LaRosa Johnson {dot} com

The last few weeks have been mentally taxing. It’s a rare thing for opportunity to come knocking at the door; and, it’s even rarer for an opportunity to literally knock the door down and place itself in your hand. Well, this is a situation I’ve found myself dealing with.

Now, most people, given the opportunity would jump on it without a second thought. Quite honestly, I would do the exact same thing, and would love nothing more than to take this opportunity up on its offer. But, there’s a catch. You see, the current circumstances surrounding my life are preventing me from accepting the offer, at least for the time being. More than anything, the one thing that’s keeping me from jumping all over this offer is the fact that I’ve committed myself to training my spiritual gift of pastor-teacher, which is something that I am absolutely not willing to abandon, especially not after having put in two years of work. I’m not willing to abandon what I know to be God’s will for my life right now, not even for what may be the opportunity of a lifetime.

In many ways, I know this is nothing more than a test of my resolve to see what’s more important to me. Well, the answer is quite obvious and it was easy to make, although it leaves me mentally taxed with “what ifs” and monkeying with scenarios. The fact of the matter is that I know where God wants me to be right here & right now, which is training my gift, and that’s where I’m going to stay.

Even though it’s not remotely related, I can’t help but to think of Saul when he was given orders to destroy the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15). He followed Samuel’s instructions except for the fact that he kept back some of the choice livestock, instead of destroying it all as the Lord had commanded. It was at this point that God rejected Saul and his line as king over Israel. Although it doesn’t completely relate to my circumstance, it has taught me the importance of complete obedience to the Lord, and not just following His instruction partly. The words of Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:22 still ring in my ears, “to obey is better than sacrifice.” The rest of what he says hits pretty hard too.

I feel that if I took this opportunity right now, I’d be putting myself in the same situation as Saul when he didn’t completely obey the Lord. I have my instructions (finish my training), and I have to see that through, and not just do it halfway, even if I think this opportunity may benefit me & still be honoring to God. The fact is that this is most honoring to God, so that’s where I need to be. If the Lord wills, the door of opportunity will remain open until my training is complete and the Lord allows for me to take hold of it; otherwise, I will view this as a matter of testing to see where my heart and focus are. I will say that I appreciate the opportunity set before me, but it’s not worth squandering what God has placed before me.

LaRosa Johnson Faith, LaRosa, Life, Ministry ministry training, obedience, opportunity

I’ve been thinking about this topic lately, and I thought about it some tonight while I was driving to my Hebrew class. Am I too nonchalant about things?

For the most part, I’m a calm guy and it takes a lot to get me riled up (my kids are another story, LOL). Life is stressful & busy, but even that doesn’t bother me or make me lose my cool. I roll with the punches and keep on going. Sometimes, though, I wonder if this is such a good thing. A perfect example would be my finances. My money is tight, sometimes in the red. Does that bother me? Not really. Sure, it concerns me and I do what I can to better manage my money, but I don’t let it get to me or bend me out of shape. I remain cool about it all. I’ll find out about stuff that’s going on with my family, like when my grandfather passed away from cancer. Was I sad to lose him? Yes, but I was still calm about it, almost too calm if you ask me.

The more I think about it, I realize that it’s probably the way I should be. The more I study Scripture, it makes sense. If I’m focused on my Father’s business and heavenly things, then the rest of what happens in my life is an afterthought. The bad things? Momentary light afflictions that pale in comparison to what God has in store for me. The good things? Highlights that give me opportunity to thank the Lord for His kindness. I sometimes wonder if this is how Jesus was while walking the earth. Stuff was happening around Him, but He didn’t let it phase Him.

Whether it’s good or bad, I’ll keep walking this way because it keeps me from being anxious (a command from Scripture) and from fearing. My faith is in the Lord, and I’ll keep rolling with whatever comes my way because I realize that it’s all part of God’s design for me & my family. Maybe being nonchalant in a Christian way can be a good thing…

LaRosa Johnson Faith, LaRosa, Life, Ramblings anxiety, Scripture, thoughts

Right now, I’m up to my eyeballs in the training of my pastor-teacher gift. In the process of training my gift, I’ve been doing a lot of study and have grown quite a bit. One of the things that I’ve been really getting firm on is my understanding of the Bible and keeping a literal hermeneutic when studying Scripture. This has really been beneficial and I’m grateful for all the studies I’ve undertaken thus far.

With all of this comes the temptation to get proud and go spouting off everything I’ve learned. To a point, I think we all get that way when we learn something new; but, I think it has helped me that I’m an introvert and not a very confrontational kind of person. It’s very tempting to get into debates and heated theological discussions, but I hate arguing, so it hasn’t become an issue. I mean, a lot of times I’ll get involved in a discussion and quickly bow out when it turns into debate mode.

To get to my point, I’m glad that being a pastor-teacher doesn’t mean that I have to be someone who constantly debates over theology and doctrine. I’m glad because that’s really not who I am, and I’d rather just spend my time teaching the Bible.

One of the things I’ve really noticed in the course of my studies is how averse some people are towards certain theological views. Sadly enough, a lot of this comes from a particular branch of theology and their seeming dislike for anyone that isn’t of their camp. For instance, I was watching a youtube video last night of a pastor answering a question about the beliefs of another theological system of interpretation and he was pretty harsh in his comments, and in many areas off in his assessment of them; in many ways, his comments weren’t fair to that view and were spun in such a way to make his beliefs look superior. What’s worse, it seemed as if he even questioned the salvation of some of the proponents of this theological view.

I hope that if the time ever comes for me to have to do the same that I can be more gracious, loving, & fair in my statements. I don’t ever want to come off as a know-it-all or someone who bashes others’ theological points of view. Although I believe that I have a better hermeneutic & understanding in some areas of Scripture because of my theological background, I pray that it never comes off rude or arrogant. I want to be fair to each side when I discuss an issue, which is something I’ve come to appreciate in reading Chafer’s Systematic Theology. So, if you could, keep that as a matter of prayer, as I press on in my studies, that I would remain humble & teachable as I search & study the Bible and firm up my theological beliefs.

LaRosa Johnson Faith debate, hermeneutics, pastors, theology

As I’ve been working on a series of articles for Trailblazin Ministries, there’s a thought that has remained in the back of my mind that keeps tugging at me. In many ways, I think it’s part of the reason why I’m working on this current series of articles. I don’t want to give the article away, but I do want to share that thought that’s been in my mind.

It’s pretty obvious that I frequent message boards, especially those that are a part of the Christian hip-hop community. One of the things that I’ve noticed, at least that I’ve finally started noticing, is that people listen to a lot of Bible teaching online. They are watching YouTube clips of sermons, downloading sermon podcasts & listening to them, or purchasing them from all different kinds of ministries. I’m not going to knock that because it’s a great thing and I do it myself; I’m actually an advocate of taking advantage of technology in this way.

Here comes the disconnect: these preachers are typically the only ones that we ever hear about. “Did you check out this latest Paul Washer clip?!” “Have you heard that Mark Driscoll sermon?” “Man, that MacArthur sermon was on point!” And the comments go on. I’m glad that these people are getting fed by these ministries and great men of God; but, how often do they talk about the teaching that they’re getting from their local church & pastor? I don’t hear enough about that. I’d love to read and hear about what people are getting fed from their own pastor, instead of someone they’re simply listening to online. I think this should especially be the case if they’re at a church where people can get access to the teachings online to share it with others. Personally, I love sharing what I’m learning at my local church and would love it if other people took the opportunity to listen from time to time.

I can’t help but wonder if some of this is a form of “sanctified idol/star worship.” Because our pastors aren’t preaching to thousands a week, we think lesser of them, and would rather talk about the big name preachers that everyone knows about & follows. Of course, I can’t judge people’s motives & intents, nor do I want to; all I’m saying is that I’d like to see more balance and people giving their own pastors some love, instead of always talking about the “big names.”

LaRosa Johnson Faith, Ramblings pastors, podcasts, preachers, sermons

…or do I?

Just a real quick blog tonight. I want to share a thought I’ve had on my mind recently.

I know without a doubt that I have the pastor-teacher gift, I’m thoroughly convicted of that. With that comes an innate desire and passion to want to study the Word of God and take it to the deepest depths that I can possibly take it to. I enjoy studying the Scriptures, breaking down the Greek and Hebrew, reading reference works, and so on. In a lot of ways, because of the gift that the Spirit has given me, it’s a given that I should have such passion. I honestly can’t think of anything else I’d rather be doing than studying; it’s the only thing that satisfies me.

It is that satisfaction that brings me to my thought. Is it wrong of me to think that others should have that same passion? Of course, I know that the answer is yes, at least on some level; it’s wrong for me to think that all believers should have that desire for the Word. Not everyone will have a desire to delve into the original languages and read church history, and that’s fine. Sure, they should have some level of passion for studying the Word, but I doubt for most it’ll be anywhere near the level of desire that I or other pastor-teachers have. But what about those that really don’t have a desire for the Word at all, to the point where they rarely read their Bible? What’s up with that?

I think a lot of this thinking, for me, stems for the article I wrote over @ TM about holy hip-hop music. Because of my gift, am I looking “too deeply” at the music and expecting too much for other listeners to do the same thing? I mean, I can listen to an album and tear it apart (i.e. Excelsius’ album Liberation that I’m doing the study guide for), but I wonder if others are even interested or equipped to do the same. For me, it comes easy and is second nature almost. But am I wrong to think it should be for others? Maybe so.

I don’t really have an answer other than that; but it’s some food for thought that I’ve been chewing on. At the very least, I gotta stay focused on grace and exhibiting that in my life.

LaRosa Johnson Faith, Ramblings bible study, expectations, hip hop, Music

Sometimes I feel like I’m a man on an island all by myself. I’m not speaking of the traditional sense in not having friends; instead, I am referring to being alone theologically, at least online.

For the most part, just about all of the people I know and “hang out” with online are Calvinists, many of whom are pretty hardcore. Most days that isn’t a problem for me because they’re my brethren. But, there are other days where I feel totally alone because I don’t have anyone online who shares my same theological views. So, a lot of times I end up getting into a theological discussion and find myself trying to discuss Scripture with my many Calvinist friends who are able to back each other up (and quite frequently I might add), while I have no one in my corner who shares my theological views to help me out. Many times it leaves me feeling overwhelmed and out of place, leaving me wondering why I started or joined a discussion in the first place.

It is definitely frustrating, but I try not to let it get me down. The only thing that ends up happening is that I become pretty quiet online and choose not to discuss theology as in-depth as I would like to. I do wonder, though, what it’d be like to not be on this island all alone and to have a tag team partner of sorts.

In the meantime, I will just keep praying, studying, and learning, while I man my island.

LaRosa Johnson Bible, Faith discussions, theology

Over the past few weeks and months I’ve noticed quite a bit of discussion and controversy over the doctrines of grace (i.e. Calvinism) versus practically everything else. There have been countless discussions & debates on message boards and forums, as well as a number of bloggers who have chosen to write about the subject, I guess with myself included now that I’m writing this. It’s been a topic on my mind of late because it has hit particularly close to home, or sorts.

A few weeks ago, in December sometime, a friend of mine was having a discussion after church with one of the ordained pastors over this very topic. Since it was getting late, they agreed to discuss it over email, which I happened to be CC’ed on, and got to watch the entire discourse. Well, around the same time one of the TM forum members was posting a topic discussing Calvinism versus Arminianism, a carryover from a debate he had had elsewhere. So, it has been pretty close to home, so I figured I’d briefly share some thoughts concerning the subject (hoping to not start a debate in the process).

In gauging the discussions that I’ve seen online, it seems that one of the major hot button issues is the sovereignty of God. From the Reformed (Calvinist) side of things, there is a major push that God is completely in control of the salvific experience, to the point of choosing some for salvation and dooming others to hell, with them having no say in the matter. On the other hand, the opposing view tries to take God’s sovereignty completely out of the picture, saying that salvation is all about man’s free will and that God’s sovereignty doesn’t play much part at all. The more I study it, I have a hard time believing that either side is balanced in its view. On both sides, each is able to find Bible passages that fit into their view, but from what I’ve seen, neither handles the other’s passages very well.

As I grew up in church, this was never much of a discussion. We were taught to get saved, live like a Christian, that we couldn’t lose our salvation, and that was the extent of it; there really wasn’t a depth to theology and studying the Bible. So, when I left my church back in North Carolina, one of the first things I studied was the doctrine of salvation. I almost immediately rejected Arminianism because I knew that I didn’t agree with their beliefs. So, that left Calvinism for me to study. I bought several books on the subject and read them cover to cover, and I even discussed the subject with many who held to these doctrines. All of that went well, but there were passages that I was never able to adequately resolve in studying that point of view. The idea of Limited Atonement was one of them because it ignored the plain reading of texts like John 3:16 and 1 Timothy 2:3-6 to name a couple. It was things like that, as well as passages showing man’s role in salvation that led me to believe that there had to be something more biblically balanced than what the doctrines of grace teach.

The more I studied things, I couldn’t help but notice a difference between total depravity and total inability. In just about everything I studied from the Calvinist side of things, everything was taken to the point that man is unable to respond to the grace of God, unable to do anything related to the gospel unless God first makes it happen, including man’s belief in the gospel. Hence total inability, there is absolutely nothing that man can do to save himself. Though, this is not the same as total depravity which is the fact that man’s nature and faculties are corrupted by the sin nature. As a result, there’s nothing we can do to earn or deserve eternal life on our own merit. With that, God does indeed draw all men (John 12:32; Titus 2:11), and man is able to receive and respond to the grace of God (Matthew 23:37; John 5:24-25; Ephesians 2:8-9). The main difference is that man is a free moral agent that is vested with the responsibility to respond to God’s grace when it is presented to Him (John 1:1-9; 3:16-17). Even though man is depraved, he can still respond to God’s grace and come to Christ and is called to do so (Revelation 22:17). This is a very important distinction to make because Reformed theology hinges on this point. If man is completely unable to do anything, then of course God is forced to do everything concerning salvation, therefore you end up with the extreme view of God’s sovereignty.

But man having a responsibility in salvific experience does not negate God’s sovereignty, not in any way. God was still sovereign when He allowed Satan to fall & rebel, was He not? That’s beside the point, so let’s continue. With total depravity in view, it’s obvious that man cannot merit eternal life, nor can he merit God’s grace. So, yes, election is totally an act of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:4-6), but man is still given a responsibility. Man’s response to God’s grace is to simply believe. The Bible teaches both God’s sovereignty in choosing men for salvation and man’s responsibility to believe. The Bible tells us that God desires for all men to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) and that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9). Furthermore, the gospel is a whosoever message, stating that whoever believes in Jesus can have eternal life (John 3:16). Also, with the whole issue of predestination & foreknowledge, the Bible places foreknowledge before predestination (Romans 8:28-30). Nevertheless, those that go to hell go because they chose to reject God’s grace, not because of an inability to respond to it. You see, the problem with total inability is that it says that man is unable to do anything, including believe; yet, the imperative when the gospel is given is always "believe." In other words, the person has the choice whether to believe or deny the offer of salvation. If this were not the case, why would the god of this world be working to blind the minds of the unbelieving if they couldn’t believe anyway without the help of God (2 Corinthians 4:4)? Furthermore, in Paul’s speech at the Areopagus, he even states that God desires for man to seek after God, even to the point of groping Him out and finding Him (Acts 17:27); if we couldn’t seek God, then why are we told that it’s part of God’s reason for making us?

What makes this all the more reasonable is God’s common grace. God gives us everything we need in order to seek after Him, but it’s our choice whether we choose to do so. Passages like Matthew 5:45; Titus 2:11; and Romans 1 all give us a glimpse at the common grace of God, showing how He is impartial to all men. Although circumstances may be different, all receive an equal opportunity at receiving salvation. Scripture clearly teaches that Jesus Christ came to die for all men, not just a specific few; one passage to support this is 1 John 2:2, which is written to believers, and states that He didn’t just die for Christians only, but for the whole world. Other passages would include 1 Timothy 2:3-6 and Hebrews 2:9. The problem is that some choose
not to believe (John 5:40), but those that do believe are saved by grace through their faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8, 9) and are immediately made alive spiritually. Yes, Christ’s death was sufficient for all, but only efficient or effective for those who choose to take advantage of it.

From what I see in Scripture, I see God’s sovereignty in that He has executed a perfect plan from Alpha to Omega that includes sinful man and all of his decisions for good or bad, and I also see man’s responsibility to respond to the grace offered by God. Nowhere in Scripture do I see someone who is "made" to believe in Christ; instead, I always see people who are confronted with the truth and then choose to believe. All throughout the gospels we see examples of those who followed Jesus and witnessed His miracles and still chose to not believe in Him as Messiah, while there were others who believed wholeheartedly. The same holds true in Acts and the rest of Scripture. You have some who deny the truth while others accept it, but for each individual the choice was wholly theirs.

That’s what I believe and what I teach. I’m not here to debate it with anyone, although I will examine the Scriptures with my brethren. Indeed iron does sharpen iron, and we can all stand to learn from the Word of Truth, myself included. In terms of this discussion, I will keep comments moderated because, as I stated, this is not something I choose to debate, at least not at this time; I just wanted to share my observations on a prevalent topic. If you desire to debate the topic, there are many other avenues where that can take place and is better suited.

Grace and peace.

LaRosa Johnson Bible, Faith

In a word, humility is a beast, and God seemingly has an infinite number of ways in keeping your boy humble.

Today, I was looking at a website and noticed that they had a devotional section. I was immediately like, "Aww yeah! Let me check this out and see what’s going on!" I saw that it was being headed up by a good friend of mine, and that gave me a good bit of comfort. Then, given that I know a good number of people who had a hand in putting the site together, and them knowing that I write devotions too, my flesh immediately started to rise up. My flesh started to say, "Why didn’t they holla at me about putting my devotions up there? Mine are just as good!" and so on. Needless to say, I wanted to start beating my chest and cry foul play, especially when I had gotten an email about submitting content for the site, but only asking for editorial/reviews/news type pieces (of which I could care less about these days).

Then it hit me. I had to remember my last blog post and the admonishment I had given to the HHH community. Simply put, I needed to humble myself, put myself in check and realize that they asked my boy to do it, and not me. It was their decision to make, and not mine. Plus, who am I anyway? I’m not ordained or anything of the sort; I’m just a layman training his gift and trying to teach the Bible. The more I thought about it, I realized that it was God’s call and not theirs. Given the circumstances, I’ve already dedicated myself to my studies and will already be cutting back on what I do with the site (that’s my decision, by the way, in reference to a previous blog entry), so I wouldn’t be able to commit to providing content for another site anyway. After that, I felt pretty low and humbled before the Almighty because I knew that it was definitely His call and His circumstances. I repented for my jealousy, covetousness, anger, and pride because I was absolutely in the wrong. If the Lord wills, it’ll happen in His time; and, if not, He’s still God and I’ll just have to be content with what He’s given me stewardship over, nahmean?!

Blessings. G&P.

LaRosa Johnson Faith, LaRosa, Ministry

God always seems to give me a kick in the pants at just the right moment. The other day I was blogging about what to do with this website, and I emailed my pastor and another friend from church to get their opinion on the matter. Well, yesterday it became quite obvious, at least to me, that I definitely need to focus in on my studies and keep that as a significant priority.
Most days I carpool to work, and yesterday I happened to be playing Pastor Bob’s sermon from the 9:30 am service because I got to church late and missed the first few minutes of the message and wanted to hear what I missed. During the sermon he made a few comments about dispensations and the ceasing of gifts (as he was giving a recap of 1 Corinthians 13). The guy I carpool with made a comment or two about tongues, and I responded a little bit without going into too much detail. Well, on the way home, he told me that he had tried to do a little bit of research on dispensationalism (using our software… hey it pays to work @ a Bible software company sometimes). So, on the drive home we spent most of our time talking about the Church and Israel and trying to understand/explain the difference between the two. Without getting into much of the details of the discussion, I’ll just say that I felt completely inadequate in being able to answer the questions that he asked. I was barely able (or not able at all) to explain my stance and understanding of dispensationalism and the distinctions between Church and Israel and the blessings of each.
All of that to say, I need to hit the books that much harder. In regard to what I previously blogged about, I think this served as one of those things that God allowed to help nudge me in the direction that I need to take in regard to my training and studies. To quote my pastor in his email reply to me, “Truth is, knock out the training for the next 2-3 years and then your return to blog ministry will be that much more effective.” I’m thinking that’s the route I likely need to take and this conversation yesterday is added proof of that. If anything, it’s making me pray that much harder concerning where I’m at and where I want to go in my knowledge of the Scriptures.

LaRosa Johnson Bible, Faith, Studies

Last night I decided to hold an impromptu family Bible study with my wife & kids. I felt it was something that we finally needed to get around to doing and make the most of our time together and make a better effort of trying to raise up our children in the ways of our Lord. In doing this, I wanted to keep first things first. Our kids have grown up in church, but I’ve never really addressed the issue of salvation with them, and I figured it was time, with Ryan being 8 years old. With that in mind, I took our first time of study together to present a gospel message to Ryan.

After having Robin open us up in prayer, I asked Ryan to tell us what he knew about God, what it meant to be a Christian, and what Jesus did on the cross. He wasn’t able to really answer the questions (I think he knows the answer, but was being timid and not wanting to really answer, thinking he’d say the wrong thing). I then asked him about Adam and Eve, and he was able to give a little detail on that. I then asked him if he wanted to read the story of Adam and Eve and their fall. He said yes, so we turned our Bibles to Genesis 3 as I had Robin read aloud the first few verses of the chapter. Once she was finished, I explained the story of how they were perfect and then decided to "break God’s rules." I then asked him to repeat the story back to me in his own words, which he did. I told them that because of what they did, that’s why we all do bad things.

From there, I wanted to take him down the "Romans Road" and give him the gospel, explaining what Jesus did for us. I first took him to Romans 3:23 and had him read that aloud. I explained to him that we all do bad things, even mommy and daddy, and that was because of what Adam and Eve did. From there, we then went to Romans 6:23 and I explained to him how wages work. I told him how I go to work to make money (wages), and showed how doing bad things earns us a "bad" type of money that leads us to hell. Then I told Ryan how Jesus gave us a free gift in Jesus Christ so that we wouldn’t have to go to hell. We then flipped over to Romans 5:8, which I read to him. I used this to explain that even though we’re bad people and do bad things by breaking God’s rules, God still loved us enough to send His Son, Jesus Christ, to take the punishment for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to go to hell. I used this to detail what Jesus had done for us and who He is. He understood all of that, having a worried look on his face, knowing that he had done bad things. We finally turned to Romans 10:9, 10 and I showed him what he needed to do to be saved. I told Ryan that he needed to believe everything about Jesus and then tell God that he was "sorry" for all the bad that he had done and that he wanted to live for Him. He clearly said that he believed that Jesus was the Son of God, lived a perfect life, died on the cross, and rose again on the third day. I made it clear that by believing and trusting those things, that Jesus had taken his punishment for him.

I then asked Ryan if he wanted to pray, repent of his sins, and become a Christian. It took him a minute or two to answer, but he said that he did. His only concern was that he didn’t know how to pray (other than saying grace before a meal) and asked if I could help him. I told him I would. Before we did, I made sure again that he understood what he was about to do. I even went down some of the Commandments and asked if he had broken those. He said yes to them (i.e. lying, hating people, stealing, etc.) and realized that he had broken God’s rules. We then bowed and I had him repeat a prayer, thanking God for sending His Son and for saving and forgiving him of his sins, then telling God that he wanted to live for Him. After we said amen, I told him that he was now a Christian.

Before we ended, I gave him a little talk on some of the things that he needed to do in order to live for God and to be a good Christian. I asked him first what he thought he needed to do. He said things like, "listen to mommy and daddy" and "be nice to my brother and sister." I also explained that it meant following directions at school and making good decisions (being responsible, which has been as issue of late). I also told him that it meant reading his Bible everyday to learn more about God, Jesus, and how to be a better Christian, as well as praying. I also told him about repenting to God when he did bad things.

All in all, I’m a very happy father right now. I praise the Lord that He has claimed another one of His own and that it’s my oldest son. It’s my prayer now that I will be able to continue to walk with him and train him up in the Faith and that he would be an example both to his siblings and friends. Thank You Jesus! Now that’s what’s up!

LaRosa Johnson Faith, Family, Ryan