Prize31

The Recipe Box: Valentine’s Treats

Prize31 — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:30:05 +0000

Valentine’s Day is just four days away. Whether you’re making some sweet treats for your honey, your children, or just for yourself, here are a few recipes you might like to try.

Sweetheart Cupcakes

1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 egg whites
8 drops red food coloring
2 drops raspberry candy oil (or your favorite flavor will do)

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper cupcake liners.
Beat the cake mix, water, vegetable oil, and egg whites together on low speed for 30 seconds, then on medium for 2 minutes, until smooth. Fill cupcake liners 1/3 full with white batter; set aside.
Stir 4 drops of red food coloring into the remaining bowl of batter to make the batter pink, stir in the raspberry oil. Pour 1/3 of pink batter into a resealable plastic bag and set aside.
Mix more food coloring into the remaining bowl of pink batter until it is an orange/red color and pour the batter into a resealable plastic bag. Cut a corner off the bag, stick the open tip into the center of each cup of white batter and squeeze in about two tablespoons of red batter.
Cut the corner off the bag with the pink batter, stick the open tip into the center of the red batter and squeeze about 1 tablespoon pink batter into each cup.
Bake the layered cupcakes in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool completely before frosting with your favorite frosting.

Easy Oreo Truffles

1 (16 ounce) package OREO Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, divided
1 (8 ounce) package Cream Cheese, softened
2 (8 ounce) packages Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted (almond bark could be substituted)

Crush 9 of the cookies to fine crumbs in food processor; reserve for later use. (Cookies can also be finely crushed in a resealable plastic bag using a rolling pin.) Crush remaining 36 cookies to fine crumbs; place in medium bowl. Add cream cheese; mix until well blended. Roll cookie mixture into 42 balls, about 1-inch in diameter.
Dip balls in chocolate; place on wax paper-covered baking sheet. (Any leftover chocolate can be stored at room temperature for another use.) Sprinkle with reserved cookie crumbs.
Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. Store leftover truffles, covered, in refrigerator.

To easily dip truffles: Place truffle ball in melted chocolate to coat; roll if necessary. Lift truffle from chocolate using 2 forks (this will allow excess chocolate to run off) before placing on wax paper.

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

1 (18.25 ounce) box red velvet cake mix
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Icing:

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 teaspoons evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flaked coconut (optional)
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Mix together cake mix, eggs, oil, and vanilla in a large bowl. Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake in the preheated oven until the tops start to crack, about 8 minutes. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.
In a large bowl combine cream cheese, butter, evaporated milk, vanilla, and coconut. Add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing well with each addition. If consistency is too stiff, add more milk.
Place the chopped pecans in a bowl. Spread a generous amount of icing on the bottom of a cookie, sandwich it with another cookie, pressing firmly so that the icing comes all the way out to the edge. Roll the edges of the sandwich cookies in the chopped pecans. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

recipes from allrecipes

Filed under: The Recipe Box

God Doesn’t Always Do What Seems Fair by Jessi Gibson

Prize31 — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:30:42 +0000

A few days ago I was reading the parable in Matthew 20 of the vineyard workers. It’s the one about the boss finding people in the marketplace to work in his field. He keeps coming back throughout the day and finds more people every time. He hires them as they come, and, at the end of the day, he pays them all the same wage. The workers who were there the longest complained because they saw it as unfair. The fact that they were upset seemed reasonable to my American mindset. They worked longer. They spent more time. They expended more energy. However, God doesn’t have an American mindset. He is God, and He has Kingdom rules.

I am so glad that God thinks differently than we do. The Bible tells us God will redeem the time because the days are evil. He brings us all into his family through salvation. Jesus’ blood pays for the forgiveness of our sins. We believe in this fact, and we receive a new life and a beautiful “pay package”. This is the end of the similarities in most salvation stories. People come to Christ at different ages, in different places, with different amounts of money in the bank, and different baggage to shake off. Some come before they have much earthly weight and others find Christ at rock bottom. No matter how or when we come, God welcomes us with open arms and cleanses our sin. I came to Jesus at the age of four. My husband welcomed Jesus into his life at age twenty. I have a missionary staying in my home as I am writing this that did not come to know Christ until she was thirty-three, and a friend of mine dropped by my house a couple nights ago that completely surrendered her life to God in her sixties.

I see each one of these people being used by God in very different but very powerful ways. Brian and I are planting churches and pastoring which is exactly what God had in store for us. My missionary friend, Nikki Montgomery, has been used by God in profound ways. She currently lives a life that looks like the book of Acts. She and her husband have trained thousands of persecuted pastors in some of the most persecuted and dark corners of the earth. They bring teaching, hope, and encouragement to these men and women that God is using so powerfully. Oh yes, let’s not forget my sweet friend, Anna, that is in her sixties. She serves on our cleaning team, greeters ministry, brings food to new moms, and she knows every detail of every young persons’ personal life because she hangs out in our church lobby and makes people feel welcomed. We all have come in at different times and we do different things but we have the same “pay package”. A blessed life on earth and a home in heaven when we die. I am so glad that God doesn’t always seem fair.

I don’t know when God found you or what you looked like, but I am so thankful that He is not concerned with His blessings being dealt out “fairly” to you. I know God is much more concerned with His blessing being dealt out lavishly upon us. Be encouraged, God is excited about your life and all that He has in store for you today and every day, until you find yourself in the complete fulfillment of His love. Heaven!

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Jessi Gibson is our special guest speaker at this year’s Prize women’s conference, Be. You can read other Prize31 contributions by Jessi here. Check out this link for more information on the Prize conference.

Filed under: Guest Bloggers, Jessi Gibson

misspent by Starr Cliff

starrcliff — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:30:13 +0000

Galatians 5: 24 and 25 — These verses command nailing the passions of our sinful desires to the cross. I feel we should all just take a moment and let that settle on us. It’s a bit intimidating, actually. Nothing about that process is casual, or easy, or happens by accident.

For me, it takes first recognizing what is actually just a passion of the flesh verses a God-directed, God-inspired, G0d-birthed passion. If I find my thoughts swirling around something that someone said or didn’t say…when I find myself in a pattern of thought I can’t escape regarding a disagrement….when I cry out in prayer over hurt feelings or misunderstandings…I think we can all relate to our passion being awakened when we feel offended or disagree with a spouse or close friend. We become quite eloquent at passionately articulating all the reasons that we are right and our husbands, err…I mean…whoever we’re arguing with… are wrong. This is not the kind of passion God desires to awaken in me. In these times, I too often indulge in passion misspent.

After recognition comes repentance. I repent that I have allowed my sinful nature, with it’s constant need to be esteemed and to be right (Uh…that’s all of us in human form, not just me, right?), take control of my mouth.

I want to be free of those desires of the flesh, so that I can pursue the passions of God! As I have read the thoughts on passion and purpose this month from my fellow Prize31 authors, my prayer has been that I would boldly embrace the passions of Jesus Christ as my own. My prayers have sounded much like this:

“Oh Lord, that I could let small offenses just roll off me like water and instead be alive to Your passions. Let me not waste time, energy and heartache on the desires of the flesh. Please let my heart be still, receptive, and peaceful when I am criticized, but let it race, Lord, when I see injustice against the poor and needy. Let me be kept in perfect peace when I feel wrongly judged, forgiving quickly; but Lord let a fiery rage increase inside me against the enemy who leads little ones astray! By faith, Lord, perceived mistreatment will not upend me but seeing the Fatherless in need of a home will leave me undone. Drive me to Your throne, God. Awaken Your passions in my heart. Quiet the passions born out of too much regard for self. Thank you, Father. Thank you. Amen.”

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Filed under: Starr Cliff

Set Apart by Anne Zachary

Anne Zachary — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:30:16 +0000

Once upon a time, in what seems like a lifetime ago, I was a collegiate athlete. My Texas Tech letterman’s jacket hangs in the back of my son’s closet sandwiched between my Midway High letter jacket and other articles of clothing threaded with too much sentimentality to discard.

When that period of my life came to an end, I was more than ready to set it aside and establish a new identity with an altogether different focus. College courses were coming to an end, I was dating The One, and I had found a job where work didn’t seem like work. The volleyballs were put away with little intention of them coming back out for a long while.

With the passing of about seventeen years, that long while happened. The occasional pickup game at the park with friends and my youngest sister’s own volleyball career are the exceptions to my abstaining from the sport. Then this past fall, my daughter enters junior high; it doesn’t take much sleuthing to figure out which sport she decides to give a try. During the passage of time, I’ve gone from the athlete to the parent in the stands. I also learned pretty fast that in spite of my absence from the court, the love for the game still ran strong.

This spring, I’ve been given the opportunity to coach a team of young girls the game of volleyball. Getting back out on the court and imparting my knowledge of the sport has been very exciting. I have a fun group of thirteen year olds I get to spend time with a couple days a week. Along with teaching the fundamental skills of the game, I get to spend time with my girls talking about my relationship with Jesus and how we can translate skills learned on the court into life skills in our day to day living. So far, the whole experience has been invigorating.

My reentry into the world of volleyball has driven home a few thoughts…

God has given each one of us talents and abilities. Partnered with those talents and abilities is very often passion. I chose to set aside an area where God had graced me with ability; the passion, although closeted like the letterman’s jacket, was not gone.

Our talents and abilities are not given to us for our personal satisfaction and edification. I’m thankful for the chance to step back onto the court in some capacity. I do love the game and passing that love along to these girls. But the game is really just an avenue to share more important, Life giving values to these young athletes.

So, my question for you today is this: What talents, abilities, and passions have you been gifted by our Father? Are you using them today or have you set them aside? I encourage you to use your gifts and talents. Pick them back up and dust them off if you have laid them down as I did. Your abilities and passions are yours to share. They can bring you joy, and they bring joy to Him – especially when they’re used to bring Him glory!

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Filed under: Anne Zachary

Seven Times Hotter!! by Laura Fulkerson

Prize31 — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:30:36 +0000

The year was around 605 BC. Many Jews had been taken captive by the pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar. He made himself an image of gold standing about the height of an eight story building. Some scholars say this was a statue of the king himself, or it could have also been a statue of one of his demon gods. The decree was issued by the king that all the people in his province would bow and worship this statue when they heard the sound of the musical instruments playing.

Daniel had been promoted to a different province and sat at the king’s gate over the affairs of another province of Babylon. His friends, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah found themselves alone to decide whether they would worship this pagan idol or the God of heaven that they served with passion.

Upon hearing the sound of the music the whole province bowed down to the idol. It probably looked like a sea of bowed-over bodies with heads to the ground. But wait! No, there are three men still standing who have defied the king! Nebuchadnezzar was in a rage and gave the men another chance saying, “Now, if you are ready at the time you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, lyre, and psaltery, … and you fall down and worship the image…, good! But if you do not, you will be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?

The men declared with boldness to the king that they had made their decision already. “…our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

The king got so mad, he had them tied up and thrown immediately into the burning fire. Suddenly, he looked and there were not three, but four. One, he declared, looked like the Son of God. Beth Moore points out in her study on the book of Daniel that the only thing in that fire that was burned up were the ropes that tied their hands.

When faced with so much opposition in our culture to serve God, we are faced with the decision to serve God either in a state of lukewarm, uneffectiveness or with the zeal of these Hebrew men. Can you imagine the celebration that happened even in the fire as their ropes were burned off and they did a little joy march with Jesus? Oh, to have such a zeal, to have such passion!

One of my favorite scriptures I learned as a child was Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever!” The same God who walked with them in the fire is still the One we can serve today. I could go on, but I’ve gone over 500 words – my blog limit! Praise be to the God of Heaven! His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom!

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Filed under: Laura Fulkerson