My Story

Posted in , By Mike Johns 1 comments

Hello – my name is Mike and I’ll be the Thursday contributor to Hammer on Anvil! I am looking forward to seeing where this goes and how we can further the kingdom through it. Thanks for taking the time to drop by and give it a look.


Many people assume that since I am in the ministry that I have always been involved with church, but that is not true.

My earliest memories of the church were as follows:

· The place my mom would drop us off for VBS each summer.

· The place we would go to get free food.

· The place where when we went (always motivated by point 2) and they would not let me eat the crackers and drink the juice.


My parents divorced when I was about 9 or 10 and I lacked a male influence in my life. We were poor and I began throwing newspapers at the age of 12 to help my mom pay bills. We moved about every nine months – we stayed at a house just long enough to get far enough behind on rent that we were evicted. I began making destructive choices and hanging out with people who were much older than I was. I had several friends who went to jail or juvenile during those years. I should have been in the same boat.


My first turning point was in 10th grade – my wrestling coach, Glenn Berry, spoke words into my life that changed me. I knew nothing about salvation, but my life changed. I began making good decisions and doing right actions. I credit this relationship and his focus on the 5 C’s to be essential in my life.


  • Character

  • Class

  • Courage

  • Commitment

  • Recruitment

Coach Berry changed my life. But I still had no idea about Jesus – I just became a “better” kid. I have two older sisters and a younger brother – none of whom made it past the 9th grade. I tell people all the time that we have to be strong and determine to break out of the frame that we are in.


It was during my senior year of high school that I finally heard the name of Jesus. I mean I knew people who called themselves Christians and who even wore shirts that had some clever “Christianized” copy of some pop-culture reference… but they never bothered to talk about Jesus.


Anyhow, I began to go to this little church and attend the youth meetings and such and about six months after that I committed my life to Jesus. My wife, Dena, and her family played a major role in that decision.


The decision to follow Jesus was the best decision of my life and I have never regretted it. My only regret is not making that decision earlier.


Thanks for reading, sorry for the book – but that is my story… the short version.