, they are simply blanched (that is to say boiled briefly in water and then cooled and the skin removed), and then blended in a blender with nutritional yeast, salt, and garlic powder until a fine powder is formed. This can then be stored and used to sprinkle on food as an excellent alternative to Parmesan cheese.

Cashews, a nutty alternative to the nutty alternative

The above mentioned Parmesan cheese using almonds can just as easily be made using cashew nuts. The method and ingredients are identical except that cashews replace the almonds and so the process is slightly simpler as the cashews don't need to be blanched. It is even possible to use a mixture of blanched almonds and cashews to produce a nut combination Parmesan.

No need for vegans to miss out

As we have seen, it is quite possible for vegans to enjoy the taste of Parmesan cheese on pasta, pizzas and the like. There are a number of commercial products available that imitate well Parmesan cheese, but use plant-based ingredients such as soybean, almonds or cashews. Those of us, who for whatever reason are following a vegan diet can try out some of these commercial products to see which one is most to their liking. But, as these vegan substitute Parmesan cheese are so easy to make, it's also worth trying to make your own at home. By experimenting you can come up with your perfect combination and never have to miss out on that Parmesan cheese goodness again!


Feel free to leave below any experiences or suggestions you have regarding alternative Parmesans.

Parmigiano Reggiano

The king of cheeses!

We human beings like to categorise everything. From best to worst, from biggest to smallest, from cheapest to most expensive, you name we've got a category for it.
The world of cheese is no exception. Many paragraphs could be written discussing the smellest, tastiest or most expensive cheeses, or making top ten lists of such. However, when it comes to the category of the world's best cheese there is already an unofficial champion, who in many people's books, makes such pontifications unnecessary.

Our champion is non other than Parmigiano regiano, otherwise knicknamed the king of cheeses. Is this status justified? Following on, we will look briefly at this cheese and try to understand how it got such lofty position in the world of cheeses.

Where did Parmigiano Reggiano come from?

The question abouts origins can be a tricky one to answer in many cases, such as embarassed parents discussing with their offspring about the origin of a new baby brother or sister, or the many heated debates that rage about the origin of the universe or life on Earth.

When it comes to cheese though their origins are not usually quite so embarrassing or hotly debated. That being said, it can still be difficult to know the exact details of how certain cheese came into being.

In the case of Parmigiano Reggiano, it is believed that monks around the Parma area (hence the Parmigiano, meaning ’of Parma’) first started making a hard cheese by maturing the solid extract from cow’s milk as many as 800 or even 900 years ago. It is believed that this forerunner to Parmigiano Reggiano was not very different to the modern variety, thus it can be claimed that Parmigiano Reggiano has been a prominent cheese for at least nine centuries.

The first recorded mention of Parmigiano Reggiano is in a 1254 document in which a noble woman from Genoa trades her house for a guaranteed annual supply of 53 pounds (24 kg) of this cheese.  From then on, there are many historical and literary mentions using various different names. One famous one is in the 1351 work called, ”Decamerone” by Giovanni Boccaccio. Here a fictitious land of food named Bengodi is described, which includes a mountain of grated Parmigiano cheese! (Now, that truely would be paradise!).

How is it made?

Now, maybe you are wondering about the significance of the Reggiano part of the cheese’s name. This refers to the town of Reggio Emilia, which is not far from Parma. In the area between both towns, a very similar hard cheese was produced. Over time, it’s production spread to a few other local areas.

Since 1954, cheesemakers in these areas joined together to form the ’Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano’. This is an alliance, which standardised the production of Parmigiano Reggiano and ensures that until this day strictly controlled traditional methods are used to produce the cheese.

There are in essence only three ingredients, milk, salt and rennet (enzymes that initiate a process that seperates the solid and liquid part of the milk).

Local cows are milked twice a day (a rule is that the milk has to reach the factory where the cheese is made in under two hours). Each mornings’ milk intake is mixed with skimmed milk from the previous evenings’ milking. This milk combination is poured into copper bell shaped vats and has rennet plus the previous days’ whey (the liquid produced as a result of seperating the solids out of milk) added.

In around 10 minutes the milk coagulates, in other words the solids start to seperate out. A special tool called a ’Spino’ (sort of like a large whisk with a long, wooden handle) is used to mix the solution. It breaks down the curd (solid milk) into small granules.

This milk solution is heated to up to 55 degrees celsius, which causes the milk granules to sink to the bottom of the vat and to form one, big solid mass. This mass is skillfully removed by a cheesemaker and cut into two parts. Each half is wrapped in a special cloth and put into a wheel shaped container, which will be the cheese’s home for the next few days, until it has started to become dry and firm.

The final step is for the cheese to spend a period in a bath of salt water, in order to absorp the salt that preserves them. This salted cheese wheel is then placed in a maturation room, where it will sit for many months until it has reached the desired hardness.

A Quality Product

As you can see, this is a relatively simple process. Two of the main factors that are influencing the quality of the cheese are the milk that it is being made from and the conditions in which the cheese is produced and matured.

Along the way, the production process is strictly controlled to ensure a quality product. The cows, from which the milk is taken, are fed only on local grasses. The milk is quality controlled before use.

Each cheese is given a unique number, which allows it to be traced and quality controlled. After 12 months in the maturation room, all cheeses are inspected and only those that pass the test, are allowed to remain and be matured and sold.

The End

The final products are cheeses that have been matured for at least 18, 22 or 30 months. All are granular in structure and crumbly, but each has a distinctive taste.
They can be eaten on their own, as an accompliment to different foods and drinks, but in particularly they shine as cheeses to grate onto many dishes to add flavouring.

A true champion

Overall then, Parmigiano Reggiano, is a cheese with a rich history and due to the great care taken in monitoring its production, the consumer can have confidence they are getting a quality product.

The cheese itself is versatile, with different uses and as we have seen is produced naturally, without additives, resulting in a tasty, easy to digest cheese.
It’s not hard to see why Parmigiano Reggiano has been knicknamed the king of cheeses!

Sodom and Gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah were two ancient cities that over the centuries have become synonymous with judgement due to the Biblical story of God destroying them by raining burning sulphur down upon them as a result of their wickedness.

The meaning and origin of their names is unclear. However, from the Biblical accounts it is clear what the state of affairs were like in them. And it wasn't good!

There is much speculation about where these cities were. From Genesis 13 we see that they were in the plain of Jordan, which before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was a fertile land that attracted Lot. Also, in Genesis 14 we see that the king of Sodom, Bera, joins forces with five other kings (including the king of Gomorrah) in the valley of Siddim, which we are told is the Dead sea valley. Thus, it is not hard to reach the conclusion that Sodom and Gomorrah were near the Dead sea. Interestingly, Josephus Flavius, a famous Jewish historian, also connects the location of Sodom with lake Asphaltites, which was Greek for the Dead Sea (see chapter 9). Another interesting point is that, as mentioned, the area around Sodom and Gomorrah is described as being fertile until their destruction and today we see that the area where they probably were located is now barren and contains the Dead sea!

How Close to the Edge?

Beyond the archaeological curiosities connected to these two cities, there are a number of things that we can learn from reading about them in the Bible.

 Firstly, we see in Genesis 12:13 that Lot was living near to Sodom. However, by Genesis 14:12, when the four kings attack, we find that Lot is now living in Sodom! He started off just living near to the sinful city, benefitting from the surrounding fertile land, but ended up a little while later living in the sinful city. As human beings we are often tempted to ask ‘how close can I get to sin, without actually sinning?’. A better question would be ‘how can I stay as far away from sin as possible?’

Lot obviously thought in the beginning it would be fine to live in the plains around Sodom as it was fertile land. He would stay well away from the bad things going on in Sodom and just take advantage of grazing his animals on the grass nearby. Everything would be fine right? Unfortunately, the problem with sin is that it is deceptive. Little things that don't seem too much of a problem, trifles that we are sure we can handle, gradually allure us and as we get use to them we slowly accept more and more.

This is what happened to Eve as she found herself standing near the forbidden tree, then she entered into a harmless dialogue with the serpent, who suggested that she had got things wrong and that she was missing out on something good and before she knew it, she had committed a terrible mistake, leading to dire consequences. Likewise Lot, after having roughed it a while in tents, probably started to think why shouldn't he enjoy a bit of comfort in the city? After all, it's not like he was going to condone or get involved with what the people there were doing. However, he got too close to the edge and wasn't able to avoid falling into great problems.

A Long Way Down

We see the consequences of Lot's flirtation with the people of Sodom in chapter 19 of Genesis. Here the two angels sent by God arrive in Sodom. Lot has to invite them to his house to protect them as he is aware of the wicked tendencies of the men of Sodom. Nevertheless it is not enough to stop the men of Sodom coming to his house to try and fulfil their wicked thoughts. Lot then has to offer his daughters as a sacrifice to save the angels and is only able to get out of a disastrous situation thanks to the miracle of the angels, when they strike these men of Sodom with blindness.

More so than that, he then has to flee Sodom for his life. In verse 14, we see that his daughters are engaged to marry men of Sodom, men who think the threat of God's judgement is a joke! Indeed, Lot's daughters have obviously been deeply affected by their time in Sodom because the chapter ends with a section about how they devise (not to mention carry out!) a terrible plan to get their father drunk and then use him to impregnate them. Thus, resulting in the Moabites and Ammonites, two peoples born of incest, who later on cause God's people much strife.

There is one more tragic consequence of all this as Lot's wife decides to turn back after having reached safety and ends up as a pillar of salt after having been caught up in Sodom's judgment.

All in all then, we see that sin, no matter how innocuous it might appear in the beginning, can lead to serious outcomes. Lot's lack of attention in his own life to what was going on around him resulted in him destroying his family. Hence we need to be alert in our lives, always be aware of the harm that sin can do.

Collateral Damage

Two other spin off lessons that we can learn from here are that sooner or later God will punish sin as sin is a breaking of God's law and being a justice God, He has to punish this. However there is hope. Lot, although falling into sinful circumstances, still benefits from God's grace as the angels show him the way to avoid falling under this judgement. Likewise we human beings are all under the threat of God's righteous judgement for our sins but there is hope because God provides a way out for those who trust in Him, even if we have fallen into bad circumstances.

Secondly, and sadly, some people even when warned of God's judgement and offered a way out, just treat it as a joke. Lot's son-in-laws could have fled too and then lived a happy life with their new wives but unfortunately they preferred to linger in the darkness of Sodom and suffered the consequences.

Liverpool vs Wolves

Life Lessons from VAR. 

 Human beings are funny old creatures. In the past, when watching football highlights, there always used to be lots of debates. He was offside! No, he wasn't. Yes, he was. Or Look at that! The ref has made a blatant mistake. They were robbed!

So, after many years of such arguing and with the development of technology, a natural and logical solution to the problem arose, ‘Why don't we just use video technology to correct the mistakes?’

 It seems to make sense. A lot of the controversy is a result of the fact that so many matches are televised and the people analysing them have access to all sorts of video replays. So, why not give the people officiating access to said replays when they are judging so that they can make the right decisions?

 A Tale of Two Goals 

Well, in yesterday's Liverpool vs Wolves match, there were two interesting incidents. Firstly, the ball was played forward and it looked like it bounced off the attacker’s arm into the path of a second attacker who scored. Not only that, but the defender who played the ball forward also appeared to touch it as he got it under control.

However, using video replays someone was able to check and come to the conclusion that in the second case the ball came off the shoulder and in the first it was inconclusive and so didn't merit being penalised. Maybe these were the right decisions although with regard to the goal it could be considered unfair as there were suggestions that the whistle had been blown and so the defensive players eased up, thinking that a free kick was going to be given (debatable though, as some of them at least continued playing).

A few minutes later, Wolves went into attack and scored an equaliser to make up for this first incident. Or so they thought! The equaliser preceded to be ruled put for offside. On the video replay, it could have only been offside by a fractional margin, so called millimetres as it were! It seemed harsh, especially considering what had happened moments earlier when a goal had been given because there was no conclusive evidence against it.

 Expert Analysis 

The interesting aspect to all this was that during the highlights programme, the football pundits spent their time debating the ins and outs of all this. Thus, technology was introduced to stop all the debating and arguing about different decisions, but all it has done has been to transfer the debating and arguing from one subject to another. Instead, of discussing the rights and wrongs of the referee’s decisions, the experts spend their time bemoaning technological mishaps and controversies.

 It would seem that this says something about human nature. Decisions in something like football, which is fast paced and not clear cut, are always going to be subjective. There are some things that are obvious such as a direct elbow to the face or a man being a yard offside but what about when two men are practically level? It's then just down to camera angle and the straightness of computer drawn lines. Likewise, many fouls are open to interpretation so it doesn't necessarily help seeing it 10 times from 20 angles as it's a matter of opinion. Did he catch him or not? Was it intentional?

 In other words, somethings are down to how we interpret the situation, something that is never unbiased because we are all influenced by the circumstances around us, or indeed in us, so surely it's better to let the referee make his mind up and just go with that. Indeed, in many situations our first, instinctive decision is often best (how many students have regretted changing their original answer to an exam question!). In any case, human beings are fallible creatures and so, even with video technology, mistakes can be made.

 Anyone up for a good argument? 

There is another aspect to this. It would seem that it's human nature to criticize and be negative. This whole VAR situation arose because in the past many refereeing decisions were taken to task for being wrong. But we could have just been positive and accepted that mistakes happen because that's human nature and accepted them. Trying to use technology to eradicate mistakes isn't going to happen because it is ignoring the source of them.

 The mistakes are not simply a result of the fact that the referee hasn't seen something clearly but rather there are many complicated factors, not all of which can be avoided by watching video replays.

 Play to the Whistle 

Beyond the debate about the strengths and weaknesses of the VAR system, there is another lesson to be learned from this particular match. Wolves, the team seemingly wronged by the VAR decisions in the first half, could have let their heads go down and give up due to frustration. However, they didn't. Indeed, based on the highlights, they were the better team in the second half and came closed to scoring. Liverpool didn't have any good second half chances and the match could easily have been a draw.

 So, here we learn that in life, even when some thing doesn't go your way, it's not a good idea to just give up. If we keep going, we still have a chance and actually some times, things can work out better than expected!