The Roller-Coaster

I used to think that roller coasters were a lot of fun.  I mean who doesn’t like getting strapped into a seat too small for you, while pulse-pounding music is playing in your ears.  Only to have the coaster slowly take off (after hearing beaps and buzzes and seeing some official looking guy running out of the engine room with a disturbing look on his face), while with crazy eyes you look to the adolescent “employee” of the theme park (we will call him “Little Timmy”. Why does he look half-bored when your life is on the line anyways?) wondering if he knows that your safety belt seems just a tadd loose for those loops ahead.  Then with clever bravado, you put your hands straight out as you travel 1/2 mile an hour up the steep track, showing everyone ”I’m not afraid of this beast.”  Seconds later, your hands will be firmly grasping the well-placed handles, eyes shut, and screaming so loudly that everyone can hear, “Get me off this thing!”  (There is nothing wrong with a strong, well-adjusted man screaming like a little girl when he is plummeting to the ground at 70 miles an hour after being buckled in nonchalantly by “Little Timmy”).  And then when it is all over, and you need to take a moment to wipe the tears from your eyes and the puke off your shoes; you look over at your friend, praying with all your might that he will not utter those words. . . But he does, “Let’s do it again!”  With a forced smile, you will go wait in line for two more hours for minutes of terror.  However, the two hours is timed perfectly to help you forget how you teetered on the edge of eternity for those few minutes. . . ”This time, ‘Little Timmy’ had better be a little more alert!” 

What in the world am I talking about?  Since becoming lead pastor, I have felt like I was on a roller coaster.  Willing to wait in line for hours to get on it, and then screaming like a little girl, “Get me off this thing.”  Only to come to the end of a day, wipe a tear away, a little puke off the shoes. . . and start the next day all over again.  Being a pastor has been the most rewarding and the most difficult experience I have ever had.   But on the brighter side, one day this entire ride of a life will be over and I will see the King of kings in all His beauty and glory.  I suppose then, Paul was right,  “The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:18).

Joy in the God of my Salvation

We just finished a study in Habakkuk on Wednesday evenings.  I have been waiting for months to get to the last two verses of that prophet’s writing.  Habakkuk’s journey through as he seeks God’s answers is encouraging because I see myself in Habakkuk.   Often I wonder what God is doing.  I wonder why He is doing what is doing-the way He is doing it.  And sometimes I just flat out disagree with God.  What most amazes me, is that God takes Habakkuk from complaining against what God is doing to to point where Hab. says, that even though there is tremendous disappointment that will accompany his life and the people of God, he will joy in the Lord, He will rejoice in the God of his salvation.  God will make his feet like deer feet and he will rise above the destruction to walk upon his high places.  There is victory in our soul that only comes when we joy in God alone.  Oh to be able to truly delight in the God of my salvation-to be able to rise above the misery of this world.

Be the Body

Yesterday, I noted in humble gratitude that God gave us such a large gift due only to His grace, not our worthiness.  That was the first lesson God has been teaching me through His good gifting.  The second lesson I will write about here. 

2.  We must then be faithful stewards of that gift.  The first reaction to this statement probably has something to do with saying, “Well, yeah, the church had better use that money properly.”  To this I agree and assure all who might read this blog, that we will do everything we can to make this gift go to the proper place, ethically and wisely.  But that is not what I mean by being a good steward.  Many organizations have lots of money and many generous donors give large sums to favored charities, shelters, orphanages, and other worthy causes; but there is something different about a church that receives gifts of this nature.  God has enabled us to continue to minister and reach out to a lost and dying world, to hurting families and marriages, and to struggling Christians needing discipleship through this physical blessing.  We have an opportunity to turn this physical blessing into a great spiritual blessing for many souls in this city and around the world.   To be a spiritual blessing, we must not sit back and pride ourselves in the blessing of God on our church and ministry; but we must truly be the body of Jesus Christ.  We must be diligently reaching the lost with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We must be tirelessly proclaiming the message of hope that only comes through faith in Christ.  We must be ministering and mending lives broken by sin and wickedness.  We must be a lighthouse that proclaims to our community, our city, our state, our nation, and our world that there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.  We are the mouth of God proclaiming his world.  We are the arms of the Savior embracing the lost.  We are the feet of the Lord going with the Gospel of Jesus Christ-the power of God unto salvation.  We must not sit, idly basking in glory of this physical gift; but using this gift as motivation to preach the Gospel of peace to and make disciples of the multitude of souls before us.  May we be faithful to be the body of Christ, seeing we have been blessed so greatly.

So Undeserving

In the previous blog article written, I mentioned the gracious gifts of God to our church in meeting our building needs.  In this article, I would like to recount the first of several of the lessons that God has taught me through this whole process.  Here goes with my list of life’s lessons from God’s schooling. 

1.  God’s grace means I am weak.  I was contemplating why God would give us such large sums of money. . . why us, a small church located in Salt Lake City.  I would like to say that it is because He knows what a great pastor I am, but I know that in me dwells no good thing.  I would like to say that it is because our congregation is so devoted to God, but sometimes I wonder if our church (as well as many other churches-don’t get offended church family) doesn’t more closely resemble Corinth than Philippi.  I would like to say because we are good and righteous and holy, but my experience and theology fly in the face of  that reason.  Why us?  Why not the other good churches in the Salt Lake Valley?  Why not the other needy churches in Utah, the United States, the world?  I have come to believe that God is gracious and good not only in spite of our weakness, but because of our weakness.  Truly, God chooses the weak to confound the wise; and He has chosen Grace Baptist Church because it is His good pleasure to use a specially weak church, with a specially weak pastor in leadership.  I am not saying that with some false piety. I have felt no weaker in my entire life (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) than I have in the last two years.  It is my prayer that all of God’s Church, especially our local body here, feels weaker and weaker everyday as we depend on His all-sufficient grace to sustain us.  For through our weakness, God will show Himself strong.  We deserved this money no more than countless other churches, but God chose to give it to us; we must be faithful servants and stewards of this great responsibility to be His church. . . which leads me to the second lesson; I will write about that one tomorrow.

The Providence of Pain

Isaiah 66 is a tremendous chapter in the prophetic book written to Israel.  Most of Isaiah is written to warn of coming judgment on God’s chosen nation-Israel.  The theme of judgment and grace is obvious as one studies this Scripture, but this last chapter focuses on the coming judgment of God on the wicked nations and deliverance for his people.  I believe in a difference between the nation of Israel and the church.  Not all the promises of land and prosperity apply to the church, however; just like the nation of Israel, God’s church looks for his return as He comes the second time with indignation and His might fully revealed.  So the prophet of God closes his prophecy with a reminder of who God is.  He is the one whose throne is heaven and whose footstool is this orb we live upon.  The One who cannot be contained by anything made with human hands.  And this man will that immutable God regard-one who is poor and contrite in his spirit, and one who trembles at His Word.  And so I ask this question–”Do I tremble at His Word?”  or do I take the written revelation of God’s truth breathed out by God to holy men who paid for it with their blood, as something I can survive without.  I cannot, we cannot survive without the Word of God, and we dare not stand before it haughty and proud.  We must humbly tremble before His Word.  So God demands that his people humble themselves as we enter his presence through his Word, the King’s proclamation!  But he also gives comfort to his people in the middle portion of the chapter.  He reminds them that a woman experiences the pain of labor and travail of birth, but then she brings forth a child.  God asks them if they really believe that he would bring them through the pain of delivery leading up to the moment when the baby is born and stop there? No, God allows and brings the pain of labor, but brings forth the joy and blessing of a child.  Whether this passage is solely speaking of the events outlined in the book of Revelation, I do not know; but I do know that I discovered an awesome principle of God’s goodness in this passage.  God allows and brings to pass some very difficult things in life.  God allows for people to hate you, to despise you, to slander you. God allows disaster to strike, danger to lurk, and nature to wreak havoc.  God allows inner turmoil and debate, fear and wonder.  But all of these “birth pains” all lead to the glory of a deeper fuller relationship with Him.  If you are in the middle of your “birth pains” do not fear nor give in, God will not bring you through the trial without providing the wonderful blessing of a transformed life.  God is too good to only allow the travail, and he is too good to simply bring the blessing, he does both for His glory and our growth. 

 

Life-Somewhat back to normal.

Well, we are still getting used to having a new baby in the house.  We thought that he would take up all our attention, but alas, Carter is still numero uno.  I am scared for Carter’s teachers when he starts school (I know he is not even 1 yet, but both his mom and dad are looking forward to that day).  He does not walk anywhere, he hops.  He does not speak, he yells.  When he gets punished for wrong, he cries, says he is sorry, then runs back to do it again.  I think that must be the Bonnie side of him, certainly not his father’s genes.  But we still love him dearly and I daily pray that God would keep his mother sane.  One month with Lucas and he is still a good baby.  Rarely cries, loves to be held, and makes a lot of grunting noises.  I woke up one night wondering who had let the bear in the room, but was relieved to find out that our one month was sounding like a Grizzly who had just caught a fresh salmon.  (Not that I know what that sounds like, but remember, I was woken out of a deep sleep, strange things come to the mind.  The ministry here in Salt Lake is going well.  I love being pastor, and keep really busy shepherding God’s people.  I love to preach God’s Word.  I am just finishing up a series on Worship (you can download some of my sermons at www.graceutah.com/sermons.htm).  I am starting a mini-series entitle “Who is the real Jesus?” for the month of December, and I am really excited to begin a thorough study in the book of Ephesians after the first of the year.  Pray for our church.  We have grown by about 30% in the past couple months with new people visiting every Sunday.  I can hardly keep up with visiting these prospective members.  Also I would describe our church as going through some “growing pains” as we develop, determine our goals and mission, and set the framework for what this church will be.  I do not say that things are going badly here, just that when there is change there is always difficulties with that change.  I am so grateful for the responsibilities and the enablement that God has given me.  Bonnie is doing well since having the baby.  She is strong and had a great delivery with a speedy recovery.  She is trying to keep up with here friends via that crazy new facebook thingy.  Thanks to all who gave words of encouragement and uplifting during the past 6 months as this has been a grueling yet wonderful time at the Johnson household.  Now that things are a little calmer, I hope to start blogging some articles again.  Check back if you care or dare!

It’s a Boy!

Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts of our family as we increased by one more male.  Poor Bonnie is now outnumbered 3 to 1.  Lucas Allen Johnson was born October 23 at 12:47 pm.  He weighted 8 lb. 1 0z. and was 21″ long.  Mom and Baby are both doing great.  Hope you all enjoy pictures of the newest Johnson.

Update

Here is just a quick update on the happenings at the Johnson household.  I don’t have time to write much.  Recently the only time I sit at the computer is to prepare sermons.  Bonnie is now about 6 months pregnant with our second child.  We find out in a few weeks whether the little soul is a he or she.  (We both hope for a she, maybe she would be a little calmer than Carter).  I am in the thick of the building project at Grace.  Since taking over much of the building; Dad, volunteers, and I have putting in long hours (11-13 a day).  We are so grateful for those who have given of their time, talents, and money to help us build a new sanctuary that will hopefully honor our great God.  Please continue to pray as we still need money to finish the project and pay off the loan. We are near completion and the stress levels are rising.  I just wish there was more than 24 hours in a day to accomplish all that needs to be done.  Oh well, when we get to heaven there will be no night so we will have unlimited time to worship and serve Christ.  Carter’s growing fast.  At 17 months, he is saying phrases, running, jumping, and wreaking havoc on Bonnie.  He was excited that “Papa” was able to come stay with us for the last six weeks.  We got a potty today, so we will see how that goes!  His favorite thing to do is to race his cars, trucks, and backhoes all over the house making loud revving noises.  He sometimes gets to come to work and ride on the “cackow”  (backhoe) with daddy.  Now, every time we see any yellow construction equipment, it is a “cackow”  and he wants to drive it.  I will post some pictures of Carter in the cackow when I get them off my camera.  God is good all the time and I take comfort knowing that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men. 

Here are some Carter pics for those fans.

By the Will of God

In my recent studies of the book of Ephesians, I noticed that the phrase “will of God” or “desire of God” is used often in the first chapter.  Paul’s apostleship, all the spiritiual blessings, the adoption, predestinating, choosing, sealing, etc. is all accomplished because He chooses it to be so.   How this humbles me!  I owe my existence and my position in Christ to the Power of God so that the good pleasure of His will might be satisfied.  Who am I that I should boast save in the death of Christ my God.   

One Year Old

My son, Carter, just had his one year birthday.  We had a little party for him and he got loaded up with presents.  He doesn’t even seem like a baby anymore.  The way he walks around the place makes you wonder if he is not one going on sixteen.  I think that he even has a little bit of a strut saying, “Yah, that’s right, I’m one-what about it?”  We are so grateful that the Lord has allowed us this blessing for a full year.  I have put some more pictures up on my vox blog. 

 

The worried look on Carter’s face is not fear of the horse, it is irritation that they had to stop to take the picture.  He fussed until the horse started moving again.  He is not scared of anything and that scares his mom and dad greatly.