For Thanksgiving, I Tried This Fabulous Wild Mushroom Dressing from Emeril Lagasse’s Kitchen

Ingredients

5 cups fresh white bread (such as ciabatta), crust removed and cubed ( I used a pan of richly browned corn bread rather than white)

1 ½ cups milk

6 slices apple bacon, sliced into ¼-inch pieces (Rendered a smoked turkey leg after pressure cooking it instead of bacon)

1 ½ onions, finely chopped

3 ribs celery, finely chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 pound assorted mushrooms, sliced, such as shiitake and oyster

1 cup Marsala wine

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

1 ½ tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

¾ cup chicken broth, or as needed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 tablespoons fine dry breadcrumbs

Cooking Directions

In a bowl, soak the bread cubes in the milk.

In a saute pan, cook the bacon over medium-high heat until crisp and fat has rendered. (Again, I rendered a smoked turkey leg after cooking in down in pressure cooker). Add the onion, celery, and garlic and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until they have released their liquid and are soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Add the Marsala and cook until nearly evaporated. Remove from the heat and set aside until completely cooled.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter a 9-inch square baking dish.

Squeeze any excess milk from the bread and place the bread in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg, mushroom mixture, chopped thyme and oregano, and enough broth to moisten the stuffing. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer mixture to the prepared baking dish and then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and continue to cook until lightly browned on top and heated throughout, 15 to 30 minutes longer.

Serve hot.

God Is Good, All of the Time! Give Thanks!

Remember Jesus’ story in Luke 17:12-17 of the ten lepers whom He granted their prayer for healing; that only 10% of them returned to give thanks. It’s Jesus’ reminder to us that, typically, only around 10% of us remember to thank God for all of God’s good blessings to us. The other 90% of us forget or take God for granted. Thanking God is about thinking…that it is only God from whom all good gifts are given to you.

Let me remember to thank God for the blessing of YOU, for being such a wonderful and valuable Imani member, for 15 years as the church of our Christ, for a special clergy friend, a close or distant friend or relative – -  these great blessings not to mention the blessed memories of pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, holy Greek places, Egypt in Africa and the opportunity to do mission work in Guyana, and Jamaica – not to mention my gorgeous husband and son! God is good, all the time! Forward this thank you card, invitation and prayer for God’s best to your all of friends and relatives. We pray you will accept Christ in your life; and see you every Sunday for a very special Word from our Lord!.

Sincerely,

Pastor Donald-Mims

Imani Community Church, 10AM Sunday

Davis Elementary School

5214 W. Duval Rd (exit 183 or Loop 1 Mopac)

Austin, Texas 78727

Imani Community Church

I Am Transformed, Finally!

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. “—Psalm 68:19

This one-verse text in the King James Version I stumbled across a few days ago just completely blew my mind and gripped my heart. As it is, it is life transforming!  The message in Psalm 68, one among King David’s 150 Psalms, seems to lose its punch when read in more modern translations – so we find the highest inspiration focusing on the KJV, the version authorized by King James I to be translated  for the Church of England.

“Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation”—Psalm 68:19Charles Spurgeon recounts one of the ablest commentators who calls Psalm 68:19 a titanic Psalm, that’s a truly gigantic Psalm. It is not difficult to understand it in our practical duties as a vital doctrine.

This can transform your entire life. Change your future and your level of receiving God’s best blessings. Just earnestly, deeply and wholeheartedly give thanks to God in special prayer. Give thanks to God all of the time and always.  You must pray special prayers of thanksgiving.  Transform bitterness, selfishness, self-pity, negativism, and pride from blocking you from entering the next higher level of blessing –  ultimate blessings by learning to be thankful and to “give thanks always for all things to God” you will have an attitude of gratitude. It  will change those ill feelings and literally transform your life.

There are at least four levels of living driven by attitude. People in the lowest level constantly complain. These People always gripe and complain. Never received enough- God is always too late and shows up with too little. What God gives is difficient because it misses your expectations.The second level is just slightly higher. These people do not constantly complain; they just never give thanks for anything. They take things God gives for granted.The third level are those who thank God for the obvious blessings, when things are going good and everything is fine.But the fourth level, the highest level, are those who give thanks always for all things. This is the attitude that will change your life.There are ways to grow spiritually into this gratitude attitude: five principles that will help you  achieve this highest level.Our Gratitude is

Proper – Anything good that you have has come from God. You didn’t get it by luck, ingenuity, hard work, wit, or wisdom. It is proper to thank God for it.Our

Gratitude is to Be Perpetual – You’re not just simply to be thankful one day a year. One day is not long enough to thank God for all that God’s given you. God’s blessings come daily. Psalm 68:19 says, “Blessed be the Lord, Who daily loadeth us with benefits…” The psalmist also says “God’s mercies are new every morning”.  “…Joy comes in the morning.” Every day God has brand-new blessings for you, and every day ought to find you thanking God. Every prayer that you pray ought to be salted with thanks.

Our Gratitude is to Be PervasiveIn everything give thanks. Not in some things, but in all things. Everything, every area of life is to be a subject of thanksgiving. There’s so much to be thankful for.

• Spiritual blessings – If you didn’t have anything else but Jesus, you would have enough to praise God for all eternity.

• Simple things – You should be thankful for your families, health, food, and even a glass of water. Thank God for the simple things.

• Sorrowful things – You can even be thankful for the heartaches, the pains, and the sufferings. Romans 8:28 says, “…All things work together for good…” That is, the thing itself is not good, but it is God Who is working all things together for good.

Live on the highest level of life? Cultivate the attitude of gratitude always and in all things. I don’t care how bad, difficult, dark, or mysterious things get; take the ultimate step of faith and say, “God, You’re greater than this, and I thank You.” You may say, “Well, I don’t feel like thanking Him.” Don’t thank Him by feeling; thank Him by faith. You’re not told to feel thankful but to be thankful. Nothing shows your faith in the absolute sovereignty of God more than just simply thanking God in every situation.