The Fool Who Would Be Holy > Articles by: Ian Johnson

Author Archive: Ian Johnson

I have been in Christ since 1991, and have been writing about the general subject area of this site since 1996. My less relevant qualifications are: B.S. (Chemistry) and B.A. (Linguistics), 1976, Wichita State University. M.S. (Biochemistry), 1982 (course work finished in 1980), Iowa State University; J.D., 1982, University of Iowa; M.A. (History), 1984, University of Iowa; plus one year of a History Ph.D. program, 1984-1985, University of Kansas. I was employed from 1991 to 2016 as a research paralegal in a firm that handled mostly complex civil litigation, including toxic tort litigation (in which I was always involved). That firm merged with a larger litigation firm in 2016, where I have been employed ever

Our Father–The One in the Heavens: God with Us in the Lord’s Prayer

January 10, 2023 2 Comments

Recognition of the heavens all around us and of the imperatives used in the Lord Prayer, Jesus’ model for our prayers, transforms it into a very radical and dangerous prayer. In it, we are actually commanding the immediate manifestation of God’s increasing rule in our present existence and on Earth.

Desire to have our own way, Forgive as we forgive, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's sovereignty, Immanence, In prayer, Omnipresence, Promises, Rejecting God, Restoration of our Relationships, Salvation, Sin, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word, What is sin?

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The Heavens are All Around Us!

January 2, 2023 2 Comments

In the very first chapter of the Bible, In telling us about God’s creation of all that is, other than himself, God tells us something very important about the “heavens”–namely, that they are all around us. They are in the air we breathe, from which we have life. He does not limit his activity to a distant “Heaven.”

A God who Speaks, Eternity, God Acts by Speaking, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, Immanence, Omnipresence, The Invisible God's Self-Existence, The Kingdom is all around us, The Kingdom of the Heavens, through his creation, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word

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“I Want to Be Forgotten!”

December 10, 2022 1 Comment

A rebellion against the power of death, written as a tribute to two important people in my life who have left this existence in recent Decembers.

God's purpose for us, Salvation, To be in his image, To bear fruit, To see God's glory, Ultimate reality, Victory, What is God's Word

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The Fruit of Righteousness and the Fruit of the Spirit

December 8, 2022 3 Comments

When Jesus says that he has chosen us to bear fruit that will last, the fruit he has in mind is the fruit of the Spirit–that is, the work the Holy Spirit does within us as we yield to him to make us like Christ. It is not our work, our “fruits,” at all–it is all his work.

Changed treatment of each other, Complex unity, Compulsory Christianity, Emotions, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, Human Rationality, patience, Repentance, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Salvation, To be in his image, To bear fruit, To live in unity

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Of Abiding, Growth and Fruitfulness

November 28, 2022 3 Comments

God wants us to bear the lasting fruit he has placed within us. But this does not require our effort to bear fruit, it requires only that we remain in Jesus, pay attention to his words, and let him work through us. His only command is that we love one another as he has loved us, so letting his love reach others through us.

A God who Speaks, God is Love, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's Voice, His Children, His Friends, In prayer, Love each other, Promises, To bear fruit

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God’s Patience and Our Repentance, 2 Peter 3:9

November 13, 2022 2 Comments

God is slow to bring the day of justice because he is patient, determined to give us all the time we need to repent and return to him. If we do not, it will be our choice, not his, to remain in the present world when he removes his care from it and it disintegrates under the weight of sin.

A God who Speaks, Consequences, Free will, God is Love, God Never Stopped Speaking, God Speaks to Us, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, judgment, patience, Regeneration, Rejecting God, Repentance, reprobation, Restoration of God's Image, Salvation, Sin, The Problem of Evil, Ultimate reality, What is God's Word, What is sin?

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Top-Down or Bottom-Up Repentance? The Shift Toward Mass “Evangelism” and Group “Conversions”

November 4, 2022 0 Comments

Introduction to the historic process by which the Early Church, a collection of outcasts bound together by a personal relationship with Jesus, within a few centuries became the chief bastion of worldly power and order held together by legally enforced adherence to a creed.

Church purpose versus church growth, Compulsory Christianity, Divisions in the Church, Jesus the Son, Mass Conversion, Mass Evangelism, Peril of Seeking Numbers, Peril of Seeking Power, Peril of Seeking Respectability, Salvation, Social control and statecraft, Son of Man, Trinity

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Idolatry and the Meaning of “Sin” Outline

October 27, 2022 1 Comment

This is an index of posts defining, discussing or illustrating the concept of sin, its relationship to idolatry and idolizing oneself, and the distinction between sin (singular) and sins (plural).

Desire to have our own way, Forgetting God, Free will, God's purpose for us, idolatry, Idolatry and Sin, Index, refusal to repent, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, self-serving worship, Sin, Sins versus sin, Topic Index, Truth and Falsehood, What is sin?

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Repentance Series Index

October 23, 2022 0 Comments

An index to the series of blog articles on the subject of repentance.

An abuse of God's image, Confession of Sin, Consequences, Desire to have our own way, Forgetting God, forgiveness and mercy, Free will, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's purpose for us, God's rationality, patience, refusal to repent, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, self-serving worship, Sin, Sins versus sin, The Problem of Evil, To live in unity, What is sin?

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Anger

October 12, 2022 0 Comments

I write this post to myself. I was once a very angry man. But I believed I now had anger under control. More recently, I’m not so sure. Manipulative people and manipulative institutions both deliberately goad the anger of those they want to control–anger is a great motivator. The media, celebrities, politicians, organizations and advertisers do the same thing. Other people, though, habitually but unconsciously manipulate by continually rehearsing their angry reveries for others to hear, wishing either to bring their hearers into their angry world or to intimidate by fear of what they might do in anger. And I am weak to all of these ploys. So I present the following study, which consists only of quotations from Scripture about human anger, its causes and antidote.

Changed treatment of each other, Conversation with others, Desire to have our own way, Divisions in the Church, Emotions, Forgive as we forgive, forgiveness and mercy, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Free will, God is Love, God's purpose for us, His Children, Human Rationality, Injustice and Lawsuits, Language and Speech, patience, Repentance, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Salvation, To be his ambassadors, To live in unity

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