www.GAJohnson.org | Hebrews Twelve Two

ministering to gangs

Tonight, Becky and I met with Latino young men in our city that need to leave the gangs.  I once again reminded them that following Jesus was a sign of strength and not weakness.  I also encouraged them to get rid of any distractions in their life that would keep them from following Jesus.  We looked at I Samuel 15 together and how Saul had all the right tools to be successful, but he allowed distractions to get in his way.  One of his big distractions was pride.  God detests pride and pride will always cause us to disobey God's Word and fall.  To succeed, we must humble ourselves and follow Jesus.  I continue to encourage them to memorize Hebrews 12:2 and 1 Peter 2:21.  Reuben was able to quote 75% of Hebrews 12:2 for us.  I love following Jesus in point of need ministry!

Please pray for these young men.  Also please pray for me and Becky as we continue to try to impact our city and our world with point of need ministry.  We are insurgents behind enemy lines and the devil is not happy with what we are doing.  He would rather that we just have church.  Following Jesus in point of need ministry makes the devil nervous.

We will continue to minister to the homeless, to those incarcerated, to the gangs, and to those coming out of incarceration in our city.  We will also continue to minister to the poor and suffering around the world.

We need prayer coverage.  Please help us through your prayers and click here to sign up as one of our prayer partners where you will be updated occasionally by email on our specific prayer needs.

We are always thankful for the help God brings us through praying people.

gaj

Following Christ is a sign of strength

Becky and I were ministering to five gang members last night in our city.  As I encouraged them to follow Christ instead of each other, I informed them that following Christ was a sign of strength and not a sign of weakness.  I told them that Jesus was the greatest man that ever walked this earth and great men will follow Him.  We talked about Paul and the apostles and how God gave them the boldness and courage to be Christ followers.  I told them that God would do the same for them and that they would be able to influence their neighborhoods for Jesus.  As I spent 20 minutes pointing them to Jesus, they listened intently.  Becky told them about gang members that are incarcerated that she and Jennifer minister to each Sunday night behind bars.  I concluded by praying for them and asking God to give them the boldness and courage to follow Christ and make a difference for Him in our day.

Please take a few minutes and pray for these five young men today.  If they don't fix their eyes on Jesus, more than likely, the LGF Prison Ministry will be seeing them behind bars.  I'm believing that they will be used of God to bring change to our city.

gaj

Lesson on Prayer

Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. He said, "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, "Grant me justice against my opponent.' For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, "Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.' " And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" 

- Luke 18:1-8
 

Just a thought.... 

Your thoughts? 

gaj

 

Worship Director Search

Please join me and Becky in praying that God will fill a ministry position now open at the LGF Salem Campus.  We are actively searching for a worship director that matches the listed qualifications at http://lovinggodfellowship.org/employment .  It's very important that we are connected with God's person for the position. 

 

Know that you are loved, 

 

www.GAJohnson.org 

Founding Pastor

Loving God Fellowship 

www.LovingGodFellowship.org  

 

Loving God Fellowship is an interdenominational Christ following fellowship with a church plant in Salem, Oregon, and a worldwide Internet church community @ www.LGFinternetChurch.org . 

 

Kenya Crisis

 

I received an email at 1:13 AM this morning from Robert in Kenya. Robert is a part of the LGF Internet Campus. In cause you have not yet heard, Kenya is in crisis with ethnic strife causing death and homelessness. Click here for the latest report from CNN. Please read Roberts email below.  

Dear pastor, 

Thank you for your ever encouraging messages ,This year 2008 beggins sadly with us here in Kenya many have losst  lives many have been rendered homeless.In our church there more than 173 people homeless,it has not been easy even puting a meal on the ta ble its very hard please pray w ith us. 

I weep and pray for Robert and others like him around the world that are a part of the LGF Internet Campus and need our prayers and help.  In the last three weeks we have ministered to 1,354 unique individuals from 25 different countries.  I'm overwhelmed by the needs and frustrated with our lack of resources to meet those needs.  I don't know where to turn other than God.

 

Will you pray with me for Robert and the crisis in Kenya.

 

   

Know that you are loved,

   

 

 

Founding Pastor

Loving God Fellowship 

www.LovingGodFellowship.org   

 

 

Technorati Tags: Kenya, Prayer

Unload on God

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

-- Revelation 1:8

God has always been, always will be and He is all powerful.  Just meditate on that one.  And the awesome thing is we get to pray to Him and unload all of our cares on Him.  What a privilege prayer is for us.

Know that you are loved,

gaj

Technorati Tags: God, Revelation, Scripture, Prayer

Praying with Joy

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now...  -- Philippians 1:4-5

I can really relate to the Apostle Paul in this prayer.  Paul was a revolutionary church planter.  He was radical for Jesus.  He realized that he could not do what he was doing without the partnership of others that wanted to see the work of Christ increase in their day.  He was able to pray with joy because of their partnership.

On January 8, 2006, Becky and I planted Loving God Fellowship (LGF) in the capitol of the most unchurched state in America.  There are more prison and jails in our county (Marion County Oregon) than any other county in America.  There are more homeless people in Oregon, California and Washington than any where else in America.

All we had to start this work on was a little bit of money in our personal savings and a whole lot of faith in God, His Word and His calling on our life.  We have had no jobs and we are not funded or endowed by any outside group or denomination.  We have been persecuted and shunned by those that don't want us here who are mostly religionist that need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Two years ago, I was told in a letter by a denomational official and pastor in this city that this city did not need any more churches.  I have that letter in safe keeping.  It will always indicate to me that I'm in the right spot.  When a Latino community activist in our city passed away and I was asked by the family to officiate the funeral, two churches with large facilities turned the family down on the use of their facility and told the family that it was because I was officiating.  When the religious are unsettled, you know that you are right on.  A church with a smaller facility lovingly opened their doors to the family.  In the midst of it all, let me say that God has been faithful and has rewarded our obedience in the face of much opposition.

This Sunday we will be celebrating our 2nd year anniversary as Loving God Fellowship.  God has done much in a short time:

The LGF Salem Campus

• Every Sunday we celebrate our risen Lord and Christ at Stephens Middle School in Salem, Oregon.
• Every Sunday night we conduct back to back services inside the Marion County Jail for women and men incarcerated there.
• Every Tuesday night we conduct a Bible study inside the Cavazos Center for young Latino men desiring to leave the gang lifestyle.
• Every Wednesday night we provide a FREE meal and Bible Study for our city at Stephens Middle School.
• Monthly we are ministering Christ and His message of love and hope to 100-200 homeless people in downtown Salem, Oregon.
• Weekly we have LGFers volunteering their time at a homeless shelter for women and children in Keizer, Oregon and at a transitional home for men coming out of prison in Salem, Oregon.
• Daily we have LGFers ministering at the point of need, making a difference in our day in the workplace, in the market place, in schools and in neighborhoods..
• We partner with Stephens Middle School in meeting needs there.
• We financially support a missionary in Africa, a ministry to children in the drug infested government projects in Charleston, West Virginia, RBC (our daily bread) who is spreading the Gospel around the world, Medical Teams International, Union Gospel Mission Homeless Shelter, the Willamette Valley Habitat for Humanity and transitional housing for men and women coming out of prison in our city.

The LGF Internet Campus

• We are now ministering daily to those around the world by Internet technology.  People are listening to the preaching of God's Word, participating in Bible study, prayer and Christian fellowship online.  The church has no walls and we are seeing that God has made us into one church with many locations.
• I receive email daily from people around the world thanking us for the ministry of LGF.

The future looks very bright for Loving God Fellowship as we continue to love God and love others. We look to expand our locations in other cities as God leads.  Thanks for being a part.  We could not do what we do without the partnerships of people that desires to see the work of Christ increase in our day.

I like the Apostle Paul pray with much joy because of you.  You are precious to me! 

Know that you are loved,

gaj

Tags: LGF, Loving God Fellowship, Church Plant

An American's Prayer for the New Year

Ben Witherington has posted a great prayer.  I encourage you to read it.... And pray it.

I am almighty tired of all that is tawdry and cheap about Christianity in America. I am tired of the chest thumping assumptions about God being on ‘our side’. I weary of those who equate their brand of American politics with the will of God for the world, or worse, those who think being a Christian means I should not be involved IN the great causes of the age or the major decisions made in our land. Lord help us not to mistake apathy for true spirituality, or abstinence for action. ....Read more of this prayer by Ben Witherington

gaj

Tags: Prayer, America, Witherington

A Prayer for You

Double click on the player below to listen to a 64 second message and prayer for you from me.

Know that you are loved,

gaj

Distribution of Wealth

My brother James in Lexington, Kentucky (go UK wildcats!), emailed me some startling stats.

Greg, here's an interesting statistic reported by the Wall Street Journal in Friday's edition:

The richest Americans' share of national income has hit a postwar record.  The IRS said that the wealthiest 1% earned 21.2% of all income in 2005.  The bottom 50% earned 12.8%.

Talk about income disparity.

In God's Kingdom that is coming, there will be no such disparity.  All will benefit equally in God's Kingdom.  Doesn't it make you want to pray to God "your Kingdom come and your will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven" as Jesus instructed His followers that wanted to learn how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13, Luke 11:1-4)?

Citizens of God's Kingdom have a piece of that Kingdom deposited within them now.  That's why they minister at the point of need and work for social justice here on earth.

Are you a citizen of God's Kingdom?  According to Jesus, citizenship requires a new birth.  (John 3:1-3 NIV)  "Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. {2} He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." {3} In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.""

Know that you are loved,

gaj