Jackie's Journey "Unthinkable Sacrifice"

This Friday is “Good Friday”.  This day is “specifically set aside for us to meditate on all that Jesus suffered, all the pain, the shame, and the curse that characterized his death. My eyes well up with tears when I consider the unthinkable affliction Christ endured.

 Every year around this time—right before Easter—a certain plant comes alive on my patio with bright, red blossoms. It is commonly known as “Crown of Thorns.” 

I always enjoy parking my chair close to it to examine its delicate flowers, so thin, fragile, and brilliant with red color. But then, I take a moment and let my eyes linger on its huge, thick, nail-like thorns, rumored to be those used in the crown placed on my Saviors head.

The pain and humility Jesus physically suffered leading up to his death was a mere warm-up to the real dread he faced.

As he hung on the cross, he began to feel a foreign sensation. Somewhere during those hours that his body was impaled, an earthly foul odor must have wafted, not around his nose, but in his heart. He felt dirty. Human wickedness began to crawl upon his spotless being—the living excrement from our souls.

The apple of the Father’s eye began to turn brown with the rot of our sin.

I let the thought settle deep, forcing my heart to imagine the rage, the wrath of God being poured out like hot oil on the wounded heart of the Son of Man. God the Father watching as his heart’s treasure, the mirror-image of himself, sank drowning into raw, liquid sin.

There is no room for a casual sentimentality regarding the cross—as an instrument of unspeakable torture, the cross is far too gruesome for any light-hearted fondness”. Written from the heart of Joni Erikson

 After reading Joni’s article, my heart began to sing and

I took on a new, magnified, eternal gratefulness

 for all that HE did for me on the cross of Calvary… 

  How about you?

Join me today in carving out quiet time to reflect on the awful weight of Good Friday. And then, breathe a prayer of wonder and thanksgiving to our Savior

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Enthusiasm Rocks!"

My Enthusiastic Granddaughter!

Do you experience emotional drain or depression by trying to act enthusiastic when you feel anything, but?  I have always associated energy with enthusiasm.  I lived with a man for 60 years that had boundless energy and his enthusiasm was outrageous and contagious! We, moms, encounter  it at our children’s soccer games as we stand and cheer them on or in an auditorium where our little princess is performing…

 In the Princess Parable Series each princess had her own source of energy (their names are Grace, Hope, Faith, Charity and Joy) that expressed itself in never-ending momentum.

Enthusiasm turns ordinary actions into extraordinary achievements. Jim Elliot wrote, ”Whoever you are, be all there.  Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God.”  Abraham Lincoln once said, “When I hear a man preach, I like to see him act as if he were fighting bees!” Biblically speaking, enthusiasm is God’s energy in my spirit expressing itself through my mind, will and emotions. The provision HE gives for us to be “fervent in spirit”. Rom. 12:9-11

 Am I energized and inspired by God today?

If any people ought to radiate passion, joy and enthusiasm…we should!

 Then,  I guess the question is, “Why aren’t I?’ “ What should I be enthusiastic about? How do I become a zealous Influencer for good?”  Genuine enthusiasm is not something we generate on our own.  It is the harmony we have with God when our spirit is expressing the joy of our soul.  How fervent am I about the things that have eternal value?” 

 What and who do I get excited about?  Do I look for it by pursuing social media, etc.… more than the Word of God? Am I zealous toward God, His Word, prayer, good works?  Am I “exceedingly glad” when I am spoken evil of? Matt. 5: 12  Do I, like Paul,  “pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches,  in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses?” I Cor. 12: 10

 Am I an example or an excuse in my responses to life’s situations?

 Enthusiasm is the by-product of having a life purpose that is worth dying for.

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "You say...JOY?"

One of the five books in The Princess Parable Series is titled, “ Princess Joy’s Birthday Blessing”.  In it she finds the real meaning of her name and the blessing of knowing what true JOY is.  “Joy is not a luxury or a mere accessory in the Christian life.  It is the sign that we are really living in God’s wonderful love, and that His love satisfies us.” Andrew Murray 

 How can Joy and Sorrow exist together?  I have had one year to contemplate the answer to that question.  I can affirm that it is possible to have them at the same time because joy is an expression of the spirit, and sorrow is an expression of the soul (mind, will, emotions). 

 Do people see a bright countenance when they look at you and me?  Joyfulness is the bright spirit and radiant countenance that I have when I am in full fellowship with the Lord.(Bill Gothard)  Ralph used to ask, “What is the purpose of joy?”  Joy has no value until it is given away and the one who gives it away becomes richer.

 In the jungles of Panama, a little river otter followed one of the boys up from the river and attached himself to our families.  This little fellow made even the most mundane chores a delight, by turning everything into a playful pursuit!  He made me believe that “Our purest and noblest joys are transformed sorrows!” Alexander Maclaren

 Joy is proof to the world that God can fully satisfy the human heart!  To experience joy, we need to understand that :

§  All things come from the hand of God. He is Sovereign. (Job 1: 21; Matt. 10: 9)

§  Everything that happens to us is ultimately for our good. (Rom. 8: 28)

§  Every circumstance can build character in us. (Rom. 8: 29)

§  Trials & difficulties can teach us God’s ways.  ( Job; Psa. 119: 71)

If you are struggling with grief, as many out here in the California wildfires are, or those mourning the loss of life in the Potomac River plane crash recently, or a multitude of other heart-rending events…know that joy is yours when you surrender to Him, under His protective hands. C. S. Lewis said, “Joy is never in our power …”

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "The Fire of Offense!"

Seems to me that we are a people that are easily offended.  Have you attempted to talk to someone about the upcoming election?  The peaceful world of long ago has left us with angry and entitled people on every front.  We  see it in on the internet, the freeway, in our  homes, churches, on the street,  in grocery stores…

 It’s a great day…you walk into a public place , smiling and enthusiastic, and someone says, “What’s wrong with you?”  Maybe, it’s just California, but I don’t think so.  Verbal dissatisfaction and public controversies are common place.  Words are spoken unguarded.  We are women and we love words! One of the leading problems among women in maintaining relationships is the abuse of the tongue.

 “The tongue has the power of life and death and those who love it will eat its fruit.”  It’s, also, a source  of offense. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed on us by someone else! “Great peace have they that love your law and nothing will offend them.”Psa. 119: 165

 We are responsible for five areas of our life without excuse, rationalization or wrong response.

1.     Words

2.     Actions

3.     Attitudes

4.     Thoughts

5.     Motives – reveal our character; the why we do what we do.

 I am accountable before God for what I say.  If somebody offends me, it is my problem. They  are only reflecting a need in my life, if I respond wrongly.  When Christ, the great physician, applies a knife to my heart and there is  pain…there  is  evidence of live flesh!  My need to die to my flesh is exposed. God sees what I cannot see, and knows exactly where to place the knife.  He cuts away that which we are most reluctant to give up!  And how it hurts. 

 God does not attack in us that which is lifeless and unresponsive…It is the live flesh that must die.   There is only room for one of us to be alive and in control!  The remedy to my problem isn’t cure; it is to get out of  the way…it is death to my selfish expectations.

 “Great  peace have they that love my law and nothing will offend them.” Psa. 119: 165

 How easily are you offended?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Buckle Up for the Ride!"

Do you ever feel like you just can’t go on?  A bit overwhelmed and stressed with the every-day’s demanding responsibilities, eventful family matters, disturbing health issues, wavering and unresolved relationships, weighty decisions that need to be made now, current world events make that global, conditions….?  

 Do you grow faint?  Are you “keeping on keeping on”, stumbling along the way?

 While living in the Darien jungle, we were not aware that for two years there was a plot to kill us!  We lived in a very remote area and the discovery of our bodies would have never been found.  Upon learning of the plan, my head began to spin.  I looked across the room at my two  beautiful little girls and reality came tumbling into my consciousness like a fast-approaching hurricane!  Fight or Flight…there was no escape…

 …Talk about growing faint!

 Jeremiah, “the weeping prophet”, faced a similar conspiracy and he wrote:

 “If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out,

how can you compete with horses?

If you stumble in safe country,

how will you manage in the thickets by Jordan?”

 If we grow faint with lesser trials and feel like quitting, what will we do when the battle gets even harder?  The river Jordan in flood stage overflowed its banks into a plain that grew up into a dense thicket!  Pictured in this verse is their invaders overwhelming the land like a flood. We, like Jeremiah, need to be ready to deal with tougher times.  “If you falter in times of trouble, how small is your strength!”  Prov. 10:24  He makes His strength perfect in our weakness.  We have to get out of the way and let Him take control!  Where is your confidence right now?

 Jeremiah knew the scheme the people of Anathoth had against him to kill him, because God had told him. Like many of us, he wanted to know “why the wicked escape for a time unscathed and appear to prosper? Why do all the faithless live at ease?” Jer. 12: 1

 Do you ever ask yourself that?  Why me?

 God’s answer was simply, “Buckle up, Jeremiah, your life, as a prophet of my truth, has yet to see my nature revealed!  I have the plan…albeit, a longsuffering one…I am forever looking for repentance and a yieldedness to My will, unlike the rebellious and defiant ones.” (Paraphrased)

 Our Challenge:

  “If we falter in times of trouble,

 how small is our strength!”

Prov. 10:24

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "...Got Purpose?"

So often we think to be successful we need a sense that we are getting more out of life…more me time, vacation time, more quality time with our children, more opportunities to develop a more mature relationship with our husbands, more exercise, less weight…”It’s all about me!” 

 We are blinded by schedules and activities (work, practices, meets, tournaments, tutors, recitals, award ceremonies and more).  We moms live in a maze of taxi driving (pick-ups and drop-offs), carpools, careers, pickle-ball, parties, sleep-overs, play-dates, fears and circumstances that keep us from seeing the clarity of our designed purpose.  We are forever seeking balance…

This is the opposite of what God envisions for us.  We are to live life with a due sense of responsibility…not as(women) who do not know the meaning and purpose of life, but those who do…making the best use of our time, despite all the evil of these days…not being vague but grasping firmly what we know to be the will of God.  Eph. 5: 15-17

 True success in life is measuring what we are by what we could be (always seeking His purpose and meaning in life) and what we have done by what we could have done (by His grace).  “Faithful is He who called you who will also do it (is we get out of the way, relinquish our self will and yield to His!).  It is achieving the full potential God planned for us.  We are destined with His purpose on our life…”It’s not about me!” Col. 1: 28,2

 Are we focused on what God is focused on or are we hastily and thoughtlessly doing our own thing…running through life?  If we have not realized our life purpose and set eternal goals, our present priorities to reach that goal are short-sighted and superfluous!  Our focus is blurred by the demands of the immediate on the altar of the permanent.

 When I was a young Christian, I was challenged by Betty Stams Declaration of Purpose.  She was a missionary to China and was martyred by the Communists in 1949.

“Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes and accept Your will for my life.  I give myself, my life, my all, utterly to You, to be yours forever.  Fill me and seal me with Your Holy Spirit.  Use me as You will, send me where You will, work out Your whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.”

 While at Bible School, I stapled that statement inside the flap of my Bible and it is still there today…a reminder of my commitment to my God, who gave His All for me, to die daily.  “If anyone would come after me (Christ), he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9: 23

 Taken from Philippians 1: 21, “For to me to live is Christ and to die (to my will, rights, ambitions, entitlements…) is gain…”  This has carried me through life and has been my comfort while serving in the jungles of Panama until this day…

 Where is your heart?

What is your Declaration of Purpose?

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "What Does Your Future Hold?"

Life had become routine in the Darien jungles of Panama. The sounds of Howler monkeys, the screeching of magnificent multicolored parrots and the beauty of the bright colored Toucan had become commonplace.  One morning we woke up to find two little spider monkeys on the front porch crawling on the girls’ bikes!

I still could not reconcile with the colossal hairy spiders, the over-sized scorpions, the copious species of slithering snakes, the blood-sucking vampire bats or the jungle army ants!  Nor would I ever find harmony with the dripping humidity and the ever-present roaches, chiggers and mosquitos!  However, I did learn to appreciate the large Iguanas for their tasty eggs.

 Daily, the Kuna’s would greet us, early, looking for sugar or oil and a morning visit.  We had become part of the community and they had begun to accept us.  We had brought healing medicine, oil, and sugar after all!

 The Indians had, somewhere along the line, become part of our family and we had become attached to them and their way of life.  We had learned so much from them and were amazed at their physical strength compared to their small stature.  Their ability to take one bullet and return with a deer or two bullets and return with two deer was uncanny.  We, also, learned much from their survival skills in the dense jungle.  But their openness to listen to the truth of God’s Word after a year and a half of total mistrust and resistance was the most astounding of all! 

 Watching the young mothers with their babies and the respect and trust these women had for the older women in the village was heart-warming  We had grown to love these very special people and had developed a mutually fulfilling relationship.  As they came to know Christ, our hearts were full of gratitude for the privilege of serving the King in such a rugged and remote region.

 The women swept the village once a week during dry season and it was an opportunity for Sue Gunsteen and I to listen to the women chatter and hear the community gossip.  You didn’t want to miss the sweeping because you would then become the object of their conversation that day!  

 However, I was consistently on guard because of something my Uncle, an orthopedic surgeon, had told me while he was visiting us at Language School.  He spoke quietly: “Jackie, you carry the TB germ from your mother at birth; it lays dormant now but could activate in the right environment or as you get older”.  I was 25 at the time, so I only had to focus on the environmental issue, I thought to myself!  Then, a year or so later, during a Congreso meeting, we knew we had reached a level of tribal acceptance when they offered us a gourd filled with “Chicha” and everyone drank from that one rustic cup!  Needless to say, I did not want to offend by NOT drinking from it! 

 But for me the sweeping and the common drinking gourd became an act of faith because the sweeping stirred up the tuberculosis germs that blew in the village and of course, the tubercular women would contaminate that cup!

 The Lord had given me a promise while we were in missionary training. 

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,

plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans

to give you a hope and future”.   Jer.29: 11

 The Lord used these powerful words of promise to banish my fear and sustain me as we swept the village, drank the “sugar cane-sweetened platano (cooking banana) drink” and treated the TB patients in their homes and the clinic. 

 HE knew my future and had it planned. There was, therefore, no reason to be troubled.  My focus was not on my fear but the need to keep in harmony with Him, His assignment and His will.

 Are you ever preoccupied with the future

and what it holds for your life?

 In a world full of uncertainties, it is easy to “roll into” the pattern of helping God design your future, rather than simply submitting to Him and His plan that comes with assurance and hope!

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Imperceptibles!"

There is a group of people that are basically

imperceptible in our culture…

 Do you know who they are?

“Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long-life bring understanding?” Job 12: 12

 Regardless of our involvement in the lives of our children and grandchildren, they reach an age of development (if we have done our job) where their need for us lessens.  They now have their own friends and activities that occupy the time that was once ours!  Life is a whirlwind of academics, team sports, community outreach, horses, piano lessons, theater and musical practices and performances, tennis coaches and tournaments, swim practices and meets, church youth group activities, bible studies, revivals, camps, mission  trips, etc.…!

 Finally, one day… they get drivers licenses, go to college and… get married!

 Keeping pace with all of this is a tremendous challenge…for all of us!  I am a grandmother of seven; my mother, at 101, was a great-grandmother of 25 great-grandchildren! She lived on her own, cared for herself and was alert with a memory that would put an elephant to shame!  She gave new meaning to the verse in Job 12.  There are very few topics that have applicability to our everyday life, that if asked, she could not wisely put in perspective, yet she often felt invisible and spoke of her sense of loneliness and need to keep relevant.

Christina, my eldest daughter, Mom (100 years old) and I

 I have thought about her statement and Job’s proclamation and wondered why in our 21st century culture the advanced in age feel they are being set to one side, listened to less and invisible in a large group of the younger generation.  

 These vital soldiers have earned their place among those that should be the most honored, respected and valuable in our culture. Titus 2: 3-5 admonishes “the older women to be reverent in the way they live and to train the younger...”  There is so much to be gleaned from these seasoned veterans that have gone before us, paving the way.  We will quickly step into the print they have left behind!

 Our local churches defer to the younger generation. The young fill the jobs in women’s ministry and teach the even younger.  They no longer turn to the older generation.  They have been replaced with quick and empty answers found in the latest technology, social media and their peers.

 BUT…“Is not wisdom found among THE AGED”?

 While in Panama, our good friends, the Jenkins, a couple with perfect pitch and harmony, put this definition below to music.  I have been humming it for years and sing it out loud when my natural inclination to think “I’m all that!” overrides what Scripture says should be my godly point of view!

 Reverence is acknowledging that God is using in my life,

people and events to produce the character of Christ in me”. (Gothard)

It is wisely looking at life’s situations (all of them!) from God’s point of view, not my own.

 THEN… the warning:

 Soooo… be wise my son (daughter), heed my instruction (instantly placing myself in harmony with Him and His will and directives), leave that road that leads to destruction, hallow my name don’t walk in shame…Proverbs 23: 17,18

 I want to be a wise mom, wife, grandma and whomever else I am purposed to be.  That means I am commissioned to look at all of life’s situations from God’s point of view and get out of His way. There is no way I can produce reverence and wisdom apart from Him.  He uses the people and events in my life to produce His character in me!  My job is to wisely yield all circumstances with a grateful heart, regardless of how it looks, seems or feels to me.  He knows what He is doing…It’s His plan…

The reward is Wisdom!

 Will you join me in applying reverence

to your life this coming year?

 It’s a win…win.

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Looking for Answers??"

We are in crisis on every level!  We face unknowns and turmoil of every kind imaginable.  Our homes, families, culture, cities, states, and country are in a state of total confusion and chaos. Our streets are unsafe. Our children are unprotected.  Everyone has a solution and nothing gets better.  We are imbalanced and leaning over a cliff with no return…unless, we look to the “Author and Finisher” for help!

 “The widely accepted concept that we can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as  Lord, as long as we want to…is  heresy!  The truth is that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred scriptures.  To urge men and women to believe in a divided Christ is bad teaching. 

 How can we teach  that we can be saved without any thought of obedience to our Sovereign Lord?  It is wrong to look upon Jesus as a divine nurse to whom we can go when sin has made us sick, and after he has helped us, to say good-bye and go our own way. 

Christ will either be Lord of all or He will not be Lord at all!!

  In our time we have overemphasized the psychology of the sinner’s condition.  We  spend  much time describing the woe  of the sinner, the grief of the sinner, and the great burden he carries.  He does have all those, but we forget the principal fact-that the sinner is a rebel against properly constituted authority.   That is what makes sin…sin.  We are rebels, or an independent spirit disloyal to all precepts of a Sovereign God.  The root of sin is rebellion against God…the Lord will not save those whom He cannot command.

 Do we really think that we do not owe Jesus Christ our obedience?  We have owed Him our obedience since the moment we cried out to Him for salvation, and if we do not give Him that obedience, I have reason to wonder if we are really converted.” A. W. Tozer “Why do you call me Lord and not do as I say”. Luke 6:46

 What’s the plan?”

 There is only one place to find answers…

Are we really looking for answers or an excuse?

“It is sin not to pursue Him with all our heart!” II Cor. 12:14

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights. 

Jackie's Journey "Thorns and Thistles!"

“By His wounds we are healed”.  Isa. 53

 This Friday is Good Friday!  The cross is the center of our commemorating the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  His selfless and sinless sacrifice in our place is our reason to celebrate and praise His Name.  We call the holiday Easter and for a moment in time we stop and rehearse His ultimate sacrifice…His life for ours on that thorny and thistled “old rugged cross”.  Not only did he die for us but also on the third day He rose from the dead and gave us the promise of a resurrected life after death! 

 This deliberate and divine act of love was to give our lives promise, plan and purpose.  We are destined and programmed to serve others first, not ourselves.   In our Easter release to the Princess Parable Series, “A Royal Easter Story”, we have introduced our five young knights who present a challenge that draws our young princesses into a chariot race that reveals the truth of what the cross teaches. 

 Do you live a life selflessly and sacrificially serving others?

 We cannot be consumed with a life that seeks its own and find life abundantly.  It is an impossibility.  Local churches open their doors on Good Friday to give us the opportunity to take a personal account of our commitment to our first love and renew our loyalty to live as Jesus challenges us to live…Holy!  We are reminded to live serving others, as He did, with eternal values and purpose in view.

 As women, we are dedicated to living and then, teaching the character of Christ to our little princes and princesses.  We focus on drawing their attention to the importance of serving, helping and caring for others.  That is why we find ourselves saying, “Can you comfort your little brother” or “Will you help mommy?”  Teaching by example, without excuse, is the most powerful tool in our toolbox!  We are “known and read” by these little eyes and ears.  They know if the cross is real in us, or not.  We don’t fool them, but we do confuse them when our life message does not speak the reality of Christ in us!

 Are your little ones confused?

 “Then said Jesus to his disciples, IF any man will come after me,

 let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Matt. 16: 24

 The cross holds the hope of humanity.  Denying self-life (our pride and selfishness in all its ugly forms)…and taking up His cross (His desires and His perfect Will for us)…  authenticates His life in us.  Living life consistently with no unconfessed sin and nothing between us and another person enables us to follow Him.  “His crucifixion is the key; His resurrection the door…it is only by His death that we have the mandate to enter into the gates of eternal life.  His door is open always.  Christ is King.”  Isrealmore Ayivor

  “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless, I live;

yet not I, but Christ lives in me:

and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,

who loved me, and gave himself for me?”

Gal.  2: 20

“There are no crown-bearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below.”

Charles H. Spurgeon

~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America.  Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California.  My passion is mentoring and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.