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WITH DOUG JOHNSON

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555 My Theology

In a recent conversation, I was contemplating a concept called “my theology”.  To be honest, I am not sure what that even means.

It’s not that I do not understand the concept, it is that I am not totally sure how to describe it.

As I got out of bed and grabbed a cup of coffee, I thought that I might take a crack at it.

Here is what I know:

John 1 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 

Just as sure as Genesis 1 is the start of the Bible, John 1 is too.  And some 2000 years ago, Jesus walked the earth with a common man.  And this common man, John, wrote one of the greatest literary works of all time, and in it He claimed to be Jesus’ favorite.

John 3 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 

15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

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. 

Jesus showed up in the night not too long after that to meet a Religious scholar named Nicodemus.  And in one of the most incredible conversations in human history, Jesus connects to the Old Testament scriptures WHILE opening up a door for all of man kind, saying that God loves the world so much that He is going to give His only Son, who was with Him in the beginning, so that WE, you and I, will no longer have to be sitting ducks for Hell.

Luke 4 20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Jesus then goes into the synagogue, reads a scripture from Isaiah, and then declares Himself God, surely setting Himself up to be killed.  And in this activity, He breaks every political rule. He angers people in power, stops His day for people who are outcast, hangs out with unqualified and broken people, and lives out His days as a homeless itinerant preacher.

John 18 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

Jesus, is arrested, brought before a man named Pontius Pilate, and somehow avoids even defending Himself.  He is exposed to an unfair trial and treated as a common criminal.  Pilate KNOWS that He is not guilty, yet fears the repercussions of what that might cost him.  And so he allows Him to be turned over to a mob that will beat, mock, accuse, and execute Him.

John 19 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

In His final action before dying, Jesus says something that translates to “it is paid in full”, a statement that business people use to say that a loan is paid.  To many, it must have been a crazy last statement of a man taking His last breath.

But to me, it makes perfect sense.

Acts 16 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

Not long after that, a man named Paul, who is traveling the region to punish, humiliate, and kill the followers of Jesus, changes teams.  He converts.  And in his conversion he has conversations like the one in Acts 16, where even his jailer can come and be saved.

To me, this is the craziest set of writings that I have ever read.

The most powerful man dies.

The King doesn’t rule, he submits to people who don’t have the ability to lead.

The champions of His story are former opponents who have converted.

None of it makes sense.

And yet, it does.

Our world is broken.

The people in it are broken.

The system is broken.

None of it makes any sense.

Until you read John, and then Ecclesiastes, and then Romans, and then Acts, and then …….

The reality is … it makes so much sense that I will chase it.  And I certainly surrender to Jesus … He … is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.

And that … is my theology.

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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478 The Heart Of His Ministry

John opens up his book with “In the beginning … ” and I thought that the book of John was an appropriate way to “begin” 2025.

I have an admiration for defense attorneys, and lawyers in general, as they stand for the law.  Our country was set up to protect the innocent and to make sure we bring accountability to those who break the law, and we are in a constant battle find that.  In our legal system, we can only make this work with Jesus.  The law, and the legal system, without Jesus, will never work.  And when Pilate asked Jesus “What Is Truth?” he brought up the most important aspect of our system.  The Truth.  Without Jesus, who is The Truth, our system is broken.

Jesus opened His public ministry with two important and noteworthy events.

  • The Miracle at Cana
  • The Temple Riot at Passover

Jesus treated a poor man’s wedding feast like it was the most important event of the year

John 2 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” 9 They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

And then Jesus started a “one man riot” at a formal religious festivity.

John 2 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area … he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.  16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

To me, these two events signify some things that we should never, ever forget:

  1.  He Wants You To Have Enough.

In your finances, in your efforts, and in all the things that you strive for, you can be certain that Jesus is for you and wants you to have all that you need.  I can’t help but wonder, as I write this, that this is very much a two way street.  If it is true for us, it is true for others.  If he wants you to have enough … He wants others to also have enough.  And sometimes … it is our responsibility to make sure that this happens.

  1.  He Wants You To Be Treated Fairly.

The Passover was, and is, about God.  It is about how God SAVED the Hebrew people from not just slavery, but slaughter.  It is about the blood of the lamb and the future of a people who would worship Him.  I have to think that Jesus was MOST UPSET at the misrepresentation of God … the ripping off of people in the name of guilt so that they could “be right” with Him.  God makes us right with Him.  Only God.  And He wants us to be treated fairly as we pursue Him … and He wants us to take no credit for it, to take no benefit from it, and to take no praises for what God, and God alone, deserves the praises for … to Him be the glory.

  1.  Sometimes Only The Servants See The Miracle.

The servants who filled the heavy water jars surely saw the miracle.  Water, the very water that they got out of the river, was wine.  Bury your face in the worship of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords … and let Him show you the mighty works of His hand.

2025 is a year of changes.  It is a year of exposure.  It is a year of new beginnings.

But more than anything else … it is a year to proclaim that there is one, and only one, King.

And He doesn’t share His throne with anyone.

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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469 Build Your House On Solid Rock

The sandstone at Lake Powell is an amazing and beautiful picture of the absolutely awe-inspiring creation of God.

But it is an incredible testimony to what Jesus said in Matthew 7.

Matthew 7 24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 

25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

In the time that we have docked our boat this week, rocks have been covered and they quickly erode into the water and fall away.  Even some of the ground that is walked on goes from stone to sand in the snap of a finger.

Why does no one have a house on the edge of this incredible body of water?  Simple answer.  The sandstone.  The foundation could be gone as quickly as the rising and falling water.  What looks to be stable and solid is simply able to fall and sink into the water so quickly that it is absolutely humbling.

And so it is with each of us … AND … with all of us.  

For each of us is it true as we, as individuals, must stay in alignment with the rocks of where we go and what we do and what we think and who we are … without these rocks we can lose our footing so quickly.

For all of us it is much the same.  In our groups both great and small it is easy to divide the group if we are not following the principles that will unite us.

Jesus modeled this in every way.

He modeled our individual situations as well as our group ones.

He modeled our lives in celebration and in absolute sorrow.

He modeled how to react and how to stay silent.

This is no easy word.

The storms of life can so easily sway us and knock us off course.

And finding the truth in the daily life can be difficult.

The truth, however, in the big things, is in your Bible, and your spirit connected to God, and in the counsel of a friend who will tell you the truth and not “support you just to steer free of the conflict”.

Build your house on solid ground.

Jesus is solid.  He is the rock.  He is the Living Water.  He is the Ladder that connects heaven to earth.  And He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

You can’t pick a better foundation.

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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