To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.

-- Titus 1:15 NIV

"The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded than the shouting of a ruler among fools. Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one bungler destroys much good."

-- Ecclesiastes 9:17-18 NRSV

Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee. Jesus saw Simon and Simon's brother, Andrew. These two men were fishermen, and they were throwing a net into the lake to catch fish. Jesus said to them, "Come and follow me. I will make you {a different kind of} fishermen. You will work to gather people, {not fish}." So Simon and Andrew left their nets and followed Jesus.

-- Mark 1:16-18 (ERV)

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas ... perhaps ... means a little bit more!" And what happened then ... in Who-ville they say [is] that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!

-- Dr. Suess

While [Joseph and Mary] were [in Bethlehem], the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

-- Luke 2:6-7 NIV

You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but are in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

-- Romans 8:9 tniv

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

-- 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 NIV

"O Lord, you will hear the desire of the meek; you will strengthen their heart, you will incline your ear to do justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that those from earth may strike terror no more."

-- Psalm 10:17-18 NRSV

There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every person and it can never be filled by any created thing. It can only be filled by God, made known through Jesus Christ.

-- Blaise Pascal

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

-- Ephesians 3:20-21 tniv

If we really think that home is elsewhere, and that this life is a 'wandering to find home,' why should I not look forward to the arrival?

-- C. S. Lewis

"Anybody can observe the Sabbath but making it holy surely takes the rest of the week."

-- Alice Walker, from In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens

"The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the neediest people shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. For the tyrant shall be no more, and the scoffer shall cease to be; all those alert to do evil shall be cut off— those who cause a person to lose a lawsuit, who set a trap for the arbiter in the gate, and without grounds deny justice to the one in the right."

-- Isaiah 29:19-21, NRSV

Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

-- Ephesians 5:15-16 (NIV)

You were planned for God's pleasure. ... God did not NEED to create you, but he CHOSE to create you for ... his benefit, his glory, his purpose, and his delight.

-- Rick Warren

If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

-- 1 John 1:7

Answering God's urgent call, utilizing only their faith and personal savings, Greg and Becky Johnson founded LovingGodFellowship.org (LGF) eight years ago today. LGF is now ministering the Gospel to over 50,000 people around the world each day.

Will you help make this day special and celebrate this ministry milestone with a donation that will help keep this vital daily ministry going. Many around the world will be blessed. Thank you for your support.

LovingGodFellowship.org (LGF) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that relies solely on charitable contributions, given online or through US mail, to sustain its worldwide ministry to thousands per day. LGF is not funded or endowed by any group or denomination. LovingGodFellowship.org/donations

God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.

-- 1 Thessalonians 4:7-8 nlt

Believing in the future takes faith. ... We cannot function effectively without a belief in that which does not exist. ... You believe in tomorrow; you believe in progress.

-- Erwin Raphael McManus

"My life is not simply a meaningless conglomeration of serendipitous events and unremarkable happenstance. Rather, it is a series of divine appointments with the goal of shaping my character."

-- Kelly James Clark

"I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!"

-- Psalm 27:13-14 NRSV

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

-- Romans 8:26-27 tniv

The real danger of legalism is that it produces a sense of attainment that short-circuits our call to live the life of Yes through Christ. Self-achievement brings a false sense of assurance that somehow we can live a pure life in our own ability. This attitude ultimately leads us to cut ourselves off from the heart of God and, in turn, to deny our true identity in Christ.

-- David Edwards

"The work of God is the calling of a people, whether in the Old Covenant or the New… That men and women are called together to a new wholeness is itself the work of God, which gives meaning to history.”

-- John Howard Yoder

Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.

--Deuteronomy 5:33 NIV

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

-- Hebrews 1:3

[Jesus said,] "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

-- Luke 11:13 tniv

The Good News about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begins with what the prophet Isaiah said would happen. Isaiah wrote: "Listen! I (God) will send my helper ahead of you. He will prepare the way for you." "There is a person shouting in the desert: 'Prepare the way for the Lord. Make his paths straight.'"

-- Mark 1:1-3 (ERV)

He [the Word, Jesus] was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

-- John 1:2-3

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by human effort?

-- Galatians 3:2-3 tniv

He (Jesus) gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.

-- 1 Timothy 2:6, NLT

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

-- John 1:14, NIV

The next time you find yourself alone in a dark alley facing the undeniables of life, don't cover them with a blanket, or ignore them with a nervous grin. Don't turn up the TV and pretend they aren't there. Instead, stand still, whisper his name, and listen. He is nearer than you think.

-- Max Lucado

The most extraordinary thing in the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.

-- G. K. Chesterton

When you carry out acts of kindness, you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, "Yes, this is how I ought to feel."

-- Rabbi Harold Kushner

"Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith for ever; who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free;"

-- Psalm 146:5-7 NIV

All effective fathers learn the importance of a wise and flexible response to their children's calls for attention. No busy signals here. No "hold" button.

-- Gordon McDonald

"What is the 'impossible'? It is liberation. To liberate people from the demons of fear, of loneliness, of hatred and of egoism that shackle them. To liberate people so that they also can love, heal, and liberate others. But in order to do that, you must go in poverty and experience the life of God flowing within your own flesh."

-- Jean Vanier

"For [God] delivers the needy when they call, the poor and those who have no helper. [God] has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence [God] redeems their life; and precious is their blood in [God's] sight."

-- Psalm 72:12-14

“The nature of water is yielding, and that of a stone is hard. Yet if you hang up a bottle filled with water above the stone so that the water drips drop by drop, it will wear a hole in the stone. In the same way the word of God is tender, and our heart is hard. So when people hear the word of God frequently, their hearts are opened to the fear of God."

-- Abba Poeman

What we do is very little. But it is like the little boy with a few loaves and fishes. Christ took that little and increased it. [Christ] will do the rest. What we do is so little that we may seem to be constantly failing. But so did [Christ] fail. [Christ] met with apparent failure on the Cross. But unless the seeds fall into the earth and die, there is no harvest. 

-- Dorothy Day

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

-- Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV

Faith is unutterable trust in God, trust which never dreams that He will not stand by us.

-- Oswald Chambers

And don't forget to do good and to share with those in need. These are the sacrifices that please God.

-- Hebrews 13:16, NLT

God's touch in our lives is kind ... Romans 2:4 says that it's God's KINDNESS -- not his power or justice -- that leads us to repentance. ... And because of this kindness, we want to be closer to him.

-- Amy Nappa

Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.

-- Colossians 3:23, NLT

Through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within us, carefully guard the precious truth that has been entrusted to you.

-- 2 Timothy 1:14 nlt

Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

-- Hebrews 13:17, NIV

You know how it is -- you say the same words, yet they mean different things to those hearing them. you offer the same touch, yet it yields different results in different lives. Some people soak up your touch; others wipe it off. You might look at these situations and get discouraged: "Fine! I just won't do anything nice for anyone!" Yet look back at the example of Jesus.

-- Amy Nappa

"We do not strive for spectacular actions. What counts is the gift of yourself, the degree of love you put into each of your deeds."

-- Mother Teresa

And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross -- not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony.

-- 1 John 5:6 nlt

Real encouragement occurs when words are spoken from a heart of love to another's recognized fear.

-- Larry Crabb

The ultimate proof of total forgiveness takes place when we sincerely petition the Father to let those who have hurt us off the hook -- even if they have hurt not only us, but also those close to us.

-- R. T. Kendall

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

-- 2 Peter 1:5-7 NIV

[King] David certainly was aware that his lust for power had become a barrier to inwardness. Careers, even religious careers, may become little more than forums for our own advancement. But how are we to deal with such ambition? Our longing after Christ must exceed our need for status in the world.

"The Word became flesh," John said ... He was touchable, approachable, reachable. And, what's more, he was ordinary. If he were here today you probably wouldn't notice him as he walked through a shopping mall. He wouldn't turn heads by the clothes he wore or the jewelry he flashed. "Just call me Jesus," you can almost hear him say.

-- Max Lucado

During the day, Jesus taught the people in the temple area. At night he went out of the city and stayed all night on the Mount of Olives. Every morning all the people got up early to go listen to Jesus at the temple.

-- Luke 21:37-38 ERV

My dear friends, don't believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh and examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world. Here's how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ -- the Son of God, who came as an actual flesh-and-blood person -- comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God. This is the spirit of antichrist that you heard was coming. Well, here it is, sooner than we thought!

-- 1 John 4:1-3 msg

Those who willingly receive God’s grace are forever transformed. They cease to do whatever they want to do and begin to do what Jesus Christ has for them to do. They no longer live for self; they deny self and follow Christ.

There is no better example of this transformation than the one recorded in Acts 9:1-9 of God’s word. A dramatic, definable, and undeniable change takes place in Saul, who would later be named the Apostle Paul.

Saul was living for self, believing in his interpretation of Old Testament Scripture and the prophets. Jesus did not fit Saul’s understanding of what the Scripture said of the Messiah. Saul and his religious buddies believed that the teachings and claims of Jesus were radical and threatened changes to the Law and the Temple. Saul was at the trial of Stephen where the frustrations of the religionists with the early Christ-followers came to a violent climax and ended in the stoning death of Stephen (Acts 6:8-7:60).

Continue Reading >>

"Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of [God’s] people [God] will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken. It will be said on that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for [God], so that [God] might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in [God's] salvation."

-- Isaiah 25:8-9 NRSV

How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

-- Jesus, Matthew 7:4-5 NIV

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

-- James 1:23-25 NIV

Jesus saw some rich people putting their gifts for God into the temple money box. Then Jesus saw a poor widow. She put two small copper coins into the box. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth. This poor widow gave only two small coins. But she really gave more than all those rich people. The rich people have plenty; they gave only what they did not need. This woman is very poor. But she gave all she had. And she needed that money to help her live."

-- Luke 21:1-4 ERV

Does God indeed need to rest? Of course not! But did God choose to rest? Yes. Why? Because God subjected creation to a rhythm of rest and work that He revealed by observing the rhythm Himself, as a precedent for everyone else. In this way, He showed us a key to order in our private worlds.

-- Gordon McDonald

Jesus said to the Sadducees, "On earth, people marry each other. Some people will be worthy to be raised from death and live again after this life. In that life they will not marry. In that life people are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death. Moses clearly showed that people are raised from death. When Moses wrote about the burning bush, he said that the Lord is 'the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' {If God said he is their God, then} these men are not really dead. He is God only of living people. All people that belong to God are alive." Some of the teachers of the law said, "Teacher, your answer was very good." No person was brave enough to ask him another question.

-- Luke 20:34-40 ERV

For the Christian, nothing less than the presence of the Spirit is enough to explain the marvelous changes worked in human lives. Call it grace; call it providence; call it the result of Bible study ... just so we understand that in and behind any or all the instruments is the presence and work of the Spirit who seeks and finds and transforms.

-- Jim McGuiggan

"The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."

-- 1 Corinthians 10:16-17 NRSV

No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.

-- 1 John 4:12, NLT

But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

-- Jesus, Matthew 5:44-45 NIV

Why do so many people have struggles when it comes to prayer? .. Men and women were originally created to desire communion with God. But the effects of sin have dulled most of that original human desire. Sin turned a natural activity into an unnatural function.

-- Gordon McDonald

"Beg our Lord to grant you perfect love for your neighbor… If someone else is well spoken of, be more pleased than if it were yourself… Force your will, as far as possible, to comply in all things with others’ wishes although sometimes you may lose your own rights by doing so. Forget your self-interests for theirs, however much nature may rebel."

-- Teresa of Avila

Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand.

-- St. Augustine of Hippo

Some people think that faith is believing that God will do what you want him to do—if you pray and believe, God will act in the way you want him to act on behalf of your situation or circumstance. They have been taught that if you mix some fasting with praying and believing, you can really get God’s attention, and he will do more of what you want him to do. With this type of thinking, glory is given to the individual who can supposedly move God into action. A true move of God will be in such a way that only God receives the glory.

Faith is believing that God will keep his word, doing what is right because he is in control and loves his children. It is in prayer where we receive more of his grace and mercy in our time of need as we release all of our worries and anxieties to him. Our human nature tries to hold on to them, but his nature is to bear them all if we just release them to him.

Continue Reading >>

"The Bible speaks with remarkable frequency of 'bearing.' It is capable of expressing the whole work of Jesus Christ in this one word… Therefore, the Bible can also characterize the whole life of the Christian as bearing the cross. It is the fellowship of the cross to experience the burden of the other. If one does not experience it, the fellowship [one] belongs to is not Christian."

-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God might want you to extend his love by offering to baby-sit for the single parent down the street. He might want you to prepare a hearty meal for that lonely old man who lost his wife -- and to sit and visit with him while he eats. Who knows, he might even want you to reach out and touch the life of a total stranger in some way you can't imagine right now. Are you willing to set aside your own comfort to touch someone else with God's love?

-- Amy Nappa

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.

-- Colossians 3:5 NIV

“Love is the will to extend one's self for the purpose of nurturing one's own or another's spiritual growth... Love is as love does. Love is an act of will -- namely, both an intention and an action. Will also implies choice. We do not have to love. We choose to love.”

-- M. Scott Peck

No vital Christianity is possible unless at least three aspects of it are developed. These are the inner life of devotion, the outer life of service, and the intellectual life of rationality.

-- Elton Trueblood

"Living without speaking is better than speaking without living. For a person who lives rightly helps us by silence, while one who talks too much annoys us. If, however, words and life go hand in hand, it is the perfection of all philosophy."

-- Isidore of Pelusium

"Holiness consists in doing God’s will joyfully. Faithfulness makes saints. The spiritual life is a union with Jesus: the divine and the human giving themselves to each other. The only thing Jesus asks of us is to give ourselves to [God], in total poverty and total self-forgetfulness."

-- Mother Teresa, from The Love of Christ

"Whoever says, ‘I am in the light’, while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister lives in the light, and in such a person there is no cause for stumbling."

-- 1 John 2:9-10 NRSV

Don't grieve God. Don't break his heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself. Don't take such a gift for granted.

-- Ephesians 4:30 msg

"One cannot be aware both of the history of Christian war and of the contents of the gospels without feeling that something is amiss."

- Wendell Berry, from his introduction to Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Christ's Teachings About Love, Compassion and Forgiveness

"Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful."

-- Colossians 3:14-15 NRSV

There is a big difference between mishearing and hearing only what we want to hear, right? We, the people of God, seem to have chronic 'itching ears,' and we can usually find somebody to scratch till we say 'Aaahh' (2 Tim. 4:3). Given the option, we will usually choose bigger barns to serve ourselves over bigger hearts to serve others (Luke 12:13-21).

-- Scotty Smith

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age...

— Titus 2:11-12 NIV

When the followers heard this, they were very surprised. They asked, "Then who can be saved?" Jesus looked at his followers and said, "This is something that people cannot do themselves. But God can do all things."

— Matthew 19:25-26 ERV

We wait for the blessed hope — the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

-- Titus 2:13-14 NIV

"Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals I will not look upon. Take away from me the noise of your songs; I will not listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters; and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." -

-- Amos 5:22-24 NRSV

[Jesus said,] "I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative -- that is, the Holy Spirit -- he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. I am leaving you with a gift -- peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid."

-- John 14:25-27 NIV

We fear the search for who we are. Perhaps because we're afraid that having located our true souls, we might not like ourselves that much. So, we shrink to step across the threshold to our inner selves and invite God in.... But no matter how we love the busy world of our relationships, the fast-action theater of our noisy and hurried lives at last empties out. Then we find ourselves in lonely cells of bulky silence that compels us to turn from the outer things and face our inner selves -- and our mighty God. (A Hunger for the Holy: Nuturing Intimacy with Christ )

-- Calvin Miller

I cannot persuade myself that without love to others, and without, as far as rests with me, peaceableness toward all, I can be called a worthy servant of Jesus Christ. 

-- Saint Basil

"Suppose a woman has ten silver coins, but she loses one of them. The woman will take a light and clean the house. She will look carefully for the coin until she finds it. And when she finds the lost coin, she will call her friends and neighbors and say to them, 'Be happy with me because I have found the coin that I lost!' In the same way, the angels of God are very happy when one sinner changes his heart."

-- Jesus, Luke 15:8-10 (ERV)

"In the last days, the Bible tells us of a horrible series of events that will take place in the lands of Israel and Syria. One of these events is the disappearance of Damascus as one of the premiere cities in the world." Read more at RaptureReady.com...

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.

-- James 1:19-20 NIV

In the Kingdom, all people will live out the life God planned for them whe He first created the human race. In the Kingdom, family life, economic life, and political life will be lived out in accord with the plan of God.

-- Tony Campolo

God has made a way for us to have eternal life through Jesus Christ. We can walk with Him every day, and one day He will take us to be with Him forever. God taking Enoch typifies the great gathering in the sky with the LORD that is to come for Christ-followers. Read more...

"But the Christianity that called to me, through the stories I read in the Bible, scattered the proud and rebuked the powerful. It was a religion in which divinity was revealed by scars on flesh. It was an upside-down world in which treasure, as the prophet said, was found in darkness; in which the hungry were filled with good things, and the rich sent out empty; in which new life was manifested through a humiliated, hungry woman and an empty, tortured man."

-- Sara Miles

[Jesus said,] "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere -- in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

-- Acts 1:8 nlt

Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.

-- 2 Corinthians 2:14

We sang together, we worshiped the Lord together, we laughed together, we cried together, we hugged each other, and we loved on one another. It was a glorious service and gave us all a taste of what it will be like around the throne of God with people represented from all nations worshiping God for all eternity (Revelation 7:9-10 ESV).

Read more...

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children-- with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

-- Psalm 103:15-18 NIV

For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

-- Romans 8:13 tniv

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

-- 2 Peter 3:9 NIV

Zacchaeus said to the Lord (Jesus), "I want to do good. I will give half of my money to the poor. If I have cheated any person, I will pay that person back four times more!" Jesus said, "Today is the day for this family to be saved from sin. Yes, even this tax collector is one of God's chosen people!"

-- Luke 19:8-9 ERV

Where there is much prayer, there will be much of the Spirit; where there is much of the Spirit, there will be ever-increasing prayer.

-- Andrew Murray

"Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis. This is the message from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: 'I know all the things you do, and that you have a reputation for being alive -- but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what little remains, for even what is left is almost dead. I find that your actions do not meet the requirements of my God.'"

-- Jesus, Revelation 3:1-2 nlt

Jesus was going through the city of Jericho. In Jericho there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a wealthy, very important tax collector. He wanted to see who Jesus was. There were many other people that wanted to see Jesus too. Zacchaeus was too short to see above the people. So he ran to a place where he knew Jesus would come. Then Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus. When Jesus came to that place, Jesus looked up and saw Zacchaeus in the tree. Jesus said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry! Come down! I must stay at your house today."

-- Luke 19:1-5 ERV

God's wounds cure, sin's kisses kill.

-- William Gurnall

"In the morning as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. Then Peter remembered and said to [Jesus], ‘Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you."

-- Mark 11:20-23 NRSV

​Elmer L. Johnson, father of LovingGodFellowship.org founder Reverend Gregory A. Johnson, went home to be with the Lord on June 17, 2013. 

Elmer L. Johnson, 82, of Proctorville, OH, transitioned peacefully to his heavenly home on Monday, June 17, 2013, at St. Mary’s Medical Center in Huntington, WV.  He is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Lois Ann Morrison Johnson, who was the love of his life, his best friend, and loving caregiver.

Elmer was born in Ironton, Ohio on January 7, 1931 to the late Reverend Andrew H. Johnson and Maude Mae Wills Johnson.  He graduated from Elizabeth Rural High School in Pedro, OH in 1949.  In 1960 he obtained his degree in Tool Engineering from Allied Technical Institute in Chicago, IL.

A Korean War Veteran, he spent four years in Korean waters aboard the U.S. Navy Hospital ship, USS Haven.

After 27 years of service, he retired from Huntington Alloys, which is now known as Special Metals.

Elmer was a man of great faith who walked humbly before God and served as a deacon and board member for many years at Bethel Temple Assembly of God in Huntington, WV.

Since he loved being in the woods and on the water, he was a naturally avid hunter and fisherman.

Elmer is survived by his three children and their spouses:

Ramona G. Runyon (Charles) of Huntington, WV
James C. Johnson (Ellen) of Cape Coral, FL
Reverend Gregory A. Johnson (Rebecca) of Lexington, KY

Four Grandchildren:

Angela Williamson (Brad) of Huntington, WV
Joshua Runyon (Elaine) of Baltimore, MD
Austin Johnson of Lexington, KY
Kelsey Johnson of Lexington, KY

Four Great-Grandchildren:

Hope, Grace, Bryce and Cole Williamson of Huntington, WV

Three Siblings:

William H. Johnson of Columbus, OH
Francis Travis of Ironton, OH
Carrie Lee Thornton of Ironton, OH

Preceding him in death were three brothers:  Thoral, Paul, and Andrew H. Johnson, Jr.

In addition to his immediate family, he is survived by many nieces, nephews, family and friends.

Elmer was a gentle and loving man, and will be missed by all who were privileged to know him.  We are all comforted by knowing that he is now resting in the arms of Jesus.

Visitation will be at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, June 21, 2013 at Phillips Funeral Home, 1004 S. 7th Street, Ironton, OH.  Funeral services will follow at 3:00 p.m., with Reverend Gregory A. Johnson officiating.  Burial, with military rites, will follow the funeral service at Sugar Creek Cemetery.

Condolences may be offered to the family at www.phillipsfuneralhome.net.  Contributions in memory of Elmer may be made to www.lovinggodfellowship.org or to the Ohio Alzheimer’s Association.

To view the video tribute please click this link.. http://videos.lifetributes.com/405488