Today is our last weekly youth meeting for the school year. We'll do some stuff during the summer here and there. Our mission trip isn't going to happen. The organization we were a part of has dissolved. No worries. To tell you the truth, I can't wait until the next school year. This year was a struggle for a number of reasons. Our youth ministry hasn't been where I would have thought it would be, or be doing. That is necessarily bad. It just means...
I don't recall where I got this from. But it's been in front of me for a while now and I thought I would share it with you today. Sharing His Joy!Joy is contagious, be a joy carrierA kindness each day brings joy your way.Take time to enjoy yourself or you'll never enjoy anyone else.Turn a frown to a smile by thinking of God's love.(I'm not quite sure about this one, but here it is anyways) Happiness comes when you stay too busy to worry.No one can take your...
This is an addendum to my last post. It is a wonderful thought that I think I might print out and place somewhere I can always see it. Whether you like it or not, your life is the first Bible most people ever read. That is why Jesus taught that our lives must be dominated by His love, not by religious activity alone. Our sociology must reflect our theology. How you treat people will be the clearest indication to them of who you really think God is.Becky...
I got this from a blog I usually scan. The blogger has a great interest in Robert Ingersoll (late 1800s political figure). He was probably most known for his speeches, and, for our purposes, his views on religion. As I read this selection today I was troubled; I don't even know how to describe it. Am I saddened by the thought that someone would think this way about Christ? Of course, but this is nothing new; it wasn't in Ingersoll's day and it sure isn't...
A little boy, waiting for his mother to come out of a store, is approached by a man asking directions: "Son, can you tell me where the post office is?""Sure," says the kid, "just go straight down the street a couple of blocks and turn right."The man thanks the boy kindly and adds, "I am the new preacher in town, and if you come to the church on Sunday, I will show you how to get to heaven."The boy grins, in that way kids have a way of grinning when they know...
I love the Spirit Song, and I used to live in Edinburg. Can you feel the vibes right now? Stay blessed...j...
about the gas station owner who did not sell gas for 24 hours?The owner of Towne Market Mobil in this suburb north of Milwaukee shut down his pumps for 24 hours, hoping to start a movement aimed at persuading oil companies to lower their prices. "Somebody out there is making money at these prices, but not me," said Pollack, 57. "So I just thought: What can I do to help the consumer?"That is an exert from an Associated Press article today. You can read the...
Yes, even in the church we find many guilty parties. If you've ever used PowerPoint or been aggravated by someone's overuse of it, I guarantee you'll laugh at some point in this videoLife After Death by PowerPo...
There's a new movie coming out in June called Evan Almighty. It looks to be a sort of sequel to Bruce Almighty. I haven't read any reviews or heard whether it's any good or not. We'll probably go see it. It comes out June 22nd.A website called arkalmighty.com has launched and is a tool for churches to follow the theme of the movie--acts of kindness to others. Here is an exert from the website:"Doing kind deeds for others isn’t a new phenomenon. Fourteen...
What's better than a little friendly competition? Well, maybe, but for our sake here let's go with friendly competition.I will warn you this game can get frustrating after the first few hours (yes, I'm not kidding) :)Anyways, have fun TRYING to beat me. If you think you can try the monkey kick o...
Some Words
john
5/19/2007
I finished Max Lucado's book entitled The Applause of Heaven. Our Womens' Bible Study used this book and God's Psychiatry by Charles Allen to study the Beatitudes. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. Allen's book is a small gem; I recommend it. Here are a couple of thoughts from Lucado's book I thought were worth repeating."Paul never took a course in missions. He never sat in on a committee meeting. He never read a book on church growth. He was just inspired...
I like the concept. True, not every half sentence that shows up on a church marquee is worth a lengthy discussion. The "We're not Dairy Queen, but we have Great Sundays" is a lot overused. But this could spar some conversation.This is one of those balance issues. There are a lot of questions that come to mind, for me, when I think about using this. If not every search, what kind of searches can Google satisfy? When are we satisfied with the answers...
Most of you are aware of the remodeling project going on in our church sanctuary. I read a story from home that the city of Galveston is looking to build two resort hotels on the west end of the island. The area they have targeted is where I spend the last years living.It'll be interesting, at least for me, to see how that will develop. I'm not against it or anything. But for me it was another message to my heart. When the remodel began in the church...
Here's this week's video invite for our youth group. We're studying "The Power of a Changed Life." Wednesdays @ 5:30 pm.Stay blessed...j...
One of our Sunday School classes has recently began a study on marriage. Now, I want you to know this will not be covered in that class! This is pretty funny, though. Don't worry I'll figure some way to get it to everyone. How far could we reach into this one. Is does make for a great intro into a discussion about communication in marriage. What do you do if this is all you have? Is this really the way it works? Is this how we treat our communication...
One of the last sections in my Sociology class dealt with race, ethnicity, discrimination and prejudice. This website explores many of the areas of concern within these topics. I haven't gone through the entire site, but it does look to be informative. Let me know. Stay blessed...johnRACE--Are We So Differe...
I thought this was humorous. It pokes a little fun at how news organizations can want a story a little too much. Hope you enjoy. Stay blessed...j...
Here's a tragedy. It involves a kidnapping. Someone has kidnapped Tuffy Tor and left him for dead. Tuffy Tor was (is, and will always be) Ball High School's mascot. We didn't have someone running around in a suit. We had an 8-foot tornado that was lifted above the shoulders of class members.I've tried to see if I could find an actual picture, but with no success. You see, you just don't appreciate what you have until you lose it. I'll keep looking though....
"The End" of someting is usually a big deal in our world. Have you ever known when something was going to end and the few weeks beforehand seemed to last forever? What is it about the end that creates all the emotions we tend to experience?As I'm writing this we're heading into the final days of another semester. Believe me, I've been looking forward to this! It just got me thinking about how we handle the ends in life. Do we really have ends, or does...
No, I'm not singing the song. I actually am exciting about some things going on in our church. Last night our Missions Committee met; this was only their 2nd meeting. We had a guest join us to help us explore some possibilities for community service and members shared ideas about some things we can do. All the ideas are being worked on and you should be hearing about some of these soon...like real soon. There was a lot of enthusiasm at the meeting. The...
You might be a part of a church. What an experience that can be! Of course, that can be true in many faithful, positive, self-serving and negative ways. This blog is a place where all of those come together. Hopefully, when reading this blog you will laugh, think, Amen! and want to shoot the messenger. My love for the church, though, is so great that I have no other option than to be as honest and straightforward as I can be when it comes to what the church...
