2 MINUTE WARNING

America needs to wise up.

And we need to do it very soon.

Independent thought is a good thing.  Without it, freedom is gone.

I can remember having a conversation with a member of my church many, many years ago.  It was a Presbyterian church and a very good church.  I LOVED it.  But my member friend didn’t think that I loved it based on this conversation:

He said:  “Are you a Presbyterian?”

I said:  “No.  I am a follower of Jesus who happens to attend a Presbyterian church.”

Did that make me an enemy of the church?  I am not sure what he thought.  What do you think?  To me, ANY follower of Jesus will benefit ANY organization that he or she is part of — SO LONG AS independent thought is allowed.

But in America today, we are drifting farther and farther away from that.

What has happened to that?

You see, to me, it is very simple:

Luke 16 13 “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.”

Period.

One of the most damaging things that you can do, in my opinion, is join up with a group and resign your right to think.

I FOLLOW Jesus, and Jesus alone.

It is why I love our country so much.

You see, in America today we can choose where we live, where we work, who or what we worship, and pretty much everything else so long as we do not hurt someone else.

And it is why I would warn you, and encourage you, to stand up for free speech and everything else that our government has set up and given us.

If those happened to disappear, our country would take a radical turn in a very bad direction.

Think about it.  And ask the Lord to give you wisdom.

If people who are unliked for what they believe or profess are attacked and persecuted, we lose all that we have stood up for and fought for.

I encourage you to make sure that you ask God about the groups that you belong to.  Have they disallowed thought or opinion?  Have they included other agendas or ways of thinking that aren’t really about what they profess?  Do they believe in attacking people who don’t share their mindset?

If they do, you might want to rethink your affiliation.  Because Jesus said that we can not serve two masters—only one.  Him.  And He said this for the very climate that we live in today.

Let me leave you with a final thought.  One that is controversial today and it was controversial even when I grew up.

I do not believe in premarital sex.

Period.

Why?  

Because I believe that Jesus is against it.

In today’s society that opens me up for mass persecution because of all the things that go with that.

If 10 or 100 or 1000 or however many people want to stand and debate me on that, that’s fine.  I stand with one.  Jesus.  He is the standard.  And I will debate them on any other item that He stands for because I HAVE CHOSEN MY SIDE.  I AM WITH HIM.

I warn you today.

Be careful who you stand with and on what issues.

And if those who you stand with have more than one agenda you might want to find out what those other agendas are.

Because NO ONE can serve two masters according to Jesus.

Stand Up for Freedom.

Stand Up for your Ability To Think.

Stand Up for Free Speech.

Stand Up for your Freedom To Worship And Praise God.

Stand Up for your choice to NOT be a part of a large group that desires to do your thinking for you.

Stand Up … for Jesus

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5d_gm9zrnY

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Coach J

America needs to wise up.

And we need to do it very soon.

One of Hitler’s greatest tricks was to claim he was a victim, that he was being bullied, that he was somehow being cheated.

And then, once he got his foothold, he began his mission:

World Conquest, Extermination, Violence

We simply cannot tolerate, from any group, the profession of good when we see evil.

Jesus has given us a playbook that we need.  I go to His Word in every aspect of my life that I want to succeed.  

• He is the greatest coach that ever lived.  So I have read “His stuff” as a coach.
• He has a great teaching on good leadership and bad leadership—just read about His interaction with Pontius Pilate.
• He gives us great stuff on parenting.
• He gives us great stuff on marriage.
• He gives us great stuff on sex.

If we want something to be fixed, God Can.

God Can fix the broken.

God Can bring people together.

God Can deliver.

I want to start with this verse:

Matthew 7  12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

In every issue that we face, we must apply this rule.

DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO TO YOU.

How would you want to be treated?

How would you want someone near to you to be treated?

If we will stand up for justice and live by this simple rule of Matthew 7:12, we can fix things.  But we must STAND.

Our country is great because of people at the ground level doing the right thing.  I am not claiming that it is perfect, but I am certainly against burning it down and starting over.

We must decide what is okay and what is not okay.

• I am not okay with calling looting, assaulting, stealing, and vandalizing “a protest”.  And I do not believe that God would either.
• I am not okay with professing that we are trying to protect people if there are people dying.  And I do not believe that God would either.
• I am not okay with police officers being assaulted and abused and insulted while claiming that we are fighting for justice.  And I do not believe that God would either.

I am against claiming to be a victim while acting like a perpetrator.  And I do not believe that God would like it either.  It is not based on truth and it is the very thing that Hitler did before doing some of the most hideous things that the world has ever seen.

Let’s all agree that the golden rule is the key to what we are doing… “do unto others as you would have them do to you”.

I welcome comments back and, if I get them, will speak to them in future blogs.  I welcome peaceful conversation that includes truth and Godly principle.

God bless you.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hShc-4NzObg

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Coach J

In the state quarterfinals our football team faced a crucial fourth and four.  The outcome of the next play would probably determine the outcome of the game.

I asked our quarterback what he thought.

He looked me squarely in the eyes and said:

“Coach, you call it.  And we will run it.”  And then he said:  “And we will get it.”

25 yards later, we were in the endzone in a wild celebration.

His belief, and my team’s belief, carried us to victory.

I have seen the other side of this coin as well—where I have looked into the eyes of a team with no belief.  A team with no belief has NO CHANCE.  They will not win.

And it is in this analogy that I learned why God cares so much about our belief—and the willingness to walk it out in the form of FAITH.

Hebrews 11  1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Never has it been more important for our cities, our states, and our country.

Radicals WILL NOT SAVE OUR COUNTRY—on either side of the aisle—unless they are radical about their pursuit of God Almighty who is none other than Jesus Christ.

We must begin to declare His Name, submit to His commandments, and walk in His ways.  

Those who are radically in love with Jesus will not hurt others.  They will not love based on skin color.  They will not choose money over doing the right thing.  They will stand up for the truth.

Those who are radically in love with Jesus must choose to honor … and build up … and contribute.

They must stand in holiness and prayer.  And most of all, they must act in FAITH.  

Not FAITH in people.

Not FAITH in government.

Not FAITH in money … or power … or political alignment … or destruction.

Our country was built on Godly principles.  Did we have sin?  Absolutely.  But in the freedom that was given men and women rose up and did the right things to get us to where we are now.  It is worth preserving and building on.  It is worth fighting for.

Please join me in:

PRAYING.

LOVING.

SEEKING GOD.

GIVING GLORY TO THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE US.

Ask Him To Give You FAITH

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Let Faith Rise Up

Oh Heart Believe

Let Faith Rise Up In Me

Let Faith Rise Up

Oh Heart Believe

Let Faith Rise Up In Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsIpGiz3SfQ

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Coach J

Let us not forget what David knew.  That we are inadequate on our own accord to carry out the very call that we are assigned.

Psalm 73  26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

When God gets a hold of a man, there is nothing that he is unable to do.

Giants fall.

Sins are overcome.

New life is achieved.

And without Him?  Without Him … the story is broken, the person is overcome with failure, and the road leads to destruction.

In religion, a man meets and does everything possible to make himself right with God.

But in the Kingdom, we put our faith in God.  And even that … is a Gift That ONLY HE CAN GIVE US.

Ask Him To Give You Faith

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Give Me Faith

To Trust What You Say

That You’re Good

And Your Love Is Great

I’m Broken Inside

I Give You My Life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjFIhTNDyz0

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Coach J

Sooner or later, we must all walk out of the darkness and into the light.

Bound by:

• RELIGIOSITY (The idea that man must make himself or herself right before God)
• And BLINDNESS (The inability to understand the ways of God)
• And SHAME (The realization that we do not have the character to meet the standard)
• And FEAR (The hopelessness that comes from being exposed)

Nicodemus set out to meet with Jesus.  Something drew him to the greater good, and so he set out to meet the teacher in the secrecy of night.

John 3  1Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.”

3In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

4“How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”

5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

9“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.

10“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven–the Son of Man.  14Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

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. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

In this dark time, we are all in need of a “Nicodemus Moment”.

And since the beginning of time, God has predestined us to have it.

You see, we must decide if HE is the answer or if we truly want to leave our destiny in the hands of those very things that Nicodemus faced.

The world is in chaos.

Our choice can be to continue fighting a battle we can not win or to find our only hope of victory:

“I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

Jesus could have told Nicodemus, “No.  I won’t meet you at night.  Come out into the open.”  But He didn’t.  He gave him the chance to test Him in all that He had to offer.

And so it is with us.  

Can we truly do it alone?  

Can we truly see without Him allowing us to see?

Can we truly survive on our own character?

Can we truly survive and defeat the fear?

For me, the answers to all of those are NO.  NO, I cannot.

Lord, Restore me and Renew me.  Revive my life and Fill me.

Give me hope …  And a future.

Give me the right to be your child and to call You Father.

Come: know me and search me and find every offensive way in me.

Lead me in your ways everlasting.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJNR0lxbIP4

Gracefully Broken by Matt Redman

Take All I Have In These Hands

And Multiply, God, All That I Am

And Find My Heart On The Altar Again

Set Me On Fire … Set Me On Fire

Take All I Have In These Hands

And Multiply, God, All That I Am

And Find My Heart On The Altar Again

Set Me On Fire … Set Me On Fire

Here I Am, God, Arms Wide Open

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Coach J

His message is 100% consistent.

Even when it might hurt our pride.

When the God of the universe uses a prostitute to carry out His plan, it challenges the proud.

After all, we would never …

Joshua 2  1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

But that is just the point.

The Lord is making, and has always made, a plea to the broken.

His is not trying to impress, and He isn’t afraid how things might “look”.

And when He came as a man — NONE OF THAT CHANGED.  Even though the Romans had the power, the Pharisees had the prestige, and even though He had no backing, He faced it anyway.  

In a move that changed history, Jesus wrote the check that paid off the debt.

When Jesus said, “It Is Paid In Full” He was referring to our debt.  That insurmountable payment could not be paid for by us.

So He paid it.

And it cost Him everything.  His dignity.  His pride.  His friendships.  His life.

And He did it so that He could not only save prostitutes, but use them for His glory.

You Are The One Who Conquers Giants

You Are The One Who Calls Out Kings

You Shut The Mouths Of Lions

You Tell The Dead To Breathe

You Are The One Who Walks Through Fire

You Take The Orphans Hand

You Are The One Messiah

You Are I Am

The next time you question Him, or His methods, or His plan … This might be the time you need to take a look deep into your own heart.

Jesus Is The Way

And The Truth

And The Life

And His Word … Does Not Return Void.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JI4CPfuLW0

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Coach J

There are a lot of things that I do not know.

I am stubborn.  I am prone to anger.  I am easily offended.

But I know the Answer.  And I can give testimony after testimony to declare His goodness.

He cares about me.  

• In the fall of 1987, I found out something on the shower floor of an old locker room.  I sat without hope.  Fear, shame, and failure were all I could think or feel.  But God showed up.  And He showed up so strongly that He changed my entire being.  He cared about me.
• In 1993, when I realized that I had completely corrupted my dating and life, He showed me that I was doing it the wrong way.  After He worked me over on who I was, I met a girl named Angela Brooke Tuominen.  My life has never been the same.  He cared about me.
• In 2007, when I spent too much money and bankrupted our family, Angie and I sought Him.  In prayer, and discussion, and reading the word, we came up with a plan.  Slowly and surely, He walked us out of the depths of debt.  And in doing so, He brought us TOGETHER.  He cared about me.
• In our struggle to financially recover, God convicted us that we were not done with having kids.  And so, against the advice of those closest to us, Angie and I had another child—Justine Carissa Johnson.  No one would doubt Carissa’s value … or purpose.  God cared about us.
• In 2010, when my father died a terrible death, He asked me to speak at the funeral.  In my anger and sadness at that assignment, I soon learned that He had me speak SO THAT HE COULD BRING HEALING TO ME!  God cared about me.

Over and over and over again, He has showed up.

And I continue to write these things because I want you to know that if He can show up for me—He can show up for you.  He WILL show up for you.

He is none other than Jesus.

And He has written us a love letter from the other side of history.

With His Word, another God-seeking believer, and His Spirit, you have all that you need.

And His word never returns void.

Isaiah 55 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

No matter where you are.

Or what you are going through.

Or what mountain stands between you and your dreams.

He is there.

And He has climbed that mountain again and again.  He is patient.  He forgives.  He works sometimes IN SPITE OF YOU.  And He will fight for you to the end of Himself.

• When you fall short of payment, He will show up with a checkbook.
• When you do something that embarrasses Him, He will stand beside you and take accountability.
• When you fail, He will cry.
• When you succeed, He will dance.

There is not better place to be than in the good graces of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. 

Do not look for answers. 

Look for the Answer.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5d_gm9zrnY

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Coach J

Do You Know Your Situation In The Kingdom?

Did you know that He will cover not just ALL of your needs, but ALL of your wants?

Did you know that He would bring peace upon you as if you were laying in a cool valley, beside a beautiful stream, in a place so beautiful that you would not be able to comprehend it?

Did you know that, even if you totally screw up and go the wrong direction, that He would recalibrate, redirect, and revive your entire being—for YOUR OWN GOOD?

Did you know that when your enemies surround you that He will stand in the gap, defend you, and protect you?

Did you know that your enemies will soon stand around you and helplessly watch as you eat a feast that He has prepared?

Did you know that He and His promises are infinite, renewable, and beyond our desires?

Psalm 23

1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk

through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me

all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

When you stand and look at the world today—DO NOT BE DISCOURAGED.

BRING HIS PROMISES, THIS WORD, TO THE BROKEN.

IT MIGHT BE THE ONLY TIME THEY EVER HEAR IT.

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGbQ90kYZrI

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Coach J

More than any other blog, I would like to emphasize the song that I have attached to it.  It captures the heart of what I am trying to convey.

In this trying time, we must NEVER LET GO of what God offers or the incredible blessing that comes from having His hand on all that we do.

Why?

Because God changes nations through individuals and this is the most incredible miracle (besides all of the others) in the Bible.

It is the idea that rather than conquering all—He would choose to have the devotion of one.

Think about it?

This radical thought and movement is the reason that all of us say it is 2020.

Jesus moved through the hearts of individuals SO MIGHTILY that He captured nations.

Case in point:

1.  He ministered to an outcast woman at a well, breaking Jewish law and sending a message TO ALL OF US:  Do we love individual people or do we love cliques, movements, political parties, or governments?  John 4.
2.  He met Paul on the road to Damascus, sending a message TO ALL OF US:  Are we truly willing to forgive, and even collaborate with, someone who is our enemy?  Acts 9.
3.  He met Nathanael after watching Him under the fig tree.  He INVESTED TIME in knowing Nathanael and Nathanael ALONE.  In doing this, Jesus is sending a message TO ALL OF US:  Do we love individual people?  John 1.

I can remember being offended as a man spoke in our church and made fun of his Sunday school class, his church experience, and his disdain for going to church with his parents.  I can remember him talking about his incredible fear that God was going to send him to Africa to be a missionary where he would eat bugs, live on the ground, and do things that he hated.

What was he really saying?

I think that today I finally understand.  I think that He was saying that He had no idea that God wanted to know him—him!  That he had no idea that He wanted to know him as an individual!

Where did this speaker end up?  In Africa.  But it was his choice AFTER God got a hold of him.  Because once He understood that God loved him for who he was, going to Africa was easy.

What about you?

Has God gotten ahold of you?

I am praying that this very day——He does.

Jesus is using this time to break into “group thinking”.  While it is powerful to be in a political party or a union or an association, membership to these should NEVER take away our ability to think individually.  Jesus does not want us to bury our identity in a group, but to bury our identity in Him … and Him alone.

And salvation and connection to God, only works in a group when all the individuals have done so on their own accord.

To make my point, I want to finish with a testimony.

God moved in my life in a big way in 2002.  Due to the evil actions of a colleague at work, I was alone, depressed, not sleeping, and in a place where I was going to resign from my job and move on to do something else.

But God showed up to rescue me.  

When a man does not sleep, he begins to slowly go crazy, but he has plenty of time to bare his heart to the Lord.  And I, indeed, had a full measure of both.  And though my flesh became crazy, my spirit has never been more clear.  And God told me two things:

• “I will protect you with rumors”
• “I will choose you for the big battles”

God protected me with rumors—nothing could be more true.  It was incredible how the Lord used something usually meant for evil to protect me.  And as far as the battles—the Lord always tells me, or convicts me, when it is time to stand up.

But this is not the story of the blog today.

The story of the blog today is about YOU.

• It is about the fact that He has created you–that He knew you as you were knitted together in your mother’s womb.  
  • Psalm 139:13  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
• It is about the fact that He has seen you, and you alone, in ALL of your life.
  • John 1:48  “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”
• It is about the fact that God wants to move in YOU in a way that uses who YOU are.
  • Exodus 3:12  And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

I am fully able to misrepresent the God of our universe.  A pastor is fully able to misrepresent the God of our universe.  A church is fully able to misrepresent the God of our universe.  And so today, I challenge you to follow the advice of David:

Psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the LORD is good

As we see in today’s world, people and groups are capable ruining everything—especially individuals.  But God?  He is not.  And that is because God doesn’t use groups to change the individual, He uses individuals to change the world.  And never forget …

He knows you.  He loves you.  He wants to carry out all of your hopes and your dreams.  And He wants to use you to love others by testifying of His love for you.

He is in the business of YOU

In The Name of the Father and the 

Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew0g1xnOT30

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Coach J