Josiah Johnson: A Dangerous & Divisive Man
A Warning to the Body of Christ

For over a decade, I have carefully observed Josiah Johnson’s life and ministry and felt deeply grieved at the widespread destruction and division he has caused throughout the body of Christ. This document explicitly, yet not exhaustively, details some of that destruction and division and serves as a warning to the body of Christ to mark Josiah Johnson for division and avoid him completely until he repents and is properly restored to the Lord’s body by capable and qualified leaders (Romans 16:17-18, Galatians 6:1, Titus 3:10-11).

In February of 2024, I confronted Josiah in two separate conversations (one in person and one via phone) about his lack of Christlike character, volatile history, and the absence of any real accountability for his life and ministry. Josiah’s established and repeated pattern of manipulation, intimidation, jealousy, slander, anger, lying, and division is seriously concerning.

Romans 16:17-18 (AMPC) instructs us to “be on your guard concerning those who create dissensions and difficulties and cause divisions, in opposition to the doctrine which you have been taught. [I warn you to turn aside from them, to] avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites and base desires, and by ingratiating and flattering speech, they beguile the hearts of the unsuspecting and simpleminded.”

Josiah, along with his wife, Jennifer Johnson, have deceived and divided many innocent and unsuspecting people and families by their flattering speech and cunning behavior. Full of envy and malice, Josiah has appointed himself as the chief prosecutor of the church.  

Although he has never been stable or consistent enough to lead any legitimate church or ministry for more than a few months, he boldly lectures others on what a healthy ministry should look like. Any person who lovingly challenges Josiah and objects to his behavior or dares to try and bring him into order is accused of personal compromise, hidden sin, or worse.

As clear evidence of Josiah’s corrupt character, I have included screenshots from a group text message between me, Josiah, and another one of our brothers, Jeremiah. These texts from June 2, 2022, occurred at a very painful intersection for our family as our father was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

With full knowledge and permission from our father, I shared his situation online to ask the body of Christ to pray for him. The text messages serve as a small but accurate window into Josiah’s pattern of threatening and intimidating people:

(Note – Jeremiah’s text response to Josiah is in blue.)
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‍‍In an effort to adequately and effectively warn the body of Christ according to Romans 16:17-18 about their divisive and destructive behavior now spanning over a decade, I have compiled the following statements below from pastors and people who have each experienced firsthand Josiah and Jennifer’s venom and discord.

I also spoke with six additional pastors (all in different states) who readily confirmed they have also witnessed unhealthy and ungodly behavior in Josiah and Jenn and they encouraged me in compiling this document so unsuspecting people could be warned to avoid them.  

Please note that none of these people personally know each other and they have not spoken to each other in regards to this document.

Below are their statements concerning Josiah and Jennifer Johnson:

Elizabeth Heller
Orange Beach, Alabama
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On Friday March 22, 2024, I texted Jenn Johnson a message about my marriage asking for prayer for my husband, Michael. Around 11:00am that morning, Jenn and Josiah called me and told me to get the kids and come over to their house immediately.

They told me not to answer any calls from Michael and to just come over. I went to their house where they informed me that they had called for a church meeting in their home at 6pm and told Michael to be there. They had me turn off my phone at that point. What I didn’t know is that instead of telling Michael there was a meeting, Josiah had called and threatened him saying if he ever wanted to see his wife and kids again to be at their house at 6pm.

Before the meeting started, I said to Josiah that I pray that God would work and move in my husband so that our marriage would be better. Josiah’s response to that was, “That’s not the way this thing is going to go down.”

The meeting started with a lot of yelling on Josiah’s part. I did very little talking that night. It was mostly Jenn, Josiah, and other members of their “church” leading the conversation. Jenn wrote on a piece of paper and gave it to me telling me to tell Michael that I was leaving him regardless of what happens tonight. So, whether he repents or apologizes to me, it wouldn’t matter and that I still needed to leave him.  

It was never my intention or plan to leave my husband. I wanted someone to talk to about my marriage, pray with me, and help us work on our marriage. But they were not interested in helping me or us at all.  

Jennifer told my oldest daughter not to even go near her dad because he was Jezebel. Josiah told Michael, “You need to quit your job today or you will lose your wife and kids right now.” Josiah was angry and when Michael refused to quit his job and walked over to me and our two daughters and asked if they were ready to go home, Jennifer yelled across the room, “What are you doing?” Michael replied, “I’m talking to my kids.”  

Jennifer then rushed over to where we were seated and said, “No, you’re not! Get out of my house right now!” Then Josiah and another church member ran over and pushed Michael up against the wall. Then they grabbed his arms and forcefully pushed him out of the front door. After Michael was gone, I heard Josiah and Stuart talking about guns. Stuart said, “I brought mine if I need it.”  

After church on Sunday, Jenn and Josiah told me that I needed to file a PFA (Protection From Abuse) order against Michael even though there was no legitimate reason to. They kept insisting until I finally went on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 to file it. I went inside, got the paperwork, sat down to fill it out, and couldn’t do it. So, I took the PFA paperwork outside to the car and sat and cried because I did not want to fill it out. I told Jenn I couldn’t do it, that I could not lie. She told me I had to do it or Michael was going to destroy me and take the kids from me. She said, “One way or another you’re going to court.”

The temporary PFA was put into place and Jenn and Josiah wanted Michael to violate it and go to jail. They continually wanted me to press charges on him to try to get him in trouble. They also told me that I needed to put a post on Facebook to “claim the narrative” as they say. I did not want to do that either, yet once again they insisted and even helped me write it.  

Michael and I went to court on April 11, 2024 for the PFA and custody. The PFA was dropped. Michael came to pick up the kids as the judge granted and we ended up talking for about an hour. Michael sincerely and whole heartedly apologized for issues in our marriage and wanted to reconcile and make things right. He hugged me and cried, begging for me to forgive him. I told him that I forgave him.

I texted Jenn on Facebook that morning telling her that I did not want a divorce. I told her that Michael set up marriage counseling for us if I was willing to go. I told her I felt hope for my marriage. I told her I wanted to go home.

She replied with a very long, unhappy message stating that “Jesus Himself could not change Michael” so how could a counselor. Jenn said, “You will have to give an account to the Lord if you go back to him.”

On Friday night, I called Michael when I felt the Holy Spirit showing me it’s time to go home. Michael told me he would come and get me and our belongings right away and came to pick us up around 3:30am. Jenn and Josiah were very upset and told the rest of the “church family” to have nothing to do with me. This happens very frequently with Josiah and Jenn if you don’t “submit” to their leadership and do what they say.

The following day another family in the home packed up their stuff and left in the middle of the night. They called me once they arrived back in their home state to tell me that they had left as well and that Jenn and Josiah were very upset with them. They left out of fear in the middle of the night as well. I was happy to hear they had also left and returned home. Jenn and Josiah were so mad that we all left that they bashed us to the rest of the church on the group chat.  

I am thankful that we have all left but there is still major fear of backlash and retaliation for us leaving. Josiah and Jenn are not quick to give up their control over people. We are scared that they are going to come to our home to cause problems but we have already told them to leave us alone so we pray that they will do just that. We also pray that they will not do this to any other families moving forward. It’s been the worst month of our lives because of these people.

I also want everyone to beware of giving to their church. Josiah and Jenn manipulated me and my husband to give to the church by taking us out to eat and pressuring us to “be faithful to the Lord”. Josiah said things like, “If you don’t give, the Lord will take your whole family down.” He uses the Lord to manipulate and condemn you for his benefit. After we agreed to give a large sum of money to the church, he then directed us to write the check out to him personally so we did. It was a big red flag that right after giving him our money, he stopped calling and pressuring us because they got what they really wanted – money.

Barry Nichols, David Vespa, Brandon Jenkins | Elders
Heart of the Father Ministry
Lakeland, Florida
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Josiah Johnson has attended Heart of the Father Ministry during two different time periods.  He was in and out during the early days of 2010 - 2013, and then again from October 2021 - April 2022.  Both of these seasons with Josiah have been difficult and destructive.

Prior to their most recent time here, Josiah and Jennifer reached out to us desiring to come be a part of our community. We agreed as elders to receive them into our community and give them one more opportunity to get whole and healthy, given their difficult and destructive history with us. We met with them upon their arrival and told them we don’t want any of the drama or destructive behavior they displayed in times past. They agreed.

Since 2010, our experience and observation has been that Josiah has been a person who would go through dramatic emotional and spiritual cycles.  At times he seemed to be fully engaged in relationship with the Lord and then he would become offended, highly critical and angry, obsessing on the perceived faults of others, especially related to his brother Jeremiah and church leadership in general. Next, he would withdraw, and often, backslide into a season of depression, worldliness and sin.  

We have observed these cycles multiple times while Josiah has been here at Heart of the Father; and from our perspective, those cycles continue to occur. We have observed Josiah’s explosive anger on display a number of times.  So, it is not a surprise to us, that less than a year ago, Josiah publicly confessed to using his anger to manipulate even those closest to him.  

‍“Do not make friends with a person given to anger, or go with a hot-tempered person, or you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.” -  Proverbs 22:24-25

‍In conjunction with his destructive anger, during his dark cycles, Josiah also freely spews out attacking, threatening, demeaning and insulting language.  The most recent in-person incidents towards us were in early 2022 when he stood up in a restaurant, shook his finger angrily, and shouted “You’re a coward! You’re a coward!”  

He also hurled other such words and texts at us, that we were “liars”, “self-righteous”, and that we had “made truces with Jezebel and Ahab, are double minded and double tongued, are guilty of having blood on our hands, are filled with ambition, are passive men, are unwilling to repent, have become complicit to wickedness, hypocrisy, delusion and duplicity.’’ We have witnessed these kinds of verbal attacks multiple times, including recently in texts.  This is Josiah’s way.  

‍“I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler - not even to eat with such a person.” - 1 Corinthians 5:11

‍Ever since we have known Josiah and the Johnson family, there has always been a level of jealousy that existed in Josiah towards his brother Jeremiah.  At times, the jealousy would remain under the surface and then the cycle would shift to outright animosity and verbal and emotional attacks. From our perspective, this cycle of jealousy continues until this day.  

During a meeting with Josiah in early 2022, Barry told Josiah that he didn’t believe that Josiah’s anger was really against Jeremiah or us, but actually against God. That Josiah was angry with God for not taking out Jeremiah for him.  In an honest moment Josiah answered, “You might be right.”    

We have also observed how Josiah and Jennifer actually work ‘behind the scenes’ to gather any kind of information that could be damaging or discrediting to leadership.  In the case of Heart of the Father, it didn’t take long before Josiah and Jenn became disgruntled and frustrated because in their minds our church lacked vision and a prophetic voice.  

They both began having conversations about this with individuals in the church, including with a trusted leader in our church community.  This leader shared with Josiah and Jennifer some general information about how they felt the church was doing and how they had been praying for forward progress and growth in the things they believed God wanted to do. This leader also expressed to Josiah and Jenn that they completely trusted the elders’ leadership and ultimately the Lord would have His way.  

Shortly after this conversation, Josiah and Jenn shared with the elders that we had people on our leadership team who were disgruntled and struggling because of our poor leadership.  After speaking with this leader personally, it became clear that the Johnsons had left out important information and ignored the context and spirit of the leader’s words in order to try to build a case for how Josiah and Jenn’s leadership was needed in our community!

We also observed this kind of ‘web spinning’ activity in our last in-person meeting.  Since there was obvious relational tension between the elders and the Johnsons and there were clearly divisive forces at work in our church community, the elders called for a meeting with Josiah and Jenn.  

After a few weeks of trying to work out schedules, Josiah flatly refused to meet with us. It was discussed early on that perhaps the elders’ wives would also attend, but that detail was forgotten because of the length of time it took to schedule the meeting.  The meeting occurred on April 10, 2022.  Only Jenn came.  She said she was expecting the wives to be there as well.  We offered to reschedule the meeting.  She said that it would be fine to meet without the wives.  

Then Jenn offered to open the meeting in prayer, and while we were praying, she secretly slipped her phone under her Bible and began recording the conversation.  She never mentioned the recording to us.  That is actually a felony under Florida law, and it shows the deceptive means they were willing employ to try to gather any kind of damaging information.  After Josiah heard the recording, he sent insulting text messages calling us ‘cowards’ and ‘liars’ etc.  

‍“Reject a divisive person after a first and second warning, knowing that such a person has deviated from what is right and is sinning, being self-condemned.” - Titus 3:10-11

‍It is clear to us that Josiah and Jennifer Johnson are unhealthy, divisive and a destructive force in the Body of Christ.  They know the correct Christian language and the right face to put on things, so they have skill in manipulation.  But from our perspective, they operate out of jealousy and a desire for prominence and recognition and their influence and “ministry” is detrimental to the heart and purposes of Jesus in His Church.
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Riley Shelton | Senior Pastor
The Way Church
Hartwell, Georgia

I met Josiah Johnson and his wife Jenn in the fall of 2023 through our Associate Pastor Stuart Graham. Stuart had met Josiah at a mutual friend’s wedding several years earlier. He told me that Josiah called him out of the blue one day, several months before, and told him that the Lord had laid him on his heart to call him.  

I found out much later that this had grown into a weekly facetime phone call with Stuart and his wife being “mentored” by the Johnsons over a period of 5 months. Stuart approached me one day and told me that Josiah was coming to town to visit them and would I consider allowing him to preach. He was impressed with Josiah’s anointing and knowledge of the Word of God and said he would like for our church family to hear him and for my wife and I to meet him.  

Because of the timing that I would be recovering from outpatient hernia surgery that week, and because I trusted Stuart, I agreed, but I called Josiah to speak with him first. On the phone Josiah was quite respectful and came across as very skilled in spiritual matters. He respectfully used “Yes Sir, No Sir” and told me that he did not ask to preach but was only coming to visit, but that Stuart and his wife wanted him to, and they also wanted Jenn to help lead worship. Our Worship Pastor welcomed Jenn into the worship team that day.  

So, we honored our guests when they came, he preached and for the most part what he said that Sunday was ok, but then he began to make some points on how he didn’t agree with how the local church should operate. It didn’t take long before I discovered he had an agenda, was a master manipulator, and was causing many concerns with his accusations against The Way Church.  

Before he left town, Stuart was convinced he was to leave the church, sell his farm and business, leave their dream behind, and join them in Orange Beach, AL. With help of the Grahams, they had already targeted different young adults in our church and had them come to the Graham’s home to meet with them, without my knowing, trying to convince them to go to Orange Beach.  

The day that Josiah preached, Jenn convinced one young man in our church that the Lord spoke to her and said, “he was to marry her sister.” They convinced him to sell his business immediately and move to Orange Beach. So, he got his brother to take over his business, left his dad with debt, and within 3 months he married her sister.  

We have known this young man and his family since he was a young boy and his family supported him, loved him, and prayed for him for 14 years through his struggles with drug addiction, relapses, jail, financial disasters, and then finally deliverance and full recovery. He surrendered his life to the Lord and was on the right track.  

Jenn was overheard at church to say, “As soon as I saw him, I knew he was supposed to go with us.”  He soon came under Josiah’s influence, but the Grahams were also instrumental in convincing him to go. They soon convinced the son to cut all ties with his mom and sister unless they were willing to humble themselves and repent of their sins and that they were not allowed to come to the wedding. He was, however, allowed to text his dad and brother, because they were lost, and it could affect their salvation.

We have known this young man’s family for 24 years. They aren’t perfect but we have only seen them love, forgive, and support their son. For 14 years this mama cried out, fasted, prayed, warred in the Spirit, lost countless hours of sleep, and even went through cancer battling for her son’s life. To see him restored, then to be totally banned from speaking to him or seeing him because they convinced her son that all his issues were her fault. This mom and family were not even allowed to attend his wedding in March 2024. They are all quite hurt, and two of them have been going through counseling.

Just before the wedding, we facilitated a face-to-face meeting at our church between this mom and dad, Josiah and Jenn, and the Grahams, with hopes of them having access to their son. It quickly turned into condemnation, accusation, and word cursing toward the mom.  

In hopes that she could see her son, she humbled herself in tears and repentance to them for investigating their ministry and for reaching out to his brother Paul’s wife in concern for her son. Josiah called her Jezebel and told her he was unmoved by her tears and that her repentance wasn’t real. We have never witnessed such un-Christlike spiritual abuse. The meeting was brought to a stop.  

Josiah accused me of poor and passive leadership enabling sin. Prior to the meeting, we had learned that they had been communicating with people within the church saying that my wife was a Jezebel, operating in witchcraft, and they word cursed all our leadership and our church family, telling the young people they needed to leave from there or others not to go there. The four of them were confronted about that at the meeting, which quietened things for a moment, but they never repented.  

Before leaving, the father, who is unchurched, expressed what he had observed in the meeting, saying that he saw them as hypocrites and not very good Christians. Josiah angrily Bible bashed the father with Scripture telling him he was lost and going to hell, separated from the Father, and it was time to stop hiding behind church hurt.  At that point the meeting was immediately adjourned. Nothing was accomplished except a mom and dad leaving criticized, condemned, spiritually abused and humiliated, still not allowed to speak to their son.

Another couple, also members of our church family, were convinced to sell their new home, quit his job, and move to Orange Beach to join Josiah’s group. The husband, after being there a few weeks, said he realized that he was caught up in some sort of cult and needed to leave. Josiah and Jenn angrily told him that his wife and children were staying with them and had convinced the wife that she needed to divorce him and that he had a demon in him. They have 3 children and one on the way, due this month (April).  

He is unable to communicate with them or see them and could not see his daughter on her birthday recently. The wife has cut off all ties to the husband, her mother, and her grandmother until they repent of their sins. I received a call from her upset grandmother telling me she had been forbidden to see her granddaughter and great grandchildren.

We have also come to learn that they are still contacting and trying to lure some folks from our church family to Orange Beach. Most are now aware and alert to it. We know that God loves Josiah and Jenn, has purpose for them in His Kingdom, but they are deceived and on a wrong road. We have forgiven them and pray for them often to have a Damascus Road encounter with the Lord and be restored in a right place with God.  

We are also praying daily that the young man from our church will be awakened from the deception and be set free from the stronghold, and reconnected back to his family here in Hartwell, GA. However, he will now always be connected to them because he married Jenn’s sister. His family still needs to forgive, need much prayer, and realize that they, also, are now always connected to them by marriage.  

We pray that the Graham’s will come to understanding that they have been hijacked by deception. They, and all connected to that group, need much prayer.
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Joe Sweet | Senior Pastor
Shekinah Worship Center
Lancaster, California

Josiah Johnson reached out to me in the Spring of 2020 claiming he saw me as a “spiritual father” and that he was willing to be trained. We gave him an opportunity to be mentored.  We soon found out that he was very highly skilled at “talking the talk” but very poor at “walking the walk” of a Christian with fruit of the Spirit or godly character.

Looking back, we found out that within the first two weeks of being here, he was already sowing seeds of discord.  Over time it became apparent that he was driven by selfish ambition for a pulpit and bitter jealousy of anyone who had a ministry platform.

He began to go to various members of our staff, behind my back, and lay out a case to them that I (the senior pastor) was overworked and not healthy physically and emotionally and that I urgently needed a three-month sabbatical.  Pretending to care, he told them that he knew the Lord had brought him here so that when I was away, he would fill the pulpit and run things. He was urging them, that if they loved me, they would insist I would go away for at least three months or more. He wanted them to “gang up” on me and pressure me to leave on sabbatical.
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He took on the role of an Absalom, intentionally asking various staff members behind my back if they had any grievances against me. He told them he was sent there to help the church get healthy.

These things were reported to me by people that had been with our ministry for over twenty years.  These are people that I know, love, and trust.  They were very concerned about his behavior.  Others were confused because Josiah put on such an air of sincere caring.

Others in the body told me that he would reach out to them to have lunch or dinner with them.  As soon as they sat down, they reported that Josiah would begin to berate and tear me down and explain that he was there to help the church.

I personally caught him lying to me more than once.  I finally sat him down to talk to him about his negative attitudes and poor work habits.  He became angry and defensive, then went on the attack and began railing accusations against me. He then began yelling at me and “prophesied” that I was “sitting on a railroad track and a bullet train of God’s judgment was speeding toward me.”  As he was verbally abusing me in the name of “prophetic ministry” he implied that I could be killed by God.

Needless to say, he was relieved of his employment that day.  I had to meet him at the church office a few hours later so he could get his belongings out of the office.  He and his wife, Jennifer, stood in the church office and yelling loudly and angrily, he pointed his finger at me saying, “You have more demons in you than any man I have ever met.  You are coming down!  This church is coming down!”

After the board had agreed to fire Josiah for his incompetence, discord, dishonesty, and division, many testimonies surfaced of how he had been sowing discord and division in the body, hoping that he could take over the pulpit.

A dear elderly saint who has been a part of our church for 25+ years had been renting part of her home to Josiah and his family.  She told me that when Josiah was relieved of his job at the church, he told her “My mission from the Lord is to bring Joe Sweet down.”  She also told me that the entire time his family stayed at her house, there was discord and no peace and that his children were “out of control.”  Hearing him say what he did, she asked him to move out asap. Our senior worship leader said that Josiah came to her and said “I want you to know that you and all the worship team mean nothing to Joe Sweet.”  He tried to encourage them to leave the church and follow him in his new “church plant” here in town.  Of course, they saw through his wickedness and didn’t respond.

The Sunday after Josiah was fired, he came back to church with a few of his “friends.”  When he came to Lancaster, he asked a couple of his friends to move here with him.  They sat in the back of the church, and in the middle of the message he jumped up, interrupted the service and began loudly screaming railing accusations against me.  I calmly asked him to stop.  He ignored it and continued screaming.  

Ushers and security team tried to escort him out of the building.  He became physical and the sheriff had to be called.  Once he was outside, he remained in the parking lot with his wife and two children.  When service was over, he began making a scene and yelling at all the people to not listen to me or follow me.

While he and his wife were doing this, his two small children were unattended and one of them ran out into the busy four-lane street in front of the church.  Neither Josiah nor his wife knew this as they were not taking care of their children.  My daughter-in-law ran out into the street to get their son out of harm’s way.

We ended up having a restraining order preventing Josiah from coming back to harass church members. During the time that he was actively sowing discord against me, he was able to draw about five people to follow him to his new “church plant.” Josiah had a copy of the church phone directory that he obtained earlier from the church office. Numerous people in our body were called by him as he tried to recruit them to leave our church and go with him to his new “home church” plant.

The week after he left, he began sending profane, insulting, and defaming texts daily to my wife.  She ended up blocking his number to stop the harassment.

His ”church” plant fizzled out after about three months and he packed up and left town.  Several months after that, the wife of one of the couples that had been duped by him and been part of his “home church” plant came to me to apologize. She said, “We were deceived by him.” She went on to say how, over time they began to see his true nature. She said they felt used by him, misled, hurt, and disillusioned.

There is much more that could be said about his ungodly, dishonest and divisive behavior.  Following is a quote from the Shekinah Worship Board meeting in which Josiah was fired.

A Resolution of the Board of Directors of Shekinah Worship Center:

“The undersigned Board of Directors, after discussion, have unanimously agreed to release Josiah Johnson from employment at Shekinah Worship Center effective immediately due to his grossly poor work habits, dishonesty, divisiveness, contempt and malice.” (July 28, 2020)
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Alexa Paulsen | Director of Worship
Yasha Ministry
Sioux City, Iowa

‍Josiah Johnson came to Sioux City to help our newly opened Yasha Ministry, a House of Healing and Prayer, in 2014. Things moved really fast from the initial zoom call my parents and I had with Josiah and Jenn. Josiah was very charismatic at first and my mom felt led to hire him. For me, there was a check in my spirit, and I felt like something might be off. However, my parents thought he was an answer to prayer.  

In the first few weeks of Josiah’s time in Sioux City, they lived with my parents. It wasn’t an ideal situation and I noticed some concerning things while they were living with us. Their marriage seemed a little strained, and Jenn seemed very unhappy.

In the following months, things quickly escalated. On several occasions, we attempted to have staff meetings. While in these staff meetings, Josiah had a habit of openly disagreeing with my mom in front of the other staff members. She was the executive director, and he seemed to be on a personal mission to defiantly confront her at any moment presented to him.

These confrontations weren’t limited to my mom, unfortunately. On one occasion, he rebuked me in front of the staff. I’m all for a godly correction if needed. However, this instance was far from that.  

Josiah started yelling at me telling me I was a spoiled brat and that I treated my worship team poorly. At the time, I felt like I might have needed the humbling, so I cried, repented, and we moved forward. However, the awful feeling of a child being scolded by an unhinged parent never left me.

On one occasion, Josiah attempted to convince a group of my guy friends to move to Des Moines with him and join a big church/ministry there. Thankfully, they ended up not making the move and I praise God they were not easily swayed by Josiah’s charisma.  

In March of 2015, Josiah and Jenn invited me to their house. There, they proceeded to tell me that my beloved, saint of a mother, was actually the “Jezebel of Sioux City”. They said she was manipulative and controlling, and Josiah believed that he had been sent to stop her.  

Josiah said that he believed that he had been sent by God to end Yasha. He told me that I needed to flee Sioux City for a time and move out of my parents’ house. Specifically, out from under my mother’s influence. He and Jenn “prophesied” over me, telling me they believed my “destiny was in Peru”. I left their house with a migraine, and felt very confused.

Believing them, and feeling conflicted, I moved forward and bought a one-way ticket to Peru. As soon as I arrived at my friend’s house in Peru, a guy I had been corresponding with, whisked me off to a beach house with his friends. I had no cell reception and I was trapped there with him for 3 days. The whole time I was there, one of the men said he wanted to get me drunk so he could rape me. He threatened this to me every morning and every night until we left there.  

I share that story to emphasize that Josiah and Jenn’s “prophetic word” over me was 100% wrong, and that I should have heeded my mom’s warning for me not to go to Peru. I recognize that Josiah is not responsible for what happened to me and I have forgiven him and Jenn. However, it is my hope that others will use caution when running to obey the word of man rather than the Word of God.

My parents scheduled a meeting to fire Josiah from Yasha Ministry and he said, “Well, I’m quitting anyways.” Two weeks later, Josiah and Jenn discreetly left Sioux City.
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The firsthand accounts above from multiple people and ministry leaders in different states spanning over a decade clearly establishes Josiah Johnson’s repeated patterns of false accusation, manipulation, intimidation, destruction, and division in the body of Christ.

At Our Father’s House on April 23, 2023, in response to a message that our brother Jeremiah preached on the Jezebel spirit, Josiah himself came forward and publicly confessed: “I have used my anger and my rage to manipulate and to intimidate and to make people afraid of me. And not all the time, but I’ve definitely done it to my children more than anything and I’ve done it to my wife” (Direct quotes recorded on our livestream). Josiah then admitted to using these same tactics of manipulation and intimidation to become a successful car salesman.  

As one of his younger brothers, I have often felt helpless to help all of the unsuspecting people who fall prey to his manipulative and abusive leadership. Knowing Josiah to be an extremely unstable and unhealthy person, I have kept my distance as he has attempted and failed to plant churches in at least 4 places that I know of (Altoona, Pennsylvania; Clarksville, Tennessee; Lancaster, California; Pensacola, Florida).  

Since marrying his wife, Jennifer, 12 years ago, Josiah has moved his family over 25 times, 18 of those moves were across state lines. Instead of repentance and restoration, they have chosen to relocate instead.

The list of godly character qualifications in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 clearly disqualifies Josiah from being a leader in the body of Christ. His life and character are far from being “above reproach”, his home is managed poorly, his children are completely out of control, his public reputation is marred, he often lacks any self-control, and he is entirely pugnacious, a bully and violent aggressor prone to quarrel and quick to fight.

In the fall of 2020, Josiah was travelling through Indiana and had two people with him when he asked to meet with me. He introduced me to a married couple who were on an extended mission trip and were going out to California to assist Josiah with his “church plant” - or so they thought. They immediately started to see Josiah’s manipulation and ask questions, leading them to be “removed” from leadership and shortly after they left California after only one month of being there. Thankfully, they reached back out to me upon leaving California and I was able to talk them through the difficulty they unexpectedly endured.  

They personally witnessed Josiah on one occasion take a significant amount of cash from someone in exchange for a prophetic word. Josiah attempted to bully and threaten them after they asked for accountability for the finances that were being given in support of the “church plant”.

This couple then connected me with the family who hosted Josiah’s church plant in their home for three months before it closed and Josiah moved his family out of California. They also reported being manipulated, lied to, and threatened, as well as having their personal possessions broken without apology.

On Josiah and Jenn’s final day before leaving California, they had a garage sale to get rid of some of their things. Josiah came completely unhinged, sending threatening text messages to one of the couples and even at one point physically putting his hand on top of the husband’s head while screaming at him. Josiah then called the other man “the spawn of Satan” and referred to his recently deceased father as “the devil”. Both of the aforementioned couples witnessed Josiah’s unrestrained outburst of anger firsthand.

Perhaps the most concerning part of this unfortunate compendium is that Josiah is clearly delusional and firmly believes he is doing the will of God by accusing, manipulating, slandering, dividing, and hurting people, especially church leaders who resist and oppose him. Regardless of his threats and false accusations, true shepherds have a responsibility before the Lord to protect the flock and fend off wolves who would prey on the weak and vulnerable among us. I’m thankful for the courage of these leaders and people who have stepped forward to share their story and do just that.

May God use this warning to mark Josiah Johnson for division in the body of Christ and cause many to avoid him according to Romans 16:17-18. And may God show abundant mercy to Josiah and Jennifer and grant them grace to open their eyes to the truth and lead them to humility and repentance.

‍Paul T. Johnson | Founder
‍Our Father’s House
Avon, Indiana

The following ministry leaders have carefully reviewed this document and, based upon their personal experience with the destruction and division Josiah Johnson has caused, endorse the public release of this letter warning the body of Christ:
‍
Austin Hofsommer | Elder
‍Our Father's House
Avon, Indiana 

‍Brandon Jenkins | Elder
‍Heart of the Father Ministry
Lakeland, Florida 

‍Jeremiah Johnson | Founder 
The Altar Global
Kannapolis, North Carolina 

‍Barry Nichols | Elder  
‍Heart of the Father Ministry
Lakeland, Florida 

‍Riley Shelton | Senior Pastor
‍The Way Church
Hartwell, Georgia 

‍Benjamin Sullivan | Elder     
‍Our Father's House
Avon, Indiana 

‍Joseph Sweet | Senior Pastor  
‍Shekinah Worship Center
Lancaster, California 

‍David Vespa | Elder
‍Heart of the Father Ministry
Lakeland, Florida 

‍Mitchell Wasmund | Elder
‍Our Father's House
Avon, Indiana 

‍Andrew Yusko | Founder             
‍Lighthouse Ministry
Palm City, Florida