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Well, today you can tell all your friends that you listened to a Sunday sermon on Friday. This was a busy week for our family.  After church on Sunday morning we packed up our things and hit the road, on a quick trip to the Galveston area.  When I got back to the office on Wednesday, I found out our annual charge conference is this Saturday.  No, you don't usually "find out" about charge conference, at least not three days before it is scheduled; there was some miscommunication.  So, I've been busy making sure everything is prepared for that meeting.  I wonder if I'll be expected to preach this Sunday. So, all that to say, here is my sermon from last Sunday.  It is the second in our series Keys to LIFE, entitled Make Up Your Mind.  The second key to life for us is living humbly.  Now, before you think you know what that means, give this sermon a listen.  You might be a little surprised. ++If you are reading by email or news reader, c...

The call told me that Papa was "actively dying."  "Who isn't," I thought. But I knew what they meant.  Papa had been ill for a while and becoming weaker, and there are clear indications when that sacred time is near.  Last summer it almost seemed like it was time.  I guess we can miscalculate.  Then I hurried to go see him.  This time, however, was different.  Of course, I wanted to go; I could not get there fast enough.  There was no way, I thought, that the responsibilities I had could have been passed off on such very short notice.  No one ever dies conveniently, someone once told me. I wrestled, actively within myself, with the decision to make the trip or not.  Suddenly, I remembered. I cannot recall exactly why we did, but the night before Gloria and I had gone through a lot of our old pictures and got to watching our wedding video.  A VHS player still lives in our household for one reason.  Brittani watched the ...

If you know what to do with this, then do it!  If not, have a nice day.  Well, even if you do know what to do you can still have a nice day.

I told you I was working on a new sermon series entitled Keys to LIFE.  It is based on passages from the letter to the Philippians.  The first sermon in the series is "Mean It!"  Of course, I would like you to listen to the sermon.  As I told the congregation, however, I think you will find it helpful to read Philippians all the way through in one or two sittings.  So, you might want to do that first--Yes, you can do it!  The sermon began with a reference to an article naming the 10 Happiest Jobs .  Guess which was #1?  No, I said guess.  Boy, are you feeling lazy today.  If you do not want to guess, then, read the article.  My lips are sealed, but maybe now you know why I always so happy (hint). ++If you are reading by email or news feeder, click here to listen to the sermon.++ After listening to the sermon, consider this as your next step: Identify the “fruit” and “meaning” of the work you do, in and out of the ch...

No, this is not the naked pastor. I have appreciated this man's work for a while now.  He is the naked pastor.  Have I told you about him before?  Like many people, probably, the title of his website caught my attention.  No worries; he knows the benefit of fully clothing himself and finds other means to express himself other than going nude--at least on his blog. No, that is not the kind of naked he is talking about.  You can read part of his story here , and you should.  If I did not know where he was coming from I think his work would still great, but knowing what he has struggled with has been very inspirational to me.  His blog consists, mostly, of his cartoon artwork.  He calls himself the graffiti artist on the walls of religion. Have you ever wondered, "What's wrong with that church?" or "I thought Christians were different?" Have you ever found our faith to be a tad more challenging than some pastor or fellow church goer made it o...

Does your church have a prayer list?  What am I saying?  Of course your church does.  Your church prays, and prays together. Is your prayer list helpful?  Do people from your church take time to read the names of the people on the list, or just pray for the list?  Have you ever prayed, "Lord, here's my list" and trusted that God "knows their names and situations"?  Oh, me neither. But I have heard of others that do that.  First off, in and of itself, that is not a bad thing, necessarily.  Those are a lot of names to fill such a small space.  Whoever prints that lists tries to get the most bang for their bulletin buck.  No wonder they are printed in the smallest size.  Holy-pot-luck-brownie-points to your church if you do not italicize your list just to save room .  Only heathens would do something like that--probably Methodists.  Still, who could remember everything everyone is going through.  Oh, I know some peop...

What part of this short story is more compelling to you: The plot or the message(s), or something else? ++If you are reading by email, click here to view the video.++

“Be a winner at the game of life” we have often heard people say.  Often, winning simply means outdoing someone else, having the most money and nicest cars and being comfortable.  Life, however, is not played, it is lived.  How do we live a life full of meaning and find real purpose?  God's answers might surprise you--there's nothing hidden or secret about them! So, if you have ever lost your keys, or just know that God wants so much more for your life than we realize, you will want to listen. Week 1: Mean It! Week 2: Make Up Your Mind Week 3: Take Out the Trash Week 4: Give Up

Maybe it is because of the sheep, but I keep wanting this video to have some kind of faith application.  It is about extraterrestrials and a ferocious spouse.  So, yea, it is not that clear cut.  Maybe you can do better.  Watch and share. ++If you are reading by email, click here to view the video.++ Sheeped Away from Junaid Chundrigar on Vimeo .

Our church added a new element to its worship service: a Ministry Celebration.  I mentioned this to you on the Groupon post .  The ministry celebration is a way to highlight various ministries within The United Methodist Church.  So far, with only two weeks worth of sharing, people have responded with some of the same positive comments we have heard before.  ~Whew. Then I got to thinking.  Just because you are reading this does not mean you are attending church with us .  Why should you not know about what our church--The UMC--is doing? So, each week I will share with you our Ministry Celebration.  Hopefully, it will be another reason for you to thank God.  Our first two were as follows:    1. Bed Start.  A ministry of Custer Road UMC , Plano    2. Wesley-Rankin Community Center , Dallas Now, perhaps you might want to consider making this a part of your service.  Instead of telling your pastor, "Hey, let's ...

I like this next video. It helps us realize that all our churches have worship traditions, whether we call ourselves traditional or not. Now, to be clear, I am not poking at one particular worship style. There are elements of all worship services that bother me. For example, I detest the "Stand up if you are visiting from out of town church greeting, coupled with increasing applause volume depending on how far away you traveled to get here." Oh, and right as we are all ready to leave, does anyone want to become a member? Make it quick; we only have three verses in this next song. And please do not get me started on announcement time. I am ready to give that up all together! If I wanted to waste my breath on something that people would ignore or not listen to, I would be a preacher. Oh, wait. Still, this video may make you think about some things. What bothers you about this video? What bothers you about your worship service? ++If you are reading by email, cl...

Some call it the Methodist Mingle. Of course, it is not a UM phenomenon; all denominations must be aware! In many communities there are several UM congregations. For example, I could drive from our church and be at another UM church within five minutes; if I went the other direction I could be at another church as well. Give me eight minutes and I am at another UM place of worship. That is a blessing in many ways. It certainly opens up great possibilities for us to flex our connectional muscles. Generally, though, what it is good for is when church members get upset. Perhaps it was something the pastor said. Maybe it was something the Ad Council did not do. Or, word gets out about the new service the other church is doing. Usually, however, it begins with a disagreement with someone else or another family. When those things happen, people mingle. The blessing becomes an easy exit strategy. So, people move from one congregation to another. It has happened in every co...

I love lame puns.  Sue me.  For our newsletter this month, while using the illustration of a doctor's office to talk about waiting on God, I, yes I, said something about having patients .  And for our weekly Bible study, concentrating on Ephesians' prayer for the Gentiles to be "rooted and grounded" in love, I mentioned that everything we do should "stem" from our love of God.  It does not matter how corny they are.  The only thing that matters is that you are able to pull them off.  The word is still out if I did. That is my confession to you today.  I am guessing, however, that deep down you love a good pun, too.  So, enjoy your weekend, and these puns I found online: Velcro: What a rip off. I invented a machine to get spice from the future: The Thyme Machine I stayed up all night wondering where the sun had gone, then it dawned on me. How did I get out of Irag?  I ran. Gives you dead batteries, free of charge. Why couldn't ...