Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

Yesterday I took my 21-year-old out to buy her first car. At this stage of the game I have arm wrestled some of the best car thieves in New England. I remember going to buy my first new car-- man they had me signing a contract so fast, I don't even remember what color the car was. Being a little melancholy, I got buyers remorse before I got home. Honestly, I had expected it to be a fun experience. I lost control of the exchange pretty fast, almost feeling guilty about not buying a car that I liked OK, but didn't really want. It took another year before I tried it again. Now that the economy is limping along, I thought they would be begging us to come in. And I was partially right. They offered me real coffee, with real half and half. They sat us down at a table in the middle of the show room-- no cubes and no desks in this place. My daughter is a typical kid and somewhat typical of a female car buyer. "I like the gray one," she says. I took my opportunity to put on th...

This morning I went to the Memorial Day parade in Holliston, MA; a little town not too far from Boston. Me and the girls, we parked the car at St. Mary's, arriving early enough to get a shady seat on the bench in front of Fisk's Variety Store. My wife's family and friends are usually there, and the kids like the flags and the small town excitement. In the distance we could hear the High School band and the crackle of police walkie-talkies. The excitement grew as the parade neared our vantage point across from the Superette. With blue lights flashing, Charlotte's uncle John rounded the corner onto Route 16 in his patrol car, clad in his Ray-Ban's and a proud smile, he blipped the siren signaling the last few pedestrians to get to the sidewalk. Behind him the rumble of a 30's something-or-other roadster, and the clickty-clack of a Ford Model-T succumbed to the applause of those of us lining the sidewalk. A round of cheers for the WWII vets, the Korean War, the Vie...

I was thinking of writing my own Memorial Day blog, but my brother wrote one that I liked a lot. For me, it's been a long time since I had to line up with a bunch of other naked men and bend over for the Army doctor at the New Haven Armed Forces Recruiting Center. 30 something years later I still know what a flagpole truck is. And believe me "give me 5" (50 or 100) has a whole new meaning when it's 112 degrees and 90% humidity. Today we remember what's been done for us, the sacrifice made by millions of Americans over the centuries. From the battles of Bunker Hill and Lexington (which are just a few short mile from my home) to the deserts of Iraq. I salute you. Memorial Day - Lee Johndrow My dad was a veteran of World War II. Like many he paid a price. (Even as I write this, today would have been his birthday.) When he died left behind 2 Purple Hearts. My Dad was proud to have served his country. He lost many friends. (One of his Purple Hearts was the result of l...

John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard movement, used to say "everyone gets to play." What he meant was that the leadership wasn't going to be doing all the ministry. And that is a good thing because, in most denominations, the pastoral and overseeing authorities were really separated from the laity. They were the paid "holy men," often doing all the praying, all the teaching and all the administration and counseling too. Bigger churches just had more paid holy men to carry out the so called ministry of the church. When I was doing missions in Brazil, I found it really difficult to just be a regular guy, trying to do what I saw the Father doing. Everyone wanted to address me with some sort of title -- out respect for sure -- but I wasn't ordained at the time. The separation between me and them was perceived. Sure, I studied the Bible in a formal school... but really, who gives a flying epistle? Paul the apostle was a very well educated Jew, but he didn't...

Division and disagreement in the church is nothing new, but it sure ain't God's fault. For awhile it seemed like the most popular church planting model was a resentment and coffee pot! As I discussed in the blog "The Great Divide ", there needs to be a way to reconcile the opposing views by inserting the will God over everything else. This is not an intellectual endeavor, but a spiritual one. However; division in the church is historical. 1 Corinthians 3:3 For you are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men? There are more divisions in church then there are denominations! It's still not God's fault. The central problem lies with human nature-- but hey, aren't we supposed to control that with the Spirit? In the US Army, AIT is an acronym for "advanced individual training"... but for the purpose of this blog, it means, "attitude, integrity and teaching." That is h...

I have been playing guitar for along time. I grew up in the rock-blues era of the late 60's and early 70's -- that is when I formed my musical DNA. When I was in music school, I learned lots of different stuff, but I learned the blues which a bunch of homegrown guitarists. In the movie Crossroads, there was great line. "You don't play the blues, you live it." It's funny how music can be such an expression of the emotions, yet so technical. I guess that my writing is a bit the same... maybe you identify with some of the emotion-- shaking your head, sometimes saying , "yeah, I feel like that" - and you are not too worried about my comma-sense. It is parallel to the difference between being legalistic or spiritual. One is the essence of God's Holy Spirit, and the other is simply head knowledge about God. As we battle to forces of life, God is building character, and that is something that you just gotta live. Happy Friday.

Yesterday I grabbed lunch with a guy that seems more interested in what's going with me than anyone else I know, except my wife. (I actually have some online friends that call me and pray for me too.) We had a long discussion about what's important in church. Of course we have different experiences and opinions about that. What I found interesting as I distilled our conversation, and many others that I have had over the past few years, down, was this. I am now seeing two sides of the church, and it is almost as polarized as politics. Have you noticed? If you haven't, I suggest that you survey every Christian that you know, and you will discover two extremes which folks are passionate about: relationship or anointing. One group is comprised of long-time church members that have had friends for a number of years-- folks that they get together with in small-groups and possibly other places. I will call them the relational and friendly type. The other group are the anointing ju...

Well, I am 4 days into my new found unemployment. I am trying not to think about the potential crises the harbingers of financial hell might bring in a few weeks if I don't find a job. So, today I am going to concentrate on the bright side. After all, some days are so bad that you have to laugh. Like this morning, I bought a computer from a guy-- delivered from Craigslist. Well now that the Boston Craigslist Killer is behind bars, I am taking my chances again. However; I did think about an armed man coming to my house to take my cash and life. So, I parked my Mustang GT in the driveway so that my "Gun Owner - Voter" bumper sticker was very visible. He sheepishly parked in the street and waited for me to come to the porch door before stepping onto the lawn. In an email I had spelled out exactly what it needed this PC to do, so he showed up without the IIS installed from the 386 folder! So, I pulled out my semi-auto -- just kidding. He had to go home to get a disk. Me, I ha...

I checked my blog stats today, and my readership dropped to 6 for one day this week. Thanks for humbling me. Apparently my readers were all over at Tony C Today ' blog looking for a chuckle... he's a funny guy, and looks great in tutu-- well for a guy. I have been musing over my job loss, thinking about all the stuff that I need to do, and it occurred to me. I am not in control today either. Nope, I can't get any one to call me back about a job. I tried to answer a call from an application that I submitted, and the cell went dead. So, I called them back on my home phone which also went dead. So, I went to get a haircut and now I am itching physically and emotionally too. Oh well, nothing a clay pot can solve. I left my debit card at McDonalds. I knew I should haven't eaten there-- doubtful any of that stuff meets the Levitical dietary laws. So, here I am meditating on the how God takes care of the sparrows and the lilies. But they live outdoors, and I was hoping that I ...

Hmm... well when you write about the cost of following Jesus, you get to practice what you preach. A few days I go, I lost my job. It was a good job, good pay, good benefits, and some days so much fun, I wouldn't have cared if they paid me at all. Because it was a good job, I have a little bit of money to get me through for a few weeks... just enough so I might try to figure this all out by myself. Honestly, I am in crises mode. You know, a time when every waking moment is focused on ending the crises. I once heard a sermon where the pastor said that the word "crisis" in Chinese (no, I don't know if it is Mandarin, Cantonese, Simple or Traditional) but that it translated into "dangerous opportunity." Wow, that sounds like me today. We are in danger of our whole financial world coming down on top of us. And you know, that is what happened three years ago too. You see, both my wife and I are unemployed-- well in about 3 weeks she will be, and I am already. Her...

Have you ever wondered what it was really like for the disciples to follow Jesus? Think about it, you leave your job, you drop everything, and go into full-time ministry. Most people I know, can't just leave their job and house and go into ministry. I also hate to call it ministry, because they actually became friends of Jesus; even Judas. Real ministry flows out of relationship. Jesus' insight, genuineness, warmth, and His can't-quite-put-my-finger-on-it qualities were some how very attractive. Of course, now we know why, but the disciples, they didn't. They had some sort of religious notion that there would be a messiah, a king greater than David-- one that would rule and reign in Israel, defeating all their foes. Which is true, but the way that God carried it out, well it wasn't what they thought-- not even close. How about you, do you have some sort of religious notion about church, about Jesus? I could write a hundred things about being religious, and I hav...

In part 1 we discussed some of the reasons that we might not hear God, as well as some of the problems that might be associated with it. But what happens when we've heard God? I have previously written about the ways in which God speaks. That blog (list) is HERE . Hearing God is an interesting endeavor because we don't usually hear His voice in the same way we hear a normal human voice. To hear God under most circumstances, we need to hear Him in our spirit. The Bible describes this as our heart, and the place where rivers of living water flow from. ( John 7:37-38 ) For most Christians that I know, the ones that claim to hear God, most of them speak of impressions, or a sense of knowing. The Bible describes this as the "still small voice." When God spoke to Elijah on Mount Horeb, He could have done so in the wind, earthquake, or fire. But He didn't. He spoke with a “still small voice” 1 Kings 19:10-12 This whisper appears to be the most common way, but not the o...

How many times have you heard this verse? " My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. " (John 10:27) And how many sermons have you listened to which included one or more of the following terms: sin, backsliding, lack of faith, out of God's will or doubt? Do you see the correlation between the two extremes? In one we hear God and do it, and the other, we have obviously missed it. Any good evangelical can focus on sin, and what's wrong with your "walk." But I always think there is more fruit when we focus on what to do now! You can beat yourself later with the your sins of omission (stupidity). For now let's think about a solution to the problem of hearing God. John Wimber once said, "The Christian has two problems. One is hearing God, and the other is not hearing God." When God doesn't speak, we won't know what to do, or when to do it. When He does, then we are responsible for whatever it is that He has spoken to us. God s...

Every time I press for things that I believe are important in church, I hear, "There is no perfect church." Personally, I think that is an excuse for bad behavior. Here's why. I will certainly agree that there are no perfect people, and the church has plenty of those. A true logistician would say that the argument for a perfect church fails -- and without God's grace, it does. The point is this. We can use imperfection as an excuse for doing nothing, or at the very least, doing it poorly. We can end up leaving excellence up to someone else. Perfection (the pursuit of excellence) in church, like everything else, begins with a single person making a single decision. When a group of folks (2 or more) do this, we start to see church as something that can be changed for the better. Most established churches have a blend of employees and volunteers. But the Bible doesn't make a distinction between the two in terms of excellence of service. Here are a couple of examples....

So, you want to serve Jesus? There are some things that you should know before you get in, or maybe understand now that things are not going quite the way you envisioned. We have an adversary, that is the devil seeking to devour us. We also struggle with our flesh and our sin nature, along with the damage that has come to us from our sin, and the sin of others against us. Even Paul suffered as he partnered with God to take the kingdom back; buffeted by the devil. In Luke 22:31,32, Jesus warned Peter that Satan would sift him like wheat. But, Jesus had prayed for Peter; and Peter would be restored to be able to strengthen his brothers. Though Satan would try, he didn't destroy Peter's destiny. Maybe you just want a peaceful existence and do what you can at your local church to serve others, but when you got saved you joined an army; the army of God. Regardless of whether you chose to engage or not, here are your marching orders. Matthew 11:12 From the days...

Wow! This morning I had a wonderful revelation. Church is never going to happen if you and I don't get involved. And it requires the Spirit of God. I know, you already knew that. However; today, it's rhema. Did you know the church cannot function without vision? Nope, and most of us either embrace the pastor's personal vision, or we find ourselves rejected and left out. This is good for those that embrace it and tough on those that don't. The Bible says that the people perish for lack of vision. (Proverbs 29:18) So, we gotta have vision. The problem is that a pastoral vision is incomplete. Ouch! Every vision is subject to the Biblical principals. As the president of the United States may have vision, he is still subject to the laws of the land. His vision couldn't include some sort of illegal policy. It is the same with church vision. Spiritual vision cannot violate God's principals. I want to take a look at the overall mission of the church so that we can...

I went to church today. I go pretty much every week, and it has become part of my rat-race -- the ones that the rats are winning at the moment. When I got there, I dropped the kids in Kid's Church, and headed into the sanctuary. Instead of sitting down I decided to just stand in the back. Sometimes you need to break up the monotony (can you believe it) and do something different in church. So, I paced the back wall just praying as my spirit seemed to see fit. I enjoyed that along with the worship which doesn't really do anything for me most of the time. Well, I mean I don't really engage with it most of the time. After the worship, and my prayer time ended, the pastor, who had just returned from Spain with a mission trip that included the youth group, got up to the platform. He began to speak about doubt; his doubts regarding the trip. Basically, everything they had planned, fell through. From interpreters to youth participation, nothing seemed to work out. They couldn'...

Do you ever find that most people have some sort of expectation about church, and about the church people in it? I mean they wouldn't think that we are some sort of hypocrites if we lived up to their expectations, right? It is easy to see that sin is the problem, but that can become an excuse for bad behavior. Really, we all sin, and Jesus forgives sin, so as a Christian we are all set. Besides, we are working hard at being good, changing and getting past our past, right? So, why can't we get it right? Sin is the very thing that separates us from God isn't it? As Christians we have all sorts of problems relating to God and sin just adds to the problem. The Bible tells us that Jesus is King, Father and Daddy (Abba). How we relate to a king is probably different than how we relate(d) to our own daddy. In America we don't have a King, but in countries that do, there is a certain reverence expected for the authority of the position. We don't barge in on the king, we, at...