{Book Review} Forgotten God by Francis Chan

Once again Francis Chan makes you think.

I really enjoyed Chan's first book "Crazy Love", and this book is just as good. Chan has a great talent for getting you to take a hard look at yourself and see areas in your life where you may not be living according to what the Bible teaches. The great thing is that Francis doesn't preach hellfire and brimstone, or yell at you, or guilt trip you, or try to make you feel bad about yourself. He instead invites you on a journey to explore what the Bible says with him, and if you read along you tend to find that Chan is not doing much more than just talking about what is already there in the Bible for us to read.

In his new book "Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit" addresses (As you can guess by the title) the fact that today we dismiss the role of the of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. The Holy Spirit has the ability to live in all of Christ's followers, but how many of us, actually allow the Spirit to do that? In the book, Chan covers: why we need the Spirit in our lives; explores reasons why we may not engage the Holy Spirit or may feel uncomfortable with the idea; surveys the theology of the Holy Spirit; makes sure we want the Holy Spirit in our lives for the right reasons; talks about what a right relationship with the Holy Spirit looks like; dismisses the idea that a relationship with the Spirit will reveal God's plan for our life; and discusses what the Church could look like if we all lived with a right relationship with the spirit. Also Francis finishes each chapter with a short biography about someone who is or has lived a very Spirit filled life. Suffice to say he covers a lot of ground.

Despite all that is covered, the writing is very accessible, not technical or full of obscure theological terms or jargon. This is a book that can be easily understood by just about anyone, and I am sure it will challenge many, as it did me. This book has made me take a serious inward look at my relationship with the Holy Spirit and my motives relating to the Spirit. I encourage you to pick up a copy and give it a read yourself.

Duck Tails (Woo-Hoo)!

I have wanted to cook a duck for a very, very long time. In fact last holiday season I found one in the frozen poultry section of my local supermarket and I bought one. And I stuck it in the freezer and it sat there…under frozen pizzas…and frozen taquitos…and popsicles until this weekend, when I gathered the gumption and nerve to cook that bad boy..er mallard.

The first thing that surprised me was the nice thick layer of fat that ducks have under their skin. I knew this caused a problem in duck cookery as said fat tended to melt fall and then burn in the cooking process producing much smoke. The suppliers of my duck had been nice enough however to slice the skin open and cut into the duck fat in certain areas enough to allow for fat drainage.

Now I had read of certain applications where you boiled the duck first to rid it of its fat before crisping it in the oven. I thought of this, but then I thought it increased the amount of pans needed and I would hate to lose flavor form boiling my duck. Sounded like an awfully English/Irish way of cooking my fowl. And I thought I could do better.

Due to the outer layer of fat on the duck I knew there wasn't going to be much need for lubing or basting it also presented limited options for seasoning. I went with a straight forward liberal sprinkling of kosher salt and pepper all other the thing. I decided to keep it simple as this was my first experience.

After prepping, I then placed the duck on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Set into a preheated 375 degree oven and cook for 20 minutes per pound, in my case two hours.

I was left with a delicious bird with tasty moist meat, and a pan full of drippings.

The fat of the bird literally melted off into the pan, causing some smells of smoke at first, but eventually a lovely pool of fat formed that sizzled away any drips of juice from the bird.

I served the duck with some basmati rice, keeping it simply. A duck is basically all dark meat so the meat from the leg was as tasty as the meat from the breast. And I tried not to overcook as I always heard overcooking duck is bad. The cooking directions on the bag the duck came in said 22 minutes per pound. I shortened it a little bit and just made sure to check with a thermometer before serving. Juices were clear so I was in the clear. After dinner I got as much meat off as I could so that I can make duck tacos later…..should be yummy.

I plant to cook duck again, and hopefully get a little more creative too. Also my big plans a goose, during Christmas!