Judgmental Compassion

True love does not exist in the absence of judgment.  It only exists in the presence of it.

"Compassion" means, not just that you care about something deeply, but that you make a moral judgment about something and it moves you to the depth of you being to do something about it.

You have compassion in the face of poverty when you make a moral judgment and say, "That is wrong!" but you're not just happy to sit there and judge it, otherwise all you have is moralizing.  It moves you to the depth of your being, and you are motivated, and you reach out to do something about it.  That is compassion.

We worship a great and compassionate God.  He looks into every human heart and He makes a moral judgment. "That is wrong!"  And then He is moved to the depth of His being to do something about it.  That is why the cross is at the center of the Christian faith.

So much of our so called compassion ministries today are simply present in our lives to make us feel better about our Christian faith.  "Look, I know I'm a Christian, tough luck, I tell you you're wrong.  But hey, I'm a nice guy too, I also help the poor."  If that is the basis of why we reach out to our society and cities, it means that the main reason we're doing it is because we want to feel better about ourselves.  That would be a sad indictment on our church.  The reason we reach out in compassion is because we believe so totally and completely on God's justice.  We live in an incredibly compassionless society because we're not prepared to make moral judgments anymore.  But we have to.  We have to look and see what has gone wrong in our society, and call it for what is it, and say, "This! Is! Wrong!" And then be willing to be moved by the Spirit of God to do something about it.  What drives us to reach out is not any sense of a great need in our life, but an understanding that we are living out of the consequences of what we ourselves have received through the cross.

 Expert from "God of Love, God of Judgment"
by Michael Ramsden from the "Just Thinking" podcast 
by Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

Grandma's Strawberry Sponge Cake

Strawberry Shortcake.  It's practically a signature to American farmers, almost like the South is know for fried chicken.  Made from my Grandma's recipe, this is certainly one of my favorite, nostalgic desserts.  Just had to share.  :)


Sponge Cake

4 eggs
1 1/2c Sugar
1/2 tsp. Salt
2tsp. Vanilla (or lemon flavoring)
2 TBL butter (melted in 1 c boiling milk)
2 c. Sifted Flour
2 tsp Baking Powder

Beat eggs till light and lemon colored.  Mix in sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add milk and butter mixture. Sift together flour and baking powder. Add to liquid mixture and mix just till blended.    Pour into a greased and floured 9x13" pan and bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes.

Take fresh, sliced strawberries (or frozen, thawed strawberries), sweeten if needed to taste, and spoon over top a square of cake.  Pour milk over the top for Grandma's version, or top with whipped cream.

Whipped Cream

1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 TBL powdered sugar (heaping)
1 tsp. vanilla pudding mix

Whip whipping cream and sugar together until just before stiff peaks are formed.  Add pudding and whip until peaks are stiff.  Serve.  (Pudding will keep it from wilting too badly.)