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WITH DOUG JOHNSON

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491 Blessed …

So much of the Old Testament is hard to read.  Blessings and Curses … and a lot of rules.  But only if you read it without considering who wrote it.

John 1 says “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was with God from the beginning”

Let me say this again:  He was with God from the beginning.

Yes.  Jesus.  He was with God from the beginning.

So let’s read this through those glasses:

Deuteronomy 28 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. 

As you move forward in your life, God wants to bless you as you arrive and when you leave.

What a promise!

Now certainly we need to read one small verse and seek to understand it by putting it in context with the entire passage and the entire book.  At the beginning of Deuteronomy 28 it says:

Deuteronomy 28 1 If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.

IF.  IF we fully obey.

Certainly God is not asking us to be perfect.  Noah found favor in his eyes.  So did David.  So did Abraham.  And ALL of them made major mistakes that made them far from perfect.

In reading this in context, I think His point is for us to do each of these items:

  1.   Trading Pride For Repentance

Proverbs 16 18 “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall”

  1.   Trading Religion For Worship/Devotion

1 Samuel 13 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

  1.   Realizing The Magnitude Of Our Forgiveness

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.

In these three things, we have a chance … to receive the promise of Deuteronomy 28:6.

Deuteronomy 28 6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.

So I encourage you this very day to raise your hands to the heavens and cry out the Living God … to thank Him for loving you beyond your sin.  He is worthy of our praises.  He is greater than our sins.  And He is certainly worthy to save.

And that makes you, and me, Blessed …

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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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.

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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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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481 Hope AND A Future

As I turned on Chris Tomlin this morning, I was taken aback.  What a song … and what a moment … a whole crowd crying out to Jesus.  His mighty hand on our lives is ALL THAT WE HAVE.

Perhaps you might listen to it as you read this word?

Let me say this again:  He is ALL THAT WE HAVE.

The verse on my heart yesterday and today is no cliche’.  It’s not a guide … or a map … or some lucky word.

God is not lucky.  He is not our rabbit’s foot.  And He isn’t passively waiting for us to “get through it”.  Our God, in all forms, is all about being for us.

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. 

The choices He gives us have lead to our demise.  They lead to Adam’s demise and EVERYONE else’s.  But this is not a mistake.  Without a choice, without our ability to say yes or to say no, there can be no love.

Our trials are not on Him.  They are not Him trying to test us or to punish us or to paint us into a corner.  Our trials are the result of choice and the sin we live in.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.

And for us to think that the world will somehow fill us is a lie from the pits of hell.

And to this conundrum there is no human answer:  We have made a mess.

And when we fall into that mess it is, simply, what happens.  And so it goes.

Thank God for the gospel.

When we wallow and sit in our hole with no hope … Here comes Jesus.  And He comes in the form of the Holy Spirit or another believer who would dare tell us what we sometimes won’t hear from God.

He has a plan

He wants to bless us … and give us a future

He wants us to thrive

This is not easy … but we must FIGHT both for ourselves and for each other.  When the mountain before us is too big …

We must ask God to resurrect HOPE inside of us, get up, and walk forward.

This is not easy.

It requires us to stand up and to move forward.

It might require us to change our situation.

We might have to change our mindset.

It might be an act of faith that God is simply moving us to a new season of life.

“For I know the plans I have for you,”

But whatever it is, we must grab on to this Jeremiah 29 word and get up.

If you are in this place, cry out for HOPE, because HOPE is the rocket fuel for Faith, and Faith is the rocket fuel for walking up that mountain that we see in front of us.

Because without Him, we can never ascend.

And ascending to worship Jesus is the only thing that can truly make us whole again.

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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468 Cry At A Wedding

When my father died many years ago I could not stop myself from crying … And then I encountered a vision of him in church one Sunday.  He was in heaven, he was happy, and he was where he wanted to be.  From that moment, the STING of losing him was gone.

There will be many times where we will legitimately cry tears of pain and anguish and despair.

Surely God has something more … In fact, we know that He has more … And so I say:

“Cry At A Wedding”

In both of these verses, God’s elect cry in joy for who He is or what He has given them:

Jeremiah 31 9 They will come with weeping; they will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams of water on a level path where they will not stumble, because I am Israel’s father, and Ephraim is my firstborn son. 

Luke 7 38 and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. 

What I recommending is not just to cry tears when we are sad … but to never forget to cry tears of joy:

As I watched Caden Wach tearfully await his soon-to-be bride come down the aisle, I was prompted by God to “cry at a wedding”.

I knew exactly what God wanted me to share out on my 2 minute warning.

When I drop my kids at the airport, I cray all the way to I-25.  I am so proud of them and I love them so much.

When my daughter Jordan came around the corner for her last 4×400 relay and she “displayed incredible courage and unselfishness”, I was proud of her beyond what I could possibly say, and I cried on the corner at Jeffco Stadium.

When Teagan Malcom, the 300 meter hurdler that I “got to coach”, ran the greatest race I have ever seen, I cried at the finish line, again, at Jeffco Stadium.

For me, it happens in locker rooms, on football fields, at track stadiums, when I am with my family, and in worship of our living King.

God has given us tears for a reason … and not always for when we are sad …

And so I say … 

Cry At A Wedding

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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464 The Biggest Lie Of This Age

I am shocked at the new movement that calls out the “hatred” in Christians.  

  • It attacks purity
  • It mocks obedience
  • It calls love hate and hate love
  • It is anti family and anti marriage

It is a shocking display of claiming to be the victim while acting as a perpetrator.

But it will never work.

Surrendering to Jesus is not a prison.  It is the release from that prison.

Surrendering to Jesus is not slavery.  It is the release into freedom.

Surrendering to Jesus is not without rules and convictions and structure.  But those are the very things that protect us.

We are God’s children.

Created in His image.

Living out a call that is so genuinely freeing that it is like winning the lottery.

Matthew 8 1 When he came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. 

 

Love … IS Jesus.

And this love will make us desire to make no demands of Him because we will want to follow.

He loves us in a way that no one can and releases us into a freedom that can never be substituted for a false narrative or a half truth.

It is the greatest love in the universe and the only hope for our survival.

This love is not to be taken for granted or perverted.

It is not to be changed or manipulated.

It is not to be distorted or compromised.

On the cross, on Calvary, 2000 years ago, He took the nails so that He could defeat the accuser of all mankind.  His accusations, his lies, and his hideous agenda will all be turned back upon him.  And there will be a day when he shames you no more.  The lion of the tribe of Judah guards his brethren … and He never forsakes them.

Don’t undersell or undervalue this love.

It is your 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

1

453 The Open Door

What a Word God put on my heart on Friday.  

God is for us.

I know that this is a simple phrase, but with God it is an amazing thing.

Revelation 3 8 … See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.

God knows our deeds.  But He has given us an offer.  “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  The message that is trying to take over is that Jesus allows us to think and do whatever we want.  Nothing could be a bigger lie.

The Truth is:  God offers us a way out from our sin by Loving Him, by being Born Again, by Surrendering to Him.

The devil doesn’t want us to do that so he has gone open season on standards.  While we will never meet the standard I will say this:  Everyone I know who ATTACKS Standards and the way people think has not surrendered to God.  They would know better.  He is the Lion from the Tribe of Judah and He is the one who tore up the temple.

And so I go back to the above verse.  He knows our deeds.  Even so, He has placed before us an Open Door that no one can shut.  You should choose to walk through it.  And when you do, you get three things.

  1.  He Knows You.  Revelation 3 8 I know your deeds. Even though you are broken and full of hideous sin—He accepts you.  The one who KNOWS YOU BEST is the one who LOVES YOU MOST.
  2.  He Calls You To Overcome.  Revelation 3 21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne.  He isn’t asking us to overcome, He is COMMANDING us to overcome.  Stand up, Be accountable, and walk out the call.
  3.  You are a son or a daughter.  Galatians 3 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.  This is the greatest deal that you will ever get.  BECAUSE Jesus died and paid for your sin, you get to be a son or daughter of the King.  All the rights.  All the privileges.  All the blessings.  You will never get a better deal than this.

God has placed before you:

An open door  …  And no one can shut it.

Stand up and walk through it.

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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