A Blog About a Picture

They say a picture's worth a thousand words. I don't know how many words I'm going to put into this blog this morning, but I have a picture that's worth talking about.

 

Anslea is the pretty little girl in the shorts & tank top. Guess how old she is? I'll tell you. She is 3 years old.

Guess what she's doing?

She's handing out food to orphans in Cambodia just a few miles away from the Killing Fields, several Buddist temples, and brothels that keep children as sex slaves.

Anslea is my adopted "niece." Her mom (Beth) is my wife's best friend, and her dad (Jonathon) is a close, personal friend of mine. I have had the privilage of helping Jonathon make 3 mission trips to Cambodia, and helping Beth go twice. This year Jonathon & Beth were able to take Anslea, their oldest son, Anthony, and Beth's mother, Ann, and are currently serving alongside Water of Life Ministries in Phnom Penh.

So, what do you think about this picture?

There's a 3 year old girl serving Jesus in Cambodia. If she can do it why can't you? What's your excuse?

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to guilt you into going on a mission trip to some third-world country. That's not my intention.

However, there's some reading this who God is calling to the mission field and you're ignoring His call. He's calling you to go, & you just want to make excuses:

• I'm too old.
• I'm too fat.
• I can't afford it.
• It'll be too hard (physically, mentally, emotionally)
• I don't want to leave the kids.
• My church won't support me.
• I can serve Christ here at home. (Are you? How?)
• Etc., etc., etc....

It's time to stop making excuses & doing what the Lord Jesus has called & created you to do: fulfill the Great Commission.

And here it is: Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came and spoke unto them, saying, "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the World." Amen.

This command was given by Jesus to all of Christianity, and there's only two ways that this can be fulfilled:

1. Either you're going...
2. or you're sending.

If you're not doing one or the other than you're not doing your part to fulfill the Great Commission.

Right now, this stage of my life, I'm a sender. I'm trying to put my gifts & talents to use to send missionaries. (For more information please check out my Microphones for World Missions Tour.)

If you're interested in getting involved with missions I can help. I can give you some leads that will help get you started, no matter if you want to go or if you want to send.

If you already are a missionary, that's great! Contact me! I would love to help you fundraise for your next mission trip or your upcoming mission project!

All-in-all, it's not as hard as you would think it would be. If a 3 year old can do it, then so can you!

Thanks for reading!

Yours in Christ & Comedy,
Comedian Eric Johnson
info@EricsComedy.com

Microphones for World Missions Tour

I've never tried putting together a tour before. Actually, I've never been on a tour. So why am I doing this?

The last 3 years my wife & I have been very blessed that we've been able to fundraise & send our son on 3 mission trips to Baja, Mexico through the non-profit organization Global Expeditions.

It's hard to say just how many lives were impacted just by my son & his teams going to Baja, Mexico. While there they were able to build several houses, conduct street evangelism through which hundreds came to know Christ, develope relationships with many of the locals, as well as develope life-long relationships with each other. They also had many oppertunities to pray for people.  There were countless testimonies coming out of Mexico of both locals & students experience life changing miracles.

God used these students in powerful ways, and because of that, not only were the people of Baja, Mexico changed, but the students lives, as well.

This year our son decided to take a year off. He has worked hard the last three years planning, fundraising, praying, & actually going.

My son has had such amazing experiences. I'm so happy that my wife & I have been able to help him fundraise over the years. We have certainly learned a lot, & the fruit of our labor was being able to share in the joy our son had upon his return from Baja, Mexico each year.

Which brings me to the Tour.

The idea for the Microphones for World Missions Tour came about one day during prayer time. I was talking with the Lord, expressing to Him my desire to help missionaries raise money for their mission trips. I asked Him for an idea, and BOOM!! This one came to me!

Here's what I'm offering:

- Me performing clean, family friendly Christian stand-up comedy
  for your fundraiser.
- I will performing a set anywhere from 30 minutes to 75 minutes 
  long for one, set price (Just tell me how long you want me to
  perform, that's it!)
- I will donate 40% of all my merchandise sales towards your
  mission trip .
- I will also help market/promote the show online.
- I will also send you a promotional poster that you can print,
  hangup, or hand out to invite people out to the show/fundraiser.

It's up to the missionary to supply the venue. Typically, most use their home church or a local banquet hall.

The missionary would also have to pay for my transportation & supply me with overnight lodging when necessary.

I'm open to doing things with the least amount of expense so we can put as much money as possible towards your mission trip.

This format we can be VERY flexible!

A comedy show works well with other forms of entertainment. You can bring in a Christian band or a local singer, a dance teams, or even have an "open mic" where people can perform for a donation.

It's also easy to incorporate bakes sales, raffles, silent auctions, art shows, live auctions, etc. into the fundraising event.

If you're interested, let me know! We can start working together on this right now!

If you know of someone who is interested, please let ME know about THEM or let THEM know about ME!

I thank you for your time & interest in the Microphones For World Missions Tour.

Please, keep supporting missions!

Yours In Christ & Comedy,
Comedian Eric Johnson
info@EricsComedy.com
419-632-1751

The Secret to Surrendering - Part 1

A while back I was thinking of this line that us Christians use all the time. It's sort of become apart of our Christianeese language. We say it so often we seldom stop to think, "What does it REALLY mean?"

So I asked the Lord, "What does it mean when we tell people 'You just need to surrender it to God!'?"

As I sat there the Holy Spirit reminded me of something in II Corintians 10:1-5. It says,

(1) Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you: (2) But I beseech you, that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence, wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. (3) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (4) (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) (5) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ."

It's in this passage that I found the secret to surrendering, and what it means to surrender something to God. But before we get to that, I want to quickly lay a foundation.

We are in a war. Each & everyone one of us are. We find ourselves fighting daily no matter if we realize it or not. That war that we fight in is not physical. It's spiritual.

Notice that in verse 3 that Paul says that "...we do not war after the flesh." We are at war, folks, but this war that we fight in we do not fight using physical tactics. We must use spiritual tactics because the battle that we're in is spiritual, as you will see here in a moment.

In verse 4 Paul writes that our weapons are not carnal. And our weapons can't be carnal! A physical weapon will not work on a spiritual enemy! Our weapons are spiritual, because our enemies are spiritual!

Ephesians 6:12 says, "...we wrestle not against flesh & blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

Our enemies are not people. Are REAL enemies are spiritual & they are evil, ugly, & demonic!

"Are you telling me that I have to fight against evil, demonic spirits?" Yes - I am. And if you didn't already know this then I'd like to inform you that you've been fighting these things your whole, entire life. You just never gave it any thought before.

The first thing that I'm asking is for you to get any images out of your head that Hollywood's placed in there. This is not like that.

The Bible talks about these things called "familiar spirits." (Click here to see the scriptures.) The job of the familiar spirit is to just simply follow you around, take note of your life. It becomes familiar with those things that terrify you. I becomes familiar with those things that tempt you. It hears the words that come out of your mouth. It sees how you react to certain situations & circumstances. It recognizes patterns in your life. It knows you so well that if it wanted to it could imitate you. (This is one of the reasons why people think they see ghost.)

So, these familiars spirits collect all this information concerning you, and it shares your information with other evil spirits. Such as the spirit of fear. The spirit of fear then comes to you & simply influences your thinking.

"You're not good enough."
"Nobody loves you."
"You're too fat! Nobody wants you!"
"He's going to leave you."
"You don't make him happy."
"You're too ugly."
"How can he respect you? You don't even respect yourself!"
"He's just going to do you like all the others."
"You're always going to be alone!"

I can go on & on & on & on. I'm sure some of you can, too!

But this is what the spirit of fear does. It prophecies to us! It tries to paint a picture of our future by telling us lies & half truths. Fear is a prophet. It's a false prophet. It doesn't even care if it's prophecies come to pass. All it wants is for you to apply your faith in it's words.

And it's easy for us to do that because our emotions are quick to agree with fear. For example: It's easy for us to imagine ourselves always being alone because we feel so lonely! So we attach our faith to that statement & accept it as truth.

However, it's not truth. It's still a lie. We just believe it.

---------> To read Part Two of the "Secret to Surrendering" click here! <--------