AnotherJohn.Com

Honestly, I am all "wrote" out.  I just finished our church newsletter, and I began some paperwork that I need for internship, and hopefully commissioning.  So, I have no idea what I want to write for this post.  It is the end of the month, which means a recap of the top posts of August.  Maybe I will just leave it at that for now, and expect your forgiveness.  Top 5 posts of the month: The Lord's What? Pastors Says F you Sermon Series: Family Matters The dead cow lecture Taking one for the team Since I have nothing to say today, how about I introduce you to others who do.  These sites brought a bunch of people over to the blog this month.  Show them some love: FrankViola.org ChurchMag LisaDelay.com

You have seen the commercials, and, I hope, have laughed along. The Dos Equis market genius The Most Interesting Man in the World is loved by many people. And what is not to love? He’s won trophies for his game face alone. He is the life of parties he has never attended If he were to punch you in the face, you’d have to fight off the urge to thank him. This man's claims to fame are so outrageous, they are too funny not to appreciate. How in the world could anyone fit such a description? I find myself trying to imagine someone doing what is being described: How would someone bowl overhand? That is, though, why he is the most interesting man in the world. And, according to yesterday's sermon, that is why we, as the church, are the most interesting people in the world. As Christians, we are called to live a life that would make most people scratch their heads. That whole loving, feeding and caring for your enemies thing is pretty outrageous. Yet, that is what...

Hopefully, your religion is a lot more than this!

Honestly, as many of you know, I started going to church during high school so I could hang out with some girl. Occasionally, growing up, there were church services sprinkled here and there. It was not that we did not believe in God. I never heard that—although I doubted for a while. No, church just was not something we did. What a turn of events; it seems like now all I do is church! Having no religious background has its advantages, at least that is what I gather from many people. Now, our family is prepared to make church the center of its life for a very long time. Still, there are many people who feel the church has burned them. That is to say, that their church experiences proved little about God and much about the hypocrisy and wiles of the people they grew up with. Maybe it was a warlord Sunday school teacher, an over-the-top preacher or the finger-pointing, plank in their eye neighbor who was always more than willing to admit your faults. Whoever it was, many peopl...

Gloria loves a deal.  And really, who does not?  You have probably heard about websites such as Groupon or Living Social.   You can find all kinds of deals on these sites.  There seems to be no end to what you can find.  What you need to know right now is that eating and the name Fletcher seem to go well together.  So, Gloria is always looking for a good restaurant deal, including buy one get one and half-off offers.  We have been able to try out different kinds of food without paying full price.  That way in case we do not like something we do not feel terribly bad about.  There was this one restaurant we went to that really paid off, but it is even too bad to talk about now.  So, that is how we use Groupon.  You might want to take time to look around.  Now that you know that scoop about us, this next cartoon will make more sense.    Of course, I want you to know that your giving produces mission. ...

anotherjohn dot com has met Facebook , and the two of them are playing well together.  My timing was off.  Right before we went on vacation, I made a Facebook page for the blog.  About a dozen people were able to "Like" the page.  And then we left.  The number of "Likes" has stayed put, which is both good and bad.  Good because no one decided to leave.  Bad because no one else came on board. Blog experts talk a lot about setting goals for your blog.  I have done that somewhat and have met my first goal.  It was pretty simple: Increase pageviews.  Although I should have, I did not put a number on that goal; it was simply to increase.  The pageviews lords must have heard me because we did increase in that area.  This is still a small-time blog.  However, before we averaged 20-30 pageviews a day.  Now, since I first set out to increase readership, we are a probably at 60-70.  Good job, everyone! Every post y...

Another Note from | John Fletcher All you need in your life right now is another weekly email, and that is exactly what I am giving you.  Beginning in September our church will send out a weekly email update. It will include important reminders and information about Oak Haven's upcoming events. You'll notice the emails do not say they are coming from the church.  At least for now, I thought it would be important for me to send these out.  The goal is to share these updates with more of our new people and those outside the church.  Obviously, you do not have to be new to receive them or get anything out of them.  I think there is something about having the pastor, which in the case is me, personally write these emails that will go a long way in making positive connections. So, if you are in the Irving area, or just like to keep up with random churches, why not sign up today?   As a side note, this mailing list is totally separate from the blog....

Some thought it was a wonderful sermon.  Others thought, "It wasn't your best."  What a wonderful mix.  And to think it was the sermon I almost did not preach.  On my calendar I had scheduled a guest preacher.  That is my calendar, and not necessarily the calendar of others, apparently. I had not been in contact with said guest preacher all week, but assumed everything was in order.  Just to be sure, I did not include specific information for the bulletin.  Also, just to be sure, I went in a little early Sunday morning and wrote out a few things. Well, the guest preacher, as it turned out, was me.  And here is that sermon. It's about forgiveness and stuff--so, I can understand if you do not want to listen. ++If you are reading by email, click here to listen to the sermon.++

This reporter reminded me of something.  He is showing us the ease with which a car thief can work.  Watch and see. ++If you are reading by email, click here to view the video.++ Well, that is not what he reminded me of.  No, thankfully he brought to light a terrorizing issue.  You see, we have all heard them.  Some of us are guilty of using them.  You know what I am talking about: The sermon illustration that didn't work.  You may want to sit down and have this talk with your children. What you have to realize is the preacher thought it sounded good.  It worked on paper.  Not only that, the illustration book promised, guaranteed it would rock the house and bring the gospel to the hearts of the congregation.  That is not how it worked out, is it? Sometimes illustrations just do not connect.  They fall through, or say something different than what was implied.  It happens.  Thankfully, though, most illustrations ...

You all know I would never take pleasure in anything like what I am about to post. Brittani passed this on to me, and almost died laughing. So, this is all her fault. THE DEAD COW LECTURE This is the best example for paying attention that I have ever heard. First-year students at the Purdue Vet School were attending their first anatomy class with a real dead cow. They all gathered around the surgery table with the body covered with a white sheet. The professor started the class by telling them, "In Veterinary medicine it is necessary to have two important qualities as a doctor. The first is that you not be disgusted by anything involving the animal's body." For an example, the professor pulled back the sheet, stuck his finger in the butt of the cow, withdrew it, and stuck his finger in his mouth. "Go ahead and do the same thing," he told his students. The students freaked out, hesitated for several minutes, but eventually took turns stickin...

Recently I attended a worship service I felt relied too much on its technology.  I am sure the people who attended appreciated the technology, and it is probably a big reason why they are there.  And, the church seemed to specifically target a populace that would normally not find itself at church.  So, I do not knock the participants, and not even the technology, necessarily.  I have a lot of questions for the church leadership, though, because it seems like the push for thematic worship "experiences" creates a dependence on technology to foster an experience.  The service, though, got me wondering--as did this link on " 10 hobbies destroyed by technology. "  I had not thought of the 9th hobby.  People talk a lot about technology's place in worship and church life.  This is nothing new.  We have seen, however, more and more churches seeking ways to incorporate technology.  If your church has or is trying to do that: Are there areas...

Some pastors talk about money all the time. Others tend to shy away from it. Still others claim to have a decent balance when it comes to money talk. Me? I probably do not address it enough in my sermons. My concentration is on showing people the joy of living like God wants. So, I talk about giving in more general terms, giving of time, self, etc. Of course, money is a part of that too and I do my best to remind our congregation of that. But that is just it. Money is only a part of it. I understand you need financial resources to do ministry. Money keeps the A/C running; cash buys office supplies; checks even help pastors live. Obviously, or then again maybe it is not so obvious, there are many other more rewarding things churches do with money, but you know what I am getting at. I appreciate our United Methodist membership vows.  When someone becomes a member of our church they vow to support the church by their prayers, presence, gifts (money), service and witnes...

Our church is small.  We have gone with the mantra: We can't do everything; so do something.  With that said, I believe it is important for all of us to understand why we fulfill our ministry obligations.  I do not want our church to be filled with busy work or programs that are designed to make the designers feel good about themselves.  I want ministry groups and activities to be about the gospel.  And I think the congregation wants that as well.  More work just for the sake of doing something is not ministry. So, I would like us to think about some of the things we do and ask ourselves why we do them.  If we cannot find an answer that involves the gospel, it might be time to do some retiring.  That is hard work, but I think intriguing, rewarding and, most of all, faithful work.  That is also helpful in determining what we do next as a church--not just asking what we can do, but why we would want to do it.  Again, we are looking for g...

Our family visited two different churches the Sundays we were away on vacation.  What?  You did not think vacation time meant time away from God's people, did you? This past Sunday we joined our usual congregation.  It felt like we had been away for an eternity.  We did miss everyone.  As I had prepared for our first worship service back home I figured I had thought of everything: My welcome was done; the children's sermon, and the big children's sermon (/grin) was done; bulletins were fine--well, except for a couple of wrong dates.  As for the service, everything seemed set. It was toward the end of the service I realized I had forgotten something.  We were ready to celebrate Holy Communion.  We followed the liturgy with ease and were about to spend a few moments in prayer together.  Our church has a booklet available for people to write in prayer requests each week that we include in our ongoing prayer list; we are small enough to stil...

Once upon a time, before Gloria and I were married, one of my sisters went with us to church on Sunday morning.  I cannot remember exactly how old she was, but I am sure she was younger than any of my children now,  six-years-old.  We sat through the service, and it went along like it normally did.  This Sunday, though, was Communion Sunday.  The minister, Ms. Alewine, led us through the liturgy and reminded us that Jesus told his disciples to "eat" and "drink" and that as we do so do it "in remembrance of me."  So, we were offered the body of blood of Christ. You have probably heard that our early Christian peeps were accused of being atheists because they did not follow the religion of Rome.  They were also considered to be cannibals because they regularly ate the body of Jesus, and who wants to do that?  Well, I can tell you my younger sister did not.  As Ms. Alewine approached us, of course, she offered us the body and the blood.  ...

It was the final inning.  Tie game. Bases loaded with a full count and two outs. How would you feel if your oldest child were at bat?  Nervous? Confident? Are your eyes closed, or are you screaming with excitement?  Gloria and I were a little bit of all those.  We watched Brittani's every swing with a little bit of anxiousness and a lot of pride.  Then she took the final ball. Now, we all know what it means to take one for the team.  If Brittani did not know before, she does now.  The final pitch of the game hit her in the back and she painfully and, don't tell her I told you, tearfully walked to First Base.  Whew!  Game over.  Way to go, Britt!  We'll take a win any way we can get it. That was that game; the next day brought another.  Details change slightly depending on who she is telling the story to.  The version you get might be different than what the cute guy in the ER heard.  However it happened Brittani...

July is full of heat, ice-cold lemonade and family vacations.  I am sure there are other nice things about July-- like this .  If you live in DFW, however, you will remember the 30+ days of above 100 degrees!  And, if you are a reader of this blog you might remember some of what I am about to tell you.  After celebrating 10,000 hits last month, we are now pushing 13,000.  Great job, everyone!  Again, your reward will be in heaven.  I am glad you are reading, and hope you will continue.  So, in the month of Julighter (get it?  hot? flame?), here are the posts that the most s hits: 5) In three plus years of sermon recording at Oak Haven, we have only had a few digital mishaps.  July had one of them.  All that happened was a file was not loaded correctly.  Consequently, the second sermon in our Family Matters series is a bit truncated.  That did not stop it from coming in at #5-- Family Matters: Trust What God Provide...

Normally, some song gets stuck in my head and I want to make sure it gets stuck in yours, too.  That is just the kind of guy I am.  So, I look for a video and post it Monday morning.  Or, sometimes I come across something I want you to check out, something I think you will enjoy or appreciate.  Today we have a little bit of both. Who am I to make you choose what to listen to today?  You should be able to decide which song you want to hear over and over.  You are all growed up. So, for our Music Monday selection I offer you this: Guitar Heroes--Legendary Craftsmen from Italy to New York . Click on the link and you have at least your next 30 minutes of music all lined up.  There is a little something we all can get in to.  Oh, and do you know which one of the selections is actually part of our United Methodist Hymnal?  The first person to figure it out chooses are next Music Monday selection.