Welcome to the Blog page! I will use this page to share brief messages, which I hope will be informative, inspirational, and challenging. I will post several messages a month on this page. I also will share some experiences in my ministry opportunities. I would invite any responses to the things posted here. That response could be sent by e-mail at johned@johnedmathison.org. For more information about John Ed Mathison Leadership Ministries, visit our website at www.johnedmathison.org.
I read that several years ago the University of Wisconsin had an excellent reputation for its curriculum in literary endeavors. Many brilliant students came to Wisconsin for this curriculum. A group of very competitive students formed a literary society for the purpose of helping each other improve. They would meet and criticize each others’ works. [...]
One of the big debates in business and church circles is whether or not we need to give people what they want or what they need. It is obvious that often times what people need is not what they want. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, had an interesting opinion about giving consumers what they [...]
When God opens a door, a person needs to walk through. Not many doors open in life. When one opens, if you fail to walk through, you don’t know what kind of opportunities you are missing. An important ingredient is to be ready when the door opens. Oftentimes we see doors open, but we are [...]
A 22-year-old student at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, was visiting a local thrift store. She was examining a cash box when she unexpectedly found $2,000 inside the cash box. Yekaterina Shneyderova was that student. She said, “I saw the money and the envelope with an address and I thought it might be someone’s life [...]
In 1972 I moved to Montgomery to become the pastor of Frazer Memorial United Methodist Church. That same year Gary Burton, 11 years younger than I, came to Montgomery to become pastor of the Pintlala Baptist Church. Gary was still a seminary student in New Orleans. Pintlala Baptist was only 10 years old. This year [...]
One of the great leaders of the 20th century was Dr. Bill Bright, founder and leader of Campus Crusade for Christ, today renamed “Cru.” This organization has become one of the largest ministries in the world. Dr. Bright, in his later years, developed emphysema. He spent the last few months of his life under an [...]
It’s probably not an issue for you, but one of the toughest disciplines for me is eating healthy. I grew up on fried chicken, fried okra, fried cornbread, etc. I genuinely love to eat. The old adage is “you are what you eat.” If that is true, I am ready to start laying eggs! I [...]
Life is not fair. People may mistreat us, cheat us, and violate our personhood. We have one of two responses. One is to get revenge – the other is to forgive. Shania Twain, at age 45, discovered that her husband, Robert “Mutt” Lange, and her best friend, Marie-Anne Thiébauld, were involved in an affair. She [...]
Memorials In memory of Mary Holman - Mike & Jenny Lynn Henig and Ronnie & Linda Poole In memory of Marguerite Craft - Mike & Jenny Lynn Henig In memory of Weldon Doe - Mike & Jenny Lynn Henig In memory of Nathan Duplantis - Mike & Jenny Lynn Henig In memory of Allison Bronner [...]
Cognitive dissonance occurs when there is a disconnect between what we are saying and what we are actually doing. A simple way to say it is whether or not we are just talking the talk or actually walking the walk. Sometimes this is done without really realizing what we are doing. Sometimes it is just [...]