Apostle David Johndrow - Fire And Grace

Have you heard all the flap about Ann Rice quitting Christianity? It seems that it is on every blog I read, and some I don't. I am not going to rehash any of it. As far as I am concerned, it is a non sequitur. She said she quit, I said, "Praise Allah!" There are a lot of bigger idiots (that are not selling books) that I wish would quit too. When folks like her say stuff like that, it is simply a reflection of the negative view some have of Christianity. For me, it has as much weight as something Bill Mahr says. Since the beginning of mankind, there has been religion, and God is fully aware of that - one reason He sent Jesus to die on the cross. Next! What I want to know is why people that could care less what the Bible says; much less practice it, want to be called Christians? Like a vegan ordering a meat-less Big Mac, the need for the "Christian" label amazes me. It is especially disturbing because, according to Barna, about 78% of American CHRISTIANS bel...

  My earthly father passed away om February 13, 1998. Certainly I miss him very much. He never had the chance to meet my youngest one, or my wife Mary Anne. He wasn't there for high school and college graduations - he missed a lot, and we missed having him there. I have written about him a few times in the past. HERE is the story of his illness and death due to cancer. HERE is a little about him on Memorial Day. HERE is a blog I wrote to remember him. I had the honor of speaking about my dad at his funeral. Due to his illness, we had some time - some good time together. The Lord gave me a wonderful perspective of his life. There were a lot of not so good times, so  seeing the Lord's hand - actually using my dad's life to show me His character was surprising. As I stood at the little podium in a Brattleboro funeral home; my daughter Erin giving me a pinky hug, here is what I sai...

You may have heard that 2 million folks in greater Boston were without potable running water . I wasn't one of them. Where I work, however; was. When I arrived on Monday morning, I never gave a second thought to what I would drink during my nearly 11 hours away from cool filtered water dispensed from my refrigerator. As I sat down to my computer and opened my email, there was a message from the owner of the company saying that we could not use the coffee pot, ice, or the water bubbler. I was thirsty just thinking about it. We were urged to wash our hands and then use sanitizer (sounds stupid right?). I thought for a moment about those that were trapped in the Haitian earthquake for days without food or water - certainly I could make it without water for 11 hours. Then I thought about being trapped for days without the bathroom under some rubble - *snap* time to get to work. There was a gnawing feeling of thirst, even as I worked and talked on the phone. I pounded away at the ...

I am on my new blog schedule. I get to sit here in the atrium with plastic flowers and cheesy elevator music - well if the cell phone screamers are not around -I can hear the music of someones life, not mine. Do you think Crazy Train would sound good on classical guitar and flute? I was thinking about things that people get passionate about. Have you wondered why some subjects like killing babies or "a woman's right to choose" get people wound up and other topics like ping-pong balls and lint don't? Here is a burning burning question I see in various forms out there in the blog-o-sphere. I am going to do a "Burning Questions" series - so be sure to suggest some if you like. Why is it some folks think love is letting someone do whatever they want? Isn't freedom of choice just that, the choice to do as we will? (Don't you hate folks that answer questions with questions?) There are lots of ways to look at love - but today I want to focus on love in ...

One of my readers asked if I like anything about the church. Whoah!?! It was a good question. I have to admit, some days I feel like the church is the biggest dysfunctional family on earth. But beyond all that, God is on the throne, and the Kingdom is at hand. If He wasn't I would have left the church a long time ago. Here is what I love about church: Outrageous Worship - Musical worship is a joy for me personally. I like to stand up, to rock back and forth, sing, shout, pray, and I have enjoyed dancing in the presence of the Lord too. I can't describe it, but there is a presence that is different in each worship service - when it's God, it's fresh and exciting. Some times the lyrics become part of my soul; touching things that have been hidden for too long. Other times I just sing the syllables that come to my lips. My preferred style of music is the one in which God shows up in His manifest presence. From Matt Redman , Burn Service , Tim Hughes , Michael W. Smith an...

Lot's wife wanted to go back to Sodom, and she turned into a pillar of salt. The time of God's wrath is mentioned in both the old and the new testament. It is a historic event in which God starts to deal directly with the satanic forces and the evil people responsible for the destruction of the earth. How about you, do you think God's mad at you? Do you feel guilty for anything, and you can't seem to get relief? Are you certain your eventual face-to-face meeting with God Almighty is going to be worse than a bad interview at fast-food joint? A lot of people see God as a "Mad Dad." If you read the Bible and do a search for the word "Hell," there are only 14 results in the NIV. If you search for Heaven, there are 606. Think about it, Heaven is much more on God's mind than Hell. And there are 42 verses with the phrase " Eternal Life !" I am not sure why we think that God is mad all the time, or that He is sitting there trying to find us doi...

Who do you think gets to go the Heaven? Tiger Woods, George Bush, Mother Theresa, Adolf Hitler, Billy Graham, President Obama, The Pope, Benny Hinn, Joseph Smith, Buddha - who? If you are like most folks, you are thinking, "that one, "nope, not that one," or "Hitler; definitely not." There are others that will say, "We just don't know, we can't be the judge. God alone is the judge." Now that's playing it safe. So, who gets to go to Heaven when they die? And more importantly, how do you get there? If you read yesterday's blog entitled, Have You Wondered Why Man Can't Fly and the Church Can't Get Along? , then you know that there are many opinions - and a lot of myths about the Christian religion. Most Christians would say the Bible is the 411 on the "Who Goes to Heaven" game. And for sure, there are other thoughts on the afterlife. Billions of folks claim to be Christians , we've discussed that before. For those th...

Today at lunch I was thinking about the headlines I heard on WBZ radio as I shuffled my feet from gas, to clutch, to brake, and back again for nearly an hour in rush hour traffic. Our governor decided to stand behind some laid off union workers at the Hyatt in Boston - says he's going to boycott Hyatt - funny he didn't speak up when I lost my job to someone in India. Union - oh yeah, that's right, unable to make concessions in a tough economy-- let's punish the business that is employing 190 Americans. Another was the clatter over Obama going to Copenhagen - who cares really? Send Polanski to jail for life - please! Then there was the Tsunami in the Samoas. Amazing, and without warning four 50 foot waves smashed into the beaches of the South Pacific Islands. Hundreds died - their last moments on earth. I wonder what they were thinking 30 minutes before it happened? Matthew 25:5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. 6"...

I usually stick to spiritual issues, but this health care debate seems to be one-sided and vary partisan. As a Christian and an American, I need to say something. WE NEED HEALTH CARE REFORM. Why? Because it needs to be improved. I do laugh at the mindless critics that think there is better health care in some other country. We have the best in the world despite its shortcomings. I bet when Michael Moore gets sick, he doesn't go to Cuba for treatment. There is currently a quote circulating on TV and the Internet which says "No one should die because they can't afford health care, and no one should go broke getting health care." I don't agree with the statement 100% because it is shallow, it does not address the issue directly. It implies that we just leave people dying in the streets, which is an exaggeration to some extent. It also implies that we are heartless, but Jesus knew that a long time ago. And as Christians health care is NOT our savior! So, let's t...

I have an old friend named Percy that I have known since I was in first grade. This is him (2nd from left) in 1967, posing with me (1st on left), and some others, at my brother's birthday party. We grew up in a small Connecticut town, spent years in the same schools, knew each other’s family, and did stuff together as kids. We haven't seen each other since high school graduation about 30 years ago, but we have reconnected on Facebook. Percy is, in my estimation, a genius; holding at least one software patent. Our discussion threads have been about politics, religion, the origin of life, intelligent life, evolution, global warming, creation, and a host of other subjects with which normally identify folks as liberals or conservatives. I really hate labels and stereotypes, preferring to simply think for myself. The two of us could easily be labeled any number of ways. But that is not what Jesus would do; therefore, I am not going to either. What I do know about my friend is this: ...

Sure, just look around you, the world is a mess, and people in it are sick, hurt, lonely and lost. But they are usually an arms length or more away. The insanity is on TV 24/7, and one doesn't need to look far for someone that is really hurting. But you know, that could be you too. You could be the one that is in a tough place. It can be depressing to think about the pain that surrounds us. I ponder some thoughts from books I have read, and one Christian author saw depravity and immorality as the perfect opportunity to share Jesus. At the time, I thought, I am trying to insulate myself from all that. I don't want to see any pain, any hurt, any evil... nope not me. How immature could I have been? Turning a blind eye to the suffering of folks in my town... the ones that I know from work, met in the store, or saw at night school. Even the odd Christian who had a hard time engaging in church. I was more concerned about me, and what was comfortable for David. Somewhere in the dark n...

As we entered Main St. Pizza from the cool rainy parking lot, there was the smell of burning cigarettes mingled with baking pizza. The three TV's displayed Jeopardy as a waitress motioned to us to sit anywhere. On one wall was a picture of a Mediterranean villa, on another a painting depicting Virginia wildlife and near the kitchen entrance was a Thomas Kinkade painting - you know, the one of the glowing house. In the far corner was a couple of older woman chatting and drinking some sort of red wine. Near by was a young couple who appeared to be on a date. At the table nearest the bar two men chugged bottled beer, smoked cigarettes and wolfed down a large pizza. Our waitress came to take our drink and she spoke with a foreign accent. My 5-year-old responding to the conversation, uttered the Spanish word for hot, "caliente" The waitress laughed and said that she understood. I asked her where she was from. "Russia" she replied. "I speak four more languages,...

Today I have been thinking about living life on purpose. Not a purpose driven life, but doing things that are good for me and others as a new routine. When I was studying computer science, we hooked some sort of attachment up to the TV cable and watched a printout of the data passing through the TV cable on a PC screen. It was so fast, you could hardly read it. My mind works that way a little bit-- streaming thoughts. There is a verse where Paul said, "take captive every thought." For me that is like a dog trying to catch speeding cars. Besides, what would he do with it if he did catch one? But today, miraculously, I did catch one. And It almost got away twice. It is the same one that I have had on and off for several years. Today, on purpose, I am writing about it even though I have a different title for this blog staring me in the face. The reason that I was trying to avoid it, was that two of my last three blogs were on the same topic. How boring is that? Before I tell ano...

Some days I just love what Jesus can do to change a person. Look what's happened to the guitarist on Hang on Sloopy , Free Ride and Rock 'n Roll Hoochie Coo.

Isn't church supposed to have nice people? Do you know any good people? Do you think that we should be tolerant of others? Does Christianity make your life easy? Stay tuned for the answers. I am amazed every day when people present the Gospel as if it is people being nice, to other people, for the sake of getting those people saved. The Gospel, or good news is not just getting saved! The Gospel is an eternal relationship with God; starting with receiving Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord. It is much more than the recognition of our sinfulness and need for a forgiver! That is simply the "door" to this spiritual and profound relationship with a supernatural God. The Bible speaks of this relationship as the deep calling deep! Salvation is living the Kingdom life here on earth and on into eternity. Let me say that nice is not even in the Bible. So, if being nice is on your list of positive, personal attributes, it is no big deal to God. Yes, I know love is kind, but only ...

Have you ever wondered what it takes to do some of the things that the apostles did? Do you want to be closer to God, witness signs and wonders? The book of Acts, chapter 2 gives us all the information we need to know. Here are seven steps to becoming a Christian who walks in the ways of the first century Christians. How we take these steps is as personal and unique as we are, and ultimately up to the depth of relationship we have with the Lord Jesus. Entering into the process of sanctification we find seven foundational steps for living the spirit-filled life. If we reject anyone of these, we will not be able to live in power and purity, nor sense the assurance of salvation, or effectivly perform whatever ministry God has called us to. -1 Salvation through faith in Jesus – Acts 2:41(a) “Then those who gladly received his word.” Getting to this step, for some, can be quite a long process, but Romans 10:9-10 is the bar that we must meet. We need to confess Jesus with our lips and receiv...

Today while I was waiting to hear news about my father-in-law's kidney surgery(which at the time of this writing seems to have gone well), I received news of another co-laborer in the Kingdom who died in an auto accident. He was known to me as Theodore, but those who were really close to him, called him Grandpa Theodore. He was well into his 80's, a missionary in Mexico... well for the last few years anyway. His legacy was missions in Asia including Vietnam, China and the Philippines. He was the mentor of a friend of mine who I know, and finally met, from a prayer chain on the Internet. We had many e-mails over the last decade... Time flies no matter what you are doing. I am sad today. As I sit here and think about Theodore's impact on my life, I remember when we first met. He was part of a team in doing a mission in Vietnam. He was located in California arranging things for Bobby and the gang over there. In 2000 the team finally got kicked out of Hanoi for their work. (Whi...