Christian F Johnson: When Faith Stops Performing and Starts Demonstrating

https://youtube.com/@chrismichaelrushing5434
https://www.instagram.com/rushfitnessnyc/
https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836

📝Description:

Welcome to the Men Walking in Faith and Purpose Podcast! In this enlightening episode, we focus on the critical themes of information, transformation, and dedication in the Christian faith. Listen as we share valuable insights on how to transform your life through the renewal of your mind, as discussed in Romans 12. Learn about the importance of dedication to a life of faith and how to effectively demonstrate these principles in your daily life. 

🎯 What You’ll Learn:

✅ Importance of information in spiritual development

✅ The transformational power of renewing your mind 

✅ Commitment to faith and practical demonstration in the real world 

⏱️Timestamps:

[0:00] Faith as Lifestyle — Opening remarks on faith as a daily practice

[0:38] Podcast Intro — Welcome and guest introduction

[4:24] Life Coaching & Leadership — Who Christian works with, purpose-filled coaching

[7:48] Masculinity & Faith — What it means to be a Christian man

[9:15] Presence-Based Leadership — Kingdom model vs. performance

[11:35] Personal Development MC — How the emcee role was born

[19:29] Present-Centered Living — March 2025 turning point, aligning with God's presence

🤝Connect with Christian F Johnson:

💥Web: https://iamchristianfjohnson.com/ 

💥LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamchristianfjohnson/ ,

💥Book: https://amzn.to/4lpbwlO 

💥YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CFJpodcast

 🤝Connect with Chris Michael Rushing:

💥Web: https://steve-ramona.com/

💥LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-michael-rushing/

💥IG: https://www.instagram.com/rushfitnessnyc/

💥TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.michael.rushing

 💥YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@chrismichaelrushing5434

🤝Connect with Steve Ramona:

💥Web: https://steveramona.com/

💥LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/

💥IG: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/

💥Podcast: https://www.servinginbusinesspodcast.com/

🔖Tags:

#ChristianPodcast #FaithJourney #Transformation

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Welcome everyone to Men Walking in Faith and Purpose podcast. I'm your co-host, Steve Romano, with my absolutely incredible co-host Chris Rushing. We're excited to have you on, and man, we're excited to have our guest today. I've known him for about six months. It seems like 60 years. And I'm only 64. I met him at four years old. It seems like. But he's just uh he's just full of energy. Chris, anything you want to say before we start?

SPEAKER_02 0:29

Man, I'm just happy to uh all be in the same, well, virtual room together, anyways. You guys fire me up from what I've from what I've uh I've learned about you, Christian. I can't wait to uh to hear more about your story and your energy really even comes off of a screen when I'm when I was looking you up. So we finally got us all together, and I'm very excited about that. So welcome, man. Thanks for being with us today.

SPEAKER_01 0:53

Man, thank you both for having me. I appreciate it. All right, Chris, start us off, my friend.

SPEAKER_02 0:58

Listen, this is how I start every podcast. This is men walking in faith and purpose. So, my question to you, my friend: how has faith affected your daily walk? And as you impact the world, how does faith um dictate your purpose?

SPEAKER_00 1:15

All right, so you're gonna mean the area of faith as in Hebrews 11, faith, or we can, you know, or my my journey. Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

So wherever you draw from.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Okay, all right. So, guys, just just you guys for listening, viewing purpose. You may get a coach, you may get a pastor, you may get uh all types, because I'm all of those things, okay. So you you'll you'll go with it, okay? But when it comes to the area of faith, uh it's a lifestyle, okay? So come from it, like it's it's a lifestyle. I'm huge on kingdom, all right. That's that's like Jesus' favorite topic that we see, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God. And so, like that faith aspect, that daily bread aspect is an everyday thing for for me. So, I mean, whether it is in the area of my household with my wife and my twins and my and my young my young son, or it's an area of the ministry, like this faith aspect, it's nothing I don't put it on on Sundays and take it off and and then put it on again on Wednesdays with Bible stuff. It's like it's a lifestyle. So that's what this faith journey is. Um, and he constantly loves us so much that he gives us the opportunity, right? We might call it difficulty. I say the opportunity to trust him in those ways. So even anybody watching, listening there, I would say view those moments, their opportunities to flex your faith.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

Yes, yes, that's powerful. So many people need to hear that. So many, so many people need to be reminded of that. We have, you know, there's there's people who have been Christians for a long time and they know the scripture and they forget to look how beautiful the clouds are, you know. What what a great and majestic world that we've been gifted to walk through with God. And uh people need to be reminded of that. I'm in a men's Bible study on uh Thursday mornings, whereas the guys have been Christians for 30 years, you know, or longer, and they can quote the scripture, but they forget their own purpose. Our purpose here as Christians is to show our light and to bring people to God, right? To show them this gift, to bring them the good news. So I'm really glad to hear you say that. And that was something that resonates with me, having gone through periods where I was wondering, man, am I worthy of this? You know, what's happening right now? And then get to the other side, and you know, and you just you know he was walking with you the whole time, and and the humility when you get down on your knees and say thank you is uh yeah, is is is impactful and makes you just a better person, a better Christian, and a better man. So thank you. Thank you for sharing that. As a life coach, Christian, describe that a little bit. Who do you work with? Who are your who are your um typical clients? Who do you gravitate towards and who gravitates towards you, and what is your purpose in that?

SPEAKER_00 3:56

Yeah, you know that I love that question. It depends on the season, right? Um, when I so I have a purpose-filled life coaching is the actual business, the LLC. Um, and my wife and I started tag teaming with marriages and relationships, okay? And so we would do we had Thriving Love back in the day. We've done marriage conferences and all those things because we before we got uh married, we were dealing with the area in the beginning of the marriage, we're dealing with the area of youth ministry, and that's how we came in here and dealt with these things. And then the youth grow up, they go to college and they get married, and who do they come back to? The youth leaders. So that started the area of business from there, and then from the area of that, then it turned into my wife, also is an entrepreneur, and so she has a business called Expanding Brands, and that's where you deal with all customizations, t-shirts, branding, websites, all that stuff. And she felt more of a call to go there, and I still had the call for his coaching, and I was like, God, what do you really want to do? So we really started dealing with my heart about leaders. So I'm huge in the area of leadership, right? And it's presence-based leadership, not performance-based leadership. So in the area of the presence-based leadership of who God called us to be, right? Because from my heart, you hear a lot of kingdom. So kingdom is the king, it's about what the king wants, it's not about how I just want to do everything. Lord, what is it that you have for me? Why do you put breath in my body? Why have you allowed me to be here? If that's the case, I need to know what that purpose is. And that's the best job security, that's the best life security policy that we can have, is doing what it is that the king has asked for us to do. So I spent a lot of time within that area, just like you said, you could be a Christian for 30 years or doing that. It's many people who uh are in life doing well, fat bank accounts, but don't know their purpose. They don't know their passion, they don't know what God's saying to them. And the scripture says, My sheep know my voice and they follow me. So, are we following the leading of Christ? I spent a lot of times with that area of dealing with pastors and leaders and so forth and so on, entrepreneurs, organizational leaders. Um, I've had some opportunities to deal with um, you know, some execs in some situations like that, just to make sure that we're aligned and destroying distractions and fortifying our focus in what God has called for us to do. And so in this season right now, it's more leaning towards the pastoral right now, um, because we've launched a uh a relaunch of a church. But um, when I get the opportunity, it is spending time with leaders, entrepreneurs, pastors, uh creatives.

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Yes. Yes, I'd love to have a seat at that table, man. I'm sure a whole lot of a whole lot of lifetime knowledge is is being uh shared there.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Well, Chris, you can always book me for a session. You know, we can make our own table if you need hey, I'll make room for you.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

We'll talk after this. We'll talk after this as much as we can. All right, Steve, man. Yeah, I'm down, I'm down for that.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

I love that.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Leadership is something that I'm I'm very passionate about as well. And as as a as a uh mindset and performance coach myself, as I um get more into the word, more into scripture, and I look for examples of leaders in the Bible, and um a lot of times men think that it's not powerful or masculine to be a Christian man, and that's completely the opposite. It takes way more strength to be a Christian man than to walk around the world unsure, bouncing off the walls, unable to access this higher power that is our God when we need answers, right? So, what is your take on masculinity when it comes to being a Christian man as a leadership coach?

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Thank you for saying that. I love this. Uh um, first off, let me say uh I apologize to our viewers and our listeners because I don't think we've done a great job representing the king by the area of that. So, first off, I want to I don't I want to say that, okay. Um, from the outside, I mean, I grew up in this thing, so um, I've been in church and then out of church, right? But just because you're in the building, I mean in a garage doesn't make you a vehicle, right? And so looking at that area, realizing that that we can see things and we can say things. And I've had uh some of my brothers and sisters who've who've converted from this area to now uh Islam and so forth and so on. And at one part where you might get upset, I realize we haven't been supplying the answers. We haven't been, we've been talking the talk, but we haven't been embodying what it really looks like. When you look at your your scriptures, and again, you know, I'm gonna be careful with the area of the audience, but I can see Jesus being a gangster. I can look at Peter and see him being uh a thug at some point in time, cutting off ears and doing various things, right? Um, it's some different level. It's not anything to be in a place when people want to take your life and you have to act uh operate from an area of humility, when you have to be from there and leave what it is that you know to follow someone. That doesn't that's not the pump things, that's not things that sissies can deal with and do. You have to show up to do those things. So the area of the masculinity when it comes to those things, really for me, it's the model of what God is and how he's operating from that place. Um, and for me, that shifts and that changes. I have been accused of metrosexual traits pertaining to that. I have a masculine aspect and can identify with some things that I look that look nice that some people may feel as though it is more feminine on that side, so forth and so on. But I think identifying with who I am and what I have and expressing that in a way that God is honored, then I think that's where we are going to be because look at the Trinity, you see Father, Son, but even Holy Spirit has some masculine yet some softer features that come to that area of being a comforter and a confident, confidant.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Yes, yes, yes. I agree with you. I agree with you 100%. The performative aspect of being a man isn't necessarily mean you're powerful, it can mean you're scared, right? You poke your chest, you pop for your chest and demand your respect, and that's what that's when you get in trouble. When you can be humble and say, Man, I worked out today and I feel really strong. Look at the smile of that dog. What a gift! Look at this young couple having it with their baby, and you get a tear in your eye. That is true balance, that's true power, that's masculinity. When I can say these are the rules of my household because this is what we do, and I can also get down on my knees at eye level with my daughter and apologize because this is the first time I've ever been a dad, and dad makes mistakes. That is the balance for me. That's you know what I'm saying? As a man, that's where the power comes. That's where the power comes. And I agree with you. There's a whole lot of performance and there's a lot of humility on the other side of that. So that's exciting. And I love what you said about we have we lost people to their curiosity because we haven't brought you know brought the answers. And I feel like right now, and I don't want to make this about me, but I'm excited because we're we're very symbiotic here. Um, I feel like right now, especially young men, they're searching for answers, they're searching for direction. So no other time in my life has it been more important that we show and prove what a Christian man looks like right now when the world seems like it's hurting and on fire. So I'm really excited that you're of the same of the same mind and uh really look forward to hearing more about this. Can I ask you a question? Personal development MC was something I hadn't seen before. And that is a title that I saw in your, you know, in your bio and your in your LinkedIn. How did you did you create that? How did you start booking those types of gigs?

SPEAKER_00 11:11

Yeah, do you mind if I go back real quick before we we jump into that? Is that okay?

SPEAKER_02 11:15

I don't want to get ahead. I don't want to get ahead of it.

SPEAKER_00 11:16

Please. Cool. Um, because I can't, like my spirit won't let this this one go yet. Um listen to it. I think I think when we go into that area of really dealing with, you know, manhood, our purpose, our call, all things, it has to be aligned with with hearing and knowing the voice of God. And we gotta be still in those areas. We have to know, we have to open our hearts and our minds, we have to be transparent, we have to be vulnerable at times to allow God into those spaces. So maybe you're a man and you're listening, you're saying, Look, man, I don't, I don't know, that sounds like that's sissy stuff doing. I'm telling you, when you look at God, when you look at the creator, when you look at everything, you see there's a level of intimacy. That's where we at the beginning. It's the area of Adam in God at that place. It's an intimate knowing, it's a presence area centered where God is really about you. Where if I needed to cry, I can cry there. If I need to laugh, I need to cuss, fuss, like I'm there, I'm with you. I you are it's in you I live, it's in you I breathe, it's in you that I'm having my being. And we have to realize that even in the area when we look at the temptation from like Satan, right? Or or or the serpent in Genesis, uh uh, you look at the area where it's a temptation of something that he already had. The scripture says that uh uh he was tempted, Adam and Eve Eve was tempted with the area of being God like. But wait a minute, I was made in the image and likeness of God in Genesis 1. And so, how can you tempt me to be a God like when I'm already like God? I'm made in the image and likeness of that. And so I think a lot of times we are in the area of performance when we really realize we're not to just be who I'm called to be. When I look at the area of masculinity and where that is, look at the model of what God says: be fruitful, multiply, subdue, take dominion. Like that's the area of provision operating in my it, my inner tugging for what God is calling for me to do in this level in this time. It's not about that. Look at the lion in life. The lion is not the strongest, the lion is not the boldest, the lion has a mean roar, but he can look at an elephant and say that's lunch. How can that even happen? It's an attitude of knowing who it is and willingness to demonstrate that in the earth. And we're in an age right now where you don't need more information. Chat GPT, all the AI has that. We need kneecap to kneecap, face-to-face relationship, and there's no AI that's going to replace the human aspect of it. So that's why we have to be in a place where they're seeking, if they're seeking information, I live by these information, transformation, dedication, demonstration. That's what I preach and teach from in the area of the church. You're gonna get the information. We got that, given that from here. Hopefully, somebody gets a uh a Romans 12 experience where it begins a transformation, transformed by the renewing of your mind, right? It gets to your heart area as well. Then you go from dedicated, I need to be dedicated to this lifestyle and even dedicated to this life of faith and what that takes, this masculinity. But then I need to demonstrate it in the earth, and that's where my challenge is to the men, men and women of God in this area. Are we demonstrating the kingdom of God is at on hand? Yeah, so I'll pull back. I'm sorry. The preacher came in the coach, so you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

No, thank you, thank you. That was powerful, and that needed to be said. What an image, man! What a reminder! What a reminder, and what insight for someone who didn't even know they needed to hear that. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that, man. Yes, yes, and that voice and that and those points that you're making. Man, that is what we need. That is what we need. So I appreciate you going back and and not letting that one uh be held in.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Thank you, Josh. He's filling the gaps.

SPEAKER_02 15:11

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

So man. So you asked me about the MC thing. So I can get back to that now. Yeah. So uh so there is a um organization that I, when I was hosting podcasting, I did a lot with I don't know if you heard of Nick Hutchison or Book Thinkers. Um, but even within there, if you haven't looked them up, um, very great, powerful for any author um out there, amazing, amazing team. And so they used to send me guests when I was hosting the podcast, and I got to know his brother, Chandler, and then I turned into an area with Nick, the CEO. And then we just started doing life together virtually. And it happened to a place where, even within the area of the guest, I just loved the light and the wisdom that he had. And I just felt like in this area, I needed to be a glue. I'm I've written eight books so far, and so looking at these areas, I just kind of wanted to see what is this really about? How do you vibe from this place? If there's any a space on your team, so forth and so on. Like, I just wanted to really be a student. It turned into me doing some coaching with his staff, and then that tainted to an area where he's like, Look, man, I had this book thinkers uh conference that's coming up, and um, you know, how can I get you here? And I was like, Well, uh I ain't sell enough books to hit the stage yet. I ain't sell a million books, so that's not gonna happen for speaking, but man, you got an MC. And he was like, you know what? I think that would be great. And so what that turned into is me praying, because anything I do is submit, I gotta go to the king and see if it's okay for me to do what it is that I'm that I'm doing. And um, when it came back into is what God really did was open a beautiful door that I didn't realize. He took the coaching, he took the preacher, he took the speaker, and he put it in a beautiful thing. So, really personal development I'm seeing is an opportunity that if Chris has a conference and you invite Christian to come in, first off, you're gonna love me. Why? Because anytime Steve says that, listen, I can't make it, I got stuck over here, and now I'm sure the speaker, I'm qualified to jump in that gap and speak pertaining to that area, right? If it's an area where now you got a point on there and you're like, you know what, this really needs to be honed in, like that spirit moment we just had after uh Steve got finished speaking. I'm also able to now come in and say, Okay, audience, hold on. Did you hear what he said? You see, because Chris was hosting as I had the heart that I know that Chris wants empowering the generations, but what Steve said needs to go there. So everybody, I need you to pull out your pens. I need you to pull out this area. This is a moment for us to dig in. I need three people to tell me why what Steve said is super important, not for information, but for transformation. How you can transform your business, how can you transform your community? How can you transform these things from this empowerment and we go from there? So that's another area. I get to work with the host, so the host can be the host. If you want to kiss babies, shake hands, do whatever you need to do, then you can trust me with the event that I'm going to help navigate it through. And if we have somebody who has 15 minutes, but they go 35, I'm the guy that has to figure out how to get us back on time, real time. So it's a really an area of really helping to navigate. It's way beyond hey, we have Christian F. Johnson to the stage. That is the least of it. Um, and so people will invest tens of thousands, twenty thousand dollars for speakers, but they won't invest or didn't realize the value of investing in a present-centered, passionate personal development MC that's going to make sure that this goes from information, transformation, dedication, and a demonstration.

SPEAKER_02 18:31

It's incredible. It's an incredible idea. Yeah, incredible idea.

SPEAKER_01 18:36

Close to the end here, but I don't want to miss this point, Chris and Christian. Um, one of your tools, I think these are tool sets to bring God closer to you, is presence. We talked about on my other podcast. Dive into presence why it's a big part of your tool set.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Well, yeah, man, I came from an area, I think March 2nd, uh 2025, like my life changed. I came up with a speaking of a stage. And long story short, somebody who loves me near and dear, I'll protect their name, uh, came to me and said, Christian, it's really hard to really listen to you right now. No, and I'll tell you why. Okay, they knew who I was, but I had mastered mimicry, uh, I've mastered um the area of misalignment, I had mastered um the area of just being misplaced. And so, because I knew if this was in a church, this could get it, amen. If I knew that if it's on a podcast, these are the buzzwords to say that I could perform and do what needed to be done to get the results, to get this, to get the claps, to get all those things, but it wasn't resonating with who I truly am as a man of God. And so I can take on this, and and I would I was using all the universal terms and doing everything else, not that it's horrible and bad, but with true to who I am and God created me to be. It realizes I was performing over aligning with the presence of who God truly is in my life in the area of that. And so um, I had to look past that moment and had to repent and had to come to a place and say, God, I want to be exactly who you called for me to be. And it's present-centered, it's being present in the moment, but also in the presence of God. And that's where we are even in Genesis. He says, Adam, where are you? Not because I don't know who you are, you are, but it's the area to look within. And then it's social media time when it's about hand claps and follows, and it's about sponsorships, and it's about how much money you can make and all those things you can mess around and be successfully uh uh uh out of your purpose and build yourself a big old business and entourage, and you are at a place where you're really working to keep something that God never called for you to really have. And so this present-centered living is comes from an area of me realizing, you know what, God, I got to be aligned with you, and it has to be here, manifest in the area of what it is that I put on here on earth as it is in heaven, and let's demonstrate this in the area of the world to move forward. So, presence is a lifestyle again with the area of faith, um, and it's being present in his presence.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

So beautiful, Chris. I I love that. We're you know, come to the end, it moved pretty quick. But I'm gonna ask this question, and Chris, this will be our new question at the end. I just came up with it. Christian, you got the you just talked to my spirits to call me. Christian, if God, if Jesus walked up to you, what's the first question you'd ask him?

SPEAKER_00 21:10

You know the thing is, I mean, I'm gonna get to your question. I don't think I would ask anything immediately. I would probably be saying thank you. Uh Christian.

SPEAKER_02 21:19

You're blurry. You're blurry again.

SPEAKER_00 21:22

There you go.

SPEAKER_02 21:23

There, there, there, there, there. You're good. I'll cut that out. We'll cut that out. You're good, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Yeah, so I I think initially I wouldn't I wouldn't ask for anything at that moment initially. I would probably be thanking, um, uh praising, uh hugging, thanking him for for the model for the gift that he's given. Like that's an area of it would turn into a real life praise and worship set of really glorifying and honoring a king. When it came to the area of actually coming around to asking him, I think one of the things that hit my heart and mind is to hit the to get to the cross for me. And right now, at the time of this recording, we're approaching this. Easter season, it's resurrection season. That that just still baffles me to this day. And the way that I understand the Trinity is a little, you know, a little unique, but understand the area of Father, God, Son, and Holy Spirit. But to know that Jesus is physically on earth, Adam messed it up. He and it had to be the right timing for Jesus to come on the scene. Jesus comes on the scene and you're on assignment. God uh puts himself in the form of man to be here on earth to fulfill this assignment. You had to go through all you had to go through and then release yourself to go back. So I'm like, how could you really get to that area of the cross? I have a problem sometimes when I get a wrong comment online or I get something like that. So to really ask, what really got what that faith and reliance look like to actually get to there to be stoned, to be crowned, to be mimicked and made of, and realize that even if it looked like someone took my life, I no one takes my life. I lay it down for a friend for you and me. That's just something for me where I just needed would love to understand like how it got you to the area of the cross. So that's that's the part.

SPEAKER_01 23:07

That's a great answer. Well, I thank you for being a great guest. I know Chris does too. People listening are gonna want to reach out. How can they do that?

SPEAKER_00 23:17

Yeah. So first off, if you want the book when you're speaking but still silent, um, that I was talking about, that is on Amazon. Um, and you can check that out there. If you want to connect with me, um, on LinkedIn, I am Christian F. Johnson. I'm also on uh Instagram, I am Christian F. Johnson. If you're interested in any of my services that I offer on the area of coaching, that's I am Christian F Johnson.com or on the MC side is mc.im Christian F Johnson.com.

SPEAKER_01 23:42

Beautiful. And and I'm gonna do something, audience, the first three people to reach out to me, Chris or Christian. You just mentioned this podcast. And if you can give us more information, what you felt, the impact, whatever, that's fine as well. Give us a review. I will send you Christian's book for free. But you gotta mention the podcast to one of us three. So you gotta hunt us down. Christian just gave Hill's contact information in the uh show note in the description of the podcast. Just go ahead and do that. Let's uh impact and serve more people. Chris, any final thoughts before we close out?

SPEAKER_02 24:15

It's just humbling and refreshing to me to uh be in the company of men who are walking in their faith and purpose with a goal of reaching as many people as we can. And so I thank both of you. Steve for helping put this together, Christian for coming on here and talking about your your love for God, your walk, and your purpose. So thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Beautiful. Well, audience, Christian, Chris, and I want to thank all of you for watching or listening to this podcast. Hope you got impacted, hope you got motivated, hope you got inspired. Reach out to Christian, get his book, or be to the top three, get a free book. How about that? Um, we'll see you all in the next episode of Man Walking in Faith and Purpose podcast. Talk to you all very soon. Have a great day.