Author Archives: Michael D Johnson

Honor and respect are two important words and concepts and yet many times seem sadly lacking in our society. How many times in life have we felt disrespected? How many times has it seemed as though someone has disregarded our thoughts, opinions or feelings? It seems as if this life is full of instances whereContinue reading “Showing respect to those who disrespect you, Honoring those who dishonor you”

Dear Pastor, I want to ask you a very important question. One that it would be easy for you to gloss over. Is Christ enough for you? Is it enough for you to know that Christ is with you?  That Christ is for you?  That Christ is in you? Is it enough to know thatContinue reading “Is Christ really enough?”

Dear Pastor, I want to take a moment and encourage you: You are engaging in the mission of Jesus. You are participating in the life of Jesus and His Holy Spirit power. I know, you may say “I sure don’t feel like that”. But if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, thenContinue reading “Participating in Christ’s life, engaging in Christ’s mission”

Dear Christian, Please do this 1 thing this week: Consider how your words will help people know God’s love. Will your critique of politicians or people on the other side help them to know the love of God? Will ridiculing people help them to know the holy God of love? Will shouting louder than theContinue reading “Disagreeing isn’t the problem”

Dear Christian, I want to challenge you.  I’m probably going to really make you uncomfortable as you read this article. I’m not trying to make you mad, but you might even find yourself angry at me the further you read. So here it is. I want you to try and imagine being in “their” shoes.Continue reading “In their shoes”

“Human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.” – James 1:20 There is a lot of anger in this world. There are editorials, news reports, Facebook posts, blogs and so much more dedicated to the things that make us angry. Why are we so angry? What is it that has our feathers soContinue reading “Why so angry?”

Dear friend, I want to talk to you about something that is very important to me. So important that I am ashamed I haven’t brought it up like this previously.  You already know that I am a Christian and a pastor. As such I’m sure you can guess some of what I believe about GodContinue reading “Life is short, eternity is long…”

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. The Lord is my Protector, I shall not be afraid. The Lord is my Savior, I shall not be enslaved. The Lord is my Comforter, I shall not live in discouragement or sadness. The Lord is my Friend, I shall never be alone. Obviously you knowContinue reading “Why I am not afraid”

You’re gonna make it through this. The truth is I don’t really want someone to tell me that. It feels patronizing or condescending. It feels like they don’t really know how painful, stressful, confusing or depressing it is. We do of course need to remind each other of this. We also need to remind ourselvesContinue reading “You’re gonna make it”