October 9, 2025 • 53 mins
In this powerful new episode of Hope in Christ w/Denise, Minister Denise chats with Pamela Nance Johnson, a minister, worshipper, and author whose life is a true testimony of overcoming through the power of Christ.
After experiencing deep loss and seasons of loneliness, Pamela discovered that drawing near to Christ was the key to her overcoming her past. From a young age, she learned to lean on God’s presence and promises, finding purpose and strength even in her pain.
Today, Minister Pamela uses her voice and her ministry to pour into others, helping them see that victory is possible through Jesus.
Tune in and be encouraged as she shares how God turned her story of grief and past disappointment into a testimony of grace, hope, and victory in Christ.
After experiencing deep loss and seasons of loneliness, Pamela discovered that drawing near to Christ was the key to her overcoming her past. From a young age, she learned to lean on God’s presence and promises, finding purpose and strength even in her pain.
Today, Minister Pamela uses her voice and her ministry to pour into others, helping them see that victory is possible through Jesus.
Tune in and be encouraged as she shares how God turned her story of grief and past disappointment into a testimony of grace, hope, and victory in Christ.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:31):
Come on, let's lift up the name of Jesus Christ.
There is none other in heaven or on earth. Welcome
to another episode of Hope in Christ with Denise here
on Kingdom Influencers Broadcast, where we place our hope in
the only hope.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
There is Christ, our Lord.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to Hoping Christ with Denise
here on Kingdom Influences Broadcast. I am your host, Minister
Denise Walker, and I welcome you back wherever you are
in the world. Good morning, good evening, and or good afternoon.
Before we get into today's episode where we're going to
(01:25):
share about from Victim to Victorious and Christ for the
month of October, I'm going to open us up with
a word of prayer. Father, we thank your God for
this day. We thank you for the opportunity God to
continue to share the message of the Cross to the world. God.
We thank you, Lord, God. And you said, Christ said,
(01:49):
if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men to me.
And so God, we continue in the symbolic way of
lifting up Jesus' name and knowing that he does the drawing,
that he changes lives and transforms people. And so we
thank you Lord God, for what you have done and
(02:11):
what you are doing in each and every one of us. Father,
we bless you, We give you glory. Nanna. We thank you,
Lord God for our guests. We thank you for where
you brought her from. God, we thank you that we
are no longer victims, but we are victorious in Christ Jesus.
And so God, we bless you when we give you
glory and honor in Jesus name a man and man
and Amen.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
So again, thank you, thank you, thank you all for
joining us. Remember at Hope in Christ, we are healthy,
we are purpose, we are overcomers, and we shift our
perspective to focus on eternity in Christ Jesus. And So,
without further ado, I am going to jump right into
(02:57):
our episode with one of my at the friends, minister
Pamela Nance Johnson. So before we get started with her interview,
before we jump into the questions from victim to victorious
in Christ, Pamela, can you tell us just a little
(03:18):
bit about you before we get into the question.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Well, as you said, my name is Pamela Nance Johnson.
I am a minister. I really wanted to just let
people know that what I try to do is share
the gospel or share the word outside of the ministry.
While I'm involved in my actual church, Kingdom Family Worship
(03:43):
Center here in Fredericksburg, Virginia, I also have a desire
to go outside the four walls, and in a very
unique way, what I do is share on my platforms,
usually a what came to be a devotion, sharing a scripture,
sharing a song, sharing a message or word. That's what
(04:08):
I do, and so that's what my unique gifting has been.
It's just evolved into that I love music ministry. I
wasn't always a member of a choir. I may not
be the best singer, but the lawyer has definitely put
me in spaces where I've been stretched and I've learned
(04:28):
so much in just learning that music definitely is a ministry.
It's not just about the notes, even though we want
to have a spirit of excellence. It's about the message
in the music, the prayer life, how important prayer is
to our lives. So the music, the prayer, the scripture
(04:48):
is the word that is going to keep us. And
that's about I'm a mom, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister,
all of those things as well.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Amen. Amen, Amen, thank you for sharing and telling us
a little bit about yourself. So let's jump into the questions.
The first question is, can you share a little about
a little about your personal story and what it means
to have gone from victim to victorious in Christ.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
When I think about victims, sometimes we think about someone
who had an occurrence, you know, at the hands of
someone else. And I can think of times in my
life where one that sticks out with me, and it
has to do with my relationship with Christ. I lost
(05:43):
my mom when I was sixteen. My mom passed away
from complications of you know, a long term illness. She
had a heart issue and she'd had a stroke and
had been in the hospital for some time. But at
sixteen years old, the only daughter, there's just my brother
and I. No matter what my parents told us over
(06:05):
the years, you're never actually prepared, and especially as a
young person, for that absence of your mother. And I
felt like, then, okay, God, what are you doing? You know,
It's like he pulled the rug out from under me.
And I felt very much alone or not seen or heard.
(06:27):
Even though my father did the best he could with us,
and he did a good job stepped in. I had
other people. God gave me later on in life. You know,
I had my grandmothers and other people, but just internally
I felt then as a victim, like okay, this is
(06:48):
really you know. It turned my world upside down. But
I continue to just move along in life and much
so to you know, we talk about as adults having
a mask or things like that, making people think you're okay,
And there are times when you're you are okay, but
(07:08):
there are many times when you're not. Moving into adulthood
becoming a young parent. I wasn't a teen mom, but
well technically nineteen twenty when I had my first child,
and then moving on to you know, being introduced or
in a relationship with the man who ended up being
(07:30):
my husband. We've been divorced now for many years. But
in that situation, I felt that people think victim, they
think domestic violence, or they think physical That wasn't necessarily
the thing with us. I know that God wasn't in it.
I wasn't really prepared as a young person even then
(07:51):
he's a little older than me. But it was much
more about infidelity and control, and I I knew that
when I came to Christ in that relationship that God
had better for me. People have their opinions on divorce
(08:14):
in and out of the church and all of that,
but in my heart of hearts, I prayed that if
God wouldn't remove the situation, that he would give me
a way out of the situation. And that was my
sincerest prayer. And He did make a way for me
to get out of the situation. And when doors began
(08:36):
to open that I knew it would only be God
could do that. I stepped through those doors and I
left and I never looked back. And after that my
life has been so much better. People say I can
do bad by myself, Well, I was doing better by myself,
and that's how I chose to look at it. And
(08:58):
it actually turned into a chapter in an anthology through
the Christian book Lover's Retreat, where we actually met. It
took that many years for me to sit down and
write out some things, and I titled it Better with
God on My Side, the Back in the Day devotional
(09:19):
that came out, I believe in twenty nineteen. I have
a chapter in there and it's an ebook now on Amazon.
But that's when I sat down and wrote those things.
Much of what I just mentioned and how I came
out of that situation on the other side. Sometimes we
have to go through, and to go through, you've got
(09:41):
to you know, to get to the other side, you've
got to go.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Through, hey man, So true, we have to go through
to overcome, and you know that's the overcoming part of it.
And so the next question is what was the defining
moment when you realize you no longer had to live
(10:05):
in a victim mindset like being you know, like you said,
feeling alone. And I'm sure the impact of losing your
mom was huge because it was the same for me
losing my dad. Even I was an adult when I
lost my dad, and I still it impacted me and
it still does at time. So the question again is
(10:26):
what was the defining moment when you realize you no
longer had to live in a victim mindset?
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Well, going through as a teenager, I realized that I
got close to my paternal grandmother, my dad's mother. She
was basically the matriarch, my church mother, if you will,
but my grandmother. And so I know my grandmother prayed
(10:56):
me through, even if she wasn't in my press. I
just knew that anyway, And so when I was a
young girl. I thought my grandmother was kind of mean,
just because she was strict, but she was strict in love.
And I hung out of her house. And my dad
had six sisters, probably five of them were at home
(11:20):
at the time, and so my aunts and my grandmother
became my nurturing environment when I could let down some
walls and know that, okay, this is my safe space.
And even as my grandmother got older and I got
older as well, I knew that she would be there
for me, you know, until she passed. But getting out
(11:42):
of the tumultuous relationship I was in. It was really
when it was the y two k if you remember that,
people were preparing things like what if the world comes
to an end or some crazy stuf. But you know,
I still go back to No man knows that's that scripture,
(12:05):
Not even the angels knows. So every time I hear
these things, I just kind of, you know, wink at
God to myself, like, okay, God, they don't quite get it.
But it was during that time when it was gonna
be two thousand, when I said, I'm not going into
the next millennium like this. This is not going to
be me. So that's when I mentioned the door start
(12:29):
to open, I start to focus. God, if you make
a way for me, I'm going to, you know, take it.
I'm going to move from that. So the move was
a physical move, but it was also a move of
a mental health type of thing, a release as well.
I remember my children and I being in an apartment
(12:51):
that we had moved into where I could actually afford
the rent and everything, just feeling at such peace that night,
that first night we were in that apartment, and I
just exhaled and it wasn't a cliche, it was real.
It was like, Okay, God said, I got you. You're
gonna be all right, and I can just one more
(13:15):
thing if you will. At that time, I didn't know
or had cannot confirmed that I was carrying my third son,
and so Aaron would be born a few months later.
And I remember one day going to an appointment for
(13:37):
your maternal checkups and just feeling a little down, like
it's just really gonna be okay, because you know, he,
my ex husband, was still here in the town just
talking to people, and she's gonna come back and she's
not gonna be able to do this that and the other,
and you know, the baby and all of that, But
(13:58):
there was this lady that came up to me in
the parking lot of the doctor's Hysit the doctor's office
and the lady, I didn't see a lady, but she
came up to me, tapped me on the shoulder and said, basically,
God told me to tell you everything's going to be
all right, just very simply like that. Ironically, a little
(14:20):
old white lady. And not that there's anything wrong with that,
but it was just also kind of strange. I turned
around and that there was no lady. And to this
day when I repeat that story, I'm like that lady
was the angel, because you know, the scripture says there
are angels among us, you just never know. But I
(14:42):
didn't ever see the person again. You know, sometimes someone
walks away off in the distance and you can see them.
I remember it distinctly, and it was okay. That was
my reassurance that okay again, God said I got you.
That's when I different times, but that's how I moved
(15:05):
from the victim mindset, knowing that it's okay, I'm going
to make it through. I will be victorious in Christ.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Amen. Amen, And yes, angels are real for those that
are listening. I've had some encounters as well, so you know,
just so that we know that I can be a
witness to Minister Pamela about that. And so the third
question is kind of similar, and I think you answered
a little bit of it. But the third question is
(15:37):
how did your faith in Jesus help you through your
season of pain and struggle or overcoming I guess we
would say.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
It's a time when I think my faith grows grew
stronger through those times of adversity or those times of
trouble or uncertainty. That's when, if you will, things will
bring you to your knees. So when you haven't some struggles,
(16:09):
sometimes people tend to think that, Okay, I'm gonna go
the opposite way, or that's probably the time when I
was drawn even more to the church, when I knew
that I had times that, you know, trying times. Those
are the times I'm sure when I prayed more fervently
(16:32):
or when I you know, look to the Word even
more during those particular times. And so, yeah, your faith
can grow stronger during trouble times. Don't allow troubling times
to to make you lose hope. That's when the time
when You've got to go to God because he is
(16:53):
your strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
That is where your help is going to come from.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Amen. Amen, Amen. And so and again it's kind of
just giving asking to like kind of answer a little
bit more so, the next question is what role did
prayer and scripture or worship play on your journey as you, again,
like you said, went from victim to being victorious in
(17:26):
Christ and trusting in the Lord. What role did prayer, scripture,
and or worship play on that journey.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Oh, all of those three things just really to me
go hand in hand. And I always think about Bishop
James Moore Senior was the overseer of the Tower Ministries
out of Richmond, Virginia, and so he was our overseer.
(17:55):
But he had this phrase that he would say, and
it is this, with a prayer, a song, and the
word in your heart, you can make it. And I
always remember that it sums it up. And that is
the thing that I stick to is that if I
(18:17):
can pray about it, if I can find a good
gospel song about it, and if I can find a
scripture on it, I'm gonna make it. It's going to
be okay. That's going to be the thing that's going
to help me to move forward. Those three things are
just really strong. Those those things keep me strengthened, and
(18:39):
I find that those are the things that help other
people as well.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Absolutely, I love all three, like you say, prayer, song
and the Word, because even in prayer, God is responding
to us through the Word, through his word, repeating his
word to us as well. And so the next part
of the question, or the next question is were there
(19:07):
specific Bible verses that carried you through those times?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
I'll give you a maybe two or three. So the
first one is very familiar passage or scripture is jre
Mind twenty ninety eleven. One that a lot of people
go towards for I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord plans to prosper you, not to harm you,
to give you a hope and a future. It sums
(19:37):
up so much there that if we are believers, then
we know that God has good plans for us. That
if you're something that's going, you know, terribly wrong, if
you're spiraling downward, that's not of God. Sometimes we get
in our own way, and sometimes we put ourselves in
situations other things might be out of our control, but
(20:00):
we know that God's plans are good. They are not
to harm us for to prosper us. Prospering isn't always
about money, no matter what people think. Plans to give
us a hope in the future. If we don't have hope,
we don't have anything even what's going on just you know,
(20:22):
in the world today, there's a lot going on, and
sometimes especially as ministers, people might ask us, well, how
do you deal with it? Or why do you seem
like you know you're not I won't lose in your
mind as just what comes to mind to me right now?
People say, why are we not, you know, nervous or anxious.
(20:43):
I tell people I'm concerned, but have I have to
have hope that things can get better. I have to
have trust in God that his plans are to prosper us,
that his plans are good son. But I'm not going
to just be frantic. I'm not going to give up
(21:05):
hope because I believe we do have a future. We
have to accept what God allows. This won't be the
first time that you know, things have been in a
certain state of affairs. It might be the first time
for some of us but we'll get through it. I
just believe that going into Romans eight twenty eight, that
(21:27):
we know that all I'm sorry, we know that all
things that I'm reading a different version, so let me stop.
So let me stay corrected, y'all. And we know that
in all things God works for the good of those
who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose,
so that all things will work for our good. It
(21:50):
is how we sum it up. So good things, good
things we need to think are positive things. We need
to think on good things, those are the things that
come from God. And lamitations. The fact that the Lord's
mercies are new every morning. Y'all can read Lamentations three
when you have a chance, as we say in church.
(22:12):
But the fact that the Lord's mercies are new every morning,
that is what sticks out to me, or the thing
that I turn to and I try to live out.
No matter what's going on today. I try not to
bring that into tomorrow, because every day is a new
fresh day, a new fresh day for us to get
(22:35):
it right with God, or just to spread the word,
just to give someone else some hope, to let them
know God's mercies are new every morning. I really do
believe that and I still on that as well.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Hey man, And it's funny that you used Jeremiah one
of your scriptures in GEREMANI twentnine to eleven because I
was studying that for the message that I have to share.
And so when I was studying, I said, Lord, I
know we read Jeremi twent nine to eleven a lot.
You know, we are bare from you with that scripture,
(23:15):
I said, But one of the things that God had
helped me zoom in on was that Israel was in
Babylon and they were in you know, where they God
had it was God's judgment upon them. But God was
reminding them that you know, while you're there that I
have a plan for you. I don't I don't plan
(23:37):
to destroy you. You know this will come to an end.
So I love that scripture so much. Just just yesterday
he had me reading through Jeremia, just thinking about how
it sounds very similar to our time, but that he
kept saying to them, you know, like you said, his
(23:58):
grace for humanity. He kept saying that it wasn't to
to destroy them, but he was, you know, calling for
even repentance, specifically to turn. And so I just thought
about that when you were sharing that you know, God
is so merciful. And then also one of the scriptures
(24:18):
that came to my mom when you were sharing was
I've never seen the righteous forsaken or see begging bread,
and so that's just like what we must stand on,
you know, think on these things as the word to
say is. And so the next next I was giving
me say scripture, the next question is what were some
(24:42):
of the lies the enemy tried to make you believe?
And how did God's truth set you free?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
You know, the enemy will just get in your ear
through your thoughts, and then the enemy can also use people.
So there are times when I would just feel like
I wasn't enough, like maybe it was me and I
(25:12):
would have to come to myself to know. You know,
God said, that's not true. You're you know, you're a
child of God, You're my daughter. And those were the
things that I began to hear later, but for the
longest time, I would hear things from other people. And
living in a small community, I worked in one of
(25:34):
the local school systems, and I would travel in one
circle and my ex husband would travel in another circle,
or just the fact that I would find myself even
even being new in church, being new in a different
church environment, I've gotten to know the people that I thought,
(26:00):
you know, made me feel a certain type of way.
I don't necessarily like the term church hurt because the
church is made up of people and we all have,
you know, our shortcomings, or we all have our strengths
and weaknesses, and sometimes we can, you know, say things
(26:21):
that if you don't know that that hurt me, how
how are you supposed how are we supposed to you know,
come to grips with it or rectify or correct it.
But there was sometimes when I felt inadequate, and it
wasn't necessarily something someone said to me, but here I
was growing up and coming to a new environment. I
(26:45):
felt like I didn't have nice enough clothes, or I
didn't fit in with people who they were married couples,
but my husband wasn't at church, and so there were
just things that I think people kind of took for it,
and thinking back on them, it brings me to places
(27:05):
where I had really had forgotten. I had removed myself
from that thing. But I do try to make sure
that I welcome other young mothers. I know that, okay,
if we're having a service at church and it's at
a certain time of day. Well, I can remember being
(27:25):
a young mother having my children out after a certain time,
or trying to come to a rehearsal and having two
little boys, saying, this is what I've got to do.
I got to make sure I have something in place
for them, either someone to watch them or bring them
some you know, coloring books and crayons or whatever things
(27:46):
that people need to just realize. But I didn't have
that opportunity. I just took it in as you know,
I don't belong here, or maybe I shouldn't come to
the practice. Whatever. What God did, though, Minister Denise, is
he made opportunities for me in environments where I thought, okay,
(28:10):
is this really mean? And what I mean is that
we had a small group, we had little children, so
we started a children Sunday school. Well, I worked as
an assistant in school, but I thought, okay, God, I
can't really teach Sunday school. I felt like that was
for somebody else, that wasn't for me. But actually it
(28:31):
was for me. So I became a Sunday school teacher.
And when my children grew up and they became the
teenage class. Well, nobody still, you know, came to the
beginning or came to the front to say I'll work
with the teens. Well, I worked with the teens, and
I created a safe space for them. I let them
(28:53):
know that, okay, what we discussed here, If I don't
have the particular answer for it, I'm going to you know,
find out the answer for it. But we talked about
life things. We talked about our Sunday school lesson. But
I you know, took the time to tell them, look,
as teenagers, you all trying to live for Christ. This
(29:13):
is the thing that you're going to have to contend
with outside of this Sunday school, outside of Sunday morning.
I asked them, well, when you all see each other
in school, how do y'all treat each other? Or do
you try to look out after your sister in Christ
or do you see somebody you know doing something to her?
You need to step up. You're the young man. I'm
(29:35):
not saying, you know, get in fights and all, but
I'm saying, don't diss each other. That was a word
we use back then at school. You still gotta be
you know, a strong group together. And I started to
become God was forming me and to the youth leader
at the church, and I didn't know it. But those
(29:55):
were the times when I felt like I said, I
felt inadequate. But he said, Okay, I'm gonna take this
situation and turn it for your good or and you're gonna,
you know, have a message. You're developing a ministry. You
don't even know about it. I wasn't even a minister.
Then I took the kids on a trip with another church,
(30:19):
and they I thought I was quote the chaperone, but
then they said, okay, we're going to have a minister's
meeting while the children are doing their thing. At first,
I wasn't even going to it. I'm like, I'm not
a minister. They're like, yes, you are. You're just not.
You don't have the title yet. But what you're doing
is ministry.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Hey man, Yes, I love the way how you know
our stories kind of coincide with each other and how
we feel. And I did the same thing. I wrestled.
I wrestled with God a lot when he was calling
me to ministry, and and I kept saying the same thing, Lord,
(31:03):
I'm not a minister. But the same thing he was molding,
you know, just like He did with you, molding me.
Even today there are times, especially when you know, people
reference how women shouldn't be you know, pastors or whatever.
That's something I still go back and forth in my mind.
(31:25):
And the Holy Spirit took me to the Bible, you know,
and the women that God use. And so again, thank
you for sharing that, and thank you for being vulnerable
for you know, God sharing your message and your testimony
with the world.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
All right, And the next question is how has your
experience shaped the message of your book? Now? You know,
I just loved and you know even when you wrote devotional,
So how did your experience overall shape message of your book?
Speaker 4 (32:03):
Well, the book that two things. The one that is
the ebook the chapter in the anthology Better with God
on my side. That was my experience of basically my
coming to Christ and acknowledging real life application. That's what
(32:24):
I'll call it, real life application. So that's one thing.
But the book that I have, now you're not too busy,
is God's time anyway. So this thirty day devotional was
really birthed out of me in my environment of the
commute I have to work. And some people might say,
what is she talking about? But the commute that I
(32:47):
have when I go to work is typically an hour
and a half, maybe sometimes two hours. But during that time,
I'm on a bus. It's like we call it the
commuter bus. Some people would call it a charter bus.
But when I'm there, I started to take my Facebook
use it as a platform to first of all, encourage myself.
(33:12):
I'm back to that prayer song in scripture, encourage myself.
In the morning. There were so many people who were
just negative. It's five o'clock in the morning. What do
you have to be mad about or grouchy about, or
anything like that. Or people just seem so busy and
so consumed that Okay, they've got their laptops out already.
(33:35):
I'm like, okay, we're not even at the job yet,
but you already doing all of this. So I use
it as my quiet time. I took that morning time
to say, all right, I'm going to say a prayer
while I'm on this bus. I'm praying for the people
on the bus. I'm praying for my family, I'm praying
for the driver, and you know that we would have
(33:58):
safe travel. Because to assume that you leave home in
the morning and get back safely. That is only God.
You need protection from things and people and situations, all
those dangers seen and unseen. So prayer. The scripture I
would look through. You know, many times it's what's going
(34:21):
on around me that I'm in tune with that I
hear the song or the scripture that come to mind.
So that's where I would look up either the song
and find a scripture or vice versa. I really believe
the gospel. The message in the music has to be
based on the Gospel or just a very positive message.
(34:45):
So I like music with a message, or music that
says Jesus or says something about salvation or God or something.
And I don't take that lightly because some things it's
a positive song. But but I'm really looking for songs
that are going to lead you to Christ at some point.
(35:06):
So that's what shaped this book, and I have it
where a person can get the scripture get the song,
because that has been a very The most thing that
people have spoken about the most to me is that, oh,
I love that you included a song or that is,
(35:27):
you know something that they got it out of it
as well. I'm sorry to takeaway. And that's pretty much it.
So I've taken my thoughts, some of my experiences and
put them in the book together. And I've gotten people
who have said, you know, I'm on day three and
(35:48):
you know I've learned this about you, or that's one
of my favorite scriptures or things like that. So I
really appreciate that God is doing the work. It's me,
but I'm just a vessel, and I want it to
end up in the hands that will be encouraged, and
that someone might take this and pass it on, share
(36:09):
it with someone else. Or I put it as day
one through thirty so you don't have to be locked in.
You can start whenever you want and just travel through
the word with me.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
Hey man, I like that, Like you said, so that
they so when they read it, they don't have to
necessarily be on day one. They could go to whatever
day they choose. Is that what you mean?
Speaker 4 (36:38):
I mean that I didn't say, like today is January first,
like your day one could be September first. It doesn't
have to be the actual day of a certain time
of year.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Oh okay, okay, all right. And so the next question
is what encouragement would you give to someone who feels
stuck in their past? Heart or even trauma that they
have experienced. So they're stuck right now. So what encouragement
would you give to them if they feel stuck and
(37:17):
they just feel like they can't move beyond what they've
gone through.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
You know, I was reflecting on that when I looked
at the title about from vict to Victorious, is that
I'm not my past, and so you are not your past.
You are not those things that happened to you. You
are not that, You're not that victim. You can be victorious.
(37:46):
It's a process, though, So I don't dare make light
of it or make it sound like it doesn't take time,
because it does. Even in this Christian walk, in our faith,
it's a daily faith walk. It's a daily thing. It's
sometimes hourly thing where we have to ask God to
(38:09):
come in to help him, I'm sorry, to help guide
our thoughts, to just get us from day to day.
There are times when we reflect on what's going on
in our lives. And you said, and even in trauma
right now. So even if there's something that you're going
through right now, you have to be assured that God
(38:33):
will get you through, but you've got to allow Him
to do the work. It's sometimes we have to get
ourselves out of the way, meaning when we pray, we've
got to ask God to come in. Only God can
change hearts and minds, and it starts with us. He
might change other people, but if he don't ever change
(38:54):
the other person, he's got to change you. Let him
do the work in you so that you know you
are worthy. You are enough. You are a kingdom's kid.
You belong to the Father, the Father God that God
had great things in mind even before you were born.
(39:15):
God has a plan that Jeremiah twenty ninety eleven. That
scripture has so many parts to it, but it definitely
tells you and his plan is better than any plan
that we could ever think of. We got our little
plans and we think we know what we're doing. But
God is gonna take us around and bring us back
(39:35):
to where he wants us to be. Even if, like
Minister Denis said, we fight it or we try to resist,
God is gonna make it so that his plan is
gonna come true. His plan is gonna work out even
if we don't think so. His plan is gonna work
out if we allow it. God is not gonna force
(39:55):
itself on us. But we've got to be open. We've
got to be open to accept him. And when we
do that, things will get so much better, so much better.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
Yes, Lord, I can again attest to that. How as
we submit and we just say okay, Lord, I'll give
it to you, things do get better. And then the
we have a couple more questions. Can you share a
time where God has used your story or your you
(40:32):
know what you've overcome to impact somebody else.
Speaker 4 (40:38):
I will say this when I wrote the first anthology chapter.
There's been a few others after that, But when I
wrote that and some people read it, there were at
least two people specifically that come to mind. I won't
mention their names, of course, but other women who said
(41:02):
to me, you know, I see myself in that in
what you wrote, or you know, you have no idea
how much you help me or have inspired me, and
so I don't know that. I would say, I dare
not take any credit for it, and I give all
(41:23):
the glory to God All the time when someone pays
me a compliment, especially on writing, I try to just
make sure I say, you know, to God be the
glory or all the glory belongs to him, Because it
was therapeutic for me, and it was an assignment that
I believe I had, but it still do. But to
(41:47):
hear people say that they were encouraged by the things
that I write, those things also do that for me
as well. I know that. Okay, it's just like a
confirmation if you will that. All right, Pam, you're doing
what God called you to do. Now do you get
(42:08):
negative things? I'm sure, but I don't really pay attention
to them if there are, and some people don't say anything,
and it's probably okay. I don't expect to walk around
get any applause, but I do want God to be
well pleased with the things that I've done.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Hey man, amen, I totally agree. I'm very cautious of
you know, like you said, how the Lord said, I
give my glory to no man, and so we must
lift up his name. And so thank you for sharing
that and that for that reminder as well for those
who are listening. And then the last question, well, then
(42:55):
I have formal question, but this the last question for
the interview is what the living victorious in Christ look
like for you now? And how do you continue to
walk in that victory?
Speaker 4 (43:11):
It looks for me like peace it looks for me
like hope. And I say that because there was a
time in my life when it wasn't peaceful. There was
a time when it was very much you know, when
(43:34):
people say you have to settle your mind or you
might have worrisome thoughts. There was a time in my
life when worry might have been the word that I
would have used. But now I use the word peace,
and I use the word hope. And back to the
(43:55):
Lord's mercys being new every morning, I really try to
live that out, knowing that, okay, if the Lord's mercies
are new every morning, I can also draw from twenty
nine eleven of Jeremiah, just knowing that God has plans
for my life that are good, that things that I
(44:20):
might see going on in the world or in my family,
or you know, in a certain moment in time. My
faith tells me that God has plans for my good,
plans for our success, plans for our victory. He's already
overcome the world, is what the word says. So why
(44:41):
would I contradict that, Why would I think that, Okay,
this is my downfall. No, it's not. I know it's not.
This is not the end. This is the time where, yes,
we may have a time of prayer. We may have
a time when we turned to that scripture that everyone
(45:03):
did during COVID about if my people who are called
by my name, that you know, would humble themselves in pray. Well,
people did that, I think they did during COVID. But
as soon as you know, things apparently got better or
seemingly got better, I think that you have this fallen away.
(45:25):
Now people are not necessarily doing that anymore. But that's
that's those people. But I really believe that the church
is going to have to just be the church. And
as I said, the church is made up of people.
So we each have our own responsibility to reflect Christ
(45:45):
in our living. And the biggest testimony that we can
be to the world is how we live or what
our daily walk is like. So that when you're in school,
when I'm in the office building, when I'm on the bus,
that people see Christ. Did that mean I'm going to
(46:06):
open up my Bible and stand there and you know,
read the scriptures? No, not necessarily that it might mean
that I did give someone on my bus stop one
of these books and she's been reading it and talking
to me a little bit, you know, more. But that's
one person that God laid on my heart to give
(46:27):
her a book. But it also means that when you're
teaching that your style is a little different from the
you know, the teacher down the hall who may not
be a believer. So it's how are we reflecting Christ
in our daily walk? Is how people are going to
be encouraged. They're going to know that we're Christians by
our love, and love means we've got to show it.
Speaker 3 (46:50):
To them absolutely absolutely, hey man. And so it is
a question, but it's the to close up, close out.
How can others connect with you maybe even you know,
have you do an event at their church or or wherever?
(47:14):
And then how can I buy your resources?
Speaker 4 (47:18):
Okay, so my primary way to connect with me, I
am on Facebook as Pamela Nance Johnson. My email is
Pamela in Johnson at gmail dot com. My website is
(47:39):
Pamela Nance Johnson dot com, and I have a Instagram
that I'm new to. I'm learning these other platforms. So
my Instagram is Pamela Nance joh and I am on
Amazon arthor Central as well.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
Well.
Speaker 4 (48:00):
But if you look at Pamela Nance Johnson you will
likely find me.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
All right, So thank you, thank you, thank you Pamela,
Minister Pamela for joining us, thank you for your insight
at just the amazing things that God is doing through you,
just sharing the gospel and evangelize. And I'm gonna open it.
I'm going not open. I'm going to close us in prayer.
And then before we do that, though, do you have
(48:33):
any final thoughts.
Speaker 4 (48:36):
I would just like to say I appreciate this opportunity
so much. Minister Denise and I met several years ago
at the Christian Book Lover's Retreat and I'm gonna miss
We will miss each other this year, it would be
next month, but we are still connected. I appreciate you
(48:58):
allowing me to come on to your platform even in writing,
and I know that that was my training as well.
And so you and I have connected, and you've been
a mentor without even knowing it, just you know, by
the way, like I said, in your walk and in
your just extending the opportunities that you have to me
(49:22):
and I'm sure to others to allow us to use
our gifts and to hone our craft and to just
you know, give God the glory in this relationship. And
also you know, as women women in Christ just to
build each other up and to empower someone else. It
just means the world to me. So I thank you
(49:43):
and appreciate you for that and letting God use you
in that way.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
Thank you, thank you, thank you, And to God being
the glory. I thank God for just the continuation of
us being able to share Christ to others. And so again,
thank you for coming on. I'm going to close us
out in prayer. Father, we thank you Lord. We thank you,
Lord God for your woman of God. We thank you,
(50:10):
Lord God for what you are doing, what you have
yet to do that she knows not of God. We
thank you for how you're going to use her mightily.
We thank you, Lord God for anyone that is listening
to anybody that will come back over and over and
listen again to hear that if God did it for
(50:34):
Minister Pambla, he can do it for dearness. So God,
we bless you. We thank you, Lord God for again
what you're going to do in Minnsester Pambla's life and
how you are using her, How are you are going
to stretch her beyond where she can imagine? Father, we
bless you and we give you God we thank you
for this amazing opportunity to share again on the platform
(50:58):
and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Father, we bless you,
We give you glory, we give you honor, we give
you praise, and we thank you for everyone who is listening.
That your word says he that has an ear, let
him hear. And so Father, we bless you that we
will hear and we will take the gospel to the world,
and that we even in the climate that we find
(51:21):
ourselves in in in this world right now, God, and
wherever we are, we thank you that you are still God,
and no one can be thrown you. And we give
you glory because you are all powerful, all knowing, and
you know right where we are, and you have a
plan for us. And so God will bless you in
Jesus' name. Amen, Amen and Amen Amen. So again, thank
(51:45):
you all for tuning in to Hope in Christ. We
do these here on Kingdom Influences Broadcast. Remember at Hope
in Christ, we are healthy, we are overcomers. We have
purpose because God gave it to us, and we must
keep an eternal perspective, shifting our minds to eternity. Have
a phenomenal rest of your week. Thank you for tuning
(52:10):
in you have been listening to Hoping Christ with Denise
here on Kingdom Influences Broadcast. Remember at Hope in Christ,
we are healthy, we are overcomers, we have purpose by
the True and Living God, and we must maintain an
eternal perspective as we seek wholeness and our true identity
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Please follow Hope in Christ
(52:31):
with Denise on Facebook and Instagram. Also check out my
TikTok at DM Walker Hope and if you would like
to purchase any of my resources or books, please visit Amazon, Barsan,
Noble Books, a Million and more. Thank you for tuning
in once again to Hope in Christ with Denise. Remember
to place your hope and the only hope there is, Christ,
(52:54):
our Lord
Come on, let's lift up the name of Jesus Christ.
There is none other in heaven or on earth. Welcome
to another episode of Hope in Christ with Denise here
on Kingdom Influencers Broadcast, where we place our hope in
the only hope.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
There is Christ, our Lord.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome back to Hoping Christ with Denise
here on Kingdom Influences Broadcast. I am your host, Minister
Denise Walker, and I welcome you back wherever you are
in the world. Good morning, good evening, and or good afternoon.
Before we get into today's episode where we're going to
(01:25):
share about from Victim to Victorious and Christ for the
month of October, I'm going to open us up with
a word of prayer. Father, we thank your God for
this day. We thank you for the opportunity God to
continue to share the message of the Cross to the world. God.
We thank you, Lord, God. And you said, Christ said,
(01:49):
if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men to me.
And so God, we continue in the symbolic way of
lifting up Jesus' name and knowing that he does the drawing,
that he changes lives and transforms people. And so we
thank you Lord God, for what you have done and
(02:11):
what you are doing in each and every one of us. Father,
we bless you, We give you glory. Nanna. We thank you,
Lord God for our guests. We thank you for where
you brought her from. God, we thank you that we
are no longer victims, but we are victorious in Christ Jesus.
And so God, we bless you when we give you
glory and honor in Jesus name a man and man
and Amen.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
Amen.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
So again, thank you, thank you, thank you all for
joining us. Remember at Hope in Christ, we are healthy,
we are purpose, we are overcomers, and we shift our
perspective to focus on eternity in Christ Jesus. And So,
without further ado, I am going to jump right into
(02:57):
our episode with one of my at the friends, minister
Pamela Nance Johnson. So before we get started with her interview,
before we jump into the questions from victim to victorious
in Christ, Pamela, can you tell us just a little
(03:18):
bit about you before we get into the question.
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Well, as you said, my name is Pamela Nance Johnson.
I am a minister. I really wanted to just let
people know that what I try to do is share
the gospel or share the word outside of the ministry.
While I'm involved in my actual church, Kingdom Family Worship
(03:43):
Center here in Fredericksburg, Virginia, I also have a desire
to go outside the four walls, and in a very
unique way, what I do is share on my platforms,
usually a what came to be a devotion, sharing a scripture,
sharing a song, sharing a message or word. That's what
(04:08):
I do, and so that's what my unique gifting has been.
It's just evolved into that I love music ministry. I
wasn't always a member of a choir. I may not
be the best singer, but the lawyer has definitely put
me in spaces where I've been stretched and I've learned
(04:28):
so much in just learning that music definitely is a ministry.
It's not just about the notes, even though we want
to have a spirit of excellence. It's about the message
in the music, the prayer life, how important prayer is
to our lives. So the music, the prayer, the scripture
(04:48):
is the word that is going to keep us. And
that's about I'm a mom, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister,
all of those things as well.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Amen. Amen, Amen, thank you for sharing and telling us
a little bit about yourself. So let's jump into the questions.
The first question is, can you share a little about
a little about your personal story and what it means
to have gone from victim to victorious in Christ.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
When I think about victims, sometimes we think about someone
who had an occurrence, you know, at the hands of
someone else. And I can think of times in my
life where one that sticks out with me, and it
has to do with my relationship with Christ. I lost
(05:43):
my mom when I was sixteen. My mom passed away
from complications of you know, a long term illness. She
had a heart issue and she'd had a stroke and
had been in the hospital for some time. But at
sixteen years old, the only daughter, there's just my brother
and I. No matter what my parents told us over
(06:05):
the years, you're never actually prepared, and especially as a
young person, for that absence of your mother. And I
felt like, then, okay, God, what are you doing? You know,
It's like he pulled the rug out from under me.
And I felt very much alone or not seen or heard.
(06:27):
Even though my father did the best he could with us,
and he did a good job stepped in. I had
other people. God gave me later on in life. You know,
I had my grandmothers and other people, but just internally
I felt then as a victim, like okay, this is
(06:48):
really you know. It turned my world upside down. But
I continue to just move along in life and much
so to you know, we talk about as adults having
a mask or things like that, making people think you're okay,
And there are times when you're you are okay, but
(07:08):
there are many times when you're not. Moving into adulthood
becoming a young parent. I wasn't a teen mom, but
well technically nineteen twenty when I had my first child,
and then moving on to you know, being introduced or
in a relationship with the man who ended up being
(07:30):
my husband. We've been divorced now for many years. But
in that situation, I felt that people think victim, they
think domestic violence, or they think physical That wasn't necessarily
the thing with us. I know that God wasn't in it.
I wasn't really prepared as a young person even then
(07:51):
he's a little older than me. But it was much
more about infidelity and control, and I I knew that
when I came to Christ in that relationship that God
had better for me. People have their opinions on divorce
(08:14):
in and out of the church and all of that,
but in my heart of hearts, I prayed that if
God wouldn't remove the situation, that he would give me
a way out of the situation. And that was my
sincerest prayer. And He did make a way for me
to get out of the situation. And when doors began
(08:36):
to open that I knew it would only be God
could do that. I stepped through those doors and I
left and I never looked back. And after that my
life has been so much better. People say I can
do bad by myself, Well, I was doing better by myself,
and that's how I chose to look at it. And
(08:58):
it actually turned into a chapter in an anthology through
the Christian book Lover's Retreat, where we actually met. It
took that many years for me to sit down and
write out some things, and I titled it Better with
God on My Side, the Back in the Day devotional
(09:19):
that came out, I believe in twenty nineteen. I have
a chapter in there and it's an ebook now on Amazon.
But that's when I sat down and wrote those things.
Much of what I just mentioned and how I came
out of that situation on the other side. Sometimes we
have to go through, and to go through, you've got
(09:41):
to you know, to get to the other side, you've
got to go.
Speaker 3 (09:44):
Through, hey man, So true, we have to go through
to overcome, and you know that's the overcoming part of it.
And so the next question is what was the defining
moment when you realize you no longer had to live
(10:05):
in a victim mindset like being you know, like you said,
feeling alone. And I'm sure the impact of losing your
mom was huge because it was the same for me
losing my dad. Even I was an adult when I
lost my dad, and I still it impacted me and
it still does at time. So the question again is
(10:26):
what was the defining moment when you realize you no
longer had to live in a victim mindset?
Speaker 4 (10:34):
Well, going through as a teenager, I realized that I
got close to my paternal grandmother, my dad's mother. She
was basically the matriarch, my church mother, if you will,
but my grandmother. And so I know my grandmother prayed
(10:56):
me through, even if she wasn't in my press. I
just knew that anyway, And so when I was a
young girl. I thought my grandmother was kind of mean,
just because she was strict, but she was strict in love.
And I hung out of her house. And my dad
had six sisters, probably five of them were at home
(11:20):
at the time, and so my aunts and my grandmother
became my nurturing environment when I could let down some
walls and know that, okay, this is my safe space.
And even as my grandmother got older and I got
older as well, I knew that she would be there
for me, you know, until she passed. But getting out
(11:42):
of the tumultuous relationship I was in. It was really
when it was the y two k if you remember that,
people were preparing things like what if the world comes
to an end or some crazy stuf. But you know,
I still go back to No man knows that's that scripture,
(12:05):
Not even the angels knows. So every time I hear
these things, I just kind of, you know, wink at
God to myself, like, okay, God, they don't quite get it.
But it was during that time when it was gonna
be two thousand, when I said, I'm not going into
the next millennium like this. This is not going to
be me. So that's when I mentioned the door start
(12:29):
to open, I start to focus. God, if you make
a way for me, I'm going to, you know, take it.
I'm going to move from that. So the move was
a physical move, but it was also a move of
a mental health type of thing, a release as well.
I remember my children and I being in an apartment
(12:51):
that we had moved into where I could actually afford
the rent and everything, just feeling at such peace that night,
that first night we were in that apartment, and I
just exhaled and it wasn't a cliche, it was real.
It was like, Okay, God said, I got you. You're
gonna be all right, and I can just one more
(13:15):
thing if you will. At that time, I didn't know
or had cannot confirmed that I was carrying my third son,
and so Aaron would be born a few months later.
And I remember one day going to an appointment for
(13:37):
your maternal checkups and just feeling a little down, like
it's just really gonna be okay, because you know, he,
my ex husband, was still here in the town just
talking to people, and she's gonna come back and she's
not gonna be able to do this that and the other,
and you know, the baby and all of that, But
(13:58):
there was this lady that came up to me in
the parking lot of the doctor's Hysit the doctor's office
and the lady, I didn't see a lady, but she
came up to me, tapped me on the shoulder and said, basically,
God told me to tell you everything's going to be
all right, just very simply like that. Ironically, a little
(14:20):
old white lady. And not that there's anything wrong with that,
but it was just also kind of strange. I turned
around and that there was no lady. And to this
day when I repeat that story, I'm like that lady
was the angel, because you know, the scripture says there
are angels among us, you just never know. But I
(14:42):
didn't ever see the person again. You know, sometimes someone
walks away off in the distance and you can see them.
I remember it distinctly, and it was okay. That was
my reassurance that okay again, God said I got you.
That's when I different times, but that's how I moved
(15:05):
from the victim mindset, knowing that it's okay, I'm going
to make it through. I will be victorious in Christ.
Speaker 3 (15:15):
Amen. Amen, And yes, angels are real for those that
are listening. I've had some encounters as well, so you know,
just so that we know that I can be a
witness to Minister Pamela about that. And so the third
question is kind of similar, and I think you answered
a little bit of it. But the third question is
(15:37):
how did your faith in Jesus help you through your
season of pain and struggle or overcoming I guess we
would say.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
It's a time when I think my faith grows grew
stronger through those times of adversity or those times of
trouble or uncertainty. That's when, if you will, things will
bring you to your knees. So when you haven't some struggles,
(16:09):
sometimes people tend to think that, Okay, I'm gonna go
the opposite way, or that's probably the time when I
was drawn even more to the church, when I knew
that I had times that, you know, trying times. Those
are the times I'm sure when I prayed more fervently
(16:32):
or when I you know, look to the Word even
more during those particular times. And so, yeah, your faith
can grow stronger during trouble times. Don't allow troubling times
to to make you lose hope. That's when the time
when You've got to go to God because he is
(16:53):
your strength. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
That is where your help is going to come from.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
Amen. Amen, Amen. And so and again it's kind of
just giving asking to like kind of answer a little
bit more so, the next question is what role did
prayer and scripture or worship play on your journey as you, again,
like you said, went from victim to being victorious in
(17:26):
Christ and trusting in the Lord. What role did prayer, scripture,
and or worship play on that journey.
Speaker 4 (17:35):
Oh, all of those three things just really to me
go hand in hand. And I always think about Bishop
James Moore Senior was the overseer of the Tower Ministries
out of Richmond, Virginia, and so he was our overseer.
(17:55):
But he had this phrase that he would say, and
it is this, with a prayer, a song, and the
word in your heart, you can make it. And I
always remember that it sums it up. And that is
the thing that I stick to is that if I
(18:17):
can pray about it, if I can find a good
gospel song about it, and if I can find a
scripture on it, I'm gonna make it. It's going to
be okay. That's going to be the thing that's going
to help me to move forward. Those three things are
just really strong. Those those things keep me strengthened, and
(18:39):
I find that those are the things that help other
people as well.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Absolutely, I love all three, like you say, prayer, song
and the Word, because even in prayer, God is responding
to us through the Word, through his word, repeating his
word to us as well. And so the next part
of the question, or the next question is were there
(19:07):
specific Bible verses that carried you through those times?
Speaker 4 (19:14):
I'll give you a maybe two or three. So the
first one is very familiar passage or scripture is jre
Mind twenty ninety eleven. One that a lot of people
go towards for I know the plans I have for you,
declares the Lord plans to prosper you, not to harm you,
to give you a hope and a future. It sums
(19:37):
up so much there that if we are believers, then
we know that God has good plans for us. That
if you're something that's going, you know, terribly wrong, if
you're spiraling downward, that's not of God. Sometimes we get
in our own way, and sometimes we put ourselves in
situations other things might be out of our control, but
(20:00):
we know that God's plans are good. They are not
to harm us for to prosper us. Prospering isn't always
about money, no matter what people think. Plans to give
us a hope in the future. If we don't have hope,
we don't have anything even what's going on just you know,
(20:22):
in the world today, there's a lot going on, and
sometimes especially as ministers, people might ask us, well, how
do you deal with it? Or why do you seem
like you know you're not I won't lose in your
mind as just what comes to mind to me right now?
People say, why are we not, you know, nervous or anxious.
(20:43):
I tell people I'm concerned, but have I have to
have hope that things can get better. I have to
have trust in God that his plans are to prosper us,
that his plans are good son. But I'm not going
to just be frantic. I'm not going to give up
(21:05):
hope because I believe we do have a future. We
have to accept what God allows. This won't be the
first time that you know, things have been in a
certain state of affairs. It might be the first time
for some of us but we'll get through it. I
just believe that going into Romans eight twenty eight, that
(21:27):
we know that all I'm sorry, we know that all
things that I'm reading a different version, so let me stop.
So let me stay corrected, y'all. And we know that
in all things God works for the good of those
who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose,
so that all things will work for our good. It
(21:50):
is how we sum it up. So good things, good
things we need to think are positive things. We need
to think on good things, those are the things that
come from God. And lamitations. The fact that the Lord's
mercies are new every morning. Y'all can read Lamentations three
when you have a chance, as we say in church.
(22:12):
But the fact that the Lord's mercies are new every morning,
that is what sticks out to me, or the thing
that I turn to and I try to live out.
No matter what's going on today. I try not to
bring that into tomorrow, because every day is a new
fresh day, a new fresh day for us to get
(22:35):
it right with God, or just to spread the word,
just to give someone else some hope, to let them
know God's mercies are new every morning. I really do
believe that and I still on that as well.
Speaker 3 (22:53):
Hey man, And it's funny that you used Jeremiah one
of your scriptures in GEREMANI twentnine to eleven because I
was studying that for the message that I have to share.
And so when I was studying, I said, Lord, I
know we read Jeremi twent nine to eleven a lot.
You know, we are bare from you with that scripture,
(23:15):
I said, But one of the things that God had
helped me zoom in on was that Israel was in
Babylon and they were in you know, where they God
had it was God's judgment upon them. But God was
reminding them that you know, while you're there that I
have a plan for you. I don't I don't plan
(23:37):
to destroy you. You know this will come to an end.
So I love that scripture so much. Just just yesterday
he had me reading through Jeremia, just thinking about how
it sounds very similar to our time, but that he
kept saying to them, you know, like you said, his
(23:58):
grace for humanity. He kept saying that it wasn't to
to destroy them, but he was, you know, calling for
even repentance, specifically to turn. And so I just thought
about that when you were sharing that you know, God
is so merciful. And then also one of the scriptures
(24:18):
that came to my mom when you were sharing was
I've never seen the righteous forsaken or see begging bread,
and so that's just like what we must stand on,
you know, think on these things as the word to
say is. And so the next next I was giving
me say scripture, the next question is what were some
(24:42):
of the lies the enemy tried to make you believe?
And how did God's truth set you free?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
You know, the enemy will just get in your ear
through your thoughts, and then the enemy can also use people.
So there are times when I would just feel like
I wasn't enough, like maybe it was me and I
(25:12):
would have to come to myself to know. You know,
God said, that's not true. You're you know, you're a
child of God, You're my daughter. And those were the
things that I began to hear later, but for the
longest time, I would hear things from other people. And
living in a small community, I worked in one of
(25:34):
the local school systems, and I would travel in one
circle and my ex husband would travel in another circle,
or just the fact that I would find myself even
even being new in church, being new in a different
church environment, I've gotten to know the people that I thought,
(26:00):
you know, made me feel a certain type of way.
I don't necessarily like the term church hurt because the
church is made up of people and we all have,
you know, our shortcomings, or we all have our strengths
and weaknesses, and sometimes we can, you know, say things
(26:21):
that if you don't know that that hurt me, how
how are you supposed how are we supposed to you know,
come to grips with it or rectify or correct it.
But there was sometimes when I felt inadequate, and it
wasn't necessarily something someone said to me, but here I
was growing up and coming to a new environment. I
(26:45):
felt like I didn't have nice enough clothes, or I
didn't fit in with people who they were married couples,
but my husband wasn't at church, and so there were
just things that I think people kind of took for it,
and thinking back on them, it brings me to places
(27:05):
where I had really had forgotten. I had removed myself
from that thing. But I do try to make sure
that I welcome other young mothers. I know that, okay,
if we're having a service at church and it's at
a certain time of day. Well, I can remember being
(27:25):
a young mother having my children out after a certain time,
or trying to come to a rehearsal and having two
little boys, saying, this is what I've got to do.
I got to make sure I have something in place
for them, either someone to watch them or bring them
some you know, coloring books and crayons or whatever things
(27:46):
that people need to just realize. But I didn't have
that opportunity. I just took it in as you know,
I don't belong here, or maybe I shouldn't come to
the practice. Whatever. What God did, though, Minister Denise, is
he made opportunities for me in environments where I thought, okay,
(28:10):
is this really mean? And what I mean is that
we had a small group, we had little children, so
we started a children Sunday school. Well, I worked as
an assistant in school, but I thought, okay, God, I
can't really teach Sunday school. I felt like that was
for somebody else, that wasn't for me. But actually it
(28:31):
was for me. So I became a Sunday school teacher.
And when my children grew up and they became the
teenage class. Well, nobody still, you know, came to the
beginning or came to the front to say I'll work
with the teens. Well, I worked with the teens, and
I created a safe space for them. I let them
(28:53):
know that, okay, what we discussed here, If I don't
have the particular answer for it, I'm going to you know,
find out the answer for it. But we talked about
life things. We talked about our Sunday school lesson. But
I you know, took the time to tell them, look,
as teenagers, you all trying to live for Christ. This
(29:13):
is the thing that you're going to have to contend
with outside of this Sunday school, outside of Sunday morning.
I asked them, well, when you all see each other
in school, how do y'all treat each other? Or do
you try to look out after your sister in Christ
or do you see somebody you know doing something to her?
You need to step up. You're the young man. I'm
(29:35):
not saying, you know, get in fights and all, but
I'm saying, don't diss each other. That was a word
we use back then at school. You still gotta be
you know, a strong group together. And I started to
become God was forming me and to the youth leader
at the church, and I didn't know it. But those
(29:55):
were the times when I felt like I said, I
felt inadequate. But he said, Okay, I'm gonna take this
situation and turn it for your good or and you're gonna,
you know, have a message. You're developing a ministry. You
don't even know about it. I wasn't even a minister.
Then I took the kids on a trip with another church,
(30:19):
and they I thought I was quote the chaperone, but
then they said, okay, we're going to have a minister's
meeting while the children are doing their thing. At first,
I wasn't even going to it. I'm like, I'm not
a minister. They're like, yes, you are. You're just not.
You don't have the title yet. But what you're doing
is ministry.
Speaker 3 (30:41):
Hey man, Yes, I love the way how you know
our stories kind of coincide with each other and how
we feel. And I did the same thing. I wrestled.
I wrestled with God a lot when he was calling
me to ministry, and and I kept saying the same thing, Lord,
(31:03):
I'm not a minister. But the same thing he was molding,
you know, just like He did with you, molding me.
Even today there are times, especially when you know, people
reference how women shouldn't be you know, pastors or whatever.
That's something I still go back and forth in my mind.
(31:25):
And the Holy Spirit took me to the Bible, you know,
and the women that God use. And so again, thank
you for sharing that, and thank you for being vulnerable
for you know, God sharing your message and your testimony
with the world.
Speaker 4 (31:43):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (31:45):
All right, And the next question is how has your
experience shaped the message of your book? Now? You know,
I just loved and you know even when you wrote devotional,
So how did your experience overall shape message of your book?
Speaker 4 (32:03):
Well, the book that two things. The one that is
the ebook the chapter in the anthology Better with God
on my side. That was my experience of basically my
coming to Christ and acknowledging real life application. That's what
(32:24):
I'll call it, real life application. So that's one thing.
But the book that I have, now you're not too busy,
is God's time anyway. So this thirty day devotional was
really birthed out of me in my environment of the
commute I have to work. And some people might say,
what is she talking about? But the commute that I
(32:47):
have when I go to work is typically an hour
and a half, maybe sometimes two hours. But during that time,
I'm on a bus. It's like we call it the
commuter bus. Some people would call it a charter bus.
But when I'm there, I started to take my Facebook
use it as a platform to first of all, encourage myself.
(33:12):
I'm back to that prayer song in scripture, encourage myself.
In the morning. There were so many people who were
just negative. It's five o'clock in the morning. What do
you have to be mad about or grouchy about, or
anything like that. Or people just seem so busy and
so consumed that Okay, they've got their laptops out already.
(33:35):
I'm like, okay, we're not even at the job yet,
but you already doing all of this. So I use
it as my quiet time. I took that morning time
to say, all right, I'm going to say a prayer
while I'm on this bus. I'm praying for the people
on the bus. I'm praying for my family, I'm praying
for the driver, and you know that we would have
(33:58):
safe travel. Because to assume that you leave home in
the morning and get back safely. That is only God.
You need protection from things and people and situations, all
those dangers seen and unseen. So prayer. The scripture I
would look through. You know, many times it's what's going
(34:21):
on around me that I'm in tune with that I
hear the song or the scripture that come to mind.
So that's where I would look up either the song
and find a scripture or vice versa. I really believe
the gospel. The message in the music has to be
based on the Gospel or just a very positive message.
(34:45):
So I like music with a message, or music that
says Jesus or says something about salvation or God or something.
And I don't take that lightly because some things it's
a positive song. But but I'm really looking for songs
that are going to lead you to Christ at some point.
(35:06):
So that's what shaped this book, and I have it
where a person can get the scripture get the song,
because that has been a very The most thing that
people have spoken about the most to me is that, oh,
I love that you included a song or that is,
(35:27):
you know something that they got it out of it
as well. I'm sorry to takeaway. And that's pretty much it.
So I've taken my thoughts, some of my experiences and
put them in the book together. And I've gotten people
who have said, you know, I'm on day three and
(35:48):
you know I've learned this about you, or that's one
of my favorite scriptures or things like that. So I
really appreciate that God is doing the work. It's me,
but I'm just a vessel, and I want it to
end up in the hands that will be encouraged, and
that someone might take this and pass it on, share
(36:09):
it with someone else. Or I put it as day
one through thirty so you don't have to be locked in.
You can start whenever you want and just travel through
the word with me.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
Hey man, I like that, Like you said, so that
they so when they read it, they don't have to
necessarily be on day one. They could go to whatever
day they choose. Is that what you mean?
Speaker 4 (36:38):
I mean that I didn't say, like today is January first,
like your day one could be September first. It doesn't
have to be the actual day of a certain time
of year.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
Oh okay, okay, all right. And so the next question
is what encouragement would you give to someone who feels
stuck in their past? Heart or even trauma that they
have experienced. So they're stuck right now. So what encouragement
would you give to them if they feel stuck and
(37:17):
they just feel like they can't move beyond what they've
gone through.
Speaker 4 (37:23):
You know, I was reflecting on that when I looked
at the title about from vict to Victorious, is that
I'm not my past, and so you are not your past.
You are not those things that happened to you. You
are not that, You're not that victim. You can be victorious.
(37:46):
It's a process, though, So I don't dare make light
of it or make it sound like it doesn't take time,
because it does. Even in this Christian walk, in our faith,
it's a daily faith walk. It's a daily thing. It's
sometimes hourly thing where we have to ask God to
(38:09):
come in to help him, I'm sorry, to help guide
our thoughts, to just get us from day to day.
There are times when we reflect on what's going on
in our lives. And you said, and even in trauma
right now. So even if there's something that you're going
through right now, you have to be assured that God
(38:33):
will get you through, but you've got to allow Him
to do the work. It's sometimes we have to get
ourselves out of the way, meaning when we pray, we've
got to ask God to come in. Only God can
change hearts and minds, and it starts with us. He
might change other people, but if he don't ever change
(38:54):
the other person, he's got to change you. Let him
do the work in you so that you know you
are worthy. You are enough. You are a kingdom's kid.
You belong to the Father, the Father God that God
had great things in mind even before you were born.
(39:15):
God has a plan that Jeremiah twenty ninety eleven. That
scripture has so many parts to it, but it definitely
tells you and his plan is better than any plan
that we could ever think of. We got our little
plans and we think we know what we're doing. But
God is gonna take us around and bring us back
(39:35):
to where he wants us to be. Even if, like
Minister Denis said, we fight it or we try to resist,
God is gonna make it so that his plan is
gonna come true. His plan is gonna work out even
if we don't think so. His plan is gonna work
out if we allow it. God is not gonna force
(39:55):
itself on us. But we've got to be open. We've
got to be open to accept him. And when we
do that, things will get so much better, so much better.
Speaker 3 (40:07):
Yes, Lord, I can again attest to that. How as
we submit and we just say okay, Lord, I'll give
it to you, things do get better. And then the
we have a couple more questions. Can you share a
time where God has used your story or your you
(40:32):
know what you've overcome to impact somebody else.
Speaker 4 (40:38):
I will say this when I wrote the first anthology chapter.
There's been a few others after that, But when I
wrote that and some people read it, there were at
least two people specifically that come to mind. I won't
mention their names, of course, but other women who said
(41:02):
to me, you know, I see myself in that in
what you wrote, or you know, you have no idea
how much you help me or have inspired me, and
so I don't know that. I would say, I dare
not take any credit for it, and I give all
(41:23):
the glory to God All the time when someone pays
me a compliment, especially on writing, I try to just
make sure I say, you know, to God be the
glory or all the glory belongs to him, Because it
was therapeutic for me, and it was an assignment that
I believe I had, but it still do. But to
(41:47):
hear people say that they were encouraged by the things
that I write, those things also do that for me
as well. I know that. Okay, it's just like a
confirmation if you will that. All right, Pam, you're doing
what God called you to do. Now do you get
(42:08):
negative things? I'm sure, but I don't really pay attention
to them if there are, and some people don't say anything,
and it's probably okay. I don't expect to walk around
get any applause, but I do want God to be
well pleased with the things that I've done.
Speaker 3 (42:32):
Hey man, amen, I totally agree. I'm very cautious of
you know, like you said, how the Lord said, I
give my glory to no man, and so we must
lift up his name. And so thank you for sharing
that and that for that reminder as well for those
who are listening. And then the last question, well, then
(42:55):
I have formal question, but this the last question for
the interview is what the living victorious in Christ look
like for you now? And how do you continue to
walk in that victory?
Speaker 4 (43:11):
It looks for me like peace it looks for me
like hope. And I say that because there was a
time in my life when it wasn't peaceful. There was
a time when it was very much you know, when
(43:34):
people say you have to settle your mind or you
might have worrisome thoughts. There was a time in my
life when worry might have been the word that I
would have used. But now I use the word peace,
and I use the word hope. And back to the
(43:55):
Lord's mercys being new every morning, I really try to
live that out, knowing that, okay, if the Lord's mercies
are new every morning, I can also draw from twenty
nine eleven of Jeremiah, just knowing that God has plans
for my life that are good, that things that I
(44:20):
might see going on in the world or in my family,
or you know, in a certain moment in time. My
faith tells me that God has plans for my good,
plans for our success, plans for our victory. He's already
overcome the world, is what the word says. So why
(44:41):
would I contradict that, Why would I think that, Okay,
this is my downfall. No, it's not. I know it's not.
This is not the end. This is the time where, yes,
we may have a time of prayer. We may have
a time when we turned to that scripture that everyone
(45:03):
did during COVID about if my people who are called
by my name, that you know, would humble themselves in pray. Well,
people did that, I think they did during COVID. But
as soon as you know, things apparently got better or
seemingly got better, I think that you have this fallen away.
(45:25):
Now people are not necessarily doing that anymore. But that's
that's those people. But I really believe that the church
is going to have to just be the church. And
as I said, the church is made up of people.
So we each have our own responsibility to reflect Christ
(45:45):
in our living. And the biggest testimony that we can
be to the world is how we live or what
our daily walk is like. So that when you're in school,
when I'm in the office building, when I'm on the bus,
that people see Christ. Did that mean I'm going to
(46:06):
open up my Bible and stand there and you know,
read the scriptures? No, not necessarily that it might mean
that I did give someone on my bus stop one
of these books and she's been reading it and talking
to me a little bit, you know, more. But that's
one person that God laid on my heart to give
(46:27):
her a book. But it also means that when you're
teaching that your style is a little different from the
you know, the teacher down the hall who may not
be a believer. So it's how are we reflecting Christ
in our daily walk? Is how people are going to
be encouraged. They're going to know that we're Christians by
our love, and love means we've got to show it.
Speaker 3 (46:50):
To them absolutely absolutely, hey man. And so it is
a question, but it's the to close up, close out.
How can others connect with you maybe even you know,
have you do an event at their church or or wherever?
(47:14):
And then how can I buy your resources?
Speaker 4 (47:18):
Okay, so my primary way to connect with me, I
am on Facebook as Pamela Nance Johnson. My email is
Pamela in Johnson at gmail dot com. My website is
(47:39):
Pamela Nance Johnson dot com, and I have a Instagram
that I'm new to. I'm learning these other platforms. So
my Instagram is Pamela Nance joh and I am on
Amazon arthor Central as well.
Speaker 3 (48:00):
Well.
Speaker 4 (48:00):
But if you look at Pamela Nance Johnson you will
likely find me.
Speaker 3 (48:09):
All right, So thank you, thank you, thank you Pamela,
Minister Pamela for joining us, thank you for your insight
at just the amazing things that God is doing through you,
just sharing the gospel and evangelize. And I'm gonna open it.
I'm going not open. I'm going to close us in prayer.
And then before we do that, though, do you have
(48:33):
any final thoughts.
Speaker 4 (48:36):
I would just like to say I appreciate this opportunity
so much. Minister Denise and I met several years ago
at the Christian Book Lover's Retreat and I'm gonna miss
We will miss each other this year, it would be
next month, but we are still connected. I appreciate you
(48:58):
allowing me to come on to your platform even in writing,
and I know that that was my training as well.
And so you and I have connected, and you've been
a mentor without even knowing it, just you know, by
the way, like I said, in your walk and in
your just extending the opportunities that you have to me
(49:22):
and I'm sure to others to allow us to use
our gifts and to hone our craft and to just
you know, give God the glory in this relationship. And
also you know, as women women in Christ just to
build each other up and to empower someone else. It
just means the world to me. So I thank you
(49:43):
and appreciate you for that and letting God use you
in that way.
Speaker 3 (49:50):
Thank you, thank you, thank you, And to God being
the glory. I thank God for just the continuation of
us being able to share Christ to others. And so again,
thank you for coming on. I'm going to close us
out in prayer. Father, we thank you Lord. We thank you,
Lord God for your woman of God. We thank you,
(50:10):
Lord God for what you are doing, what you have
yet to do that she knows not of God. We
thank you for how you're going to use her mightily.
We thank you, Lord God for anyone that is listening
to anybody that will come back over and over and
listen again to hear that if God did it for
(50:34):
Minister Pambla, he can do it for dearness. So God,
we bless you. We thank you, Lord God for again
what you're going to do in Minnsester Pambla's life and
how you are using her, How are you are going
to stretch her beyond where she can imagine? Father, we
bless you and we give you God we thank you
for this amazing opportunity to share again on the platform
(50:58):
and share the gospel of Jesus Christ. Father, we bless you,
We give you glory, we give you honor, we give
you praise, and we thank you for everyone who is listening.
That your word says he that has an ear, let
him hear. And so Father, we bless you that we
will hear and we will take the gospel to the world,
and that we even in the climate that we find
(51:21):
ourselves in in in this world right now, God, and
wherever we are, we thank you that you are still God,
and no one can be thrown you. And we give
you glory because you are all powerful, all knowing, and
you know right where we are, and you have a
plan for us. And so God will bless you in
Jesus' name. Amen, Amen and Amen Amen. So again, thank
(51:45):
you all for tuning in to Hope in Christ. We
do these here on Kingdom Influences Broadcast. Remember at Hope
in Christ, we are healthy, we are overcomers. We have
purpose because God gave it to us, and we must
keep an eternal perspective, shifting our minds to eternity. Have
a phenomenal rest of your week. Thank you for tuning
(52:10):
in you have been listening to Hoping Christ with Denise
here on Kingdom Influences Broadcast. Remember at Hope in Christ,
we are healthy, we are overcomers, we have purpose by
the True and Living God, and we must maintain an
eternal perspective as we seek wholeness and our true identity
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Please follow Hope in Christ
(52:31):
with Denise on Facebook and Instagram. Also check out my
TikTok at DM Walker Hope and if you would like
to purchase any of my resources or books, please visit Amazon, Barsan,
Noble Books, a Million and more. Thank you for tuning
in once again to Hope in Christ with Denise. Remember
to place your hope and the only hope there is, Christ,
(52:54):
our Lord
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My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.
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Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com