Trailblazin Ministries Blog

Exciting Times in Ministry

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
filed under: LaRosa, Ministry » Leave a comment

Ministry has really become exciting of late, more than it normally is anyway. There has been a lot going on, along with some things in the works, and they have left me with a good feeling about where I am in life right now and the direction that God is taking me and Trailblazin Ministries.

A lot of the more recent happenings started a couple weeks ago, especially in terms of what's about to take place at Trailblazin Ministries, but I will get to that in a moment. First, I want to talk about the opportunity I had this past weekend. It all started last Tuesday (April 22nd) when I got an instant message from my pastor; he was letting me know that there was a teaching opportunity at another church available for that Sunday if I was available. Not having anything planned, I accepted the invitation to preach at Gulf Coast Bible Church in Sweeny, TX. It was to fill in for their current pastor who had just had surgery and wasn't able to preach from the pulpit that week. So, we (the wife and kids) made the 3 hour drive down to Sweeny on Saturday afternoon and had dinner with the pastor (Pastor Emil Schmidt) and his wife. It was a blessed time of introducing ourselves to one another and allowing him to share some of his ministry experience with me (I walked away with some Greek flash cards that he had done years ago).

After spending the night at another couple's house, I got to the church and preached during both morning services. I didn't teach anything new, as I taught my Romans 1:16 and Civilian Affairs studies. I was able to finish both messages right on time with the schedule he had given me, and I was able to get through my entire outline without any troubles. I even felt a lot more comfortable in the pulpit this time around; I was more comfortable in my speech (at least it felt that way) and I was overall more relaxed. I got several compliments afterwards and everyone seemed to enjoy the teaching, which is always good (that they enjoyed the teaching, but the compliments aren't bad either LOL). Once we had lunch at another family's house, we were back on the road to the ATX, where we were able to get back in town in time for me to still make it to my Greek class (much to Robin and the kids' displeasure).

Anyway, that's that. The point of my sharing that was just to relay the opportunity that the Lord provided, as well as noting my growing level of comfortability.

This next piece is something that is really getting me excited though, as it is marking the growth of Trailblazin Ministries. About a week or so ago, I had posted in the TM forum that I was thinking about starting an Old Testament survey devotion series alongside the James series I was already teaching and asked for feedback. Most people were excited about it, but there were a few that cautioned me about taking on too much and burning out, which I definitely took to heart. With that, some people even expressed interest in helping to write and make that happen. Couple that with a message from a friend suggesting that I ask people from the forum to become writers for the site and do that series, and and idea was starting to grow. That weekend, I was online speaking with Antoine and just discussing the idea and I had made mention that I wasn't too sure about just bringing people on and not knowing what their doctrinal background was, and so forth. Hearing that, he mentioned the idea of discipling people so that there can be a level of agreement and accountability for anyone who wants to become a writer. I really liked the idea, and from there we really started to brainstorm some ideas.

After about an hour or so of brainstorming, the idea for a Trailblazin Ministries discipleship program was born and a lot of the beginning stages were already set to go. From there, I drew up the purpose and objectives, and then bounced the idea off my brain trust of believers (including my pastor and one of the deacons from the church). Everyone seemed to think it was a great idea and offered additional feedback, so the project was on! So, right now I'm putting together the website and curriculum material for the first batch of people who are going to go through this training program in order to become Trailblazin Ministries staff writers.

Now, before I get ahead of myself, what is for? The basic premise of the program (officially named Trailblazin Ministries - Steps Discipleship Training) is to make sure that there is a certain level of doctrinal agreement amongst the staff (so that we can be like minded), that they know how to properly study and exegete the Scriptures, and how to accurately relay the truth of God's Word through written communication.

I'm really looking forward to getting this launched some time in May and seeing where the Lord takes it. I can already see how the Lord can and will use it to fulfill the site's mission statement of training up disciples who will train others, as well as increasing the depth of content on the website from more than one lone individual (myself). So, keep that in prayer if you could, and look to hear an official announcement concerning it when the time is right.

So, between the both of those things, the Lord is really blessing in my life and I can't help but to want to see what He has in store for me next!

So I Preached Again...

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Thursday, 13 March 2008
filed under: Ministry » Leave a comment

So I preached again last night (listen here). My pastor was out of town to attend the Chafer Theological Seminary Bible Conference, and had asked me to teach in his absence.

After it was all said & done, I'm still not sure how I feel about it. For one, I've never been (and probably never will be) fond of public speaking and it's something I would rather not do, if given the choice. My character is such that I like to play the wall or work in the background without anyone ever seeing my face. Yet, at the same time, I have this overbearing urge and desire to preach and teach the Word of God to His people, that is 100% undeniable. Sure, I have my web ministry that I use for teaching, but that doesn't feel like enough, I feel like I should be in front of people proclaiming gospel truth (as much as I hate being in front of people and speaking in public). I'm much more comfortable pounding the keys where I have time to think about my words and choose them wisely, as opposed to having to keep my mouth constantly going and trying not to fumble over my words (which I'm always prone to do).

We shall see where time takes me, but I did feel a sense of accomplishment when it was all said & done. I got through all of my material, which I actually had to cut short by way of skipping over the reading of a few passages, so that was a great thing. In that sense, it was mission accomplished and the Word of God went forth. Needless to say, I'm glad that it's the Holy Spirit working through me to change & affect lives, and nothing that I'm doing on my own; I'm glad to just be the tool or voicebox.

God definitely has a sense of humor in all of this... giving someone a gift to do something He knows that they'll hate. I guess in that way, He's always assured of getting the glory, as a result of my blatant weakness. Funny to think about how often I have dreams of being in a pulpit full-time, as much as I loathe the thought of being in front of people speaking on a regular basis. But, again, it's all in God's hands and He already knows what's up.

Oh yeah, by the way, feel free to critique my lesson...

The Ultimate Bible Software Application: Semi-Final Thoughts

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, 04 March 2008
filed under: Bible, Tech Stuff » 5 Comments

Today has been a very interesting day and has taken me on quite a journey. I've gone from thinking that something like this would be nearly out of reach to seeing it partially be a reality to finally realizing a lot of the logistics for why something like this has not happened to date. It started with Jon speaking about some of the projects that were already out there in the open source arena under the Sword Project and thinking about how to utilize that to possibly have a united platform. This then led to a long discussion with a co-worker and my manager simply discussing the possibilities and logistics of doing such a thing.

To summarize, without revealing inside information, an open source project is great for the consumer, but a very risky business move, especially for an already established company. Not that Bible software companies aren't already in competition with one another, but with a single open source it would open the door for putting companies in direct competition with one another if one were to move exclusively to an open source platform. The reason being is that a lot of contracts & books overlap between companies & publishers (i.e. Logos & WORDsearch have the rights to publish a lot of the same titles) and this would allow for them to compete with one another with the exact same product (therefore whoever had the best marketing and/or prices would win out). Right now, you can buy a book in Logos, but you can only use it there; therefore, if you use WORDsearch, you are forced to buy their version for it to work in their software. So, if you are now publishing books in the same format for the same base software, you are in head-to-head competition with one another, which isn't a good thing for the companies trying to keep a profit & remain in business (albeit a great scenario for the user). Then, you throw in the publishers, who basically only care about getting their royalty checks, and you have another issue altogether (as they could easily put a halt to all of this).

The one thing that could work is for an established company to start selling their books in, say, the Sword format and providing much needed resources to the community that uses that product (especially for the Linux user, where that is the only option they have). This provides the company with the means to expand their base & increase profit, while also not abandoning their base product. That seems somewhat feasible, but bears the question of whether the man hours spent in doing such a thing would be worthwhile for such a small community of users (who may or may not even buy the books, considering they are so used to open source product). The one last idea that was had was the thought of having a base product that was extendable via extensions or plugins (think FireFox extensions for Bible software), and then each company could sell their proprietary code for the base product as add-ons. But even then, there is still the issue of direct competition in selling books, which is the primary thing that keeps these companies in business.

From a dreamer and user's standpoint, my original idea would be great, and it would be even better if all companies were offering a united product that was infinitely extendable. But, since I know that's not going to happen, as it would require too much change and a serious shift in business models for everyone, I think I'll be pleased enough to see each software application continuing to move forward to provide a better user experience in studying and exegeting the Word of God for all its worth. Thank you to all who have read my thoughts, and especially those who share in my sentiments. Bible software is a passion for me, and not just my job, and I want to see it benefit the maximum number of people possible in the best way possible.

And just as an FYI, I finally got Linux (Mint) dual booting on my laptop and am running BibleTime, which is a pretty solid application in its own right, but more on that another time (if I even keep Linux installed).

The Ultimate Bible Software Application: Phase 2

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, 04 March 2008
filed under: Bible, Tech Stuff » 10 Comments

This entry is dedicated to Jon and a direct result of the comments that he left on my last blog entry concerning the Ultimate Bible Software Application. So, thank you brother, your wisdom is appreciated!

So, where is Phase 2 of this thought process taking me? Simply put, open source. I had heard of the Sword Project before, but it was one that I never paid much attention to because I was never a Linux guy per se and the Windows version was sorely lacking when compared to what I currently had available in WORDsearch. But, now that I've given the project and website a (somewhat) thorough look through, along with all of the derivative projects created from the base engine, I'm beginning to think that open source is the route that a project like this needs to take. Actually, it makes perfect sense to go the open source route.

The Ultimate Bible Software Application

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, 26 February 2008
filed under: Bible, Tech Stuff » 7 Comments

Okay, so I've been pondering this for a while. Ever since WORDsearch 8 came out and I got my copy of Logos Bible Software, I've been wondering what would it take to make the ultimate Bible software application. A best case scenario would involve many different factors and variables, and I'll briefly describe each of them below. But first, let me give a bit more background as to why I was thinking about this.

As an avid user of Bible software (circa 1999 or so & using WORDsearch 5 and e-Sword), I've come to find that there are a lot of things that I like in one application, but is not found in another application. Then, there are also those things that I don't like in one software that isn't an issue in the other. Throw into the mix the world of Web 2.0 and you have an entirely different ballgame. Now with the likes of eBible.com and others, one is easily able to share their thoughts on the Word with the world at large, layman and scholar alike. So, just imagine if all of the good was combined into a single application, or at least brought as much of the best of all the worlds together, that's what I mean when I say the "Ultimate Bible Software Application."

So, let's take a look at what I envision being in this program:

Tattoos

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Monday, 18 February 2008
filed under: Faith, LaRosa » 3 Comments

For quite a few years now, I've had the thought of getting a tattoo. I had never been swayed one way or the other, but I always kept in mind that I wanted it to be something tasteful and nothing that I would regret when I'm much older and advanced in years. I even remember one time searching the Scriptures to see whether or not it was condemned in the pages of the Bible. Of course there are Old Testament passages that speak against marking one's body in remembrance of the dead (so as to not mimic pagan rituals), but that's about it.

With all of that being said, if I ever did get a tattoo, I always knew that I wanted it to be something to represent my faith, but more than merely a crucifix. I've always wanted to get a passage in Hebrew on the inside of my left forearm, but never had a clue as to what passage to use. Now that I'm taking Greek, I'm considering getting a Greek passage instead (i.e. Romans 1:16). I love that passage of Scripture and having it "on me" would definitely serve as a constant reminder to represent Him well.

Well, this morning I was perusing the Reach Records photo gallery and noticed a picture in their Red Revolution set of photos (pictured below) and I must say that I really liked it. As you can see, it's a picture of a cross in memory of Jesus and then the 116 logo on one side of the shoulder, with 116 on the other side. Then I also thought about the tattoos that Lecrae has on his forearms of nails making a cross and "piercing" his skin (see "Jesus Muzik" video for a pic of his tats).

So that got me to thinking, what's wrong with getting a tattoo? Of course, I keep in mind my witness and those who may be averse to tattoos in general; but overall, most people have tattoos these days and it's not that big of an issue. Plus when out on the daily, it does provide a topic of conversation for those who would be curious as to what the tattoo is about. Honestly, I'm a die-hard 116 Clique representative; not in the sense of being a fan boy, but in the sense that I'm not ashamed of the gospel and the Christ who died for me. I'm grateful to be redeemed and it would almost seem apropos to memorialize it with a tattoo symbolizing my commitment to Him. Of course my life is already dedicated, but that personal reminder that I could look at daily just seems nice and fits me.

I'll think about it some more, but I'm definitely considering it... I can picture it... Romans 1:16-17 in Greek on the inside of my left forearm with the 116 logo...

Yeah... but we'll see though... cuz that's a permanent thing and I don't want to regret it down the road (not that I'd ever be ashamed of Jesus).

Who Is My Brother?

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Tuesday, 05 February 2008
filed under: Faith, Ramblings » 10 Comments

I know I said that my next entry would talk about some of the things I've had to relearn as a believer, but this isn't that post. This fits in somewhere along those lines, it isn't quite that post. There's been something on my mind for quite a while now, and I figured I'd go ahead and write about it and share my thoughts with the world. I'll go ahead and preface this by saying that my thoughts here will likely make me sound quite dogmatic, but it's a question I'm sincerely wrestling with. What's the question? Here it is: who is my brother?

As most know, I've been chronicling my spiritual growth here on this blog; and, as a result, you've witnessed the transformation within me. In that time I've had to reeducate myself in a lot of what I've known as Christianity, and one of those areas is the issue of what exactly is a Christian. Yes, we all know (or at least should know) that a Christian is one who repents of their sins, puts their trust in Jesus Christ as Savior, and then serves & follows Him as Lord. That's a given, for the most part anyway. The question that follows that is, where does sound doctrine/teaching fit into that equation? This is in particular the question I'm wrestling with. Where do you draw the line in terms of who is a believer and who is not, in regard to what they believe?

Salvation and Baptism

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Saturday, 26 January 2008
filed under: Faith, LaRosa » 1 Comment

Lately I've been thinking about salvation and baptism. More specifically, I've been thinking about my salvation and baptism. I've been thinking about it to the point where I question the date of my salvation, considering it to be much closer to the present than when my certificate says that it happened. Let me explain.

I grew up in church. My parents were raised in the church and my brother and I were in church from childhood. And with that came a very natural love for the things of God, loving to go to church, and having a very good understanding of the Scriptures at a young age (at least I thought so). Because I grew up in the church and knew the Christian-ese, so to speak, most people throughout my life figured that I was saved and never really approached me with the gospel. I really didn't know any better, so I kind of just assumed that I was a Christian and was saved (having never been presented the gospel myself, even though I knew the "Romans Road" and all of that kind of stuff).

Fast forward to 1994 around October and I'm sitting in Bible study one night and the teacher (an elder) asks the kids to raise their hand if they were saved. Consciously, I did not raise my hand, and he took note of that. After the class was dismissed to go back and sit with the adults, he took me aside and asked if I wanted to become a Christian that night. Of course I said yes, and he gave me his gospel spill and had me pray a prayer with him. A couple months later I was baptized during a service at another church (we didn't have our own building at the time, and joined with another church during their baptismal service). So, that was my salvation story, but nothing in my life really changed. I never really was repentant of any sins and still figured that I was a good person and on my way to heaven. I even started my own little ministry online (Jesus4Life), which has since evolved into Trailblazin Ministries, thinking that I could teach the Word of God to an online audience.

By most people's standards I was living a pretty decent and moral life, even during my college years where I slipped up pretty bad according to my own standards. I didn't attend church nearly as often as I should have (not that the churches I was attending were teaching sound doctrine anyway, in hindsight of course), and I was doing things with my girlfriend at the time that a supposed man of God shouldn't be doing. All that aside, and even working in campus ministry, I still don't ever think that the gospel really clicked with me. I knew that everyone else was a sinner, and even recognized that I messed up from time to time, but still thought that I was a good person and on my way to heaven. Even after leaving college and coming back home, I still was living a sexually immoral life with my girlfriend & fiancée (now wife), not bearing any of the fruit that is found in a true believer. Even still, I was playing the "game" and nobody knew any better.

It wasn't until I started listening to Way of the Master Radio (circa mid to late 2006) that I really heard the gospel preached and it was in a way that no one had ever preached it before, at least not that I had heard. I was shown that I was a sinner when confronted with God's Law (the Ten Commandments) and I had a truly repentant heart and seriously wanted to put my trust in the Savior to save me from my sins. It wasn't so that He could make my life better or any of that, but so that I could be saved from my sins, and anything else on top of that is just icing on the cake. That was the first time that the gospel clicked and made sense to me. It was also around this same time that I was being challenged hard by my brothers Kerry and Michael to dig into the Word as they challenged all of the doctrine that was being taught at my church and that I was touting as my own. That's when I started listening to Piper, MacArthur, Begg, and Sproul and heard the Word of God preached in a manner that I had never witnessed before, and I felt that this was the way it should be done and that it was the Word of God being handled accurately.

It's funny because I began to listen to some of my Christian rap again (i.e. Cross Movement) and they had been teaching this stuff in their music all along, but I had been blind to it. It was seriously as if the scales had been lifted off my eyes and the plugs removed from my ears. I was experiencing the Word of God in a whole new light and it was completely invigorating for me. I now truly felt that I was saved. I had an overwhelming desire to please God that I didn't have before, and my life and ministry was now all about glorifying God, and no longer about what God could do for us in a materialistic manner.

And that's what has led me to the point I'm at now. A few months ago my church had a baptism service, but I was still sorting through all of these thoughts and figured that my first baptism was good enough. Now, I realize that my first baptism meant absolutely nothing because I was not a believer when I got baptized. I may have thought that I was, but I wasn't, not in the least bit. Now that I know that I'm saved, I must be obedient to the Scriptures and be baptized as a believer in Christ Jesus, since I am able to do so. It took some wrestling to get to that point, but I feel it is the right decision. I will be letting my pastor know this as soon as I can so that we can make arrangements for this to take place, whenever it might happen (of course when it's warmer, since we do it out in public for all to see).

That's what I've been thinking about in regard to this topic. As much as I can, I want to remain true to the Scriptures, and this is one of the ways in which I can do that. The question that I have now is a date for my salvation. Last time it was supposedly October 1994, but I wouldn't dare count that anymore. I do feel that it is necessary to have a point of reference for when my spirit was born again. So, to begin to narrow it down, I would have to say that it was sometime in the second half of 2006. I know it had to be before I made a decision to leave my old church, which was toward the end of October and into November. So I would have to say that it was sometime between August and early October. If I had to pick a date though, I would probably say October 2006, only for the simple fact of that's when I really started to make significant changes in my life and knew for a fact that I was a true and repentant believer in Jesus Christ.

It's amazing how far along I've come in such a short amount of time. Next, I'll talk about how I feel like I'm having to relearn everything I've ever known about Christianity from my childhood. God bless, grace and peace!

Heavy Hearted Thoughts

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
filed under: Faith, LaRosa, Ministry » 3 Comments

I sit here typing this tonight with a bit of a heavy heart and a lot weighing on my mind. I just got off the phone with my bro, Antoine, and we were chopping it up about some things. He had called to speak about some things that were going on in his life and we ended up going back & forth sharing what was on our heart. Well, to further get things off my chest, I'm writing this.

Everything around me points perfectly to the fact that I am exactly where God wants me to be at this point in time, from my job to church, even down to the friends I have made while being here. I find it all to be a bit overwhelming though. Not that any of that is overwhelming, but I feel inadequate or deficient in many areas of my life, or just not equipped to handle.

Cutting the Cable

Written by LaRosa Johnson
Wednesday, 23 January 2008
filed under: Bible, Life » Leave a comment

Late last year I got rid of DirecTV and decided to go back to rabbit ears (an antenna for those not in the know) as a means of saving a few dollars on bills. Now, I still have a functional DirecTV box (in the living room) that was given to me by my parents so that the kids could watch their cartoons, etc., and still catch my sports from time to time. Keeping in mind my resolutions for the new year, I knew that one of the things I wanted to do was dig into the Word a lot more than I had in previous years. Knowing that my time was limited, I knew that the only way for that to happen was for me to cut off the television and just read.

Well, a month into this, and I must say that I'm not really missing television all that much. I remember last year that I wouldn't miss a single episode of Ugly Betty or Heroes. I also figured that I'd be hooked to the new shows like American Gladiators (loved that as a kid). That hasn't been the case though; I caught the season premiere of American Gladiators and haven't seen another episode since. Ugly Betty? I haven't seen an episode since November. Needless to say, I've pretty much cut primetime television out of my life and I don't miss it a bit.

I now spend my evenings sitting at my desk studying or on the couch reading my Bible or some other closely related material (i.e. a devotional book, my Greek book, etc). I thought it would be hard, but I'm really enjoying the time and I'm getting quite a bit of reading and studying done. Granted, part of the reason for doing this was to allow Robin time to get her homework done, but it has helped me more than it has helped her. The quiet is refreshing, and my mind tends to be much more relaxed and I don't even care if I'm missing something on TV.

I must say that cutting the cable on my television has been a great move, and one that I'd like to keep permanently. It'd be great if I can now translate this newfound time towards getting more writing done for Trailblazin Ministries, but we shall see. Either way, I'm enjoying my daily Bible reading (even when I catch myself dozing off) and wouldn't trade it for the world. I have yet to miss a day in my reading, and the spiritual benefits being reaped are more than worthwhile.