Independence day randomness...

Happy 4th of July everybody! To celebrate, I give you a healthy dose of randomness...

* The total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2007 was 6.8 billion pounds. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for about one-sixth of the nation’s total production. And if the beef did not come from Texas, it very well may have come from Nebraska (4.7 billion pounds) or Kansas (4.1 billion pounds). Source: US Census Bureau. Have fun barbecuing that beef!

* How come I can't buy pork steaks in North Carolina? This makes me miss St. Louis-style barbecue.

* I am preaching this Sunday at Ambassador Pres. in Apex. Meg and I are both excited to see all the friends and church family that we love and miss so much! The pastor there, Warren, has recently been doing a series on community entitled, "Life Together," examining various "one another" passages in the NT. I'll be preaching on Romans 15:5-6 and the sermon is titled, "Live in Harmony with One Another".

* Speaking of preaching, here is a link to the sermon I gave a few weeks ago at Uptown Church on Leviticus 22: Holy Priest - Holy Offering

* So I installed VMFusion on the MacBook. This allows me to run Windows XP on a partition so that I can use BibleWorks and various other Windows programs that I already own. Want to know the ironic thing: I have never seen XP run so nicely. Imagine that!

* I have class again next week at RTS. This one is a practical theology class titled "Pastoral Ministry" and it is taught by Rod Mays (Director of Reformed University Ministries). I must say that I am not sure that I am ready for a class again but this one shouldn't be as demanding as the Horton class I took last week. I am looking forward to seeing how God works in my heart through the instruction.

* I don't know about you but I have grown increasingly tired of all the ads that I see on various websites - particularly Facebook. Some of these ads are just downright inappropriate. Well, thanks to a tip from a friend, I found about about Adblock Plus - an addon for Firefox which blocks these ads so that you don't have to see them at all. If you use Firefox I highly recommend that you install this addon!

* Another great Dr. Horton quote from class last week: "The only demographic that really matters for Christians is that they are 'in Christ'." Try putting that down on a survey, etc. the next time they want to know what income, age, or interest demographic you fall into...

* I am planning to read "The Life of John Murray," by Iain Murray while on the plane from NY to Dublin next weekend. I really need to read more biographies...

* I also really need to keep up with my Hebrew vocabulary. I have my exegesis class in the fall and it's amazing how much you can forget over a summer.

* I need a new pair of shoes...

* Don Tomas cigars are fast becoming my favorite. It used to be Arturo Fuente, but these things are good!

Have a great holiday everyone!