experiencing verve

THURSDAY THOUGHTS -water, obama, youth group, and milk duds

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:55:05 +0000

I am ready for this semester to be over…the amount of schoolwork has killed me. I think this is the last semester I am going to be full-time.
Owen is starting to have a lot of humor…I am sure many of you have seen my or Rachel’s posts on twitter, facebook. He knows he is funny too – how do I know that? After his jokes he now says, “that’s funny dad isn’t it?” As you all say – too cute!
I have decided to change some of my habits – exercise, eating, etc. I have lost some weight (work in progress) but the biggest change was how I have started craving water…that’s weird.
The students in my youth group amaze me. The times I feel like they are totally not getting what I am trying to say they say something that down right proves they get it.
Facebook lit up today with the inaccurate claim that the president canceled the National Day of Prayer. Inaccurate because he canceled the ceremony at the White House not the day. Honestly? SO WHAT! My salvation comes through the king in Heaven not a ruler Earth. I pray out of conviction and hopefully he does as well and not because of a specific day or event or ceremony. I wonder how many people that are pissed about this actually participate in the prayer event? From the few times I attended – I can safely say there are not many that do. Don’t be hypocritical in saying that the president canceled an event at his home when you have made no plans to leave yours and participate in the event. Just sayin.
I like milk duds. I haven’t had them in a while, but I like them. I like how they feel like they are breaking my jaw everytime I eat them.
I watched the parking authority chalk up my tires today when I parked in the 2-hour parking zone. I think her job sounds fun.
My father-in-law died unexpectedly a couple of weeks ago. I have to admit, death still freaks me out. I want to make sure I cherish the present God has given me – and that is today.
If you have a dog that is annoying barker. Don’t send it outside at midnight and forget to bring it in…because I might steal it and take it the country.

God is doing something special

admin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 20:13:41 +0000

It has been a little over four months since I took on the leadership of the student ministry at my church and can absolutely confirm that this is the right place for me. Like I said in a previous post, I truly believe that God has called me to this specific generation (those that are currently in junior high and high school) for a specific reason and purpose. As much as I fought this calling and tried to pursue other things in ministry, I kept feeling like I was supposed to be doing something for this generation. It’s weird. I do not understand God’s timing on many things in my life and have finally given up trying to figure it out, because as I look back on these past several months – I am truly dumbfounded by what God is doing…

There truly is something special going on here. The pastoral staff, as we met on Monday, talked about this and have even noticed the amount of young people (through college) that we are seeing show up at our services. As I was thinking and praying about what God is doing here, I thought of this passage in Colossians…

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.” – Colossians 1:3-6

From this passage you can see that God is moving right now. He is spreading the truth amongst the next generation in a special way. Right now, right here the “gospel is bearing fruit and growing.” I am so excited to be a part of something bigger than me, bigger than one church. I am excited to be a part of the Kingdom of God as we give hope, love, and purpose amidst pain and destruction here in Wichita and this broken world.

Marching ON

admin — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:37:12 +0000

I am fan of the band OneRepublic. And they have this song that I have absolutely been digging lately called Marching On. With lines like, “For those days we felt like a mistake, Those times when love’s what you hate, Somehow, We keep marchin on” or ” We’ll have the days we break, And we’ll have the scars to prove it, We’ll have the bomb that we saved, And we’ll have the heart, Not to lose it, For all of the times we fought, For all of the things i’m not,” – this song has kind of resonated within me.

Many times I feel like I am just going through the motions of life and anymore I feel like I am just waiting for the next thing to happen to our family. It’s been a tough year or so and with that it has been extremely easy to look for rest stops along the path.

I remember in Bible School when I would leave Wichita really late at night to drive back to Tulsa. The drive to Tulsa from Wichita is boring. The drive from I-35 to Tulsa on the Cimarron Turnpike is the worst. Many times I would count the cars on the stretch of road and a busy night would be upwards to 50 cars. I remember fighting sleep on the drive and being tempted to stop at the one stop on the highway to take a nap. I knew if I would do that, I would sleep through the night there and get in trouble with our housing director for not getting in when I told them I would. So I had to keep going and when I finally got back to my apartment, I was so thankful to be in my bed. There were some trips where it would so hard, but it was always worth the driving through.

I am understanding that life is really like that too. We face so many obstacles and challenges in life and it is easy to question what hope we have. Sometimes we feel like all of the odds are against us, but this song from OneRepublic kind of reminds me that, like my drive back to Tulsa, we really have no other option than to “march on”. I mean, no matter what we face, no matter where we have been, no matter if we have fallen and made poor decisions, Jesus proves his faithfulness and makes us whole. This song reminds me that marching on proves that we are not quitting.

So this is the fight that Jesus told us to fight – “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:12

Terry

The Buried Life

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:55:29 +0000

Have you seen this show? It seriously has to be one of the best shows on television right now and the fact that MTV produces it is (a) surprising – most of their shows are kind of like crap and (b) awesome – because the production quality is pretty stinkin sweet, the soundtrack is nice, and it is culturally relevant.
What is the show about? “Relying on goodwill, guts and gumption Duncan, Ben, Dave and Jonnie travel the globe in a purple transit bus to complete a list of ‘100 things to do before you die’ and to help and encourage others to go after their own lists. For every item they complete on their list, they help a stranger achieve one of their dreams. Everywhere they go they ask the question: What do you want to do before you die?”

AND – the fact that this was an actual idea of something they came up with before MTV approached them is also a pretty cool deal for the fact that it is not some made-up reality show depicting rich kids in Southern California.
It also gets me (and probably everyone else that watches the show) thinking about what their list may look like (obviously the point of the show) but it also gets me thinking about goals. Sure there are some pretty major things I would like to do before I do – go to New York City, experience an African safari, spend a summer in the deep south and let my son play like Huck Finn or Tom Sawyer among other things. BUT there are some just life/ministry goals that I would like to see happen.

I get to spend some time with some of my student ministry team tonight – we’ll talk about some of these things and we will dream up some just for us.

Already in my life God has allowed me to do things that I never thought I would be able to do. He is good and faithful. This month, I’m going to dream bigger dreams and see what God has in store for me for the future. So – if you could anything – anything at all – what would it be?

Let me ask you a question – if you could do anything – anything at all – what would it be? Who knows in a few years…you just might be living a dream.

A new look

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:24:43 +0000

As I venture in new ministry roles at GracePoint Church I thought it might be time to give the blog a facelift and create it for more of a portal for everything I am doing…don’t know how long I will keep it this way but it’s a start.

VERVE

terryjohnson — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:03:14 +0000

This month, I embark on a new journey that I truly feel God has purposed for me. Over the past two years on staff at my church I have had different titles and served in different ministry areas. I knew two years ago that God was about to do great things with Rachel and I as we continued to pursue his calling in ministry. We struggled through the thoughts that God was calling us to something different and new. We understood the importance of obedience and moved with God into our next phase of ministry. Really unclear what that looked like, we struggled through the transition.

Towards the end of 2009 and serving as Groups pastor at GracePoint I started feeling unsettled and in talking with Mike Snow (another pastor on staff) we began the conversation of our roles on staff and if we were truly in the right position. We started to ask ourselves what it might look like if we were in each other’s shoes and felt, through those conversations, that we would best be serving the local church if we were to do so. Mike wears a lot of hats and carries a number of different titles (depending on the day), and one of his main focuses was the youth ministry at GracePoint.

After graduating high school and being extremely involved in successful youth ministries almost 12 years ago, I felt God was calling me into youth ministry. I decided to take a year and serve in missions with Youth With A Mission and the next year I spent in practical ministry training at a Bible School in Tulsa. In Tulsa, I was able to serve at one of the larger youth ministries there and continued to feel God leading me in youth ministry. I returned to Wichita and pursued Rachel, and eventually we got married and found a church home that we felt we could both grow spiritually together. Right away we got plugged into the youth ministry as adult leaders, teaching a Sunday School class and sponsoring events and the main youth worship night. After a year of serving in that role, I was given the opportunity to join the paid staff as pastor over the Children’s Ministry. Everything in me wanted to say no. Both my wife and I were focused on youth ministry and missions and that is where our heart was. At the time, Rachel hated kids (joking…kind of)…but after prayer and even testing God, we decided I should take the position. It was one of the greatest decisions I ever made. I felt like I heard and followed God and I had stepped into truly His calling.

On the last night of a midweek program I had created for children’s ministry, I looked at many of the kids with tears in my eyes to explain that I had felt God was calling me out of Children’s Ministry. I told them some of the very same things that I had told some of them in the days I started – that God has a specific plan and future for their generation. God is going to do something that will absolutely blow their minds and beat every power ranger, pokemon, or harry potter scene to pieces. I ended with telling them that there is one thing that they need to know – JESUS NEVER FAILS. No matter what happens in their life you can always count on Jesus and his timing.

This month, I start a new position at GracePoint – Student Ministries Pastor. The timing is right. After preparing the past several weeks I began to realize that what I thought was God calling me to youth ministry 8 years ago, was actually God calling me to a generation. You see, the kids that were in Kindergarten in my kids ministry are now in 6th/7th grade of student ministry.

God is up to something with my life. I believe this is going to be a great year. I am expecting great things. Beyond ministry, I am praying for God’s favor for my family. That God will strengthen my relationship with Rachel like never before. That God will begin to reveal himself to us in greater ways. That God will open doors for us and that He will simply move in our lives. I want to experience life to its fullest this year. I want to experience verve.

//terry

uhh…thoughts?

terryjohnson — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:37:37 +0000

Getting back into the swing of this blogging thing is going to be tough…part of my goals for next year (we’ll see).

So in good ole’ fashioned tradition – I will share some of my THURSDAY THOUGHTS…

Excited for the possibilities in the new year. Excited for the changes too….More on that later (I promise).
Owen likes to sit on our porch when one of us leave. He will wave and then start to yell “bye daddy! bye daddy!”… today I kept the window down longer than usual and when I got to the end of the block I could still hear him screaming “BYE DADDY!”…That is pretty cool.
Planning on reading the Bible through in a year – but mixing it up some…reading it in chronological order…Looks like Cody Knutson is too..I guess we can keep each other accountable.
Ran across this today. It’s pretty cool/clever.
I got Wisps in my stocking this year…from my wife and my mother…are they trying to tell me something?
I got Chicken in a Bisket crackers too…I like those.
It’s weird when a person walks up to your porch and then leaves…maybe he realized he got the wrong house…I hope.
You know something else that is weird? THIS – no that is NOT his hair, it is a tattoo.
My wife is blogging…visit her page often and tell her to write more stuff…she is good at it.
This band is good.

Wishing you a happy new year! You guys rock!
TERRY

GEARING UP FOR 2010

terryjohnson — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:03:05 +0000

So – here we are…almost to the end of 2009. It is most definitely a year that both Rachel and I will never EVER forget. We definitely have a lot to celebrate together and we are both very excited to start a new year. We have new goals, expectations, hopes, and dreams. We have learned a lot both about faith and about life in general.

Our kid talks, he carries on conversations, and he has developed a very unique personality – a very good mix of both Rachel and I. He does his business on the toilet like a normal person, knows his letters, numbers, and is starting to spell and read.

There are some changes starting in January that I am excited about. There are some challenges too.

Thank you for being our friends. For your kind words through all that we went through this year. For your prayers. For your jokes. For your food (which you can still bring over if you want).

So from all of us at the Johnson house – we are praying that this new year will be one of favor and prosperity for all of you!

.::we judo-chopped this tumor in the arse::.

admin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 14:45:51 +0000

For those of you that are not part of the social media phenom called Facebook, yet have access (and apparently time) to the internet, I will make things a little easier for you and offer an update – FROM RACHEL – on the news we recently received in St. Louis. So Rachel posted this lil’ ditty on her facebook page (again, it is easy to sign up and get an account and you can join the rest of the world on connecting with other people – just “friend request” Rachel or I). I figured it is better to hear it from her point of view.

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It has been 5 months since we found out about the tumor growing on my eye at a routine eye examine. It was diagnosed as Ocular Melanoma- which is very serious and can be fatal. Within weeks we had visited two specialist, had all types of scans and blood work done, and speed off to St. Louis to see one of the top specialist in the field of OM, J. William Harbour. We were hopeful for a treatment that would not involve the removal of the eye- and were pleased that I was a candidate for Radioactive Plaque Therapy. On August 14, 2009 we checked into Barnes-Jewish Hospital for the first surgery. Not exactly a vacation- as the plaque is about the size of a quarter and about the width of 4 quarters. Radioactive seeds were strategically placed and the plaque was sutured to the back of my eye ball directly over the area the tumor sits. Then we waited for 4 days for the second surgery to have it removed. We were very blessed to have Dr. Harbour and to be part of a research grant to do a biopsy and determine the aggressiveness of the tumor (which tells us the likeliness of wether it will metastasize/spread in the future).

11/16/09- we went for the 3 month follow up. We have been anxiously waiting for the results and had received indications that the prognosis was good. The pictures were a bit scary- it looked like it was morphing into a storm cloud. The tumor has shrunk 3 cm- which is great! The dark edges indicate scarring as it continues to die. His prognosis is that the tumor is DEAD- and the really great news is that it was on the low end of the scale and he does not think it has or will spread in the future. It has also shrunk a bit away from the optic nerve- which hopefully means less vision loss. The tumor will never fully disappear, but it will shrink in width and depth over time.

We were planning on having 3 month follow ups in St. Louis as well as multiple scans and tests to monitor any changes. However, because it is low/non-aggressive- we only have to go to St. Louis once a year for the next 5 years or so. I will get blood work every six months to watch my organs, specifically the liver, to catch anything should it arise. I will see my local opthamolgist throughout the year, but he should be able to do everything from here. I will go in for laser treatment next year to deliver one more punch to the tumor to ensure it is dead. (Sad note- I am no longer able to be an organ donor or give blood.)

At this phase it is considered remission- however the doctor said that all indications show that the radiation was effective and there is no living cancerous cells. The rule of thumb is 5 year for the official ALL CLEAR- but we are believing in the prognosis and that we will not have to deal with this thing or any metastasis EVER!

My eye is extremely dry- the cells that lubricate the eye have been damaged- so I should be buying stock in the eye drops I use because I have to use them a lot to keep it hydrated. I have had double vision due to some scarring on the muscles surrounding the eye- so we are praying that exercise and time will heal that too. We may have to visit a muscle specialist to get it corrected- but that is down the road. I do have vision loss- currently 20/60 or worse in that eye. There is nothing that can be done to correct it. Unfortunately, the damage done by the radiation is not fully known yet and may take a year or so for it to settle. We are still believing that there will be minimal vision changes and that it will continue to be healed and restored. The blind spot is permanent- which is annoying but better then eye removal, right?

We have so many people who have surrounded us with love and support. Terry’s parents have done more then we can ever thank them for to get us through this time. Our families have all sent prayers and love to us through this entire ordeal. Our life group stepped up and showed us their love and even frustrations- and really went through it with us. Friends and families from several churches have prayed and prayed- reminding us that we are one big family. And old friends and new friends alike have sent notes of encouragements. Even strangers have touched our lives in ways we cannot repay.

We are truly blessed by the news and ask for continued prayers that what God has started he will bring to completion. It is very easy to get confused, frustrated, and angry. And if you ever “research” something like this (which I do not recommend)- you will get the most conflicting and negative information, that it is immobilizing. But we continue to move forward and believe it was God who brought this to light at this time.

Thanks again for your love and support. You will never know how much it means to us and how it has brought us through this uncertain time. We have gained so much perspective on what is important and pray that we continue to live for today and to serve others.

AND a big thank you from me to Terry. You are the best husband and have always been an encouragement and rock. I am inspired by your simple faith and unconditional support. I love you and can’t wait for the next adventure.

First trip to STL in July 09.

Second trip in August- night before surgery.

Shiner- after the second surgery to remove the plaque. First time to take the eye patch off in a week.

Third trip in November- night before follow-up appointment.

After 3rd trip- good news!

The doc hooked us up!
Lots of bottles and tubes of eye drops & gel “to try”.

CANCER SUCKS!

Since June- Owen has gone to the Y a hundred times, swam/fished @ Table Rock, started doing his business in the potty, turned 3, seen Ice Age 3 & the Wild Things, started preschool, gone to stables, got pumpkins, dressed as a dragon & fries for Halloween (not at the same time), started a long Christmas list, etc. etc.

.:thought:.

admin — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:58:09 +0000

“My heart is turned over within Me, All My compassions are kindled.”Hosea 11:8

O, that our hearts would be turned over, that our lovelessness would be toppled, our hard-heartedness shattered, and our coldness melted by the compassions of God Himself!

O, to love You as you are, to love righteousness, justice, and compassion, and to love human souls as You do! Give us Your own love, Lord. Catch us up in Your heart, and enable us to be an expression of Your Son in this generation, that our sons and daughters might see your majesty.