History-Cookbook Fundraiser

Hello All! As readers know, I rarely mix my pastoring and youth leading with this blog as it is my personal blog, but since so many of you heard about the youth group's fund raising history-cookbook Mary Ann and I spent most of the summer working on (and some of you even sent us recipes for it!) I wanted to take a moment to announce: "It is here!" (The applause is resounding, especially from this house!)

If you want to read more about More Treasures Under the Oaks, or request a copy via PayPal (you don't have to have a PayPal account to do so), you can do so at our fellowship's web page: http://www.truelifecf.org/cookbook.htm. We are asking for a $12 donation per book, and all proceeds from the book go to the youth group and the outreach work we do to local youth (neither Mary Ann or I or any individual receive anything for this book). The postage is a little steep for a single copy, but because of our rural location we can't go to the post office to weigh individual orders so we are using flat rate priority envelopes and boxes. Of course, and I mean it!, don't feel any, any pressure to request a copy.

The book turned out wonderfully, and I don't say that because Mary Ann and I wrote it and typeset it. Simply, God's hand was on it. It is 224 pages of local history and photographs and recipes, with a special, large section on outdoor cooking (barbecuing, grilling, Dutch oven, smoking, etc). Many of the stories we recorded have never been in print before as God led us to interview old timers who have since died or moved and whose stories have never been written down in the past. In many cases these old timers gave us their scrapbooks with photographs never published before and told us to take them for as long as we needed and use what we wanted from them. God is woven throughout the book in scattered verses and the section titles, plus multiple of the articles and other writings. We have received wonderful feedback on the book so far, and it is exciting to me to hear how many people are reading it cover to cover who have never set foot inside the church building or will never hear me teaching or read my blog. It is exciting to realize they will read verses from God's written word, hear the story of a Creation-Scientist with a PhD in Evolutionary Biology who used to be an avid anti-Christian and evolutionist (a recipe from him is in the book), read how our area is not a slice of Heaven, but a shadow of Heaven, all as they read stories of treasures, wild-west shootouts, pioneer life in our area, and so much more! To God be the Glory! Whether or not you get a copy, please keep this in prayer as both a wonderful fund raiser for our youth, and as a door into people's hearts and homes in the region that otherwise might have stayed closed.

BBQ

The original book, when it was the
Dry Bones Youth Group (now it is the True
Life Youth Group).

Outdoor cooking fans, we need your help!

Normally I don't cross the line between this, my personal blog, and my place as the pastor and the youth leader of True Life Christian Fellowship, but Mary Ann and I are reprinting and expanding a fundraising book we did for our youth group about 10 years ago and I would value your help. The original book was filled with recipes, history, old photographs, historical anecdotes, and so much more. It was a real "treasure" as many of the photographs were never before published, and of the 15 people we interviewed for it, 10 have either moved or died since then.

Well, the book has been out of print for many, many years, and since so many people have asked for it (and our youth group needs funds!) we are going to reprint it and add about 60 new pages of photographs, history, and recipes. The emphasis of the recipe portion of this new section is going to be something our area loves to do—cook outdoors!

So, here's what I need—if I can get enough of you to help out, I would like to put in a couple of pages of outdoor cooking tips, tricks, and recipes from other parts of the country (or even the world). Would you consider, please, sending me your favorite outdoor cooking (BBQ, grilling, dutch oven, smoking, deep pit, etc.) recipe, tip, trick, etc. I think it would be so neat to give the book a flavor of what comes from other states and countries (and for the youth to see such support). I am not just looking for recipes, but also the tips and tricks and art of outdoor cooking. So, maybe it isn't you, but it is a family member who excels at this type of cooking. Would you consider sending me your, or their, recipe, tip, trick? It could be for the main course, or something else you grill (like veggies), or a special marinade or rub or seasoning.

You can send them to me in a comment. Remember to follow the comment process all the way through, including the verification step. There is a tab at the top of the blog that helps walk you through the comment process if you have trouble. Please include your name, and the region you are from (i.e., east Texas, central Oklahoma, etc.). If you have a little fun information about the recipe or tip to include I would value that (i.e., "My grandpa always made this on Veteran's Day and he got it from his father," etc.).

Thanks so much! I won't publish these comments, but I will post a comment thanking you. If you don't see that within a few days please try again. You can also try and send it to me at my email: emar (at) tcsn (dot) net. You can replace the words in it with the proper symbols, it is written like that to protect against computer spammers.

Note: This book is completely not for profit as True Life Christian Fellowship is a 501 (3) (c) organization. All money from the book goes to the youth group and helps make the outreach we do to local youth possible. You can learn more about the cookbook project by clicking here.