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Newsletter Articles

"Go Yell It on the Mountain"

Volume 1 Issue 1    April-May, 2004

Welcome to the very first newsletter of Don Johnson Evangelistic Ministries. It is my great pleasure to officially announce the formation of this outreach organization.

The mission of DJEM is to boldly and creatively proclaim the Kingdom of God through various mass communication mediums. I plan to do this primarily through itinerant preaching, radio broadcasting, open forums and web and print publishing.

So why this ministry and why now? Well, the short answer is that I think God has called me to proclaim God’s Word and there is never a bad time for that.

The long answer is that we live in a culture in which “truth has stumbled in the streets” (Isaiah 59:14). People are living their lives based not on God’s revelation, but on the lies of the great deceiver. God is not glorified and His Name is not exalted. This is a problem.

I believe one of the reasons for this problem is that the father of lies has been very good at reaching people where they live and in using mediums they accept as authoritative.

Think about it: we are bombarded with these lies non-stop. From the moment we get up in the morning and flip on the radio to the time we turn off the TV or computer at night, we are blitzed with messages that are simply untrue. From the professors in our classrooms to the billboards that reach into our cars on the daily commute, there seems to be no escaping the lies.

We are told that life is about money, sex, romance and emotionally thrilling experiences. We are supposed to accept unconditionally that the only things worthy of worship are power, fame, fortune and the celebrities who have them.

The twin lies that objective truth is unknowable and morality is simply a preference have become pervasive.

In regards to religion, cultural orthodoxy explains to us that God is whatever you want him to be and that religion is a private, subjective matter, best suited not for explaining truths about reality, but for providing therapy.

I want to help change all that.

I want to proclaim to as many people as possible, through the most effective means possible, that life is about God. Jesus

Christ is Lord over this planet and King of the Universe and one day we will all bow before Him. People need to hear that.

I want to expose Satan’s lies for what they are and get people question their false beliefs. I want people to set their lives upon the Rock, not waste them building on shifting sand.

I want to tell people the truth, clearly and boldly and I want to tell it to them where they live, reaching into the darkness with the light that leads to life.

My ministry strategy involves a four-fold objective. In whatever medium I happen to be working in, I take the following steps:

1. Show people what they believe. Many people base their lives on unexamined presuppositions about God, the universe and the meaning of life. I expose those presuppositions and get people to think about the big questions of their existence.

Mostly this involves framing the issues that people talk about everyday in a different way then they are used to. Instead of looking at only the political, sociological or psychological aspect of current events, I show them the theological and spiritual side. Instead of the temporal, I try to get them thinking about the eternal.

2. Break down false presuppositions. Most people believe things about the big questions of life that are simply untrue. I show them that. After framing the issue and getting people to realize what they believe about eternal issues, I expose the weaknesses of that false worldview.

3. Clearly explain the Biblical truth of the matter. C.S. Lewis said that much of the doubt he encountered regarding Christianity was quite understandable, given the doubters lack of knowledge about what the Bible actually teaches. I think that typifies much of the problem today. In every discussion or sermon, the doctrine that correctly answers the big question of life being discussing is clearly explained.

4. Do steps 1 through 3 in a place and a manner that is effective in a given culture.

In every society, there are certain places in which ideas are publicly disseminated and discussed. In New Testament days, for example, Paul went to the synagogues and marketplaces of the cities he visited because that is where people were listening and talking (Acts 17).

In more recent American times, idea centers of a community have been the church, the classroom, the newsroom and the barber shop. That is still the case, to some extent, but things are changing.

People no longer trust the mainstream newspapers or the network five o’clock news to provide reliable information or commentary, so those newsrooms have lost some credibility. Instead, people are turning to talk radio and the internet. Millions tune into Rush Limbaugh and log on to The Drudge Report each day while newspaper circulations lag.

And not many people hang out at the barber shop anymore. However, a lot talk with their friends via email and internet chat rooms. And a lot of those same people are producing and reading blogs. (see story page 2).

I want to proclaim the truth in these new idea centers. This is where people are listening and talking, so this is where I want to be.

I also want to be in a couple of the more traditional American idea centers. Colleges are still great places to discuss ideas, although recently the truth hasn’t been getting much of a hearing. Today’s public universities are notoriously anti-Christian and part of the reason is we are not in there battling. Though guest lecturing, open forums and debates, I want to be.

And, churches, at least those than are focused on the Word, remain tremendous places to proclaim and discuss ideas, so I will take to a pulpit any chance I get. Whether it be a Sunday morning, a weekend conference or a week long camp, I’ll go wherever God beckons.

I hope this article and this newsletter has helped make the vision of Don Johnson Evangelistic Ministries a little clearer. Thank you for taking the time to read it. If you have any questions, please contact me.

For His Glory,

Don Johnson