That’s SOOOOOO Cheesy!!!

Job 10:9-12

Remember, please, that You have made me like clay. And would You turn me into dust again?
10 Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?
11 Skin and flesh you put on me, and wove me with bones and sinews.
12 Life and kindness You have bestowed on me, and Your visitation has preserved my spirit.

 

YHVH has blessed us so much with the ability to milk our own cows and make our own cheese. 

There is a HUGE difference between the milk you buy in the states at your local store 

and fresh, straight-from-the-cow milk, not so much in taste(even though there is a BIG difference),

 but rather in quality and in nutrition as well. The stuff you buy at the store is 

ULTRA-homogenized and sometimes even worst, ULTRA-pasteurized(NO GOOD for cheese making!!!) 

Anyway, we like making cheese. We would like to make many different cheeses, but since
we don’t have all the necessary tools(like a thermometer), we can’t.

 However, there are cheeses that we can make here, and one of those cheeses are made 

from a dear husband and wife halfway down the mountain. They are a very sweet couple and love

 to read and study YAH’s Word. They also have a bunch of cows and get a LOT of milk, SOOOOO….

THEY MAKE CHEESE!!! This cheese that they make is what some would call here ‘Tico Cheese’. However, just like any cheese, or rather put, ANYTHING anyone does or makes, they will do

 it just a bit different then the next person. We have probably had 7 different types of tico cheese 

just from the couple of families that we know in Costa Rica. In fact, every time you make cheese, 

it will turn out just a little different, even if you do it exactly the same every time!

Anyway, here is how they made cheese!

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The 1st thing you do of course is milk the cow(LOL). We don’t have a picture of them

 doing it but here is Christopher with the cow getting ready to milk.

 

Once you get the milk, you can do 2 things to it. You can either make cheese right away, 

or wait for 8-12 hours until the cream has settled to the top. Now, if you take the cream off the top, 

you can make butter or cream cheese or sour cream or etc.., but if you do it will 

decrease how much cheese you make. So sometimes we take the cream off and sometimes we don’t.

Now, in this cheese, there is no fancy starters or mixers or really any of that stuff. 

All that you need to begin to make it into cheese is rennet.

When we were thinking about writing this post, Christian made an amazing point 

about how our lives are in fact very similar to this cheese:

Our lives are very similar to this cheese. Just like the milk, we appear to look white, 

we appear to be clean. But just like the milk, we are mixed in with this dirty, yucky sin, 

and we may not even know it. But just like the rennet(which is a reddish color), 

the blood of Yahshua allows us to be able to separate from the dirty, yucky sin. 

Next we have to wait about 30 minutes for the cheese to set. Just as the milk takes time to 

become cheese, so we take time to cleanse ourselves from the unrighteousness of this world. It isn’t an overnight thing. It takes time to become that perfect, white, set-apart person that YHVH wants us to be. 

But little by little, day by day, YHVH through the blood of Yahshua changes us and begins to make us holy.

Once the cheese has set, we have to mix the milk around, and then put 

boiling water into the cheese and let it settle to the bottom and come together. 

And just like that cheese having to be mixed and stirred and have boiling water poured on it, 

so we have to go through tests, trials, and tribulations. We have to be shaken so that 

we can be made better, so that we can become more like what YHVH wants to be day by day.

Then, after the cheese has set, we have to cut the cheese into 4th’s, take one of these pieces of cheese,

 and then squeeze as much whey as we can. We will see an amazing thing that happens later.

Then the cheese has to be cut up in your hands to about pin-size pieces. 

After that, we put salt in it. And just like the cheese has to

 have salt in it to have flavor, so we are to have salt in our lives. Yahshua said:

Matthew 5:13

“You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt becomes tasteless, how shall it be seasoned? 

For it is no longer of any use but to be thrown out and to be trodden down by men. 

 

Without salt, cheese is bland and not very good. 

And without salt in our lives, we are not useful for YHVH’s purpose.

Amen!

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Before we go on, we want to say that this couple has been very gracious to us. 

They love to speak and study the Word of YHVH. But because they like to

 study so much and like to ask questions, they have gotten in trouble with their church. 

They see how their church isn’t preaching YHVH’s Word and that the church is 

falling well short of where the Scriptures teach that they should be. But just like any people 

here that we have preached to, they do not want to leave the church because they 

feel like they have a duty to go to the church. Pray that the blinders can be completely 

taken away from their eyes and pray that they can be able to take off the holding that their church 

has on them. Pray that they can learn how to follow YHVH fully. They love to study YHVH’s Word, 

so just pray that they can come to embrace and fully see what is in the Scriptures. 

 

 

This is a really interesting press that they made. All it is 4 pieces of wood made into a box, 

another piece of wood for the ‘follower’, which helps squeeze the cheese, and 2 2x4 pieces of wood. 

Then, on the end of the top 2x4, they have a notch that they made into the end of the wood and put 

a sack filled with rocks and press it down! It’s that easy! Most of the presses we see online are

 either very fancy, very expensive, or both. This was an easy press that cost almost NOTHING to build!

Next you put the cheese into the box, press it flat with your hand,

 put the follower on it, and then put the press with the sack of rocks on it. 

Let it sit 12 hours or overnight and TaDa! You have made Tico Cheese!

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Now, if you paid attention, you would have seen how the cheese

 was pressed twice, once with your hands and once with the press. This is really cool.

 Did you know that we are and will be separated from this world twice? 

The 1st time happened when we accept the blood of Yahshua. When we accept the

 blood of Yahshua, we are Spiritually separated from this world, as Yahshua says:

John 15:19

“If you were of the world, the world would love its own. 

But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out 

of the world, for that reason the world hates you.

 

The 2nd time we will be separated from this world is when YHVH 

creates a New Heaven and a New Earth. There we will be physically separated

 from this world and the whole Earth will be re-made and perfected. There no man will sin. 

We will become perfect, set-apart, and white(clean), without spot or blemish!!!!!

Revelation 21:1-5

And I saw a renewed heaven and a renewed earth, for the former heaven 

and the former earth had passed away, and the sea is no more.
2 And I, Yohanan, saw the set-apart city, renewed Yerushalayim, coming down 

out of the heaven from Elohim, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the heaven saying, “See, the Booth of Elohim is with men, 

and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be His people, 

and Elohim Himself shall be with them and be their Elohim.
4 “And Elohim shall wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death,

 nor mourning, nor crying. And there shall be no more pain, for the former matters have passed away.”
5 And He who was sitting on the throne said, “See, I make all matters new.” 

And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and trustworthy.

HALLELUYAH!!

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And here is the finished product!

May YHVH bless you and may we one day be 

able to have ‘Cheesy Fellowship’ together too!

Until next time…

Shalom! 

The Montanez Family 

Servants and Emissaries of Yahshua, Children of YHVH 

HalleluYAH!

P.S. Someone just asked me where we got the rennet to make this cheese. I know that in Costa Rica you can get it at most supermarkets but I don't believe it will be quite so easy in the states.

 There is an amazing place online called 'New England Cheesemaking Supply Company.

Their website is http://www.cheesemaking.com/

They have EVERYTHING you could possibly find to make just about any cheese you want. 

They also have all the cultures, rennets, and things like that

 to make things like yogurt, sour cream, kefir, etc.
Hope that this helps!

Costa Rica Sukkot 2012

Shalom Mispocha in Messiah! I pray that you are being blessed
wherever you are and that YHVH is using you for His Glory. 

It is always a big blessing for Sukkot to come around, physically and spiritually.
Before we go into what we did, let us look into the Scriptures and
see the passages where this great Feast of YAH is found:

Leviticus 23:34-36, 39-43

“Speak to the children of Yisra’el, saying, ‘On the fifteenth day of this
 seventh month is the Festival of Booths for seven days to YHVH.
35 ‘On the first day is a set-apart gathering, you do no servile work.
36 ‘For seven days you bring an offering made by fire to YHVH. On the eighth day there 
shall be a set-apart gathering for you, and you shall bring an offering made
 by fire to YHVH. It is a closing festival, you do no servile work.

‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you gather in the fruit of the land,
 observe the festival of YHVH for seven days. On the first day is a rest, and on the eighth day a rest.
40 ‘And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of good trees, branches of palm trees, 
twigs of leafy trees, and willows of the stream, and shall rejoice before YHVH your Elohim for seven days.
41 ‘And you shall observe it as a festival to YHVH for seven days in the year – 
a law forever in your generations. Observe it in the seventh month.
42 ‘Dwell in booths for seven days; all who are native Yisra’elites dwell in booths,
43 so that your generations know that I made the children of Yisra’el dwell in booths
 when I brought them out of the land of Mitsrayim. I am YHVH your Elohim.’ ” 

Deuteronomy 16:13-16

“Perform the Festival of Booths for seven days after the ingathering 
from your threshing-floor and from your winepress,
14 and you shall rejoice in your festival, you and your son and your daughter, 
and your male servant and your female servant, and the Levite, 
and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow who are within your gates.
15 “For seven days you shall observe a festival to YHVH your Elohim 
in the place which YHVH chooses, because YHVH your Elohim does bless you 
in all your increase and in all the work of your hands, and you shall be only rejoicing!
16 “Three times a year all your males appear before YHVH your Elohim in the place which He chooses: 
at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and at the Festival of Weeks, and at the Festival of Booths.

In the time of the building of the 2nd temple there
was a great rejoicing when they found this command:

Nehemiah 8:14-17

And they found written in the Torah, which YHVH had commanded by Moshe, 
that the children of Yisra’el should dwell in booths in the festival of the seventh month,
15 and that they should announce and proclaim in all their cities and in Yerushalayim, saying, 
“Go out to the mountain, and bring olive branches, branches of oil trees, and myrtle branches,
 and palm branches, and branches of leafy trees, to make booths, as it is written.”
16 So the people went out and brought them and made themselves booths, each one 
on the roof of his house, and in their courtyards and in the courtyards of the House of Elohim, 
and in the open space of the Water Gate and in the open space of the Gate of Ephrayim.
17 And the entire assembly of those who had come back from the captivity made booths 
and sat under the booths, for since the days of Yeshua(Joshua) son of Nun until 
that day the children of Yisra’el had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. 

In Zechariah it states that in the end of days that if a gentile(of the nations) does not
 come up to Jerusalem for Sukkot, that person will not have any rain in their land:

Zechariah 14:16-17

And it shall be that all who are left from all the gentiles which came up against Yerushalayim, 
shall go up from year to year to bow themselves to the Sovereign, 
YHVH of hosts, and to observe the Festival of Booths.
17 And it shall be, that if anyone of the clans of the earth does not come up to Yerushalayim 
to bow himself to the Sovereign, YHVH of hosts, on them there is to be no rain. 

Yahshua also came to the earth on the Feast of Sukkot:

John 1:14

And the Word became flesh and pitched His tent(Tabernacled, Sukkot!) among us, 
and we saw His esteem, esteem as of an only brought-forth of a father, complete in favor and truth.

And finally, in the end of days, 
YHVH will send down the New Yerushalayim like a Booth:

Revelation 21:2-3

And I, Yohanan, saw the set-apart city, renewed Yerushalayim, coming down 
out of the heaven from Elohim, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the heaven saying, 
“See, the Booth(Sukkot) of Elohim is with men, and He shall dwell with them,
 and they shall be His people, and Elohim Himself shall be with them and be their Elohim.

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This feast is a true blessing from YHVH. This year we were blessed to be able to host it,
 thanks to your gifts, YHVH’s blessing, and the McDaniel’s allowing us to use
their houses here in Costa Rica. May YHVH bless you for all you have done! 

Now, saying that, it does take quite a bit of work to have any type of gathering, especially one
 that lasts 8 days. It can take anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of months to get prepared, depending on the size. Since we didn’t know exactly how many people would show up,
we got prepared in advance. One of the things that is important, of course, is food. And lots of it.

 

For the feast we made a Hispanic meal with rice, beans, and tamales.
It takes a lot of work, especially the tamales, but YHVH has blessed us
 with the bodies and the provision to make things possible!

Thank you YHVH for able bodies!

 

Psalms 111:5

He has given food to those who fear Him; He remembers His covenant forever. 
 

 

Psalms 90:16-17

Reveal Your work to Your servants, And Your splendor to their children.
17 And let the pleasantness Of YHVH our Elohim be upon us, 
And confirm the work of our hands for us; O confirm the work of our hands!

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Another VERY important thing is transportation. In our case it is much more difficult
since the people that wanted to come don’t have any type of transportation.
But thanks to YHVH’s provision through someone’s gift, we were able to rent out a man
who had a pickup truck that was big enough to bring all the people. Without that gift, my dad would have had to go down himself, bring some people, and come back up. Then he would have had to do it again,
and probably again. That is a lot of gas, but more importantly it doesn’t give him
 an opportunity to speak YHVH’s word as much as he could because he would
be going up and down all day bringing people up and down the mountain.
But again, we thank you SO MUCH for your gift, not that we had to have it, but rather:

Philippians 4:17

Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that is multiplying to your account.

Praise YAH!

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Micah 4:2

And many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of YHVH, 
to the House of the Elohim of Yaʽaqob, and let Him teach us His ways, and let us walk in His paths.
 For out of Zion comes forth the Torah, and the word of YHVH from Yerushalayim.”

 When we read this verse, the 1st thing that we think of is the physical mountain in Yisra’el. 
But it also has a Spiritual connection as well. And it is really cool to read that verse and think, 
“Wow! These people are from the nations, and they are coming up the mountain to learn YHVH’s Word!”. YHVH has blessed us so much, physically and spiritually!
 

Our Sukkah.

 

Psalms 67

1 Elohim does favor us and bless us, Cause His face to shine upon us. Selah.
2 For Your way to be known on earth, Your deliverance among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim, Let all the peoples praise You.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy! For You judge the peoples uprightly, 
And lead the nations on earth. Selah.
5 Let the peoples praise You, O Elohim; Let all the peoples praise You.
6 The earth shall give her increase; Elohim, our own Elohim, blesses us!
7 Elohim blesses us! And all the ends of the earth fear Him! 

2nd Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is breathed by Elohim and profitable for teaching, 
for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness,
17 that the man of Elohim might be fitted, equipped for every good work.
 

YHVH’s Word is always good. He tells us that it is the perfect way(Psalms 18:30),
that it is straight(Psalms 33:4), that it is the Good News(Acts 15:35), and that we are
 blessed by doing and obeying it(Just Read Psalms 119 and you’ll see what I mean)!

He also tells us to teach them to our children in Deuteronomy 6:

Deuteronomy 6:6-9

“And these Words which I am commanding you today shall be in your heart,
7 and you shall impress them upon your children, and shall speak of them when you sit in your house, 
and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up,
8 and shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.
9 “And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. 

HalleluYAH!

Psalms 127:3

Look, children are an inheritance from YHVH, The fruit of the womb is the reward. 

 

YHVH’s Word is always a blessing, it restores our souls and makes our minds stronger.
It is the sword with which we use for battle against the Adversary and it is our Daily Bread.
Without the Whole Word of YHVH we could not, we cannot be
what YHVH wants us to be, a servant and emissary for Him.
May YHVH be praised for all that He has done!

Pray for each one of these men, women and children. Pray that they learn to love,
serve, trust, and obey YHVH and follow the testimony of Yahshua. Pray that they can
 be the messengers of truth and that the whole world can come to know YHVH’s Glory!

 
This is where Abba has brought us as we surrendered to do His will and not ours.
Now we do our best with what has been provided by YHVH Yirei, Our Provider.
Pray for our servant family. Without His provision multiplying every gift we can’t continue
 the Journey and teach by our testimony and the Word of Elohim.

Until next time….

Shalom! 
The Montanez Family
Servants and Emissaries of Yahshua, Children of YHVH
HalleluYAH!! 

The land of Brotherly Love! Part 4 of ? Week 3

Heb 13:1 

Let brotherly love(Philadelphia) continue. 

Shalom brothers and sisters in Messiah! 

Praying that you all had a blessed and peaceful Shabbat.

We got back to the farm this week but I wanted to finish 

showing you some of the things we did and saw in Filadelfia. 

Sooo... here we go!

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Songs of Solomon 2:11-12
 “For look, the winter is past, the rain is over, gone. 
12  “The flowers have appeared in the earth; The time of singing has come, 
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.

YHVH's beauty is amazing! He made some incredible things, didn't he?

 From the trees that give fruit, to the flower bushes, His beauty is EVERYWHERE! HalleluYAH!!

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While we were there, we taught them how to make a few recipes, cooked and raw.
But by far everyone's favorite thing was....

 

 MUFFINS!! We made muffins 4 times on the trip. 

Everyone loved them and Briana had enough 

left over so she could take some to school everyday. Yum!!

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Then it was time for Shabbat. My mom is a good bread maker, 

but she doesn't make Challah when we are at the farm

(Mrs. Suzanne McDaniel does it most of the time). 

So she doesn't have a ton of practice braiding the challah just right. 

But finally the 3rd time she made a challah that she would let me take a picture of(☺).

 

 John 6:35,47-48

 And Yahshua said to them, 

“I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall not get hungry at all, 

and he who believes in Me shall not get thirsty at all.

47  “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me possesses everlasting life. 

48  “I am the bread of life.

 

Spending Shabbat together. And we had a visitor once again. 

Psalms 133:1

 See how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity...

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The next day for lunch Mrs. Ramirez made...

SOUP!! It was cooked on the fire so it made it even better tasting.

After that, my parents and the Ramirez's went out to go look for a car. 

They have one but it isn't very big and they needed another one...

This van was "interesting". This "big" old van that can fit a bunch of people, 
with tires that are, well... not very big... Haha!!

By the time bro Ramirez came with the sales person dad had this Chevy Sold to Mrs. Ramirez! 

But we had to "switch" to a less expensive Hyundai.

She liked this one a lot, but, well, 

let's say it was a "wee bit" too far out of their price range,

 like I don't know, DOUBLE the price!! 

Sooo... this car is still for sale... ☺.

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There was one other thing we did in this 3rd week we were there.
We played...

  

 PINGPONG!! Yep on the dinning room table with candles as the middle. 

My dad, Briana, and I were the ones that played most of the time but by the end of our trip Christopher, Briana's oldest brother Alfredo, and one of his friends got into the act. 

It was a lot of fun!

Well, another week had past and we only had a couple more days to go. 

But these last few days were really good.

That though will be the next blogpost. 

Until then...

Shalom!
Christian Montanez Dodd

Servant and Emissary of Yahshua, Child of YHVH

HalleluYAH!!

The land of Brotherly Love! Part 1 of ? Week 1

Heb 13:1 

Let brotherly love(Philadelphia) continue. 

Shalom brothers and sisters in Messiah! 
Forgive me for not blogging in a while but I am going to try to do better. 
Anyway, on to what we have been doing!

We have left our little house in the forest and have gone for a little trip to the land of brotherly love, Filadelfia(Spanish for Philadelphia). We are staying with the Ramirez family. 
They have blessed us so much by letting us stay at their home. We have been sharing a lot of our experiences with them and have been talking about what we have learned the past 3 years. We have been blessed by them as much as they have been by us being here.


On to the pictures!

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My wonderful mother and her beloved sister Lorena making bread(YUMMY!) Maybe sisterly love fits better! I just also saw the bread and seems to fit "sisters of the bread", Yahshua the "Bread of Life", get it? It was also Challah 101. Toda sister Moira your ministry has reached Costa Rica. HalleluYAH!

Proverbs 31:10-12, 28-31

Who does find a capable wife? For she is worth far more than rubies. 

11  The heart of her husband shall trust her, And he has no lack of gain. 

12  She shall do him good, and not evil, All the days of her life.
28  Her children shall rise up and call her blessed; Her husband too, and he praises her: 

29  “Many daughters have done nobly, But you have risen over them all.” 

30  Loveliness is deceptive And prettiness is vain, A woman who fears YHVH is to be praised. 

31  Give her of the fruit of her hands, And let her works praise her in the gates.

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The Shabbat Table

Getting ready to start Shabbat with the Ramirez's and Lorena's brother.

Now for my 2nd favorite part about Shabbat

(besides reading Torah and resting), 

DINNER and DESSERT!

White sauce Lasagna with chicken

Lemon Moose(SUPER YUMMY!)

Shabbat Breakfast: Watermelon, bread with Jelly and Cream Cheese, and Banana-Pineapple muffins.

YUMMY!!

Getting ready for the Torah Portion, the spiritual food.

My beautiful mother!!! Love you Mommy! She is ALWAYS happy, even when she doesn't look like it...

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 The next day we went to the Tempisque river. 

It was a beautiful day outside so we went fishing and spent time see all of YHVH's creation!

Psalms 98:8

Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy before YHVH...

                                                   

We are glad that there were no Crocs! This river has a history of crocodiles but there weren't any, but there are quite a few birds by the river...

                                                   

  Fish for "dinner"... ok maybe not. 

We have tried twice for 10 hrs combined and have caught 3 little fish like this.

I think the fish are smarter than us... LOL

                                                                      

This is one of the best pics of Shalom. YHVH's creation is unbelievable!

Talking Scripture with my dad. 

Young men and women, 

if you want to learn how to live your life, 

go to your parents to find the example. 

They may not be perfect, but if they try to live and walk like Yahshua,

then you will find the answer to your situation.

Have more pictures to put on soon! But for now...

SHALOM!

Christian Montanez Dodd

Servant and Emissary of Yahshua, Child of YHVH

HalleluYAH!!