Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - REPLAY ｜ Donor-Conceived, Lesbian-Raised & Born Again ｜ Guest： Ross Johnston

00:00:00.620 Ross Johnston was conceived via artificial insemination in 1994, was raised in a lesbian

00:00:07.440 secular household, and then at the age of 16, he became a Christian and everything changed.

00:00:14.600 Now he's on a mission to share the gospel with as many people as possible, not just

00:00:20.220 in the country, but specifically in the state of California.

00:00:24.080 Today, he's here to tell us his story, how God finally satisfied the longing that he

00:00:31.340 had for a dad, and why he cares so much about saving California through the power of the

00:00:40.880 Holy Spirit.

00:00:50.780 Ross, thanks so much for joining us.

00:00:53.400 First, can you tell us who you are and what you do?

00:00:55.520 Yeah.

00:00:55.860 So my name is Ross Johnston.

00:00:57.600 I'm currently living in SoCal, everybody's favorite place to be.

00:01:00.580 Yeah.

00:01:01.000 And what I do right now is actually co-lead a ministry called California Will Be Saved.

00:01:05.600 And so what we do is, if you can imagine the most influential cities in California,

00:01:09.560 we take a full sound system.

00:01:11.400 We do live worship, live music, preach the gospel, and then we baptize people right there

00:01:16.320 on the ocean and plug them into local churches.

00:01:18.520 So that's what I'm doing full time at the moment.

00:01:20.400 Okay.

00:01:20.680 We got to back up then.

00:01:21.760 We got to back up to hear how you came to do what you do now.

00:01:26.760 Tell us about the household that you were raised in.

00:01:28.700 Were you raised in this kind of revivalist Christian home? 0.62

00:01:32.600 Yeah, it honestly starts from day one because I was born by artificial insemination.

00:01:37.280 And the reason why I was born that way is my mom was and is living in a lesbian lifestyle.

00:01:42.360 And so I grew up in a two-mom household that was quote unquote normal for me.

00:01:46.580 And so my whole life, as I was, you know, from zero to 16 years old, every time, you know, we had a friend over or we had a party or birthday party, whatever the case may be, it was typically somebody from that community.

00:01:59.000 And so it's a very interesting backdrop because I definitely was not raised in a revival or Christian atmosphere, yet God pursued me.

00:02:07.500 He found me, he saved me.

00:02:08.640 And so here I am today.

00:02:09.900 Okay.

00:02:10.340 Let's dig into the details of that.

00:02:11.880 We talk about that a lot on this show, just the formation of the family, but also the

00:02:17.200 reproductive industry, something like sperm donation.

00:02:20.380 What was the first moment that you realized, oh, my family's a little different, that I've

00:02:27.640 got two moms and my friends seem to have a dad.

00:02:30.940 That's a little odd.

00:02:32.780 Yeah.

00:02:33.020 Well, honestly, it wasn't too different to me because it was how I was raised.

00:02:37.200 But then as I got older and started thinking, started asking questions and came to the Lord

00:02:42.200 at 16 years old, I was like, okay, I actually have to figure out like, what is different

00:02:46.920 about my life?

00:02:48.200 Why do I have two moms as opposed to most people who I see have a one mom, one father?

00:02:52.900 And so I would say-

00:02:53.620 So it really wasn't until you were about 16 that you started really even thinking about

00:02:57.260 that.

00:02:57.480 Because you said that a lot of people that came to your house, they were homosexual themselves.

00:03:02.000 Yes. 0.99

00:03:02.480 So it was just kind of normal for you.

00:03:04.780 Yeah, it was kind of normal.

00:03:05.680 like there wasn't really any questions to be asked

00:03:07.820 because I didn't even know what questions to ask, right?

00:03:10.540 But then when you give your life to Jesus

00:03:12.540 and you start learning about him

00:03:14.440 and the Holy Spirit enters into your heart

00:03:16.300 and you're like, wow, this is not the language I like to say,

00:03:19.800 this is not the design of God.

00:03:21.380 This is not how God created the family to operate.

00:03:23.940 And so when I started having that revelation,

00:03:25.780 I was like, wow, there is something different

00:03:28.260 about my upbringing than many other people.

00:03:30.720 And so that's what led me to start asking questions

00:03:32.500 like, well, mom, like tell me more about our family,

00:03:34.640 you know, tell me more about, do you know, my dad, you know, and as those questions start to

00:03:38.720 kind of come to the surface, you start figuring out really quickly, okay, this is a much different

00:03:42.980 story than maybe I even knew was possible or existed. So you don't remember when you're five

00:03:48.800 or six years old, ever having those questions or ever aching for a dad? Or was it just like,

00:03:57.300 this is just what my life is. And you never even questioned it until you were a teenager.

00:04:02.340 So that's a really great question, because though it was normal for me or what was normal to me inside of me was a different story. Right. Because on the outside, it's like, OK, this is where I'm growing up. I have my two moms. This is the household. But inside, I'm like, I didn't know what the language was or what the expression was, but I was longing, like you said, for a father.

00:04:21.780 I was longing for somebody who would provide, who would protect.

00:04:25.800 And my mom did many of those things.

00:04:27.160 But once again, when the woman's role is trying to step into the man's role, there's going to be differences there.

00:04:32.560 There's going to be what I would say almost really challenging areas that my mom couldn't fulfill, even though she tried her best.

00:04:40.140 And so deep down in my heart, as I got older, especially when I came to the Lord, I was like, wow, that's why I felt lonely.

00:04:46.900 That's why I felt anxious.

00:04:48.400 That's why I felt hopeless because I never had a true father who actually was able to

00:04:52.900 father me as I was being raised up.

00:04:55.120 And tell us then, well, first, before I actually ask about your conversion or your coming to

00:05:00.920 the Lord, what kind of religious environment were you raised in with two moms?

00:05:05.320 So I actually had never been to church my entire life. 0.97

00:05:08.780 Never heard a worship song.

00:05:10.280 I never heard a sermon.

00:05:11.940 I mean, I had, I like to say like this, I had zero grid for Jesus.

00:05:15.120 I had zero grid for the Bible.

00:05:16.500 I never opened up a Bible. So when I first went to church, like everything was completely

00:05:21.700 brand new to me. So it was a zero. Okay. So no, no religious background at all.

00:05:30.080 Do you remember your mom's having any like animosity towards religion or Christianity or no?

00:05:36.140 You know, it's honestly a really interesting story because when I was, so from the time I

00:05:41.200 was zero to 16 years old, my mom was with a certain partner. And in that timeframe,

00:05:45.620 that partner of hers would actually, she would say the name of Jesus or, you know, mention church

00:05:50.660 or things like that. But there was no, what I would say, personal engagement of our hearts

00:05:55.020 towards the Lord. Right. And then at 16, they actually split. And so it's almost like I had

00:06:01.000 this like little voice, tiny, small voice of somebody who wasn't necessarily walking with

00:06:05.780 the Lord, but still using his name. And so then when I came to the Lord, it like shifted my whole

00:06:10.500 perspective because I said, Whoa, this Jesus that I at least heard the name of now, I actually know

00:06:15.280 who he is. And that's what really shifted everything in my life. So I noticed that you

00:06:19.500 say mom, you don't say moms, the two women that you were raised by zero to 16. Do you consider

00:06:28.140 the woman who laughed at 16, your, your mom too? Yeah, great. Yeah. So I've never called her mom.

00:06:35.100 Really? And, you know, even before I was a Christian and the reason why I use this specific

00:06:39.600 language is because it's so important for people to understand. We're not just talking about like

00:06:43.820 one person's life especially when we see our culture now and how there's this is running

00:06:48.300 through our entire nation yeah and i like to say hey if you don't walk in the design of god

00:06:53.080 you can't walk in the blessing of god so how does that do with the moms well we're only created to

00:06:58.200 have one mom when we're here on the earth right and so i never called her mom even before i knew

00:07:03.960 the lord because that was not the design of god so it's not going to naturally come out now maybe i

00:07:08.120 can force it maybe i can try to make it into something it's not but for me my whole experience

00:07:12.520 I've always called my biological mom mom and she never pushed you to call her partner mom too

00:07:19.300 yeah I never recall my mom ever trying to you know and and I've actually had that somebody

00:07:24.980 asked me that question recently I was like man I can't remember a time where my mom was like hey

00:07:28.680 you must call her mom but I do know that my mom she was really gracious to me growing up and she

00:07:35.860 really cared for me well and so I think she was like hey I'm not gonna force my son to do something

00:07:41.360 if he doesn't want to do it. And I'm honestly really grateful that my mom at least had the

00:07:46.060 ability to like say, Hey, I want to give you grace. I'm going to make you're going to, you're

00:07:50.040 allowed to kind of choose what you want to do in this situation, even though she was living in a 0.97

00:07:54.120 specific lifestyle. It's interesting kind of what you said about God writing his design on all of

00:08:01.420 our hearts naturally that even your mom, even though she was living outside of God's design,

00:08:05.540 And it's like, she knew that the natural and right thing was for a child to have one mom.

00:08:12.840 And I think, I don't know if it's rare, but I do think, as you said, it's good that she

00:08:16.820 didn't force that on you.

00:08:17.940 She didn't force at least that confusion on you to say, no, you have two moms, even though

00:08:22.060 that's a biological impossibility.

00:08:23.820 And so, yeah, I wonder if that kind of allowed you or set you up for greater clarity later

00:08:30.680 on because she didn't force that confusion on you early.

00:08:33.520 That's really interesting.

00:08:34.260 Yeah, well, one thing that I've really found, you know, especially if we look in the last 10 or 20 years of our culture, it seems like this LGBTQ agenda, it's really coming to the surface. Like it's always been there, right? There's always people that have lived that lifestyle, but it seems to be more prevalent. Whereas with my mom, she never actually forced it upon me, which is really like she never forced me in the sense of like, hey, you must believe this. You must follow this. Now, obviously, when I became a Christian, there's some conversations we had to have. And I was so new in the faith that I really didn't know what to say. 0.98

00:09:03.740 I just, I was like, hey, I love Jesus.

00:09:07.140 You know, his word says that this is not the lifestyle of a believer.

00:09:10.640 And so we had to have some real conversations.

00:09:12.760 But the amazing thing is, is even till this day, my mom and I, we engage in conversation

00:09:17.640 and I'm really honest with her.

00:09:18.980 I say, mom, you know, I love you.

00:09:20.700 I'm so grateful for everything you did for me, but I'm believing that you would personally

00:09:24.580 engage with Jesus in your heart.

00:09:26.260 Right.

00:09:26.800 And so that's where our relationship is today.

00:09:29.120 And when her partner left when you were 16, so I'm, this is around the time.

00:09:33.740 that you became a Christian. Same week. Same week. So was that destabilizing for you? Even

00:09:40.500 though you didn't consider her a mom, I imagine that that was a hurtful shift in your life when

00:09:46.420 they were no longer together. Yeah. It was a really challenging week because in that week

00:09:52.240 when they were splitting up, obviously before any relationship splits up, there's going to be tension

00:09:56.200 and there's going to be just strife in the house. And as a kid, you can discern that whether you

00:10:00.560 know it or not. Then add on top of that, it's my first time ever going to church. I walk into the

00:10:05.720 church building and for the first time in my life, I'm actually sensing the presence of God. And so

00:10:11.580 I go home, I have this tension kind of happening at the house, which seems for a 15, 16 year old,

00:10:16.380 it's really challenging. Right. And I also have a younger brother. And then I go to church and it's

00:10:20.020 like the world is completely different. I'm full of hope. I'm full of peace. There's grace. I'm

00:10:25.040 feeling the presence of God. And so it was like these two worlds, these two tensions kind of

00:10:28.640 colliding in that week. And so it was a really challenging moment because as much as I love my

00:10:33.400 mom, there's tension happening in the household. Right. So yeah, it was really challenging.

00:10:37.960 So tell me how you were invited to church. How did you become a Christian?

00:10:42.420 It's actually a funny story. A friend of mine from my high school says, Hey, do you want to

00:10:46.360 come to church with me and my grandma? I say, sure. Why not? I show up typical story. I'm sitting in

00:10:52.040 the back row of the church. I wasn't mad. I was actually genuinely curious, but I was sitting

00:10:56.240 back there and the worship was playing. Like I said, this is the first time I'd ever heard live

00:11:00.700 worship music. So as soon as I heard live worship music and I, and like I said, at the time, I didn't

00:11:05.420 know what this was, but it was the presence of God. I was an easy one. I said, presence of God.

00:11:10.360 I feel great. I'm full of hope. I'm full of joy. Jesus, here's my life, you know? And I even

00:11:15.140 remember going home that night and the first time you went to church. Yeah. That was kind of, that

00:11:19.080 was like my original reaction. As my friend actually asked me, she said, how did you like

00:11:23.040 the service. I said, I'm not really sure what I think, but I know what I feel. And I feel full

00:11:28.340 of hope. I feel excited. I feel something's going on. Right. So I go home that night and, you know,

00:11:34.600 anytime you go to Sunday service, for the most part, the pastor gives what we would call an

00:11:38.300 altar call. And the pastor says, Hey, you know, do you want to give your life to Jesus? So I go

00:11:42.760 home that night and I'm thinking, if I'm going to give my life to something, this needs to be like

00:11:47.240 the real deal. You know, I don't want to just be a good person who reads a good book and goes to a

00:11:51.680 church, like, God, if you really are real, like this pastor said, Jesus, if you are the Messiah,

00:11:57.160 I want to know you. I want to know you. And sure enough, day after day in my room, I would just

00:12:01.560 sense the presence of God over and over. And I said, here's my life. So do you remember in those

00:12:07.520 first church services, hearing the gospel? Like, do you have like tangible memories of that?

00:12:14.980 I have tangible memories of different pieces. Like I can't remember, like, you know, some people,

00:12:18.920 they have these crazy encounters of what they would say they have these moments that are like

00:12:22.460 whoa like i really i heard my name or this or something yeah for me it wasn't like that it was

00:12:28.080 more so like my whole life i longed for this peace in my heart yeah and for the first time i actually

00:12:34.120 felt that i had language for that through the gospel and so the gospel was the language for

00:12:38.460 what my heart was longing for my entire life yeah and so when i heard it when i sensed it when i

00:12:43.300 felt it, I was like, this is it right here. This is Jesus. He's not just some man. He's not just

00:12:49.420 a book. He's not just a building. No, he's actually a relationship. And so that shifted everything for

00:12:54.640 me. So it was an affirmation of what you already knew that you needed, but you couldn't yet put

00:13:00.760 into words. So the message that you were a sinner bound for hell, that I think sometimes is an

00:13:11.200 impediment for people who don't think that they need a savior or who think that they're generally

00:13:15.960 a good person. For someone like you who didn't have that kind of theological background, I

00:13:21.800 imagine that you weren't taught, hey, you're a sinner in need of a savior growing up. What was

00:13:26.980 that aspect of the gospel like? Or was that also just affirmation? Were you kind of like, yeah,

00:13:31.840 I already know I messed up? Well, like I said, growing up, I always felt this sense of like

00:13:37.620 nobody actually knew me right or nobody actually cared even though my mom was she cared for me

00:13:42.480 and she took care of me in my soul in my heart it felt like nobody actually cared for Ross it was

00:13:48.220 what I would like to call like an orphan spirit right where I always saw me against the world

00:13:52.300 or I remember specifically when I would go to friends houses we had enough food on the table

00:13:56.440 we had a house we had everything we needed but I'd always try to eat as much as I could

00:13:59.800 right or I'd always try to make sure that I took care of Ross first get as much as I could for Ross

00:14:05.560 right and so when I heard the gospel it confronted that orphan spirit that no you're not alone you do

00:14:12.060 have a father and not only do you have a father he cares about you he wants to provide for you and

00:14:16.740 he wants to protect you so it was almost like the gospel though sin is obviously a critical

00:14:21.960 component of the gospel and understanding that we are separated from God it was like I was so

00:14:26.620 overjoyed to know that there's actually a God and I have a father that for me I was like yeah I'm a

00:14:31.860 sinner. Like whatever you need to do, Lord, here I am. I repent. Like I was just all in because for

00:14:36.760 the first time in my life, I actually had that heart connection. Yeah. Isn't it interesting that

00:14:41.520 you lacked a sense of belonging, even though you did have a home, you were not an orphan,

00:14:47.980 you had a mother who loved you. And yet you still kind of felt like you were just

00:14:51.620 wading through the world, right? Without any direction and without someone who was really

00:14:56.540 intently watching over you. Yeah. I even remember, this is going to sound funny,

00:15:01.220 but it'll make sense the first person like the first girlfriend I ever had in high school when

00:15:05.800 we broke up I like had to force myself to cry so I'd listen to specific songs right and I know

00:15:11.200 most people have had that story but the reason why secondhand serenade or something like that

00:15:14.920 I don't know if we're the same age but that's what we would have listened to emo songs like that yeah

00:15:19.500 but I remember the reason why that story comes to mind is because I was trying so hard to feel

00:15:23.440 something I was trying so hard to connect with like an emotion yeah like somebody care for me

00:15:29.000 Does somebody see my heart?

00:15:30.120 It wasn't even the girl, you know, it was the fact that I was longing for a deep heart

00:15:34.480 connection.

00:15:35.020 And so it's a funny story, but it proves the fact of like, Hey, when we don't walk once

00:15:40.160 again, in that design of God, when we don't know our father and we don't have a natural

00:15:44.100 father in our life, who's there for us, our hearts ache.

00:15:48.260 We long, we hurt.

00:15:49.940 And until we find the language of Jesus, of the gospel, man, we're just going to kind

00:15:54.700 of be on this, like, we're going to live this life with such a tainted view.

00:15:58.280 And we're just going to make decisions that just lead us deeper and deeper into that hole.

00:16:01.720 Yeah.

00:16:02.440 So for every Christian who is converted from unbelief to belief, there is a sanctification process.

00:16:11.220 So we don't understand everything that God has for us or everything that God reveals in his word right away.

00:16:18.360 We have a longing now.

00:16:20.040 We have a hatred for sin.

00:16:21.900 We become new.

00:16:22.980 But there's a lot of things that we still have to work out.

00:16:25.560 I imagine, just knowing your background, that one of the most difficult things was God's design for marriage.

00:16:32.800 Now, you had that inherent sense of, okay, something's off.

00:16:36.260 I need a father, a sense of belonging.

00:16:38.700 But for these people, this mother that you've loved to hear, this is not God's design.

00:16:43.680 What was that like for you working that out?

00:16:46.200 Yeah.

00:16:46.640 Well, when I first got saved, I really didn't even have that language.

00:16:50.220 Of course.

00:16:50.320 Because everything was so new to me.

00:16:52.040 Of course.

00:16:52.280 So I don't even remember what I told my mom, to be honest.

00:16:55.460 I don't remember fully, but as I've gotten older, you know, she sees my content. I'm very

00:17:00.600 upfront in my content and I honor my mom, right? I'm like, mom, I love you. I'm so grateful and

00:17:05.520 thankful for everything you've done for me. However, when you only have a mom, you can't do

00:17:10.520 everything that God designed because you have one role and the father has another role. And I've had

00:17:15.620 this conversation multiple times. And so for me, where I'm at right now is I'm like, Lord, you,

00:17:21.360 in our culture, we have these prevailing narratives, right? And the thing that I really

00:17:26.160 struggled with the most was actually not the marriage component. It was a component of sexual

00:17:30.980 confusion and even addiction, because when you're around that spirit, there's different expressions,

00:17:37.980 right? We see the gender confusion, we see, you know, pornography, we see all these different

00:17:41.740 expressions, but it's the same spirit behind it all. And so for me, that was actually my biggest 0.90

00:17:46.040 struggle was I was like, okay, I'm not struggling personally with being attracted to men.

00:17:51.360 But I am struggling in this area with lust.

00:17:54.960 And so for me, that was a challenge that I really had to overcome when I became a believer.

00:17:59.600 Now that you are able to look back in retrospect, you're able to kind of put words to the longing and orphan spirit that you said that you had.

00:18:10.260 Do you now see some examples of the consequences of not having a father growing up before you were even able to put words into it?

00:18:20.440 Like the lack of even just like a masculine presence.

00:18:23.820 Like what are some of those things that you see now looking back?

00:18:26.940 Yeah.

00:18:27.240 I mean, it's going to sound funny, but it's just the reality. 1.00

00:18:29.840 I didn't know how to pursue a woman. 0.98

00:18:31.940 Like I, in high school, I had no clue how to approach a woman. 0.85

00:18:35.280 Like if I was interested in, like I had no clue because I never had a father to say, 1.00

00:18:38.980 Hey, this is how you respect women.

00:18:40.820 Hey, if you're feeling this, there's one way to do it.

00:18:43.080 You know, I had zero of that.

00:18:44.580 So for so long in my life, I listened to culture, whatever music said, whatever the movie said,

00:18:50.440 oh, that's what I have to do to be a man.

00:18:52.340 Oh, that is what it actually means to pursue a woman.

00:18:54.740 Oh, that's what it actually means to be successful, right?

00:18:57.800 And then once again, when you come to the Lord

00:18:59.700 and the Holy Spirit comes in you, you're confronted

00:19:02.400 because everything you thought was truth is no longer truth.

00:19:05.900 It's actually a lie and a facade.

00:19:08.540 And so that was one of the biggest things.

00:19:10.340 I remember like, it's like I had a light bulb moment,

00:19:12.480 like, whoa, everything that I put my hope, my trust,

00:19:15.700 my faith in is actually not the truth.

00:19:19.100 It's a lie.

00:19:20.280 And so that's been one of the, one of those things where I was like, wow, this is, this

00:19:24.920 is truly what God has called me into is to stand and confront these issues of our day

00:19:29.000 and say, Hey, you might be feeling a certain way.

00:19:31.840 You might have a certain experience, but here's the truth that God has for you.

00:19:35.360 And not only is it the truth, but it's better.

00:19:37.740 Yeah.

00:19:38.280 What's your response to the prevailing message of the day?

00:19:41.920 There'll even be some YouTube comments saying, um, you know what?

00:19:46.220 you shouldn't try to change your mom or it's totally, it's totally acceptable to be a so-called 0.72

00:19:53.160 gay Christian. God doesn't have a particular design. Um, you understand where that person 0.52

00:19:59.620 is coming from and why it's very personal for a lot of people, but how do you approach that?

00:20:05.300 Yeah. I mean, on a practical level, if we look at thousands of years of the church,

00:20:09.640 we know deep down, right? We know deep down, like God, this is what your word says. And this is

00:20:14.880 it's been practiced for thousands of years by the church. So anytime there's a Christian or

00:20:19.220 somebody who would profess being a believer who is okay with gay marriage or living in a lesbian

00:20:24.120 lifestyle, it's like, I want to actually have a real conversation with you because that expression

00:20:29.780 is probably not the root issue. There's something deep down in your heart. There's, there's an

00:20:33.880 experience. There's a moment, something that somebody has said, whatever the case may be.

00:20:38.800 So my heart is like, do you actually want to have a real conversation with me? Or do you just want

00:20:42.680 to toss names and words back and forth. I'm not interested in getting in emotional debates with

00:20:47.140 you. I'm interested in like, who are you? What's your heart? Where are you at with Jesus? Because

00:20:52.900 when you have the real conversations and the real questions, you can't lie or you just walk away.

00:20:59.460 And so any person that's in one of those boats, I'm like, let's have a real conversation. Let's

00:21:03.860 see where are you coming from? Let me share my experience. Let's talk about the word of God.

00:21:08.740 Let's see what Holy Spirit wants to reveal to us. And let's have a real conversation.

00:21:12.500 That's what I love to tell people.

00:21:13.860 Yeah, that's really good.

00:21:15.100 Because it does come back to like a very fundamental understanding of who God is and what his word is.

00:21:21.640 When we have the conversations about like, you know, proper sexuality, holy sexuality and gender, things like that, that have turned into these political topics, which are really fundamentally biblical.

00:21:33.140 I do.

00:21:34.100 I agree.

00:21:34.740 I think it's important to go back to what does that person believe about God?

00:21:40.320 Yes.

00:21:40.680 Before we can talk about homosexuality, before we can talk about Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6,

00:21:46.600 Genesis 1, all these passages, do you believe that God is good?

00:21:50.940 Do you believe that he's trustworthy?

00:21:52.540 Do you believe that he's authoritative?

00:21:54.040 Do you believe that he made all of this and therefore can define things how he wants to

00:21:58.840 define them?

00:21:59.480 Do you believe that he knows what is best for you?

00:22:02.520 And then do you believe that he has revealed those things through his word?

00:22:06.300 Because that's really what we are debating.

00:22:08.480 rather than debating these other issues.

00:22:10.820 We're really debating, who do you think is in charge?

00:22:13.660 Is it you or God?

00:22:15.200 That makes all the difference, right?

00:22:16.660 Yeah, well, because Paul said, right,

00:22:18.000 if you don't have the Holy Spirit,

00:22:19.600 you can't understand spiritual truth, right?

00:22:21.900 So that doesn't mean we don't quote the word of God.

00:22:23.500 Of course not.

00:22:24.180 But what it means is we need to actually talk

00:22:26.540 about life experiences.

00:22:28.420 We need to talk about what do you believe about creation?

00:22:30.980 We need to actually talk about these things

00:22:32.580 because it's so easy just to throw your opinion

00:22:35.700 or whatever you may believe in one box

00:22:37.900 and you never actually have to engage on the heart level, right?

00:22:41.280 So many people are engaging up here.

00:22:42.980 I want to engage right here.

00:22:44.320 I want to engage on the heart level.

00:22:46.080 I want to engage where, what do you believe?

00:22:48.420 What was your experience as a child growing up?

00:22:50.220 How were your parents?

00:22:51.400 Why do you believe this, right?

00:22:53.040 Because when we actually talk about your actual life,

00:22:55.840 it goes from me just saying, this is my opinion to, uh-oh,

00:22:58.960 I have to actually confront what's in my actual heart

00:23:01.320 and what I believe about God.

00:23:02.840 Yeah.

00:23:03.300 And once you've established with someone,

00:23:05.800 if someone says, yes, I believe God is good, loving, authoritative, and that his word is

00:23:10.200 inerrant, then you can go from there. And then you can say, great. Like, here's what the word

00:23:15.620 says. And God is so gracious, I think, to give us the privilege of clarity that the world doesn't

00:23:20.260 have. The world is waiting in chaos and confusion. And God is not a God of confusion or chaos. He's

00:23:26.600 a God of peace. He's a God of truth. He's a God of clarity. And he's made these very contentious

00:23:31.440 and hot button topics so clear for the Christian, that it's actually a privilege that we get to look

00:23:37.120 at Genesis 127, that we are made male and female and say, awesome. I don't have to wade into all

00:23:43.760 of these very confusing thought exercises about gender bending and things like that, because God

00:23:50.200 has given us the gift of clarity in his word. I think sometimes people see God's word as like

00:23:54.660 a burden that they have to carry, that they have to apologize for, or take God off the hook for

00:24:00.120 the culture, really, it's such a privilege that we get that clarity. Yeah. And I even want to

00:24:04.940 call the church higher too, right? Like there's two sides to this coin. It's like, yeah, we're

00:24:09.900 the church of Jesus Christ. We are supposed to be the most loving, but at the same time, share the

00:24:14.760 truth. And so many times we want to settle for one or the other, like all truth, all truth, all truth.

00:24:19.260 And then we actually never love the person. If you don't feel loved by somebody, you're probably

00:24:23.280 not going to have a conversation with them. Right. But at the same time, we have the other camp. It's

00:24:27.180 all about love. It's all about what you feel. It's like, yeah, God is love, right? But at the same

00:24:33.420 time, we have to share truth. And so that's what I want to see take place is like, hey, we can have

00:24:38.080 our beliefs and our thoughts, but are we willing to actually come together, have conversation,

00:24:43.500 love one another, but actually share the truth with one another? Because that is an absolute

00:24:47.300 game changer. Absolute game changer. Yeah. First John 4, 8, God is love. But I like to say, but

00:24:53.180 you cannot out love God. And so I think a lot of people by apologizing for God's word or pretending

00:25:00.360 that God didn't have anything to say about sexuality or about gender, they actually think

00:25:06.020 that they are more loving or more compassionate or more empathetic than God is. Because if God

00:25:11.940 is love, and he said what he said in Romans 1, he said what he said in 1 Corinthians 6,

00:25:17.160 He said what he said in Genesis 1.

00:25:19.380 Therefore, all of those things are loving.

00:25:22.420 He can't say something that is not loving or do something that is not loving because he is love.

00:25:27.380 We're not told that we are love, but he is love.

00:25:29.640 Therefore, the most loving thing we can always do is agree with him.

00:25:33.580 And that's hard for all of us.

00:25:35.260 That's difficult for all of us in relationships in different ways or even just confronting the sin in our own heart.

00:25:40.400 It can be difficult, but it's also a comfort to know, okay, if God says something, that it is the most loving thing that I can say to you.

00:25:46.720 Well, if we're Christians and we say we believe what we believe and there's a real eternity,

00:25:51.300 if I actually say I love you, but I don't even give you an opportunity to enter into eternity

00:25:57.080 with God, do I actually love you? Right? Like if I say, oh, you know what? I want the best for you.

00:26:03.380 I care about your life, but then I'm scared to go into these hard topics because I'm afraid of

00:26:08.280 a relational dynamic or whatever the case may be. It's like, no, no, no. I have to do what Paul said.

00:26:13.500 I have to set my sight on heavenly realities.

00:26:16.560 I can't be so focused on what's in front of me.

00:26:18.920 Paul said, what we see now won't last forever, but what we don't see will last forever.

00:26:23.900 So if I truly love you and I truly care about you, I have to share the truth with you.

00:26:28.640 Not because I want to hit you on the head and make you feel horrible.

00:26:31.860 No, no, no. 0.68

00:26:32.460 I want to give you an opportunity to say, listen, here is the real Jesus.

00:26:37.320 The real Jesus, not only will he do X, Y, and Z for you because he's good, but he wants

00:26:42.140 you to know him.

00:26:43.500 You know, God's greatest desire is not what we can do for him.

00:26:46.600 It's being with him.

00:26:48.020 And so many people, they come from this perspective.

00:26:49.940 Well, if I come to God, I got to do this.

00:26:51.480 Like, well, yes, if you love somebody, you do something for them.

00:26:54.040 But his greatest desire isn't what you do.

00:26:56.200 He wants to know you.

00:26:57.640 He wants your heart to be filled with his love.

00:26:59.420 He wants you to walk in peace, walk in joy, walk in hope.

00:27:03.080 But if nobody, aka the church, if we don't give people an opportunity and explain that to them, how would they ever know?

00:27:08.840 Right?

00:27:09.360 Romans 10.

00:27:10.140 Unless somebody goes, how are they going to know?

00:27:11.900 unless somebody speaks, how are they going to hear? So that's our privilege, like you said,

00:27:16.360 in our opportunity as a church. And obviously you feel a love in multiple different ways for your

00:27:23.800 mom that you don't feel for every person. You love her as a Christian. You love her as someone

00:27:28.880 who wants her to be saved, just as you love everyone that you encounter, but also this is

00:27:33.480 your mother. This is a special connection there. And so tell us a little bit more. You've referenced

00:27:38.340 said a couple of times about the conversations that you've had with her. But tell us what that's

00:27:43.160 like. It sounds like you still have a good relationship, even though you believe the

00:27:47.900 things that you do, not just about God, but about her state and about who she believes that she is

00:27:54.980 on a fundamental level. What has that been like? Yeah. So it's really funny because just over a

00:27:59.940 year ago, before I got into full-time ministry, I was working for a social media marketing agency,

00:28:04.800 making really good money. Right. And the Lord said, Hey, if you want to pioneer a movement,

00:28:09.300 you're going to have to resign. So I resigned. So when you go from pretty good money to zero,

00:28:13.860 it's a big situation. And the reason why I'm sharing this is because my mom was one of the

00:28:17.400 first people to say, you know what? I'll be one of your monthly financial donors. And she knows

00:28:21.400 what I do. Travel America full time, share the gospel, equip the church. Like she knows what I

00:28:25.600 do. It's not like I'm just like, yeah, mom, I'm just kind of like speaking here and there. Like

00:28:28.460 she knows. Right. Number two, she'll call me from time to time and she'll say, man, I watch one of

00:28:33.320 your videos on social media, whatever it is. It's like, I sense something. I feel something.

00:28:37.640 You need to keep doing that. Right. So she knows, she knows that the Lord is working on her heart

00:28:43.440 and she knows that's why she won't come to one of my gatherings. Cause she knows she'll get saved.

00:28:48.160 But our relationship is, she's like scared of what the Holy spirit is already starting to stir in

00:28:53.620 her. Yeah. So our relationship is actually really good, which I know unfortunately is not the case

00:28:58.420 for many people, maybe that are in my situation or my bow, but I think that's what happens when

00:29:02.780 you're genuine with somebody, even if they disagree with you, if you're genuine, you share

00:29:07.080 the truth in love. How can, I mean, sure, there will always be the, what I like to call the crazy

00:29:11.480 people who just say, I'm not going to accept that. I'm out. Don't talk to me again. That's a small

00:29:15.420 percentage. Most people, they'll have a conversation with you. So my mom and I, I've kept it real with

00:29:20.200 her. I love her. She sees my life, but not only does she see my life, she sees the fruit of my

00:29:25.040 life, right? Because if I'm going to call somebody into the reality of who Jesus is, but I'm not

00:29:29.640 bearing fruit in my life. It's going to be a little challenging. It's a little iffy. And so

00:29:33.400 I think all those components together have really allowed my mom and I's relationship

00:29:37.360 to be on a healthy level while I share truth with her. Yeah. And you said that you had a brother.

00:29:43.500 I know you can't speak for your brother, but is he kind of in the same position that you are?

00:29:48.640 Has he realized a lot of the same things that you have? So I'm actually the only Christian

00:29:52.860 in my family. It's a really unique story because my mom never knew her father,

00:29:58.180 my grandma, right? My grandma never knew her father, right? And so all the only family that

00:30:04.880 I have is literally my mom, my brother. My mom has a few siblings, but I've only seen them once

00:30:10.000 or twice. Now I share all this because I think really what we're getting into is the even bigger

00:30:14.500 picture, which is, like I said earlier, we have a fatherlessness crisis. We have a lack of fathers

00:30:21.480 and there's three ways to look at this, right? Number one, you actually didn't have a natural

00:30:25.060 father. Number two, you did have a father, but he didn't know the Lord or didn't represent the

00:30:29.780 Lord well. Or three, you have a misrepresentation of the father. So if you have any of those

00:30:35.500 happening in your life, it's really easy to end up in a situation like I did. Praise God that I

00:30:40.340 met the Lord and now I have the Holy Spirit. But all those things I believe are the bigger issue

00:30:44.640 and we're seeing it confronted on a cultural level. Do you still long to know who your

00:30:51.400 biological father is? I've actually, no, it's surprising. I know most people go, don't you

00:30:57.720 want to meet him and see him? And I don't. And I think one of the reasons why is this is going to

00:31:03.880 sound like a really cheesy line, but I'm learning that the cheesy lines are usually the most true

00:31:07.180 lines, right? When I met the father, he became my father and he fathered me from 16 years old till

00:31:13.700 now. He's now taught me how to be a man. He's taught me how to pursue a woman. He's taught me

00:31:19.280 what it means one day to lead a family right so as soon as you meet the father all of a sudden

00:31:25.140 you actually get to learn from the truest source you get to meet you get to learn from god himself

00:31:30.120 yeah and so in regards to the question i've never really had this longing like if it was to happen

00:31:35.360 or if he's somehow watching this i'd of course i'd meet him i'd say hey like who are you because

00:31:40.420 i don't know i don't know anything about him i just know his height and i think like eye color

00:31:44.300 right that's all i know so i'd be curious um but there's nothing in me that's like man i absolutely

00:31:49.700 this is like a life mission of mine like i must do this yeah i don't really have a desire in that

00:31:53.440 regard did you have mentors when you became a christian and afterward in the church of older

00:31:58.960 men who kind of took you under their wing and helped support you i remember when i first got

00:32:04.420 saved because keep like i said it was such a different world for me like it was going from

00:32:09.620 you know, literally darkness into light. And so there was a guy by the name of Chris and he became

00:32:15.140 such a spiritual father to me in that season of my life. I remember him sometimes taking me home

00:32:19.820 to church, you know, grabbing food for me and letting me spend the night at his house once or

00:32:23.940 twice a week or whatever the case may be. And even now in my life, I actually have two or three men

00:32:28.580 who are much older than me, who I always go to for life things and spiritual matters, because it's so

00:32:34.660 important to have people in your life who you allow to speak in. But especially when you come

00:32:38.980 from a background like me, where you don't, you never had a natural father, there still is that

00:32:43.840 craving and that desire to say, man, I wish I could just sometimes, you know, lay on my father's

00:32:49.080 chest, right? Or I wish sometimes I can just, he can just hug me. Or I wish sometimes he could

00:32:53.560 just listen to me, right? Now I have that in the father, right? In God, but we're natural beings.

00:32:58.500 We want someone right here next to us to be able to comfort us in different moments of our life.

00:33:03.240 So there is a desire for that, but it's not, it's not the desire for like the guy who actually, you know, donated his sperm and my mom was inseminated by.

00:33:12.680 Yeah. And you will, you know, by the grace of God and according to the will of God, be a father one day, if that's what's in store for you.

00:33:22.900 You're not, you're not married right now.

00:33:25.300 So as you think about the future of fatherhood and knowing that you didn't have a natural example for that, like, what are your thoughts surrounding that?

00:33:32.980 Is that intimidating for you? Does it scare you a little bit? Are you just super excited to be able to, I mean, you're, you would be breaking a generational experience that your predecessors had by providing a father for your child. So what are your thoughts?

00:33:50.080 There's moments where I, where I think about it. I'm like, I don't know what to do, you know? And then I, I talked to other men. They're like, I don't know what to do. Right. Um, so there's parts of me that kind of go like, wow, like how, how am I going to handle that? Like, will I be a good father? But then there's the reality and the truth of, well, I have the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is going to teach me how to lead, how to guide. I have the word of God. I can see practically what to do things, how to lead my wife, how to love my children.

00:34:17.300 So there's been moments where I was like, man, this is kind of scary and this is going to be really challenging.

00:34:21.960 But I think where I'm at right now is it's actually something I'm looking forward to.

00:34:25.240 I'm like, man, it's an honor and a blessing to be called a father.

00:34:29.780 It's an honor and a blessing to build and to lead a legacy.

00:34:33.380 And more importantly, to be a man of God in a culture that is just so anti-men.

00:34:38.680 And, you know, that's a whole other conversation.

00:34:40.140 But so, yeah, I'm really looking forward to it.

00:34:42.100 And I'm really excited to have children one day and to lead a family and to have a wife.

00:34:45.840 okay tell us a little bit more before we end about what you do california will be saved i know you

00:34:54.500 mentioned it at the beginning but tell us a little bit more about it yeah when we look at california

00:34:58.800 it's really easy to say it's so dark yeah and it's so crazy like is god is god there in that

00:35:05.020 state right but when we look at history we see so much revival history and so many things so many

00:35:10.860 moves of god that have happened in the state so i like to say like this california has a dna of

00:35:15.200 revival. It has a DNA of God doing spectacular things there. And so we know though, that what

00:35:20.640 happens in California gets exported to the whole world, whether that's exactly, whether that's the

00:35:25.060 kingdom of darkness, the kingdom of light, it's going to get exported. So what we decided to do

00:35:29.200 is in 2020, there's this guy by the name of Gavin Newsom, who is the governor of California. And he

00:35:37.260 tries shutting the church down, which will never happen. But in that moment, I remember looking on

00:35:43.420 the tv screen if we go back to 2020 for a second because we like to easily forget it was crazy

00:35:48.420 but especially in california and so in that moment i remember i met a friend of mine by the name of

00:35:53.680 joel and we're just having we're just becoming friends he leads worship he sings and we're like

00:35:58.360 we got to do something in california something has to be done we can't we know the answer is

00:36:03.000 not just to sit in our house watch a tv screen like we have to do something we show up at huntington

00:36:08.020 beach in august of 2021 huntington beach is an iconic beach in socal thousands of people there

00:36:12.860 we bring a full sound system. We do live worship. We preach the gospel. And I'm not kidding you.

00:36:19.880 Salvation broke out. I mean, people are walking on the boardwalk, coming up to us saying, I heard

00:36:24.440 what's happening here. What do I do to get saved? Like book of acts type of encounters, right? We

00:36:30.000 have people get delivered of drug addictions. We baptize people in the ocean. And so after that

00:36:35.000 night happened, we weren't trying to create a movement or a ministry, but we kind of looked

00:36:38.540 at each other and we said, I think God is doing something. And so we decided to name it, California

00:36:43.640 will be saved because we believe that whatever happens in California is going to happen all

00:36:48.400 throughout the nation and the nations of the earth. And so if the narrative is flipped in

00:36:51.580 California, what does that look like for the rest of the nation? I mean, that's true. California 0.59

00:36:55.980 exports its values, its policies to the rest of the country. America then turns around and does

00:37:01.160 the same thing to the rest of the world. So I think that is really interesting to look at it

00:37:06.780 from that perspective. And, you know, we talk a lot about how dangerous and difficult it can be

00:37:13.220 to raise your children in a place that you know is diametrically opposed to your values. And there

00:37:20.320 is discernment that parents need to have there. There are parents who say, you know what, we

00:37:25.100 cannot live in a place like this. But at the same time, we don't want all Christians to flee the

00:37:32.280 darkness in the same way that i talk about okay it's still important for christian teachers if

00:37:37.040 they can if they're convicted to do so to stay in government schools even if you take your children

00:37:42.000 out and so there's a time and a place and people that god calls to particular places and we are to

00:37:49.580 be light in darkness not just like a little diffused nightlight but one that shines really

00:37:54.300 really brightly um so i'm thankful i'm thankful that you're doing that and where can people learn

00:37:59.900 more about it? Yeah. Our social media, if you just type in California will be saved, or you type in

00:38:05.120 my name, Ross Johnston on Facebook, Instagram, wherever you're at, you'll definitely be able to

00:38:09.320 find us and see us. But one thing I want to share really quick in the last three years, I've only

00:38:14.700 had maybe one or two people out of, I can't even give you a number of those who I've preached the

00:38:18.640 gospel to only one or two have actually said no. So I want to encourage us as the body and people

00:38:24.360 who maybe are looking at California, like it's crazy there. It's like, if we would just actually

00:38:28.640 share the gospel in love and truth you'll be surprised at what happens yeah yeah and you know

00:38:33.000 what i'm sure that i don't know we haven't even worked it all out i'm sure that there are theological

00:38:37.420 differences maybe that you and i have your i would probably describe you as more charismatic than what

00:38:44.260 my church would be but we share in the ultimate goal of seeing people changed by jesus christ

00:38:49.980 and knowing that nothing is too dark nothing is too far off nothing is too depraved or too desperate

00:38:55.720 that God cannot save it and redeem it

00:38:57.440 and turn it into something beautiful.

00:38:59.140 Absolutely.

00:39:00.200 And so in that, we're co-labors

00:39:02.340 and I appreciate that so much.

00:39:04.880 Thank you.

00:39:05.480 So people can find out online

00:39:08.080 about California Will Be Saved.

00:39:09.960 There's been some articles written about it.

00:39:11.360 Can they follow you?

00:39:12.100 Do you have social media and stuff?

00:39:13.680 Yeah, you just type in my name, Ross Johnston,

00:39:15.800 R-O-S-S-J-O-H-N-S-T-O. 1.00

00:39:17.580 You have to put two N's

00:39:18.420 because somebody took my original name.

00:39:20.040 Rude.

00:39:20.300 So I know, come on.

00:39:21.600 That's so rude.

00:39:22.020 How can that happen?

00:39:22.840 Ross Johnston, I would never think

00:39:24.360 that anyone else would be named.

00:39:25.460 I never thought that either.

00:39:26.560 So yeah, if you just go on social media,

00:39:28.200 Instagram is the main place you can find me,

00:39:29.800 but I love to connect, love to hear your story.

00:39:32.240 You have questions, whatever the case may be.

00:39:34.320 We're all in this, like you said, for Jesus.

00:39:36.400 And when the church comes together,

00:39:37.920 like we just talked about,

00:39:39.280 man, there's such a beautiful blessing that God has.

00:39:41.560 Yeah, thank you so much.

00:39:42.980 Thank you, Ali.

00:39:55.460 Thank you.

Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - September 26, 2026

REPLAY ｜ Donor-Conceived, Lesbian-Raised & Born Again ｜ Guest： Ross Johnston

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