From My Heart and Mind

James Teyler, the second son of Mark and Tracy Teyler, very dear family friends, wrote me recently and asked for advice as he has just started a new ministry fresh out of college.  It's kind of weird because I can still picture he and my son Kurt riding bikes up the street when they were 10 years old!  But boys become men and some men become giants.  So here is my note to a man I pray becomes a giant: Dear James, Thank you for asking me to share with you some insights that I have had during my time as a Pastor.  Congratulations on your position at your home church and congratulations on finishing at Biola.  You are truly a blessed man to have a great combination of wonderful biological family, church family, Christian education at a really good school and a chance to serve others now in your position as Jr. High Pastor.  You have been given much and now much will be required of you (Luke 12:48).   I thought and prayed about your request for advice and I came up with one

I am looking for 40 friends (you would have to be a VERY good friend to do this) so read below carefully.  But I PROMISE to keep my end of the bargain also: It's time!  3 1/2 years ago I resigned from leading a wonderful church and left the ministry to work on areas of my life long neglected and in need of much transformation.  Five Pastor/Leaders and many others have helped Sallie and I renew our marriage, refocus our life, re-prioritize and heal areas of my life personally, our marriage and our ministry focus.  But it is now time to start making plans to re-enter the calling that God gave me when I was a college student- to lead the body of Christ using my spiritual gifts, talents and abilities.  Sallie is ready too-- really ready!  So I have been thinking and praying and I came up with an idea-- I want to challenge 40 people in my life- close people, people who know us well, who have walked with us, those who love us, to join us in a journey from October 10 to Thanksgiving.

My wife of almost 26 years (anniversary on August 16th) turns 50 on August 5th.  When Sallie turned 40 I planned a surprise birthday party for her.  Our new church had about 250-300 people coming after a couple of years and many of them made plans to attend Sallie's party.  Unfortunately for all of us Sallie got stuck at work with a dying patient and baby and never made it to her surprise party.  It was a terrible day for Sallie.  About 100 people enjoyed a party but without the guest of honor.  So, no more surprise parties.   So this year we are planning a few days at the beach quietly with family.  No surprises.  If you know our family and especially Sallie and would like to send her a greeting you can email her at salliejohnsonrn@gmail.com.  Sallie has a Facebook page but does not interact a lot with it.  But feel free to post there too.   For those of you who know her, Sallie is one INCREDIBLE woman.  She has a massive heart for God and deep love for people.  If you are her

Last week I spent seven days river rafting through 190 miles of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.  The Grand Canyon compares in my mind to the Louvre in Paris or to the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.  They are so big you cannot grasp them in just a few days.  Of course the Grand Canyon is WAY bigger than the Louvre or the Smithsonian, but you know what I mean. Last summer when I was standing on the north rim and looking out over the 18 mile gap between the north and south rim I said to myself, "There is no way this Canyon was formed by one river over millions of years."  In fact, the whole gradualism, particle-by-particle erosion theories seem very contrived to me.  What seems more obvious is that the Canyon was formed by a massive cataclysmic event sometime in the past.  My week deep inside the canyon gave me about 100 reasons to see and believe that with deep conviction. We had not been on the river more than five minutes when we stopped and hiked up the o

There are some advantages and disadvantages to living in the desert southwest of the United States.  Advantage #1 - it's sunny most of the year (320 days or more) and it never rains.  Houston, Texas (and many other places) can get more rain in one day than we get in one year if that tells you anything.  Disadvantage #1 - the 320 sunny days make it VERY hot for about four months out of the year.   Advantage #2 - We live near one of the greatest geological exhibits in all the world-  The Grand Canyon and the Great Basin.   Lately, I have become rather fascinated and intrigued (my wife might say obsessed, but really it's not that bad) with the geology, history, and beauty of the Grand Canyon and some of the lesser known areas of the southwest.  I fell in love with the Canyon when, as a college student, I hiked to the bottom of the GC and stayed with the Havasupai people.  Havasupai means "people of the blue green waters" as they have one of the most spectacular waterfa