The 700 Club - September 5, 2011

Welcome to The 700 Club. For today's top headlines, let's go over to the CBN News Desk. Gordon, Tropical Storm Lee never became a hurricane. In fact, now it has been downgraded to a tropical depression. But the storm has had a major impact on folks along the Gulf Coast and beyond. Here is Charlene Israel. Lee brought bands of heavy rain and strong winds, pounding parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. Many spent the holiday weekend shoveling and bagging sand. Flooding swamped many who live in low lying areas. This is a subdivision, and you can look here now. It's all flooded. You've got people walking in it, and boats and everything back here. It's just overwhelming, a lot of water. The storm dumped more than a foot of rain in New Orleans. Six years ago, Hurricane Katrina swamped the city when the levees failed. This time they were prepared. We are expecting 15 to 20 inches of rain in the New Orleans region as a result of the tropical storm. And as all of us who have been through this know it is not how much we get, but it's how much we get in a short period of time. At least 10 tornados touched down across the region, including one in Biloxi, Mississippi, that nearly killed this woman. She watched from her car as her mobile home was flipped upside down. It was unbelievable! It was just like nothing I've been through before. It was terrible. Parts of Lillian, Alabama, looked like a war zone after a tornado roared through the area. I thought we were dead. We couldn't breathe. I thought we were dead. It came like a freight train, real fast; and it came through, and then it was gone. Forecasters say Tropical Storm Lee is expected to slowly make its way across the southeast and head north as it continues to pack a lot of rain with it. Charlene Israel, CBN News. And turning overseas, the worst typhoon in seven years has hit Japan. At least 26 people died when Typhoon Talas hit the country's west coast. Floodwaters, landslides, and collapsed bridges have stranded another 3,600 people. Heavy rains and strong winds are expected to continue because of the storm's slow speed. The United States Postal Service could be forced to shut down. The postmaster general tells the New York Times that the agency may default if Congress doesn't bail it out. The postal service's losses are mounting. The Internet has led people and businesses to send messages by e-mail or other more convenient ways. The post office also has expensive contracts with unionized workers. Labor represents 80 percent of the agency's expenses. Stocks fell internationally today. Investors worry that the debt crisis will get worse and could spread globally. Italy is one of the Eurozone countries with the biggest debt problems. Italian leaders promise to find ways to cut spending and balance their budget in two years, but they've haven't said how they'll do it. Analysts worry that Italy could fail to make its payments and fall into a serious crisis. The European Union would have to try to bail Italy out, but it may not have the financial resources to do it. We'll be back with more of The 700 Club right after this. Stay with us. Over the past year, millions of Americans have lost their jobs. Steve and man were among them. With six kids to feed, money was tight. Then Steve and Janice made a decision that defied logic and multiplied their money. Steve and man know from experience that when it comes to finances, life can turn on a dime. Our income went from, oh, possibly about 150,000 down to maybe 40.  Steve is an independent remodeling contractor and a board member of a local bank. In the summer of 2008, the bank eliminated dividend payments for board members, and the construction industry dried up as well. It's just like everything shut down. And the phone quit ringing. The jobs quit coming in. I didn't get calls for anything. So we were hit really hard.  In addition to tithing to their local church, the Zimmermans had also pledged 10,000 dollars to CBN that year. But with six children, three of them in college, Steve didn't see how they could do it. I wanted to hunker down. That was my first impression, was to hunker down, to pull in, to turn off the lights, to quit eating so much, whatever it took.  But Janice knew they had to keep their word. I would just say, "Steve, we made a pledge for 10,000 dollars. We have to follow through with it." And I knew it was just a matter of time until he finally was able to relinquish it to the Lord and say, "Okay."  Steve and Janice knew the family would have to make sacrifices in many areas. Our spending changed dramatically. I started clipping even more coupons. I'd look for all the sales and shop for the sales, for the food and clothing, everything.  Eventually, Steve got on board with Janice. So I just sort of abandoned everything at that point and said, "Yes, let's just go for it. Let's just give where we said we were going to give and see where God is going to make up the difference."  Then, in early 2009, Steve got a call from Terry, his former business partner. Twenty years ago, we had worked together, for several years. So he called me up and said, "Steve, I don't have any employees anymore. Things have really changed, but I need help. I've got jobs. Let's work together again." Within weeks, Steve and Terry were back in business together. The phones started ringing again. And they were not just little jobs. They were big jobs. And they were with great people. And they're still flowing in.  The Zimmermans' experience reinforced what Janice believed about God's faithfulness. I knew He would always come through. I did not have any doubt. We wanted to increase our faith, to believe for even more miracles in our lives.  And it has helped Steve to look at giving a little differently, too. That has been a faith boost for me, to not be in the hunker-down mode, and to say, "God is bigger," and to not just say it, but then to trust that it can come out of nothing. He creates out of nothing, so He can bring finances out of nothing.  He can. He can bring finances out of nothing. He is a creator God. He knows how to do that. He knows how to give creative ideas. For many of us in these economic times we live in today, it seems hopeless. You look at your retirement fund and your 401K has turned into a 201K, and you wonder, "Can I ever retire? Can I ever have that good life that I thought I could have?" Yes, you can. With God, all things are possible. He's able to do things. The issue is, are you putting Him first? Or are you putting your retirement first? Are you putting your good life first? One of the things about difficult economic times is it enables us to get our priorities straight. And one of the priorities we need to have straight, is God first? If He is, then you can count on Him. But if you've got Him in second or third or fourth, or even fifth position. Are you counting on other things? Are you counting on your own ability? Are you counting on your job? Are you counting on your business? What are you counting on? Are you counting on your bank account? Put your trust in Him. And this is what happens when you do. It's from Isaiah 35, "Waters shall burst forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty land springs of water." This is what God can do in a journey through the desert. He can enable a spring to come out of a rock. He can have springs, rivers, in a desert, if we only let Him, if we only believe, if we'll only trust Him. Now, the children of Israel tested God in the wilderness. How did they test Him? Because they started imagining in their hearts, "Well, can He make a table here? Can He bring meat here?" If you can imagine this, they actually got tired of eating manna. And so they tested Him. And the Bible says don't do that. The only place where we get to test God is in our tithes and offerings, to see, will He do this? Will He open in windows in Heaven and pour out a blessing we cannot contain? Now, Steve and Janice learned it. They learned it the hard way. They made a pledge. They made a commitment to God. And then things got difficult. But they fulfilled it, and then God came through in ways they couldn't imagine. That can happen to you. So let today be the day where you say, "Okay, God, I'm going to put you first, and I'm going to put you first in my tithes and offerings," and then watch what He does for you. Terry. Well, on a recent trip to Zambia, I met a young girl named Sevina. She became an orphan when both of her parents died of AIDS. But today, Sevina has a new home and new hope for her future. Sevina lives in Macha, Zambia, where she was raised by both of her parents until she was three years old. My father gets sick of AIDS, and then he died. Her mother died when she was five. Not long after that, Sevina moved into a new boarding school built and supported by Orphan's Promise. The new dorms were drastically different from the small mud brick huts in the village. This is a typical home in here Macha, Zambia. This is where most of the kids that live at the mixed boarding school would have come from. And you can see every square inch of this approximately ten by ten house is in full use. One bed, no matter how many people there are in the family. So can you imagine when a child goes to the boarding school what an amazing thing it is for them to have space of their own, belongings of their own? A bed of their own is an unimaginable thing. Sevina was proud to show us her room. (To Sevina): Do you guys talk to each other at night? Yes. What do you talk about in here? We say that now we have to read nicely so that we can be a good girl at the end of the day. Wow! So you encourage each other here, huh? You tell each other to make good choices. Yes. That is great. (Reporting): While we spent time with Sevina, we didn't realize it, but she was about to make a big decision. (To Sevina): And God's going to give you a vision for what He wants you to be, and what He wants you to do. And He'll show you if you ask Him. If you ask Him in your heart, and just say, "God, I want to live for you. Show me what you want me to do," then He'll show you. And He'll guide you. Have you ever invited Jesus into your heart? No, you have not? Would you like to invite Jesus into your life? Yes. Yes. Well, can I do that with you? So Sevina, just pray with me. Just say, "Lord Jesus." Lord Jesus. "I want to know you." I want to know you. "And I want to give my life to you." And I want to give my life to you. Because of this Christian school, Sevina has a comfortable home and a relationship with Jesus Christ. She's learning about God, and she's also learning computer skills and English so that she can have a brighter future. (To Sevina): You know what I think? I think that your mom would be very proud of you today. I really do. I think she would say, "My girl is so brave, and she is so smart, and she is so strong, and she is going to have a wonderful life." Do you think she thinks that? Yes, I think so, too. I think so, too. Sevina is one of many children around the world who through your gifts and through your love are finding out that God loves them, that He has a plan and a purpose, and they are a part of it. We want to thank you for helping us to meet not just their physical needs, but also their spiritual needs. You do that when you are a part of The 700 Club. Will you join with us today to continue to touch lives like this? Our number is toll free. It's so easy to be a part of what we're doing. It's 1-800-759-0700. Sixty-five cents a day, 20 dollars a month, makes you a 700 Club partner. Will you call and join now? And when you call, if you'll say you want to do it through Pledge Express, that's electronic monthly giving. It means your bank does all the work and you have none of the hassle. But it saves us a lot of administrative costs so that we can put it right into helping kids just like Sevina. And when you do, our way of saying thank you is to send you "Power for Life" teachings each month. This is our gift to you for becoming Pledge Express donors to The 700 Club. I love this one. It's called "The Power of a Pure Heart." Sevina has a pure heart, and now a heart that understands how much God loves her. Thank you for caring. Gordon. Well, coming up, the night Mary Scanlon decided to kill herself. I remember thinking, "I just don't want to do this anymore. I just want to die. I don't have anything left. I just might as well just give it up." And there was nothing left of me. See what convinced her to live, up next. Coming up later, bring your family back to the dinner table. I'm trying to give you as easy as possible. Why did you look at me when you said that? With a Sunday feast to die for. That melts and creates something beautiful. Wow! And then you call Jenny Craig. Sample the rest of the menu, on today's 700 Club. Oh, wow! That's a wow. That's like layers of flavor. While Mary feeds her two young daughters, she also helps feed needy families around the world. While Bob hands a drink out to a co-worker, he helps give water to villages with new wells. And while Carl builds a house for his son's new puppy, he helps rebuild homes in disaster areas. These people all have something in common. They're CBN partners who have joined Pledge Express. I hope you'll consider joining Pledge Express, too. It's a way to simplify your own life while speeding help to others, all at the same time. There are no checks to remember or stamps to buy, and your gift goes to work faster, helping those who need it most. So join us and change the world for someone today. For three days, Mary Scanlon was beaten, drugged, and tortured. But when she was rescued by the cops, things got worse. Childhood conjures up memories of love and protection, not for Mary Scanlon. Mary's relationship with her mother made growing up in Minnesota more like a nightmare. If she couldn't get the comb or brush through my hair a lot of times, I'd end up with it being broken over my head. As a kid, when you're having things that are broken over your head, the more that you're hit over your head, you start getting more and more broken inside. I felt very unwanted, very unloved, abandoned, rejected. There were many, many times that I was told that I should have never been born. Mary didn't care who her friends were, as long as they made her feel like she belonged. The kids that wanted to accept me were the wrong crowd, and so I grasped at that because they were showing me attention. As an 11-year-old, Mary took her first drink, but soon alcohol wasn't enough. By 12, she was smoking marijuana, and in her teens, she began using cocaine and LSD. And Mary's poor choices weren't limited to drugs and alcohol. I was so desperate. You'd be amazed what desperation can do to a person. And so I chose the wrong men to be with and found out the hard way after being beat or verbally abused or abandoned or whatever, that all it did was cause a lot more pain. By 23 she had been married, had three children and divorced. For a while, she quit using drugs because of her kids, but she still drank daily. Mary began dating a drug dealer who got her hooked on methamphetamines. The one thing I can tell you about meth is that there's only two ways it makes you feel: either homicidal or suicidal. But it takes such a hold of you that quick. One day a rival drug dealer kidnapped Mary. He assumed she was a police informant and took her to his trailer for questioning. For three days tortured her. He laced her water with large doses of methamphetamines, hoping she would talk. It didn't work and finally he gave up. After he had overdosed me on the meth, he dumped me off back at my apartment in Princeton, which is where the police found me babbling incoherently. I was crouched in a corner. Mary was taken to a mental hospital. Child services took her children away and placed them in foster care. After three days, she was released. I could not deal with my children being taken from me. I had lost all my income at that point because of the meth that I had been doing. I lost my income, my family, my friends, my home. I was just about to lose my home, my apartment, everything. And I didn't have anything left. And so I dealt with it the only way that an addict would know how to deal with it. I went out on a drinking binge. I got pulled over for my second DUI in less than six months, and I was brought right to jail. And so I remember thinking, "I just don't want to do this anymore. I just want to die. I don't have anything left. I just might as well just give it up." And there was nothing left of me. She was planning her suicide when another inmate invited Mary to a chapel service. Mary was skeptical, but agreed to go. They began this church service telling me about a God by the name of Jesus who would accept me for who I was. And I remember looking at her and telling her, "Lady, you don't know what you're talking about. I'm too dirty for your God. I'm too full of sin. There's no way your God would accept me." And she looked right back at me and she said, "You don't know our Jesus." And so when I got back to my cell, all I could think about was the words that the lady was telling me at the church service. And I remember thinking, "I want to believe what she said so bad." And I said, "Okay, Jesus. If you really do exist, come on in and save me." And He did. The only thing that I can tell you to describe what happened next is that little tiny cell was filled with such a presence of the Lord, of Jesus, that all I could do was just drop to my knees. And I just started crying and crying and crying. And I heard the audible voice of the Lord and what He told me as He was holding me was that, "I don't care what your sin was. All I care is that you came to Me." And then you couldn't keep me away from those church services. They saw the change in me immediately. They were like, "Wow! What happened to her?" And I'm like, "I've got the Lord. You know what, I've got to tell you all, He's alive. He's real. I've got to tell you what happened to me." But that was just the beginning of the changes to come. One of the first things the Lord did, because I was looking at violations of probations and all these charges, and I was looking at a year and a day, which would have been women's prison. And He took that year and a day and He gave me 40 days to do it. Five months later Mary received a phone call from Child Services. It was a miracle she never thought possible. And the woman says, "We don't know why we're doing this. It goes against our recommendations and against the judges' recommendations. But we're going to court order your children back home." And I lost it. I cried and cried like a baby and just got on my knees. And I was just thanking the Lord, because I knew there was no way my children were coming back home for any other reason other than the Lord intervened. With God's help, Mary immediately quit drugs and alcohol and began to rebuild her life. She's been clean for ten years. That void, that hole I felt inside of me all that time, growing up and feeling rejected, and abandoned, unloved and unwanted, all of that was filled the moment that I came to know the Lord Jesus and received Him as my Savior. It was just like I was just complete then. The one thing that nobody could ever take from me is my conversion to Christianity and my relationship, the closeness that I have with the Lord Jesus. And that's what I cling to. Rejection. Abandonment. Unwanted. Unloved. No place to belong. You know what the Bible says? When your mother and father forsake you, the Lord will take you up. He puts you in His family. It's not lonely there. It's full of warmth and love and truth, power, power to let go of addictions, all kinds of them. And you know what? You don't have to get good enough to come. You just have to choose. You have to say yes to the invitation to belong to God, to let Him invade your life. It can be a little scary sounding. But let me tell you, He's the only one who's got what you're looking for. He is the answer to your emptiness. He's the answer to your rejection. He's the answer to the woundedness of your heart. When you have those things resident inside of you, you make a lot of foolish choices trying to fill the emptiness, trying to feel loved, trying to figure out why you're here and what life is all about. When you finally hear the message that there is a God who loves you, that He wants you just the way you are, that's a hard thing to accept. Why would He want us? Because He created us to have relationship with Him. And though life sometimes buffets us about, confronts us with ugly things like rejection and abandonment, He never leaves us. He never forsakes us. The invitation to come is never rescinded. You can't get too far away from God for His love not to be able to reach you. So the question isn't really about God. It's not about whether He's real, whether He loves you, whether He's willing to accept you. The question really is on our side. Will we accept Him? Will we surrender who we are to Him and let Him make something amazing out of our lives, out of our garbage, really. He specializes in that. He takes what the enemy meant for evil, and He works it for good. Your good, the good of your family, the good of the body of the Christ, the family of Christ. He can do that for you, too. It's not just for some. Whosoever will may come. Will you come today? Will you come home to the Father heart of God? He's been waiting for you all this time. Pray with me. Just stop what you're doing. Do what Mary did. Pray with me. Invite Him to show Himself to you. Let's pray together. "God, I want to know you. I want to know that you're real. I want to give you all of my garbage. I cannot understand why you would want that, nor do I understand at this point in my life why you would still love me. But I've run out of options, and I want to thank you for waiting. I want to thank you for loving me even when I was doing my own thing, hurting myself, hurting others. Today I want to change all of that. I don't know how you do it. I don't even know everything I should know about who you are, but I know I need you. So, God, will you look down into my heart and my life today and know that I'm giving it all to you? I'm asking you to forgive my sins. You know every one of them. They are many. I'm not asking you just in a blanket way, I'm asking you specifically for everything I've done that's wounded me, that's wounded others, that's been against your way. Please forgive my sins. I'm also asking you to come into the center of my being as my Savior, but also as my Lord. Take who I am. Take everything that I have, everything about me, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I give it all to you, and I'm asking you, God, to make something significant out of my life that matters for you. Teach me how to think your thoughts, how to live for you, how to make right choices. I'm just asking you to take my life and make it matter. Fill me with your Holy Spirit. There is a lot in me that needs to be changed. I'm willing. I give it to you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen." If you've just prayed that prayer, then we have something we want to send to you that will help you grow in your new relationship with God. What do you do now, now that you've invited Him into your life? This packet is called "A New Day." I love that title, because it's what it's all about. And it's filled with information about how you can begin your new life in Jesus Christ. This is also absolutely free. If you'll call our toll free number, 1-800-759-0700, just say, "I just prayed that prayer, and I'd like the 'New Day' packet." We'll send it out to you right away. Gordon. Still ahead, a woman sat down to dinner at her sister's house. And that's the last thing she remembered. When I come to myself, I said, "What's going on? Did we eat dinner?" And she said, "Yes, we had dinner. But it's been two weeks since that dinner." Find out what happened during that missing two weeks, right after this. Daddy? Yeah, buddy? How many nickels are in a dollar? There are 20 nickels in a dollar. How do birds fly? Does milk really make my bones stronger? Yeah. Yep. Daddy, when we die, will we go to Heaven? Do you have the answer to life's biggest question? Call the 700 Club. We'll help you find answers to the important questions life brings your way. Welcome back to the 700 Club. Israel's defense establishment will carry out an emergency drill this week. They will be simulating an enemy attack on Israel's nuclear facilities. WYNET News reports the drill will be a test to see what could happen in a worse case scenario. A missile strike on the plant itself or the area around it. The plan came about after an earthquake and tsunami damaged a nuclear reactor in Japan earlier this year. CBN's Orphan's Promise is changing lives in Ukraine through summer camps for children in orphanages. Orphan's Promise has sponsored more than a dozen camps for children of various ages. The children participate in crafts and other activities. They're also taught there is a God who loves them and has a plan and purpose for their lives. And you can find out more about what CBN is doing around the world by logging on to CBN.com/international. Gordon and Terry will be back with more of The 700 Club after this. If you feed them, they will come. That's the idea behind my Sunday dinner recipes. Today's menu includes eye of round roast and my ultimate scalloped potatoes, so bon appétit. Today we're cooking Sunday supper. We want to encourage you to just re-imagine the kitchen and how you can have Sunday suppers with your family, with friends. Invite people over. And I'm trying to give you as easy as possible . . . . Why did you look at me when you said that? Because I just want to acknowledge you're here. Thank you. Okay. Do you do Sunday suppers? Sometimes. It depends on whether everybody is there or not. At my house, they're often . . . . Gone. . . . . gone. On Sunday? Well, sometimes. It depends. It depends. But we try to. But if you had this kind of food . . . . Ooh, I'd be there . . . . . . . . would they be there? . . . . or be square. They'd be there, right? Yes. They all call about 3:30 and say, "What's for dinner?" See, food is a tremendous attractor of people. Yes, it is. And if you feed them, they will come. What are we cooking today? Today, we are going to have eye of round. We're going to have what I call my "ultimate scalloped potatoes." And we're going to have a pea and caramelized onion recipe. And for dessert, we're going to have a wonderful apple tart. Okay. All right. You ready? I'm ready. Eye of round. Now, a lot of people cook their meat at very high temperatures. You hear that a lot? Yes, I do. You know, when you set it up to 400 degrees? I kind of came to this gradually that it's much better to cook low and slow. Okay. So what you do this, 325? I actually do it at 200. No way! Yes. And you'll see the result. For two weeks? No, I'm just kidding. No. It's an hour and a half cooking time total for a three-pound. Really? Wow, that's amazing. And your prep time is really easy. First, you take salt. I've got about a teaspoon and a half here. And you just sprinkle. This is sea salt. I like the flavor. You sprinkle this all over. Then you take some pepper. Do the same. Make sure you get a coating. Then you're going to take some olive oil, and this is what the thyme is going to adhere to. And then you take the thyme in a classic rub. What gets it its name is you're not sprinkling, but you're doing that. You're also getting your hand on it, and you're rubbing it in and you're getting everything all happy. You turn it over and do the same. This becomes your top, and some eye of round comes completely trimmed. This is a very lean piece of meat. So if you have the fat, it will add more flavor to it. So, how easy is that? So you do this whole thing on both sides, what you just did? Right. Okay. How easy is that? That's easy. Is that easy? That's easy. Okay, put it on a rack. Put it in the oven. That's a three-pound cut. Twenty minutes a pound at 200. And then you turn the oven off. Oh, and you leave it in there. And you leave it in there for another half an hour. Okay. Okay. And this comes out. Now, how I get color when you're cooking this low is you take that first into a heavy sauce pan, and three minutes aside at very high heat. And that gives it this color. And then you cook it low and slow. And it comes out looking like this. And then when you carve it, what you get is medium rare all the way through. That's perfect. So the sear colors it, sears it down just a quarter inch. And then you get a perfect color all the way through. Now, that looks good. That's horseradish. That's horseradish sauce. Oh, yes. Okay. All right. That's one dish. That's easy. That's perfect. It's mostly in the oven. Very little work, very little prep. Yes, after you do the little bit of prep work, you're . . . . You're done. . . . . hands free. Okay. Okay. Next is scalloped potatoes. And I call this the ultimate scalloped potato. This actually takes a lot of work. So you need them as soon as you get them, right? So what I do is I break out a trusty mandolin. This is a great piece of kitchen equipment. It's not that expensive. And instead of being labor intensive, you just use that over the guard. Put this here, and . . . . Wow! I vote for that. That's great. And half a potato gets knocked out in 15 seconds. And you've really got nice thin slices. And each slice will be uniform. That ends up looking like this in a bowl. And you come over here. You're not trying to be fancy with this, because it's all going to be covered by cheese and cream. You just want to space it out in the bottom. And you're going to have so many potatoes, you're going to create four layers of this. All right? Simple so far? So far. Here comes a complicated step. You take leeks. You ever had vichyssoise? Yes. Love vichyssoise. What I've done is combined this sort of the flavors of vichyssoise and put them in with scalloped potatoes, where you take cream and the white part of the leek. You take these into a saucepan with a little bit of butter, and you just sweat them. You try to get some of the flavor out just in the butter. And then you take three cups of cream, heavy whipping cream. So this is not a low cal. A nice lightweight meal. This is a we are trying to a hit the homerun on this dish. Put it all in a blender. And you're trying to take these down to a smooth consistency, so you won't ever bite into a piece of leek. You just get the flavor. I see. Okay. You're trying to create sort of a mini vichyssoise sauce to go into the potatoes. Then I've got three different cheeses: Romano, Parmesan and Gruyere. You put the Romano on first, and this whole quarter cup goes the first layer. Try to do it evenly. You then put another layer of potatoes on. You pour on the cream, then a layer of Gruyere. Another layer of potatoes and cream. A layer of Parmesan. Another layer of potatoes, the final bit of cream. And then you press it all down to make sure the cream has gone everywhere. Literally. With your hands. And then do the final layer of Gruyere on top. And that melts and creates something beautiful. Wow! And then you call Jenny Craig. Whoa! Okay. It took me years to develop this recipe. I kept experimenting, experimenting. And this is at the end of all my experiments. I've done some others where you use roasted garlic in it, too. If you want to experiment, roasted garlic is a good experiment. This is sweet peas, frozen . . . . I'll get this out of the way, so we can see this. . . . . with caramelized onions. And here is a trick that I learned actually from a restaurant chef: never buy fresh pearl onions, because they're so labor intensive to take the skins off. If you buy them frozen, they're already peeled for you. Oh, that's great. And so you just get them in the freezer section, and you get the peas in the freezer section. Frozen peas are always better than fresh, because the fresh is never really as fresh as they say it is. And the two combine together into something beautiful. You take the pearl onions, put them in a heavy skillet with half a tablespoon of sugar. And you cook it at a medium heat. You just keep moving them around? You keep moving them around until the sugar caramelizes on the outside. That's beautiful. And you get that beautiful look. And these are caramelized pearl onions, and this is a taste treat. You get the onion flavor, but that sugar . . . Yes, that just kind of, mm. And it comes in caramelized, and it's wonderful. It looks wonderful. This is really good. Now, here is a French secret. You take the peas, you pour it in. Again, a half tablespoon of sugar . . . . Really? . . . . in the peas with a quarter teaspoon of salt, with half a stick of butter cut into small little pieces. And you just let it sit there for two hours and get happy. It's looking real happy right now. And what the sugar and salt does . . . . What do they do? . . . . is it helps draw out the flavor from the pea, and it sweetens the pea. And then this is all you need to cook. Put two tablespoons of water in the bottom of the saucepan, pour this in there, cover it. Stir it once in a while and cook it for 15-20 minutes. And it will be beautiful and sweet and fully cooked. The real calling card for this, kids love to eat these. I was just going to say, this could make a child who is not a veggie eater go for it. They just will love them. And you combine the caramelized pearl onions with the peas. And it looks beautiful, and it tastes marvelous. Fabulous. This is one of the best. You ready to try it? I am always ready to try it. All right. I'm going to get you some warm potatoes to go with all of this. Ooh, thank you. Move this maybe over here. Oh, look at that. Wow! No wonder you make your own scalloped potatoes. We had scalloped potatoes growing up. It was one of my favorite things for Mom to cook for me. And I just loved them and thought that they were wonderful. I like them, too. I haven't had them, when I think about it, since I was a kid I don't think. Can I taste that first? Yes. But the Gruyere really adds the flavor with the Parmesan and Romano. Oh, wow! That's a wow. That's like layers of flavor. Mm! Excelente! Okay. All right. You're going to go for a . . . . Caramelized onion, with the peas. Mm. Oh, that's a great combination. Isn't that good? Mm-hm. And with the roast, it really adds a whole other flavor profile to it. Make sure you slice it thin. You don't want a thick slice, because eye of round can get a little tough. Here is one of my favorites. This is a French dessert. That's delicious, Gordon. And the French really know how to do tarts. And it's a real simple one. It's a simple crust you make for yourself. You don't bake it in a pie pan. You just put it on a cookie sheet. You roll it out into a circle, and then you crimp up the edges. Really? You take a couple of Granny Smiths. You take them, you peel them, you core them, you cut them in half, and then you slice thin. You just create a circle around the edge, and then you fill in the center to make it look like a flower. And this is a crowd pleaser. And you serve this with a scoop of ice cream, warm, and you'll have them coming back for more. Wow! And then you finish it with some apricot jam thinned with a little bit of water, and that gives it that beautiful sheen. The apples coming out of the oven will look a little brown. When you put the apricot jam on top, it just gives it a beautiful thing that really works. It really, really works. All of these recipes are available on CBN.com. They're available right now. You can download them, and you can do the prep work necessary. This one takes a little more prep time than the other meals we've been showing you this summer, but it's worth the effort. And once you taste the scalloped potatoes, you understand just how big of a wow this can be. So do it. This weekend, say, "We're going to have some food of love on Sunday. We're going to have an old fashioned Sunday dinner with roast beef and scalloped potatoes." Yum. Still ahead, a woman wakes up from a dinner party two weeks later. She said, "You've had probably about 100 seizures in two weeks." But the worst was yet to come. Now they literally said that at the age of 30, she will die. How she proved them wrong on today's 700 Club. son was a young wife and a mother of two toddlers, but sometimes Brenda couldn't remember the names of her children, even when she was looking right at them. More memory losses continued for six years, along with epileptic seizures, until Brenda decided to put a stop to them for good. It began with a small headache. Twenty-four-year-old son dismissed the pain, blaming it on fatigue. The last thing she remembers was sitting down for dinner at her sister's. When I came to myself, I said, "What's going on?" And I said, "Did we eat dinner?" And she said, "Yes, we had dinner, but it was two weeks." She said, "It's been two weeks ago since that dinner." She said, "You've had probably about a hundred seizures, gran mal epileptic seizures, in two weeks." I started to move, and I couldn't move. I was paralyzed. And she said, "Your speech has even been paralyzed." She said, "You've tried to talk to us for two weeks, and you couldn't talk, because the seizures paralyzed your speech." Two weeks, including several visits to the hospital, had vanished from her memory. She was diagnosed with gran mal epilepsy, which brought on violent, debilitating seizures. The seizures were difficult for her whole family, including her husband, Dan. Five or six men couldn't hold her down when she was having one, because it was almost like she was super strong, because her muscles and all would be so tense. The doctor that Brenda saw had told her that a bruise on her brain was causing the seizures. According to him, Brenda would never heal. They told my husband that I would die at the age of 30, that my heart would not hold up to the convulsions, nor my kidneys. And so they literally said that, "At the age of 30, she will die." Brenda longed to live a normal life. Instead she lived in fear, never knowing what would set off the next seizure. She could drop something and just fear would run all over me. Or a door could shut, and fear would just run all over me that I wasn't there maybe to catch her, or she was having a seizure or she was hurting herself or something like that. And I lived for six years in fear. Brenda says she lost all hope. Do you know what it's like to watch your two children sit on the floor and them babies, and I'm watching them, and I don't even know their names, because it takes my memory? Do you know what it's like to convulse and hurt from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet and not be able to move? She could only think of one solution: suicide. I sat down at my table with my bottle of pills, with my tablet and my pen to write, and a bottle of water. And I was going to write Dan a note. And I had it set up to where the only one that would find me would be Dan. But Brenda never even got the chance to write the suicide letter. And as I sat down to write, they didn't knock. They burst in my front door. My mother and my sister walked in. And my mother had her Bible in her hand. And she slammed it on the table, and she looked at me, and she said, "The Lord woke me up in the wee hours of the morning and told me that you think today is your death day." She said, "But this is not your death day." She said, "This is the day that you start living." Brenda's mother prayed with her, and Brenda rededicated her life to Christ. Inside of me, an audible voice spoke and said, "You're healed. The hindrance is gone." I knew that God had healed me. I knew it was His voice. Brenda was 30 years old when she heard God's voice and the seizures stopped, the same age doctors said she would never live to see. Brenda now has a new doctor. In the nine years I've known her, we've had no seizure activity and no treatment for the seizure activity. I still have people to this day waiting to see me have a seizure. It will never happen. It will never happen, because what God does, He does permanently. Yes, He does. He does permanently. One of the great things He does permanently is to make sure that we will be with Him for all eternity. It's the great miracle, the miracle of salvation, where you know that you will be with Him. "I know that my Redeemer lives, and I will stand on the earth and see Him face to face." It's my favorite time of the program, where we get to pray for you. All you have to do is believe. All you have to do is believe. "These signs shall follow them that believe. They shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." These are the words of Jesus Christ, and you'll find them in Mark Chapter 16. Here are some other words from Him. You'll find them in Mark 11, "When you stand praying, believe that you have already received, then you will have it." When were your sins forgiven? They were forgiven 2,000 years ago when Jesus died on the cross. When were your diseases healed? Same time, 2,000 years ago. Believe that you have already received, and you will have it. Look to Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith. Here are some reports from people that have been healed. Here is Audrey from Wilmington, Delaware. She was in a bad automobile accident. Doctors told her that severe nerve damage and poor circulation in her legs would be a permanent injury. Physical therapy for a year didn't help. She went to pain management treatments, but still hurt constantly. She required a cane to be able to walk. This continued for five years. Then one day she was watching The 700 Club, and Terry, you had a word of knowledge about someone with pain in the lower back: "It extends down your hip and into your legs. Move your hips around and you'll find it's completely free. It's gone. You don't feel the pain anymore." Well, as Terry was speaking, Audrey placed one hand on her back and claimed the healing. Within a few days, the pain was completely gone. In fact, for the first time in years, she has danced in the Spirit in her church. Praise God. That is a miracle. That's awesome. This is Linda. She lives in Fayetteville, Tennessee. She developed a sore throat. The infection quickly moved into both ears and created a blockage. Because of that, she had a difficult time hearing anything unless it was very loud. Her doctor diagnosed a bilateral ear infection and she underwent two weeks of shots and oral medication. While her left ear cleared somewhat, her right ear seemed to get worse. She was referred to a specialist. He wanted to insert a tube in her ear. One day she was watching this program when, Gordon, you had a word of knowledge about someone with a blockage in the right ear that was causing loss of hearing. You said Jesus was healing the condition, so Linda claimed the healing for herself. When she awoke the next morning, her ear was no longer blocked. She could hear normally. She has canceled any further doctor appointments and is praising God that she's been healed. Praise God. Just believe. Just believe. In an act of faith, lay your hand on that area of the body that needs healing. If there are people watching with you right now, could you ask them, "Would you come lay hands on me?" Let's pray. Let's believe God. The Bible says, "Ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking. Knock and keep on knocking." Keep asking until you have your breakthrough, and let today be the day where you have your breakthrough, where you look to Jesus. Look to His finished work on the cross and realize He did it all. He took it all. There's nothing more to be done but to receive. Let's pray. "Lord God, we just lift the needs of the audience to you right now. And as people are laying hands on that area of the body that needs healing, we join together with them, and we say out loud, be healed and be made whole now, in Jesus' name." There is a woman, you're laying your hands right in the middle of your chest where the esophagus is. You've had burning. You've got problems with the flap from your stomach back to your esophagus. There's been just intense heart pain, and just when I said that word burning, it left you. You've been healed, in Jesus' name. The lining of your esophagus is restored. You are healed. You can eat anything you want from this day forward. Be healed now. There's someone else, you've got blockage in the right ear. You heard the testimony, and you're saying, "Please say it again. Please say blockage in the right ear." And so God has heard your cry and He's saying it right now. In Jesus' name, let that ear be opened now and be healed. Someone else, you've failed a stress test on your heart. You've been having angina and pain, and you're really worried about what's the next step, and you're looking at surgical options and more examinations and ultrasounds and other things to find out what's wrong. God knows, and right now He's healing your heart. And that pain is leaving you now. And go back and get yet another stress test and realize you have been healed in Jesus' name. Someone else, you have a compromised immune system, and the whole interior of your mouth is just filled with painful canker sores. God is touching and healing that. By the end of this day, you will have them no more. And someone else, you've had multiple back surgeries for problems with the discs and the vertebrae in your back. And you have some chronic pain because of that. And you've really been told there is nothing doctors can do about it. But the Great Physician says today that He is healing you and that pain is going to gradually leave until it's gone. Someone with a scalp condition from psoriasis. You've been healed. And your liver has been restored as well, in Jesus' name. Amen. If you've been touched by God, we want to share in your good report, so call us: 1-800-759-0700. We leave you with these words from Psalms . . . . . . . . "Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass." God bless. Here at CBN, we see amazing things happen when we stand together. That's why we want to say thank you to the thousands of you . . . . . . . . who recently pledged to join the 700 Club. Your monthly gift makes it possible to bring crucial help to those who need it most. You help heal the sick, feed the hungry . . . . . . . . and preach the Gospel across America and throughout the world. You've brought health and hope to people in desperate need. And changed their lives forever. Young Tsun Tsun was beaten by his abusive father since he was a small boy. When their house was destroyed in an earthquake, Tsun Tsun left his home and built a mud hut to live in. That's when you rescued Tsun Tsun building him a new house and providing him with warm meals and an education. You changed his life and gave him hope for the future. So please watch for this mailing and send in your pledge. This year millions will know . . . . The love and saving power of Jesus Christ. And that only happens, because you were there.