Ken Johnston

PhD student. Uni Chaplain. Leading a church in a pub. Thinking about missional formation.

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@beanevermisses Hi Boa

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

The purpose of the system is what it does. If the system is consistently burning out pastors there could be something wrong with the system.

[Dan White Jr. @danwhitejr]

All of this Sabbatical Talk on here reveals how little we understand why Pastors are burning out.

The simplistic answers of more sleep, take Sabbath, find your worth in God ARE NOT not remedies for burnout, they may help a bit, but they are not what's underneath sustainability.

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@TheBabylonBee Classic Babylon Bee

[Gretchen Ronnevik @garonnevik]

I just keep coming back to this.
Guys, by many definitions, I fit the bill of a trad-wife. I'm conservative Christian. I believe in male headship. I homeschooled for 14 years. I had 6 kids--2 of them birthed at home.

My husband is a farmer. He works the land. He supports our family. He's a big strong guy, who played football in college. He's a church elder.

And it's all rubbish.

Don't get me wrong, our life is beautiful. Messy, and not as idyllic as it appears. But we have many good things. I love our kids.

But it's all rubbish IN COMPARISON TO THE SURPASSING GREATNESS OF KNOWING CHRIST. He is everything.

People are out here promoting the trad-life as the savior of western civilization, and what will fix our great nation. We look at the state of the world and say, "you know what people need? We should just make them..."

You've lost the plot. It's all about Christ. He is the plot. He's the beginning, middle, and end.

Being a Christian isn't promoting ideals found in the Bible--cherry picking which verses confirm the life I would like to pursue. It's being held by Christ. It's believing he is everything. It's saying, not by my flesh, but by his flesh. Not by works, so that no one can boast. He's the plot.

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@danwhitejr It's a radically different view of leadership, and power. I don't need to get my way and I don't need someone to follow me. I know where I'm going and why, and if they want to follow me they are welcome. It's not a defensive dismissiveness but a death of ego.

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@iamfujimura @AllSaintsPton @Penn It's amazing

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@ShaneClaiborne I wonder what the prince of peace thinks.

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@tanyariches Is this because of the connection between western mission efforts and empire/colonialism or something else? Where can I read more about this?

[Danny Slavich @DannySlavich]

Why would a book targeting two of the most fruitful church planting pastors of the past 25 years (Keller and Greear) resonate with so many? Because some evangelicals believe our world is a battle field full of enemies more than a mission field full of neighbors.

[Istra of Glome @byistra]

C.S. Lewis may have written the best closing sentence of all time

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@JayMallow3 Makes sense. John hears of the Lion of the tribe of Judah in Rev 5 and instead a lamb that was slain appears. Jesus wearing a robe stained with his own blood is the same imagery.

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

This is a much better metric than attendance, giving or 'excellence' in the Sunday service.

[Brad Brisco @bradleybrisco]

"In missionary churches the effectiveness of the leaders is not measured by what they do or do not accomplish, but by how the people of God are equipped, enabled, organized and inspired to participate in God’s mission in the world."

~ Charles Van Engen, God's Missionary People

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@tanyariches How have our political identities helped us love our neighbour? How have they impeded us loving our neighbour? If 'Jesus is Lord' is a political statement, how about 'I speak in tongues'? Was it validating to have a Pentecostal PM? Why?

[Trey Ferguson @PastorTrey05]

I ain’t out to prove God’s existence to nobody.

If you believe in God, I want you to know that God is defined & identified by love.

If you don’t believe in God, I want you to try love out anyway.

I’m wild enough to hope that, in the process, you might meet the God I trust.

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@bradleybrisco @plantologyninja Thanks Brad

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

Love this quote.

[Rich Raho @RichRaho]

Francis: “A myth needing to be dispelled is that the Church, committed to works of social promotion, does all this to proselytize, as if caring for others were a way of enticing  people to ‘join up.’ No!  The Church does not go forward by proselytism…” https://t.co/9U9HPk8AYs

[Rich Raho @RichRaho]

Francis: “A myth needing to be dispelled is that the Church, committed to works of social promotion, does all this to proselytize, as if caring for others were a way of enticing  people to ‘join up.’ No!  The Church does not go forward by proselytism…” https://t.co/9U9HPk8AYs

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@iamfujimura @esther_L_meek Happily surprised to Orson Scott Card quoted here. Such a powerful truth.

[Ken Johnston @kenjohnston77]

@kimslearning @PastorTrey05 The Greek word for pigeon and dove is the same. Which makes you think why translators went with dove. Aesthetic bias? Tradition? Some deep scholarly reason?