Oh Lord, we need You now. We need You to guide us. To instruct us. Oh Lord we need Your Spirit, Your Presence and Your Glory to be on us, with us and in us! Lord, break our hearts for lost people, dying churches, hopelessness, hurting, sorrow, grief, sin-laden and imprisoned people. May we careContinue reading “A prayer for God’s presence and His people”
Category Archives: For Pastors
Our desperate state
We are so completely dependent. Though we think we are autonomous, self-governing, independent beings, when we boil it all down: we are desperately needy for … God. We are not merely in need of a few blessings or provisions from His hand. No, we are desperate for His glory, His face, His Spirit, His presence! Joy isContinue reading “Our desperate state”
“So what do you do for your real job?”
So I have been thinking about what pastors do with their time and energy. I can’t tell you the number of times that I have been asked what I do when it is not Wednesday or Sunday. People love to joke that pastors only work two days a week and golf every other day exceptContinue reading ““So what do you do for your real job?””
Success in ministry?
In ministry how do we really know if we are doing the right things. How do we know if we are actually getting any where, gaining any traction, making any difference? In weight loss you know if you are doing something right if the scale says you have lost weight (or if the pants areContinue reading “Success in ministry?”
A call to prayer and fasting
Isaiah 43:19 says: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” The Lord is calling His church to again be a people who call on the name of the Lord in desperation, hunger and thirst, in need and in humility. God wants to bring revival into ourContinue reading “A call to prayer and fasting”
Our desperate need for revival
We all “know” that we need revival, but therein is exactly the problem. We “know” it: with our mind. We don’t grieve in our spirit that God’s Spirit is not present in our lives or churches. We don’t have heaviness on our heart for the lack of passion for God and His Word. We don’tContinue reading “Our desperate need for revival”
To those who poured faith and life into me
Life and ministry seem daunting, overwhelming and yes impossible. There are a few people in life who have found the peace that God intends for His people. God desires that His people have peace in the midst of the storm, strength in the midst of weakness and a deeply settled rest in the deepest partContinue reading “To those who poured faith and life into me”
Making Disciples
Why is it so important to make disciples? Disciples of who? And whose job is it really? We hear a lot of talk these days about making disciples. As a matter of fact, we are hearing so much from so many places that we might begin to wonder if this is really a movement ofContinue reading “Making Disciples”
Jesus’ Ministry of Words (and Healing)
I have been preaching a sermon series entitled “Jesus in my shoes” and have looked at numerous aspects of Jesus’ life on earth. Just last Sunday I completed a sermon entitled “Jesus in my words” and shared a number of things that defined Jesus’ words and should therefore be descriptive of our words as well.Continue reading “Jesus’ Ministry of Words (and Healing)”
Marathon Training and Ministry, part 2
So I am really digging this running thing. I have been reading up on what to wear and how to train and what to eat, and it is really fun! (And the physical benefits aren’t bad either). But perhaps even more interesting is what marathon training has to say to us about ministry (and reallyContinue reading “Marathon Training and Ministry, part 2”
Pastor Michael Johnson 