Moving Day!

After much thought and consideration, I have decided to move my blog. I have enjoyed working on blogger, but it has its limitations. I have heard great things about Wordpress and have decided to give it a try. The address to my blog is almost the same. Just replace "blogspot" with "wordpress". The new address is wjcollier3.wordpress.com. I have saved my old account at blogger just in case this one does not work like I want it to. This move is immediate and you should start finding new posts there in a day or two. Thanks for reading and following me to my new blogging home.

Margaret Collier

Margaret Anne Johnson Collier, age 59, died Monday, August 24, 2009, at Christus Spohn Shoreline Hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas. Margaret was born October 17, 1949, in Tupelo, Mississippi. She was the third of seven children. Margaret was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and Christian who faithfully served in all the churches of which her husband was pastor. Margaret was a retired employee of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and was employed by Windham Independent School District as a teacher.

Margaret had two great passions, learning and loving her grandsons. She returned to school later in life and achieved her dream of earning her college degree and teacher certification. She graduated with honors in 2007 from Texas A & M University – Corpus Christi. At the time of her home-going, she was six hours from her Master’s degree. She was also the proud grandmother of four grandsons. The joy of her life was spending time with “her boys.” She was eagerly awaiting the birth of two more grandchildren.

She is survived by her devoted husband of 41 years, Warner Collier; five children, Warner (John) Collier, III and wife Catherine of Tyler, Texas; Jason Collier and wife Angela of Alvin, Texas; Melissa Seal and husband Eddie of Corpus Christi, Texas; Elizabeth Collier of Beeville, Texas; and Matthew Collier of Beeville, Texas; and four grandsons, Warner Collier, IV, Jacob Collier, and Aaron Collier of Tyler, Texas, and Luke Seal of Corpus Christi, Texas. She is also survived by three brothers and two sisters, Bert Johnson, Jr., John Johnson, James Johnson, Sharon Ellis, and Brenda Collier, all of Lee County, Mississippi. In addition to her parents, Margaret was preceded in death by one brother, Frank Johnson. She is further survived by many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Services will be Wednesday, August 26 at 10 AM at Galloway and Sons Funeral Home in Beeville, Texas. Additional services will be pending at W. E. Pegues Funeral Home in Tupelo, Mississippi, with Rev. Warner Collier officiating. Burial will be at the Union Cemetery in Lee County, Mississippi.

A Tribute to Mark

Our youth pastor, Mark, is a hunter. He really seems to enjoy shooting things. I think that is pretty cool. I also know he likes to bow hunt. I am certain he is almost as good a shot as the young man in the video below. This is a tribute to my friend Mark. Enjoy!

Anti-Lutheran Tornado

This past week in Minneapolis, the nation’s largest Lutheran denomination has been having its convention. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was meeting in the Minneapolis Convention Center, which is downtown and across the street from Central Lutheran Church. Wednesday afternoon at 2:00, the delegates were scheduled to debate and vote on their stance on the open practice of homosexuality among members of the church, including the clergy. At just before 2:00, a completely unexpected storm came through downtown. It included a tornado. The tornado damaged the roof of the convention center and broke the steeple of the church.

John Piper, who pastors in Minneapolis, posted some interesting commentary on his blog yesterday. In it he claims the storm was a warning from God given directly to the Lutherans meeting there to abandon their acceptance of immoral behavior. I am not one to find a spirit behind every bush. I try not to over-spiritualize things. This is pretty hard to ignore. I realize that sometimes a storm is just a storm, but this may have been something more. I don’t always agree with Piper, but this time he makes a great case.

What do you think?

What's He Really Thinking? by Paula Rinehart

Paula Rinehart has attempted a difficult task in her new book, What’s He Really Thinking? She is trying to explain men, what goes on in their heads, what makes them do what they do. Perhaps the only more difficult topic would be to explain women!

First a disclaimer: This book was written for women to help them relate to the men in their lives. I am not a woman. I am the man in a woman’s life.

I found the book to be easy to read and understand. It would have been very easy for Rinehart to get highly technical in explaining the differences between the sexes and how to better relate. I also got the sense that she is qualified to handle that technical conversation. But she successfully avoided that trap.

Most books that deal with the relationships between men and women only consider the marriage (or at least unmarried romantic) relationships. This book is about women understanding men. She applies these principles to husbands, sons, brothers, and other male/female relationships.

At the back of the book is the “Relational Genius Guide”. This is a series of chapter by chapter questions. To me, they seem especially good for groups of women to discuss. The questions appear to be well thought out and well written, leading to fruitful discussion.

As a man reading a relationship book written for women, I have to say it was reasonably accurate in its descriptions of how men think. I would definitely recommend this book.

More information about What’s He Really Thinking can be found at Thomas Nelson’s product page. I am a member of Thomas Nelson’s Book Review Blogger program.