AnotherJohn.Com

If you seek it like silver, and search for it as for hidden treasures— then you will understand the fear of the  Lord and find the knowledge of God.  Proverbs 2:4-5        Last month a man cleaned out his deceased grandfather’s house.  He found much of what you might expect from an abandoned home.  Let’s cut to the chase and just call it all junk.  Well, not all of it!  In fact, some have labeled one of his finds as “cardboard gold.”  Stored away in the attic was a box of mint-condition baseball cards with names like Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, Cy Young and Christy Mathews.  You baseball buffs are probably drooling.  For the rest of you, just know the cards have been conservatively valued at $3 million.  Go check your attics!    Trading cards aside, it isn’t uncommon to be amazed at what we find when we are searching for God.  Life and faith with God are not rigid.  God moves in powe...

You hear the word Pharisee---what do you think of? Chances are you know those guys as the people Jesus threw down with time and time again. You’re probably glad you’re not one of them. I can’t say that I blame you. They come across as being so sure of themselves and very my-way-or-the-high-wayish. And, let’s face the facts; it’s hard to market any good pharisaical material. No one wants to wear a t-shirt that reads: My brood strains gnats and swallows camels. Yo! “It could be,” one demotivational poster reads, “that the purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others.” You won’t say it, but that’s probably what you think of the Pharisees. Nico and friends, in all likelihood, suffer from the second worst bad rap ever—the first, of course, belongs to Vanilla Ice (Sorry for the ‘90s rap reference). In John 10, Jesus is presented as the Good Shepherd. Jesus begins that chapter by dropping some sheep knowledge. It sounds like pretty simple stuff: there’s a gat...

"Good morning.  Welcome.  It's good to see you this morning."  That's about as far as many of us preachers go with our welcome at Sunday morning worship.  Maybe some innovated one will say something like, "Oh, come on.  You'll have to do better than that.  I said, 'Good Morning!'" Jon Acuff recently shared a welcome a friend of his found at a church he attended.  I'm thinking about making it ours!  It reads: We extend a special welcome to those who are single, married, divorced, gay, filthy rich, dirt poor, yo no habla Ingles. We extend a special welcome to those who are crying new-borns, skinny as a rail or could afford to lose a few pounds. We welcome you if you can sing like Andrea Bocelli or like our pastor who can’t carry a note in a bucket. You’re welcome here if you’re “just browsing,” just woke up or just got out of jail. We don’t care if you’re more Catholic than the Pope, or haven’t been in church since little Joey’s Baptism....

I suspect that our recorded sermons will return next week.  The recording equipment should be in the mail and ready to go for this Sunday.  That'll be good because I think since I haven't seen how long the sermons have been I've given myself permission to go a tad bit longer than usual.  Or maybe it's just me. Yesterday's sermon was about rest.  God gave us rest and we all need it.  We live in a busy world, constantly going, going, going.  Many people take pride in their ability to always be busy.  But I don't think we were designed to live that way.  With everyone so busy, is it any wonder so many people feel tired all the time, feel like they can't concentrate, are grumpy and are dealing with an array of medical conditions?  We need rest. And God gives us rest.  I did mention how the church notoriously follows suit with the busyness.  I've heard of many people, lay people and clergy, who have been "burned out on church." ...

It's been three weeks since our family's move to Shiner. The most difficult part of our move has been that we still don't have cable. Well, okay, there are the emotional aspects of moving that are always difficult. But, overall, our family is home and we are getting adjusted to a new community and meeting a lot of wonderful people. When you see these crosses, you're at Shiner FUMC. The new office is just about arranged, and I am trying to figure out exactly what my schedule will be. Blog beware--I have been working on upcoming posts that I am excited to share. For the first time in a long time, I am serving a church without the pressures and work of being in school. I almost don't know how to act.  Our new church is Shiner First United Methodist Church. You can find our church online at www.shinerfumc.org . It has not been updated in a while, and you know I will take care of that soon enough. If you're on Facebook you can also connect with ou...