Foodie Friday - Cake

To be perfectly honest, I'm not really a cake person . . . ice cream or pie, but cake, not so much. So, to be fair, this post isn't really about cakes, but their little offspring: cupcakes.

There has been something of a cupcake revolution the last few years with cupcake specialty shops popping up in the bigger cities. I'd been to one a few years back and to be honest it didn't change my mind on cake. A few months ago that all started to change; I was in a friend's wedding and as part of the gift baskets they had for the wedding party was included a box of cupcakes, made by none other than the bride's cousin, who I believe has opened her own shop in Tacoma. Anyhow, the little red velvet cupcakes inside did a pretty good job of changing my mind. They were, simply put, awesome. (For those that don't know, red velvet is a traditional southern cake made with buttermilk, chocolate, red food coloring and topped with a cream cheese frosting...when made right, it is my favorite cake; when made wrong, well, you know.)

Anyhow, back to cupcakes. I have found a shop here in Seattle that produces some very good cupcakes...moist, rich flavors, maybe a little too much frosting, but I'm not complaining. It's called Trophy Cupcakes and its in the Wallingford Center. They've got some traditional flavors, chocolate-vanilla, vanilla-chocolate, red velvet, and some not so traditional ones too...but I'll let you discover those on your own, cuz thats part of the fun.

The Greatest Opportunity

I've begun to notice something that I believe I have been ignoring. It isn't anything particularly new, at least in the 21st century, but it is something that I believe reflects a low view of the local church by the body of believers. It seems that coming together as a body in the local church on Sundays often finds itself on the back burner in the land of plentiful opportunities. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, a 20th century Welsh preacher, noticed this as well:

People complain about the dwindling congregations and how the churches are going down. Why are people ceasing to attend places of worship? Why is it that last Sunday night I noticed that, while the places of worship in Cardiff were only sparsely attended, the trains coming from . . . seaside places were packed out? Why did these people spend their day at the seaside and in other places rather than in the House of God worshipping? Well, the answer is perfectly plain. They obviously prefer to be at the seaside and feel that they get more benefit there than they do in their chapels and churches. Now it is no use our arguing with [them], it is no use our telling them that they really do not get greater benefit there, because they honestly believe that they do.

I'll admit that I have put things ahead of worshipping with other believers. Yet, as I begin to understand the importance of the local church in the life of the believer, these other opportunities begin to lose their lustre. They don't become less appealing because I don't want to do them any longer, but rather, because I am drawn to the church with a greater love and devotion to the one who formed her.

Yet, why do we think it is more important to watch (on TV or in person) a football game or go camping or go skiing or work or study than to worship with the people of God in the local church? As a good friend of mine said, "What greater opportunity is there than to gather together and worship with the people of God."

These are just some of thoughts that I'll be thinking through (and hopefully blogging on) as I prepare to begin a Bible Study series at UCU this fall on the church.