Jim Tressel

Today I had someone that I love, someone who's VERY close to me question my character over a post that I had made in regards to Jim Tressel. I was told that I was acting judgemental & from this person's perspective it appears as if I harbor hatred towards Jim Tressel.


I am writing this, today, to address what was said & to clear the air about my thoughts on this whole Jim Tressel situation.

First off, I don't hate the man. Now, grant it I'm no Tressel fan by any means! I never have been, & I can't say that currently I'm a fan of his. But I want to make myself clear - In no way, shape, or form do I hate Jim Tressel.

I was accused of reveling in Tressel's troubles. Now, I admit I was. Football is football & anyone who follows football to the slightest degree does get emotionally caught up into it. Many of us allow football to bring out the worst in us. We get emotionally attached to our teams, to certain players, & even to certain coaches. And then there's our "bad guys" who we love to see get what we feel they deserve.

I'll admit that I allowed football to bring out the worst in me & I'll also admit that I was reveling in what's going on with Tressel. To me, with all that's coming out in the media about him, he is getting what he deserves. I confess that I have been enjoying it a little too much.

The fact is Jim Tressel's not enjoying himself right now. His sins are being exposed to the world, & that is a hard thing for a man to deal with. It's harder than most of us can understand because many of us have not had our sins, our mistakes, & our shortcomings exposed on such a grand scale as this. Most of us, if we want to be truthful, still keep our sins, mistakes, & shortcomings hidden. The difference between us & Jim Tressel: We haven't been caught. He got caught.

One of the issues that I've always had with Tressel is I've always questioned his character. He has put faith & integrity out there so much, but I always had a feeling that he wasn't on the up-and-up.

While I've questioned Jim Tressel's character, I've never questioned the man's Christianity. I believe that Jim Tressel has a relationship with Jesus Christ. I believe that Jim Tressel is not perfect. I believe that Jim Tressel, himself, probably feels like the world's biggest hypocrite right now.

I John chapter 4 verses 20-21 say this: "If someone says, 'I love God" but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And He has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers & sisters."

If anything that I've said or done in regards to Jim Tressel have appeared to be hatred, I want to apologize. I'm sorry that my words and/or actions have given anyone that impression. I do not hate him.

Because I don't know Jim Tressel on a personal level, I am in no place to determine if he truely is a Christian or not. He says he is, & I will take him at his word on that. Tressel must work out his own salvation with fear & trembling just as I have to. So, I won't even take his faith into question. Jim Tressel is my brother in Christ.

With that being said, I am a Christian before I am a football fan. I'm a Christian before I am an Michigan fan. I'm a Christian before I'm a husband & a father. Pretty much I'm a Christian before I'm anything else.

My Christian family comes before my football family. While Tressel's not apart of my football family, he is apart of my Christian family & I will pray for him & support him starting right now!

So, Lord....first I want to confess my own sin. I've allowed myself to be caught up in all this hoopla surrounding Jim Tressel. My words & actions have came across as hatred towards a Christian brother, & even though Jim Tressel will probably never see them, Lord Jesus you have. Other's have, as well, & I haven't done a really good job of letting the world see You in me, Lord Jesus.

Lord, we get so blood thirsty sometimes. We want to see justice served. And while you are the God of Justice, it's not your will that any should perish, but that all should repent. You would rather see someone repent & turn back to you, Lord, than to recieve what it is that they deserve. We all deserve death, but your will is for us to repent & have life. Lord, please forgive me for lusting after Tressel's punishment.

I ask you, Lord Jesus, to please forgive Tressel of all his sins & tresspasses, too. Lord, bring restoration to his life! Use this situation, Lord God, to bring all those impurities to the surface & for them to be gone out of Jim Tressel's life. Let him be purified like silver, Lord God, so that in Your mighty hands he can be a mighty weapon in this world.

Father God, for his family I ask that you strengthen them. Let them feel Your presence during this hard time. Let them know that you're near. Quickly bring peace, Holy Spirit, to the Tressel house hold.


Lord, Jesus, please, surround Jim Tressel & his family with men & women of God who are going to speak truth into his life, who are going to give him Godly council, & who are going to give him the love, support, & correction that he needs & that can only come from You.

Above all, Lord, protect him & perserve him for your future. May the world see Your glory in all of this!In Jesus' name. Amen.

Rapture Jokes

The Date: May 21st, 2011
The Time: 10am to 5pm

All day I had been making rapture jokes along side of my co-workers. We were having a lot of fun joking about the end of the world, and even teasing each other about it. Being a comedian & a youth pastor I probably had the best jokes out of everyone, mostly because I knew what I was talking about.

The Time 5:00pm
After work I bump into a local pastor who I haven't seen in a while. I sat with him at his table in the resteraunt & we talk a while.

The Time: 5:50pm
We're walking out the door of the resteraunt together. Harold Camping had predicted that the rapture would take place at 6pm that day.

Our Conversation:
Local Pastor: Well, guy, it's been good seeing ya! Hope to see you again, soon!
Comedian Eric Johnson: Don't worry. You could see me in another 10 minutes!
Local Pastor: Hahahahahahahaha! That was a good one!
Comedian Eric Johnson: Hahahahahaha!! Thanks, Pastor! See ya in a few!

The Time: 6:02pm
I'm driving home from work & I'm reflecting on the day's events, or should I say at this point lack of event. I'm thinking about all the jokes I cracked, how I sat with the local pastor & how both of us were even cracking jokes & then the Holy Spirit hit me:

"...in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth..."

I quickly examined myself & discovered that I had done wrong in the eyes of God. The Rapture is apart of the Truth, & here I was making a mockery of it, scoffing at it infront of non-believers!

The Holy Spirit began convicting me, quickly sending me the message that if I don't take the Rapture seriously infront of non-believers, they will never take it seriously. My laughter & my jokes is actually HURTING them because I'm showing them that Christ's return is nothing to take seriously.

I thought on this all weekend. Finally Monday afternoon I go & grab my Bible. I look up in II Peter where the apostle Peter talks about "in the last days scoffers will come..." and I discovered something: Peter wasn't so much as talking about the world as he was talking about the church!

I read the whole book of II Peter about 4 times. Just kept reading it over & over & over. Just about everything that Peter has to say in this book applies to the whole "May 21st - Rapture Prediction" thing we got going on right now.

In II Peter 1:12-19 we're encouraged & instructed to pay close attention to scripture. Then in verses 20 through 21 Peter says something really cool:

"Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God." (Emphasis mine.)

Harold Camping used math formulas to make his May 21st prediction. That's both human understanding & initiative.

Peter goes on in chapter 2 to talk about false prophets, & he goes on to describe what kind of damage a false prophet does, & how to recognize one.

Then in chapter 3, Peter warns us starting in verse 3:

"Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say "What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created."

First off, who has the promise that Christ will return? The church. Jesus made the promise to the church, not the world. The world can not talk of having a promise given to them. Only the church can.

Secondly, who believes that the world was created? Surely it's not the athiest! It's not the science community! It's not Hollywoood! It's not the media! It's believers! Peter is talking about Christians. He's talking about mockers & scoffers within the church, not outside of it!

He ends the chapter & book with these words:

"I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing....."

What wicked people is Peter talking about? He's talking about the false prophets, mockers, & scoffers. He's talking about people in the church who can cause us to "lose your own secure footing...."

Folks, it's not people in the world who can cause us (Christians) to lose our secure footing, it's people in the church.

And likewise, it's people in the church like you & me who can cause those outside of the church to never get a footing in the first place, much less a secure one.

Let's be careful.