I recorded our 8 year old daughter Anna’s vision of Jesus in my journal of 10/15/2000.  

The sense of the Lord’s presence was so strong in the sanctuary.  I felt it was unusual and wanted to know what was happening. I typically sat on the front row but moved to stand in the back of the sanctuary while worship music was sung. I was seeking perspective, trying to discern what was going on.

Anna came up to me and said something, but I could not hear her because of the volume of worship. I smiled at her. Anna then spoke louder.

“Daddy, You didn’t hear what I said, did you?”

“No, what did you say?”

“Did you see Jesus?”

“You saw Jesus?”

“Yes!”

I tried to inquire about her experience sensitively.  Had she really seen Jesus or was this youthful imagination?

“Where was He?”

“He was standing behind the green microphone.”

Our worship team filled the front but there was one vacant place. The green microphone.

“What did he say?”

“He said, ‘I am coming back soon. Do not doubt that I am coming soon!’”

“What was he wearing?”

“He was wearing a robe.”

“What color was it?”

“Oh, Daddy, We don’t have those colors here!  It was a kind of yellow, white and gold. But we don’t have those colors here. The light from him was reflected off the faces of the people.”

I told Anna that she had had a great privilege to see the Lord, and she should seal it in her memory for the rest of her life.

She told me, “Daddy the Lord told me, so I would tell others.” What a wonderful message for us to share with others! “I am coming back soon. Do not doubt that I am coming soon!”

Steven C Johnson

Landingstripenterprises.com  

At the hotel or grocery we may see signs saying, “Smile, you are on camera.” We hear on a business call, “This conversation may be recorded for quality control.”

Ultimately there is no “perfect” crime where people may “get away with it.” It is all recorded and on camera. Indeed, it seems that a great cloud of witnesses is watching the affairs of mankind.

The wig, sunglasses and paste-on beard may allow the robber to “get away” for a while. But superior recording devices have it all.

There is no such thing as an unsolved murder, theft or arson. Human beings may not find those responsible but Heaven is simply waiting for the proper time to reveal what is chronicled in the books. “There is nothing hidden which will not be revealed.”

Hidden acts of kindness will also be revealed. The secret drop-off of groceries or cash in an envelope is all recorded. Secret prayer, fasting and acts of generosity cannot be concealed long.

Not only are our actions and words on tape, digital medium, or something-or-other, our undisclosed motives are as well. In fact there is a time coming where the secrets of all hearts will be laid bare. His camera discerns the contents of our hearts. Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble.

There is a day of assessment, of accountability, where an audit will be done on my life and yours. I hope we may stand unashamed at His coming, with good works and pure motives to show for ourselves.

Steven C Johnson

https://landingstripenterprises.com/ 

Rejoice with me, I have just ticked over another year! God has graced me to see 60!

I am grateful for His goodness and happy for the gift of Family and Friends.

I am excited about venturing into a new decade. I have great hope for the future knowing every passing day works for me, getting me to my final destination, seeing Jesus face to face!

Thanks for being part of the journey!

If you would keep me in prayer for the completion of my book, Riverfront Property, I would so appreciate it. The finish line is in sight!

Steve Johnson

https://landingstripenterprises.com/

 

 

 

Here is a piece I have enjoyed for years on Fathers Day.

It’s done by someone named Anonymous. I don’t know their first named.

        The loss & Recapitulation of a Father’s Image:

4 years old: “My Daddy can do anything!”
7 years old: “My Dad knows a lot…a whole lot.”
8 years old: “My father doesn’t know quite everything.”
12 years old: “Oh well, naturally Father does not know that either”
14 years old: “Oh Father? He is hopelessly old-fashioned”
21 years old: “Oh, that man – he is out of date!”
25 years old: “He knows a little bit about it, but not much.”
30 years old: “I must find out what Dad thinks about it.”
35 years old: “Before we decide, we will get Dad’s idea first.”
50 years old: “What would Dad have thought about that?”
60 years old: “My Dad knew literally EVERYTHING.”
65 years old: “I wish I could talk it over with my Dad once more.”

Happy Father’s Day!

Steve Johnson

Landingstripenterprises.com

 

In June of 1999 I was working moving houses. It was big, challenging and dangerous. You didn’t want to end up like the wicked witch of the East. We put steel beams under houses and pumped them up with jacks. We cross braced them as they rose with stacks of timber, put wheels under them and pulled them down the road.

 

We were pulling a big three bedroom, two story house down the streets of Yakima, Washington. I would drive behind the house in a truck and occasionally get out to steer the back wheels on the house to navigate corners. Sometimes I would be on the roof lifting power lines. As I drove behind with my windows down I would watch people on the sidewalks and listen to their comments.

 

“It’s so big!”

“That’s a real mobile home!”

 “Look the curtains are blowing.”

“Who would think you’d see a house coming down the street?”

“The Pizza is supposed to come to the house not the other way around.”

 

People would get on their phones and call their friends down the road, “Mable, you need to come out and see this. There is a house coming down the road!” Old and young would come out, gawk and add their commentaries.

 

As I was driving behind this parade, observing the people and overhearing their exchanges I was blindsided by an experience I could not have predicted. I suddenly found tears streaming down my face. I’m certain I was the only one weeping during this expedition.  I asked myself, “What is this?” then realized I was watching a parable.

 

My spirit was hearing the Spirit of God saying that a day is coming, and is now upon us, when the world will come out to watch and marvel because the static, predictable Church is up and moving big and bold!

 

When a house sits ridged on its foundation  it is camouflaged in immobility.  People drive by obliviously. But when the house moves down the road they take notice! Let’s remember that Jesus is the Church’s foundation and that Jesus is always on the move! Let’s move with Him that the world may notice!

Steven C Johnson

Landing Strip Enterprises

Pam and I were reading Joshua 3 recently. Just this morning we were in church where that chapter was the source of the message. It is the account of the nation crossing over the Jordan River to possess the land. They were breaking barriers of faith in that transition! The river dried up before them and a fresh batch of miracles began.

The pastor at the church we visited said, “When we sanctify ourselves God does wonders.” The basis for this is in Joshua 3:5; “Then Joshua said to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do wonders among you.’”

Pam and I are reconsecrating ourselves as we cross over once again to a new place, a new chapter in our pilgrimage. Our home was sold in Sevierville, TN. We seriously lightened ship by selling and giving away things. We are now visiting daughters in Chattanooga.

Our next little jog will be to double back to the SC coast to vacation with all three daughters as well as Brian and his wife Rebekah. We were so excited yesterday to discover the child Rebekah is carrying is a Boy, James!

The second week in January we will be pulling our trailer, crammed to the gills, into Abilene, TX. I wonder how the people in Joshua’s day answered the question, “What are you going to do in the Promised Land?” They only had inklings of their future. I suppose it’s the same for us.

We have our ideas of what tomorrow holds but are being careful not to presume too much. A first priority will be to find a strong sense of Christian community – meeting our neighbors, finding Christian fellowships, developing relationships which are essential for doing life and ministry.

Thanks for sending up a prayer for us today. We know that working with our friends the Bellas and the Israel Prayer Mission will be a big piece of what we do in Abilene. Steve will also be continuing his writing, voicing audio books and looking for ways to let the Light Shine for Jesus.

Bless you with whatever crossing over you are doing in the New Year. As you consecrate yourself to God watch for the wonders!

Steven C Johnson

https://landingstripenterprises.com/

LISTEN TO THIS BLOG HERE!

Did you know that First John has more about love, pound for pound, than any book in the Bible?

Our favorite chapter on love is 1 Corinthians 13. Its poetry and truth sweep us up to the third heaven! It may interest you to know that the word “love” appears in that chapter 9 times. In 1 John 4 “love” appears 25 times! 1 Corinthians has the elegance of love, but John has the get-er-done of love.

John uses more, “love one another’s”, than any other Bible contributor.  “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 John 4:7).  

There is a church tradition which says that when John was an old man in Ephesus, he had to be carried to the church by the arms of his disciples.  At these meetings, he was accustomed to say no more than, “Little children, love one another!”  After a time, the leaders wearied at always hearing the same words. They asked, “Master, why do you always say this?” “It is the Lord’s command,” was his reply. “And if this alone be done, it is enough!”

Perhaps you’d like to read the other love chapter – 1 John 4.

https://landingstripenterprises.com/

 

 We just finished our bathroom remodel! It was a lot of work so we thought we would show and tell. Since it is hard to get a good picture we figured we would throw in a substitute. Our bathroom looks a lot like this one except ours is mostly white and six by seven feet.

We worked hard! Since we moved each of the fixtures to new locations we had to put in new supply and waste lines. The crawl space is so cramped that we could show professional contortionists new moves. 

I am pretty handy. I knew it would be a challenge but I supposed it would go faster. Why is it that so many jobs take 3.8389 times more time and energy to complete than you calculate?

This was a baptism to undergo. There were moments where the exasperations came in spasms, mostly in the legs. I deliberately took breaks to go to the hardware store four times a day just to visit with compassionate people and expend some useless cash. 

At one point as I was in the crawl space with my left knee behind my neck and back pressed again nails coming down from the floor. Things were not coming together. I cried out to the Lord for His mercy! At that moment I turned toward the foundation and saw something I hadn’t seen before. One of the builders had drawn a cross in mortar on the foundation wall. They used a finger to make little lines like rays of light around the cross.

Talk about a revelation of grace! God had sent that man especially to build our house. His act of worship four decades previous was a consolation. I am glad to report, that thanks to the grace of God, no acts of reckless bath-rage unsettled our community and the project was satisfactorily completed.

I hope you get the picture.

Steven C Johnson

https://landingstripenterprises.com/