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So, do you have anything against my full head of hair? Do you find it difficult to understand my football loyalties? Then do something about it. In this month's edition of Under the Oak you will find out just how to grind your ax. Also, you can read about something a lot less picayune on page 2. It is a great story. Enjoy! Open publication - Free publishing - More newsletter

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How will I feel next Sunday when I give a sermon that is not part of a series?  Two months (almost) in a series helps keep things ordered for a busy schedule.   This was the final sermon in our series entitled Is That Church Growing ?  Whether you have heard the sermons or not I'd be interested to hear what you think "growing" churches have in common, or what are practices/attitudes of growing churches? My favorite line from this sermon was, "We let sin cover a multitude of love."  I know you would never miss them, but in case your faith has been weak here are the other six sermons: Sermon 1: Where Grace Happens Theme: A place where the “lost coins” are celebrated when they are found, and people are looking for them Sermon 2: Praying Like That Theme: Prayerfully united that God’s will would be done in the world, not just for the people we like Sermon 3: Imagine That Theme: A church that knows it is a mission Sermon 4: Seniors Who Don’t Get D...

Brittani says we should do a video like this for Oak Haven. Yes! Let's Hear it For Bay Shore (Music Video) from Andrew Mason on Vimeo . +ChurchCruch

Before you continue reading you might want to make up your mind what label is more useful for you to use for your local minister…preacher….reverend….brother/sister in charge...or whatever else there is to call that person(s) your church pays to know more than the average lay person. You’ve probably met both, and many in between. Remember Mr., Dr., Rev., New Sliced Bread, II, Ph.D, WWE. Don’t hate him. There are also those for whom it made more sense to invest in a domain name rather than an academic title; their name lacks the abbreviations, but is accompanied by a copyright symbol. Nice. No, it's not me, but it's a nice look! No wonder many people don’t know what to call their clergypersons (whatever you already decided to call them). People often ask me what I preferred to be called. “Johnny” is reserved for Momma, so don’t go there. I do like the title, “And our winner is…” Scholarship checks make me feel the best when they call me, “Pay to the order of….” R...

If one meeting is indicative of anything, our Disciple I group will be a lively one. We met for an informational meeting last week. All I did was talk about the elements of each lesson, necessary participation and what materials to bring. From that a good discussion arose about the ministry of the church. Oh, the places we will go! I opened the meeting by making reference to many people’s concerns about participating in Disciple. The entire length of the study turns many people off immediately; the weekly commitment can be difficult. In some ways, then, it seems rather difficult. Prayer begins everything in Disciple. With that in mind, to open our meeting I shared this prayer taken from an older book entitled leaves from a spiritual notebook: O Father, this day may bring some hard task to our life, or some hard trial to our love. We may grow weary, or sad, or hopeless in our lot. But, Father, our whole life until now has been one great proof of Thy care. Bread has come ...

A great song.  If you cannot listen to the player below click here .  I couldn't find a music video, but you can follow the lyrics. What would I have become If you'd never stopped to pull me through What would this life had done If you'd never whispered liberty I heard you sing so sweetly a song of love Jesus how sweet the name The name that saves Jesus how sweet the sound The sound of grace The sound of praise The sound that saves So many songs I've sung But there's none more beautiful than you And here I've found myself So I'm happy to be lost in you I hear you sing so sweetly, a song called love The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Yesterday's sermon was the fourth in our series entitled Is That Church Growing?  I was looking forward to this one.  It was a little different than usual.  The focus was on the young people and the church's ministry with them.  Here's a quote: We've done a good job of giving our young people things that make like more comfortable, but the church has done a poor job of giving them things that make life meaningful.  As always, you can view the bulletin here .  The sermon loads in the player below, or click this link to open it up. Let me know your thoughts.  Don't forget to complete the "Now What" related to this sermon: This week: Pray specifically for the young people of our church; you know their names, right? Consider, as an adult who cares for them and their spiritual development, write letters to them encouraging them to continue learning and growing. Stay blessed...john

That Oak Haven websit e outviewed this site once again last month! Those UMW loved that directory post ; helped me catch up, but I couldn’t get ahead. Now, I want you to keep helping Oak Haven. Are you on Facebook? Most of you probably are. Oak Haven is, too. When I set up that account I didn’t know all the rules. I just agreed to the terms. You probably did too! All that means is that the Oak Haven UMC account most people are familiar with is set up against Facebook terms. Organizations cannot have profile pages. They must have Fan Pages. We’ve since straightened all that out by creating a Fan Page. Now, we need your help. The against-the-rules profile page has a decent number of friends following it. We would like to fully transition to our Fan Page without losing all of those friends following us. So, here is what you can do: Visit the Oak Haven United Methodist Church Fan Page . If the Spirit so moves click on the "Like" button.  This helps us raise ...

HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK? Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck. Ricky, age 10 (The boy already understands) That is only one question answered here .   Take a look at the list for your dose of relationship help.  Enjoy your Friday!  Stay blessed...john