Thursday, March 22, 2012

Have You Been to the Garden With Him?

Have You Been To The Garden With Him?
By Dr. Dave Johnson
Assemblies of God Missionary to the Philippines
www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com


“Did I not see you in the garden with Him?” one of the servants asked Peter in the high priest’s courtyard during the trial of Jesus (John 18:26). While most Christians have never been to the actual Garden of Gethsemane, the question can still be asked, “Have you been to the garden with Him?”

For Jesus, the garden was the crucible of his suffering. The stress was so great that he sweat blood.  It was here that Jesus, the God-Man, fully confronted his humanity. He was given the choice of two paths: his own or his Father’s. He was challenged with the ultimate moral choice to accept the Father’s will, which was the path of excruciating pain, or take the opportunity to opt out of the will of God and go his own way. The stakes could not have been higher as the eternity destiny of mankind hung in the balance. Heaven and Hell waited with bated breath, and angels and demons battled for the soul of the Savior.  Jesus made his choice in the garden, not on the cross.

Have you been to the garden with him? All of us, at one point or another in our lives, will be confronted with personal pain as part of our walk with God. Many, if not most, will face this choice more than once. For some in may be a short season, for others it will be longer. For some it will be some form of physical suffering through persecution, disability, or illness, for others the pain the pain will be emotional and mental. For me, the battle has been with depression and a deep sense of abandonment rooted in my mother’s unintended many absences from our home due to mental illness. These issues deeply impacted my relationship with Debbie, others, and how I felt about myself.

Have you been to the garden? If so, you have been presented with these two paths. Unlike Jesus, we may not have the opportunity to opt out of suffering, but we always have the chance to choose how we will respond to it. One way is to own your pain like Jesus did and say “nevertheless not my will, but Yours, be done” (Luke 22:42), knowing full well that the will of God meant the incalculable suffering. The other path is to ignore your pain, medicating it, like I did, by becoming a workaholic or, like others, through unresolved anger, bitterness, alcohol, drugs, pornography, illicit sex, and a million other false remedies that offer a temporary panacea but no ultimate healing.

Have you been to the garden with him? If so, you may understand that one may “come to the garden alone,” as the old hymn goes, but one does not have to walk alone. In our darkest hour, when Debbie and I had almost lost hope, Jesus was there. He helped us confront and work through the greatest pain we have ever known. And He didn’t do it alone. Our families, and friends too numerous to name, walked with us, loving us in a manner so seldom seen yet so desperately needed in the Body of Christ today. We would have never survived without them. Because of Jesus and others, though I am still working through some issues and must still choose which path I will follow, immeasurable healing has taken place. To the glory of God, there is a renewed freshness in my relationship with God, our marriage has been healed, and fellowship with others have been strengthened and deepened. New vistas of ministry are opening for us, and the future, though fraught with peril, is brighter than ever.

Have you been to the garden with him?

*All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation.  For automatic notification of future blogs please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “join this site.”

Copyright 2012 Dr. Dave Johnson 

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Spring 2012 Newsletter








Spring 2012 Newsletter







Strengthening Relationships for a Greater Harvest

By Debbie




      In 2007, we began a wonderful ministry of training lay workers in small schools around our Bicol district to plant house churches.  The movement has now grown to include 14 schools and 207 house churches scattered throughout the region.  Praise the Lord for His goodness and blessing.
      But now we are gearing up to add a second year of training that will help all of us to carry out the Great Commission more effectively.  One of the greatest challenges of the harvest is the quality of relationships we Christians have with one another while we reach out to those who don’t know Christ.  Sometimes we forget Jesus’ greatest commandment - to love God and love one another.  Jesus’ heart was to create a church with a culture of love. 
      Our hearts as missionaries to the Philippines is to strengthen these relationships between believers as we work with our brothers and sisters in Christ to reach the lost.  Dave often says these days, “we need to get better before we get bigger.”  In truth, we are all broken vessels that the Lord has chosen, washed, and made fit for His use.  But we are still in process and we desperately need the love, encouragement, and safety-net of healthy, mature relationships where we can go with our fears and weaknesses and know we will be built up and prayed for without criticism.
      Because of this great challenge, our main focus will be on creating a mentoring program for strengthening relationships amongst those involved in house church planting. Eventually, we hope to make this program available to all of our pastors.  Of course we will also address the current ministry concerns of the students.
      Please pray with us that the fruit for God’s glory will be abundant both now and in the years to come.


Missionary Hats (by Dave)

    A missionary must wear many hats, often within the same day or week. Some we wear often, others are for special occasions.

    One recent week serves as an excellent example. On Monday, I wore my “host missionary hat” as two advance men came from First Assembly of God in West Monroe, LA, to get ready for a team that arrived the following Sunday. They came to do major renovations to our Bible school, Evangel Bible College. We spent several days running all over town, buying everything from paint to power saws, and working with the Bible school leadership to determine what repairs would be made and in what priority. At the time of this writing, the team is still here and doing a great job!

    In my case, hosting this team required me to master the art of driving a Filipino jeepney--a type of transportation whose hood design came from an American military jeep and has two long seats in the back where the passengers sit facing each other. My attempts at driving it with a dozen Americans inside have already driven many to prayer!

   Since many Filipinos speak English, the language is usually not a problem but sometimes different words mean different things. To a Filipino a hostess is a prostitute, not a woman who seats people in restaurants. A tomboy is a lesbian, not a girl who climbs trees and plays men's sports. The bathroom is called a comfort room, an often inaccurate description.  These things can be easily corrected, but other cultural issues are more challenging, requiring the missionary to put on the hat of "cultural mediator."

    During this week we also had an evangelistic outreach nearby, so I put on my "evangelist" hat on two evenings. Fortunately I put this one on fairly often, and God continues to bless our efforts with his presence.

    On top of this, we are also completing the translation of the study notes, articles, etc., of the Full Life Study Bible (aka Fire Bible or Life in the Spirit Study Bible), and I am the managing editor.  This project has been a partnership between Life Publishers--the publishing arm of the Assemblies of God World Missions, and the Philippine Bible Society. My major responsibility has been to keep the partnership functioning well--and it has. But this week a couple of issues came up that demanded my involvement, so I put on my "managing editors" hat.

    While this was an unusually busy week, constantly switching hats is just part of being a missionary.

Let’s Connect!

    If you like, you can call us on our toll   free Vonage line at (616) 855-1151. Even though this is a US number, it only rings at our house here in the Philippines! We’re 12 hours ahead of the East Coast.

    If you aren’t hearing from us by email and would like to do so, please write Dave at dave.johnson@agmd.org and asked to be placed on the mailing list. Also, if you want to visit our website and Dave’s Blogspot, just google “Dr Dave Johnson” and everything will come up. From our website you can connect with Dave on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. Most of our prayer requests and news updates are posted on the social media.

    Thanks for making it possible for us to be here. We couldn’t do it without you!  We love you and appreciate you ! 

    Please continue to pray that many souls will come into the kingdom and be built up in Christ.

Dave and Debbie Johnson

















Spring 2012 Newsletter




Strengthening Relationships for a Greater Harvest
By Debbie



In 2007, we began a wonderful ministry of training lay workers in small schools around our Bicol district to plant house churches. The movement has now grown to include 14 schools and 207 house churches scattered throughout the region. Praise the Lord for His goodness and blessing.
But now we are gearing up to add a second year of training that will help all of us to carry out the Great Commission more effectively. One of the greatest challenges of the harvest is the quality of relationships we Christians have with one another while we reach out to those who don’t know Christ. Sometimes we forget Jesus’ greatest commandment - to love God and love one another. Jesus’ heart was to create a church with a culture of love.
Our hearts as missionaries to the Philippines is to strengthen these relationships between believers as we work with our brothers and sisters in Christ to reach the lost. Dave often says these days, “we need to get better before we get bigger.” In truth, we are all broken vessels that the Lord has chosen, washed, and made fit for His use. But we are still in process and we desperately need the love, encouragement, and safety-net of healthy, mature relationships where we can go with our fears and weaknesses and know we will be built up and prayed for without criticism.
Because of this great challenge, our main focus will be on creating a mentoring program for strengthening relationships amongst those involved in house church planting. Eventually, we hope to make this program available to all of our pastors. Of course we will also address the current ministry concerns of the students.
Please pray with us that the fruit for God’s glory will be abundant both now and in the years to come.


Missionary Hats (by Dave)

A missionary must wear many hats, often within the same day or week. Some we wear often, others are for special occasions.

One recent week serves as an excellent example. On Monday, I wore my “host missionary hat” as two advance men came from First Assembly of God in West Monroe, LA, to get ready for a team that arrived the following Sunday. They came to do major renovations to our Bible school, Evangel Bible College. We spent several days running all over town, buying everything from paint to power saws, and working with the Bible school leadership to determine what repairs would be made and in what priority. At the time of this writing, the team is still here and doing a great job!

In my case, hosting this team required me to master the art of driving a Filipino jeepney--a type of transportation whose hood design came from an American military jeep and has two long seats in the back where the passengers sit facing each other. My attempts at driving it with a dozen Americans inside have already driven many to prayer!

Since many Filipinos speak English, the language is usually not a problem but sometimes different words mean different things. To a Filipino a hostess is a prostitute, not a woman who seats people in restaurants. A tomboy is a lesbian, not a girl who climbs trees and plays men's sports. The bathroom is called a comfort room, an often inaccurate description. These things can be easily corrected, but other cultural issues are more challenging, requiring the missionary to put on the hat of "cultural mediator."

During this week we also had an evangelistic outreach nearby, so I put on my "evangelist" hat on two evenings. Fortunately I put this one on fairly often, and God continues to bless our efforts with his presence.

On top of this, we are also completing the translation of the study notes, articles, etc., of the Full Life Study Bible (aka Fire Bible or Life in the Spirit Study Bible), and I am the managing editor. This project has been a partnership between Life Publishers--the publishing arm of the Assemblies of God World Missions, and the Philippine Bible Society. My major responsibility has been to keep the partnership functioning well--and it has. But this week a couple of issues came up that demanded my involvement, so I put on my "managing editors" hat.

While this was an unusually busy week, constantly switching hats is just part of being a missionary.

Let’s Connect!

If you like, you can call us on our toll free Vonage line at (616) 855-1151. Even though this is a US number, it only rings at our house here in the Philippines! We’re 12 hours ahead of the East Coast.

If you aren’t hearing from us by email and would like to do so, please write Dave at dave.johnson@agmd.org and asked to be placed on the mailing list. Also, if you want to visit our website and Dave’s Blogspot, just google “Dr Dave Johnson” and everything will come up. From our website you can connect with Dave on Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter. Most of our prayer requests and news updates are posted on the social media.

Thanks for making it possible for us to be here. We couldn’t do it without you! We love you and appreciate you !

Please continue to pray that many souls will come into the kingdom and be built up in Christ.

Dave and Debbie Johnson

Sunday, March 11, 2012

A Missionary's Many Hats

A Missionary's Many Hats
by Dr. Dave Johnson


A missionary must wear many hats, often within the same day or week. Some we wear often. Others we put on for special occasions.

This past week has been one of the special occasions in which I wore my "host missionary" hat. On Monday two advance men came from First Assembly of God in West Monroe, LA, to get ready for a team that was supposed to arrive on Saturday, but didn't arrive until Sunday, to do major, much needed renovations to our Bible school, Evangel Bible College. We spent several days running all over town, buying everything from paint to power saws, and working with the Bible school leadership to determine what repairs would be made and in what priority.

Since many Filipinos speak English the language is usally not a problem but sometimes different words mean different things. To a Filipino a hostess is a prostitute, not a woman who seats people in resturants. A tomboy is a lesbian, not a girl who climbs trees and plays men's sports. The bathroom is called a comfort room, which is often not an accurate description.  On the other hand, the upraised middle finger is only significant to those Filipinos who have watched too many American movies. But while these things can be easily corrected, other cultural issues are more challenging, requiring the missionary to put on the hat of "cultural mediator." In the middle can be an uncomfortable place to be.

In my case, hosting this team required me to master the art of driving a Filipino jeepney--a type of transportation whose hood design came from an American military jeep and has two long seats in the back where the passengers sit facing each other. My attempts at driving one have already driven many to prayer!

During this week we also had an evangelistic outreach nearby, so I put on my "evangelist" hat on two evenings. Fortunately I put this one on fairly often, and God continues to bless our efforts with his presence.

We are also completing the translation of the study notes, articles, etc., of the Full Life Study Bible (aka Fire Bible or Life in the Spirit Study Bible), and I am the managing editor.  This project has been a partnership between Life Publishers--the publishing arm of the Assemblies of God World Missions, and the Philippine Bible Society. My major responsibility has been to keep the partnership functioning well--and it has. But this week a couple of issues came up that demanded my involvement, so I put on my "managing editor's" hat, a role with which I am familiar.

This is all part of the job, but it does make for a long week--one in which I wore many hats.

 *All Scripture references are from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

PLEASE NOTE: Permission is hereby given to forward, print, and post this blog as long as it is done as a complete blog, and its authorship is acknowledged. Thank you for your cooperation.  For automatic notification of future blogs please visit www.drdavejohnson.blogspot.com and click on “join this site.”

Copyright 2012 Dr. Dave Johnson 

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Missionary Nature of God

God is a missionary God.  We could not know God unless God chose to reveal himself to us.  That we have a Bible in our hands and that the Bible is God’s revelation of himself clearly indicates that God desires to be known.  The question, then, is not “What is the Biblical basis of missions,” but “What is the missionary basis for the Bible?”

            The idea, then, of evangelism and missions—telling people who God is flows from the very nature of God himself.  Also, from Genesis To Revelation, God always reveals himself as the God of all nations, not simply the God of Israel. 

            Throughout the Scriptures, God reveals himself and his will to people. 

I.                    Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8)
(In the Garden of Eden)

II.                 Abraham (Gen 12:1-3)
A.              The aftermath of Babel (Gen. 11:1-6)
1.            They had refused God’s command to disburse over the earth and were united in rebellion against God.
2.            God dealt with the rebellion by dividing them into various people groups (or ethnic groups) in order to reconcile them to himself.
B.  The Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3)
1.            The posterity
2.            The land
3.            The seed (cf. Gal. 3:16)
C.  The Covenant is Reiterated to Both Isaac and Jacob

III.               The Nation of Israel (Ex. 19:6)

A.              The Psalms
1.            Ps 2:8 I will give you the nations as your inheritance
2.            Ps 46:10 “I will be exalted among the nations.
3.            Ps 67-Nine references to “the peoples, nations, the ends of the earth.”
B.              The prophets
1.            Is 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth…”
2.            Hab. 2:14 The whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.
3.            Joel 2:28-3:12 The Spirit of God will be poured out on all flesh, and God will judge all nations.
4.            Micah 4:1-4 Prophesies the day when all nations will come to worship God.

IV.              Jesus Christ


A.  The Incarnation (Jn 1:1, 14) (Gal. 4:14)
1.            The Word was God
2.            The Word Became Flesh

C.              The Cross

1.            2 Cor. 5:18 God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.
2.            2 Cor. 5:21 “God made him who….”


V.                 The Church
A.              The Great Commission
1.            Matthew 28:18020
2.            Mark 16:15-20
3.            Luke 24:47
4.            John 20:21
5.            Acts 1:8

B.              The Book of Acts