Tag Archive - Throw Mountains

Throw Mountains 2.0

June 24, 2011 in The Church with 2 Comments

I wanted to share with you the most joyous news on my birthday.

Today I am my 29th years old.

As my last year as a 20-something I want to make sure I don’t miss a single opportunity to crank it up and serve my generation!

Announcing Throw Mountains 2.0

Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.” (Matthew 21:21, NLT).Reaching the 20-somethings (my peers) is not easy. In fact, it’s far from it. We’re old enough to make our own decisions. We don’t want to be told what to do by our parents–or anyone really.

We’re just trying to figure out where we’re going, who we want to do life with, and how long it’s going to take us to get there.

Since the launch of my Throw Mountains tour this year, I visited Indiana and Louisiana to speak to my fellow 20-somethings and encourage them in their walk with God. Although I would have loved to do more since the tour ended, I never stopped thinking of ways I can reach out through new book projects, speaking topics, and free resources that I have been working on.

More to come on these later!

Start Somewhere

Every day I wake up with a burden to change the world and reach my generation for Christ. I know that I cannot do it in my own strength. I rely on God’s word to me when I started my own ministry over two years ago. “It is not be force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in [your] way; it will become a level plain before [you]! (Zecharish 4:6-7, NLT).

Partner With Me

After much prayer and seeking wise council, I have decided to rename my ministry, “Throw Mountains.” I am so passionate about reaching my generation and will continue to raise monthly support through my non-profit Mountain Movers International. But instead of the support name saying “Devotional Diva” it will now say “Throw Mountains.” Funny how this goes better with Mountain Movers…Go figure!

I’m still keeping the name Devotional Diva on Twitter, Facebook, and my website/blog so there is no confusion on how to reach me!

Please join me in the fight again mainstream Christianity that says, “we don’t know how to reach you.” Whether young adults are a liability, or churches don’t have enough time and/or money to support a growing community–or maybe they don’t even know how to reach out to the 70+% who have disappeared from the church altogether–I want to help.

If you would like to make a donation to my ministry please go to http://www.devotionaldiva.com/ministry to give!


Endorsements for Throw Mountains Ministry

“Energetic. Compassionate. Honest. Open. These 4 words immediately come to mind when I think about the person and ministry of Renee Johnson. I have been extremely blessed by her friendship and completely support the ministry God has placed within her. Let there be no mistake as to why I chose those words to describe her. She leaves an ECHO of God’s word, the Holy Spirit’s conviction, and our Savior’s love.” Tim Ross, Tim Ross Ministries

“Renee Johnson is a person who shares her faith in Christ honestly and passionately. She spoke meaningfully to those gathered at our Throw Mountains-Northeast Indiana event. I strongly recommend Renee Johnson for your next 20 something event. She will encourage and inspire.” Jim Kane, Pastor, First Church of God, Kendallville, Indiana

“Renee brings a passion and love for reaching the 20 somethings for Christ that is contagious, effective, and equipping. We loved what Renee brought through our Throw Mountains event to the young adults at First United Methodist Church in Shreveport, LA. Renee left us energized and excited about the future of our young adult ministries.” Mark Sorensen, Director of Contemporary Worship and College and Young Adult Ministries

“As we gaze across the cultural landscape of young 20- to 30-somethings, it’s easy to be both concerned and optimistic. We’re not speaking just about a group of people that are walking away from God and the church anymore. Instead, many have never walked away as they’ve never been connected in the first place. The complexities of this and other factors can be daunting. With this said, the incredible potential and passion of this generation is inspiring and must not be ignored. I am thankful for leaders, churches, and ministries that are choosing to focus on the positive and seek to connect this generation to God and the church.  Throw Mountains is committed to this cause.  Renee has much to share and can be considered as valuable partners in your efforts to minister to young adults.” Jason Hayes, Author, Speaker, and Young Adult Ministry Specialist for LifeWay Christian Resources

When I hear of people studying culture and encouraging the church to take seriously the mission of seeing emerging generations know and serve Jesus my heart lights up. When I see…Throw Mountains…doing this, my heart exponentially lights up with encouragement, joy.” Dan Kimball, Pastor, Author & Speaker

“We live in a time when our college students don’t give two cents worth of time or attention to the local church. It is more important today than ever before in history to grab the attention of this age group. I don’t want to get to heaven and look at God and say, ‘well…they just didn’t fit our demographic, so we didn’t reach out to that age.’ Its time for the church to wake up and realize the importance of capturing the hearts of our college age/young adults.  I really believe that Renee Johnson AKA “Throw Mountains” …shares that same vision and heart.” Blake Bergstrom, Nashville Campus Pastor, Cross Point Church, Nashville

“Renee is one of the most enthusiastic, hard working and dedicated woman I know. She joined my Circle of Influence group…a hand picked group of budding future writer and speakers…Renee has a history of consistent use of her writing, has a wonderful grasp of how to lead her generation.” Pam Farrel, Marriage and Relationship Expert, Author and Speaker of over 35 books

Young Adult ministry is like…

April 12, 2011 in Events, The Church with 0 Comments

This past weekend, I traveled from San Diego, CA to Shreveport, LA to speak at First United Methodist Church. It was the last of my Throw Mountains tour to the 20/30-somethings.

Now that I’m home, I’m part sad and glad.

Sad that the tour is over and glad that I got to be a part of something ground breaking.

I didn’t want to blog about it until I had a Bible verse and a way to collect my thoughts…and then I read this passage in Luke 4 in my One Year Bible during my quiet time tonight.

“When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table!

“Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted” (Luke 14:8-11, NLT).

Did you catch that, Renee?

Don’t be embarrassed. Remember the passages in Zechariah 4 that God used to call you into full time ministry a year and a half ago? It wasn’t in MY strength but in the Lord’s strength and Spirit that no mighty MOUNTAIN would stand in my way!

I had the audacity to call it Throw Mountains, that my faith would move mountains on behalf of the 20/30-somethings.

Well, I believe it still can, but these verses gripped my heart tonight.

For the past year and a half I have allowed myself to get carried away because I have a story to tell, I know people, and I expect God to do great things! Somehow in the midst of all of that I sat a few heads (okay probably more like a dozen) in front of those I should have. Not only have I seen Throw Mountains start with five, then four, and then down to one–me.

Then I watched as other young adult or singles pastors nationwide get let go due to the economy or church redirection which (both) forces people to leave.

I hear you Lord.

We are not to be embarrassed when you remove us. Remove us of our pride, our status, our titles, the people we know, our comfort zones.

“Need I continue?”

No, Lord.

So instead of telling you how great I think I was this weekend or how my story mattered–I’ll just take a seat at the kids table with the few 20/30-somethings who are left and we’re going to have a party.

Young adult ministry is like giving up.

“So you cannot be my disciple without giving up everything you own (Luke 14:33, NLT).”

Throwing Snowballs

March 8, 2011 in Events, The Church with 0 Comments

Thanks for your support and prayers this past weekend while I traveled to Kendalville, IN for the first EVER Throw Mountains event.

I was pleasantly surprised by all the Lord had in store during the weekend, and wanted to give you an update so you can praise God with me!

Thanks to the efforts to Pastor Jim Kane and members of his community, we hosted the event at the Kendallville Public Library. It was a really nice and clean facility that enabled everyone to sit at a desk…and my favorite chairs with wheels.

Although, I was a bit bummed that we didn’t get to have a Chair Wars!!!

I spoke on the topic of “Connecting Young Adults to Jesus Daily” from my first book, “Faithbook of Jesus” and the importance of establishing, creating, and keeping a healthy relationship with the Lord. I shared about my personal struggles, and why I’m SO passionate about young adults.

There was a nice mixture of both young adults and area leaders and pastors who had the same desire. We had a question and answer time where they were able to ask specific questions on reaching the 20/30-somethings.

Afterwards, we went to the world’s most PROFITABLE Pizza Hut (who knew). Mostly everyone went and continued the conversation in a more relaxed and fun environment.

Seriously. Amazing. Pizza.

But, before it ended I was able to play in a patch of leftover snow and “throw” a snowball. It reminded me of the passage God used to call me into full time ministry over a year and a half ago.

Then he said to me, “This is what the Lord says to Zerubbabel: It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Nothing, not even a mighty mountain, will stand in Zerubbabel’s way; it will become a level plain before him! And when Zerubbabel sets the final stone of the Temple in place, the people will shout: ‘May God bless it! May God bless it!’” (Zechariah 4:6-7, NLT).

One of my best friends said to me the other day, that throwing mountains might be more about God moving (throwing) me. He wrote on my Facebook wall, “prepare to be thrown” on the day of the event!

I [literally] had no idea HOW MUCH those words would mean.

How humbling is THAT–no matter if you feel like you’re throwing snowballs or moving mountains?

Below are some of the feedback we collected after the event. I hope you are encouraged in and through your efforts of reaching young adults. Don’t QUIT. Don’t GIVE UP. God can and will use YOU.

*I learned that I can reach a younger generation if I am willing to change and learn their ways.

*I learned to find my vision statement.

*The most important thing I learned today: the 10 questions helped me distinguish between my generation and the target generation’s experience. I plan to gather their answers for use by both our church and Renee.

*I gathered some good resources from websites to books. I was encouraged by all the scriptural background.

*Renee gave me hope. I don’t have the best relationship with God, but Renee’s story proved that God works behind the scene. I pray constantly and do devotions every morning.

*Today was just an encouragement. It was just nice to know I’m not alone. A lot of the things you talked about really hit home. So thank you for being honest and vulnerable. I know I appreciated it.

*As you talked a thought came to my mind—everyone has a story to tell, and they want to share it & people want to know that their life has value/worth.

Throwing Mountains

March 4, 2011 in Events, The Church with 0 Comments

After many months of planning then launching the first pro church speaking tour for the 20/30-somethings, and the churches who love them, Throw Mountains is excited to announce our first event on Saturday, March 5th!

Pastor Jim Kane (@kanejim) of First Church of God in NE, Indiana hosts Renee Johnson, the Devotional Diva.

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, the cost to attend will be either a non-perishable food item or personal hygiene item that will be give to Common Grace, the ecumenical community organization here in Noble County.

Details: Saturday, March 5, 2011, 9 AM to 1 PM at the Kendallville Public Library.

For a list of the panel & discussion questions please go to Throw Mountains blog or listed below:

1. Where do you find your sense of community i.e. school, work, friends, church, etc?
2. Are you currently in a relationship? Why or Why Not?
3. Are you currently working at your dream job? Why or Why Not?
4. Do you make enough money to financially support yourself? Why or Why Not?
5. Do you have a mentor or someone who helps you navigate life? If not, would you like one?
6. How would you define yourself i.e. who are you?
7. What are three of your life goals? What are you currently doing to pursue them?
8. What gets you up in the morning?
9. What do you bring to the table regarding your community in other words your networks of work, friends, family, etc?
10. What are your assets?

Throw Mountains

April 26, 2010 in Events, The Church with 2 Comments

For the past few months I have been working on putting together a national speaking tour called “Throw Mountains.” It feels good to use the experience I gained while working at Outreach Events.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with over three hundred churches, pastor’s, and faith-based ministries while pairing them with the most amazing Christians speakers and comedians including Lee Strobel, Josh & Sean McDowell, Ketric Newell, Adam Christing, Kerri Pomarolli, and Michael Joiner. Seriously people. It was the most amazing job ever.

Then I got to live my second dream. I published my first book with NavPress. A daily devotional for 20-somethings written by a 20-something (me) called Faithbook of Jesus. I’m also currently working on my second book on brokenness now. I can’t wait to share more of my story and my heart for ministry.

Imagine spending a few years searching for significance, purpose, and meaning in your life only to have God call you to something else. Yeah, also me. So I made the difficult decision last fall to stop working and writing full time.

I was devastated. I thought my career in ministry was over. That I was a failure. I felt like I’m living my Plan B…only because I loved my job so much. Thankfully, it didn’t end there. God saw something in me and called me to use it for Him. To full time ministry. I thought God was crazy. Now? Really! The economy sucks. I’m not ready. My health…. I came up with a list of a million reasons to fight God. But, the more I hesitated, the more God showed me the kind of faith He wanted me to have. The kind that moved mountains…

I’ve planned enough events to tell you there is nothing else like it. Everyone out there does such an amazing job of speaking to high school students and couples/marriages, but what about those in between? That’s why this tour is so near and dear to my heart.

Throw Mountains is a speaking tour for 20 & 30-somethings and the churches who love them! We look forward to serving you, your church, your community, and of course your 20′s & 30-somethings.

Please stop by our new website, Throw Mountains and invite us: Renee Johnson, Shawn Wood, Kary Oberbrunner, Jesse Rice, and Sarah Cunningham. We look forward to creating an historic, mountain-moving event in your city (Matthew 17:20).