Author Archives: Michael D Johnson

Dear pastor, Will anything ever get better at your church? Will you ever see more attendees, more volunteers and sufficient income? Is the church always going to face declining numbers, passion and interest? I know, these questions seem blunt and perhaps a bit pessimistic, but reality is that many pastors have considered these questions (maybeContinue reading “Is my church stuck? Am I?”

Dear Christian, I want to invite you to prayerfully and humbly consider the ways in which God is calling you to participate in His church, His kingdom and His mission. First of all, God has invited all to come to Him, believe in Him, receive Him into their lives and receive the inheritance of theContinue reading “Serving God and participating in His mission”

I have a few tough questions for pastors.  Are you present in the lives of your people? Do they have to go looking for you or do you just show up in their lives? Are you kind of like the “out of sight, out of mind” part of their life? You know: do they seeContinue reading “Alone? Forgotten?”

Have you ever felt alone? I know the better question is: when was the most recent time you felt all alone? Was it last week? Yesterday? This morning? It is miserable to feel all alone. And maybe it hurts just as much or even more to be with and around people and still feel unheard,Continue reading “All alone”

There is a temptation to ties one’s worth into what one can produce. As if somehow what one does with their hands or with their time/gifting/energy etc defines them and their value. Indeed, for many of us, this is a temptation to consider that a person does not have quality of life unless they areContinue reading “What is my value?”

Have you ever had a weight on you that just kept pressing down with no relief in sight? When I work out in the gym and I get to the end of a set of reps, my arms or legs can begin shaking under the weight; but at least I know that I only haveContinue reading “Trying to bear up under it”

Have you ever had a weight on you that just kept pressing down with no relief in sight? When I work out in the gym and I get to the end of a set of reps, my arms or legs can begin shaking under the weight; but at least I know that I only haveContinue reading “Trying to bear up under it”

God is at work where you are right now. If you look around you and see the people, places and things, you can know for a fact that God is working right there in your midst. He is working there because He is always at work. He is working there because there is no placeContinue reading “Where you are right now”

I hope that your pastor is a great encourager and cheerleader in your life!  I personally try all the time to increase my availability and to improve my efforts at affirming and building up my family and friends and parishioners.  The truth is that many times I have dropped the ball. Many times I haveContinue reading “Who is encouraging you? Who is encouraging your pastor?”

Have you ever noticed someone around you “doing it wrong”? Or perhaps you realized along the way that you yourself were “doing it wrong”. This brief blog post is to get us thinking about what we should do when we see someone doing things in what we believe to be a wrong way. First ofContinue reading “Doing it wrong”