Randomness

I saw a church whose permanent sign had the church's name and the line underneath said...
"Fundamental-Independent-Old Fashioned-KJV"
must be an interesting place...


Found a website... If you want to find out where free wi-fi is available in your city, go to this site.


Like I said........ random today

Home repairs and risotto

We've been very blessed to have several days without the kids to focus on our last home repairs in prep for selling our house. Our old carpet and water heater are now in the dump and the last big building materials are now in the house. We also got the trickiest part of the house (high above the stairs) painted plus misc other things. Thanks Mom and Dad for keeping the kids for us!

On Friday night I tried making risotto. I had seen the recipe on food network... looked good. It's an italian rice dish. Arborio rice, chicken stock, butter, onion, cheese. it turned out pretty good along with some chicken fried in a little EVOO and garlic. (I love saying EVOO... that's what they say on the Food Network :) I might make risotto again but it wasn't THAT amazing... of course that may have been the cook's fault.

twitter is TOO much

I love online community, but www.twitter.com is TMI... not as in too personal, but TMI as in information overload... and boring!

But hey, I joined anyway. So... if I devote my life to posting mini-posts on twitter you can know what I'm doing at any moment of the day.

follow allentexas at http://twitter.com

The Tipping Point

I'm finally getting around to reading "The Tipping Point". I should have read it the moment it came out. Fascinating! Now, I just need to figure out how to best apply it.

If you want to make a serious impact in the world or if you just like learning more about how the human mind works, this book is for you.

New verse whatever

For anyone who is still following this... here is this obvious rest of the story. I stopped at about 2:6... will pick it up again hopefully when my life calms down. (or maybe that would HELP my life calm down) .... anyway.

Add the next verse, Ephesians 2:9.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
1) Write out Eph 2:9 on your 3x5 card with verses 1-8 or add a second 3x5 card if needed.
2) Read through verse 2:9 several times and try to get where you can say it once today without looking.
3) Say verses 2:1-8 with our new verse, 2:9, 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.

Add the next verse, Ephesians 2:10.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
1) Write out Eph 2:10 on your 3x5 card with verses 1-9 or add a second 3x5 card if needed.
2) Read through verse 2:10 several times and try to get where you can say it once today without looking.
3) Say verses 2:1-9 with our new verse, 2:10, 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.

What is it with my kids and mannequins?

My kids are always fascinated with mannequins.





If you notice Alex behind... he's probably more fascinated than he should be.

New Verse Thursday

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

Today we'll add the next verse, Ephesians 2:8.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
1) Write out Eph 2:8 on your 3x5 card with verses 1-7 or add a second 3x5 card if needed.
2) Read through verse 2:8 several times and try to get where you can say it once today without looking.
3) Say verses 2:1-7 with our new verse, 2:8, 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.


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, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God

Memorizing

Several of us are memorizing in Ephesians 2.


TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
No new verse today. We'll add Eph 2:8 on "New Verse Thursday".
For today, just work on reciting Eph 2:7 a few times without looking. Make sure to say 2:1-6 together with 2:7 a few times today so that you keep reinforcing 2:1-6 while learning 2:7.

New Verse Monday... on Tuesday

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

Today we'll add the next verse, Ephesians 2:7.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT:
1) Write out Eph 2:7 on your 3x5 card with verses 1-6 or add a second 3x5 card if needed.
2) Read through verse 2:7 several times and try to get where you can say it once today without looking.
3) Say verses 2:1-6 with our new verse, 2:7, 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.


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, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Together with all the saints

I've been familiar with this passage for along time and I at one time even wrote a song about it. But, I had missed the importance of one key phrase.

Eph 3:17-19
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I guess I had thought "together with all the saints" meant "together as the global body of Christ, with all its races and ethnicities in congregations all over the world." That's fine for all over the world, but what about the people of different ethnicities just down the street?

I've come to believe that we can "grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" better when we are actually sitting in a room "together with all the saints".