Pastor Jason Johns Testimony of Conversion to Christ

Well, thank you, Keith, Jared, and Annie, for leading us in worship this morning. I think I have to begin the service with confession of sin on my behalf. I am jealous of your building. I saw it online this week. It's the first time I've seen it outside of the church, and I texted Brother Chris a screenshot of it. I'm like, "Is this your church?" I'm like, "It's beautiful." And then to get inside. And then, the first time that you guys took off on an acapella chorus in here, I just stopped singing. I'm like, "This is incredible." I just felt like it was going straight up from here to the Lord Himself. Man, this is amazing.

I don't want my wife to come here. She loves buildings like this. If she comes here, she'll be putting on for us to become staff here at Grace Life Brookhaven. But praise the Lord for His goodness and grace in providing this building to you all. Let me begin by saying what a joy it is to be with you this morning. I have been looking forward to being here for a long time, and it's really exciting to finally be with you. Let me say that you have taken such good care of me. In the name of the congregation, may not know all that you do. You sent a gift to my wife, just a token of appreciation for her letting me be away from the family this week.

And I've got a personal note from her that I'll be reading to you, Lord willing, tonight. Is Ms. -- is it Betty? Becky. Is Ms. Becky in here? Right there. You are responsible for me not getting any sleep last night. You kept me up all night because she -- I had this basket in my room when I got in, and I ate -- listen, I ate cookies and cream bars. I ate Reese's pieces. I ate Snickers, and I'm not going to say how many. And I also ate whatever those cookie dough things -- like cake pops? Yeah, I couldn't sleep, y'all. I just tossed and turned. I was so full, but thank you so much.

And this is the time that you guys got for me this week to be with you. So, man, I just -- I love you already. I got a chance to meet some of you at the True Church Conference. I've really enjoyed getting to know Pastor Chris and Christy and look forward to getting to know the girls more this week. But I really feel like we're already family, and I hope you feel the same way. Man, I'm really expecting God to do great things this week, not because I'm a word of faith guy, but because I believe that we serve a great God and that He is going to build His church.

And so my prayer is that God would do exceeding abundantly above all that we may ask or think according to the power that is at work in us so that He will be glorified in Christ Jesus and in His church unto all generations and forever and ever. Amen. And that's what I have been praying and will continue to pray for this week. Well, this morning, I'm going to do something that I have never done, and I -- well, publicly. Let me say it that way. And that is share my personal testimony.

But when Brother Chris and I were talking about how the Lord was leading in maybe what we would look at preaching for the week, he said, "Brother, I'd like for you on Sunday morning to share your personal testimony." And I am not going to lie. Inside I went, "Uh-uh." I'm like, "That's not me." I'm like, "Give me a text and turn me loose, man. That's what I like to do." So I mean, sometimes we call on you guys to do uncomfortable things and step outside of your comfort zone. So kind of preaching, you know, our first time here doing something that I've never done, it's going to be stepping out of my comfort zone as well.

But I actually want to say I'm very thankful that you asked me to do it because I really enjoy just going back over and seeing again what God did in my life. And I look forward to sharing with you how God Almighty stepped into my life and radically changed me. And so to be really different, you know, I don't have a text for you to turn to, and we're not going to be walking through a text. I will be sharing some text with you, but it's just going to kind of be a personal testimony with a little preaching mixed in, all right?

When Brother Chris shared his testimony here, he shared that the Apostle Paul used a pattern when sharing his personal testimony. I think three different times in the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul shared his personal testimony. And he would typically follow this pattern. His life before he came to Christ, how and when he came to Christ, and then what his life was like after he came to Christ. And so that's the pattern that I'm going to follow this morning. So number one, my life before I came to Christ. I was born in Wachula, Florida, July the 12th, 1973.

Do the math, and yes, I will be 50 years old this July, July the 12th, and you're all invited to my party. And if you want to know what I want, I'll be glad to share with you. I was born in Hardy Memorial Hospital. You may be wondering, "Why in the world are you telling us that?" The reason is because there was this very well-known tragic event that happened in that hospital. Two babies were switched at birth. Have you guys ever heard of that story on 2020 or one of those documentaries? Yeah. Well, they didn't find out until like 15 years later that the babies had been switched.

What happened was a nurse on her deathbed wanted to clear her conscience before she died, and she accused the doctor who also delivered me in Hardy Memorial Hospital with switching those babies at birth, and sure enough, he did. It was proven. Again, we've got 2020 and all these articles out here to prove that that happened, and my mom would often, as I was growing up, say, "That's what happened to you." We came home with the wrong kid. That doctor didn't just switch one set of kids. And so that might tell you a little bit about what I was like as a kid growing up.

We moved to Hilliard, Florida, which is right on the Florida-Georgia line when I was five, and that's where I would grow up and graduate high school. Any of you ever heard of Hilliard, Florida? Just about... Yeah, I didn't think so. One red light, small little town, not much else to say about that. We didn't go to church when I was a kid. I remember going to church one time before I was seven years old, but somewhere around that time, there was this church that ran a bus route. And as well as I can remember, they had some men that came out on bus visitation. Man, I don't usually do this. We're just on the fly.

Any of you guys ever been involved with bus ministry in any way? Okay, a few of you have. So you'll remember that. I'll bring back some memories. I was went out on bus visitation, and my parents didn't want to go to church, but they sent me and my brother and a couple of our cousins, and we started riding the bus to church. Well, I don't remember how long it was, but a few months or so, they finally got the parents to come to church because that's how it works. We go after the kids and hopefully we'll be able to get the parents that way.

And my parents started going to church, and when I was about eight years old was when my mom and dad were both saved and baptized at Buford Grove Baptist Church, an independent, fundamental Baptist church if you understand what that means. And our lives were changed. We started going to Sunday school every week, Sunday morning, Sunday night, a little hit or miss on Wednesday night, but all of the activities, all of the revivals, man, we were there, and that was my experience growing up. I made a profession of faith. I don't remember how old I was the first time that I made a profession of faith.

Some of you might be able to identify with that. And then again, around probably 15 years of age, I got quote unquote saved again, and I got baptized again. And so that was around 15. So most of my middle school and high school years, I would define myself as a double minded man. James speaks in his letter of being a double minded man. You might understand the term hypocrite. I went to church. Everybody thought I was a Christian. I did some Christian things. I was vice president of our school FCA. You may know it as Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I sang in a southern gospel group.

As a teenager, we actually went around to different churches and different places and sang. But there was this other side of me. There was this primary part of me that was self-willed, self-loving, self-serving, a lover of the things of world and a lover of sin. And I was doing all of this. Yes, I was self-willed, self-loving, self-serving, and loved sin all while I was FCA vice president and all while I was singing tenor in a young man's gospel quartet.

As I thought about and was preparing this, I thought of something that happened with one of the girls that I grew up with, who I think summed up who I was very well one day as we were seniors sitting in Coach Wittenberg's math class. I still remember it like it was yesterday. Now this young lady did not have a good reputation. If you have someone stereotypically that comes up in your mind when you think of one of the wild girls and with the boys and out partying and what they did on the weekends, this was like the lead girl.

And as we sat there that morning, a little group of us in the back corner talking about inappropriate stuff, saying some off-colored things, she turned around and said, "Jason John, you make me sick. You go to church and sing in a gospel group and act like you're this big Christian and you're no different than us. You do the same things we do." That would have summed it up. And she was exactly right. I was a hypocrite. Well I graduated high school and headed off to Valdosta State University. I was doing pretty good. There about the first year or so I was doing pretty good academically. I was making some friends and I was starting to party.

My sophomore year I joined Delta Chi Fraternity, although I had received counsel not to do that. Of course, when we were 18, 19, and 20, we know more than anybody. You can say amen there. Not only did I join Delta Chi Fraternity in my sophomore year, but my junior year became president of Delta Chi Fraternity. Now what's this progression? Then I became on academic warning, then academic probation. I think I passed one class my entire year, my entire junior year at college, and no need to discuss my extracurriculars that was causing me to fail. You can connect the dots there. Let me give you an idea of what's going on here.

My parents were a restraining grace to me while I was living at home. But now I was free to do whatever my heart wanted. And it did what I always wanted to do in high school, even though I went to church and even though I was in FCA and even though I sang in the group, my heart wanted those other things and now I was free to do what my heart wanted to do. And you know what the Bible says about your heart? The Bible says in Proverbs 4 that out of your heart flow the issues of life. In other words, you do what you do because of what's in your heart.

And Jesus would come along and give commentary and say this in Matthew 12, 33, "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for a tree is known by its fruit." Jesus says this isn't to be debated or questioned. Look at the fruit and you know what the tree is. You've never seen an apple tree produce oranges, right? And vice versa, you've never seen a fig tree produce apples. And he's saying here a good tree will not produce bad fruit. Why was I producing the fruit in my life that I was? Jesus would say plainly because your heart is bad. Doesn't matter that you've been baptized twice.

Doesn't matter how many times you've said the prayer. Your heart has not been changed. It's revealing who and what you truly are. Of course, I didn't know all of this at the time. And so after my senior year in college, which by now I was on the seven year plan, my dad said that's enough. You're coming home for the summer. I was supposed to go stay with my girlfriend in Tallahassee and her family and work for her uncle's accounting firm that summer. That would have been cool. But you know what? I didn't want to buck my parents. I didn't want to fight my parents and that was my nature because I needed help.

There was a part of me that wanted to come home because at this point in my life I had nothing. I had no money. I had no peace. I honestly was tired of all the stuff that goes along with college life. Again you fill in the blanks. To some degree I was like the prodigal son in Luke 15 who was coming to himself in the pig pit. I'd really like to ask those of you who are younger to listen to me right now. You might be like me and you might ignore it and you'll regret that you did.

But Proverbs 13 verse 15 says this, "Good understanding gives favor in the way of the transgressor's heart." That might be the verse that other than 1 Corinthians 10, 31, whether therefore you eat, drink or whatever you do, do also the glory of God. That verse might be the one most quoted, "My house," telling my kids, "The way of the transgressor is hard. It always leads, sin and rebellion always leads to the same end, hard." But Proverbs doesn't end there. It says Proverbs 13, 20, "Whoever walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm." You know there's this group of people.

There may be a very small group of people, but they strive to do right. They strive to live according to what their parents say because God has said, the first commandment that comes with promise is honor your father and mother that it may go well with you. He's just saying there's wisdom. God in love gave you parents because they're smarter than you and He doesn't leave it up to your discretion. He commands you, listen to them because it will be best for you.

And there's this group that strives to do that and strives to honor the Lord, and there's this other group that tries to split the fence and tries to be duplicitous and really wants to do this, and every once in a while you get caught up with them. Or maybe, maybe you're even the leader of them. And how's that working for you? Where does it usually end? It ends in the way of the transgressor. It's hard. It may last for a season and you may pull it off and then it all comes tumbling down because the companion of fools will suffer harm.

In Proverbs 14, 12, it says it this way, "There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is the way of death." Sin, I remember you saying this in your testimony, Brother Chris, sin always leads to death. Now ultimately, physical death. You know the Bible says the wages of sin is death. We all die because of this thing called sin. But it's not just physical death that sin brings. Sin kills everything. Ultimately it will kill your joy. Ultimately it will kill your peace. Listen to me, ultimately it will kill every relationship you have.

If you live a life of sin and walk the path of sin, it will ruin your relationship with your parents, it will ruin your relationship with your spouse, it will ruin your relationship with God, it will ruin your relationship with the church, it will ruin every relationship because sin always leads to death. There's a way that seems right to man, but it ends up killing everything. And by the way, there is a way that leads to life and blessing, and it's the way of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So now let me tell you, that was my life before I came to Christ. Now let me tell you how and when I came to Christ.

So I came home that summer, and if you come home, you go to church. That's just house rules, even if you're 22 years old. I started working with my dad, who's in the logging business, by the way. All my family's in the logging business, have no idea. He actually knew of Brooke Haven, and he knew some loggers around this area. He's actually going to invite them to come. So if you log, I'd love to talk with you. Afterwards, quick side note, and we're back. Started working with my dad, and I didn't go back to school, even though I put in four years there. I was just trying to get my life straightened out. Yo, I was a mess.

I got back involved in church. I started singing again. Always loved singing, and that was just something that was natural and easy for me to jump back in. I started serving in the youth group, because there was a part of me that was like, "This is stupid. Don't go this way. I can help you." I mean, you just have that in you. So I started working with the youth group, but there was a problem. Because for the first time in my life, I actually listened to sermons. Like when I was going to church, I listened to every sermon. And also at this time, I was, I mean, my, my, my, my pastor, they, they didn't know for all they knew.

I'd been saved and baptized, so they, they didn't mind the truth. They see something going on here. But I'm teaching the young people now, and I'm studying the Bible to teach them, and it is wrecking me. I am like, I, I don't know if I'm saved or not. I just keep, I keep reading, and I keep wondering, and I keep reading, and I keep struggling, and I keep listening. And all the while, I was coming under deep conviction of sin. I'm not just making this up when I tell you this. That one time I could have quoted all of these verses, probably could come close now. First John wrecked me.

Listen to some of the passages from First John that were just seared into my mind. First John chapter 2 verse 3. Now by this, we know that we know him. Okay, all right, this is how I'll know if I'm saved, if I'm one of his. If we keep his commandments, would anybody like to review the last six, seven years of my life? It was the furthest thing from keeping his commandments. John goes on to say, "He who says I know him and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. He who says he abides in him ought himself also to walk just as he walked." Dear Lord, I'm in trouble, y'all. Now let me pause for just a moment.

We're not talking about a slip-up. We're not talking about a short season or a battle for repentance, okay? That's not who we're talking about here. We're talking about someone from their heart just flying into sin, practicing sin, years of sin. Then we hit First John chapter 2 verse 19, just a few verses down. "Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him." First John chapter 3 verse 10, "Herein are the children of God manifest and the children of the devil. He who practices sin is of the devil." I'm reading this stuff and listening to me.

It doesn't matter how many times you go back to that eight-year-old in the pastor's office or that 15-year-old, and it was like, "But I prayed the prayer and I thought a minute." It doesn't matter when you read the Bible. You don't have an answer. You're left exposed. "I can't find assurance in something I did in two minutes ten years ago." This is, "Herein are the children of God manifest." This is how we know that we are His. This is the test. This is what will judge me in the end. Then I'll never forget it. Oh, y'all, it's getting close now. Just hang in here with me. I'm at a revival service. Like I was searching. I was struggling.

And there was this old evangelist. And again, if you know the independent fundamental world, you'll know what I'm talking about. There's this old evangelist. And he was preaching on Matthew chapter 7. And I don't know how in the world did I not hear this growing up in my life, but it was Matthew 7, 21 through 24. When he hit, not everyone who says, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of the Father. Many. Wow. Many. There will be in that day who will say, "Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name?" By the way, I'm teaching youth at this point.

"Have we not done many mighty works in Your name?" I mean, I was an FCA vice president. And I did sing a Southern gospel group. Many in that day will say, "Lord, did we not do these things?" And he will look at them and say, "Depart from me, you worker of iniquity. I never knew you." Y'all, that service, I went forward again. I don't know if you've been in those churches where you go forward. And I did all I knew to do. And I still had no peace. I still had sin issues in my life. I still struggled. I still doubted. Now, here's what began to happen. I began to wonder if I couldn't be saved.

I began to wonder if I had crossed God's deadline, if I had committed the unpardonable sin. Now, some of you maybe have never heard of that. You're like, "That's in the Bible? Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's in the Bible." Listen to 1 John again. 1 John chapter 5 says that there is a sin that leads to death. Do not even pray for such a one. I say this tongue in cheek. Like, I probably didn't need to hear that. Proverbs chapter 1 verse 24. Now, I know I'm giving you guys a verse and I might ask you to turn there, but listen as I read through them. Somebody says, "Because I have called and you refused." Y'all, I'm going to just show you one little clip.

In my mind, it's still embedded me singing. I also sang in a little group in college, but it wasn't at church. And I remember singing an old driving and crying song called, "I'm Going Straight to Hell." Now, there was just one detail. I told you I left the details. I remember singing that. I'm going straight to hell just like my mama said. I'm going straight to hell. I'm reading verses like Proverbs 1, 24, "Because I have called you and you refused. I have stretched out my hand and no one regarded. You disdained all my counsel and would have none of my rebuke. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your terror comes.

When your terror comes like a storm and your destruction comes like a whirlwind of stress and anguish comes upon you, then they will call on me, but I will not answer." Y'all, I was scared to death. Because I was calling and I felt like he would not answer. Hebrews 10, 26. You guys think that I'm in church every week and I'm reading this stuff and I'm hearing this stuff and I am in deep depression. And that is so far from my nature. Hebrews 10, 26 says, "If we sin willfully," and I knew better when I was 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.

"If we sin willfully, after we've received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins but a certain fearful expectation of judgment and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries." I'm like, that's me. Along this same timeframe, I remember us at lunch and my sister-in-law started talking about her pastor who, while he was the pastor, got saved. He like went to the pastors' conference at First Baptist Jacksonville and got saved while he was pastoring. And for whatever reason, that like shook me to the core. I'm wrestling, trying to figure out what in the world is wrong with me.

And then, I wish I could remember the exact days, but all of this is just streamlining. I mean, this, what I'm telling you, may have happened in the same day. Like that at lunch, I think it did. And at night, there was this guest singing group that came in, the Finch family, and they would sing and then the dad would preach. And before they ever got to the preaching, the young lady that was up there just stopped and shared her testimony that she'd grown up in church and that she'd sang in the group and that she'd ministered all these places and they were at a youth camp.

And it dawned on her, and I guess God had been convicting her, that she was lost. And so right there while she was singing, she stopped and repented of her sins and believed on the Lord Jesus, "Listen to me, listen to me." While they were singing that night in my church, I got up out of my seat, went up on the platform and told my pastor, "I've got to be saved." And the whole service stopped. All I can tell you is in that moment, my heart and mindset was live or die, sink or swim, I'm going all in for Jesus. I don't know what else to do. I don't have anywhere else to turn.

You remember what Peter said, "To whom shall we turn?" You have the words of eternal life and y'all, I can't explain it. I don't know why it was different. Other than in my theology now, God had brought me to the end of myself. He knew what it took to bring me to the cross and to kill Jason Johns, the old man, and what warnings to use to bring me to repentance. And I'm, boys, when I jumped, I mean I jumped. Now this is interesting, I didn't receive immediate assurance. There was so much cloudy in my mind, so much wrong teaching and stuff that I needed to relearn, but listen to me.

I didn't get immediate assurance, but I did get immediate change. I did get, y'all, the things I couldn't quit, I quit. And the things I wanted to start, I delighted in doing. God literally made me a new creation. And isn't that what Paul says happens to everyone who's truly born again? Say Corinthians 5, 17, "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. Old things are becoming new." I could read that and say, "Oh yeah!" I didn't fear. I didn't doubt. I could read that and go, "That's true of me." And guess what? I didn't do it.

God allowed me, for I don't remember how long that time frame was, you know, probably somewhere around a year and a half, to try to do it. I tried to be a little better. I tried to turn over a new leaf, but I could not change this heart that kept producing this stuff. And so he did. And he can change yours. Many of you, by testimony that you're in the church, he's already done it. But some of you, he hasn't. And I'm so glad that I could tell anyone in here that if you doubt, that if you're in despair, that if you're in depression over your sin and your lostness, that you can cast yourself on Christ.

Let me encourage you, don't place your faith in faith. That's something that I tried to do a lot. I kept trying to look to where I believed to get my assurance, to where I did something to get my assurance. I got assurance when I looked at nothing other than Christ. When I read 1 John, I've kind of already said this, when I read those other texts, I don't go back to January 19th of 1998 to say, "Did I really mean it?" No. I've been with Christ ever since. That's where my assurance comes from. Whoever comes after me, I will in no wise cast out. Listen, you're not going to go to hell clinging to Christ. Just to say it really simple.

So all I would say, I use the words live or die, sink or swim, all I'm saying is throw yourself on Christ, you'll be saved. And he will change what you cannot change. He will give you, you may not know this yet in your theology. If you do that, he's already given you a new heart. But your pastor can shepherd you in that later. So let's round the corner now. My life after coming to Christ. Finally peace, finally joy, finally free. And I was on fire. If you've ever experienced that, you know what I'm saying. I would have done anything. I got there early, I went home late. You know what I'm talking about?

You remember that in your church experience? If they needed someone to sign up, I'd sign up for it. I'd sign up for stuff they wouldn't let me do or I wasn't supposed to do. Anything. Anyway, that I could serve, I wanted to serve. Listen to this text right quick. The Bible says that happens when you get saved in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 says, "By grace, you have been saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." And I would have said amen.

"For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." Little bit of a bigger theological lesson here, but when God comes in and saves someone, listen, He's already predetermined from before the foundation of the world what He wants you to do. It's called good works prepared before Him. And in chapter 8, the Apostle Paul, the Apostle Paul said in Galatians chapter 2, "God, who separated me from my mother's womb in the fullness of time revealed His Son in me that I might preach Him among the Gentiles." So God had Paul on His radar the whole time.

And in the fullness of time, that means when God was ready, He stepped in and said, "Pooh, see, new heart." And he said, "You didn't even know this, but before you were born, here's the works that I have for you." Hey, that's you this morning. I'm talking before... Okay, so if you say, "I do believe by grace I have been saved through faith," then say the rest of it. For the foundation of the world, God had a work and has a work for me to do in this world. That's what I wanted to be about. That's what I want to give my life to. You want to talk about revival? Man, a revival of you giving your life to that.

You say, "Pastor Jason, what is it?" We need a longer conversation for that. How about this? Get in a local church and God will use pastors and small group leaders to lead you into that. That's His normal means of grace to fulfill His will in your life. So your first step would be joining and being active and faithful in a local church. You're welcome, Brother Chris. You know what? I don't have a watch. I have no idea how long I've been going. That's so sweet the three of y'all said that. Let me give you a little bit of time to just kind of carry you the rest of the way.

So, I was saved in January of 1997, and by May of that year, I surrendered to the ministry having no idea what that meant. That was just my way of saying, "I'm giving my life to the Lord, whatever He'll let me do." But it was public. Like, I want to give my life to the service of the Lord. Like, I didn't have a daddy or a grandpa or anybody in ministry. I haven't been to school. I haven't been to Bible college, anything like that. I've been saved and I've been active in a local church. And that's what I want to give my life to. And listen how this stuff plays out. It's just amazing. So, I go to my dad. I'm still working with him.

And they're paying me $100 a month now to work with the young people. It's growing, man. It was exciting. They're paying me $100 a month. And I tell my dad, I said, "Hey, I think I'm going to go to work for the church full time on $100 a month." I'm still living at home. I didn't have any bills. And my dad said, "Why don't you just wait?" That was good advice, by the way. And so, I was like, "All right." But in my heart, like, I was there. And one week later, my pastor calls my dad and says, "Well, you have Jason dropped by the office and went home from work." It was on a Friday. And I sit down in his office. I love these vivid memories.

I can just still remember where I was sitting. He said, "Hey, I don't know if you've ever thought about it, but we would like to bring you on part time, maybe 350 a week." I was like, "Thought about it! Man, I was ready to come for free last week!" I went to my dad. I said, "Hey, they're wanting to bring me on part time. Please go ahead and find a skitter driver because I am coming on full time." And that's exactly what I did. And so, that was in May. November comes around of the same year I get engaged to my wife, Nancy. And on Thursday of Thanksgiving, and then on Sunday, I come forward during the service and surrender to preach.

So, we're getting more specific. But what's funny, brother Chris, when I tell this, my wife had no idea. We do not come out of this pastoral background. I was just saved in January, and I'm surrendering to preach in November. And my wife gave me the ring back. No, I'm just kidding. She didn't. No, by this point, we were just in this thing together. We didn't know everything that the Lord had for us. But kind of the same thing happened after about a couple years there. I went to my pastor, and I said, "I really feel like the Lord's calling me to pastor and not just be a youth and associate." That's what I was doing then.

And listen, y'all, here's your maturity again. And I'm like, "If you need to find someone else, that's okay. I'll do interim work. I'll preach youth revival." I preached all of like one youth revival at this point. And I'm going to support me and my wife on my itinerant preaching ministry. So once again, he said, "No need to rush. Just stay here." And we'll continue to pray about it and just see what the Lord leads. And just a few months later, we were having our missions conference.

And a missionary from Romania is in the office with my pastor, and he's like, "Man, my brother's church in Kentucky is looking for a pastor, and I've been trying to help them while I'm home, and they really want me to do it, but I can't do it." And he's like, "Pastor, do you know anybody who's looking for a church?" He says, "Well, I do. Jason's really wanting to pastor, and y'all, I got no resume. The only one I want to tell them, I flunked out of college and didn't go to Bible college?" I sent them a few tapes of me preaching and shared my testimony in my resume.

And they told me later that they cried as they listened to the sermon that I had sent and said, "This is our guy." And I say that to tell you how big God's been in my life. He has absolutely changed everything about me. And so we went there, and I pastored in Kentucky, "Oh, I got one more." But you won't hear it because he just doesn't stop. And by the way, he loves all his children this way. All his children. His covenant steadfast love for Abraham and David is the same for Paul and the same for me and the same for you.

Greatest evidence, someone just posted this, the greatest evidence that God doesn't stop loving you is the fact that he never started. He has eternally loved his people. She owned that one for a while. And so I moved on to another church and I'll spare the details on that. But I was the pastor in waiting. This was a... anyway. And the church started to implode. It was all messed up inside. It was a big church. We lost about 16 staff members between administrative and ministerial in one year. And for eight months, I had had my resume out.

It was, y'all, if you've ever been a part of something nasty like this in a church, I hate to say that for Christ's sake. But it was bad. Like, you didn't want to pass people in the hall. Eight months, Lord, just let us know if we can leave. I'll leave. I'll stay. Just let us know. And one day, after about eight months and just misery, I got called to a worship planning meeting. I come into the meeting and lo and behold, it was sabotage. Yeah. And I was in that meeting surprised to be asked to forcefully resign. And I said, "I will." If I were to be honest, there were people in my... office that afternoon who were saying, "No!

Man, you are the guy. You're the guy God brought here to pastor us and clean up this mess and fix this mess." Like, you... And I'm like, "No one will survive here. And this is the providence of God." Now, listen, I go home. My wife's crying. I got two kids in Kentucky. No family. No income. And I said, "She's struggling." I'm like, "We're gonna resign the next day." Randall Norman from First Baptist Lake Butler calls and says, "Hey, we got your resume in the mail. We're really interested." That was during the housing crisis.

My realtor who was a member of our church there and loved us, she says, "Jason, I'm sorry." She said, "We got 24 open units in your subdivision right now." Like selling your house right now would be an impossibility. We put it on the market on Friday and had a contract on Monday of Labor Day weekend. And we were in... We were at First Baptist Lake Butler in a month. And those of you who haven't heard our story at First Baptist Lake Butler, you'll have to get the True Church Conference message and you can get the rest of it. Here's what I want to say to you in closing this morning. Number one, God's warnings lead to repentance or reprobation.

God uses warnings to bring a man to repentance and God uses warnings to seal a man's faith. So what I'm saying is God used serious warnings to bring me to repentance and to bring me to the point of forsaking all for him. And some of you are trying everything else but that. And the only thing that he is going to take is lordship, him being Lord. You will not have peace. You will not have assurance until you cast yourself wholly on Christ. And if you refuse to do that, then the warning then becomes judgment upon you.

And God is justified in that he is called and he is warned and he is rebuked and you harden yourself unto him and he walks away and you never hear from him again. That's the warning and God in his wisdom uses that. So if you hear his voice, run to it. You just heard the story of my life. This is what you get. This is who you get. You get God. What is it you're wanting to hold onto instead of holding onto God? Dear Lord, it's going up in smoke, y'all. You'll die in 60 years or 16. You get him, you get eternity. This will be my second thing. If I had a thousand lives to live, I'd give every one of them to him from the start.

Waste those foolish years and I understand the theology behind it. I was lost, I was dead. But if I could get every life to Christ as soon as I could and then I'd want to say to you in light of perseverance, God, the God that I'm telling you about that you can have through the gospel of Jesus Christ cannot be unfaithful. He has never failed me. Here's a book title I've never forgotten. God has never failed me, but he sure has scared me to death a couple of times. Now that's true. That's true. But he cannot fail. The Father has a people that he is giving to the Son and the Son has purchased them.

And he has said, "I will not lose one that my Abba has given me. I love them. They are my bride." He cannot be unfaithful to you. Let me pray. as I--