As the sun rises on another “Good News Day,” my heart overflows with gratitude to God, my gracious Heavenly Father, who has brought me thus far along the way. I am especially grateful that the Lord allowed me to see another year, the 83rd since my birth. The first Sunday in June is also National Cancer Survivors’ Day, and it marks the 25th year since my diagnosis of prostate cancer in 2000. To say that I am blessed is, indeed, an understatement. I often compose a personal psalm of gratitude, as I do on my birthday today. Rejoice and celebrate with me.
These Eighty-Three Years
Come, my friend, grow old with me:
The best is yet to be.
Robert Burns
I pause to reflect and praise the Lord.
Through the power of His matchless Word,
You protect me with your shield and triumphant sword!
You sustained me these eighty-three years,
Having overcome deep sadness and all my fears.
Drawing me closer, nearer than breath or tears.
The Lord is my Shepherd, where I still find
Priceless wealth in a healthy body and sound mind.
The strength of His mighty power no man can bind,
As I remain centered in His will, day by day,
No matter what others may do or say,
I remain focused as I watch, fight, and pray.
As you were true to fulfill all your Word back then,
Your precious promises are still yes and amen.
Lonnell E. Johnson
June 17, 2025
Enjoy this music video that expresses my thoughts, not only this year, but it has become my theme song for all ages: The Best is Yet to Come by Bishop Paul S. Morton
Cancer affects everyone. It is estimated that there will be about two million new cancer cases diagnosed in 2025. With more than eighteen million people living with and beyond cancer in the U.S. today and more than forty-three million cancer survivors, everyone knows someone whose life has been touched by cancer. On Sunday, June 1, 2025, National Cancer Survivors Day, communities around the world will unite to recognize these cancer survivors and to raise awareness of the challenges of overcoming a cancer diagnosis.
In celebration of National Cancer Survivors Day, I am posting an excerpt from Embracing Your Life Sentence:How to Turn Life’s Greatest Tragedies into Your GreatestTriumphs. The book offers my God-given, holistic strategy for overcoming any adversity. Weaving original poetry and Scripture into my God-inspired battle plan, I show how I emerged as not just a survivor but more than a conqueror. Join me as I share three lessons I learned along my journey.
“You’ve got cancer”: Whether said to a loved one or to you, these three words can change your life forever. Some people see cancer as a death sentence, but when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, I saw it as a “life sentence” that transformed my thinking.
After an intense time of prayer and seeking wisdom from above, I was inspired to develop a holistic three-fold strategy embodied in three powerful verbs: Watch, Fight, and Pray.
“To watch,” related to “the body,” the physical aspects of this devastating disease. Secondly, I also learned to “fight the good fight of faith” and come to grips with the mental or emotional components of “the soul.” Finally, I learned to recognize the spiritual elements of the diagnosis, such as faith and forgiveness, and most importantly, the power of prayer, moving as a prayer warrior from faith to faith, glory to glory, and victory to victory.
While investigating treatment options for prostate cancer, I came across a statement from Norman Cousins, who offered this sound advice:
“Never deny a diagnosis, but do defy the negative verdict that may go with it.”
I conclude my comments with this original psalm of triumph:
Watch, Fight, & Pray
A Psalm of Triumph
Wait on the Lord; be of good courage,
and He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Psalm 27:14
The Word of God is our strength, where we find
That He is always faithful and always shows the way.
Those who watch, fight, and pray will not be left behind
But will take courage, no matter what the world may say.
We trust in the Lord, as the Word of God extols.
Like Job, we wait until at last our change shall come,
Assured that in patience we now anchor our souls.
May we fight and not fall by the wayside as some
But follow in the steps of Christ and quickly obey
And bear up under and yield the fruit of endurance.
We pray, as we walk in love, the more excellent way,
And through faith and patience, claim our inheritance.
In these perilous times, we remain yielded and still.
We watch, fight, and pray as we fulfill all of God’s will.
We close with this powerful reminder of who we are as believers on National Cancer Survivors Day and every day: “More Than Conquerors” by Steven Curtis Chapman:
This most significant Memorial Day weekend began with a time of reflecting on the lives of veterans I knew who were now deceased. Among those I thought about were my grandfather, Sampson Johnson, a World War I veteran, who died a decade before I was born; my father, Lonnie Johnson, a World War II veteran who contributed so much to my success on so many fronts; other vets included, my former brother-in-law, Elliott Thompson, who served in the Air Force, whose valiant fight against cancer inspired me and impacted me in immeasurable ways. I also thought of Uncle Prince Albert Crosby, “a veteran twice-over,” having served in the Navy and in the Army.
I also recall another veteran who served in the Army with me as a pharmacy instructor at Fort Sam Houston during the Vietnam War period from 1967-69. We both went through the Faculty Development Training Program at the Medical Field Service School in San Antonio and were assigned as instructors who trained pharmacy technicians. Although we were both drafted into the Army, he had signed up for an additional year to ensure that he received a pharmacy position after basic training, but I had not; yet I also had obtained a pharmacy position. There was a greater chance of receiving orders for Vietnam for those who had another year of service than for those, like me, who had less than 2 years remaining. We served together as fellow instructors for five or six months, but before the year ended, he received orders for “Nam,” as we called it. Sometime after the first of the year, we received notice that he had been killed while serving in Vietnam. Countless times, I have reflected upon that time in my life, as my heart overflows with gratitude to God for having gone through my time of service to my country and returning with “more than a reasonable portion of health and strength and a sound mind.”
More than ten years ago, I visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, DC, and I was overwhelmed as I viewed the inscribed names of those who sacrificed their lives in service to our nation. During that time, I recalled the last name of my fellow pharmacy instructor, and I found his name on the Wall. I also found his name on the website of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I could not hold back the tears when I read that my fellow serviceman was from Kentucky, where I completed my basic training at Fort Campbell in 1967 and where I later taught a Communications course at the Louisville Teaching Center for Indiana Wesleyan University. Because of these circumstances, Memorial Day, 2025, has been especially memorable.
I close with a YouTube video, A Memorial Day Tribute, featuring a narration and performance of Psalm 23 by Kathy Trocolli:
Today, April 20, 2025, on this “Resurrection Sunday,” as I was starting my morning devotional, I thought of all that we have as believers because of the Lord Jesus Christ and his ultimate sacrifice whereby our lives have been enriched beyond measure. This blog post is revised and reposted on this special “Good News Day.” We begin with this reminder found in 1 Corinthians 8:9
9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that by his poverty, he could make you rich.
If at no other time of the year, on this occasion, celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, we ask:
How much is enough?
Can you measure the length of each scar on his back?
Can you trace the depth of each gash and follow each track?
Can you extract and analyze sweat, like drops of blood? Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we recognize the blessings and benefits that accrued to our deficit accounts as a result of the ultimate sacrifice of the precious Lamb of God. While reflecting upon the passion of Jesus Christ, I express my thoughts in this original psalm:
More Than Enough
Can you remove water and blood, and then weigh the good?
Can you collect the tears and hold them in a vial?
Can you assess the shame and disgrace of a trumped-up trial?
How much is enough?
One more mocking bow, one more man to spit in his face,
One more taunting gesture, one more mark of disgrace.
One more lash, one more gash, one more blow to the head,
As he endured the cross, despising the shame as he bled.
To smash once more, one blow short of certain death.
He cried, “It is finished,” then yielded his last breath.
How much is enough?
Who can assess the worth of his blood and establish a price
For the precious Lamb of God, unblemished, sinless sacrifice?
God’s bounty of mercy is sufficient. His deep love will suffice.
Despite the deficit, God balances each account to set it right.
Where sin once had free reign, now grace has abounded instead.
The Lord himself provided the Lamb, whom He raised from the dead.
In His gracious goodness, Jehovah-Jireh reminds us
That He is more than enough, yes, so much more than enough.
In personalizing the sacrifice of the Savior, I thought of this song with a similar title, “More than Enough,” performed by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.
This morning, April 16, 2025, as I began my morning devotional, I realized we are currently in the midst of the Passover Celebration, as this passage related to the Passover Lamb also came to mind, and I am revising and reposting a previous blog entry:
1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (NLT):
7 Get rid of the old “yeast” by removing this wicked person from among you. Then you will be like a fresh batch of dough made without yeast, which is what you really are. Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed for us. 8 So let us celebrate the festival, not with the old bread of wickedness and evil, but with the new bread of sincerity and truth.
For Christian believers, Holy Week, the last week of Jesus Christ’s life on earth, culminates with Easter Sunday, which commemorates his resurrection from the dead. There have been times during that same period, when Jews are preparing for the start of Passover. The 8-day festival begins this year at Sundown on Saturday, April 12 and ends on the evening of Saturday, April 29. Passover, also known as Pesach, commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egypt, as families traditionally gather for a Seder dinner, where they retell the story of their escape from slavery, through the plagues, and to the parting of the Red Sea.
Jesus Christ appears as a type, a foreshadowing of events to come, throughout the Old Testament, as in the case of the Passover Lamb and other aspects of the Seder, the traditional meal served as part of the observance of Passover. The verses from I Corinthians 5, previously posted on the home page of Logos Bible Software, remind us that Jesus Christ died at the precise time that the Passover Lamb was slain.
The passage from 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 also brings to mind a memorable intersection of Good Friday and the start of Passover which occurred in 1998. At that time as a congregation, our church participated in Holy Communion on Good Friday. Although I had observed and participated in the Lord’s Supper countless times since adolescence when I first learned the significance of what that observance really meant, on that particular occasion, I took communion and observed the elements of Christ’s sacrifice with new eyes. That experience also brought to mind Isaiah 53 along with 1 Corinthians 5:7, inspiring the following original psalm where I recognized and personalized the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on my behalf:
Taking It Personally
Isaiah 53
“For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us.” Corinthians 5:7b
Cursed with a curse, He was hung on a tree.
The suffering servant bartered for a price,
Battered and bruised for my iniquity.
Behold the Lamb, unblemished sacrifice,
Offered once, Jesus Christ, my Passover.
Afflicted, stricken, smitten that God should
Freely pour out His mercy, moreover,
Lay on Him the chastisement of my peace.
From His side flowed water and sinless blood,
A new covenant established that I might cease
From dead works by a new and living way.
God’s good pleasure no longer concealed
But memorialized this solemn day.
Man of sorrows, with His stripes I am healed
In spirit, mind and body, for I am
Quickened and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb.
We conclude our time of reflection with the accompanying music video “The Passover Song” featuring Sean Carter and Caroline Cobb.
Among the traditional foods served on New Year’s Day is black-eyed peas.
Since childhood, I recall certain traditional foods served on New Year’s Day. Black-eyed peas have been part of the African American New Year’s Day food tradition representing prosperity in the coming year. In 2011, however, I participated in a Nutrition 40 Clinical Trial at the James Cancer Center at Ohio State University and was given a list of foods I could not eat then. The list included legumes, specifically black-eyed peas. The period for the clinical trial included New Year’s Day, and I realized that I wouldn’t be enjoying that tradition that year. The idea caused me to smile and inspired this poem which I am revising and reposting fourteen years later:
No Black-Eyed Peas on New Year’s Day Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, even as your soul prospers. 3 John 2
This New Year begins in a most unusual way: 2011 finds me in a clinical study. A part of the soy bread trial is to be “legume-free.” In the midst of a “two-week washout” comes New Year’s Day. I must avoid food with beans or peas of any kind. No black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day: a contradiction. From childhood, I remember this soul food tradition That now provides another chance to renew my mind. Some insist that menus on the first day of the year Include black-eyed peas for prosperity, by all means, And wealth symbolized in mustard, kale, or collard greens. These valued kitchen customs many folks still hold dear. But beyond traditions and symbols of earthly wealth, I know God desires that we prosper and be in health.
The verse from 3 John is also the introductory scripture to another poem related to the same theme of wealth and prosperity from a distinct perspective.
A Question of Wealth Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, Even as your soul prospers. 3 John 2
How do you measure the fullest meaning of wealth? What is the total value? How much is the price Of a fruitful spirit, a sound mind, and good health? Can you calculate the sum and then square it twice? To prosper and be in health, even as your soul Prospers cannot be measured by any amount Withdrawn from the world’s treasures, for even the whole Earth could never contain so vast a bank account. But those who set their affections on things above And not on things on the earth are free to explore The infinite riches of God’s favor and love, For they alone know their true value even more. The truly rich ask to receive and seek to find The priceless wealth of strength in God and peace of mind.
As 2025 unfolds, we recognize that true prosperity does not come from the food we eat on the first day of the New Year, but that the blessings of the Lord abound to those who hear and heed His Word. This is my heart’s desire for the people of God:
Come alive and thrive even more in 2025. As you walk boldly further into your destiny, May the Lord move in your heart and open your eyes to see And help you understand all He has called you to be. Come alive and thrive even more in 2025.
We conclude with Brandon Lake and Bethel Worship offering “House of Miracles”
Each day marks another “New Beginning,” the first day of the rest of our lives, the first day of the best of our lives. While considering deeply the concept of a new beginning or a fresh start, these lyrics also came to mind:
Behold, I make all things new.
Behold, I make all things new.
Behold, I make all things new, brand new.
Things will never be the same.
Behold, I am making you new.
Behold, I am making you new.
Behold, I am making you new, brand new.
You will never be the same.
In reflecting upon the concept of “new beginnings,” I thought of the number 8, symbolic of a “fresh start.” E.W. Bullinger, in his celebrated work, Numbers in Scripture, and in an Appendix to his Companion Bible, comments that eight denotes resurrection, new beginning, regeneration, or commencement. The eighth is a new first. The number concerns the Lord, who rose on the eighth day or new first day. In Hebrew, the number eight is derived from an expression that means “to make fat,” “cover with fat,” and “to super-abound.” As a participle, it means “one who abounds in strength.” As a noun, it is “superabundant fertility,” or “oil.” So as a numeral, it is the superabundant number. Seven was so-called because the seventh day was the day of completion and rest, so eight, as the eighth day, was over and above this perfect completion and was indeed the first of a new series, in addition to being the eighth. Thus, it already represents two numbers in the first and eighth.
In light of our discussion, here is a poetic reminder of who God is and what He does:
Day One of Our Brand-new Beginning
Day one of our brand-new beginning arrived, another first,
As we still seek to satisfy this lifelong, unquenchable thirst
To know the will of God more fully and to serve Him
With gladness of heart, as we usher in the coming Kingdom.
Each day unfolds with a question: “Just what does this mean to me?”
We smile and offer our response for all seasons: “We shall see.”
With outstretched necks we look up, waiting to mount up as eagles, to ascend.
Each new day blossoms in beauty as a new beginning of the end
When the Lord shall restore all the thief came to steal, kill, and destroy;
When at last we dwell in God’s presence where there is fullness of joy,
We learn once more that to love is also totally to forgive
And know the more abundant life we were destined to live.
For His glory, our spirit, soul, and body the Lord has healed;
When, face-to-face, what we knew in part our God has fully revealed.
Those who walk in God’s love never lose, but they are always winning.
This we know is so true from day one of our brand-new beginning.
A familiar passage from Jeremiah 29:11-13 in the New Living Translation also came to mind:
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
12 In those days when you pray, I will listen.
13 If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
Although the words of Jeremiah were specifically addressed to Israel concerning their release from Babylonian captivity after seventy years, we recognize the truth expressed in Romans 15:4 [New Living Translation]:
Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
The prophetic word from Jeremiah can certainly have personal application, in that the plans that God has for each of His children are no less grand than those He has for the Children of Israel.
As we ask God for guidance and direction, He will lead us and teach us all along the path that unfolds as a shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day (Proverbs 4:18). Jeremiah 29:11-13 also informs us of God’s concern for our future or “final outcome”, so that we need to have no fear for our future.
Damaris Carbaugh shares “I Know the Plans” (Debby’s Song) a musical reminder of Jeremiah 29:11
We rejoice and celebrate the goodness of the Lord in anticipation of the great plans He has for us as each new day unfolds.
For the past fifteen years, I have posted a special devotional related to Veterans Day, as I reflect upon the celebration of this particular national holiday, a day of special significance to me in several ways. The tradition continues today on November 11, 2025.
The celebration began as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended World War I at the 11th hour on the 11th Day of the 11th Month of 1918. Later, the occasion was renamed Veterans Day to commemorate all veterans. In 1954 President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law the recognition of November 11 as Veterans Day.
November 11 is also memorable because it is my sister’s birthday. Cheryl Lois Thompson Williams was born on November 11, 1946. At that time it was called Armistice Day, as I well remember. Also, November 11, 2000, was the day that her husband, Elliott Thompson, also a Veteran, was buried. She has remarried, and her husband, Thomas, is also a veteran. This year she celebrates her seventy-ninth birthday.
Veterans Day is also special to me for another reason. I am also a veteran, having served two years in the US Army from 1967 to the end of 1968 during the Vietnam era. I am a vet; my father and grandfather also served in the Army. Grandpa Sampson Johnson was a World War I Veteran.
Sampson Johnson New Edinburg, Arkansas Pvt 162 August 15, 1932
Lonnie Johnson, son of Sampson, also served in the U. S. Army during World War II from January 29, 1943, to January 6, 1946.
T/5 served in New Guinea and Luzon Received American Theatre Ribbon; Asiatic Pacific Theatre Ribbon WWII Bronze Stars; Philippine Liberation Ribbon & Victory Medal WWII
Lonnell Johnson, grandson of Sampson and son of Lonnie, served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam Conflict from January 5, 1967, to December 18, 1968
E-5/SP5 Pharmacy Specialist (Pharmacist) Pharmacy Instructor Ft. Sam Houston, TX Received National Defense Service Medal Good Conduct Medal
Each Veterans Day, I reflect with gratitude to God for my time of service in the military, recognizing the contribution that veterans have made and continue to make to secure the blessings of liberty that we all enjoy, especially during this period in our nation’s history.
A photo taken the first year of our marriage in the Washington DC area where we, by God’s Providence, now live.
On August 31, 2024, I begin this special day with a heart overflowing with gratitude to God for my beloved, Brenda Joyce, the wife of my youth, in whom I rejoice. Today is our 51st wedding anniversary, and I celebrate this grand occasion with a special poem for a special lady.
This particular poem is a villanelle, a nineteen-line poem with lines from the opening stanza repeated throughout the poem and in the closing stanza. It also has elements of a Golden Shovel poem where I took another poem each line or various lines is to serve as the end word in the new poem. Most remarkably, the new poem was inspired by a poem that wrote for Brenda, “Before I Knew You.”
Here is that original poem followed by “An Amethyst Remembrance” which refers to one of the precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest and in the walls in the New Jerusalem. Amethyst is also one of Brenda’s favorite colors.
Before I Knew You
for my beloved Brenda
I thought of you long before I ever knew you,
When through the mist I beheld your lovely face.
Before our two lives touched, my heart reached out to you.
I could not speak your name, yet somehow, I knew you
Would be all I could desire in style and grace.
I thought of you long before I ever knew you.
Alone, I saw the sunset, told myself you too
Needed a dearest friend to share this special place.
Before our two lives touched, my heart reached out to you.
Alone, I passed the time and asked myself who you
Were dreaming of, yet still longing to embrace.
I thought of you long before I ever knew you.
I yearned to give my life, to share my soul with you
Who would make me feel whole and fill my empty space.
Before our two lives touched, my heart reached out to you.
God stretched out his hand, and then He gently drew you
To me with a true love that time cannot erase.
I thought of you long before I ever knew you.
Before our two lives touched, my heart reached out to you.
An Amethyst Remembrance
Variation on a Golden Shovel poem based on “Before I Knew You” for my beloved Brenda on our 51st Anniversary
Another precious stone–amethyst remembrance
Stone upon Stone: Psalms of Remembrance
You touched my life and filled my heart with love
I thank God who heard and answered my prayer,
Beyond all I could have ever thought of.
You are God’s gift I still stand in awe of.
I prayed and God brought me to a place where
You touched my life and filled my heart with love.
Firm as a rock, yet gentle as a dove
Is steadfast love that will always be there,
Beyond all I could have ever thought of.
You were my answer from the Lord above.
You fulfilled my deep desire to share.
You touched my life and filled my heart with love.
You are the one—”You make me feel brand new.”
A pure-hearted love such as ours is rare,
Beyond all I could have ever thought of.
You know, it’s still true—“If only you knew.”
You see, I try to show how much I care.
You touched my life and filled my heart with love.
Beyond all I could have ever thought of.
We close with one of our favorite songs from one of our favorite singers, offering a special rendition of one of the songs mentioned in this special tribute to my Beloved BJ:
Dr. J's Apothecary Shoppe 