christianity

536 An Enemy You Can Not Defeat

As we live a life of comfort and pleasure, let us consider these things:

I have often wondered why Jesus went where He went, why He did what He did, and how He chose who He would talk to …

And as I reflected upon this last week, I became very convicted on one thing:

Often, Jesus showed up looking for a fight.

The original title of this blog was going to be “Walking Into The Storm” but, today, it is called:

An Enemy You Can Not Defeat

And you would do well to listen to this. Because Jesus wasn’t looking to just fight, He was looking to fight the enemies that would eventually defeat you had He not dealt with them.

And so He takes His disciples to Caesarea Philippi … “The Gates Of Hell” … in order to tell them that Peter, the coward, would advance upon it … and defeat it.

How frustrating it must be for the enemy to realize that the weakest of human flesh would conquer him … and yet, that is what the plan is.

Matthew 16 ¹³ When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

¹⁴ They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

¹⁵ “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

¹⁶ Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

¹⁷ Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸ And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ¹⁹ I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” ²⁰ Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

“And on this rock I will build my church”

With Jesus, we become amazing. And yet, without Him, we are bound for the pits of Hell.

This is not a new word.

It is not something that we should take lightly.

And it isn’t something that we should be hiding from the world.

It is the hope of nations.

When Chuck Colson said “I meet millions who tell me that they feel demoralized by the decay around us. Where is the hope? The hope that each of us have is not in who governs us, or what laws are passed, or what great things that we do as a nation. Our hope is in the power of God working through the hearts of people, and that’s where our hope is in this country; that’s where our hope is in life.” this is exactly what he was talking about.

And as we worship Jesus, let’s remember His life. When He was powerless, He went and tore up the temple, He went and defended the lady who was to be stoned, He went to meet the Samaritan reject, and He went to confront the devil at the Gates of Hell. And then He did it in the spiritual, which would have to be ALL THE MORE TERRIFYING. And He did it so that you could have victory over “An Enemy You Can Not Defeat”

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

February 16, 2026 0

535 Go The Other Way?

After traveling thousands of miles, the eunuch in charge of the treasury for Queen Candace must have been devastated. All he saw were do not enter signs in Jerusalem. Some of them have been excavated.

No Women Allowed

No Gentiles

No Eunuchs

No Foreigners

And so he began his long journey home.

And in Jerusalem, as the church began to rise in incredible ways, Philip probably had the same confusion.

Acts 8 ¹² But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women … ²⁶ Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road–the desert road-that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” ²⁷ So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. ²⁹ The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” ³⁰ Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

What was he reading?

Was this servant reading about Jesus?

And did he recognize that God had written a note DIRECTLY to him in Isaiah 56?

Isaiah 53 ⁴ Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. ⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 56 ³ Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will surely exclude me from his people.” And let not any eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” ⁴ For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-

I am sure that he did.

And I am sure that any sign that might turn him away melted away when he realized that God did not write it.

As the eunuch found out: God is not rejecting us.

As Philip found out: God will send us on some strange missions.

But in all of these things—God is working out a perfect plan.

This life isn’t about our scars.

It is about His.

It isn’t about our rejection.

It is about His.

It isn’t about our mistakes.

It is about His Sacrifice.

We are saved, truly, by the blood of the Lamb.

And He sends messengers to Ethiopia and to Iceland and to all corners of the world to let us know that we are invited into the family.

Through the cross we have been forgiven—we are accepted as we are. And He will go out of His way to make that known.

Thank God … for God.

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

February 6, 2026 0

532 Planting And Uprooting Part 2

As I prayed on Christmas Day, I asked God to do a new thing in me that was ABOLUTELY SPECIFIC to my daily life.

This is rooted in a scripture that my daughter gave me on Christmas day:

Jeremiah 1 ⁹ Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. ¹⁰ See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

Continuing in the theme that I began on Christmas Day, I would like to make reference to Romans 12.

Romans 12 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will. ³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

In this verse, Paul gives a powerful word. And as I listened to an incredible speaker yesterday I wrote and listened to these verbs:

Present Yourself

DO NOT Conform

Be Transformed

Think In Humility

She encouraged us to:

Be Transformed That We Might Hear The Word Of God
Continually Surrender
Be Renewed Daily

As I read and pray this morning, I can’t help but think of a very important story about eggs, carrots, and coffee.

The world is a powerful place. And our daily walk demands that we are in constant pursuit of Jesus if we want to be effective and truly make a difference. Much like boiling water on eggs, the word can harden us on the inside. Much like boiling water on carrots, the world can soften us on the outside. But the believer who is transformed by surrendering daily? The believer who is transformed by surrendering daily changes the world much like coffee—the boiling water changes the entire atmosphere around that person, enhancing the aroma, transforming the coffee itself, and creating a situation where others are drawn to the very item in the boiling water.

As we Plant and Uproot, I am convicted that God wants to do this by acting in accordance with Romans 12.

He wants us to begin a new crop while removing weeds.

Only God can do these things in us while still loving us for who we are.

The heart of the Father NEVER changes our personality.

He NEVER makes us into something different than what we are.

He NEVER looks on us and says—we must get rid of this trait.

He takes what we are, who we are, and how we are and He radically transforms us into a miracle.

And He can do it each and every day … so Surrender, Be Transformed, and Present.

And if you don’t succeed? Repent and try it all again. Thank You Jesus.

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

January 6, 2026 1

531 Planting And Uprooting Part 1

As I prayed on Christmas Day, I asked God to do a new thing in me that was ABOLUTELY SPECIFIC to my daily life and struggles. And today, I find myself asking for even more.

This is rooted in a scripture that my daughter gave me on Christmas day:

I am asking God to Plant, and to Uproot, SPECIFIC things in my life, and I would encourage you to do the same. I have no idea if this verse was meant to specifically call out what we are talking about today … but today I am convicted to talk about these two ideas specific to our individual walks … and I am convicted that those who will allow God to do this in their lives will be blessed by God’s hand—so here goes.

We are not perfect. We are perfect in Christ but not perfect on our own accord—even after we receive Him, and to think that we are is to sin greatly.

God is calling us to be better.

He is calling us to mature.

He is calling us to change.

And He is calling us to reinvent ourselves.

He is calling us to Hebrews 10:14.

Hebrews 10 ¹⁴ because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Jeremiah spends 24 chapters in his book warning Israel about the enemy from the North. He warns them about the injustice that is living in the community. He warns about a judgment that is coming. And also gives a message of hope.

These warnings should be heeded today:

Our enemy to the north is no longer Babylon—it is Satan.

Our warning is to be humble and listen—and recognize that we can be deceived.

Our hope is Jesus.

As you cry out to God today, and as you enter into the new year, be aware of this.

God wants us to be aware of our enemy.

God wants us to be humble and to listen.

And God wants us to put our hope in Jesus.

For me, there are specific things that He has called me to Plant and to Uproot.

For you? I would bet He has much the same.

Go to your knees and find out.

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

December 28, 2025 0

530 Salt And Light Part 3

When Jesus spoke to the world, He made the most incredible offer … “that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

He offered us eternity.

And when He offered us eternity—He offered ALL of us eternity.

And then He said this:

Matthew 16 ¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. ¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

As I sit in awe of God this lovely morning, I can’t help but think of how much I have reflected on this verse and the following verse in Isaiah chapter 61. And I am amazed at the God of all creation. Not at the idea of the sunset or the movement of the oceans. Not at the beautiful skies that greet us as we wake up or the incredible mountains to the west. Not the singing of the birds or the unmatched loyalty of a mother’s love. I am amazed at the decision … the decision to be “God with us”. Our God is many things, but today He is Immanuel. He is the God who walked these dusty roads, interacted with these people, and worked these long days in the heat.

He did not take the easy road or make any excuses.

He did not exalt Himself or gain power or forget what the common man would walk through.

He lived the life of a servant.

And His first sermon told us a few things:

Isaiah 61 ¹ The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me …

… to bind up the brokenhearted,

… to proclaim freedom for the captives

… from darkness for the prisoners,

… ² … to comfort all who mourn,

… ³ … to bestow on them a crown of beauty

And how would his people respond?

Isaiah 61 ⁴ They will rebuild … and restore the places long devastated;

… they will renew …

⁶ … You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.

We are Salt … and Light.

We are the hope of nations and the hope of the broken.

We are the ones who are to carry the banner of Jesus.

We are the blessed family of the risen king.

“For God so loved the world that He

gave His one and only Son”

Reflect on these things on this Christmas day.

Your life is redeemed.

Your weaknesses are forgotten … buried.

Your shame is covered.

Your honor is given.

Your life is … important.

I love these videos … because they beam with excitement, and life, and absolute passion and love of life and the God who so freely gave it to us.

Be blessed today.

And by all means let your light shine like a city on a hill so that all can see!

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

December 25, 2025 0

529 Salt And Light Part 2

When Jesus spoke to the world, He made the most incredible offer … “that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

He offered us eternity.

And when He offered us eternity—He offered ALL of us eternity.

And then He said this:

At the heart of this is the simplest of messages:

Illuminate

Brighten

Give Hope

Give Opportunity

How can we truly do this? How can we truly be in the world but not of the world? This challenge is almost impossible.

And yet, the God who did the impossible is asking that of us.

Jesus went to His execution sight and carried the very tool that they would use for His demise.

He was abandoned by His troop of loyal followers.

The men who put Him to death mocked Him and gambled over His clothing.

And at His end, He uttered the phrase, “it is paid in full”.

As we approach Christmas … We are celebrating His life and His death and, most importantly, His victory over death that we might live.

In this song, I can not get over the line:

When All Was Lost He Crossed Eternity

The King Of Life Was On The Move

His death on the cross was not just a passive “I surrender” move. It was a power play to gain control of the entire universe. And He played His cards without hesitation.

As we move towards Christmas, let us remember:

He paid an unpayable debt … for us
He defeated an unbeatable enemy … for us
He has prepared us a table of food … for us
He has adopted the world as sons and daughters … for us
He has set up a Royal Priesthood … for us

These are not small miracles. They are miracles on top of miracles on top of miracles.

And our response to this is to stand on the highest hill … to proclaim:

“For God so loved the world that He

gave His one and only Son”

Because … In Him–we have life.

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

December 11, 2025 0

528 Salt And Light Part 1

When Jesus spoke to the world, He made the most incredible offer … “that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

He offered us eternity.

And when He offered us eternity—He offered ALL of us eternity.

And then He said this:

At the heart of this is the simplest of messages:

Stand Up

Distinguish Yourself

Share The Treasure With Others

It is a simple message really.

And yet … in a broken world … it is almost impossible.

The Gospel, in its purest form, TRANSFORMS.

It changes the very atmosphere.

At a Broncos game on January 3, 2016, Peyton Manning jogged onto the field at Mile High Stadium. I did not see him enter the game—but I didn’t need to—the stadium literally came to life to the point where I asked “what is going on?” You could feel the entire crowd in a “dead” stadium “come to life”.

And this transformation is nothing compared to what Jesus can do.

His offer is to save us.

And then for us to make sure that everyone else hears the offer.

We are to TRANSFORM.

We are to let His light shine.

We are to make sure that the world hears this incredible message.

“For God so loved the world that He

gave His one and only Son”

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

December 9, 2025 0

527 Wanting From Man

Many of our hopes and dreams are rooted in something good, they truly are, but they aren’t rooted in something that has life.

We seek first the kingdom, but the kingdom that we live in has nothing for us … nothing that can fill us … nothing that will bring us life.

And so it brings us to Solomon, who strongly professed that “life is meaningless”. And he did so after winning at all the things that many of us strive to acquire.

MEANINGLESS

I love the gospel, because you can always start out with the truth but find your way onto the Greater Truth. And the Greater Truth is this:

We need to spend less time Wanting From Man and ALL of our time Needing From God. Because Needing From God gives us ALL THAT WE COULD HOPE FOR while Wanting From Man leaves us with MEANINGLESS.

As I pondered this this morning, I asked the question, “What does God think of me? What does He truly believe about me?”

And here are just a few of those things:

He SO LOVES ME. John 3:16 says that He LOVES ME SO MUCH that He traded His son for me.
He rejoices over me. Zephaniah 3 says that He is so happy about me that the heavens rejoice with singing.
He has adopted me as His son. (Ephesians 1).
He has paid off my unpayable debt. (John 19:30).
I am royalty. (1 Peter 2:9).
He renews His love for me every morning. (Lamentations 3).
He has prepared “a place” for me. And this place is better than any place that I could even fathom. (John 14:3).
I am MORE than a conqueror. (Romans 8:37).

In Luke 24, an Angel asked Mary Magdalene and the other women who entered Jesus’ tomb “why do you look for the living among the dead?” and I often have to ask myself the same question. Why am I looking for confirmation, affirmation, or encouragement from a spirit who wants to steal, kill, and destroy? And, truly, most of the time that is what we seek. The reality is that God has something greater for us—and He actually will propel us to be better than what we seek to be by feeding an insatiable appetite.

Walking into Syria, Paul realized what he was … a broken man who had everything the world had to offer. His pursuit of education, popularity, privilege … they had filled his carnal desires and emptied out his very soul. And so he made a great decision, he pursued, and filled, his need for God.

The risen Savior has something for us … and it is better than anything that we could ever want.

So don’t spend your time trying to get filled up in the world and then going to God questioning why it isn’t working … Get filled by the Spirit … then go into the world.

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

November 29, 2025 0

526 The Alpha Male

“Even If He Doesn’t” … When three men stood before certain death they uttered this response.

And the “He” that they referred to was the Alpha Male … the TRUE Alpha Male. The self proclaimed Alpha AND Omega. The one TRUE God.

Daniel 3 ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

3 men.

A blazing furnace.

A threat.

An easy way out.

And yet, they chose to stand.

And The Alpha Male? Without Him, we have a wonderful Christmas story. We have bulletin boards filled with a nice idea of our perception of the gospel. And we have peace at a Sunday morning service. But with him? We have EVERYTHING. And this EVERYTHING is the VERY THING that we seek but can never attain without Him. We have the hope of nations. We have Hope … And a Future. We have protection … and someone who truly has our back. Without Him … we have NOTHING. But with Him? We have the greatest gift on planet earth.

Obviously the Alpha Male that I am referring to … is Jesus.

As I sing All Hail King Jesus … I am so convicted of this. And for this reason I can’t stop listening to it, singing with it, raising my hands to heaven as I worship Him in the midst of it.

Jesus stared in the face of the bleakest situation in the history of the world. And He gave all that He had that we might have life.

We must never, ever, ever, forget this.

Because Jesus, as He hung on that cross, chose not to forget you.

In The Name of the Father and the

Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

As you play this song this morning—I encourage you to play it and contemplate the lyrics … so convicting. Take a moment this day to worship … and to cry out in Spirit and Truth.

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

Coach J

November 24, 2025 0

2 MINUTE WARNING

WITH DOUG JOHNSON

Tag

536 An Enemy You Can Not Defeat

535 Go The Other Way?

532 Planting And Uprooting Part 2

531 Planting And Uprooting Part 1

530 Salt And Light Part 3

529 Salt And Light Part 2

528 Salt And Light Part 1

527 Wanting From Man

526 The Alpha Male