Wal-Mart is the place for moving boxes

Just got back from Wal-Mart. It's a pain to have to go there after midnight, but man you can get good boxes quickly as they are stocking the shelves. I just loaded up on the cereal aisle. General Mills boxes are kind of weak... they have a hole on the top and bottom. Kellogg's, on the other hand, now those are some boxes. Can you tell I'm getting excited about this move?

Turkey Tip

Wait! Before you cook the turkey tomorrow! If you always wish the white meat were more moist, consider cooking your turkey upside-down so that the dark meat juices run down through the breast meat. Yum!

OR...

Maybe you are more the tofu-based tofurky type... NOT ME!!

Heading for Atlanta

I'm heading for Atlanta tomorrow morning through Tuesday night to shoot a video. Should be fun, but we've got a really tight schedule for shoots all over the Atlanta metro area. I won't have a computer with me so I'll talk to you again on Wednesday.

Memorizing - Am I the only one behind?????

Several of us are memorizing in Ephesians 2.

I'm still behind... Let's keep reviewing through verse six. I want to catch up and I intend too!!!

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
No new verse today. We'll add Eph 2:7 in a week on "New Verse Monday" since "New Verse Thursday" will be on Thanksgiving Day.
For today, just work on reciting Eph 2:6 a few times without looking. Make sure to say 2:1-5 together with 2:6 a few times today so that you keep reinforcing 2:1-5 while learning 2:6.

Wow... IM'ing with Los over the Pacific Ocean

I was just IM'ing with Los while he is over the Pacific Ocean on a Korean Air flight traveling to pick up his newly adopted son. Our internet connectness these days always amazes me.

Pray for Los and Heather.

Be praying for Los and family

Please be praying for my blog friend, Los, and his family. They leave tomorrow morning for Korea to pick up and bring home their adopted baby son.

It was cool... they had a prayer time at their home in California tonight. I joined in from Texas and IM'd in some prayers for them. I love the internet.

New Verse Thursday

For those memorizing Eph 2:1-10 with me, this is New Verse Thursday.

Today we'll add the next verse, Ephesians 2:6.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
1) Write out Eph 2:6 on your 3x5 card with verses 1-5.
2) Read through verse 2:6 several times and try to get where you can say it once today without looking.
3) Say verses 2:1-5 with our new verse, 2:6, a few times today trying not to look (but it's ok if you do look today). This helps reinforce our prior verses as we work on our new verse.

Ephesians 2
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

Our Big Announcement!

For many years, God has been growing our hearts for worshiping and growing spiritually in the company of diverse people. We are very excited to begin to live out this desire of doing local church with all people. After several months of searching, praying, listening, and thinking, we have been "officially" invited and have accepted the invitation to join the staff of Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas, an intentionally multiethnic church in Little Rock.

First, Mosaic is about reconciling people to God through Jesus Christ. But, secondarily, they are about being a local church body that is ethnically and economically diverse. In heaven, people from every nation will be worshiping together. Through working with Mosaic, we'll be helping to make that a reality "on earth as it is in heaven".

One difference from this and most other church jobs is that we'll be raising our own support like a missionary would. This is the normal mode of operation for staff who are joining Mosaic. Mosaic is a relatively new church, but it has grown quickly. Because of this growth, there is a need for more staff and leadership. Since Mosaic reaches a diverse population of new Christ-followers and not-yet-Christ-followers, the financial resources just are not there to support the things that need to be done. Mosaic isn't satisfied to simply exist as a small multiethnic body. It has the vision to do excellent ministry with people from all walks of life and all economic backgrounds and to propel forward the movement of multiethnic churches. Because our family is seeking support from our connections outside of Mosaic Church, we'll be able to work as a part of this ministry without being a drain on the finances of that local body. The multiethnic church movement is in its infancy and, like any new mission, requires support from the outside to sustain and grow.

We'll be building a team of people to support us financially as we work under Mosaic's leadership. We are excited about this support-raising aspect. We see these supporters as partners and co-laborers with us in this ministry which we believe is dear to the heart of God.

In the next few days we'll be setting up a family website and blog. We'll be sharing our heart for multiethnic ministry, our progress toward moving to Little Rock, and about our impact once we get there. Our site will also be the hub for our support-raising and for pastoring/informing our support team.

We hope to find financial backing relatively quickly, so that our work at Mosaic can begin by Feb 1, 2007 in time to help prepare for the church's 5 year anniversary.

Please pray with us about these requests as we begin this journey...
1. That our house will sell quickly and for a great price
2. That our support team will be raised up swiftly
3. That God will order our steps...so that we are not overwhelmed with all that has to happen in the next few months
4. That God will continue to provide for our family financially as we wait for our move to Little Rock.

Thanks for reading and praying!
Allen

Alex's 6th Birthday

I usually take my kids out for a one-on-one birthday lunch with dad on their birthdays. Since we were traveling on Alex's birthday on Thursday, we went to birthday dinner instead.

First, we went to CiCi's.


Alex listening to something with his new spy gadget...


Who wouldn't like seeing the whites in the bottom of Alex's eyes? Move that teleprompter lower!! (ok... that's an inside joke)


Then we went to Northpoint Mall to let him spend his birthday money from his aunt at a cool toy store (well... after he climbed on the sculpture)

Half way there

See this great post on using graphics to convey your point.

Memorizing - getting back on track

Several of us are memorizing in Ephesians 2.

I'm still behind on this after my crazy week last week. Let's keep reviewing through verse five and add a new verse on Thursday.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
No new verse today. We'll add Eph 2:6 on "New Verse Thursday".
For today, just work on reciting Eph 2:5 a few times without looking. Make sure to say 2:1-4 together with 2:5 a few times today so that you keep reinforcing 2:1-4 while learning 2:5.

Very tough week

Man... this has been quite a week. We are close to a new ministry opportunity coming together in Little Rock, Arkansas and I think the enemy is taking notice. We are being hit on several sides personally as we get closer to finalizing that decision. So many doubts, fears, pains, great stresses, questions all surfacing at once. Awful...

I'm just trying to keep my eyes on what we are called to do and trying to do one thing at a time to knock through the barriers to doing it.

Gwen and others... needless to say, I'm behind on memorizing. Let's take a breather over the weekend and we'll start another run at it on Monday.


Please pray for us.

New Verse Tuesday

Sorry I missed posting on what should have been New Verse Monday... shot video all day Monday.

Anyway...

For those memorizing Eph 2:1-10 with me, this is New Verse Tuesday.

Today we'll add the next verse, Ephesians 2:5.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
1) Write out Eph 2:5 on your 3x5 card with verses 1-4.
2) Read through verse 2:5 several times and try to get where you can say it once today without looking.
3) Say verses 2:1-4 with our new verse, 2:5, a few times today trying not to look (but it's ok if you do look today). This helps reinforce our prior verses as we work on our new verse.

Ephesians 2
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Big week coming up!

Monday and Tuesday will be big video shoots for some freelance work I'm doing.
Wednesday will be a meeting in Little Rock, Arkansas to discern whether I should come on staff with a church there.
Thursday we'll be back to Texas for more video work.
Friday will be video work and Alex's 6th birthday party.

Please pray for us for efficiency, safe travel, clarity, and wisdom as we work this week and as we talk with the church in Arkansas.

Ephesians dos:quatro - Do you know it yet?

Several of us are memorizing in Ephesians 2.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
No new verse today. We'll add Eph 2:5 on "New Verse Monday".
For today, just work on reciting Eph 2:4 a few times without looking. Make sure to say 2:1-3 together with 2:4 a few times today so that you keep reinforcing 2:1-3 while learning 2:4.

Online Photo/Video Montage Maker

I'm testing out an online tool I heard about...www.onetruemedia.com

these are some pix from the recent multiethnic church conference Debbie and I attended...

Make an online slide show at onetruemedia.com

My wife the baker

Deb has been experimenting for a while to make great bread in an old bread machine. Usually it tastes good but often the loaf is kind of short and many times the top looks like Tegucigalpa, Honduras (bowled out city with encircling mountains). This always reminds me of the time my Namaw (my grandma) made an angel food cake, which we all made fun of, that looked like a nuclear reactor's cooling tower.



Anyway... today's bread machine bread was the best yet. Thanks Deb for all you are doing to help us eat healthy and at the same time save money.

Pumpkin Pix 2006

We found this little photo spot outside of grandma's home...

Saturday walk to a new coffee shop

Today the kids and I walked to a new local independent coffee and donut shop. Unlike the non-independent shops it has real handcrafted art, live music sometimes, and FREE internet. It's a nice long walk for the kids... about 1.5 miles.









Debbie drove and met us there... (I could make fun of her for that... but since she's worked out SO much more than me lately I think I'd better keep my mouth shut)

How to memorize anything fast

PRACTICE!!!!!

Several of us are memorizing in Ephesians 2.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
No new verse today. We'll add Eph 2:5 on "New Verse Monday".
For today, just work on reciting Eph 2:4 a few times without looking. Make sure to say 2:1-3 together with 2:4 a few times today so that you keep reinforcing 2:1-3 while learning 2:4.

What is "pissed"?

That's, sadly, the question I got from my eight-year-old daughter near the end of the last episode as we watched "The Biggest Loser" this week. You can't watch much of evening TV these days (even a silly reality show about losing weight) without having to counsel your kids.

Why does our language in this culture have to keep degrading? Where will it end? How can we as adults set a high standard for cleanness in our kids' language when we feel our own language slipping?

The most creative blog post I've seen

Check out this creative post I saw.

Thank God for love and mercy

Several of us are memorizing in Ephesians 2.

Think about it... the God of the universe, the creator of all, the one who could get fed up with us and wipe us out in an instant instead has decided to have great love for us in his rich mercy.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
No new verse today. We'll add Eph 2:5 on "New Verse Monday".
For today, just work on reciting Eph 2:4 a few times without looking. Make sure to say 2:1-3 together with 2:4 a few times today so that you keep reinforcing 2:1-3 while learning 2:4.

Here's the text are are learning so far...

Ephesians 2
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

Everyone needs a big but

For those memorizing Eph 2:1-10 with me, this is New Verse Thursday.

Today we'll add the next verse, Ephesians 2:4. In verses 2:1-3 we concentrated on how we used to be dead in sin, how we had an evil spirit working in us, how we followed sinful desires and thoughts, how we were objects of wrath.

Verse 2:4 turns the corner and begins to show God's great love and mercy.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
1) Write out Eph 2:4 on your 3x5 card underneath verses 1, 2, and 3.
2) Read through verse 2:4 several times and try to get where you can say it once today without looking.
3) Say verses 2:1-3 with our new verse, 2:4, a few times today trying not to look (but it's ok if you do look today). This helps reinforce our prior verses as we work on our new verse.

Ephesians 2
1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

Memorizing - Practice Day

Several of us are memorizing in Ephesians 2.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
No new verse today. We'll add Eph 2:4 tomorrow on "New Verse Thursday".
For today, just work on reciting Eph 2:3 a few times without looking. Make sure to say 2:1-2 together with 2:3 a few times today so that you keep reinforcing 2:1-2 while learning 2:3.

Here goes my try without looking...

As for you, you were dead in you trangressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit that is at work in those who are disobedient. All of us have lived among them at some time, gratifying the cravings of the sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

Close but no cigar!

Keep working and I will too!!

Tomorrow with verse 4 we turn the corner with a big "but".