{"id":261,"date":"2026-03-30T11:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T11:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/?p=261"},"modified":"2026-03-30T11:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T11:17:14","slug":"a-cake-not-turned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/30\/a-cake-not-turned\/","title":{"rendered":"A Cake Not Turned"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I like pancakes. I\u2019ve eaten mountains of them. Flip them over at just the right point, leave them on the griddle for just the right time, and what a delightful meal they make! But if you don\u2019t flip them over they burn on the bottom while staying raw on top \u2013 YUCK!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God described His people: \u201cEphraim is a cake unturned\u201d (Hosea 7:8b). Being the largest of the twelve tribes, Ephraim\u2019s name referred to the entire Northern Kingdom of Israel. For 200 years they had been steeped in idolatry and immorality. The Southern Kingdom (Judah) was but little better and sometimes worse. They all were utterly unfit to be God\u2019s people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 How did they stray and become a cake not turned? \u201cEphraim has mixed himself among the peoples\u201d (Hosea 7:8a). Israel\u2019s persistent desire to be like other nations proved to be her undoing. God had specifically warned them not to be like their pagan neighbors (Deuteronomy 18:9). Unfortunately, \u201cthey mingled with the Gentiles and learned their works\u201d (Psalm 106:35). So they became half-baked; while paying lip service to God, they weren\u2019t dedicated to Him. God will not accept half-hearted service or compromise of the truth any more than you or I would accept a half-raw pancake at the restaurant.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Israelites thought teaming up with their pagan neighbors helped them. \u201cThey call to Egypt, they go to Assyria\u201d (Hosea 7:11). Instead, it made Israel weaker. \u201cAliens have devoured his strength, but he does not know it\u201d (7:9).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Some brethren today think church growth comes by mimicking the denominations. Like ancient Israel, they claim they are staying true to God when in fact they are compromising the gospel and weakening the church. The result is a half-baked system with just enough Bible to make it look quasi-Christian, but thoroughly saturated with unscriptural philosophies and the traditions of men.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Let us never compromise the truth, but serve God whole-heartedly as directed by His word. Anything less is like offering Him a half-raw pancake. Nauseating!<\/span><\/p>\n

–Joe Slater<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I like pancakes. I\u2019ve eaten mountains of them. Flip them over at just the right point, leave them on the griddle for just the right time, and what a delightful meal they make! But if you don\u2019t flip them over they burn on the…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading… A Cake Not Turned<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261\/revisions\/262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}