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Travels
from: Los Angeles, CA or
Burbank, CA
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P.O.
Box 66810
Alb, NM 87193-6810
505/899-4283
Fax 505/899-9282
Outside of Albuquerque
Call 800-433-6633
Or
e-mail: speakers@classervices.com
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Jan
Johnson
Jan
enjoys speaking at retreats and conferences, hoping
to ignite within listeners a burning desire to know
God in an authentic way. By examining who God
really is and what it means to live a life
connected with God, she explores how this results
in a personality that is gradually being
transformed into Christlikeness.
The
word most often used to describe Jan's speaking is,
"real." She is unwilling to minimize the mystery of
God or the human struggle but strives to present
spiritual principles in down-to-earth ways. She
yearns to help people to connect with God and
become more eager to be disciples of Jesus in
whatever they do. Her observations about life's
dilemmas give listeners a lot to study, ponder and
laugh about.
Retreats,
in-house church conferences and college spiritual
emphasis weeks are her specialty and for them she
provides small group interaction questions to
follow talks. She also makes herself available for
one-on-one consultations with participants. Behind
the content of her talks are a degree in Christian
education, years of Bible teaching, years of
meditating on Scripture and the discipline of
expressing truth with clarity and depth in fifteen
books and years of leading discipleship groups,
recovery groups and writing classes. She is also a
trained spiritual directee and is a candidate for a
D.Min. degree in Spiritual Direction.
* * * * * *
* * * *
RETREATS
& CONFERENCE TOPICS
Retreat/In-House
Conference: Rekindling Your Spiritual Hunger
Philippians
3:4-14
This
retreat is designed to help people consider how to
have an authentic relationship with God and other
people. It introduces basic spiritual disciplines
to help people connect with God and let God reshape
them.
- Session
1: When the Pixie Dust Fails (60 min.)
People come to God hoping all their problems
will be solved instead of seeking an interactive
relationship with God. As we give up this "pixie
dust" faith, we learn to connect with God in
down-to-earth ways.
- Session
2: When Control Isn't Enough (60 min.) If I
try hard enough, I can be a good Christian,
right? Christianity is not about perfectionism,
but surrender. As we pour ourselves forth to
God, we can admit doubts and fears and offer
prayers of surrender. In this interactive life
with God, God transforms us.
- Session
3: When Serving Loses Its Sizzle (60 min.)
To do the work of Christ with the heart of
Christ means examining motives and becoming
self-forgetful yet passionate in service. God
leads us down this path with partner-style
friendships and challenges to let our hearts be
broken by the things that break God's heart.
- Session
4: Jesus Loves Me, This I Know? (45 min.)
Jan wraps up with a much-overlooked Old
Testament story that explores how God's
persistent, lavish love and how He satisfies our
spiritual hunger.
Retreat/In-House
Conference Retreat: Enjoying the Presence of
God
This
retreat, based on Psalm 139, focuses on how to have
an interactive life with God.
- Session
1: Intimacy with God (60 min.) We can enjoy
God's presence throughout the day as we turn our
thoughts into prayers and develop a familiar
friendship with God. Prayer then becomes the
main business of our lives and God's purposes
become more clear to us.
- Session
2: Living in Hard Places & Empty
Spaces (60 min.) When life doesn't fit into
neat categories of success and satisfaction,
it's OK to have terrible conversations with God
in which we express anger and frustration. Jesus
was also frustrated, but managed to speak the
truth in love turn frustrating people over to
God.
- Session
3: Focusing on God's Purposes (60 min.) When
living in God's presence, we are drawn to God's
important work -- pulling folks out of their
slide into sin and despair. We reconcile folks
to God, to others and to themselves. Christ's
example of justice and mercy cuts through all
our busy, self-absorbed attempts to do good
deeds.
- Session
4: Listening to God for Clues (60 min.) Many
people struggle to hear God even though that
still, small voice permeates our everyday
activities and our set-aside quiet times. We
become more alert to God's voice through active
waiting and asking God important questions: What
next? What do I need to know?
Alternate
Version of above Retreat/In-House
Conference:
Enjoying
the Presence and Purposes of God
This retreat is a tweaked version of Retreat 2,
Enjoying the Presence of God, for those who want a
concentrated focus on purpose in life. Based on
John 15, it shows how it is that abiding in God
helps us figure out our purpose in life and serve
with the heart of Christ. That passionate, selfless
service flows out of our connection with God.
- Session
1: Intimacy with God (60 min.) We can enjoy
God's presence throughout the day as we turn our
thoughts into prayers and develop a familiar
friendship with God. Prayer then becomes the
main business of our lives and God's purposes
become more clear to us.
- Session
2: Saying Yes to God (60 min.) God puts
within each of us a passion to make a difference
in this world. Jan explores how these God-given
purposes are developed and nurtured so that what
breaks God's heart also breaks our
heart.
- Session
3: How Do I Become the Kind of Person God Uses?
(60 min.) As I learn to view the world from
God's point of view, I long to behave
"redemptively." Abiding in God helps us let our
thinking and behavior be transformed and help
others to do the same.
- Session
4: Listening to God for Clues (60 min.)
Someone with purpose in life needs to hear God's
still, small voice permeate everyday activities
and set-aside quiet times. We become the hands
and feet of Christ through active waiting on God
and asking God important questions: What next?
What do I need to know?
Meditation
And Contemplation Retreat
- Session
1: What Is Meditation? (60-75 min.)
While studying Scripture is familiar, meditation
on Scripture - the natural step 2 - is not.
Study involves dissecting the text, but in
meditation we enter into the passage and savor
it so that it penetrates the depths of the self
and blossoms in our behavior. In this session,
we learn about Ignatian-style method of entering
into the narrative (actually as old as the
practice of Passover), or what I call the "movie
method." This concludes with a meditation
exercise.
- Session
2: Unearthing the Buried Treasure of Scripture
(lectio divina) (60-75 min.) For centuries
Christians have meditated on Scripture by
hearing it read aloud, pondering it and praying
it back to God. We explore this process of
"treasuring" words and phrases in a fresh way
everyday. This concludes with a lectio divina
exercise.
- Session
3: Praying Scripture (60-90 min.) This
session involves 30 minutes of instruction on
various methods of praying Scripture such as
Martin Luther's "four golden strands" and C. S.
Lewis' method of festooning Scripture. It
concludes with 30-60 minutes of silence, with
participants scattering to isolated spots of the
retreat center. Several handouts are provided to
help participants wary of this
silence.
- Session
4: How Meditation Differs from What I
Already Know (60 min.) To further equip
participants to meditate on Scripture,
differences are explained between formational
Bible reading and informational reading, between
meditation and application. We also explore the
effects of modernity on our attempts to meditate
and the effects of meditation on Bible study.
This concludes with a different style of group
lectio divina.
- Session
5: Contemplation: Abiding in God
(60-75 min.) Most people struggle with
impatience. Contemplation helps us learn to wait
on God in silence (which teaches us to wait on
God in all of life, which teaches us to be
patient). In this way, we become people who
abide in God (John 15:4,5). We also explore how
journaling can be used in the meditation and
contemplation process. This concludes with an
exercise in which several styles of meditation
can be used.
Suggestion:
If this retreat is practiced on a weekend, it is
suggested that the group have some extended periods
of silence. At a minimum, silence from Saturday
after breakfast until Saturday dinner (except for
sharing in sessions). Experience shows that this
creates a realness with God and subverts our
attempts to pay attention to everything in life but
God. Participants are much more able to hear God in
the exercises as well as the ordinary moments.
Living
without Contempt: Is it Possible (4 talks,
discussion questions provided)
Managing anger and frustrating is a hot topic, but
this is deeper. It's possible to become the kind of
person out of whom contempt and anger do not
naturally flow. We no longer manage people through
forceful speech, clever comebacks, or withdrawal
strategies - nor do we think judgmental thoughts in
our head. By connecting with God through spiritual
disciplines, we become people who can speak the
truth in genuine, caring love. (Inspired by
Chapter Five of The Divine Conspiracy.)
- Talk
1: What is Contempt and Why Do I Think I Need
It? (60 min.) We harbor contempt for someone
anytime we regard them as worthless. This
"studied anger" leaks in such things as tone of
voice, humor, grumbling, moral superiority, and
pet peeves. But as we move forward in
transformation into Christlikeness, we get a
vision of life without such things. Experiments
with appropriate spiritual disciplines are
suggested.
- Talk
2: A Bad Day in the Life of Jesus? (60
min.) Did Jesus show contempt? We examine a
passage that plainly says Jesus was angry and
look at how he also spoke from a clean heart
full of compassion and a desire to see his
enemies' souls restored. Experiments with
appropriate spiritual disciplines are suggested.
- Talk
3: Speaking the Truth in Love (60
min.) Speaking the truth and speaking with love
can seem poles apart, but the life of Jesus
shows us they do not have to be. We explore what
loving speech looks like as well as respect as a
part of love, the difference between discernment
and judgment, issues of retraining the body away
from contempt and what loving confrontation
looks like. Experiments with appropriate
spiritual disciplines are suggested.
- Talk
4: Everyday, In-the-Moment Anger (60
min.) When we stop living with contempt, the
ordinary anger that seizes us stops seizing us.
We explore where anger comes from and what it
looks like to walk away to process anger and
frustration (without repressing it). We also
explore righteous indignation as well as feeling
we have to be tough to get our point across.
Experiments with appropriate spiritual
disciplines are suggested.
Spiritual
Disciplines: Arranging my Life for Transformation
by God
- Session
1: How Transformation Occurs (60 min.) In a
world hungry for genuinely transformed people,
disciples of Jesus can become the kind of people
who resemble Jesus in character: blessing
enemies, going the extra mile, not grabbing the
credit, never judging anyone. With a vision of
this kingdom life in mind, disciples of Jesus
then develop the intention to let God transform
them and finally adopt the means of doing so.
Within the Holy Spirit's power and activity, we
practice spiritual disciplines that train us to
live in the ordinary circumstances of life with
an extraordinary interaction with God.
Choose
from the following options for other
sessions:
- Option
1: Solitude and Silence, Service and Secrecy
(2 hours: 60 minutes teaching; 30 minutes
Q&A; 30 minutes teaching & exercise)
Being busy person has become a sign of
importance, but to trust God is to move away
from this addiction to productivity. Instead, we
follow Jesus' habit of solitude, which quiets
the distractions and soul-cravings and teaches
us to be attentive to the voice of God.
Suggestions are given for various ways to
practice solitude and silence followed by a
break for questions. Service that flows from
someone well-practiced in solitude is done with
the heart of Christ. Because it is not done for
show (but often in secret), we grow in humility
and dependence on God, as tasted in an exercise
on the Good Samaritan passage.
- Option
2: Simplicity and Fasting, Confession (2
hours: 45 minutes teaching; 30 minutes Q&A;
45 minutes teaching & exercise) Most of us
desire to have our way, but disciplines of
abstinence (such as simplicity and fasting)
train us to be kind and sweet when we don't get
what we want. Suggestions are given for fasting
and for simplicity, especially in speech
according to Jesus' teaching. In a culture in
which words are our primary weapons, simplicity
of speech teaches us to love others more
powerfully. In this way, the disciplines of
community and submission are much more easily
practiced. Not having our way brings us home to
ourselves and we find the need to confess our
sins. Psalm 51 reveals elements of confession,
which lead to forward movement and
transformation. This concludes with a confession
exercise.
- Option
3: Study and Worship (2 hours: 60 minutes
teaching & exercise; 30 minutes Q&A; 30
minutes teaching & exercise) While formal
schooling may have tainted the practice of study
for many people, we can be retrained to enjoy
the wonder of learning. The attitude of a
student of Jesus is to "pay attention to how to
listen" and "to welcome with meekness the
implanted word" (Lk 8:18; Jas 1:21). Specific
suggestions and an exercise are given for
embracing Scripture and taking it into the mind.
Complementary to study is worship. Study without
worship leads to arrogance and worship without
study creates fluff. Worship teaches us to
respond to the truths of God, to move away from
self to focus on the beauty and majesty of God.
This closes with an exercise of reading and
embodying Psalm 145.
- Option
4: Scripture Meditation & Contemplation
(2 hours: 60 minutes teaching &
exercise; 30 minutes sharing & Q&A; 30
minutes teaching & exercise) Studying
Scripture is familiar to many, but not so
familiar is the natural step 2: meditation on
Scripture. Instead of dissecting the text, we
enter into it and savor it so that it penetrates
the depths of ourselves and shows itself in our
behavior. The exercise includes an introduction
to both lectio divina and Ignatian-style method
of entering into the narrative.
- Option
5: Practicing the Presence of God (45
minutes) Prayer has become a complicated
activity to many, but in its simplest form it
involves praying at all times in life's ordinary
circumstances (1 Thess. 5:17). Specific
suggestions are offered with learning practices
such as "breath prayers" and "picture prayers."
RETREAT
OR IN-HOUSE CONFERENCE: TRUSTING GOD ENOUGH TO
LOVE
This
interactive, meditative retreat asks participants
to invest themselves in quiet and consider deeply
their views of God and their views of love. They
explore what it would look like to become people
who love and how that happens. Not for the faint of
heart, all four retreat sessions include a twenty
minute time of meditation on a scene from the life
of Christ. It works best in a setting in which
participants can walk or sit outdoors to do
exercises if they wish.
- Do
I Trust God? (60 min.) If we were to look
deeply within ourselves, we might ask ourselves,
Do I truly trust God? Do I really believe God is
faithful in all his words? Gracious in all
deeds? (Psalm 145:9-20). What is God really like
and why should I trust God after all? Is the
Lord really my shepherd and do I really have
everything I need? As we come to understand
God's deep goodness and unbounded passion for
relating to us, we respond with worship and
celebration. This session closes with an
extensive meditation on Jesus calming the storm
and pondering this God who can be trusted.
- What
Is Love? (60 min.) God's self-giving love
differs radically from our culture's
sentimental, self-nurturing views of love. This
session examines the face of love based on 1
Corinthians 13:4-8 and proposes a response of
selfless service, praying for others, and
practicing community and submission to others
even one's enemies. It closes with a meditation
on Jesus healing a leper at great cost to
himself.
- What
Love Is Not (60 min.) Self-preoccupation and
pride can keep the current of love from flowing
in our life (1 Cor. 13:1-3). Death to self - not
having to have what I want - forms our character
in Christ's self-giving, open-handed love.
Disciplines of abstinence help us die daily:
solitude, silence, fasting, frugality. This
session closes with a meditation on Jesus
washing the feet of his disciples, including his
friend who handed him over to suffer.
- What
Does Love Look Like? (60 min.) How does a
self-giving, loving person behave? How can one
move through life loving the person in front of
him or her? Reading the Gospels shows us Jesus
who looked, listened and loved fully. We can
respond with praying for enemies, practicing the
presence of God and readily confessing to God,
who is not surprised or puzzled by our
shortcomings. This session ends with a
meditation on Jesus' full-orbed healing of the
woman with the issue of blood.
One-Day
Conference: Living a Purpose-Full Life
- Session
1: Discovering my Purpose in Life (60 min.)
Moving away from busyness so that we focus on
God's purpose as Moses, Nehemiah, Paul and
Priscilla did. We look at God's purposes and how
a purpose is different from a role. Finally, we
ask, What breaks your heart that breaks the
heart of God?
BOX LUNCH on site to give participants a
chance to discuss their purpose in life or to
just ponder.
- Session
2: Serving On Purpose (60 min.) We work out
a mission statement, yet continue dreaming of
what God is calling on us to do. This involves
risktaking, not relying solely on circumstances
and developing partners for the
journey.
- Session
3: Staying On Track (60 min.) Watch out for
the snares of being hooked on productivity, of
listening to the inner critic, becoming a
crusader or basher. We strive for simplicity and
conserving energy all the while keeping our soul
knit to God.
Pastors
& Wives Retreats (Clergy Spouses, when
appropriate)
This retreat or set of conference talks is
designed to help ministers and spouses build an
authentic relationship with God far beyond their
role and out of that, to develop authentic
relationships with each other and with the people
that frustrate them. Also out of that will flow a
sense of God speaking and a desire to follow
purpoes with which God has broken their heart.
- Session
1: Knowing the God Who Transforms You (60
min.) The pastor and wife are not spiritual
pixies for whom everything is rosy every moment.
Instead, pastors and wives need to bring their
real selves before God and be careful to seek
God, not good behavior.
- Session
2: Surrendering the People Around Me
(60 min.) Ministers and wives try to love
everyone, but some people are so frustrating. We
look at Jesus and anger and how God can partner
with us in processing frustration and
anger.
- Session
3: Finding Community (60 min.) Pastors
and wives choose the Lone Ranger approach to
their own destruction. They can find community
with each other and in substantive friendships.
They even learn to find community with those
they disagree with as they surrender the need to
change and control others.
- Session
4: Finding Purpose in Life
(especially appropriate for spouses) (60
min.) The ministry (or spouse of one) is a role,
not a purpose. Each Christian needs to seek God
to do what breaks their heart that breaks the
heart of God. It doesn't have to conflict with
their role, and can even enhance it.
Contemplative
Retreats, Silent Retreats, Guided Retreats and
Interactive Retreats
These retreats follow the 400 year historic
purpose of retreats: to get away to connect with
God. At the end of such retreats, participants
usually return home fully rested. For these
retreats I provide talks and exercises to help
participants explore ways of connecting with God
through spiritual disciplines such as scripture
meditation, journaling, solitude, confession,
community, and practicing God's presence. I also
provide guidance for event planners. At the moment,
the four presentations are:
- how
God Transforms Us
- Hearing
From God in Scripture
- Hearing
God in Different Kinds of Prayer
- Interacting
with God All Day Long
These
work best in a setting in which participants can
walk or sit outdoors to do exercises if they
wish.
Writers'
Conference Presentations
To justify the time and effort of teaching at a
writer's conference, I come only if I can do the
keynote messages or a continuing class on magazine
writing. I'm pleased to do several elective
workshops as well.
Keynote
Messages: I've done this in one talk or three
- three is better! They focus on finding purpose in
life.
- Session
1: Writing on Purpose: Just getting
busy writing will not be enough. We need to look
not at what brings success but at what has
broken our heart that breaks God's heart so that
we can write with the passion, honesty, energy
and courage of Christ.
- Session
2: How To Find Purpose in Life: A
theme runs like a red thread through our lives.
I offer steps to finding purpose and where to
begin.
- Session
3: Partnering For Purpose: While
writing is a solitary activity, we need partners
who can help us hear God and hear ourselves. We
need fictional partners --reading the classics
of literature and of the faith. If we have a
family, we can pull them in without turning them
off to this passion God has put within us.
Continuing
class on magazine writing: The Sure-Sell Magazine
Article
We'll move step by step through the process of
article writing: sharpening ideas into angles and
identifying the right article type; analyzing
markets and writing an irresistible query letter;
researching and structuring the article; writing a
first draft and then polishing it to produce your
best work.
Elective
Workshops:
- Spiritual
Disciplines For The Writer: Writing
requires a rich inner life cultivated by
spiritual disciplines. Meditation sanctifies the
writer's imagination; solitude teaches a writer
to hear God; practicing God's presence sprinkles
tranquility throughout a writer's parched day;
service helps a writer bond with others and
remain authentic in a celebrity world.
- How
To Read An Editor's Mind: Each magazine has
its own personality and wants only certain kinds
of articles told in a certain way. By analyzing
certain aspects of the magazine and its
articles, writers can hit the target. I'll show
the class how to color-code articles according
to anecdotes, quotes, facts and humor.
- Breaking
Into Secular Magazines: Having a mind
that's interested in what's around you is enough
to give you ideas for trade magazines and
national magazines. I'll explain how every query
letter to a New York magazine is one more way of
saying, 'Hello,' and earning your stripes with
the editor.
- Writing
Curriculum & Bible Study Guides: In
these markets, publishers buy your work in
multiples and teachers use it to figure out how
to help others grow in Christ. We'll talk about
the technical terms and necessary skills
involved in making the Bible come alive for
folks and how to get an assignment.
- Research
-- Within And Without: How do you find
"experts" and how do you get the nerve to call
them and interview them? I'll also talk about
interviewing friends and even your own children.
Research within includes journaling allows us to
insert a deeper perspective to each piece.
- How
To Write Irresistible Query
Letters: The first step in querying is
to sharpen the idea into a fresh, narrowly
focused angle. We'll actually do this in class
because it's such an overlooked, but frequent
mistake many writers make. Then we'll discuss
the tone and elements of compelling a query
letter that hooks the editor, outlines the
article in an appealing way and presents the
writer in the best light.
- How
To Win At The Book Proposal
Game: Writing a book proposal helps the
author shape the content and tone and aim their
book where no other book has hit. I look not
only at the usual components of a book proposal,
but also how to submit to several publishers at
one time.
- Painting
Clear Pictures With Words
(beginners): The basic rules of
clear, picturesque writing are simple: show,
don't tell; use picture nouns and action verbs;
vary sentence length and structure; put the word
you want to emphasize at the beginning or end of
your sentence; use the active voice; cut
needless, words, sentences and paragraphs.
- Recycling
Your Work/How To Sell The Same Manuscript Over
And Over: Selling reprints of articles
expands your ministry and your income and...it's
fun to see an article you're passionate about
appear over and over! But what makes an article
an "evergreen" that can be sold many times? How
do you set up systems that help you deal with
many magazines as if they were your only
markets?
Single
Presentations
Practicing
God's Presence All Day Long (60 min.)
Friendship with God is possible because God created
us for the purpose of knowing us. Using stories,
classic insights and biblical examples, Jan invites
listeners to enjoy subtle communication with God
all day long.
(Alternate
version: Practicing God's Presence in Ministry
Madness)
Saying
Yes to God (60 min.)
God puts within each of us a passion to make a
difference in this world. Jan explores how these
God-given purposes are developed and nurtured so
that what breaks God's heart also breaks our
heart.
Meditating
on Scripture (60 min.)
We know how to study the Bible, but we need to
meditate on it so that its truth permeates every
layer of our being. Jan explores several methods
and leads participants in meditating on a passage
of Scripture. (Usually offered as an option at
retreats)
Growing
Compassionate Kids (60 min.)
In our violent, affluent society, children need to
develop empathy and practice compassion. Kids can
respond in faith to heartbreak and poverty in
simple, relational ways (alongside wise adults) and
see that God so loves this world.
The
Compassionate Lifestyle of Jesus (35-60
min.)
Distracted with buying things and chasing leisure,
we don't realize how people nearby and in
developing countries struggle. But Jesus ventured
beyond his backyard and related to people, seeing
the hearts of those we might ignore. As our life in
Christ grows, we learn from Jesus how to do this.
What
Does It Take to Transform a Soul? (60 min.)
How come people hear God's Word, but don't change?
Exploring the transformation cycle in John 15, we
look at how God changes the inner person so that
outward behavior begins to resemble the ways of
Christ. (Used at universities and leadership
conferences)
Imitating
Jesus in People-Centered Ministry (60 min.)
Jesus' relational style clashes with our
product-driven culture. How do we move from being a
developer of programs to a discipler of people?
From being a leader who's always out in front to
one that's hidden in Christ? (for
leaders)
The
Interior Life Of The Ministry Leader (60
min.)
How are people transformed into Christlikeness and
how do we arrange our life to help that happen to
us? We explore spiritual disciplines that help
individuals best connect with God.
Extended
Prayer Workshops (60 min each)
I offer sessions that teach folks to pray
Scripture, practice the presence of God (developing
breath prayers), meditate on Scripture (several
methods taught), crabgrass contemplation, praying
for enemies, resolving issues by railing through
imprecatory psalms, intercessory prayer as Jesus
practiced for Peter, walking prayer, festooning
Scripture (C. S. Lewis' method), listening prayer.
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