AnotherJohn.Com

I had breakfast with the men's group this morning. It was a great reflection and conversation on servanthood. The tacos were great, too, as always! Before we ended, I asked if anyone wanted to stay behind to hear me talk about something I will do to try to touch base with our younger men. Several of them stayed behind. When we lived in Bandera, I remember there was a local bar that invited people to a bring-your-own-meat kind of dinner night. They cooked whatever meat you brought. People loved it. I've always wanted to apply that concept to a ministry. That's what I asked the men's group about. They said they would help. They even said they'd pay for everyone's first dinner. Free steaks? It's going to be a prime time! I appreciate it when people trust each other to try new things. Who knows if this will last? But we'll give it a shot and see what happens. It shouldn't be rare to trust each other. Stay blessed...john

  1 Timothy 5:17-24 Listen to today's devotional 1 Timothy 5 says that church leaders who serve well are worthy of double honor. And I think it's helpful to distinguish what that means versus what our culture often turns into celebrity. Just last week, a video went viral poking fun at some megachurch pastors. What was interesting to me wasn't the satire, but how quickly many rushed to defend what I'll call the antics of some, not all. In the rush to protect personalities, we often miss deeper questions. For example, are we honoring faithful leadership, or have we baptized celebrity culture? Honor was never meant to be hype. We should be cautious about creating an environment where pastors become brands and our sermons become content. Instead, honor says, "Thank you for faithful care." Celebrity says, "Make me feel inspired." Now, I'm far from a celebrity pastor, but my sense also is that honor helps sustain the ministry and work of the church. It...

  Deuteronomy 16:18-20 Listen to today's devotional How's this for clear and uncompromising: “Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue.” In Deuteronomy 16, Moses warns the people that corruption happens when we twist what is right. Partiality replaces fairness, and self-interest takes the place of faithfulness. In the Bible, injustice is never just a political failure. It is always a spiritual one. It's draining to keep track of the hypocrisy that comes along with our political rhetoric. It doesn't honor God to use the Bible as a shield for wrongdoing. For example, Christians often misuse passages like Romans 13 to defend whatever authority benefits them. “Be subject to governing authorities,” Paul says. But he never gives a blank check for injustice. Paul was imprisoned by unjust rulers. The early church resisted commands that contradicted God’s justice. This submission never meant silence in the face of oppression. Romans 13 describes God’s desire for authorities t...

  Luke 1:67-79 Listen to today's devotional Long before he became the guy we remember as the one who ate locusts and honey, John the Baptizer's father prophesied what would become of this newborn. Since he recognized God's work about to unfold, his father spoke an identity over him. "And you, child, will become the prophet of the Most High..." Nothing in Zechariah's word says anything about being successful, respected, or making good money. To be sure, there are other places in the Bible that pray for those things. They have their place in life. But Zechariah's prophecy would teach John that he belongs to God's story. And our churches should be where our children learn the same thing. It's important to teach our children the skills to make a living, make a difference, and enjoy the life God gave them. But the Bible also shows us the deeper work of giving them a spiritual identity. There'll be times to teach them how to compete or how to build r...

 <Rant> Billionaires own us. I don’t mean they sign our paychecks or even know us. But they do shape our world. They influence what we see, what we buy, what we fear, what we value, what we vote for, and what does or does not get our attention. Isn't that kingdom language?  The prophet Isaiah confronted those who added house to house or field to field until others had nowhere to live. James called out the rich who got wealthy by exploiting workers.  I grew up thinking money was the root of all evil. That was a sign I remember seeing on The Monkees. But the Bible clarifies that the love of money is a root of evil. That's why Jesus repeatedly showed us that it has a spiritual pull. The kingdom of this world says that whoever controls resources controls reality. The kingdom of God says to trust God, share generously, lift the poor, and loosen your grip. Accumulation or compassion? Why are we always exhausted but still consuming? Why are we angry at each other instead o...

I've had a website for a while now. This site has posts that date back to 2007, but I know I was doing something before then. I just can't remember what it was (The story of my life!). For several years, I hosted a website away from this one. I wanted it to have a better feel.  After all that, I think I've decided to just let this be my website. That way, it'll always be here even if I decide to stop paying for web hosting. Funny thing is, I think I keep posting my devotionals and sermons for my kids. I'm sure they'll want to use all this information after I'm gone to remember how awesome I was 🤣 And since I post a daily devotional and daily text messages, I've had to think about what to put on a website. Most of what I would write before was faith reflections. So, we'll see what I keep up here.  Stay blessed...john

  Psalm 27:11-14 Listen to today's devotional I came across a certificate I earned in high school for the Most Improved Percussionist. It's funny because I remember the night I got it. Right before the director called my name, a friend looked at me and mouthed, "It's you." He knew I was going to get it, and it was a way to recognize that I had arrived in our group. Most of us would like it if faith in Jesus worked like a certificate. Then it'd be something we earn, frame, and hang on the wall. Once we “have it,” we assume we’re set. But Psalm 27 doesn’t just talk about having faith. It talks about walking. “Teach me your way, Lord. Lead me on a level path.” The psalmist isn’t asking for answers as much as he recognizes that he needs direction. Not a road map for life, but a way to live in the midst of his circumstances. Faith, then, is about following God's lead. And it isn't something you store away for emergencies. You practice every day in how you l...

  Ephesians 5:6-14 Listen to today's devotional Ephesians 5 says, "Let no one deceive you with empty words." The thing about empty words is that you don't always realize how empty they are. In this case, I'm not sure Paul is talking about any obvious kind of evil. Empty words may sound harmless or reasonable. Maybe even spiritual. Some of what takes away from true discipleship doesn't always show up looking like disobedience. Empty words can sound like wisdom. This is where what I call Christ-veneer slips in. Christ-veneer is when something sounds holy but isn't actually Christ-like. It's when we slap Jesus' name on our preferences, our politics, what makes us comfortable, or our bitterness and call it faith. It uses church language without carrying Jesus' heart. It may sound like: "God helps those who help themselves." "Speak your truth no matter who it hurts." "Real Christians should agree with me." "Grace m...

  Galatians 2:7-10 Listen to today's devotional Contentious church meetings are nothing new. In Galatians 2:1–10, Paul describes one such gathering he had in Jerusalem that enabled the church to be what God wanted it to be. Imagine the hard conversations around the issue. Essentially, it's a matter of who's in and who's out. After their conversations, Paul convinces the leaders in Jerusalem that God has entrusted different callings to different people. Peter was sent to the circumcised to profess Jesus as Lord. Paul was sent to the Gentiles for the same reason. Notice how this meeting ends. After all the theological wrestling, James and Cephas and John gave Paul and Barnabas "the right hand of fellowship." They didn't begrudgingly allow Paul's mission to continue. They joined in fellowship with them. Different missions, but the same gospel. That is, of course, an important part of understanding the church's call to spread the gospel of Jesus. But t...

During Christmas, I kept thinking of Simeon’s blessing when Jesus was presented in the temple. He told Mary and Joseph that through Jesus, “the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.” That line reminds me that Jesus is not just a good morals teacher.  When we diminish his ministry to simple lessons about kindness or decency, we miss what's supposed to unsettle us. The gospel doesn’t just comfort us. It also exposes us. And when the gospel of Jesus is preached in full, his call to repentance, his solidarity with the poor, his challenge to power, and people respond with fear, anger, defensiveness, or exclusion, that doesn't mean the gospel (or preacher 😂) has failed. It means what Simeon said: hearts are being revealed. Stay blessed...john

  Psalm 27:1-6 Listen to today's devotional It's been said that the phrase "do not fear" comes up in the Bible 365 times. That's once for every day of the year. Now, I haven't checked the validity of that, but I can say the idea of laying aside fear is a recurring theme in scripture. I do wonder, though, if we misunderstand what that means. Having had many conversations with people who struggle with fear, I'll affirm that there are many appropriate times to be fearful. That said, listen to the strong sense of confidence behind what the psalmist asks: Whom shall I fear? At the same time, notice that the writer acknowledges evildoers, adversaries, foes, and armies. It's not helpful to shrug off the struggles, pain, or situations that might fall on us. But you also don't have to wallow in them. So, yes, the psalmist will be confident, but I'm not sure that means fearlessness. The psalmist isn't showing off some false bravado. Rather, he's ...

  Matthew 9:14-17 Listen to today's devotional The disciples of John come to Jesus with a question about their practice of faith. They want to know why his disciples don't fast as they do. In that question, there is some wondering about faithfulness, discipline, and religious seriousness. But Jesus wants his followers to know more than rules and schedules. They should pay close attention to moments. Jesus says, "he wedding attendants cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they?" In other words, be present to what God is doing right here, right now. That's an idea Amy Oden emphasizes in her book by the same title. She reminds us that Christian mindfulness is not about escaping reality, but about attentive presence. We learn how to wake up to God's activity in this moment, in this place, and in these circumstances. Jesus embodies such an attentiveness. He refuses to let spiritual habits become mere automatic rituals that are detached from lived...

  Hebrews 10:1-4 Listen to today's devotional Hebrews 10 tells us that the law of God was a shadow of what was coming. In that system, year after year, the people of Israel offered sacrifices for their sins. But no matter how often they prayed, prepared their offerings, or followed the rules, the cycle of guilt and imperfection continued. The Hebrews preacher sees that the system was designed to point forward, not to fix the problem. In the same way, we sometimes try to patch up our spiritual lives with “good deeds” or by checking the right boxes. We pray, serve, or even go to church, but our hearts still wrestle with doubt, fear, and guilt. Now, praying, serving, or worshiping are not wrong in themselves. As a Methodist Christian, my tradition sees these as means of experiencing God's grace. But they are like the temple sacrifices. They show that we recognize the problem, but they cannot remove it. They weren't designed to! Enter Jesus. Christ is not a spiritual band-aid o...

  Micah 6:6-8 Listen to today's devotional I always appreciate taking part in the MLK march and prayer service each year. My favorite part comes when the march ends and we finish in worship, entering the sanctuary to sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Every time I sing that song, I remember a couple of things. I see Ms. Joy Turner, my elementary school choir director. In the third and fourth grade, do-re-mi didn’t interest me much, but I could tell something was different about that song. And I didn’t understand then that she wasn’t just teaching us how to sing. She was actually teaching us how to pray, showing us that lifting our voices together could be an act of hope and dignity. Another memory comes from Grandma. I was in high school, sitting at her house, when she called me over. I don't remember if it was something we were watching or just a conversation that got her thinking. But she looked at me and said, “Mijo, don’t forget that what they did to them, they did to us, to...

  Acts 1:1-5 Listen to today's devotional Recently, a group of colleagues and I were asked to reflect on whether we thought racism could ever end. Out of that conversation came the idea that many Christians do not believe it could. Not that it would not, but that it could not. As a pastor, that's disheartening. If we say something is impossible, we're likely to stop worrying about it. We learn how to live with it and maybe even stop praying about it. That leads me to wonder what kind of faith do we think God gives us. Many Christians pray "the prayer Jesus taught us," asking God to deliver them from evil. Is our deliverance only an escape? The biblical story assumes there are spiritual forces of evil. It names injustice, violence, and sin honestly. Again and again, though, God’s people are invited to see a future that does not yet exist. It's the paradox of now and not yet. That kind of imagination is not naïve optimism. It is hope. As an act of resistance, ho...

  Galatians 1:6-9 Listen to today's devotional I recently visited with a colleague who lamented the instructions given to them by a parishioner just before worship. The pastor was told to "not get political." Personally, that directive seems to assume there is little that is political about our faith. You don't get far in the Bible's story before you realize that idea doesn't hold up. Someone might say that politics were different in the ancient world. To that I would agree, but different politics are still politics. My experience has been that the don't-get-political demand means not saying something I might disagree with. And here's why this is worth reflecting on. It too often leads to something we see in Galatians. Some in the Galatian church had not rejected Jesus outright. They still had some of the right language. They still talked about faith. But somewhere along the way, the gospel had been adjusted, to use a nice word. Paul says it was perver...

  Matthew 12:15-21 Listen to today's devotional We are not always patient people. And our impatience often clouds our judgment. Even in ministry! We can be so eager to serve the Lord that we forget to slow down and actually listen to the Lord. When that happens, even our best intentions can lead to unnecessary strain, missteps, or burnout. As we read about Jesus' ministry, though, we should notice something about him. He seems to be more patient than his disciples, those who walked with him then and those who walk with him today. His patience has a way of uncovering our true priorities, our fears, and sometimes our desire for quick results rather than deep faithfulness. Slowing down with Jesus helps us see the long game of peacemaking and discipleship. Yes, there are moments when faith, hope, and love call us to bold action. But more often than not, living out the gospel looks quiet and unspectacular. Not that it isn't difficult or doesn't challenge us. Think of how muc...

  Jeremiah 1:4-10 Listen to today's devotional I wonder if Jeremiah’s excuse is more than just his age. Is “I am only a boy” a political realization about his power and his voice? Every young person probably feels the tension of needing experience to get experience, but today I'm reading something different from Jeremiah. "I am only a boy" may mean "I do not matter ."  I don't sit in the room where it happens. I don't have the credentials to speak to kings, priests, or systems. Jeremiah knows what the world has already decided about him: Your voice doesn't matter . But God calls him anyway. The Lord does not deny Jeremiah’s youth or try to argue him into confidence. Instead, God instructs Jeremiah to shake off what he's been told. “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy.’” Not because it's not true, but because that won't matter. Our identity in Christ is not merely something we discover within ourselves. It surely isn't something we earn t...

  Acts 10:44-48 Listen to today's devotional It’s common wisdom to say that it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is for permission. In Acts 10, Peter does neither. Something astonishing has just happened. It appears God’s saving grace has been freely offered to those outside the Jewish faith. That wouldn’t have been something everyone would have easily received. Peter struggled with it himself. But when the Holy Spirit became undeniable, Peter realized what it meant. God had already acted. Afterwards, Peter doesn’t stand up and recite new rules. He doesn’t call for a committee meeting or a vote. He asks a question: “Can anyone withhold the water?” In other words, who are we to stand in the way of what God has already done? Peter realizes that the church has not been asked to grant access to God, but to bear witness to God’s generous movement in the world. Now, let's reflect on what that means for our ministry today. Too often, we imagine ourselves as spiritual gatekeepers...

  Acts 9:10-19 Listen to today's devotional Acts 9 doesn’t tell us what Paul said after his world fell apart. The Bible mentions Ananias's reluctance. Other than that, we skip right past how Paul and the others are processing what's happening. The detail that struck me as I reflected on that today was that, in the end, Paul ate.  That seems too ordinary to be a part of this grand story. But before Paul did anything in Jesus' name, he sat at a table and ate. After days of fasting, fear, and disorientation, his entry into the Christian community was not a sermon or a new beginner's class. It was a meal.  Of course, he needed his strength. He waited a few days before leaving. But eating was not just about calories. It was acceptance and trust. On one side, Paul was saying, "I will receive what you are offering," and on the other, the community is saying, "You belong here now." We love conversion stories. We celebrate baptism Sundays. We count decisi...

  Psalm 29 Listen to today's devotional Have you ever heard God's voice? That's something people ask pastors. What does God's voice sound like? When do we hear it, or how do we even know we truly have heard God's voice? Those are questions to consider when discerning what you're hearing. Personally, I feel like I have heard God's voice. Like I've heard from many others, it wasn't an audible experience. No Morgan Freeman-like figure showed up to have a conversation with me. But there have been moments of peace and clarity that assured me what I heard was God. That experience feels very different from how the psalmist imagines God's voice. According to Psalm 29, the Lord's voice thunders, is strong, and breaks through creation. The elements unravel when God speaks. That's quite a vision of what it is to experience God's voice. I'm not sure how much of that we could handle. Still, the assumption is that God speaks, and a response is ...