Jackie's Journey "Thorns and Thistles!"

“By His wounds we are healed”! Isaiah 53

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 suffer and die for us, but 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 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 contentment and life abundantly.  It is an impossibility.  Local churches, before “lock-down”, opened 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 moms, 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, he’s hurting?” 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 another person and ourselves, 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. 

Jackie's Journey "Stumbling Block!"

Stepping Stones

 We live in a world where we are bombarded with “acceptable sins”.  Almost anything is considered a “gray area” and totally appropriate in most Christian circles.  The philosophy that we address amoral things as normal is pervasive in our current culture.  Biblical truth is in direct contrast to this false viewpoint.

 As moms, we take great pain to ensure our little ones understand right from wrong. It is not a relative thing.  It is a God thing. He set the standard and they are unchangeable and inflexible.  There is no altering what He has established.  If we fail in our attempt to teach the difference to those following us (whether our children or people we are mentoring), we are called “stumbling blocks” and are guaranteed failure. 

 Where are the “gray areas in life?  Any area that we consider “gray” will be revealed as good or evil when we stand before the judgement seat of Christ. II Cor. 5: 10   There are choices in life that are not clearly defined in Scripture as right or wrong and are left to our own discernment.   We know that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. I John 1: 5  Gray is a mixture of darkness and light and therefore does not qualify as part of God’s realm.  In fact, God condemns any darkness and exposes the reasons we are attracted to it and our need to reject it!  

 Scripture presupposes the fact that there are difficult decisions in life.  We are to “abstain from all appearance of evil”. I Thess. 5: 21-22  It is evil when my liberty becomes your stumbling block.  Our choices are to be based on what is right and what is wrong. The only way to discern good and evil is to be very familiar with God’s standard through His Word, understanding confirmation through prayer and getting counsel from wise and godly people.  If we “drop the ball” and negate our given provision, we become stumbling blocks and can be certain of wrong discernment and decisions. 

 Often, those who insist on “gray areas” are offended, defensive, argumentative, contentious, competitive and accusatory to those who would question a right or wrong activity.  It is a serious matter to realize that disregard for harmony between believers hinders the world from believing in Christ. There is, currently, division in churches and families over the last election and the controversial vaccine. Social drinking, legalized drugs, grounds for divorce, use of pornography, music, childhood behavior, life goals, family life patterns, defining moral purity in our current culture, …..are some of the battlegrounds of disagreement.

 Paul spoke of certain liberties that hindered another and would violate the law of love and therefore would not be good.  He says, “for you have been called into liberty; only don’t use liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but serve one another.”Gal. 5: 13 Our focus should be on how this activity will affect others, not what is good for us!  Light cannot have fellowship with any amount of darkness.

 “Let those who hope in You, not be disgraced because of me …

or those who are seeking You, not be put to shame because of me.

 (King David Psalm 69: 6).”

 Stumbling blocks will come, but don’t let it be us!

 Make us “stepping stones”…

~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 "Golden Calves!"

How many times do you call your child’s name before he/she looks up from their iPhone or iPad? How often do they call for your attention and you are locked into Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or….?  We give our concentration to what we love.  God is a jealous God. Jealousy is the fear of being displaced.  God is very clear about how we are to set our affection and how HE defines “an idol” in scripture.  Our “obsession or devotion to” is demonstrated by the way we use and prioritize our time which defines what we value most. 

I think most people would say I am a relatively dedicated woman and mother…I do right things by all observation and by the current standard worldview of what a woman or mother should be, BUT, in the light of this discussion…am I an idolater?  “You don’t have to go to heathen lands today to find false gods.  America is full of them.  Whatever you love more than God is your idol.” D. L. Moody   Who or what is my “first” priority?  That will give me my first clue!

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” Ex. 20: 3 It’s a command!  Just finding your identity in your role as a mom or your position at work can be idolatry!  Focus on your social media following, continually refreshing your newsfeed, concentrating on your gifts, skills, abilities or achievements can become your first love.  Where and how do I spend my money?  Are my hopes hung on finances?

 What am I busy with? Where do I find my joy? (planning vacations, marathons, hobbies, the newest experience?) What do I value? (is comfort and convenience drawing my heart away from Him?)  What do my thoughts focus on…they reveal my desires?  Does my conversation flow when talking for hours on “harmless” earthly matters, but when asked about God’s word…am I completely empty!  Am I seeking Him first and what only HE can give. 

I know you are already rationalizing and making excuses for the amount of time you spend in areas that are related to God’s definition of an “Idol”.  “I can’t Lord, I have to put my family first,” was the response of the man in the Bible who, clearly, had a pecking order of loyalties.  Christ simply said, “Follow Me!  Let the spiritually dead, bury the dead…you follow me.”  Luke 9: 59

 Prioritizing our loyalties and aligning them with God’s, will result in the devotion God demands. Will it cost you and your family to put God first?  YES! Priorities cause someone to be disappointed or pay a price (Christ, our example: His love for us-rejection-cross).  “Idolatry” in any form, is revealed by NOT loving Him… first and foremost above all else!  

“He did evil (sinned)because he did not set his heart on seeking the Lord!” II Chron. 12: 14

 “Revival is a renewed conviction of sin and repentance,

followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God.

It is giving up one’s will to God in deep humility.” Charles Finney

Are you seeking what only God can give?

Are you worshipping the Giver…not the gift?

 It’s your move…

~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 "Identity Crisis!"

Most of us spend a lifetime finding ourselves.  The world is filled with all kinds of self-help books, tapes, podcasts, sermons, therapies, etc.… that make an attempt to introduce us…to us!  Our little ones watch us with discerning eyes, wondering when we will ever grow up!

Years are spent coming to understand “self-acceptance” and “self-pity” before we realize it is God’s design for us to find a total dependence on Him, accepting our flaws as marks of ownership!  The imperfections allow us to understand His holy presence and purpose in our lives.  This awareness keeps us at peace with Him and initiates contentment in everything. It produces a gratefulness for our inabilities, limitations and failures and affects rejoicing in our weaknesses.

“Milton was blind, who looked on Paradise!

Beethoven, deaf, who heard vast harmonies!

Byron, the lame, who climbed toward Alpine skies!

Who pleads a handicap, remembering these?

Violet A. Storey

“Self-esteem” and a need for worth apart from God is an empty exercise that will leave us stranded in life.  “The higher a man is in grace, the lower he will be in his own esteem.” Charles Spurgeon   Our “self-rejection” is expressed through conforming to current trends...daily self-criticism; self-evaluation; insistence on a particular peer look; over attention to diet; over-done hair and make-up are just a few of the multitude of other expressions.

These self- life pursuits originate in our “pride or self-righteousness” which is spending our time trying to be someone or something…that we are not!  Our “inferiority” is nothing more than a lack of understanding in how we are meant to fit into the scheme of life with purpose. “Those that know God will be humble, and those that know themselves cannot be proud.” John Flavel 

“A proud man is always looking down on things and people;

 and, of course, as long as you are looking down, 

you can’t see something that’s above you”

C. S. Lewis

We spend way too much time in self-consumption (our thoughts), self-consideration (our wants) and comparing those things which are “unchangeables”. Our parents, time in history, our race, our heritage, our gender, our birth order, our brothers and sisters, our physical features, our mental capacity and limitations, aging and death are all God-ordained and are unchangeable. 

It is time to accept what is God’s choice for us, 

to refocus on those in need, not ourselves, and move on…

Most of us are more than ready!

~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 "Empowered Women!"

Today is International Women’s Day.  Women’s empowerment is a coined phrase that pops up and is used to describe our potential of influence.  Have you thought about your power of influence, lately? It’s a prevailing and formidable factor when realizing the promise of its reach!

 Because we are mom’s, we have the biggest responsibility and privilege of schooling and equipping our children in how to maneuver through life and one day be equipped with the character to be able to teach their own children.  Biblical wisdom will bring the fear of the Lord and the beginning of knowledge that will guarantee you and your child protection and success in life.  Proverbs is a textbook for truth regarding a person’s relationship to God, Oneself and Other’s.  It supersedes personality type and is designed to teach us to contemplate the fear of God and what it is to live by His wisdom.

 Each year I read the Bible through.  I read a Proverb of the day…there are 31 Proverbs…so in a month I have completed reading the book of instruction in Wisdom, Knowledge, Discernment, Discretion, Understanding, Righteousness, Justice, and Equity.  The purpose would be that understanding comes from increased learning which allows me to acquire Biblical wise counsel in knowing how to live as a godly mother with the power of positive influence. Proverbs 1:1-7  

 When the Author and Creator of All that is…gives me a manual or workbook, you can bet I’m in…and I’m on it!  My course was set many years ago and the simple comparisons between common, concrete images and life’s most profound truths has challenged me to look at life through another-worldly lense.  “Proverbs are simple, moral statements (or illustrations) that highlight and teach fundamental realities about life.” (John MacArthur)

As chaotic and divisive as our world is at this moment, there is still a book that is packed with help, instruction and teaching! The author, Solomon, gives insight into the tricky issues of life facing us today. I love this book because it clearly addresses the importance of imparting a pattern of undeniable absolute truth from generation to generation.  That speaks to this Mom!  

 What will I leave behind?

Did I do a good job with what was entrusted to me?

 My heritage (children and grandchildren) is “my truth”, to coin the popular phrase today…

How did I use “my empowerment” for the success of my heritage, to coin another popular phrase…?

 In the end it will ONLY be:

 Did I seek and find HIS TRUTH?

and was I EMPOWERED by HIS Spirit??

~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 "A Roadmap to God's Heart!"

Who wouldn’t want a roadmap to God’s heart in this day and age?  I was typing this study for my husband this week and thought you might like to peruse it.  It certainly put the “rubber on the road” for me.  It is so easy to get caught up in the “tyranny of the urgent” and lose sight of the permanent!  Since we will all give an account one day, this “roadmap” was a “wake-up” call…

 If I want to come to you, Lord, I understand that I must deny my selfishness and pride, take up the cross and follow You. Luke 9: 23 These are the biblical terms of Salvation. My husband proceeded to define this verse in these 14 statements:

1.     I surrender all my future plans to Your will.

2.     I turn my back on all the plans and hopes I have made for myself.

3.     I will do whatever, go wherever and become whatever you have in store for me.

4.     I, totally, shut the door on my old life to submit to the plan daily You have had for me from the beginning of time.

5.     I give up comfort and convenience to focus on Your will and purpose.

6.     I will, as the apostle Paul did, die to myself and my desires, to serve You and others.

7.     I will submit to the Holy Spirit to live the Christian life and to allow Him to do Christian service through me.

8.     I will take my place, as a slave of righteousness, an ambassador, a priest… in service to the You, the King, to pray for others.

9.     Sin, then, is defined as “not having our heart set on seeking the Lord”.  II Chronicles 12: 1

10.  “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight”.  Psalm 119: 35

11.  Thank you for the secret of growth and maturity. “Counting it all joy when I am passing through troubles and trials, so that my patience develops and matures me, so I do not lack anything.”  James 1: 2-4      

12.  Thank you for recreating me and having a plan for my life that really fits my deepest longings for fulfillment and joy. Eph. 2: 10

13.  Thank you for the clarity of Your will: “to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, mind, soul, and strength and our neighbor, as we love ourselves.”

14.  I know your Word says, “You reject all who stray from your degrees (laws), for their deceitfulness is in vain.” Psalm 119: 118

 (His NOTE:  This”roadmap” is beneficial in helping me effectively make known to people where they are spiritually.  They sense the conflict between the two natures and see how much they are personally resisting God.)

 Where do you see yourself and your need?

~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 "Unexpected Changes!"

We have certainly experienced vacillating shifts this past year.

How well do you react to unexpected changes in life?

Have you ever thought about the collapse of time? From the days of the Lord Jesus Christ until about 1830, man could not travel any faster than a horse. In 1960, a man went into space and traveled at a speed of 18,000 miles per hour. Look how far we have come in so short a time! Sometimes when I read the papers, I think we are trying to run the Space age with horse-and-buggy moral and spiritual equipment. Technology, you see, has no morals; and with no moral restraints man will destroy himself ecologically, militarily, or in some other way. Only God can give a person moral restraints and spiritual strength. While our world is shaking and crumbling, we need to realize that one thing will NEVER change and that is God. He is the same today as He was ten million years ago, and He will be the same ten million years from today. We are like grasshoppers; we appear and hop around a bit on the earth and then we are gone.” Billy Graham

  After Solomon’s death…there was division among the people because of their rebellion against God and the kingdom was divided into the Kingdom of Israel and the Kingdom of Judah… (sound like any nation you know?)

  “Then godly King Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, and he said, ‘O Lord, the God of our fathers, are You not God in the heavens?  And are You not ruler over all the kingdoms of the nations?  Power and might are in your hand so that no one can stand against You…” II Chronicles 20: 5-9; 12b

 His prayer…Power and might are in Your hand, O God, and no one can withstand You…IF calamity comes upon us, whether the sword of judgement or plague or famine, we will stand in your presence and we will cry out to you in our distress and You will hear us and save us.”  He acknowledged, as we do today, that…

We have no power to face the unknown

We do not know what to do

BUT our eyes are on You, O God.

 When facing the constantly changing circumstances of life, we always have a choice.  Realizing change cannot be avoided and that it is not always comfortable or convenient is the first step.  Then understanding that God has a plan and that the fulfillment of His purpose comes when our trust is solely and confidently placed in Him alone.

 How will you deal successfully with the changes coming your way this year?

 “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 hope and a future.” (Jer. 29:11)

 The next time you find yourself in a bad situation or are perplexed by a difficult decision, remember…

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged…

there is a greater power with us.

This battle is only the arm of the flesh, 

BUT with us is the Lord our God to help us

and to fight our battles. 

 Our confidence is in God!” (II Chronicles 32: 7-8)

…The God who NEVER CHANGES!

~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 "Follow Your Heart...?"

“Today it is totally acceptable to trust and follow your heart.  In fact, we are taught that our heart can decide what is right for us. One man will leave a church and say, ‘I did not feel right in my heart there’. A man may leave his wife and children for a younger woman saying, ‘My heart was not in my marriage any longer’”. (Letgdbetrue) What about the young couple who is confident of a life-partner because they are “following their hearts”? The phrase “I’m going to follow my heart” is used regularly to validate violations of moral, ethical and scriptural principles when decision-making.

 I recently listened to an audio, sent by my granddaughter, Alexandra Grace, that was so on point regarding the use of the word “heart”. How often do we hear the advice, “just follow your heart” when facing difficult decisions? Or “You can trust your heart”…

 Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. It seems appropriate to address issues of the heart.  This blog is taken from Proverbs 28: 26 and “heart” is used as a metonym for affections, inclinations and thoughts.

 “He that trusts in his own heart is a fool:

but he who walks wisely…will be delivered.” 

 “Your heart is your internal set of desires and needs that affect your decision-making.  This is not your conscience.  This is your anti-conscience!  This is the set of passions that drives most men and women. God has spoken about our heart.   He said, ‘The heart is deceitfully wicked above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?’” Jer. 19:9 (letgodbetrue)

 The fact that our heart has an opinion and passion about everything and reacts instantly to what it wants, should be our first warning sign in decision-making.  “If you follow its direction, you are a fool! If you listen to your heart, you are a fool.  If you follow your heart, you are a fool.  If you make decisions even partially influenced by your heart, your are a fool.  You are submitting to the most deceitful, depraved and dangerous source of information on earth.”

 Now that we have stated the obvious…it is clear that  

we are our own worst enemy…

 What are we to do?

 At the fall of man in the garden, all affection for God, spiritual truth and wisdom died. Our desires became corrupted…no longer a desire to seek God, please God or obey God. We took on a new leader who is bent on destroying us; who came to do three things: steal, kill and destroy us.. (Jn. 8: 44)   Steal our joy, opportunity…; kill our bodies…; and destroy our relationships, vision and destiny.  He tells us our heart, which is led by feelings, lust and arrogance of our own thoughts, will lead us. We are fools to believe that plan, let alone follow it! “We do not have the right to our thoughts; we do have a responsibility to right thoughts”! (Letgodbetrue) 

  “True wisdom is learning to mistrust your heart, reject its voice, and make all decisions on the basis of absolute and objective truth. 

 Where is the source for such fabulous decision making?

 In the inspired words of the living God recorded in the Bible! It is learning God’s words and training yourself to make decisions based on them that you can be wise and saved from the deceitful impulses of your depraved “heart”. (letgodbetrue) Fearing God and asking God to direct our footsteps according to His word is the beginning of wisdom. (Psa. 119: 133) This is the key to being delivered from the pitfalls and obstacles that clobber and confuse those who have chosen to “follow their heart” … “The degree of your wisdom is the degree to which you can crush your ‘heart’ to submit to the words of God in the Bible”! (letgodbetrue)

 How wise are you?

Are you facing this New Year 

with a commitment to True Wisdom?

~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 "Unbearable Pain!"

I am writing this blog through tears.  I am reminded this morning of the gravity of life, time and opportunity.  My heart grieves for the child left behind, as she stands on the threshold of her life alone. She faces the inevitable future without the joy of being accompanied by her mother, her cheerleader and friend, who left us abruptly, this morning!  Yesterday, this 50-year-old mother was active, vibrant and healthy.  A mother that understood giving, serving and sharing.  It is unthinkable to realize she is no longer with us.

 In the night her heart stopped and she was quickly taken.  We all stand here, confounded and in deep pain, but none like the daughter who was left behind.  January 15th is the day this young college student was to fly to the other side of the USA and enter University.  Her mom was excited to accompany her and get her settled into the dorm, meet her new friends and share in this new step of her daughter’s life. How can this be?  In an instant…all lives have changed. “

“The real problem is not why some pious, humble, 

believing people suffer, but why some do not”. (C.S. Lewis)

 What now?

 Life is more than Covid-19, masks, elections and consuming daily activities.  Although these are important, death makes us cognizant of the eternal aspect of all life and re-aligns our perspective.  It seems to be the great leveler, if we are brave enough to face it.  “There is nothing permanent but change”! We are not always prepared for the unexpected.  We are often overwhelmed by the shock.  The goal is to keep in harmony with His will and direction through the maze. 

 We see things not as they are, but as we are.  How we respond to the unexpected or the seemingly impossible reveals the all of us.  We can alter our life by altering our attitude of mind. To see God in everything makes life the greatest adventure there is!  Someone once said that living is like “licking honey off a thorn” …I think death is like this.  We cannot see what God has in the future and often it includes the desperation of our loss to get us in perfect harmony with His plan and purpose for our lives. It reminds us of His control and care and calls us to grab hold of His hand and follow even more closely. The promise and prayer for this family…

 “You removed my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to You and not be silent.  O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.  I will be glad and rejoice in Your love, for You saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul…My future is in Your hands…” (Psalm 30:11&12; 31:7)

This is young Bella and my grandson, Payton

~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 "Vitriolic Age!!"

There is a command that echo’s our personal destiny…if, we belong to Him.  We never know when our time has run out and the imperative is non-negociable.  There are no exceptions…all of us will be held accountable..  

 In this vitriolic age, “we face a world that is more accessible through technology, with a nation that is more ethnically diverse, with the interreligious dialogue more at our doorstep than ever, with our faith’s historic values under siege, Christians are being closely watched.” Biola Magazine We are one click from chip technology that will bring global access. 

 “The world outside is not waiting for a new definition of Christianity,

 it is waiting for a new demonstration of Christianity.”  Ravenhill

 This biblical directive is found in Matthew 28 and confirmed throughout the entire New Testament.  The charge is to make disciples… “you therefore, my son (and daughter), be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men (and women) who will be able to teach others also.” II Timothy 2:2

 We live in a world where our beliefs are questioned and our convictions are feeble, at best. We are living in a war zone and we can’t shelter warriors!  We train them to fight!  

We have two goals:

Save the lost in a darkening world and heal a broken world.

“It is not enough to be busy; so are the ants.  The question is:

What are we busy about?” Henry David Thoreau

 Today is the day to live out the Great Commission. I’ve been told after women’s bible study groups that the word “discipleship” is offensive and the concept of “walking in brokenness” is antiquated. “Humility” is too negative. 

The command has not changed.  

The need is greater and

the resolve is pending our daily commitment…

 Will you fulfill your destiny?

~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.