“He gave up his CEO responsibilities at Life Surge as part of a planned transition in which Johnson would give up his day-to-day operational responsibilities and focus exclusively on the entrepreneurial role of launching new businesses,” Johnson said. He said his actions are consistent with his habit over his career of starting and leading businesses and then moving on to other ventures.
While he still speaks from the stage at Life Surge’s one-day events as his schedule allows, Johnson’s “personal focus is on the next big thing we’re about to launch, and that takes a lot of time and attention, which limits his ability to be as involved with Life Surge events.”
One question ChurchLeaders posed was: “Life Surge positions itself as a faith-based organization built on integrity and stewardship. How do Joe Johnson and Shawn Marcell reconcile that message with the seriousness of the allegations brought against them and the company they previously led?”
“Life Surge does more than position itself as a faith-based organization built on integrity and stewardship—it is a faith-based organization built on integrity and stewardship,” Johnson responded, citing ChurchLeaders’ previous articles on Life Surge. “You’ve been to our events. You’ve interviewed Shawn. You’ve talked to our people. We’re on a dead run to know God and make Him known.”
Johnson referenced the high employee satisfaction rating Life Surge has on Glassdoor, the company’s projection of donating $1 million to key ministries by the end of 2025, and the 24,776 people who have made decisions for Christ at their events.
RELATED: Over 1,100 People Commit or Recommit Their Lives to Christ at Life Surge in Colorado Springs
As far as the lawsuits go, Johnson said, “In most jurisdictions, parties, attorneys, and witnesses cannot be sued for defamation based on allegations in a complaint, even if those statements are false or made with malicious intent.”
“These allegations are just that—allegations. More than that—they’re false,” said Johnson. “And unfortunately—in the context of a complaint—they can be made with impunity.”
A follow-up question from ChurchLeaders asked for a response from Johnson and/or Marcell about how people should perceive Life Surge, which educates people on trading, business, and real estate, given the pattern of behavior described in the previously mentioned lawsuits.
“There is no pattern—rather, this is a single issue—a dispute over property ‘valuations’ from a specific appraisal group in transactions where Welfont represented the buyer,” Johnson said. “Every one of these cases stems from appraisals that property sellers—not Welfont, and definitely not Johnson or Marcell—obtained independently and from an independent organization.”
“At their core,” he said, “these lawsuits are about sellers trying to deflect responsibility.”
Johnson reiterated his prior claim that the judges had sided with Welfont in the four settled cases. He went on to say that Life Surge customers trust the company, citing Google and Trustpilot reviews. He also repeated what he had said earlier about people trusting in Jesus at Life Surge events and the money the company is donating to ministries, while emphasizing that Life Surge’s focus is on Jesus and his kingdom.
Regarding why Life Surge took down and put back up its lengthy response to an Oct. 23 article from The Roys Report, Johnson said, “We temporarily took down the response page to make improvements that would better serve readers seeking accurate information.”
“However, we quickly realized that removing the page, even temporarily, could be misinterpreted as backing away from the truth. That contradicts our commitment to transparency,” he said, noting, “The page is back up because we stand by every word.”
You can read Dr. Joseph Johnson’s full response to ChurchLeaders here.
