John Johnson Journalist Profile

Articles

12 Defining Moments: The Moment to Conclude

Jan 16, 2025 | preachingtoday.com | John Johnson |Matt Erickson

Maybe Frederick Buechner is right. Maybe all moments are key moments. “In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it.” And yet, not all moments are equal. I believe that God has reserved some of these to meet us as he did Jacob in the night. There are these epiphanies under this open heaven that catch us unawares. Moments where the miraculous waits to be unwrapped within.
Preaching Through Darkness

Oct 31, 2024 | preachingtoday.com | Sean Palmer |John Johnson |Dave Ferguson

Barbara Brown Taylor writes in Learning to Walk In The Dark, “I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light.” She’s right. In her remarkable career as a pastor, professor, writer, and homiletician, she may have never been righter, at least not for me, right now. My brother died last July.
12 Defining Moments: The Moment to Grow

Sep 26, 2024 | preachingtoday.com | John Johnson |Andrew Finch

In Sacred Rhythms, Ruth Haley Barton begins with the words, “One of the things that still surprises me this far along in life is how and when and with what power my longing stirs.” Slow for a moment and ponder her statement. Do you find yourself experiencing the same wonder? Desire is an integral part of life. It explains why, amid our ministry task, we find ourselves facing occasional restlessness. We come to seasons when we begin to long for a new chapter.
Deterrence Can Only Return with Regained Economic Might

Sep 4, 2024 | nationaldefensemagazine.org | John Johnson

Viewpoint: Deterrence Can Only Return with Regained Economic MightThe struggles we see happening around the world suggest that the United States is no longer capable of deterring aggression and promoting international stability. The United States’ ability to deter actions contrary to global stability has steadily declined. Beyond its borders and without direct U.S. military involvement, the nation is unable to deter hostilities between other nations or factions upon each other.
12 Defining Moments: The Moment of Realism

Aug 22, 2024 | preachingtoday.com | John Johnson |Mark Buchanan |Aaron Damiani

Editor’s Note: If you have missed any articles in this series, be sure to check out the Introduction article, where you can find all of the articles that have been released. Walking the Oregon coast, I am learning to pay attention. There is this mysterious advance and retreat. Tuned to the orbits of the sun and moon, tides run their course. In a fishing community, if you miss the tide, you miss the whole day. You go, ready or not. In my walks, I have learned to adjust.
Automakers creating new steels to make safer, more fuel-efficient cars

Aug 9, 2024 | thehindu.com | John Johnson

Like many useful innovations, it seems, the creation of high-quality steel by Indian metallurgists more than two thousand years ago may have been a happy confluence of clever workmanship and luck. Firing chunks of iron with charcoal in a special clay container produced something completely new, which the Indians called wootz. Roman armies were soon wielding wootz steel swords to terrify and subdue the wild, hairy tribes of ancient Europe.
12 Defining Moments: The Moment to Engage

Jul 25, 2024 | preachingtoday.com | John Johnson |Bill White |Greg Scharf |Mark Batterson

“Time,” writes Os Guinness, “is too much for our minds to figure out and too great for our ingenuity to outwit.” At best, we hope to redeem the time God grants us. This requires that we seize moments that come during our ministries. So far, we’ve explored six. The seventh moment calls for even greater vigilance. Will we lead the church to effectively impact culture? Standing atop Mars Hill in Athens on a recent journey, I tried to imagine the Apostle Paul’s moment of cultural seizure.
12 Defining Moments: The Moment to Take a Stand

Jun 20, 2024 | preachingtoday.com | John Johnson |Mike Woodruff |Scott Gibson

Editor’s Note: If you have missed any articles in this series, be sure to check out the Introduction article, where you can find all of the articles that have been released. If we want to do ministry well, we will have to learn how to tell time.
12 Defining Moments: The Moment to Decide

Apr 24, 2024 | preachingtoday.com | John Johnson |Bri Johns

Among the leadership myths many pastors embrace is the myth of the heroic leader, the one called and anointed to single-handedly guide and manage the church. It’s not surprising. Most of us begin in small works. By necessity, we are expected to run the board, take ownership of fiduciary matters, oversee policies and procedures, determine outcomes, preach, pray, and do visitation. Oh, and make the coffee. Pastoral training does not help. Few resources discuss team building.
12 Defining Moments: The Moment to Find One’s Voice

Mar 21, 2024 | preachingtoday.com | John Johnson

There is no task in ministry more daunting or demanding than preaching. Maybe it is because we are expending our souls. Handing over a piece of ourselves to those who have come to hear. Theologian Thomas Oden refers to preaching as “the most public of pastoral acts.” People observe our features and gestures. They see into our intellect, emotions, heart, and soul. We have this commitment to get the scriptures into the minds and hearts, arms and legs, ears and mouths of men and women.