September 2024

Beauty Taken from a Red Rock News Article (8/27/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Sept 29, 2024 ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ is a somewhat true statement. When you look at a work of art, hike a certain trail with all sorts of beautiful terrain or love the beauty of certain architectural forms and fashions, you may fall head over heels over their beauty while others could care less and think otherwise. From fashion to architecture, the way things look have a significant impact on our emotions, behavior and even our decision-making. Beauty has the power to attract and distract us in many ways. Have you ever caught a glimpse of something so beautiful that it brought you to tears or left you speechless? Scientist believe that when we see something that we find aesthetically pleasing, our brains release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel good. This is why we feel happy and uplifted when we see beautiful art, nature, or even a well designed product. The emotional impact of aesthetics also influences our behavior, our choices and how we show discretion towards others.       There is also another popular idiom on beauty—’beauty runs skin deep.’ Scripture has much to say about human beauty. Yes, a person’s beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there is so much more than physical beauty. What about a person’s character, values and love towards others? The world focuses on what people look like on the outside, but God focuses on what the person looks like on the inside. When Samuel chose the next king, God told him not to choose a king based on how they looked. God said to Samuel, ‘Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’ (1 Sam 16:7).  When people judge others solely by their outward appearances, they may overlook other qualities the person has because their physical appearance is not what the current cultures admires. Again in 1 Peter 3:3-4, we are told that our beauty comes not from outward adornment, certain hair styles, jewelry and clothes. Instead, we are to look at the inner spirit of the person—the love, mercy and compassion they extend to others.       The world and its savvy marketing strategies want you to think that you are lacking beauty and self-worth because your home, the style of clothes you wear, the car you drive and the places you vacation are not trending. The world’s marketing has to a great degree defined what self worth is and what it isn’t. Generally speaking, marketing campaigns have stayed consistent over the decades. Generation after generation. The ultimate purpose? With our product/service, you will feel good enough. You will feel: happy, sexy, powerful, connected, rich, top-of-the-food-chain.      The God-given soul of a person has a beauty all its own. It transcends all physical appearances, wealth and poverty, health and illness and status and fame. The Psalmist says that we were already created with self-worth: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Ps 139:14). God who created you gave you an intrinsic beauty that no one else or no other thing can give you. God’s character goes into the creation of every person. When you feel worthless, when you compare yourself to others and marketing ads and become discontent or hopeless with who you are or what you have, remember that God’s Spirit which is both perfect and beautiful is already within you. God deems you worthy of love. It is only through Jesus Christ and through his death and resurrection that all humanity is made worthy and given a special divine beauty. As we follow Jesus Christ, we take on a new internal beauty and attractiveness that transcends everything else. Amen.

Living One Day At A Time Defeats Worry  Taken from a Red Rock News Article (8/20/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Sept 22, 2024 Psychology Today says that anxiety is now the leading mental health problem around the world. Anxiety is on the rise. Increasing numbers of children and adolescents are also being diagnosed with anxiety every day. In the U.S. one third of adults suffer from moderate to severe anxiety. So, what is anxiety? We all experience some degree of anxiety. Anxiety means we are alive and alert. It is not necessarily a bad thing. Dr. Henry Cloud suggests that when our anxiety is no longer manageable and at a heightened state, our adrenal and lymphatic systems which carry experiences such as, trauma, harmful parenting practices, economic and cultural shifts can prompt our systems to be activated all the time. Simply stated, anxiety is worry, a response to unknown danger whether real or imagined. When we experience anxiety, racing heartbeat, negative thoughts and dreadful fear of future events, it’s a warning to us to make the necessary changes in our life to protect, care and listen to what is going on inside us and around us.       Jesus clearly understood the effects of worry and anxiety on the human mind, heart and soul. And so he made it a point to include it in his Sermon on the Mount, a sermon which expanded in great detail the Ten Commandments (Matthew 5-7). He said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “(Matt. 6:25-28). Jesus continues by saying look at the flowers and how your Father clothes them with beautiful blooms. Martin Luther claims the lilies of the field are our theologians. He wrote, ‘The little flowers in the field, which cattle trample and eat, are to become our theologians and masters and to embarrass us still further. Just look at them grow, all adorned with lovely colors! Yet not one of them is anxious or worried about how it should grow or what color it should have, but it leaves these anxieties to God.’       Jesus promises that If we seek God first above all things, all the others things that we so urgently strive for, all driven by anxiety will be given to us. As God provides daily food for the tiny Canyon Wren and the Black-Throated Sparrow, God will most certainly provide for the needs of his people. That is not to say that birds don’t work for their food. They do. But the point Jesus makes is that birds don’t worry. There is not found in them the human weakness of straining to see a future which cannot be seen and seeking to find security stored up and accumulated against the future. What would each day look like if we gave ourselves fully to it?      God who loves his creatures also knows our human limitations. He calls us out of our anxiety to live a life free of worry. Jesus offers us a way to defeat our anxiety—live one day at a time. Each and every day, God calls us to live not in the past and not in the future but to live fully present to each moment. Each moment of every day is a gift from God, rich with countless possibilities to experience God’s presence, protection and provisions. He offers us both peace and prosperity. So, when worry wants to take over your life, look up at the mountains, watch the birds feed from their Creator’s hand, marvel at all the beautiful variety of cactus and cedar trees that patiently wait for the next rain—God’s presence, his grace and his provisions are all around us. As God so generously provides for them, he will surely provide for you. +

Jesus Came To Heal Our Suffering  Bodies and Our Broken Souls  Taken from a Red Rock News Article (8/14/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Sept 15, 2024 If you have ever had a spouse, a child or someone you loved become seriously ill with no assurance of a good outcome, you understand what it’s like to live in between hope and despair. As you sit alone waiting for something to change, it is truly a place of vacillation. Many emotions (fear, grief, sadness) each having a say in the matter, surface one by one or all at the same time. At times like these, our prayers can take on a sense of bold-urgency. In times of fear and uncertainty, our prayers may also turn to begging or bargaining with God. There is nothing wrong with begging or bargaining for God’s help. In fact, begging for God’s help is a sign of faith. At the death of Martin Luther, a small scrap of paper was found in his pocket which read, ‘We are beggars, this is true.’      In Mark 7:24-37, we are told crowds traveled near and far to have Jesus heal them or heal their loved ones. A mother, who was very emotional came begging Jesus to heal her daughter from demon possession. Traumatic as it was, out of desperation, she threw herself at Jesus’ feet. He didn’t think the woman’s behavior was strange, instead he praised the woman’s faith. Although the daughter was at home, the women’s begging became a powerful prayer. When the woman returned home, she found her daughter completely healed resting, calm and at peace—the demon was nowhere to be found.      Immediately following this healing, there was a man brought to Jesus who was deaf and could not speak. Jesus’s tender heart didn’t want to embarrass the man. So, he took him aside. Many times people with disabilities are sensitive and get a bit embarrassed. Deaf people know they cannot hear. The excitement of the crowd shouting at the man didn’t do any good except render him helpless. Imagine for a moment, what that might have felt like—not being able to hear or speak, being taken by a stranger not knowing why or what would happen. It was probably somewhat frightening. But Jesus knew exactly what he was about to do.      Then Jesus spit on his fingers and placed his hands on the man’s mouth and thrust his fingers into his ears. He looked up to heaven, sighed (groaned) and said, ‘Ephphatha!’ which means, ‘Be open!’ And immediately his ears were opened, sounds came into his ears, and his mouth and tongue were loosed from the bondage of a lifelong crippling impediment. The man’s health and well being were restored.      The whole story, the woman begging for her daughter to be saved from demon possession, the man who was deaf and could not speak show us vividly that Jesus did not consider the girl or the man as mere cases to be dealt with; he considered them individuals, people who had who had suffered and had very specials needs. The story also tells us that the daughter and the man had people advocating for them, prayerfully begging and prayerfully insisting that Jesus heal their loved one—bold, unashamed prayer requests. Sometimes when we pray, we can sense Jesus’ heart in the matter, like when he outwardly groaned for the deaf man. We also need to learn to pray with boldness and urgency. We need to get on our knees, unashamed and unafraid. God who is kind-hearted and merciful hears the cries of our hearts, and we feel God’s promises of redemption and salvation flowing through us.     The God who spoke creation into being, also proclaims “Be opened” to all humanity while looking up to heaven. Jesus came to bring healing to broken bodies and salvation to our suffering souls—here we see Jesus begin the work of creation all over again.

You Cannot Help Others, If Your Own Soul Is Starving For Oxygen  Taken from a Red Rock News Article (9/6/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Sept 8, 2024 The majority of us would say we want to be well. Some of us go to great lengths to stay healthy—we eat well, exercise and try to live a balanced life. All of this is very good. But what about our emotional and spiritual well-being? How are we measuring up?      For many Christians, its counterintuitive to take care of oneself. To love God and love your neighbor means for many of us that we put ourselves out there, it means we walk an extra mile and vow to put others first. This too is very good. But in order to love God and provide loving support to others, we must be attentive and intentional about taking care of ourselves.      Jesus was at a festival in Jerusalem when he stopped by the famous pool near the Sheep Gate (John 5:1-15). Around the pool laid men who were blind, lame and paralyzed. Rumor had it that when the water was stirred, it released some sort of healing power. Jesus engaged one of the men, a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years and was never able to reach the water. One has to wonder why the man laid there by the edge of the pool for 38 years. Jesus cuts to the chase with a very penetrating question. He asks the man, “Do you want to get well?” Surprisingly, the man never answered Jesus’ question with “Yes, I want to get well?” Instead he went on to justify, make excuses and blame others for not helping him. Without reaching down to pick the man up and place him in the pool, Jesus firmly said to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” The man stood up, took his mat, walked and immediately was healed. He could feel his legs again and life once again flowed throughout his whole body. “Do you and I want to get well?” The question Jesus asked the paralytic man on the edge of the pool, is a question for all of us who you practice and participate in ministry. Many of us in the church, carry heavy loads, we absorb a lot from God’s people, unresolved hurts, suffering, divorce and death and this plays out in our physical well being and our emotional dynamics with others. Many people feel called by God into ministry but ignore doing the inner work it requires. On the outside, it appears that some people are functioning well, but on the inside, they are overwhelmed and emotionally depleted. As we minister and give godly counsel to others, we also need to be counseled. We need to find safe people to confess the issues that needle us and explore what triggers our anxiety in times of crisis, conflict and change. If we don’t have safe people and places to openly and honestly explore these things, we must be open and unafraid to seek help from other resources. Christian counselors, therapist and spiritual directors can be a great support to caregivers. God provides these people and their skills to aid us in ministry.      Wounded healers, as Henri Nouwen writes, “…are people who have identified the suffering in their own hearts and use that to help others. It means being absolutely vulnerable and honest with where one is emotionally and to recognize the signs of not being well.” Pastors and priests must be willing to go beyond their detached professional roles and leave themselves open as fellow human beings with the same wounds and suffering as those they serve. No one should be put on a pedestal—we are “all” in need of healing and recovery.Prayer: Help Lord me to enter into my own brokenness, give me air to breathe and heal me of everything that afflicts me. Amen

Jesus’ Love Is More Than A Temporary Vibe Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | September 1, 2024 In our current culture, it seems to be the trend for people to seek out people, places and events where that can catch a good vibe. Cambridge Dictionary defines “vibe” as the mood of a place, situation, person, etc. and the way that they make you feel. Some people judge their relationships and the places they frequent by the number of good vibes they feel.       Jesus had just fed a huge crowd of over 5000, but after they pursued him for more food to fill their bellies, he now gives them a long lecture on the Bread of Heaven. And many in the crowd didn’t like his message. They found it weird— eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The multitude now is no longer getting good vibes from Jesus, and the crowd begins to thin out considerably.       Isn’t that how many of us respond to certain passages in the Bible. Some of Jesus’ teachings make us uneasy. They come too close to what we know is not right within us. Some of his teachings are so countercultural that to be brutally honest, they turn many people away or those who remain in the faith pick and choose the teachings they can tolerate.       At the end of John 6, the crowd’s vibe was fading fast. Some of the disciples were so offended, they turned back. Jesus knew where their hearts were. He explains to them that no one can come to God unless God enables them to do so. Think about that for a moment. So many Christians get this all wrong. God who is full of grace and mercy comes to us and gives us faith. We don’t acquire faith.  It is given to us. Time and time again, in our performance-based society, we supplant the free gift of faith with our need to achieve it and work for it—no pain, no gain. Some of us can give gifts and yet, we have a hard time receiving them. We feel unworthy. But self-judgment can paralyze us. It is God who gives us faith. Paul explains this very well in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Salvation is a free undeserved gift from God.       Now some of Jesus’ disciples did turn back. So, Jesus turns to the twelve, his inner circle and asks them, “Are you leaving me too?” Peter immediately responds, “Lord, where else could we go, who else offers the gift of eternal life? We believe you. You are the Holy One of God.”      There are times in the church, it happens in just about every congregation, where people leave because they disagree with a teaching or a doctrine, or a conflict arises, or people don’t get a good vibe anymore, maybe it’s the preaching or the music and they decide to leave the congregation—people rotate in and out churches all the time. There are times when people you once trusted in the faith, desert you and walk away. It is times like these where we have no other option but to respond like Peter, “Where else do I have to go Lord—you are the only one that truly matters.”      So, often we get fooled or caught off guard. Sometimes we place too much faith in the good vibes, people’s personalities and credentials. We place pastors and leaders on pedestals rather than placing our faith totally in the one who gives us faith. People and institutions can disappoint us. But Jesus, doesn’t disappoint. He is more than a temporary vibe. His love is eternal. His love will never desert you nor will he ever abandon you! Prayer: Lord, help me to seek and place you first in my life above ‘all’ else. I cannot to this without your help. Jesus, help me draw closer to you. Amen.