AnotherJohn.Com

In the final weeks of our spiritual formation class we had a chance to sit down with Paul Escamilla. Paul is an elder here in the North Texas Conference. A few weeks before our meeting we read his book longing for enough in a culture of more . At first I struggled to read the book; I think it caught me off guard. Most of my class material tends to be somewhat heavy readings. Paul’s book is, at least in terms of format and difficulty. Most chapters are between 1-3 pages. When I first began the book I quickly found myself on chapter 12 without realizing where I had been. I started over. It was quite ironic to read a book about having enough, but not recognizing enough (what was said) was enough (all that needed to be said). I’m sure that was a part of the design. Anyways, you might enjoy it. I love what he had to say in chapter 13 about Purpose. Nope, I’m not going to tell you; unless you ask, of course. Stay blessed…john

Writing is a weird thing for me. I do not particularly look forward to writing something. However, when I begin—really after I’ve already worked through some of it—I actually enjoy it. Unfortunately, you won’t find any profound pieces of literature here, at least not from me. At the same time, however, I’m not completely useless. There are three writing practices I have learned that greatly influence what and how I write. Interestingly enough each comes from a different level of schooling. And away we go… Boring Can you remember the flashcards? What about the anticipation waiting for recess? That’s where my first lesson originates—second grade. Mrs. Anderson was pretty cool; she was my second grade teacher. She even had her picture in the newspaper when she had a baby. Why do I remember that? Sure it was a big picture, but maybe I’ll have to admit there may have been a second grade teacher crush. I hadn’t given that any thought until I wrote this and remembered how excited...

Every church I have served has had old resources. By old resources I’m referring to study and reference material and other things like that, not Mr and Mrs…..(you know you were thinking it). Some of these items aren’t used anymore for a reason. Still my question when I come across this stuff is, “What do I do with this, now?” So, since it’s most likely your church has these materials (trust me, you just haven't looked everywhere), here are a few things to do with your old material: • Keep material together . When you find something (whether you know what to do with it or not), assuming you came across it, keep it in a place where it can be easily accessed. This may be somewhat difficult in some facilities, but it can be done. This is helpful for a few of the other following points. • Let’s face it, some of the material isn't as great as someone thought it was—even when it was bought. Couple that with a few decades worth of dust and new buzzwords and your church has got ...