Photo Credit: Theresa Thompson via Compfight cc
In honor of my birthday I am sharing my favorite Chocolate Cake. I found this recipe several years ago and have loved it ever since. It is a very easy cake to make. The texture is very moist and the taste is dark chocolate. Here is the website link and recipe.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/chocolate-cake-ii/detail.aspx
Ingredients:
| 2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder |
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup milk 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup hot, strong coffee |
Directions:
| Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan. | |
| In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla, mix until smooth. Stir in the hot coffee last. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. | |
| Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. |
This is very good with my sister’s recipe for Chocolate Mousse Frosting. The only thing this recipe is not good for is cupcakes. The batter comes out very soupy and it is difficult to portion it out into the cupcake pan. The secret to eating cake as a single is to invite friends over to share it (or take it to church to share, which is what I do). If you love chocolate, you will love this cake. I have made it several times to rave reviews. My mother even asked me for the recipe (she is such a good cook that this shocked me!) Try out my gift to you and tell me if you liked the cake as much as I did. Enjoy!
This last weekend was our church’s second youth conference. Since I am one of the leaders for our youth group, some of the organizational details fell to me. Why am I talking about the youth conference here on the blog? Because of the theme, Christian Courtship.
Even though I have heard most of what was taught before and have even taught on some of it myself, it was good to hear it again. Repetition helps learning. It was good to be reminded again of what is necessary for a good relationship with someone of the opposite sex. It was also good to be reminded that even though I am single and am not in a relationship, there are still pitfalls of which I need to be aware.
The topics consisted of ‘God or the world: On which side are you?’ ‘Purity: a dream or reality?’ ‘Is it a sin to date someone who is not a Christian?’ and ‘The traps of the internet: Pornography.’ All of these topics face our young people of today, and even the not so young people. The speakers hit the nail on the head and preached straight from the Bible. They reminded us that God has set a standard for our behavior and expects us to keep to it. They also talked about how to avoid temptation and situations that can cause us to fail to keep the standard.
This last is what I want to talk about. Because we are single missionaries or workers in a church, we are held up as examples. It is our responsibility as older brothers and sisters in Christ to hold to the standard. The older we get, the more experience we are supposed to have in evading temptation. However, sometimes instead of holding the standard, we become lax in our vigilance.
Photo Credit: Arno Meintjes Wildlife via Compfight cc
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 1 Peter 5:8
When we let our vigilance become lax, the devil is right there to take advantage. I know that I seem to be ‘preaching to the choir’ but sometimes the ‘choir’ needs the reminder as well. This weekend was that for me. God seemed to be saying ‘Remember the standard and keep to it.’
There is another reason we need to be reminded of the standard every once in a while:
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. 1 Corinthians 9:27
Even Paul was concerned with letting the standard fall. If he was concerned, then we definitely should be concerned. As the speaker who spoke on Pornography said, it is so easy now days to be on the internet innocently and get it shoved into your face.
As my blog title says, there is strength in numbers. If you need to be around members of the opposite sex, make sure there are more than two. This is a precept I have been taught since I was a teen. Always make sure you are in groups of three when there are males and females. It has served as a reminder and a good rule to live by. It can also help keep you to the standard. It may complicate your life a bit, but it prevents problems down the road.
One last verse before I go.
Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 1 Corinthians 10:12
This verse was running through my mind a lot this weekend. We may be full-time or part-time Christian workers, but we are still human. We still sin and can still fall down. So if you think you’re standing, take heed.
