Paul Johnson... for a short while: March 2005 Archives

« February 2005 | Main | April 2005 »

March 31, 2005

March 05

The Power of Being Little
> by Paul
God has a way of gently showing you your ineptitude sometimes. He loves to take you through a series of circumstances that show how utterly in control he is and how small a role you play.

Our trip to Chicago with the students over spring break was a really good time. We had a chance to be with the students, an opportunity to get a taste of what our summer will be like, and an opening to share our faith with other Christians and with lost people on campus. A couple of people in our group had the incredible privilege of seeing others put their trust in Christ for the first time. Nothing else shows God’s power then to watch as someone understands his love for the first time.

The biggest thing however that has recently convinced me of God’s enormity and our insignificance is how he (not me) has raised our support. We are standing on the doorstep of being released to the campus and that is incredibly thrilling. It has been a God-sized task and he has come through with God-sized miracles!

Financial support has basically not come from our effort but from many unexpected places and even when it wasn’t asked for. We have put forth our own effort and stood in our own strength and have failed, but God has simply been waiting for an opportunity to show us his power, his power through someone little. And so we have become weak that Christ’s power may rest in us.

We are not yet done. But, I am confident that God is big enough to finish for us if we will trust in him and go out in faith. This time it’s for his glory and his glory alone. +

Chicago – Here We Come!
> by Christie
As the summer rapidly approaches, the idea of living in downtown Chicago is becoming more of a reality for me. I am getting more and more excited about it as the days go by.

Paul and I, along with about twenty students, will be living within a few blocks of the University of Illinois-Chicago campus for the SALT (Spiritual and Life Training) Program. Our purpose will be to strengthen our relationship with God through reaching out to those around us.

One aspect of the summer that I am looking forward to is building deeper relationships. Since coming to Ames almost a year ago now, I have had the opportunity to get to know several people from the Rock. However, with our frequent traveling schedule, it has been hard to stay consistent in those friendships. I am excited to spend eleven weeks with a small group of people and hopefully build some rewarding relationships.

My main responsibility for the summer will be food. I will be cooking for the entire group six nights a week and doing all the grocery shopping. While this may seem crazy to some, I am actually looking forward to these tasks. Cooking is one of my favorite pastimes, and I also enjoy grocery shopping. We’ll see if I still feel this way at the end of the summer! +

If you would like to recieve our newsletter by email please ask me at paul_at_rockisu.com

You can find a printable version here

Posted by paul at 02:17 PM | Comments (1)

March 24, 2005

New Profile

I am updating my profile on rockisu.com
Name: Paul Johnson
Email: paul_at_rockisu.com
Phone: 231.7838
Web: www.paulandchristie.org
Job Title/Focus: Rock C.O.O. (Chief Operations Officer) I oversee the ministries we have going and take care of the details that Tim simply isn't able to keep up with. I work in leading and mentoring students and have a passion for raising up a new generation of people who will love this world by storm for Christ. Christie is my unofficial and unpaid secretary.
Family: Christie and I were married May of 2004. She is from Medford, WI, and my parents live in Bloomington, MN. I also have a sister (Julie) that is a part of the Rock.
Vision: We want our home to be a safe shelter for anyone to feel the love and acceptance that is through Christ. We want our relationship to be a snapshot of what God can do in and through two people who are more focused on him then on each other. We believe that God will inevitably draw us closer together as we follow him and have the things that are on his heart be on ours. We want to see the Great Commission (Matt 28:19-20) accomplished in our lifetime.
Favorite Topics: I love to talk about vision, leadership, and the Bible; but occasionally we end up talking about art, music, current events, computers (Christie checks out of that one), sports, and did I mention music?
College Degrees: I graduated in May ‘04 with a Bachelors in Computer Science from ISU. Christie graduated in December ’04 with a degree in Vocal Music Education from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.
Pastimes: Christie and I both love music (rock, jazz, blues, playing it, listening to it), the outdoors (walking, canoeing, camping, fishing), and cooking (meat, potatoes, and eating). I enjoy a stiff cup of black coffee over a scintillating discussion; Christie would probably have either a hot chocolate or a steamer.

Posted by paul at 09:43 AM | Comments (1)

March 22, 2005

Right on Schedule

The ground spreads out from me in all directions.
Miles and miles of road stretch and tax my eyes.
I can feel the thick paint down the middle of the road.
I can even feel it with my feet when I close my eyes.

There are no clouds to speak of just a white mantle that shields this wide space from the sun, which seemingly hasn’t moved in an hour.
I am sure it is expected to soon.

The season is unrecognizable in it's current guise.
It seems content to remain indifferently indistinct.
Neither summer nor winter with spring and fall obviously considered naughty and therefore sent to their rooms.

I move smoothly over the marred blacktop.
I try to look purposeful, I don’t think it’s working.
Not that there is anyone to notice.
Perhaps I’ll hike the shoulder for a while.

Posted by paul at 08:54 PM | Comments (1)

March 21, 2005

And God Answers...

"Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like his? Then adorn yourself with glory and splendor, and clothe yourself in honor and majesty. Unleash the fury of your wrath, look at every proud man and bring him low, look at every proud man and humble him, crush the wicked where they stand. Bury them all in the dust together; shroud their faces in the grave. Then I myself will admit to you that your own right hand can save you." ...

...Then Job replied to the LORD: "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted."

Ten student-types from the Friley team just stepped out in faith and gave from their pizza money, their cappaccino money, their meager funds, giving an average of $16/month on our behalf. This was not extra money given from a bottomless bank account, no, this money will be missed. We are so much more then grateful for their earnest trust in God to bless us. God is accomplishing his plan through you. Thank you.

I should mention that there were already 11 other student-types who support our ministry financially and with fantastic faithfilled amounts. Please realize how much God has used you all to encourage our socks off.

Posted by paul at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)

Come see a picture of you!

Hey checkout my new photos on Flickr.com or see a random sample at paulandchristie.org!

I’ve got (so far) Christie, Me, Micah, Becki, Matt, Nancy, Julie, Teply, Luke, Klienke, Joel, Veronica, Autumn, Angie, Amber, Adam, (lots of ‘A’ names) Alisa, Libby, Luke, Dave, The brothers Doorn, Ross, Heather, Ben, Dan, Josh, Nathan and Mike.

Posted by paul at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

March 19, 2005

Biblical Translation

We all know that there are a lot of Bible translations out there. There are a few that are pretty good. How do you choose? And what do you do when they disagree?

One side of the argument says that we all should not trust others translations. We need to learn the original languages. This is a fine idea and can really teach you a lot if you have 10 years to invest which most of us don’t.

In reality God doesn’t speak Hebrew or Greek but he does speak to us through his word, can illuminate our thoughts and bring us to conclusions. Also there are people out there who spend their live learning this stuff and they have translated the Bible in the best way that they possibly can. They are the best in the world at what they do and they have the utmost respect for the Bible and translating it as accurately as they can.

Take that to the extreme and you can end up putting to much trust in the translators and even (gasp) make it seem as though the translation itself was inspired and therefore there is only one that is “authorized” and should be used.

I myself often lean toward trusting the translators and not digging into it, I do however struggle when say the NAS and the NIV differ…

Posted by paul at 12:05 PM | Comments (5)

March 18, 2005

Married people need friends too! (the UNvitation)

I just wanted people to know that we on the married side of the world enjoy being with you unmarried’s now and then. Sure we love and need time alone with our sweethearts and its fun to hang out with other married people who are in the same time of life that we are. But hey invite us along we’d love to come.

Several times in the last couple of weeks I have been made aware of events without actually being invited to them. It probably wasn’t purposeful and I don’t think that this has deeply wounded me at all but it is nice to be included.

I must mention that the most invitations that we get are from Mike Biang. He tries to make us aware of what the group is doing whether we can come or not and I appreciate that.

I want to be your friend.
(BTW, the last time that someone commented on this blog was alomst a month ago.)

Posted by paul at 11:48 AM | Comments (8)

March 09, 2005

Risen in Glory?

While reading in John 1 this morning I came upon an interesting point made by the commontariest Sir Charles Ryrie. He states that Christ will forever exist in his resurrected body. This is a new thought for me. I have pondered the issue of a new heavenly body in the past in reference to Jesus “preparing a place” or house for us in contrast to our earthly dwellings or “tents”. I have surmised that these new bodies will be similar to our current bodies since we are created in God’s image. But the idea that our heavenly bodies will be tied to our earthly bodies is a new one. How deep does the correlation go? Several times after Christ had risen his disciples did not recognize him. But according to John20:27 he still retained the marks on his body and Ryrie claims that according to Acts 1:11 (he will come back in the same way that he left) that he will still have those marks when he returns.

I don’t know… I have always looked forward to having a new body and being able to fly and stuff like that in heaven so this is a little of a downer. I don’t want to have every single scar that I have picked up in my 25 (plus however long I live after this) year life. Plus gees what would a person who died of a car accident look like?

Paul Johnson... for a short while