AnotherJohn.Com

Merry Christmas! +Liturgy

What is it about the "M" word that worries people? We find out that the "M" word can teach us about our faith. Luke 1:26-38 26And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and ...

A few pictures from the new place. I've been meaning to do this.

Okay, you may now laugh. Stay blessed...john +Ironic Catholic

+B&P

Finals are next week and I'll be spending most of this week preparing. Posting has been very limited over the last several weeks, but will pick up soon. I'm working on a 10-15 exegesis on 1 Samuel 28, an extra-credit book review, take home final exam and normal finals preparations. Hope you're having as good a time as I am. Stay blessed...john

The recording quality isn't the best. Sorry. Stay blessed...john

My undergraduate work was in Sociology. Reading Lendbe ck’s work (The Nature of Doctrine: Religion and Theology in a Postliberal Age ) reminded me of much of what was scrutinized discussed and explored in those studies. Specifically, there seems to be a major tie to the idea of the sociology of religion. Religion transcends cultural boundaries; it is found in an overwhelming majority of societies. Each religion is essentially a peoples’ attempt to explain the unknown. These explanations rarely come without an outline of what is deemed an appropriate response to the religious conclusions generated, regardless of the religion. Ultimately, this is seems to be the viewpoint Lindbeck takes in The Nature of Doctrine. This idea does not originate with Lindbeck and does not end in his work. It is a useful comparison he makes in establishing a connection between the use of language or cultural with the roles of religion and doctrine. There are undoubtedly many who have followed a model of learn...

Some of you will have heard this story before. It was new to me. I don't usually use this type of material for church activities. However, I did share it with the church at our evenining worship service. I gave them the disclaimer that I didn't know if it was a true story or not, but thought it had something to think about. Our Scripture that evening was Deuteronomy 34:1-12 (Moses' death). I did not compare the stories, but we focused on the importance of living a life dedicated to God (as Moses had). Perhaps keeping in line with sharing email forwards this week, a friend sent this to me via email last Thursday: Father John Powell, a professor at Loyola University in Chicago, writes about a student in his Theology of Faith class named Tommy: Some twelve years ago, I stood watching my university students file into the classroom for our first session in the Theology of Faith. That was the day I first saw Tommy. My eyes and my mind both blinked. He was combing his lon...

Top Ten Predictions No Matter Who Wins the Election. This was sent as a forwarded email. I'm sharing it because it kind of goes in line with what I was going to put on the church marquis next week (you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?) 1. The Bible will still have all the answers. 2. Prayer will still work. 3. The Holy Spirit will still move. 4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people. 5. There will still be God-anointed preaching. 6. There will still be singing of praise to God. 7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people. 8. There will still be room at the Cross. 9. Jesus will still love you. 10. Jesus will still save the lost when they come to Him. Stay blessed...john

Oak Haven United Methodist Church has completely paid its apportionments for the 2008year! Two months early by the way. This was something we celebrated on Sunday, of course. The last several years have been difficult for the church. The city of Irving has been through some changes during this time. That has had an impact on the work of the church. We've gone from staffing a full time pastor to now having a part time minister. Membership has declined (that's what happens when everyone moves away). So, long story short, this is/was a big deal for our congregation. Now, the money made during the anuual Ham Smoke will be used for other budget items and future expenditures. It'll be a great boost for the coming year. Oh, I haven't told you about the Ham Smoke? Well, the peeps here have been doing this for a while--some forty plus years to be not exact. Hams are smoked (in a custom built smoker, duh!) over a two day period and sold; there is also a country store ...

This was a fun one to do. I didn't use the OT reading in the morning. Instead, at our evening service, I brought everything full circle. Hopefully, it made sense. I gave everyone homework for the evening service; if I have to suffer why can't they? Anyways, I included the benediction at the end of this recording. It caught a bunch of people off guard, but was a great way to finish our time together. I've wanted to do the whole song in some way (you'll know when you hear it). Stay blessed...john

Some of us blog for no apparent reason. There are many others of you that I would love to see begin blogging. Either way, Blogsessive.com has provided the 10 Commandments of Blogging . I couldn't help but think most of these would be appropriate to sermon writing! So, what makes a blog worth going back to read? It'd be interesting to hear what you think. With so much going on right now what has saved my blogging is Blogger's Post Options. I am able to prepare a post and schedule it anytime ahead. That has really helped me a lot. Why would I share my dirty little secret? Stay blessed...john

See more funny videos at Funny or Die +UniqueDaily

Has anyone worked on one of these for the Bible? It would be cool to see how we got all the way here. A breif History of communication from ljudbilden on Vimeo . +neatorama

+InnocentEnglish

Of course you know Christmas is only 61 days away. That means your real shopping time is down to 60 days! Maybe this is a gift you can share for the holidays: Excuse me if I've posted this before. It is pretty funny. Well, maybe if you're Karl Barth (Yes, I just threw that in to show you I have been paying attention in class). Stay blessed...john

Corporate worship means a lot to me. I’m not quite sure where I would begin describing how and why joining a group of believers for worship encourages my faith walk. I was taught very early, and have recently heard a phrase that encompasses the thought so precisely, that you don’t go to church to worship; you go worshipping. That is, you recognize the presence of God with you not just in a pew, but everywhere else you are. This recognition completes you, fills you and reminds you of the great wonder of God. As corny, fake or self-righteous as it may sound, I don’t lack anything in my corporate worship experiences. A worship service can be compared to a day in the life of someone. There are times things seem backwards, confused, wonderful, just right and everything else in between (that goes for a day and a worship service). None of that takes away from who God is. So, I can live in that confidence and reassurance of God’s presence. I think, in part, this is what Paul had in ...

A tourist is picked up by a cabbie in New York on a dark night. The passenger taps the driver on the shoulder to ask him something. The driver screams, loses control of the car, nearly hits a bus, drives up on the sidewalk, and stops inches from a shop window. For a second everything went quiet in the cab, then the driver said, "Look friend, don't EVER do that again. You scared the daylights out of me!" The passenger apologizes and says he didn't realize that a "little tap" could scare him so much. The driver, after gathering himself together replied, "Sorry, it's not really your fault. Today is my first day as a cab driver - I've been driving hearses for the last 25 years!

I think we have some new readers (listeners) to the blog. Welcome; we're glad you came. To listen to past sermons, read the passages and click the little triangle button to begin. Meeemeep! This sermon is from Sunday October 19, 2008. Stay blessed...john Matthew 22:15-22 Paying Taxes to Caesar 15Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words. 16They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. "Teacher," they said, "we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. 17Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?" 18But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, "You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? 19Show me the coin used for paying the tax." They brought him a denarius, 20and he asked them, "Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?" 21...

So, what happens to all the stuff you have online (blogs, pictures, etc) when it's time to trade your keyboard for a pair of wings? I had actually wondered about this before. There aren't too many things around here I think I would have to worry about. Still, I had no idea it could be so complicated. People sure do take themselves seriously sometimes. Read the article here: What happens to your web stuff when you die? Maybe this is a call for me to put more valuable stuff online. If I'm leaving this site to my kids I have to make up for all the money they won't be getting when I'm gone. Stay blessed...john

A new young monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to help the other monks in copying the old canons and laws of the church by hand. He notices, however, that all of the monks are copying from copies, not from the original manuscript. So, the new monk goes to the head abbot to question this, pointing out that if someone made even a small error in the first copy, it would never be picked up. In fact, that error would be continued in all of the subsequent copies. The head monk, says, “We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but you make a good point, my son.” So, he goes down into the dark caves underneath the monastery where the original manuscript is held as archives in a locked vault that hasn’t been opened for hundreds of years. Hours go by and nobody sees the old abbot. So, the young monk gets worried and goes downstairs to look for him. He sees him banging his head against the wall, and wailing “We forgot the “R”, We forgot the “R” His forehead is all bloody and ...

Now that I've cleaned my screen, I'll share this video with you. It's pretty cool. I'm not sure its phsychology more than it is mathematics. Either way it'll make you try a second time.

This was the first sermon my mom (and brother) ever heard me preach. I was told I had to behave. We also had a dear friend visiting as well. You'll have to forgive some of the recording. We noticed the battery to the lapel mic was dead right when the service began. I tried to boost the sound on the recording (where the pulpit floated away from me); so, some parts will vary in their sound quality (and most of it will vary in it's content quality). Stay blessed...john

The one spiritual exercise I had always been uncomfortable with was the labyrinth. Uncomfortable is the wrong word—something to describe “a waste of time” would be more appropriate. In recent years, I had seen more instances where participating in the labyrinth was available at various conference events (i.e. Bishop’s convocation, retreats, Annual Conference, etc). I had done some investigation into what was involved; however, I concluded this was something that was of little interest to me. I knew there were better things I could be doing with my time. I have changed my outlook somewhat thanks to my participation in a children’s camp this summer. During the summer semester, I held an internship position with my annual conference. One of my responsibilities was to attend the various camps scheduled. The first one I attended was for fourth and fifth graders. Yes, there is nothing like sharing a room with (18) ten and eleven year olds! While I was an observer, I also co-led one o...

+SmartPastor

Oh, so much truth and pain in this hilarious little video. I hadn't seen these before; I'll be looking for new episodes. +L&H

This sermon was from this past Sunday (October 5, 2008).

Is life the only thing that is not fair? This sermon is from two Sundays ago (September 28, 2008).

Just for fun here are some supposedly true courtroom quotes: * Lawyer: "Can you describe what the person who attacked you looked like?" * Witness: "No. He was wearing a mask." * Lawyer: "What was he wearing under the mask?" * Witness: "Er...his face." * Lawyer: "This myasthenia gravis -- does it affect your memory at all?" * Witness: "Yes." * Lawyer: "And in what ways does it affect your memory?" * Witness: "I forget." * Lawyer: "You forget. Can you give us an example of something that you've forgotten?" * Lawyer: "Did you blow your horn or anything?" * Witness: "After the accident?" * Lawyer: "Before the accident." * Witness: "Sure, I played for ten years. I even went to school for it." * Lawyer: "You were there until the time you left, is that true?" * Lawyer: "So you were gone...

What an idea. Now, there is double the amount of room for books! +neatorama

Prayer as a conversation between God and us is a common idea. This personal dialogue is often spoken of as a gift. Indeed, the promise of prayers heard, cared for and answered by the Creator is beyond measure. Wrapped in this talk also is the commonly emphasized bidirectional nature of a conversation; that is to highlight our responsibility to participate by speaking and listening. These ideas provide a great illustration for engaging in a lifestyle of prayer. It also allows us to critically evaluate how we relate to God in this way. We can compare our conversations with others to our talks with God. This helps us find patterns or similarities in the way we communicate. It can also reveal strengths and weaknesses. Specific to prayer, this comparison can demonstrate how well we allow God to be in conversation with us. The many elements of a conversation (i.e. active listening, engagement, silence, etc) are all a part of what is valued in prayer. Unfortunately, many will probabl...

Let's face it: You only want me for my sermons! Every week I spend time preparing words I pray will be 1) faithful to God and 2) helpful for all us to grow in our understanding of who God is and what our response to God should be. The sermon play below should have most of our sermons available. It also includes scripture reading links you should make use of as well. If you are having trouble viewing the player below, you can visit my sermon channel here. Please let me know if you have any issues.

This was too funny not to post. Is he worried he won't see any more church offering plates?

I had forgotten to put this sermon up yesterday. One day at one of the Mercedes churches I did a lesson with members of the youth group. Part of the activities was to think of an advertising slogan that could be used in church (i.e. God's like scotch tape; you can't see Him, but you know He's there). Mine was from the Payless shoestore commercial; they're slogan was the title of this sermon. Who knew all these years later I'd get to used it. Exodus 16:1-15 Matthew 20:1-16

The family was able to return to Galveston and get a first hand look at the damage from the hurricane. Mom said it's everything you see on television and worse. There's no way the TV can portray the stinch and desolate feeling accurately. One of my sisters was able to send me pictures of the house. It is still standing, but there is little hope anything can be done to repair it. Wow! That's an emotion that is difficult to explain. I don't know if that is exactly how the Israelites felt, but it has to be close. Sure I, like many others, give them a hard time. We tend to focus on their disbelief and disobedience way more than their times of victory and faithfulness. That might very well be the intent of the OT writers so to keep us aware of our short comings as well. In this week's lectionary reading the Israelites are complaining again. Considering the events of the past 10 days or so (and when I go beyond myself and family, things that have happened that...

My mom found out their house is still standing. As of Monday night there was still about a foot and a half of water inside. My sisters both know their apartments have water damage. The rest of my family have yet to find anything out about their homes. I still haven't decided which is worse--coming back to see your home in ruins (beyond repair) or coming back and not seeing your home.

It was just a small idea. We change our marquis each week to reflect (hopefully) this week's sermon. I thought I would post those here. You can also see what's going on at Oak Haven. Stay blessed...john

Television newscasts have not done a good job in providing information--as far as I am concerned. The most info I have been able to get has been from a business that is running at less than full capacity and another company's building. The Galveston County News provides good information and pictures describing some of the clean up and devastation. Here is there website: The Galveston County News Stay blessed...john and gloria

We know there are many of you who have been in prayer for the people who live on the Gulf Coast. Particularly, I know you have been praying for our family. I can’t tell you how much that means. Here’s a quick update: My mom and step dad are with my grandparents in High Island. The town is surrounded by water; so, there’s not getting out right now, but they are fine. My dad and his family went to Victoria; they will heading back today (Sunday) to Texas City. Two of my sisters are in Houston where the older one lives; they’re fine. My younger brother is at a camp in Kerrville; so, he’s okay. My grandmother stayed at a hospital in Texas City. She was transferred yesterday to another hospital. They were without water and power. She was pretty scared since they were going to be taking her by helicopter. Last week she broke her hip and wrist in a fall. A couple of aunts and uncles went to San Antonio. Some of them are coming to stay with us for at least a few days. Of course, no on...

The question arose: Do you think the catholic church was too pragmatic in its approach to the lapsi (those who lapsed in their confession of the Christian faith in the face of persecution), or do you think the Novationists were too harsh? Why? Also, why do you think the Novationist position did not prevail? Here is a little detail about the Novationsists. Essentially, they were a group of early church believers that openly opposed allowing those people who had denied their faith facing persecution to return to the church. As a person whose life has been touched by it, I prefer to tread alongside the avenues of grace. So, I would have to believe the Novationists were too harsh in their stance against those who succumbed to the pressures of persecution and, as the text points out was the belief of bishops everywhere, failed to defend their faith in Christ—an action that consequently removed them from the community. In all reality, each of us will face experiences that will pres...

So, the question had to do with being in a new/unfamiliar church setting and focusing on what is coming next at each interval of the service/program (do I stand here, what does this mean, why do we do this, who is that big headed guy up front in the black dress, etc). For our purposes, we’ll make this a small discussion regarding church visitors. You want your visitors to feel comfortable enough to participate in your congregation’s worship time. Perhaps, however, your church presents an experience that is radically different from what they are accustomed to. Or it may be your visitors have little or no experience in a church environment. What, if anything, should/could we do to encourage them to use the service as a time of personal reflection and/or worship and not be preoccupied with those kinds of things? One suggestion that arose was having a time after the service to answer questions or take time to explain certain elements of a worship gathering. In other words...

Here's something I think we'll let the kids play. It's called Anatomy Arcade. Use the mouse to correctly place bones of the body. +Ursi

We Remember: I remember: A teacher making us turn off the television and getting back to schoolwork. So, we all used to internet to keep up for a while until we protested and made her turn it back on. Wanting to go to help so bad. I had no clue how I would get there or what I would do. Wondering where it was going to happen next. I think many of us wondered how many more targets there were going to be. Going into class and looking it up on foxnews.com. When I first went in that morning someone mentioned a plane hitting the first building. I saw a picture of it and we thought it was a big accident. A fellow student dropping his head into his hands after the first building collapsed. This guy was supposed to be the coolest, doesn't care about anyone type. Yea, buddy we all need God. Going to work that night (Wal-Mart) to a quieted store with constant coverage on the television monitors. It seemed like no one was joking or goofing off. Being glued to television for days. ...

I don’t know what your schedule looks like. You’re probably busy and have a million things to do. Believe me I totally understand. I want to offer to you a great way to focus on what matters (Luke 10:41-42). Have you ever sat in your church’s sanctuary alone? Of course, that would probably mean you would have to contact your pastor or figure out some way to get in the building. Whatever it takes, try it. Here at Oak Have our one building makes it something that is very easy to do; it was the same in Edinburg . At Bandera I had to walk a few buildings over and sometimes that just couldn’t happen. But sitting in that sacred place has always blessed me. I’ve used that quiet time to center on God, remember what He has already shown me, the work He has done and is doing in the church, give thanks for the people who meet there regularly, pray for those who aren’t there, to pray, to sing, even just to unwind. I know that would probably be something that would take more...

The other day I was having a conversation with someone. This person was describing how they ended up in Perkins. Perkins wasn’t the first choice to be. No, there wasn’t another seminary lined up. Rather there was a job in a church in New Mexico (I don’t remember exactly what the position was, but something to do with children). The church flew in this applicant to participate in a few weekend activities including a Sunday worship time. As far as this person could tell the weekend was great. After having time with some of the kids and families there was already a small connection. However, the church called (on this person’s birthday) to inform them they offered the position to another applicant. This person had to know so the question was asked what persuaded the final decision. The church thought this person was too young (22 years) and wouldn’t be able to relate to some of the situations working with families would present. That got me thinking. I’ve never faced that. At l...

Okay, so I'm getting more and more info about things in the North Texas Conference. Here is an event coming up that should be worth anyone's time: The North Texas Conference Lay Speaking Ministries is pleased to offer an outstanding workshop on Teaching and Preaching to conference Clergy and Laity. Our leader will be the Rev. Dr. Alyce M. McKenzie, Associate Professor of Homiletics, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. Rev. McKenzie offered this topic, “Five Alive,” at the 2008 session of the Perkins Theological School for the Laity in March. At that time, she limited her focus to the study of scripture using our five senses. After the session, she was approached by participants with the idea of expanding the course to include learners' development of a sermon based on the study. Her immediate response was, “That sounds like a great idea!” This workshop grew out of that conversation. We are also pleased that for the first time, Lay Speaking Ministries...

This is from an email I received: Dear colleague, There are many churches all across America that use traditional worship as their primary way of doing worship services. Jim Bankston, pastor of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston believes in the importance of traditional worship and St. Paul’s does only traditional worship. The large United Methodist Church I served for over 30 years in Tulsa does both traditional and contemporary worship. We are both committed to finding ways to do traditional worship better. We believe it will make a significant difference for the church to be able to improve the quality of traditional worship. Therefore, we are holding a national conference on November 11-13, 2008 called Traditional Worship for Contemporary People. The event will be held at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Houston and features some of the great, practical experts on traditional worship. Although this conference has been designed primarily out of the United Methodist...

Maybe letting the Eagle out of the bag early wasn't the worst thing I could have done. Next Monday I'll be at Irving stadium watching the Eagles play that other team. A few members of the church invited me to attend. They did say if the Eagles win they wouldn't be at church on Sunday. Can I tell my DS this really great story why our church attendance was down this one week? They also said I couldn't wear any Philadelphia paraphernalia. We'll see what happens. Stay blessed...john

We have all heard, probably many times, the advantages of having a support system when raising children. Our family has certainly been blessed with that. So, we say (or at least we used to) “It takes a village to raise a child.” Yes, our children are often times in need of so much direction and guidance. There are so many things they have to learn about themselves, about their faith and about who we pray will be their Lord. Many families seem to be satisfied in handling their own child-rearing, alone. It’s my opinion having that neighbor who will yell out the window when they see something they know is wrong or the family friend who is allowed to do the whooping because you know how much they care is sadly a missing element in many of the lives of our children. There are two things I would like you to do now. First, stop thinking about raising children. Secondly, reread the paragraph above. This time, however, replace “our children” as the subject with “the ...

Since our recent move I have not had an internet connection at home. I found out quickly that many of our beloved hotspots are no longer free, but you can subscribe to their monthly services. We also learned that our library closes kind of early. There was no connection in my new office either and it was only last week that I started going to school each day. So, I’ve been without a consistent internet connection for about a month. Next week that should be a memory. That will do a couple of things for me. It’ll allow me to respond to emails and such in a timelier manner. Also, the audio to our worship services at Oak Haven have been recorded. Once our home is elbowed into the 21 st century, I’ll be able to post weekly sermons as well. That’s something I’ve missed doing. The blog has had some new readers lately. It is great to have you, hope you can stay. You keep visiting (leave more comments), telling others to visit and we’ll keep tying (it is the Blog That...

Youth rooms, buildings and houses should only hope to have these! +neatorama

Some of you may recall previous blog confessions. Those were a good thing for me. Here are my confessions upon making a move to a new town, church and school. I confess: This is the nicest parsonage we’ve lived in. Only in the last several days have I had my own time for grieving over our move. It still feels like I’m filling in for the senior pastor. I want to keep tabs on what the youth are doing in Bandera (Hello Generation X). During the weekdays, I have spoken more to members from Bandera UMC than Oak Haven UMC (It’s going both ways). It feels good to have all my office stuff up again; it’s the dumb stuff that means a lot. I already feel at home in Irving. I have compared churches before (Oak Haven, Bandera UMC, Edinburg FUMC, Mercedes FUMC and El Buen Pastor UMC); it’s been a positive thing. I always fought and overcame the temptation to correct people when they called me a youth pastor, but man am I going to miss working with the youth so closely. I had believed for a while i...

A few weeks ago, prior to the move, I mentioned my reading of one of Joel Osteen’s books. That book was Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential. It seems I have lied to you and myself. I had promised to finish it, but that just isn’t going to happen. First, I’m already well into several books for classes. Secondly, I just don’t consider it worth my efforts to complete it (there is a department store receipt serving as a bookmark at just over the halfway mark). Now, don’t just shrug me off as another Osteen hater. I don’t know the man. It’s just hard for me to take seriously his claims. There were some good things he had to say in the book. They were, however, all tied to a common theme that disturbs my faith and is a part of what I think is of great concern in our culture. Everything, as the title suggests, is about you. As open minded as I was trying to be I couldn’t help but notice the many times the word “you” or “your” was printed. ...

Prior to classes officially beginning, I attended two orientations. One was the school’s general overview of studies and programs. The second was actually a retreat, of sorts, to introduce and address the importance of our Spiritual Formation class. It was an all day event (I only mention that so you would have pity on me and the others for having to sit in a chair all day listening to one person speak). Before the retreat, we were to have read What God Wants for Your Life: Changing the Way We Seek God’s Will by Frederick W. Schmidt—he led the retreat and is the director of Spiritual Life and Formation at Perkins. I must tell you I enjoyed the book far more than I enjoyed getting to know my plastic chair (even with complimentary breakfast and lunch). It took me two days to read the 225 pages. The only reason I bring that up is because I bought the book late and read it the two days before the retreat. The first day, including obviously the first half of the book,...