Stem Cell Research

I haven't posted in a while because of my position change and just the general busyness of ministry, school, and fulltime work. I did want to share this article that I read this morning. It is a telling sign of our future under President Obama. Please pray for our President, that he will make wise decisions that honor God and promote respect for and appreciation of human life.

The telling article from the Wall Street Journal

Another Helpful Tool For Spiritual Growth

I blogged a while ago about BibleMemory.us that sends emails with a link so you can practice Scripture memorization (it has since been modified and you can choose which verses are sent to you and personalize some other things). I've just found another neat little tool: Echo Prayer. It's a online resource where you can input prayer requests and then they'll send you email or text updates at specified times to pray for random or specific prayers. Seems pretty simple, straight forward, and useful. It also has options to add journal notes about prayers and mark that the prayer has been answered. I just started using it today and it will send me specific updates to pray for Uncle Bill.

Weekend Update

Just a quick update of what's been going on. Friday, Everman won in overtime (fantabulous game) and they are now district champs. Saturday, twenty-seven youth came to Connect. I taught the girls how to play Mafia (instead of viewing it as teaching them how to kill and be deceptive, I like to think that I have taught them the finer points of discernment). Kyle played Madden and Guitar Hero with the boys. I think the Bible study on prayer went well and I'm hoping the youth will be motivated to take part in the 6 week (I think it's six week) study that's coming up. Oh yeah, and I got a whopping 1.5 hours of sleep on Saturday night and still don't feel like I've caught up. I haven't been able to nap (gotta love naps) because I have a research paper on Open Theism due this week. I've learned so much researching for and beginning to write this paper but I'm afraid it's going to stink. That's alright...I have a well cushioned grade in the class right now.

Mom, Dad, and Bub (aka David) are coming in in less than a week. I've missed them and I'm excited about them coming in. I also get to be their tour guide, which is always kinda fun for me. There are so many things we can do while they're here. Bub wants to go to Dallas to see the site of the JFK assassination. I'm thinking about taking Dad to the Ripley's Museum and the House of Wax and Mom to the Farmer's Market. They have to go to the Stockyards if they're coming in to Fort Worth. We'll have to wander around Downtown and maybe go to some of the free museums in the area. Too much to see but there's always next year if there are things we miss.

High School Football in Texas

For those of you who aren't native Texans or haven't spent extended time in Texas, high school football is king. If you drive around on a Friday night, you cannot go far without seeing the glare of a high school stadium (hence the show Friday Night Lights). The high school most of our youth go to is no exception. The Bulldogs of Everman High have been spectacular this year, having an undefeated season thus far. Tonight they face their biggest challenge from the also undefeated Stephenville High. Both, I've been told, are ranked in the top ten in the state in the 4A division. It should be an exciting game. Check out this website for more info: Everman Football

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Random Excursus
You know, Texas is a funny place. Besides the weather...I could write several blogs on the weather so I'll wait on that one...they have the craziest homecoming tradition. At homecoming, the girls wear mums. This sounds nice, a pretty flower pinned to a girl. But no, this isn't the case at all. It's this gigantic thing made of bows and whatever else they can glue to it and it can cost a few hundred dollars and is sometimes so heavy that they can't pin it to their clothes but they must strap it around their necks. Those of you from Kentucky will agree that they look like something you would pin on a prize winning horse (I'm not implying that the girls in Texas look like horses, just that the mums they wear look like things that would be pinned on horses). I forgot to take my camera during homecoming so I don't have pictures. I've seen light up ones, ones with multiple stuffed animals attached, and ones that took up a person's entire torso region. They're insane. Here's a website that talks a little about them and shows some pictures. The ones pictured are not the LARGE ones, mind you. And I really like the title of the url: Homecoming Mum: the Riot on your Chest
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We have an overnight event for the youth this weekend. We'll be going to play putt-putt then the girls will go to Delretha's house and the boys to the parsonage (I hope they don't massacre my home). There we'll have a Bible study on prayer. Kyle is starting a prayer emphasis with the youth, trying to give them a good foundation. Pray that the youth, and the leaders, will have a passion to seek God out in prayer. We're hoping this weekend helps to foster that.