LaRosa Johnson {dot} com

I’m not big on making resolutions for the new year, but I’ll admit that I have spent the past few days mulling over ideas. Not ideas of how I can improve myself or anything like that. Instead, I’m sitting here trying to think about ideas for ways to do more with Trailblazin Ministries in 2010.

Coming into this year I had come up with a few ideas that I thought were going to work out rather well. One of my goals was to start on a devotion series for 1st Thessalonians, after having finished James in December of 2008. Well, it got started but not until April, primarily because it took me forever to get my outline together for chapter one, and I’m still only part way through my outline for chapter two as we near the close of the year. The other major idea was to begin a study on spiritual gifts. That plan didn’t come together at all; I didn’t even get a chance to start on it. I guess the Lord had other plans & didn’t allow that to ever come together.

2009 wasn’t entirely a disappointment. The site got moved to a backend content management system (from Movable Type to Joomla to Drupal), as well as a much needed redesign. In terms of running the site, things are going a lot more smoothly. Plus, George Sly took on a bigger part this year, adding his own devotion series. So, I won’t complain. Even though all of the plans didn’t come together as expected, it was still a solid year.

Now, as I get ready to move into 2010, I really have a burden for putting up more content on Trailblazin Ministries, and doing it more consistently. I’m determined to get away from the music (not entirely, but it’ll take a major backseat to teaching), and I want there to be a heavy emphasis on teaching the Bible. There are two ideas that are really sitting in the forefront of my mind, but I really don’t know if I have the motivation to do them, even though I think they’d be great ideas.

The first idea is to have Trailblazin Ministries go through the entire Bible. I had thought about doing it in a single year, but that would be about 5-6 chapters per day, Monday through Friday; yet, if I do it in two years, it cuts the reading in half. Now, along with that, I would give my own summary & commentary of sorts on the text that’s being read. The big thing is that it’s such a major commitment and I don’t want to get it started and then quit a month or two into it. I’m afraid to try because I know my tendency to not see things through, as well as not really knowing how heavy my schedule may be. But, if I don’t try, I won’t know if I could have ever done it.

The second idea is more feasible, but I’m still not quite sure how it would work. It would be to do a “word study of the week” where I pick a Greek or Hebrew word and put together a word study on it, with definition, a listing of its usages, and so on. The only real hard part here is that most of my original language resources are in copyright and I don’t want to run into any kind of copyright issues if I have to copy & paste text. That’s really the only big hurdle and it’d be easy enough to plan out the list for the entire year.

Not to mention, I’d also like to do something more with my podcast.

All of this would be on top of maintaining the 1st Thessalonians devotion series, as well as any other content. I’d love to make this happen, but quite frankly I’m scared of failure. I really don’t want to start something and not see it through. So, pray for me, pray that I can get some clear direction for which way to take Trailblazin Ministries in 2010. If you have any ideas for content or for the podcast, feel free to pass them along. I’m open to all ideas, and I’ll at least consider them.

LaRosa Johnson Ministry bible study, Ministry, new year, planning, Trailblazin Ministries

Tonight while I was eating dinner with my family, I had a thought. I started to have a thought about the future and possibilities that may come my way. In particular, I was thinking about the very real chance that I may be called by the Lord to pastor a church in another city or state. With that, I started to think about the very real possibility that the church may not be in a position to support me financially; what would I do? I immediately looked at my current job and wondered about the chances for me to maintain full-time (or part-time?) employment with WORDsearch Corp. working remotely while I pastor a church elsewhere. How would WORDsearch react if that were ever to become a reality? The thought isn’t so much about my job per se, because I know the Lord will provide regardless; but, I must admit that I love my job and what I do and would ever hate to leave it.

Anyway, the thought came to mind as I was looking through some old photos (back in my skinny days) of when Robin & I first met and when we were in our house in Jacksonville, NC. It brought back some nice memories and the very real thought of how much I enjoyed living there. Then I thought about when I found out about Jacksonville Bible Church a couple months ago, and wonder about the probability of God presenting me with a pastorate at that church. That would be wild and I wouldn’t put it past God, and that’s part of what made me think about working remotely. Why? Because I remember what the job market was like when I left, and I wouldn’t want to change jobs if it was a church that couldn’t pay me to be their pastor.

Another reason that all of this comes to mind is that I think about my own pastor and how he worked the night shift at the sheriff’s department during his first few years of pastoring our church until they finally came to the decision that they wanted him to solely focus on being a pastor & dedicating himself to studying the Word. I keep that in mind for myself. It’s definitely not something I’m opposed to because I realize that I’m definitely not in this for the money and am only worried about being where God wants me to be, paid or unpaid.

In talking with my friend, Antoine, tonight, I told him that I’d even be perfectly content if all that God ever had for me was Trailblazin Ministries. I look at other people I know who are ordained and have never pastored a church or had to wait for years for that opportunity. I don’t know what God has in store, but I do know that I’m going to remain diligent and focused whatever my ministry assignment is. All of this is just speculation on my end, as I have no clue what God has in store; all I know is that I will keep my prayers centered on keeping myself in His will. Amen.

LaRosa Johnson Ministry decisions, Ministry, pastors

I really like how God shows up in my life. Just the other day I was thinking to myself that I’m not doing anything other than wasting time by being on sites like facebook, and had even contemplated closing the account. Well, today God spoke up and showed me that ministry can even happen on facebook.

A few weeks ago (I think) I accepted an invitation from a guy I knew from high school. Didn’t think anything of it other than having another high school acquaintance in my list. Well, this morning I get to work and I have a message from this guy; he’s completely sharing his heart with me and seeking a bit of spiritual advice. It caught me completely off guard because we weren’t close in school and hadn’t seen each other since high school over 9 years ago. Yet, even with that, he scoped out my profile, saw my walk with the Lord and felt that he could confide in me. Wow!

Needless to say, I hooked him up on his request and will now keep him and his family in my prayers as they continue to grow in their walk with the Lord. It’s just awesome how God can take the most ordinary and everyday things and turn them into ministry opportunities. I thank God for the open door and for allowing me to be prepared with a response. I look forward to seeing what happens next!

LaRosa Johnson Life, Ministry facebook, friends, high school, Ministry

I had Greek class tonight, and it was a lot of business as usual; but, I can feel that I’m really starting to pick up on stuff and have it make sense to me. Like tonight, I actually felt like I understood the material and was getting somewhere with it. I was even reading the Greek text with more ease than I had been. The best part was doing exercises and being able to answer some of the questions without even thinking, that felt good.

Overall, I’m still encouraged and taking it day by day. The Lord is blessing and I’m feeling better equipped to teach His word. But don’t stop praying for me, I still need all the prayer I can get.

LaRosa Johnson Bible, Ministry church, greek, Ministry

This morning at church, Austin Bible Church held its first men’s prayer meeting. It was a great time of fellowship with other men of God. One of the best parts is that a good majority of the men in the church showed up for it, which in & of itself is a great thing. It is definitely a testimony to the teaching that we’re getting from our pastor and the level of respect that we have for him.

As for the event itself, it was great talking to the men and just enjoying the company of one another. After the food, which was delicious, Pastor Bob picked out a few men and had them share their prayer requests, and after each one another man took those requests before the Lord on their behalf. After doing that for a half hour or so, we then got a devotional & encouraging word from one of our elder statesmen, John Miller, a retired pastor. I definitely left encouraged. After a closing prayer, we closed & departed our separate ways.

I can’t wait until our next one, whenever it is!

LaRosa Johnson Life, Ministry fellowship, men, Ministry, prayer

The other day I was listening to Evangel’s solo album Expository Journey, and it was a good listen. It definitely reminded me of why it was a top 3 album for me in 2008. Well, this morning I woke up and I got to thinking about ministry and my training. In getting through my thoughts, there were plenty of mixed emotions, highs & lows, patience & impatience, and so on.

A part of this hit me yesterday when my wife & I agreed to renew our lease for another two years (instead of just doing it for a year, as we had done before). In previous years I was slow to want to make a commitment for that long because I really wasn’t sure where we’d be at that point in time. When I looked at my ministry training, though, I didn’t have a second thought about renewing our lease for two years. You see, at the very least, I know I have at least two years left (this year & next) for my ministry training. At most, I know I will have made it through my requisite three years of Greek and two years of Hebrew (if all goes as planned). Hopefully by that time, I’ll also be that much closer to being prepared for ordination and ministry.

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LaRosa Johnson LaRosa, Life, Ministry bible study, Ministry, patience