ryan johnson

Livin' la vida rhythm?

2008-11-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

So we've been talking about living in rhythm the last week at MSM... It's been interesting to really see what that means. It seems that every problem we have in life is because we are out of rhythm in one of 3 places. 1-Out of rhythm with God 2- Out of rhythm with ourselves 3- out of rhythm with other people. What we've found is that God created this song to sound beautiful, everything and everyone working together, but it seems like it never sounds that way. This week we've challenged everyone to develop an ear for rhythm.. Toe really hear the song you're playing. Is it mere noise, or are you in rhythm? Developing an ear for the song means really hearing the notes. Everything we do adds or takes away from the song. Are you hearing your song? Chances are you might be out of rhythm with the way God designed you to sound. And if we're out of rhythm, we're just a bunch of noise...

It's only Monday night....

2008-09-29T20:04:00.000-07:00

Megan and I have been experiencing a crazy amount of just weird stuff going on lately, it's been really hard to explain. God has been consistently proving his faithfulness to me over the past 3 days. So I found out that I have diabetes, which was a huge bummer. Sunday during the day I was all bummed out and just felt "mediocre" if you know what i mean. And then on Sunday night at "Motion" we had an amazing time with God, where I really felt God's presence come over our entire group for the first time. From that night, I think we all walked away different. This is where things get even more crazy...

My dad and I haven't had the closest relationship over the past few months, and I could tell that there was just something missing, there was something in the way. Ya know when you get that feeling? Dad called me up last night on our way home from our Lifegroup, and so I called him when we finally got home. About an hour and a half, 3 different phone calls, and shed tears later, I felt my father and I venture into a foreign area of our father/son relationship. My dad opened up and told me some extremely disappointing news that I will not get into right now. We continued to sort it out over the phone laughing and then crying some more. But right before we got off the phone my dad sounded more like jesus then he ever had before. He told me, "son, do you know what's been keeping me from you all this time?" I told him, "no." But I really did know. For one of the first time's ever my dad and I, the dad that taught me how to play baseball and then missed my wedding, were able to be completely reconnected because of the blood of Christ. He told me Ryan, it's the alcohol, it's taken over me. And he went on to let me know that he wished he could have those years back....but he can't.

My dad is facing the consequences, don't get me wrong, he's paying the price. But for the first time in my life, I think I'm going to see the miracle that I thought was too big for God.....I'm seeing my dad's heart change. I'm seeing him invest his time into things that matter. And most of all, I'm feeling more and more connected to dad then I ever thought that I could be.

I write you this so that you won't lose hope. Don't sell-out my God, he will prove you wrong again, and again. My health may be not as good as it could be, but I tell ya what. I wouldn't trade this week for anything. And guess what? it's only Monday night!

For where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.-Matthew

Let your treasure be people, we've only got one chance at life.

A diabetic... what?

2008-09-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

So as most of you know, Megan and I have recently moved to Indianapolis from Las Vegas. and things have just been amazing. Life is good and God has been massively providing for us not only personally, but also for our Student Ministry. I had some blood work done and we realized that my sugar levels were high. So I had a few more done and the results were still high, needless to say. We're in limbo about what type of Diabetes I do have. On Monday we should know for sure, but this has defiantly been a new experience/journey that is and will continue to alter us.

Inconsistency

2008-04-25T08:45:00.000-07:00

I have been so inconsistent as a blogger... the blogging gods would hate me! Life is busy now, lots of stuff is happening in my life... And yes, I realize to be a true blogger, you must post as much as you read scripture. Life should be slowing back down in May, hopefully I will get my head back in the game then!

discussion board

2008-01-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

So here we have it. In one of my fabulous classes from Liberty, we were asked to discuss the issue of Romans and what the purpose of the book is. And then to parrallel what James says in his book about faith and works so here's what i had to say.
question:
Read Romans 3:21-4:25 and explain the Apostle Paul's argument. What is his thesis (3:21)? How does he build his case? What is his conclusion? Compare Paul's conclusion here with James 2:14-26. How do you explain the tension between Paul and James? Offer a resolution.

I would first like to remind us of the context of this letter before we delve into it. Paul wrote this letter to a people group he had never been with, to a city he had never been to, and to a church he or any other Apostles didn't start. Paul's intention were to describe exactly what the Gospel was and was not about. And when your writing to a people group who is steeped in Jewish tradition you have to write in a certain way to make your point clear.
The Apostle Paul's point was this; faith in Jesus Christ is imputes righteousness on our behalf. And what i mean by that is this, for years the Jews spent their time working the law, an trying their hardest to obey every command. But, this was an impossible task for anyone who wasn't divine. So when Christ came to die for us, their lives were not supposed to feel like a losing battle anymore because Christ defeated sin through his righteous death.
To me Paul is building his case around Abraham's faith back in Genesis. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, so that's what Abraham was doing until God stopped him in mid swing. This painted a prophetic picture of what the son of God would go through thousands of years before it ever happened. And that faith that Abraham trusted God with his only son, was counted to him as righteousness. Abraham didn't have the resurrected Jesus to place his faith in for righteousness.
His conclusion was not that keeping the law is pointless. His conclusion was that keeping the law apart from having a faith in the resurrected Jesus was pointless. Because of your faith in Jesus, you keep the law. Paul probably had to attack this argument from an extreme angle to let his readers know just how crucial faith in Jesus is. He wanted to let them know that there is no way for salvation apart from this faith.
So now let's look onto what James comments on in his letter. Again i want to first remind you of the context in which James wrote. It is very likely that James wrote to the Jewish believers who fled Jerusalem during persecution. So these believers would be believers that have had apostolic interaction and teaching before this letter. He basically tells them that faith without works is dead. Now what I believe that he means by that is that saving faith produces deeds of service to prove its reality. James was essentially asking his readers if a faith without serving save the lost. The answer to that statement in my opinion is no. Very plain and simple, because of our faith in Jesus we should desire to carry out his commission which is to reach the ends of the world with the gospel. If that isn't our desire then our faith isn't in the Jesus of scripture.

music makes me move....

2008-01-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

Theres something crazy about the way music affects us all. We get that song stuck in our head and it doesn't leave for the whole day. Music makes us happy and sad, it creates mood. I can't figure it out, but music simply makes me move. Over the past year i've began to take it more seriously and i play music everyday of my life now. I think what i enjoy most about music is the fact that i can't explain it. So every sunday when i lead students into worship its like i don't know how it connects with them.... but it does, and that my friends is the mystery of music.... it makes me move....

Life is short...

2008-01-23T16:27:00.001-08:00

this week it has been really obvious, that is, what God is trying to teach me. Sometimes it just seems like i get tied up about things that really don't matter, and it's like all the time. When i evaluate the stress in my life it's mostly about things that really don't matter all that much. A job for instance. The more i learn to trust God the more he shows me it's just a job. Don't get me wrong, it's important to love what you do, but there's so much more to life than Jobs, school, and stuff. Each day is an opportunity, the more quickly we can make that realization the closer we will be to God's heart.

weekly update...

2008-01-21T20:00:00.000-08:00

I've really been looking forward to this week for a lot of reasons. For one i started school back and am ready to be finished, 12 more classes till i will officially be a college grad, heck yes. Another reason is we just started our sunday morning student gathering, now that we've got the first week under our belt we can breathe and critique everything as need be. God is really making me realize just how small i am through all of this, he's using us (megan and I) in remarkable ways. It's really crazy how much we realize who we really are when we open up to what god wants for our lives, it even makes us want what he has even more....

Rocks gotta have faith....

2008-01-12T21:20:00.000-08:00

Wow.... If only id known where God would take me 21 years into life. The past 11 months of my life have been mind blowing. I've went from doubting God, to following others, to dwelling in his light. Recently i've really been stuck on this issue of faith and what that looks like for the Christ follower, and i'm not so sure that i've got it all figured out. What is faith? If we say that it is believing in the unseen, then that could be correct... But what if it's living the life you've not yet seen and following the God you've only felt?

You see, i thought that i had faith figured out for the last 5 years or so.... But it is truly so much more than i had ever imagined. God has taught me one thing that will dwell with me for life, that is this; just when i think i've Got him figured out he will start a new venue of faith that i cannot explain. Faith is living out heaven today, and daily realizing that we do not belong to the problems and strongholds of earth, we only endure those issues to see the daylight.

this is what i've learned:

Faith is living out the risen Jesus.....
Faith is trusting when its completely unlogical...
Faith is inconvenience....
Faith is putting yourself in second place....
Faith is looking beyond your circumstance....
Faith is stepping into the grey areas of life with boldness....
Faith is Living
outside...
of...
where...
you...
can...
place yourself....

Faith is the conglomeration of the human spirit, and its decision to follow the creator, or not....

I forgot...

2008-01-09T22:53:00.000-08:00

I was just rummaging around on the internet reading some blogs and i completely forgot about my own. I know its been forever but I am getting back to this, i love it!

My Old Kentucky Home

2007-08-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

What a great song eh? Ok, maybe not. This past week Megan and I have been in Kentucky visiting various friends and family.... a total of 1,200 miles of driving Just around Kentucky. You could say it was a busy week. We had a blast... It was truly a great week. Over the week an especially as we were flying out i came to several realizations:

-Kentucky is no longer my home. I'm now into the great unknown, i'm not sure if God would ever call me to live there again. It's really scary, but it's cool because i am totally up to where the Lord is leading myself and Megan.

-I have an amazing women in my life, she is amazing and my life is forever changed from moving to vegas and meeting her.

--My friends and family are amazing, they showed so much hospitality to me... and truly welcomed me with open arms.. It was awesome.

-God roots us deep only to transplant us. Let your roots be deep, but make sure your able to grow wherever God may place you.

- I've realized that God is all that i have in this life. I have no fall-back plan.... OUr live should look very different from others. We should be extraordinary people who do things that do not make sense, crazy things, you don't play it safe... you take risks.... and we're not to sure what God's going to do with our risks. But we are going to take them...

That's what i realized as our American Airlines jet parted the clouds... It was quite revolutionary.

rj

Be.

2007-07-29T19:40:00.000-07:00

Life really amazes me. Everytime that i doubt God, and what his plan for me is, he blows my mind. Last week we had our baptism after the service on sunday morning... we were expecting about 17 or 18 people to be baptized because of their commitment to Christ. 35 people were baptized, at this point it's just affirmation.

Tonight at our small group, i got pumped up with our students. We were just sitting around (and honestly i was waiting for a topic to come up to talk about and so it did) talking about our goals for this upcoming year..... and it came to my attention that 90% of my students don't give a rip about anyone else but themselves and their close friends... the were all very open by saying that.. They told me that other people were just an inconvenience.. At that point i realized that they had never experienced Jesus....So i preceded to ask them if it was just ok to believe in what ever, and they all agreed that it didn't really matter as long as you believed in something.

So I told them my story.

That I was lost and God found me and changed my entire family. And that was how i knew that God was real. They were all pretty much silent.... It really showed me that we were getting somewhere.... that they were getting their locked up feelings out, and mostly that they realized that it's a problem to be a follower of Christ and to not care about people......

God told me this......

"Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary."
Galatians 6:9

Keep on truckin baby....

Bringin' the heat...

2007-07-05T00:23:00.000-07:00

Well.... Hopefully since these are imported to facebook things will be easier. Today, July 4th, 2007 it was 117 degrees in las vegas... Yipes I know. It seems as if life has been coming at me fast ever since i stepped into the unknown. God has been stepping up in ways that i could never have imagined.

This past weekend we did a retreat with our students in Beaver, Utah... one of God's special places. That weekend was the best retreat that i have ever experienced in Youth Ministry thus far. It truly made me realize why we do what we do. I saw students come together in a way they had never experienced. A few of our students had never been camping or even out of the desert really so it was really amazing. As we pour our lives out waiting for some to soak it up, i personally am learning so much about myself, the way God has made me and the future that i want to have. It's amazing to realize that though i live in the land of oppurtunities i want to take the route of Christ. If that leaves me poor and homeless, i'm up for it.

Megan and i are doing great, were just doing the whole "planning thing" for the wedding... some of it's not really that fun and also quite stressful. If anyone reads this, just be praying for us. She is truly an asset to my life already, I can only imagine where things will take us off to after October 27th. It is going to be amazing to have some as supportive and "sold out" as she is to be my wife. At times i feel confused about everything, but at the end of the day, i know that my life is spoken for....

meaning of it all....

2007-05-30T00:43:00.000-07:00

Dust and Ashes is a passage in Genesis that basically talks about our humanity. We are only dust and ashes. Things that are dead and dirty, but the beauty of it all is that Christ makes us shine.
...one word...

SHINE!
My goal in life is to shine so bright that others are affected by it.

People make me move.

2007-05-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

Lately, well in the past year, I have started to become more of a thinker. It's a good thing, I used to be real shallow. Now it's like I'm learning to see people, and not to just see people but to really feel people. To feel what their feeling and experience what they are experiencing. I'm not going to lie at all, since i have been in vegas, my like has changed. Adjustment is continous. I've felt like this culture has been overwhelming me, it's all flsh and glitter. But that's not who i am at all.
--The culture will consume you if you let it.
--it's important to talk to God so that you don't think stupid thoughts...

....Anyway back to the people thing. This past weekend i've felt that i've made some of the freshest connections with people. If anyone reads this, which they probably do not, get this if you haven't gotten anything else. LOVE people. Sometimes i think that you can live life but not really live. What i mean is life isn't the things that you can attain but life is simple. Life is breathe.

Days go by and i feel like inever even breathe. Those days are wasted.

............let people move you...
-ineed to return to reality...in essence... the basics.

traffic... at midnight...

2007-05-20T00:02:00.000-07:00

So i guess you know you live in Las Vegas when you wait in traffic for an hour on a Saturday nigh at midnight.....

I have almost been disconnected to the stereotypical statement Las Vegas carries which is... Sin City... Until now. This place is so dirty and i think i've figured out why... People come to Vegas to live their secret life. The one they do not want to remeber but always want to have in the holster when story time with the guys comes up. I

-Its good to be thrown out their in the midst of it all... it keeps me fresh and on my toes.

thoughts on working on the strip..

-God always gives us a way out from sin.... i hope to continously live in the exit door when i'm around sin...

late saturday nights equal no sleep....
-- set-up for church starts in 5 hours...............

Denny's....

2007-05-19T01:05:00.000-07:00

So tonight i got off work and was just thinking i needed to go do something.... so i called up one of my friends and we all went to Denny's, alex and his four friends. Alex had been telling me that his friend Steve-o had been talking a lot about this whole God thing...... and for some reason alex brought that up tonight while we were at Denny's. He said that he was going to commit his life to christ on sunday morning..

I posed the question to him... why not now? Needless to say..... Steve-o committed his life to Christ tonight in the denny's paring lot.... we all got facedown and prayed, and steve-o got the "hook-up" form God. God is good....

- who said Denny's was just a restaurant....
-lesson learned...
-Expect God to move no matter where you are!

untapped.....

2007-05-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

Oswald Chambers once quoted this phrase....." it is a crime to be weak in God's strength." At first when i read that, i didn't think twice about it, but eventually the meaning of that phrase began to sink in. It essentially means this.... when people claim to follow Christ, and you see no fruit of this i their life.

I say all of that to make this point.... most of us just go about life living untapped lives. Its like having all of the food in the world and refusing to let anyone eat it...... God has given us this strength to over come the world and what are we doing with it.

..."the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world...." -John

I have caught myself continously living a defeated life..... what does that mean? glad you asked.... i have previously lived life like there is nothing i can do about the way things are going in this world. I have essentially felt overcome but all that life has handed me.

i say all of this because:

-i think we fail to realize the power of prayer...

- we fail to realize the pwoer God has over the world and his creation.

- We are God's people, we belong to him...(i don't say this to be cheesy), which means that people who are also born of God listen to us...

- we must be each others strength, the more we grow together as believers, the more we look like God.

- I believe what Rob Bell quotes often....that if we allow ourselve to unleash our institutional lives, we can witness "bits of heaven crash into earth."

3 months and counting.....

2007-05-15T14:31:00.000-07:00

So... i have now been living in Las Vegas for 3 months. Things here are great, i'm absolutelty loving the church that i'm apart of which is Grace Point, check us out at www.gracepointvegas.com . I plan for this blog to be a rehash of what goes on in my head on a day to day basis. If no one reads it that ok, but if i have some fellow bloggers who want to respond and react to my daily thought of life, that would be great. Here we go....

I finally gave in...

2007-04-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

I guess i'm tired of reading blogs and not being able to respond....