Author Archives: Michael D Johnson

Am I more like Jesus now than I was a year ago? If I continue on the current path and trajectory will I be more like Jesus in a year than I am now? Do the people closest to me think that I am anything like Jesus? These are hard questions for me to consider.Continue reading “Growth in grace”

Dear pastor, Are you reading God’s Word daily and listening daily for his voice?  How up to date is your relationship with God? How fresh is your faith?  Are you consecrating your life daily and availing yourself to Him?  There are two reasons I ask these questions.  The first is for the sake of yourContinue reading “A fresh encounter, an anointed ministry”

How can we know what to believe in the news and on social media?  How can we determine what is of the devil and what is of the Lord? How should we respond to the politics that are taking place today?  How should we respond to the current events in America? I want to answerContinue reading “What is going on in this world? And how can I know how to respond?”

Dearly beloved, I know indeed that you are suffering. I know you are tired, weary, frustrated and dejected. Life has chewed you up and spit you out. I know that anxiousness, temptation and condemnation consistently knock on your heart’s door. It hurts me to see you suffer under an unnecessary load. When I see youContinue reading “A call to holiness”

Dear Christian, Are you a peacemaker?  Or are you a pot-stirrer? Are you a reconciler?  Or are you participating in partisan judgmentalism? Are you accepting others as God in Christ accepted you? Or are you alienating and ostracizing people because they think differently than you? I ask these questions on purpose to challenge you. IContinue reading “Blessed are the peacemakers”

I want to talk briefly about what we should do when we find ourselves battered and bruised and how we should respond to set-backs.  What do we do when we find ourselves tired? Alone? Fatigued? Battered? Bruised? Facing the reality of loss? First of all, it would be impractical and even foolish to pretend asContinue reading “Grieving our losses and nursing our wounds”

Dear Pastor, If you’re anything like me, you can keep going so long as you can either see progress or if you believe (by faith) that progress is being made “behind the scenes”. The hardest part is when it seems that everything you see/perceive is telling you that you are not only NOT making progress,Continue reading “Progress”

What do you do when nothing seems to be going your way? How do you react? What do you feel? How do you handle those feelings? I want to briefly address these things and how we as Christians can approach life when nothing is going our way… Does this sound anything like you: Things startContinue reading “When nothing seems to be going your way”

Dear friend I bless you in the name of the Lord! What does this mean? It means that by the authorization of God Himself, I offer to you the grace and peace that is available in Christ Jesus. I offer it not as a nice sentiment, a “hallmark card” or as heart-warming words or “chicken-soupContinue reading “The Lord bless you”

Dear Pastor, Whatever you are going through on any given day, there is tremendous help, hope and strength in meditating on the nearness and goodness of God. Far too often we entertain unhealthy, accusatory and fear-inducing ideas (such as “Here we go again”, or “I don’t have what it takes”, or “This is so hard”).Continue reading “Practice saying this”