John Paul Jackson
I love Jesus. His friendship, faithfulness and
redeeming love has been my ever-present comfort and strength since I was just a
little girl.
I've always had this connection with God that is revealed in
nature and other “unique” ways- colors, seasons, smells, images, textures. I thought of myself like a bit of an oddball since
I felt I communicated/connected with God in these sensory venues and everyday
stories.
Where most people thought I was crazy, I was introduced to a Godly man who founded my “craziness” and gave words and understanding to the spiritual world around me that I found myself.
His name was John Paul Jackson and today he passed away.
When I first learned the news of his passing, I was filled
with grief. As the day trudged forward, the weightiness of the news became
heavier on me.
As I think back on my teenage and early adult years, John
Paul Jackson is one of the people who had a tremendous influence on my life –
though I never met him personally. While I was so very young, I remember watching (and hearing
about) the interaction between John Paul Jackson and John Wimber (a Vineyard
Pastor). I appreciated the way John Paul would work in conjunction with the
local church and respect the Pastoral leadership of the Church community.
John Paul taught me that character supersedes gifting.
I took weekend classes out-of-town called, “The Art of
Hearing God.” In his classes I learned how to quietly listen to the still,
small voice of the Holy Spirit. He
taught us, through various other teachers, how to play games and do some
activities to isolate His “voice” and learn how to adjust our lives to listen
to Him. He taught about the three
pitfalls of ministry to watch out for (Gold, Girls/Guys, Glory). I discovered through multiple classes that my
odd connection to God in nature and life activities was actually a
gift and ability to see supernatural lessons and concepts in my physical world
around me.
As I look through my old class material, I recognize so much
of my formation as a leader arose out of John Paul Jackson’s classes. His leadership training was unique in its
approach of Spirit sensitivity, while being explained and supported by Biblical
stories and verses.
John Paul’s classes were heavy in service-leadership
language. The goal of cooperating with
the Spirit was never to be ‘weird,’ but to support and serve
the Pastors and church leaders and to operate within the spiritual covering and authority God has given.
In my 20’s, I attended John Paul Jackson’s Dream
Interpretation classes. My ability to
see ‘supernatural’ lessons in our physical world expanded as I learned how to
listen to dreams and guide people to God through their dreams. I learned that, indeed, God is speaking to
everyone and drawing people to himself- even in the venues of dreams.
John Paul Jackson’s legacy and influence on my life will continue forever- and I'm just one minor person. As today is
Ash Wednesday, the scripture that came to my mind when I learned of the passing of John Paul Jackson is John 12:24 – “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to
the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces
many seeds.” My prayer is that John Paul’s years of ministry and planting seeds
will continue to produce much more fruit.
Thank you, John Paul, for your encouragement and teaching to seek God's face, learn to listen to His voice and follow my Savior's lead. You will be missed greatly, my spirit aches at the hole you leave behind, but I have no doubt I will see
you again.
