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I really need to get me some of these. Can you imagine the screams at any youth group outing?! These are way better than those cheesy mitten socks. When I see things like this I really wanna spend time/waste time, however you want to look at it, making up my own ideas.Stay blessed...john+FFFFo...
Classes for the Spring semester began today. I'm taking fewer hours this time around. This morning I actually had a thought that perhaps next semester I will go back to (12) hours. All first year students have to take a course entitled Spiritual Formation. It's a Pass/Don't Pass course. The work is not heavy at all, but does require 2-3 hours each week to complete the required work. That will be a decision for late summer.I have decided I will make more...
I dropped off a special letter this morning. It was addressed to the Meadowbrook Baptist Church. That church is right across the street from us. In the spirit of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity I wrote a letter that expressed our intention to be in prayer for that congregation this week. Members signed the letter also. I’ve been told they have shared a similar experience as Oak Haven with membership and finances over the last several years. An...
You can't resist, can you?Then here 'ya go. A funny "photo project" I think you'll enjoy: How to Make a BabyI can handle this explanation with the kids!Stay blessed...j...
A couple of tidbits from Sunday. Gloria had told some of the members my lowly state of football viewership. I’m the guy that used to have the Eagles socks, boxers, shirts, hats, helmets, mugs, rags and anything else I could find. Well, somehow, my Eagles paraphernalia has dwindled down to a single Eagles pillowcase. This pillowcase has served me well in recent weeks. I have been wearing it as a cape (of course Nathan sees that and thinks it’s only appropriate...
Okay, I want you all to give it up for my United Methodist Men. The other night we had our monthly meeting. You may recall how I feel about regular meetings (necessary evil, thorn in my side, etc). This was different. The meeting did drag on a bit initially; the food was great, though!I will gladly let you remind me that with larger groups attendance percentages tend to drop. Now, you know I don't play around with numbers and try to pad and all that....
In late February our church will have its first usher training in as long as anyone can’t remember. At the very least the ushers we have now have not been trained, and they’ve been pretty faithful with their job for quite a while. Of course I said I would lead the training.So, I’ve been putting together some material. Do any of you have any good or bad usher stories? You know like the time the head usher….? Most of my usher stories are pretty boring and...
Well, that's not my prediction. That's the score from the NFL madden '09 Forecast.I'm feeling good about this one. Who cares what the score is as long as the E-A-G-L-E-S finish strong!Go Gre...
I’ve been working on a bunch of newsletter material. So far there is about a page worth of material. We’ll see if that’s a good thing or not. I’m trying to help our church provide information that focuses less on “We did…” and more on “We are…” and “We will be…” One of the items on that list is our church’s website. I’m almost done with it. Of course there’ll be a link here. Originally, I had planned to have it complete before the semester began. That...
Oak Haven is the first church I’ve been able to work closely with the United Methodist Women’s Group. In Bandera I was always in class when they met and in Edinburg I was always tied down with other responsibilities. I’ve enjoyed being a part of their meetings. A few nights ago they installed their new leaders for the year. That was a special time. That same evening we share in a Love Feast. I had never led one of those. If you ask me I’d say it was...
We still regularly help Nathan with his bath time. This one particular instance I was giving Nathan a bath right before bedtime. He was doing his usual splish-splash business. When it’s time to rinse out the shampoo he likes to keep his head under the running water. On this evening I told him I would get most of the suds out of his hair and he could finish. I ended up getting it all out and quickly told him to finish up. As I got up I figured why not?...
No big deal really. On the cover of the January 2009 AT&T Yellow Pages Companion is a picture of Gerald Ford Stadium at SMU.Also, I recently changed my ringtone. It now plays the theme song to the greatest TV show of all time. Any guesses? Stay blessed…john...
Well, scratch that last post. I went to the training. Gloria and the kids explored the town we were in while I attended the sessions. It wasn’t too bad. Something I’ve always been intrigued with is communication. In today’s world there has to be a tie between marketing and evangelism. I think for some churches it’s the marketing that gets the edge and evangelism coming in at a close second. While it’s totally possible to combine the two, the church...
This weekend will mark a first time in a long time event for me. Our district is holding its annual leadership training for the various ministry areas of the church. Guess what. I’m not going. I should say we’re not going. Usually, Gloria and I make it a point to go. There’s no childcare and we didn’t want to have to try to make arrangements. It really is a little disappointing. I wanted to use this time to get to know some of the people in our district...
After a week of great Eagle football, a bowl game and time with out-of-town friends and family, things in our house are beginning to get back to that thing people call normal. I won’t begin classes for two more weeks; so, things are completely on track, yet.This week we are making adjustments to our order of worship (dramatic music, please). There are some things that I’ve felt would benefit our time in worship. It shouldn’t be too traumatic. I know, I know....
