John Gunter

Life. . . from my vantage point

“The Paper Chase” and the kingdom of heaven

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A drawing of The Paper Chase store on the Decatur, GA Square

A drawing of The Paper Chase (bottom right) baseball card shop in Decatur, GA I used to frequent as a child.

The Paper Chase was across from the Decatur Square in Atlanta.  It really was my “happy place” for a portion of my childhood.  Though gone now, it was the largest, best baseball card dealer in the city at the time.

My sister Becky took ballet right down the street.  Seeing that I was too young to be left alone, I had to go along for the ride.  The Paper Chase made what could have been torture into something I looked forward to. [Read more…]

The pain and JOY of singleness at Christmas

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ohn Gunter with nieces and nephews on Christmas

Tired but happy. . . with seven of my nieces and nephews on that Christmas

Scene #1:  As I looked out of the window of the plane, my heart was beating with anticipation.  I have always loved seeing the Atlanta skyline from inbound flights.  This viewing, though, was even more significant than others.

It was Christmas Eve.  It was the fourth of four flights I had taken that day.  It had been over 26 hours since I had left my apartment in Asia, but I had finally arrived. [Read more…]

The influence of my high school football coach on my life

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Pics of Coach Beal from today's ceremony. . . taken by my former teammate, Kevin Rogers.

Pics of Coach Beal from today’s ceremony. . . taken by my former teammate, Kevin Rogers.

I woke up this morning only to find out via Facebook that my football coach from high school is retiring this week.  Yes, I had several coaches, but only one who I still think about.  All of my coaches were an important part of my high school years, but there is only one who I refer to as a major “life influence” even to this day.

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The Christmas story in 5 words

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ChristmasEvery year, I do it.  Every year I commit that NEXT year I will spend the entire month of December thinking about Christmas.  The real Christmas.  The Christmas which celebrates the wonderful story of God becoming flesh and dwelling amoung us.  The babe in swaddling clothing and all that stuff.

Every year I get all the way to Christmas Day before I read “the Christmas story” of the Gospel of Luke.  This year, I was determined that this year would be different.  So today I escaped to a local coffee house to simply read and think about this awesome, earth shattering event of Christmas.  The real Christmas. [Read more…]

The vitality of “leaning into pain”

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Phil Autry, Troy Coons, and I during our marathon "taping session" two days after Philip Clarke's passing.

Phil Autry, Troy Coons, and I during our marathon “taping session” two days after Philip Clarke’s passing.

As I pulled up to my house just off of the Georgia Tech campus, I was excited to get home and see my roommates. I had been in Florida for the previous two days celebrating my Grandmother’s 82nd birthday. It was a good time.

My friend Phil Clarke and I had gotten into a habit of often walking around the campus at night and simply “processing” the day. This night walk would take on the added interest of my “exotic travels” to Central Florida.

Upon exiting my car on the street, I began walking to the house. Almost immediately my friends David Moon and Phil Autry pushed open the screen door of the house and began walking towards me. They had strange, puzzling looks on their faces and they seemed to approach me with a purpose.

My immediate response; [Read more…]

3 invaluable life lessons from the death of a best friend

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L to R: Zan Ianerina, Julian Krevere, Phil Autry, Troy Coons, Howie Espensheid,and Philip Clarke at a BIble study a few months prior to Phil Clarke's passing.

L to R: Suzanne Iannarino, Julian Krevere, Phil Autry, Troy Coons, Howie Espenshied (Campus
Minister at Tech), and Philip Clarke at a Bible study a few months prior to his passing.

I was deeply and eternally impacted by the life and premature death of a best friend. His name was Philip Andrew Clarke and he passed on to heaven 18 years ago this week.

As I said in a post last year, Phil was a best friend and brother in Christ of the highest order. It is incredible how I can STILL miss someone who has been gone for so long, but I do. It is not as often as it used to be, but thoughts, memories, and emotions of Phil, his friendship, and powerful life still hold a big piece of my heart. Amazing.

Upon Phil’s passing, I made two personal commitments. [Read more…]

5 things I am thankful for on this Thanksgiving Day

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Some of the guys after lunch today. . . no, we were NOT serious in taking this.

Some of the guys after lunch today. . . no, we were NOT serious in taking this.  Notice Noah’s tough-guy pose.

I woke up this morning to the reality that this is my twelfth Thanksgiving spent in Asia.  My 12th! 

There is obviously no recognized holiday over here for this day, but generally folks allow foreigners to take off on their specific holidays.  Today is such a day for us ex-patriot Americans here in Asia.

I know it is a little cliché, but I could think of nothing better this morning than to simply type out some of the things I am thankful for on this day. [Read more…]

Thinking of Gertrude and her faithfulness

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(At the end of this post, I have a “funny small story” from this trip.)

4 of the 5 with me for this trip to the Middle East (me, Ryan Perkins, Aaron Milam, & Ed Graham). I don't know where Robert Harrison was for this pic!

4 of the 5 with me for this trip to the Middle East (me, Ryan Perkins, Aaron Milam, & Ed Graham). I don’t know where Robert Harrison was for this pic!

As I sat there listening to the passionate, venerable nurse speak about her 37 years of serving in the Arabian Desert, I was mesmerized.  She had faithfully served in this little desert hospital, appropriately named the Oasis Hospital, in the midst of the United Arab Emirates for over half of her 71 years of life.

Her name was

[Read more…]

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