"Jesusing"

In the 2011 NFL football season, Tim Tebow was all anyone could talk about. His unorthodox style of play from the quarterback position coupled with his fourth quarter comebacks made him one of the most popular people on the planet. The picture of him on one knee praying also became very popular. "Tebowing" was imitated by athletes in all sports, celebrities, and everyday people. People would take to Facebook and Twitter taking pictures of themselves "Tebowing". More recently people took to the Internet and social media taking pictures of themselves "Te'oing" after the Manti Te'o story was reported. That consists of taking a picture of yourself with an imaginary person (hilarious). In America, we love jumping onto the latest fad and riding it until the newness and fun wear off. Jesus made a statement in his time that people have used as a fad ever since. It is not a new fad. However, it is one that people like to associate with for a while and then toss to the side when it gets old or too tough for them.  In Matthew 16:24 (also in Mark 8 and Luke 9), Jesus said "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." What does that mean? This is going to be very difficult for most people in today's society to understand. What I am about to say may be shocking. It is "breaking news" type stuff. Are you ready for this? Okay, here goes. . . . . . . .It is NOT about you and it is NOT about me. When we give our hearts to Jesus, we follow Him and put aside selfish ambition. We understand that the Christian walk is not an easy one. We understand that we will suffer for Christ at times. We understand that we will go through things that are painful to make us more like Christ and less like ourselves. We slide over into the passenger side of the car and let Jesus drive. We surrender to Him. When you lose a war knowing that complete destruction is coming if you do not, you do not partially surrender. You don't surrender for a while. You surrender completely. The problem is that we like saying that we follow Christ, but we put our cross down when it gets to heavy or when carrying it starts to hurt or inconvenience us. It is not easy to deny yourself. It is not easy to put others needs above your own. We don't mind Jesus being our savior. That's easy. It is the fact that we must accept Him as Lord that we struggle with. I like being in control of things just as much as anyone else. The problem is, I mess things up when I am in the driver's seat. I must realize some things about myself everyday that are difficult: I do not have everything figured out. I think more highly of myself than I should. I'm selfish. I am not as good a husband as I should be. I make things that really aren't that important as priorities. I have a biased opinion of myself. Wow! That was tough and just starts

to scratch the surface of my faults! I obviously have some things to work on. Does anyone else need to be more focused on Jesus like I do? The Christian walk is not easy. Anyone who tells you that is a LIAR. Following Christ is not a fad. It is a lifestyle. Have the courage to see yourself as you really are. . . . . flawed. Don't be a part of the "Jesusing" fad that is so popular in American religion. Take up your cross and allow Jesus to lead the way.

Finger on the pulse. . . . . . .

Todd Johnson

Swimming Against the Current

Like many American families, our family loves to go to the beach. My wife enjoys the pool more, but my kids and I love the ocean. The ocean is very powerful and can be dangerous at times. When we go out into the ocean, I try to keep everyone lined up with where our towels, beach chairs, flip flops, etc. are located on the beach. What happens is that as we are swimming and playing in the ocean, the current starts to pull us away from our entry point into the ocean. I will periodically look back toward the beach and get everyone moved back to where are things are located. It does not take long to get pulled down the beach. Trying to move against the current is tough. The power of the ocean current is trying to move you in a direction that you do not want to go. It takes a great deal of effort to swim against the current. It is the same way when trying to swim or wade upstream in a river. It is almost impossible. The same can be said about our walk with God. The world, in which we live, pulls us away from the life that God would intend us to live. Jesus had a different way of describing this situation in Matthew 7:13-14 when he said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” What does that mean? Well, if you call yourself a follower of Jesus Christ and can go through life with minimal resistance, then you are not swimming against the current. You are rolling right along with it and you might not be where you think you are spiritually. That road leads to destruction. Too many of those in the church have chosen the path of least resistance. It is easier to “go with the flow.” Not only do we have to worry about the world pulling us in the wrong direction, but our own flesh pulls us in the wrong direction. Paul described this in 1 Corinthians 9:25-27 when he said, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. It is not enough for us just to acknowledge or recognize the sin in our lives. WE MUST OF REPENT OUR SINS DAILY.  We will never master our flesh on this side of eternity, so we must fight against our sinful desires. This happens through a closer, more intimate walk with Jesus. It happens through reading His Word and recognizing and praying for help in conquering areas of our lives that we struggle with. God gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us in this.  I want to put everyone at ease. . . . .We all struggle. The awesome thing is that grace and mercy abound in our Lord and Savior. I am not giving free gift certificates to sin. I am simply stated that ALL of us are on a spiritual journey and some of those in the church need to stop acting like they have it all together and have all the answers. We need to be honest with each other. We struggle. We fall. We are on the mountaintop at times and we tumble down into the valley at other times. Some people in the church (especially leaders) are scared to admit that they struggle with life and have faults. Someone might not think that they are spiritual if they did.  Paul reminds us in Romans 3:10, “As it is written, there is no one righteous, not even one.” We all have things that we need to work on in our spiritual lives. It’s not easy to swim against the current. The world thinks you’re weird for going in a different direction. Fewer people swim against the current. It can be lonely, tiring, and discouraging at times. We need fellow believers to encourage us and to help us on our journey. Here is another thing that is really helpful: Everything that either you have gone through, are going through, or will go through, Jesus went through. He felt abandoned. He was ridiculed. He suffered loss. Etc. He tells us in John 16:33, “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." He overcame the world. What do we have to be afraid of if the King of kings overcame the world? My youngest son is a bit of a daredevil. When we swim in the ocean, he likes to ram into the waves like he is breaking them apart. He also likes to swim out as far as I will let him (I am always very close to him). He is just having fun and not paying any attention to how the current is pulling him. I tell him to swim back to me if he starts to get to far away. Even at his young age, he has a choice to listen to me or not. However, if he does not listen, destruction could be waiting. I might not be able to help if a big wave crashed down on him or something like that. Don’t walk too close to the line where obedience ends and sin begins. You could get pulled in the wrong direction without even knowing it. Just like I try to line us up with our things on the beach, align yourself with the Word of God. It will keep you focused on God as the current of the world tries to sweep you away.

 

Finger on the pulse. . . . . .

 

Todd Johnson

So, What's It All About?

Are you tired of going through the motions in your spiritual life and in your church? Does everything seem a little too routine? Have you tried to make a difference in your church, but been shot down because it challenges the status quo? If any of these questions resonate with you, then you are where I am. I want to make a difference and impact lives. I have a “whatever it takes” attitude; whatever it takes to reach people with the gospel of Christ.  I, in no way, will compromise anything that the Bible says. I believe that the Bible is true and accurate in everyway. I am not one of these people who try to make the Bible say what they want it to say by adding to it or leaving something out of it. I am simply tired of lip-service and I know that God is too. I do not claim to “know it all” and I am a sinner who God graciously loved to repentance. I do have a burning passion for the church to be meaningful and effective again. I have a passion to see true repentance and an awaking of those who have nodded off into apathy.  I have heard people speak and give testimony about what God is doing in a ministry or what we (as a church) need to be doing and I see a lot of head nodding in agreement or “amen” being said, but then try and get people to actually do what God has called us to do and the result is much different. We agree with what we ought to be doing, but not with actually doing it. I get it. Time is important to us. It is important to me. However, our time on earth is limited as is our time to impact people’s lives. That is why I am writing this blog: to make a difference and to challenge the status quo. Too many people are just “doing” church. It has to be about more than just going through the motions. A dear friend helped me come up with a name for this blog. The word propulsion is “the act of driving something forward.” My hope is that likeminded people can drive a passion for Jesus back into the church. When I read in the book of Acts and see how the church should look and then look at the American church, very few churches look like that. My goal is not to criticize, but to speak truth and life that motivates the true believers of Jesus Christ.  We have gotten into this mode that if you don’t have a certain number of services a week, a certain style of music, or a certain format in the service that God won’t be pleased and will send us all to hell, I guess. I know that is dramatic, but that is how people in the church act. If you don’t believe me, try and change a service style, time, etc. and see what happens.  I am for organization. We serve a God of order, but we have organized God right out of the equation in our services in many cases. It is about worship, true worship. If you show up at your church without a heart of true worship, hear God’s Word, and leave unchanged, then you’re wasting your time. God’s Word challenges us to be different than the things we see in the world. It makes us uncomfortable and it should do that. My hope and my prayer is that this blog challenges, makes us uncomfortable, and brings us to a closer relationship with Christ.

 

Finger on the pulse. . . . . . .

 

Todd Johnson

Cloudy With a Chance of Redemption

I was driving to work the other morning and it was extremely foggy. I could not see well at all. I noticed something as I was trying to get to my destination: the light coming from the headlights of passing cars and from streetlights were limited. You could not see the light until you got much closer to it. The scope of the light was very dull. It did not have the same impact as it would if it were clear outside. In the same way that fog impacts our ability to see as we drive in the early morning or at night, a spiritual fog has impacted our ability to see clearly the things of God and to walk accordingly in the “Light.”  In 2 Timothy 4:3, Paul warns Timothy, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” Can I share something with you that you may not be aware of? . . . . THAT TIME IS NOW!!! The Message version of this scripture says it this way: “people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food - catchy opinions that tickle their fancy.” When I read the information on any of the news websites, I feel like I am living in a parallel universe. I just want to climb to the highest mountain and scream, “What in the world is going on?” Everyone’s opinion is fact in their own existence. Life and death are relative to the eye of the beholder. Families and marriages are under attack. Everything is someone else’s fault. Society goes nuts if an animal is mistreated, but abortion is acceptable. What Paul talks about in 2 Timothy 4:2 when he speaks of correcting and rebuking, well, that might hurt someone’s feelings. We have no standard to go by anymore. The problem with that is that it starts affecting all aspects of life: work, school, etc. The result is a dumbed and watered down society.  Also, the place that we should feel loved and hear solid teaching from God’s Word (the church) has become everything but that in many cases. A fog has settled over the American church. Its members have a cloudy, distorted view of who Jesus is. Biblical principles are characterized as old fashion and outdated. Preachers and church leaders care more about public opinion than they do about God’s opinion. Don’t be fooled. We have got a mess on our hands. Society, many Christians included, have no stomach for the solid teachings from the word of God. We all just want to feel good. If you are a Christian and you feel the way that I do, you are in the minority. Remember: spiritual fog. So, what do we do? Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:13 to “put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” I wish I had an easy answer or a quick fix. Our long and grueling task in our world is to stand. I am not talking about being stand-offish. I am talking about standing for Christ with love, compassion, and patience for those around us.  Dive into God’s Word and become more like Jesus everyday. Our standards will become God’s standards and nothing else will satisfy us. We will “raise the bar” in our churches instead of lower it. None of this happens without serious prayer and surrendering to Christ daily. I noticed something else about the fog as the day went on. A breeze came through and the fog disappeared. Everything was clearly visible again. We need a fresh breeze to blow through the pews of our churches in America. We desperately need to see God for who He is and not who we want Him to be.

 

He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth-- the LORD God Almighty is his name. – Amos 4:13

Finger on the pulse....

Todd Johnson