A recasting of the American Financial System? What Next?

On Sep 11, Treasury officials declined to rescue Lehman Brothers. In the following weeks financial institution stocks plummeted at a mind numbing pace, which accompanied soaring credit default swaps and massive shorting. AIG Collapsed triggered a government seizure for 85 Billion of taxpayer money. Panic spread to Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, Washing Mutual went belly up and other financial institutions in Asia an Europe collapsed, what next? Looks like tough, tough days are ahead. Keep the helmet fastened, head down and don't put your head up until the shelling stops could be tough sledding for some time..

Alexander Solzhenitsyn 1919-2008

Who today, now, will speak truth to power? Who carries the banner, going forward?

"He has shown you oh man what the Lord requires, To do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with thy God."Micah 6:8...

May it be YOU (the one to carry the banner going forward...)

Intimate, Satisfying, Knowledge of God

"Sound Bible teaching is an imperative in the church, but it can be carried out wrongly. The Bible is not an end in itself, but rather, it is a means to an end. That end is to bring us into an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that we might enter into with Him, that we might delight in His presence, that we might taste and know the inner sweetness of God Himself at the center and core of our being. Until and unless we find God in this kind of personal experience, we are not any better for simply having heard the Bible".
A.W. Tozer.. The Pursuit of God

Update on photos from 2008 Ethiopian Trip

Click this link to see our two albums of our Ethiopian 2008 Trip. You can click on the first album, then run a slide show @

http://picasaweb.google.com/curtjohnson26

Enjoy,

(for later there will be a link in the upper right corner of this blog.)

On this day August 12, 1961

On this day August 12, 1961 Communist East Germany further divided the city of Berlin by erecting the Berlin Wall effectively isolating West Berlin from the rest of the world.

Off to Ethiopia

Tomorrow, 14 of us (5 from the Johnson household), begin a very long flight from Charlotte NC to Frankfort Germany (via Chicago!), then a layover, then off to Kartooun, Sudan, another layover, and then finally to our destination in Addis Abbaba Ethiopia. after 30 hours or so, we will arrive and begin our missions trip to Ethiopia. On the calender we will first visit the inner city of Addis to participate in a Sports Friends soccer event with a local Ethiopian Sports Minister, then a half a day spent at the Mother Teresa Aids orphanage in Addis,which has 460 HIV positive children in it (many with full blown aids) to play with and love on for the afternoon. Next day its off to the tribal region of Southern Ethiopia to Camp Langano to participate in a soccer camp with 45 or so Ethiopian children brought in from the 4 corners of Ethiopia who are currently being discipled by Sports friends in their local community. Please pray for safety i travel, and for God to use this special time in the lives of all involved.

Last week in Washington D.C -

Last week I was in Washington DC with Nathan Ross attending a Campaign Manager School. It was excellent. The leadership Institute (http://leadershipinstitute.org/ ), is an excellent organization for training conservative leaderships accross America.

When I go to Washington, I'm always reminded of its "top down solution" . Its a wonderful picture of a model which is siginficantly flawed and actually stands in antheisis to the Gospel Vision. The gospel vision requires;that real change; is accomplished; one person at a time. Through each of us living out the gospel, the world is affected through what John Calvin called, Common Grace.

Children Dying in Drought-Stricken Ethiopia

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-05-18-voa15.cfm

Children Dying in Drought-Stricken Ethiopia
Here's a recent article about the region of Ethiopia where our team will be going in the next two weeks. Please pray for rain and relief from these deteriorating circumstance, pray for safety for our team, and God would use us during this trip. There will be a total of 15 on our trip (five of those are from our the Johnson family)! See details here http://2008ethiopia2008.blogspot.com/

Word of the day

meticulous \muh-TIK-yuh-luhs\, adjective:
Extremely or excessively careful about details.

"Curt's life would be so much easier if he was more meticulous about those important details"

On this day July 4, 1776

On this day July 4, 1776 an amended version of The declaration of Indpendence was accepted by the Continental Congress. It was with this final step the revolutionist severed all ties with their Motherland. This document articulated a belief that a government could be rooted in religious and ethical beliefs and above all a focus on the rights of liberty of the individual. It was Thomas Jefferson's belief in the enduring faith in the individual which paved the way and eventially turned America away from the class rule of the federalist. And while Jefferson was a complex man full of contidictions, he was a living example of his belief in the capacity of men to learn and grow under freedom. (Source George Grants, On this day in History)

Markets remain volatile

Up 3.88% for the first 6 months of the year, I feel kind of good about that, considering all the other indexes are down -12.00% to -14.00% for the first 6 months, many opportunities out there.... many mine fields.... walk carefully!!

Ethiopia - On track

Weve completed our funding of our Ethiopian Missions trip, thank you for your faithfulness.
Continue to pray for our prepartion, and that God would use this trip in a very special way with both those we will come in contact with in Ethiopia and within our own family. We leave 7/31

Back on track

Ran 48 miles in the last week, surprised my knees have held up without the slightest problem. could it be trend?

"No matter how large,
your vision is too small..
because our God is greater still"
Thomas Chalmers-

Team Johnson - off to Ethiopia for the Summer

Team Johnson has five members going to a Mother Teresa AIDS orphange and then off to a Soccer sports Camp in the tribal region in Southern Ethiopia, Curt, Gwen, Matt, Erica, and Ashley all are going, keep us in your prayers.. if you want to see how we are doing go to http://2008ethiopia2008.blogspot.com/

Seperation of Church and State?

"Statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principles upon which Freedom can securely stand." John Adams

"The only sure and permanent foundation of virtue is religion. Let this important truth be engraven upon your heart." Abigail Adams