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2 MINUTE WARNING

WITH DOUG JOHNSON

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490 Saved For A Purpose

Jesus is seeking you out in the same way that He sought out a rejected woman at a well some 2000 years ago.

And when you understand this very important truth, you understand that you are saved for a purpose.

John 4

4 Now he had to go through Samaria.

6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. ) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 

12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 

17 “I have no husband,” she replied. 

18 Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” 27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ ?” 

30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” 

My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about the fact that Jesus cut the humanistic ties with racism, misogyny, elitism, economic class, religious rules, and every other item that we, as humans, have created … Even though it could be.

My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about forgiveness for all … Even though it could be.

My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about the fact that Jesus claimed to be God … Even though it could be.

My point of emphasis on this passage of scripture is NOT about Jesus being the LIVING WATER … Even though it could be.

My point of emphasis is this:

YOU, just like the woman at the well, are saved for a purpose.

So if you lack Purpose, then check in with Jesus and connect with Him in a deeper way … because when He saves you He gives you purpose.

And if you are in need of saving, cry out to Him to be your Savior … He is worthy to save.  And He has such a great purpose for you.

He is worthy … and He wants to put something on your life that is bigger than anything you could ever imagine or even ask for.

YOU … were saved for a purpose.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

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489 It Just Got Real

As I was preparing to speak to our FCA group last week, the phrase “It Just Got Real” was on my heart and in my head.

Two of our students were in a terrible car accident.  And when looking into the details it was truly a miracle that they were still alive to talk about it.

All of us have had “It Just Got Real” moments that challenge us to rethink who we are, what we are doing, and why we are even here in the first place.  It is in these moments that we have opportunities to make important decisions … I encourage you to do this with God at the forefront of your mind.

It Got Real with Solomon in Ecclesiastes 3 as he came to the realization that his life had no meaning.

Ecclesiastes 3 11 He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end”.

What is the meaning of life has been asked by mortal men since the beginning of time.

It Got Real for John as he penned John 1 and made the boldest claim in human history:

John 1 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.  We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

He had seen Jesus crucified and raised from the dead.  And only after did he put all the pieces together.

It Gets Real for ALL OF US when we see the true commitment of Jesus to who we are and what we are doing.

John 11 35 Jesus wept.

Mary had told Jesus that He needed to be there … and, had He been there, her brother would not have died.

But that’s just it, isn’t it?

We expect Jesus to NOT BE THERE … but Jesus IS there.  He IS ALWAYS THERE.

And as He sat on that hill and looked over Jerusalem this is a truth that you must take with you EVERYWHERE YOU GO AND IN ALL THAT YOU DO.

He Shows Up

God is there for us.

He is there for us in the flesh … but more than that, and when we can not see His work as Mary couldn’t, He is there in the spirit.

His Kingdom is eternal and it is an invitation for all who would dare call Him king.

His Kingdom is for the rich and for the poor, for the strong and for the weak.

His Kingdom is for the put together … and for the broken.

It Just Got Real.

What are you going to do about it?

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

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488 Called By His Glory

Abraham had the hand of God on him no matter what he did.  Even when he was a coward, God protected him.

Afraid for his life, he told King Abimelech that his beautiful wife Sarah was his sister.  So when Abimelech took her, God punished him immediately.  (Genesis 20)

I have always struggled with this verse.  Why would God punish a man who did not know he had done wrong?

What does this mean for us today?

The reality is that God is watching over all who would dare to declare Him King.  And He isn’t watching us and deciding whether to give us an “Abraham Reward” or an “Abimelech Punishment”.  We aren’t under karma and we don’t have to walk in fear over every decision that we make.

That being said, the power of bad human choices and sin have cursed our society.  It isn’t that we made a bad choice, it is that we live in the midst of Romans 3 … For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  ALL.

We live in corruption and we are constantly facing off with it.

And today, instead of fighting against it, much of society has chosen to celebrate it.

This did not work in the time of Abraham, and it won’t work now.

And so I can declare that the need for the good news of the gospel has never been greater.

Our reality is this:

2 Peter 1 3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 

To those of us who would declare Him King, we have all that we need.

God has given us the power to overcome, the power to live a Godly life, and the knowledge of who He truly is.

There is no better word than this.

We have to simply follow the Savior who gave His life as a ransom to set us free.

And we can walk in that freedom … every day.  We are called in His glory and His divine power … and we have everything we need.

And that … is good news.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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487 Be … Then What?

The Bible calls all of us as believers to many things.

And one of them is to be:  Above Reproach

As we read below:

1 Timothy 3 1 Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. 5 (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. 7 He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

There are many things in this verse that we must read:

Faithful

Temperate

Self-Controlled

Respectable

Hospitable

Able To Teach

Not Given To Drunkenness

Not Violent But Gentle

Not Quarrelsome

Not A Lover Of Money

Must Manage His Family Well

Must Have A Good Reputation

Now, if you are A Recent Convert … what I have to say now is not for you.  You are to seek God, and pray, and learn His word, and meet with other SOLID BELIEVERS, and grow in your faith.

But most of us … we grow out of that … and now it is time to step up and do the very thing that that verse above requires.  It is time for us to walk into the calling that God has for us.  As a coach, I would say:  “Get Your Butt Going!”

  1.  You Are Called To Greater Things

Do not underestimate your influence, do not downplay it, and do not lazily disregard it.  Walk into your calling!

1 Peter 2 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

  1.  This Is Not An Optional Mandate

He calls us to ministry.  It is not our job to “regulate” the pastor.  We are not to sit in the back pew and say “he needs to do this and this and this …”  Nonsense.  We are to stand up and lead.  Start your ministry today, or at least tomorrow or Monday or have a plan.  And aim big!  The world is full of the lost.

Matthew 28 18 But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 

19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 

24 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 ” ‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. 29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

  1.  The Gold Standard

Follow the playbook in your ministry.  The playbook is written in your Bible.  And Jesus … He is the Gold Standard.

Proverbs 17 3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. 

So yes,

Be Above Reproach

Be:

Faithful

Temperate

Self-Controlled

Respectable

Hospitable

Able To Teach

Not Given To Drunkenness

Not Violent But Gentle

Not Quarrelsome

Not A Lover Of Money

Must Manage His Family Well

But then what?

Get Your Butt Going!!

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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486 God Intended It For Good

One of the greatest verses in the Bible is Genesis 50:20.

After getting sold into slavery, falsely accused, thrown into prison, and then promoted to Governor of Egypt, Joseph’s life comes full circle.

And the grace of God falls onto his brothers in an incredible way as he tells them:

Genesis 50 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

In an incredible story of what God does…redemption…Joseph’s life saves an estimated 70 Israelites and a million people.  And Joseph’s ability to move past what happened and forgive is incredibly significant.

Slavery.  Slander.  Prison.  When we get in a tough situation, a trial, or we are simply trying to fight through things, we must ask?

Where Is My Focus?

When David walked up on the Goliath situation, he heard from everyone about the giant.  Goliath.  Goliath.  Goliath.  But David was not focused on Goliath, nor the weapons that they used to fight.  He was focused on God.  And God gave David a weapon that was far greater than what Goliath had.  The sling that God had him use to fight wolves and lions was far greater than anything Goliath could bring.

Where Is My Focus?  It should be on God … not the giant.  Because God has the weapons we need to defeat the giant.

What Will You Get There?

Hope … and Faith.  Hebrews 11 says that Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what you do not see.  Hope is one of the most important things we can have.  When our hope is not there, our thoughts go in the wrong direction.  But hope gives us the motivation to get up and walk, to move forward, to begin to dream.

What Will You Get There?  Hope … And Faith Is Being Sure Of What You Hope For.

God is bigger than the walls in front of us.

He is bigger than our failures and our mistakes.

He is bigger than our mortality.

Jesus Christ became one of us so that we could know that He has walked in our shoes, that He has been tempted, and that He has experienced loss.

And we can hold on to this promise … that what was intended to harm us God can use for good.

WALK in the covering of Jesus … His love never fails.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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485 Jesus Has A Way Out

Much like the Israelites in the Old Testament, I find myself searching and wrestling with the foes of life.

Fear.

Temptation.

Doubt.

Anger.

All of the ploys of the enemy that God tells us to overcome are worthy obstacles.

But God … God always has a way out.

And we must never forget that the simple answer is the ONLY answer.

Jesus Has A Way Out.

And perhaps Jeremiah says it best:

Jeremiah 29 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 

Jesus is the way out.

He has plans to prosper you.

He has no plans to harm you.

He wants to give you hope and a future.

And, truly, we will find Him when we seek Him with all of our hearts.

What a word.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Coach J

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484 I Am My Father’s Child

What does God truly think of me?

This is the question that all of must eventually answer.

And our response to it transcends all that we are … 

Because if we know this answer, it changes everything …

It changes our behavior.

It changes our outlook.

It changes our hope.

And it changes our destiny.

I think Zephaniah says it best:

Zephaniah 3 17 The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” 

He takes GREAT DELIGHT IN US.

He REJOICES OVER US.

He QUIETS US WITH HIS LOVE.

He is WITH US … Everywhere that we go.

As I listened to the words to this song in my car two nights ago, it cut me to the core.

Thank You … Jesus.

Only You could love us like this.

You are our only hope.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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483 The Bible Is Not A Boot

As I drove home from a meeting with an incredible man today, I was convicted in my car and I believe God put this thought on my heart:  

“The Bible IS NOT a boot.”

Amen.

The Bible should never be used to kick someone, to hurt someone, to drive a point home.

It is NOT OUR PLACE.

I am saved by the grace of a God who loves me too much to let me die in the midst of my sin … and my sin is great.

Thankfully I say to you … “My God is not done with me yet!”

Wow, that feels so good to say:

“My God is NOT DONE with me yet!”

In a world of darkness and evil and falling short, I am the greatest of these … the pride, and unforgiveness, and impurity, and vengeance, and hard-heartedness that can well up in me is beyond description.  And it is destructive.  And yet, I can find it, and identify it, in me.  In God’s love letter written to all of us, for this day, on January 28, 2025, Paul said it best:

1 Timothy 1 15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. 17 Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

The Bible Is NOT A Boot.

Because if it were, I would be getting kicked in the face right now by a God who could kick me a good distance.  But that is not His way.  And as I meditate on that verse above today, I am so grateful.  For I am “the Chief of sinners” and I would be happy to argue with Paul about it.

And chances are … you are “the Chief of sinners” too.

And so what does God tell us to do?

How are we to introduce others to Jesus?

How can we properly communicate this gospel?

Here are a few thoughts:

The Bible is a Message Of Reconciliation:

2 Corinthians 5 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 

20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

The Bible is a message of love:

John 3 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The Bible is a message of our need to have a Savior:

Romans 8 1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 

The Bible is a lot of things.

It is a book of instruction.

It is a book of wisdom.

It is a book of history.

It is a book of LOVE and GRACE and FORGIVENESS …

It is a book about Jesus.

There are a lot of ways to describe it.

But one thing that it is not:  The Bible Is NOT A Boot

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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482 I Am Going To Be Better

I am stealing today’s message from Tre Sills.  Tre is a local pastor and convicted our FCA group today with an important message.

There is a good chance today that many of us have failed on some of our “I am going to be better” convictions that we made at the beginning of 2025.

I know this idea resonates with me because I live in a world of:  “I am going to be better”

The reality is that it is God that makes us better.  God and God alone.

After all, when we meet Jesus in the quiet place and surrender to what He has for us, He does a new thing inside of each of us:

2 Corinthians 5 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 

It is God, and God alone, who makes us better.  And sometimes He does it one layer at a time.  He comes and ministers to our inner self and begins to do a work on us, and in us.  HE, and HE alone, can do that work.

Paul continues with his encouragement, telling us almost the opposite of “I am going to be better” by telling us:

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 

20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

Thank You Jesus!

In a world with the wrong kind of accountability, God can show up.  He can show up for me … and for you.

And when He shows up it is to remind us that we are not who we are by our own works … but that we are created in His image and that He can actually work on us from the inside to make us like Him.

He shows up to remind us that His plan is to also do this for others … to reconcile them with Him.

Man doesn’t fix marriages, or companies, or countries, or neighborhoods.  Our president doesn’t decide if we have a life.  Our mayor doesn’t change our life from bad to good.  And our enemies certainly won’t bring out our best.

No.

It is Jesus.

It is the Jesus who spoke the words of life to Lazarus and the woman at the well.  And it is this Jesus who ministered to Roman soldiers, and pharisees who would listen, and leppers who were outcast, and Kings … It is this Jesus who showed up at the temple to tip over tables and send a message to the establishment:  “Not on my watch!”

And it is this Jesus that can fix me … and you.

And we would do wise to do what the Samaritan woman did.  To go into “our place” and tell people:  “Come and meet the man who told me everything I ever knew” (John 4).

After all, if we want to fix _ ….. Whatever it might be ……

We need the Author of the “ministry of reconciliation” and not anything else.

Because He is the only One that can do it in the way that will bring hope.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J

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