Tick-tock!

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

 ¹ There is a time for everything, 
   and a season for every activity under the heavens:

 ² a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
 ³ a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
 ⁴ a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
 ⁵ a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
 ⁶ a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
 ⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
 ⁸ a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.

 ⁹ What do workers gain from their toil? 

Just Saying...... 
It may seem this season will last forever, but it won't! 

Shhhhh - It's a secret!

This is a special post, to all of the people that are interested to know more about what the Drama Dept. at Lincoln Christian School will be doing this fall. As you all know my family and I are in the process of beginning our journey into full time ministry on the mission field. As I thought about the walk that we are on I was inspired by that word....Journeys!

I began to think and pray about some other Journeys that the students could go on through the fall Dramas. JOURNEYS will be the theme for the fall production.

But that does not answer the question, what are the plays?

A Time to Go Home is a drama in one act that will be put on by the HS students. This is an emotionally charged piece that examines the incomplete lives of 4 students after they are tragically killed in a bus crash. It is the story of their last Journey into the unknown. We will also be taking this one act to contest (both conference and district)!

The Jr. High students will be taking two Journeys into the Old Testament. They will do an oral interpretation on The Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120-134). These are songs the children of Israel would remember as they made their pilgrimage to the temple for one of the high Festivals or they would say as they walked up the stairs to the temple.  We will also examine the Journey of the Teacher with selections from the Book of Ecclesiastes who sought many things on his journey but could only find one thing that truly mattered.  Both of these will be done in a "chorus" style of OID complete with masks.

Looking forward to seeing you at Open House and Drama Kick Off night on the 25th!

Seriously PRAY!

So this is a short blog to ask for all of you guys to pray for us; on Aug. 28th we head down to Avant for training and every time we have been there, we have come under fire -

COP July 2010 - My grandmother died while we were in KC, we had to come home for the funeral and return for the end of our training.

Team Lead Training; Feb. 2011 - We took our kids with us, Caleb was so very sick for the whole week!

COP July 2011 - We went down to meet the new Missionary appointees and teach a devotional time; Renee's dad ended up sick and going into the hospital.

So please pray for us. Also pray for our friends Ken and Teresa and Renee's Mom and Dad as they are going to help watch our kids while we are gone, so they don't have to miss school.

Leadership Summit = Inspiration!

I had a chance to go to a simulcast of Willow Creek's Leadership summit. (For those who are unfamiliar Willow Creek is a huge church in the suburbs of Chicago, IL & their leadership summit is put on annually with speakers ranging for  Mega-church pastors, to high end business consultants, to CEO's). I love to hear about leadership and learn some of the newest thoughts on the subject. While at Grace U. I had a prof. that was particularly fond of this conference and would regularly bring in DVD's from previous shows and have our class interact with the materials. It was cool to see the information as it was happening instead of dissecting after the fact. I was impressed by one particular story; and I bought the guy's book immediately as it has a number of parallels to what we are going to do Rome.

"Sun Stand Still " by Steven Furtick is a book about what he terms "Audacious Faith" and daring to ask God for the impossiable. What I found most intriguing was the short version of his story. Five years ago he and his wife along with a few other families decided that they were going to plant a church. Their prayer was to reach 1,000 people for Christ in the first year. They moved to a town where they had no contacts and little chance for success (they actually decided that God was calling them to Charlotte which is one of the most over-churched areas in the USA) as most new church plants in that area are closed within three years. They were told by other Christians in the area to consider renting as they would not be successful. His vision to the team her was leading was " I want to know what it means to live life and do ministry at the speed of God. I want to see God do so much so fast that the world will have to take note ." AMEN! Five years later (same time frame as our time in Rome) his church is over 6,000 people and listed as one of the fastest growing churches in nation by Outreach Magazine.

I am inspired by a group of people that affect a measurable change for God in an area. I am more impressed by this young man's humility and willingness to give all the honor and credit to God! I am excited to read more about his vision of ministry and seeing what will be applicable to our ministry in Rome! Thanks to Ken Roeloffs and LBC for the invite!

EPIC FAIL!

Sorry guys. When I copied our August newsletter into a PDF and copy; paste it in to my blog last night it really worked. NOW not so much! If you would like to see it and didn't get it e-mailed from me already; send me an e-mail and I will forward it to you!

August Newsletter!

Prayer & Praise

Prayer & Praise

This page is a way for us to communicate our specific prayer needs to you. I will change these often and leave updates for ongoing prayer needs!

* Continue to pray for City Impact and our building campaign efforts!  Our Hopes and Dreams fundraiser on Oct. 29th, 2012 will be critical for us to complete our goals!

* Pray for Nicole, our missionary "sister" who is being prepared and shaped to go on the field to Africa! Specifically for her fiances as she is getting prepared for language school this winter!

* Pray fro Grayson & Eryn as they continue to seek the Lord's direction for their ministry & for the strengthening of this family and marriage!

* Rejoice with  Bud and us!  He is able to put wight on his leg and is walking!  His healing is right on schedule and he is getting stronger each day!

* Praise God for LCS drama; I have accepted the Assistant Director/Speech Team position! I will be directing the fall One Act/ Jr. High play as well as helping with other productions...with the talented Mrs. Freeman. We will have auditions next week and will be casting for One-Act and Jr. High productions.

* Pray for upcoming ILA year. There are still plenty of details to nail down before the end of our current hiatus. Pray for the new volunteers! Pray for the students! Pray that more students will come to see what is going on!

* Pray for the children who will be in our home. I am convinced that God has children for us that are in horrible circumstances even now, that would put them in the foster care system...pray that there hearts would be protected!

* Pray for Caleb and all of the students in fall sports, that they compete well and are safe.

Also I want to pray for all of you! If you need prayer please leave me a comment below or send an e-mail to me at mjohnson@cityimpact.org .

Perspectives

We live in a world and time where our individual perspective sets a relative truth for each one of us. Evidence for this fact can been seen by looking at our common sayings - "perception is reality" or "whatever works for you as long as no one gets hurt"; or movies "What I said (to you about your father) is true, from a certain point of view" - Obi-Wan Kenboi, Star Wars 1977. While living in relativity seems like a good thing as it holds us to be less accountable than what we should be, it is a slippery slope down a path of destruction.
There is in fact a right and a wrong. I have been reading in the Old Testament, Book of Judges and a repeating them though out the Book is something to the fact of  "Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord" or "In that time Israel had no king, everyone did what was right in his own eyes." What I am starkly reminded of is the fact that there is a yes / no; black/white; right/wrong; in most situations. Those absolutes are set within all of us by our creator! If we listen and are honest most everyone (even young children) can differentiate good from bad and it is not negotiable dependant on our perspective. I think of the mountain that I climbed last week, looking at it from the ground it was rather imposing but from an airplane it would not seem as majestic; however the change in perspective dose not change the enormity of the mountain. It is still a mountain and still huge!
The task set before my family and the team we are serving on, to plant a national believing church in the nation of Italy. The task seems monumental and I am sure at some point in time while in the midst of it that perspective may change. It will seem like progress is being made and that success in our endeavor will come, but that will not change the fact that it is purely amazing.
As a Christian my perspective has changed as I try to take one the eyes of my savior. I try to envision a situation through His eyes. While I can see things as Christ does, it does not change the fact that there are still things that are good/bad. The difference should come in the response to those situations as we choose to operate in grace as grace has been freely given. But Jesus, being full of perfect grace, was not unwilling or afraid to call out impropriety. His perspective was always focused on the advancement of God's will being done on the earth as should ours be!