Mark Johnson, the Senior Pastor of Calvary Temple in Springfield, Illinois, called me this evening. Mark was my pastor and mentor for some very formative years in my life and my faith. He helped me lay the solid foundation of my own growing relationship with Jesus. He remains a great friend and someone I look to for wisdom and godly counsel.
Mark was calling to let me know that his father passed away this morning, and to ask for prayer for his family. His father, M.C. Johnson, was a war veteran who went on to build a very successful business...and then left it to answer God's call to be a pastor. Mark impacted me first as my youth pastor, but it was in the church that his father had planted years before. I came to that church because of a friend who had been impacted by it. I learned to love Jesus in the midst of others doing the same because they were impacted by it. The ministry of Calvary Temple Christian Center, where I grew so much, was there for me and so many others because M.C. Johnson said yes to God and labored faithfully. Pastor M.C. Johnson loved God, loved people, loved his family, loved the church, and loved reaching people with the life-changing message of the Gospel. He dedicated his life to this, and he leaves a great legacy...one that lives on in the lives of so many, including me.
As I've gotten a bit older, I understand more the value of foundations...that they need to be built properly so that many other things may be built upon them. In the midst of leading people to Jesus, Pastor M.C. Johnson built foundations upon which much will continue to be built. I give thanks to God for him, and as I write this I'm challenged and encouraged by the responsibility and the great honor I have to build on the foundations others have laid in my life. It's absolutely God's work. I'm just so grateful that those who went before me were faithful in doing their part. Because now I have the great joy of striving to be faithful in doing mine.
Please join me in praying for the family of Pastor M.C. Johnson and in being challenged and encouraged by the legacy of his life.
Pastor M.C. Johnson
"A Winner of Souls"
May 11, 1924 - August 22, 2007
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