Vanilla - 6 Quart Recipe - White Mountain® Recipes

Easy and very tasty vanilla ice cream recipe. I had found it in a recipe book that we recently lost. It is one of the view recipes that does not use eggs.

Vanilla - 6 Quart Recipe - White Mountain® Recipes

What is life about?

What is life truly about? What if there is no rhyme or reason for existence? Perhaps, justified are those who say something like, “you only go around once and then you die, so make the most of it.” This is a philosophy that many hold to today, forsaking any notion that there is an accountability ahead, or that a day of reckoning is coming. Delusional yet convinced though many may be that life simply ends with with the last breath and nothing will follow, an intimate relationship with honesty and truth will certainly lead one to draw a very different conclusion. Accountability is an intrinsic part of the fabric of any culture. This fact alone should teach humans that if accountability to one another is not only natural, but necessary, then accountability to a Superior form of life should be expected. Of course this point alone is not enough to satisfy everyone’s answers related to questions about god or gods, but it does say something of the origin of the human race, or at least says something about the “stuff” out of which we are made. Given that accountability is and will be a part of our existence both in this life and in what is to come, then it behooves the human to know something about the standards by which he will be held accountable or judged.

The law of God provides the bases from which our lives are measured. When a person, who has been created in the likeness of God, violates the law of God, immediately and intuitively that person identifies himself with guilt and condemnation. This may be what the Apostle Paul was getting at when he wrote in I Corinthians 15:56 “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” (ESV) Understood this way, the law is certainly not a means of redemption. Rather, the law is what gives sin its power because the law reminds the sinner of their condemnation and of their slavery to sin. When confronted with real guilt a human being responds in any number of ways. Some will attempt to justify themselves. Others, of course, will deny that they have done anything wrong. This strategy has many different forms. Others might respond with anger leading to further rebellion. Some will respond with feelings of despair and will try and offer the necessary sacrifices to the gods in hopes of avoiding punishment, or at least limiting it. All responses to guilt, apart from what follows below, will do nothing to change the condition. A person condemned remains condemned until the sentence is served or until death. Since the violation of God’s holy law has a sentence of eternal death the condemnation can never be relieved. “But GRACE...”

Grace is the free gift of God offered to the condemned in exchange for their life. Verse 57 from the passage quoted above affirms this, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” When one condemned looks into the mirror of the law the reflection he sees is utter guilt. The more he looks into the law , perhaps hoping one day to see himself innocent, the greater his sense of condemnation and the greater the power of sin over him. But, when the sinner looks to Jesus, what he sees is innocence, and not only the innocence of Jesus, but also the innocence of all whom Jesus represents. This is why redemption must be connected with an innocent person. This person (JESUS CHRIST) must be, himself, free from any guilt or condemnation. He must be able to look into the law of God, to understand every aspect of this holy law, and unequivocally know himself to be innocent of even the slightest violation. Not only this, but the innocence associated with “keeping the law” has much more to do with simply refraining from “doing” evil things, it has even more to do with “being” a certain way. Jesus, because of His innocence, was perfect in his love for His Father and even more astonishingly, was perfect in His love for condemned and rebellious human beings. Repentant sinners are able to identify with and find in Jesus their own personal forgiveness, innocence and perfection, BECAUSE, He was willing to identify His holy and innocent self with the guilt and condemnation of fallen humanity.

Jesus truly is a wonderful SAVIOR. He accounts for the repentant rebel. He represents the penitent person.  He becomes the innocence of the guilty and the freedom of the condemned.  Rescue can be found in no other person. This life “is not all there is.” This life is a testing ground for eternity. Determined in this life is whether or not a person is wheat or chaff, light or darkness, salt or insipid. To pass the test one must resist the temptation to deny accountability, and accept the fact that judgement is unavoidable and that it is strict and severe, and condemns the guilty to a sentence of eternal death. But honestly accepting the truth about accountability turns out to be the ironic path toward redemption. It is when condemnation and guilt seem to be the unchangeable reality, that God’s grace through Jesus Christ shines the brightest. It is in Jesus Christ that grace is truly grace; it is in Jesus Christ that victory over condemnation and death is overcome. Enough praise cannot be offered, enough thanksgivings cannot be given, enough worship cannot be proffered for all that God has done for His Saints through Jesus Christ.

What is life about? It is about GRACE. It is about REDEMPTION. It is about believing that God’s love for sinners is so great that HE sent his SON to be condemned, in order that those who are condemned but who BELIEVE are made innocent.

Serving a GREAT SAVIOR

Pastor Gibbs

JUDGMENT IS NOT OURS

Why is it so easy, or seemingly natural, for one person to judge another? Where honest and objective consideration is employed the notion that one person can accurately pass judgment upon another person becomes scandalous. Accurate and honest judgement of another requires, not only complete and accurate information related to the person, but also the one passing judgment must possess an unbiased and untarnished character out of which to judge. Is this ever the case when human beings are involved? Are humans ever in a position of understanding all of the facts? If even that were possible is there a human being whose character is entirely untarnished or whose judgment completely unbiased? The answer is obviously, no. Yet, people find it easy, even natural, to quickly pass judgment. This condition betrays the truth about humanities bondage to sin. Perfectly sane and sinless creatures would find it impossible to pass judgment upon other creatures, for it would be unnatural for them to assume the position fit only for the Creator, who alone possesses all of the facts and is also entirely fair and just. Where creatures have ascended to the seat of judgment from which to presumptuously judge other creatures, the cruel reality of a rebel's heart is exposed.

So why are people so quick to pass judgment upon someone else based on limited information gained from very imperfect sources? The answer lies in that people, from the fall of mankind to the present, have been in the conundrum of trying to play god. When humanity broke fellowship with the Creator and in fact sided with the enemy of God, mankind vacated their position as recipients of God's leadership and provision, and were forced to lead and provide for, themselves. This,of course, opened the door for an infinite number of false gods, false ideas and false assumptions; it left the door wide open for creatures to take the presumptive position of becoming gods over one another. 

If the holiness of God is not in doubt (and it is not, unless we are all ready to be undone) then all judgment must be left to Him, for he alone possesses the character to perfectly and justly sit in judgment of his creatures. God alone is capable of making accurate evaluations regarding his creatures. Creatures were never designed to sit in judgment of each other.

So, if people truly believe that they are the standard from which all else is to be measured, or more clearly, if people behave in such a way as to indicate that they feel justified in sitting in the seat of Judgment then their deception is great. Under the spell of the evil one, they have concluded that their own sins are past finding out, and that they are qualified to judge others. 

Matthew 7:1, in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus says, "Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you." Jesus' point is to remind His people that all judgment belongs to God, and that humans do not possess the character, apart from HIM, to be blameless in their judgment. 

Learning to Trust in HIM

Pastor Gibbs

Parenting as Discipleship

A Christian’s greatest burden betrays his greatest weakness.  Take for example the challenges associated with raising children. Who comes to the parenting party fully or even partially equipped for the task? Parenting demands on-the-job-training. One thing all excellent parents have learned is just how woefully deficient they are when beginning. For this reason, biblical wisdom, tremendous patience, swift forgiveness and unconditional love make up the soil out of which successful parenting grows. Why must parenting be so hard? Why doesn’t God program children with an “easy” button or pre-wire them to simply become mature and productive? These same questions could also be asked regarding the task of making followers of Jesus. Discovering the answers to these questions reveals something of the character of God and what it means to live as His child. 

Jesus commanded the Apostles to “go...and make disciples.” (Matthew 28:19) Interestingly, the Greek verb, translated “make” in the NASB (New American Standard Bible) does not imply that force or duress will be required in order to carry out this command. One Biblical Lexicon (a dictionary) comments that it would be proper to translate the verse this way, “...convince them to become my disciples” or “urge them to be my disciples.” That is important for a few reasons. First, like raising kids, making disciples can be very challenging and therefore, frustrating. It is easy in a moment of frustration to become angry and then to try and use force or intimidation to bring about compliance. But, this is not becoming of a follower of God. Second, “making disciples,” in the sense described above, requires faith from start to finish. Anger and force are the product of human wisdom, not the fruit of the Spirit. When parents constantly badger and talk down to their kids, or when Church leaders use fear and shame to force their members into compliance, it is not faith that is being demonstrated, but a glaring lack of faith. Jesus Christ has promised in His word to meet every need of those who come to Him by faith. He commissioned His earliest followers to go and make disciples by the same methods that Jesus had used to convince them to follow Him. These methods were rich in grace, being experienced through patience, forgiveness and love. Finally, the “making of disciples” in the sense of urging or convincing reveals the heart of God. It may appear strange to imagine the God of Creation to be gentle and humble, yet that is precisely His nature. Jesus, in Matthew 11:29, says of Himself, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart...” Whether parenting or making disciples, when it is done in the Spirit of Christ, the demeanor of the one urging will be neither angry nor false, but will be gentle and real. 

There are many similarities between parenting and discipleship, in fact parenting is truly a branch of discipleship. Both come with few directions, except to follow the Words to Whom both duties belong. Each requires grace and mercy and each hold the promise of producing godly offspring.

Growing in Weakness

Pastor Gibbs 

"God's Grace is Enough"

Ten investors were on trial for their lives. Indicted on charges of running a ponzi scheme that had made each of them very rich from the investments of a trusting victim. The evidence against them was sufficient to secure their guilt. The situation worsened for the accused when they discovered that the judge in the case was also the victim. They hoped he would go easy on them, despite his substantial loss at their hands. Their predicament worsened upon learning that the judge was also their only resource for food to provide for themselves and their families until after the trial, for most of their ill-gotten gains had been lost. When the men met the judge, to their amazement, they discovered the magistrate to be firm and just, but also merciful. 

Amazingly, the judge sets the men free and allows them to purchase enough food at a fair price for their needs. Humbled by the Judge’s mercy and kindness the men graciously accept his offer. During the long journey home the men discover that the money, used to buy the food, had been put back in their travel bags. Because the men failed to notice that the Judge had ordered his secretary to replace the money in each man’s bag, they were shocked and fell to their knees in fear. They knew it was only a matter of time before the Judge, seeing that his kindness had been disparaged, would send for the men, find them guilty and sentence them.

The truth is we are those men. We are guilty, have been shown mercy, but still find ourselves afraid of the One we have offended because we fear we still owe Him something. This is a modified version of the story of Joseph and his 10 brothers found in Genesis. Although, Joseph was extremely hurt by the actions of his brothers, through time he learned that by forgiving his brothers he would be reflecting to them, the true nature of God. Joseph’s choice to forgive led to the reconciliation of the his family and the outcome was the birth of a nation. In a powerful passage from this story we read the words of Joseph's Steward speaking to his brothers who fear for their lives because the money used to purchase food from Joseph had secretly been replaced. He says, "Peace to you, do not be afraid. The judge has put your money back in your sack for you…" Gen 43:23

I highlighted that passage and simply wrote “Grace” in the margin. I know that this story has many different facets and applications, but right there in that one verse is the gospel summarized. When anyone says that we owe God so much, I agree. What he has done for each and every person is of infinite value. However, many problems arise when our theology views God’s mercy toward us as something to be purchased. Such thinking will lead to a response similar to that of Joseph’s brothers. Fear gripped them because they imagined the wrath of Joseph was going to come upon them when he discovered that they had not paid for their necessities. In a moment of tender joy, the brothers find out what Joseph himself had learned about God; He provides because He loves. Forgiveness comes from His love. God will go to great extremes to help us learn this; He will let us endure great suffering or even let us fall into great  rebellion until we have learned this eternal truth. 

I pray that you, along with myself, will cease trying to pay God for his blessings to us, because we never can. His will is for each of us to accept his grace as something that is free to us, knowing that He has covered the cost, and after accepting His grace that we would extend it to others. God is saying to you and to me, "Peace to you, do not be afraid. The judge has put your money back in your sack for you…"

Happy Easter 2012,

Live in the Grace that God has provided in His Son,

Pastor David Gibbs

What Does It Mean To Please God?

Excellent article explaining what it means to please God!

What Does It Mean To Please God?