"REALLY Lord? Anything but that."

"Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah ... saying, 'Arise, go to Nineveh' ... But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish ... But the Lord hurled a great wind .... Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish ... and the Lord spoke to the fish and it vomited out Jonah" RSV

You know how it goes, right? "Just don't send me to....." And then he sends you there! One of the most difficult things in the last 6 years has been the waiting. "What am I supposed to be doing with my life Lord?" Only recently have my eyes been opened to God's work in the past and his calling in the present, but I did not welcome it at first.

For many years the longing to be in ministry has been met with constant confusion and a lack of outward confirmation (no one wanted my ministry). At one time I had a wide array of opportunities for doing ministry including starting a youth group, preaching revivals, working as co-director at a Christian camp, and doing youth ministry full time. Suddenly it all stopped. No opportunities, no one impressed. I think this was the hardest of all. I was so familiar with praise and a false sense of my own abilities and holiness that when God removed his blessing I was in total shock. I am in shock. In fact, I sometimes wonder if I am not kidding myself even now!


So what makes me think that I am called now to this work? Several things have been pointing in this direction for a long time. It started with my call to ministry when I was 18 (2000). I had been preaching revivals and doing ministry in my local town of Dekalb, MS. The Lord was granting much fruit and I understood that he was calling me out to do his work which I began to do. In 2002, the summer before I got married to my hot wife Julie, I was in my last class at Vennard College with Tim Roehl (co-author of TransforMissional Coaching) going through a MAPS assessment process. At its conclusion Tim asked me, "Kenny, why are you not planting a church?" Uh....


I was already on my way to Westcliffe, CO to be a youth pastor for two of the most influential men in my life - was I really going to change course? That comment planted a seed in my heart that would not rise again for several years. After three years of youth work I was sore at heart, young and immature but wanting to do something fresh. My wife and I and our two children moved back to Macon, GA where Julie had grown up. Several times we tried to move back to Colorado, once to Mississippi, and other places beside. Every time I tried to leave, the door was shut in my face. States Julie, "You're predestined for Macon." .....


After three years in Macon my seminary professor Matt Friedemann (syndicated radio talkshow host and author) pointed his obnoxious finger at me in class saying, "Kenny Johnston! Plant a church!" ....


Several months later I was really considering this possibility but the thought scared me significantly. During a rather serious week of considering a church plant I was surprised to have lunch at my in-law's house with a man named David Nicholas (co-founder with Mark Driscoll of Acts 29 church planting ministries)..... The timing was "uncanny" (wife quote). I was able to ask many questions and Dr. Nicholas gave me leave with a pamphlet on Calvinism that he authored saying to me, "let's get your theology right first." (Dr. Nicholas recently went home to be with the Lord)



Months went by and my fear kept me from pursuing it further. Planting is hard, risky, and not financially secure. As I pursued every possible avenue I was denied one time after another. Being asked to take an assessment I was found to be an ENTZ, which meant that I should be a teacher, CEO, Lawyer, or Dictator, but it also meant I was a perfect personality type for church planting....


Not long after I sat down with a District Superintendent of the Nazerence church who told me that I sounded like a church planter. His advice: "Find your calling, b/c it will keep you when all else will not." At his words I felt that the Lord was saying, "Yep, I'm calling you to plant a church." In my heart, I said okay. Two days later I was at a church in Columbus, GA called Christ Community Church. Sitting at the table a nice lady introduced me to her husband the Pastor. Asking me where I was from he stated, "Oh, we've been praying for several years now for someone to plant a church for us in Macon."......


And so it has been. These outward confirmations have been met with a deepseated peace along with a large amount of fear and trembling at what lies ahead. I won't lie, it scares me to death. What if I fail?


The years of waiting for clarity were necessitated by my own stubbornness of heart and the need to mature as a Christian, husband, father, and minister. My marriage had needs; my ego was far too inflated; and I had much to learn about "church". There were people whom I had to ask forgiveness for self-righteousness. Though I am still in need of God's grace in all these areas, yet he has been faithful to heal a multitude of sins. And there is still a lot to be done: prayer, formation of a team :) and training.