city living: the taco stand

God has smiled and placed kim and i right in the middle of a vibrant and growing food culture in st. louis. we live less than a mile from so many great places. as one could assume working in a great local coffee shop food often leads to conversations about restaurants. my co-worker and friend told me about La Vallesana. it is an amazing little taqueria located at the corner of california and cherokee in benton park west. fresh, authentic, takes me back to being in mexico. here is what river front times had to say:

If you grade on a cost-benefit curve, La Vallesana might be the best restaurant in St. Louis. For less than $5 you can have three tacos al pastor: smoky pork, grilled pineapple, onion and cilantro on corn tortillas. Give each a squeeze of fresh lime and a slather of fiery red or green salsa, and you have the perfect meal. Can't live by tacos al pastor alone? (What's wrong with you?) Try a taco made with meltingly tender barbacoa or earthy beef tongue. Burritos are very good, especially with spicy chorizo. For a messy, overfilled delight, torta sandwiches deliver the goods and then some.

you should really try it some time, but you have to take me :)

keep yourself out of it

this quote from oswald chambers struck to the core of my depraved heart:

quit praying about yourself and spend your life
for the sake of others as the bond servant of Jesus

this has to come from a man who understood and practiced 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." i realize this may be a bit of a rehash of the devotional oswald himself wrote but this quote forced me to reevaluate my fervor for the Gospel. do i really preach, live, and teach the Gospel for the benefit of others or solely to cover my own hide?

city living: genesis

as kim and i start this venture of planting a church in st louis i hope to try and chronicle as much as i can. so as you can tell by the title of this post this shall be called "city living". catchy, i know.

today we have lived in soulard for a week and two days, with much time spent running to and fro to litchfield to wrap things up. we did the proverbial wrap up this past sunday with and amazing day spent honoring Jesus with our family and friends. as i reflect on what happened sunday i am thankful and amazed. it was an amazing day and i am thankful to everyone who was involved and so pleased with how Christ honoring it was. litchfield will be a special place for us to remember and know that we are always welcome to come back. the ordiantion service and events was amazing with my father, grandfathers, uncles, mentors, and best friends there. again thank you to all who made it a day about Jesus.

so far not too much exciting has happened here in the city. i swore never to return to walmart after we left litchfield and found myself there the day we moved in, oh well. the next day kim and i explored and found some places in soulard that i think we can go to instead of the house that sam built, though i have the feeling that the places we found were a little more like sam had imagined in the begining.

kim is adjusting to her new setting at work and commuting once a week back to litchfield. she has an amazing view of clayton, mo from her new office window. she is already in love with the market and enjoys shopping at vincent's market literally right down the street.

we are praying everyday that the Gospel would go forth in the way we live our lives and that we would take hold of the opportunities that Jesus gives us to share the Gospel and share about what is going on with August Gate. momentum is building and we are so excited about what God is doing and is going to do for the Kingdom in st. louis.

are you kidding me?!?!

saw this little blurb on foxnews.com:

Johnny Depp Doesn’t Watch His Movies

Johnny Depp is one of the finest and highest-paid actors in Hollywood, but the "Public Enemies" star doesn’t even watch the films that he spends so many months making.

"If the movie does well out there in the world, that's great, but I can't pretend to know anything about it," Depp recently told Tarts. "Once my job is done, they wrap me on set and I've done my character I walk away. I mean 9 times out of 10 I don't even see the movie."

c'mon johnny, i know you are weird and all, but seriously?

making a come back

kim and i are officially st. louis, mo residents!!! it has been a long road and we have even longer of one to go here as we partner in the work of the Gospel with many people. i am going to try and get back into the swing of things with blogging so that i can collect my thoughts on city living and our adventure of planting a church. hope this pleases all five of my readers :)

some days i totally feel like this

moving plea from john piper

Conservatives Upset With Episcopal Church Break Off, Form Rival Religion

Conservatives within the Episcopal Church angered by the liberal views of the church's leaders plan to form a rival denomination.

The new Anglican Church in North America will include four Episcopal dioceses that recently split from the U.S. church, along with breakaway Anglican parishes from Canada.

The announcement comes after decades of debate over what Episcopalians should believe about issues ranging from salvation to sexuality. Tensions erupted in 2003 when Episcopalians consecrated the first openly gay bishop.

Bishop Robert Duncan, who leads the breakaway Diocese of Pittsburgh, is the proposed new leader of the new North American province, which says it has 100,000 members.

"The Lord is displacing the Episcopal Church," Duncan said in a news conference in Wheaton, Ill., where the proposed constitution for the new province was drafted. He noted that membership and worship attendance in the U.S. denomination have been declining for years.

"We are a body that is growing, that is planting new congregations, that is concerned to be an authentic Christian presence in the U.S. and Canada," Duncan said.

The world Anglican Communion is a fellowship of churches with roots in the Church of England. The Episcopal Church is the Anglican body in the United States. But the new North American church says it represents true Anglican beliefs.

The Episcopal Church, in response, issued a statement Wednesday affirming its position as the Anglican Communion's "official, recognized presence ... in North America," allong with the official churches in Canada and Mexico.

"And we reiterate what has been true of Anglicanism for centuries: that there is room within The Episcopal Church for people with different views, and we regret that some have felt the need to depart from the diversity of our common life in Christ," the Rev. Charles K. Robertson said in the written statement.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

from FOXNews.com

Maryland Woman Charged With Stealing Neighbors' Christmas Decorations

from FOXNews.com

MANCHESTER, Md. — A Carroll County woman is facing misdemeanor theft charges for allegedly swiping Christmas decorations from her neighbors' lawns.

The county sheriff's office says 51-year-old Gabriele Markert was found Monday in her Manchester home with decorations from at least three area homes.

Authorities say the investigation began about 4:30 a.m., after a woman reported a loud noise and discovered her 4-foot-tall Santa and snowman had been taken from her yard. After deputies went to her home, another neighbor who was walking her dog reported that she, too, had been targeted.

Markert was awaiting a bail review hearing Monday

florida man arrested for attacking father with christmas tree

from FOXNews.com

PARRISH, Fla. — Authorities say a west Florida man who lives with his parents has been arrested on a felony assault charge after he used a Christmas tree as a weapon to attack his father.

According to the Manatee County sheriff's report, 37-year-old Thomas Edward Lackie was arrested last week after he threw a 3-foot Christmas tree at his father. The tree missed, but Lackie then tried to use the steel base from the tree to strike his father.

His father and mother were able to grab Lackie's arms to prevent the attack. Deputies say the tree could have caused serious injuries because the metal base weighs about five pounds.

Lackie was charged with felony assault. He denied trying to strike his father.