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An extension of the ministry of Stone Oak Bible Church. Stone Oak Bible Church is located in North Central San Antonio, TX. We would love to have you join us.
Welcome to the SOBC Pod, the Sonoc Bible Podcast. Thank you for joining us this morning. This is Craig, and this is an extension of the ministries of Stone Oak Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas. I am joined by a another new individual to the podcast, another old individual in our church, not old in age, but old in time that you've been with us at Stone Oak. Jason.
Craig:Jason, say
Jason:hi. Thank you I'm for having excited to do this.
Craig:I'm glad to to have you hop on as well. So if you're unfamiliar with Jason, he is one of our deacons. He's been Introduce to your family first. Start with the family. Tell us about your family.
Jason:All right.
Craig:And then we'll get to kind of Stone Oak and all those things.
Jason:I have a wonderful wife. We've been married for twenty years.
Craig:Twenty years. When did you celebrate twenty years?
Jason:We did. Oh, I'm putting you on the spot here, buddy. It was very recently. It was June 12. June 12.
Craig:Okay. Did you guys do anything big for twenty years?
Jason:Yes, huge. We had a football game that I coached. Oh, perfect. Yeah. From there we went to, I think we had some fast food after that with the family.
Craig:Oh, nothing says twenty years. Like watch me coach football and let's eat fast food on the way home.
Jason:We laughed because we looked at our calendar like when can we do something for our twenty year anniversary? And there really is no place.
Craig:Yeah, absolutely.
Jason:And we love it. It's just that part of our life where we're just absolutely full force going with all the kids in different directions, which brings me to my four kids.
Craig:Yeah. So you got four?
Jason:Yep. We got four kids. I have two older daughters. One's gonna be a senior this
Craig:year, Taylor. That's weird. Gonna have one that's gonna you're gonna start that empty nesting season. It's like right around the corner for you guys. You're gonna have a senior in high school next year.
Jason:Yes, senior in high school, which does make me feel a little old and still like unreal. Then my other daughter, Taylor, she's going be a junior. So that she's just right behind her. Then we had a long break and then we have two boys that one's going into fifth grade and the other going into third grade.
Craig:Well done. I've put you on the spot asking for like anniversary dates and grades of the four kids, all of those things. That's great.
Jason:I almost got other socials down, but I won't put them
Craig:on the podcast. Yeah. Good call. Jason, you've got an interesting just background, job history, education. Just give us kind of an overview of who Jason is as far as kind of the work that you have been able to do just kind of throughout just your lifetime?
Jason:Yeah. Wow. My background is interesting to say the least. Started I think football was my my ultimate passion growing up. No doubt.
Jason:Just just fell in love with discipline and the hard work.
Craig:Where'd you grow up at?
Jason:Lompoc, California. So it's just about three hours north of Los Angeles.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:Yeah. So I grew up there and it was a small town, about 60,000 people there.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:So a small school, just love football and working hard and try to go to the next level with that, but didn't have too much success in it. So immediately when that kind of ran out, I'm like, well, what am I going to do? I like hard work and I like violence because football is a violent sport.
Craig:What position did you play?
Jason:I played outside linebacker in high and then wide receiver.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:So it was just something that was just embedded in me to, like, just love to work hard and Yeah.
Craig:Hit guys.
Jason:Yeah. I don't know why. Just something God put in, which still puzzles me to this day, but I just enjoyed it. So when that kind of fizzled out, I said, what am I going to do? I wasn't into college.
Jason:Grades weren't really my thing. So I said, well, it was 2004 at the time and we were at the height of the war. I said, you know what? Join the army. And so I signed up for the United States Army and joined in 2005 and served my country to combat deployments.
Jason:Almost ten full years in the United States Army.
Craig:What did you do for the Army?
Jason:So I came in as a chemical operations specialist, which I had-
Craig:You did basic at Fort Leonard Wood, if I'm right.
Jason:That's right.
Craig:Yeah, that's my home.
Jason:That's right. Fort Leonard Wood, misery.
Craig:Oh yeah, Fort Lost in the Woods.
Jason:That's right.
Craig:They're known for chemical m p MPs and engineers.
Jason:That's right. That's the
Craig:home You right you were chemical?
Jason:I came in chemical. And when I signed up for the army, had no idea. I just thought we were on the same team. You know, those jobs. Yeah.
Jason:So I got a big sign on bonus from a chemical. Had no idea what that was. So I
Craig:signed Yeah. What was, like, the sign on bonus at that time?
Jason:15,000.
Craig:Oh, man. It was of high school too. I mean $15,000
Jason:is insane.
Craig:It might have been 150,000
Jason:It dollars might have been. Was absolutely crazy. I'm like, 15,000 to sign up for chemical operations.
Craig:I know
Jason:what that is, but they needed it. I was there. So I signed up for it. Yeah, it was it was interesting. But, you know, chemical wasn't really you learn in the army.
Jason:It's kind of like the stepchild to the army. Yeah. So I was kind of like, it's interesting. Didn't really like it. But I did chemical operations for a whole deployment in Iraq.
Jason:Didn't do anything with it, but we had it. So we ran like a detainee holding area. That was our thing. So detainees that would come in off of the infantry would get them and bring them in. So we did that.
Jason:And then I came back and they needed infantry mortars.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:And so they took volunteers for that. I was voluntold in a way. Yeah, absolutely. I went military infantry, voluntold. So I went and did that.
Jason:And then I did that for the other half of my career in the army. And that was when the next deployment in Afghanistan, we were out on the wire and doing fire missions. And that got really, really, really interesting. And then, yeah, came home from that second tour. At that time I had, I think I want to say two, I had Tatum and Taylor at that time.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:And then I was never home. Never. Lisa was tired. I said, let me reenlist and get you Hawaii. That was our deal.
Jason:But even that didn't really work out and God had other things for us.
Craig:So you did two tours, one Iraq, one Afghanistan?
Jason:Yeah, did fifteen months in Iraq and then came home for about just under a year and went back to Afghanistan for about a So we retired. And it was more on Lisa because she was always home and I can't even imagine.
Craig:Military spouses are a totally different breed of individuals. Me growing up in Although my family was not military, we grew up in a military community. And, you know, it's it's one thing, you know, thank you for your service first and foremost. And and that is huge. Yeah.
Craig:But I mean, the military spouse is is its own just animal animal.
Jason:And I don't think they get enough recognition. You know, I think you think, Oh, vet, you know, that's are good. Like you said,
Craig:you get the uniform, you get the stars, you get the medals.
Jason:We're down there and we're working and they're at home waiting for that knock on the door, was, you know, that's that's a pressure. That's.
Craig:Yeah, absolutely.
Jason:So, yeah, very thankful for my life. And we did that for ten years. And then we got out and I said, What's next? You know, like, What do you do?
Craig:Absolutely. Still in California at this time?
Jason:So, yeah. So I come home. We were actually in Colorado State. I was at Fort Carson.
Craig:Yeah,
Jason:yeah. And then we come home and I said, Well, we don't have nowhere to go. Ten years. So I stayed with the in laws. Yeah.
Jason:Wonderful. Wonderful. And had two kids.
Craig:Oh, great.
Jason:And me and her. So it's just the four of us. And so we move in with the in laws. Yeah. And they take us in, which is great.
Jason:But you know, you're living with
Craig:the in laws.
Jason:Yeah. You're living with the in in your family. Absolutely. And I had a at that time, I had just finished my degree in criminal justice out of bachelorette.
Craig:Why criminal justice? Why'd you get on that
Jason:road? I think, you know, when I studied and so my platoon sergeant had a great platoon sergeant when I in the army. He made it mandatory mandatory that you would take one college class. Well done. Even even deployed.
Craig:Well
Jason:done. And we did it kicking and screaming. I hated it. I thought he was such a jerk making us all. I got out the army.
Jason:I was done with the degree.
Craig:Yeah.
Jason:So I look back like, man, that was awesome. I was very thankful for that. Yeah. And I studied, I looked at a lot of things, you know, and I think the law just was so fascinating to me. Okay.
Jason:Like when I started studying police work and looking at the law and how the law was so important to our society and culture. And I just I don't know. I found a passion for the law. Yeah, it's cool. So I just studied it.
Jason:I don't I don't even think there was a class that I took that I didn't like. I mean, it was enjoyable. I really
Craig:enjoyed There's my so much, I think, just overlap, too, with what you were currently doing in the military. So there's a practical piece of your studying and it's also you're able to see it in kind of a real life circumstance as well.
Jason:Yeah. And so that's what led me to my next job. When I got out, I'm at the in laws and I want to do law enforcement.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:So I go to the sheriff's. They're not hiring. Yeah. And then I go to police. You could get on there, but it's a long process.
Jason:Yeah. And then my father-in-law, he's working at the federal penitentiary in Longboat. He's been there for almost twenty years at this time. So he knows everybody, obviously. He's he's he's he's a legend out there.
Craig:Well connected.
Jason:Yes. Very that's the perfect way to put it. Well connected. So I go he he comes up to me and goes, I know you're gonna do the police thing, but how about how about just trying to go out to the penitentiary? And that I'm like, I'm not working corrections.
Jason:I did that in Iraq. Not a big corrections guy. Yeah. But it is with the law enforcement side, and so I go,
Craig:And it's a job.
Jason:And he kinda talks to me, like, give me your resume. I'll walk it in there. Yeah.
Craig:Yeah.
Jason:And I'm like yeah. And more importantly, it's a job. I don't have job at this time. Yeah. Exactly.
Jason:And that's kind of what he said. It's a job, you know? Yeah. So I give him my resume. He walks it in and they call me and make a job offer.
Jason:This is how much you can make. And I'm like, that's a lot of money to be a correctional officer. So I go through the interview process and the whole thing was like, hey, just go through it at any time if you don't like it. Because it's new to me. I don't ten years in the army, you don't get out.
Jason:You make a commitment, you sign, you're in for years, you know? So this whole, like, I can go through the interview process. I can work there a week and not like it. And that's that's new to me.
Craig:Yeah. Absolutely.
Jason:So very strange. But I go for it and I actually I actually find and enjoy it a lot. Mean, my father-in-law is connected to everybody, so that was a big, you know, you're a rookie inside there. Everyone's going to give you a hard time. Yeah.
Jason:But my father-in-law knew everybody. Immediately, oh, you're you're shootsy son-in-law. So I had a little bit of ends, which is real nice. I mean, I kind of liked it. I didn't get bullied so much because I was Shuetz's son-in-law.
Craig:I had a good So
Jason:it was cool.
Craig:Oh, good.
Jason:Yeah, I worked there for a couple of years as a correction officer and then got promoted to case manager three years in. And that was a big deal. I never been promoted to like a real civilian job where you went from, wearing the blue collar and the chain to now how to wear a suit to work. Look at that. Yeah, it was cool.
Jason:It was really neat. I was just thinking about the day how cool that was. It was neat to be promoted and do it. I absolutely fell in love with that job. You have a caseload of about 150 to 200 inmates and you have to learn all about these inmates, what they're in for, why they're And then you get them programming and you manage their caseloads.
Jason:So you look at them and you meet with them weekly and I just man, it was really cool to sit there with some of the biggest I you were in the penitentiary. So
Craig:you got
Jason:murderers and you got your whole spectrum. And just sitting next to them and then pointing them, hey, you're gonna get your GED and encouraging them. I don't know. Just something it was just it was godly. You know?
Jason:Was Christian like. You know? You see broken people Yeah. And I got a chance to help them.
Craig:It's that aspect of rehabilitation. It's an aspect of, you know, what's the next step for this individual? Yes. And it just There's so much overlap within the Christian life.
Jason:So much. And I just couldn't believe how much connection that was. And obviously, you're not allowed to share openly share your faith and evangelize, but they knew who I was and they knew why. And so if they ask, I definitely say, yeah, you know, Jesus is the reason that makes me this way. I want to care for you because, you know, you have a lot of people in that job just don't care.
Craig:Absolutely.
Jason:Collecting a paycheck. Yeah. And so for me, it was just easy to shine because I just I loved it and I love to work. And so it was it was really, really cool. God did a work on my heart showing about rehabilitation and give him second chances.
Jason:And so it was it was really cool. And I actually continued to get my master's with the same one class at a time mentality while I was in. Two and a half years later, you know, I finished that master's in reintegration, rehabilitation, criminal justice. So Okay. Yeah.
Jason:And like you said, too, it was cool to be sitting in the institution doing a master's and being able to go up to inmates and ask them, Hey, do long sentences deter crime? Yeah. And they're like, I didn't even know, like, I had any idea if I committed this crime, I was going to get thirty years. Yeah. So it was cool to be able to be in that environment and write those.
Jason:I mean, it was literally like I was living in the front lines writing this master's degree and God just didn't work. And so I thought I was going be in law enforcement Yeah, I was like, This is it. This is law enforcement. I'm going to do this forever.
Craig:Great career. Usually really good pensions as well. Set for life.
Jason:Yes. And the pay scale goes up and I'm doing great in my job. I'm asked to be AW sometimes like, Hey, you know, I'm a year.
Craig:What's that
Jason:associate warden like, you know, asked to to look over a whole compound because trustworthy, working hard. And I'm like, you know, my father-in-law is like, you know, of course he has a piece in it because, yeah, you know, he's encouraging everyone. Taking of you. Yeah, he's taking care of me. And, so it was just good to be part of it.
Jason:And I was like, This is it, man. I'm going to do this for the rest of my life. And move up this ladder and make a bunch of money and it's going to be good. I really thought my whole career was set.
Craig:Yeah, absolutely. And then what changed?
Jason:But then, right? And God stepped in and I think I was going to a small church at the Village Chapel at the time, which is like a stone's throw away from my house. So Sundays, we'd walk to church. Oh, that's great. Oh, The whole family get
Craig:your California weather walking to church. That's like dream.
Jason:It was unreal. And we would walk to church and we loved our little church. There's about 100, 150 people in that church.
Craig:Yeah. We
Jason:just fell in love with it. And then I started teaching or volunteering in the elementary
Craig:children's ministry. I
Jason:just got kind of let me like, hey, you know, you've doing this for a while. Why don't you teach children's ministry? So my mom was doing that. So I kind of paired up with her. Yeah.
Jason:And it was really fun. I just I just got this like weird joy. Like, I've never felt like this pouring into me like, man, this is cool sharing the gospel with these kids. Yeah. And I just fell in love with it and did that for a couple of years.
Jason:I know if my wife was here, she'd get the dates right. Oh, of course. And she's probably gonna hear and say, that's not how long you did it. But something in It my felt like
Craig:a couple years.
Jason:Felt like a couple years. Yeah. And I just fell in love with teaching. And then they the youth pastor ended up going somewhere else and they needed a youth pastor role.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:He'd announce it. We need a youth pastor. You need a youth pastor. And And no, that's a full time job and never crossed my mind. I'm like, yeah, I'm praying for this youth pastor.
Jason:I can't wait till our church finds one. And then, yeah, I just one day, I drive by the church and I'm like, man, I'm really praying for that youth pastor. And I'm like, Could I do that? Know how it goes, right? Like, maybe I'll just step in fill that gap.
Jason:I love teaching to the littles. Maybe I can go up to the next level and help fill in that gap. I start praying like, maybe whatever. Look, maybe if you're calling me Lord. And then I tell Lisa and she starts praying about it.
Jason:And of course, God just grips our heart. Yeah. And then one day we just go in and say, hey, I I wanna fill that void, at least until you get a real one.
Craig:I'm not gonna be the the full time guy.
Jason:Yeah.
Craig:I'll help out the interim.
Jason:Yeah. And if you know anything about Calvary Chapels, you know, that's how they roll, right?
Craig:Yeah.
Jason:You can stack chairs. You you can teach the gospel. So I was just like, let's go, you know? So it was exciting for me. And I started just helping out the youth and, oh, man, I was like, this is it.
Jason:And so the Calvary Chapel I went to, I think all Calvary Chapels go verse by verse. That's how I was trained and that's how I was taught. And the lead pastor there, Chuck, at the time, he did verse by verse. That's why I fell in love with that teaching. I just love each chunk of the Bible, like learning and learning.
Jason:Then I got this opportunity to teach it verse by verse. And so you go from looking in the pews or listening in the pews and writing notes, now you've to go teach it.
Craig:Very different.
Jason:Oh, man. So you're studying for hours. Like, man, here I go. And I'm teaching, you know, freshmen middle school, high schoolers. Yeah.
Jason:And there's maybe 15 kids in the group Yeah. Excuse me, on a good day. So I mean, but I was nervous out of my mind, like Oh, yeah. Sweating bullets. You know?
Craig:Absolutely.
Jason:I'm just like, Oh, man, this is to be a lot. Yeah. But I did it. I love it. My first book I ever taught through was Ecclesiastes.
Jason:Okay. I don't know why, but God just led me to that. And so I just taught through the whole book verse by verse.
Craig:Great book. If you haven't read Ecclesiastes recently, go back and read it.
Jason:Yeah, me and my daughter, we do it every year at least once.
Craig:It's such a simple and just a challenging book too.
Jason:I think it looks at life through that lens of you're going to be gone before you know it. Don't waste your time. Solomon had everything. He's like, all of this stuff, all the kingdom, it's beautiful, it's great. Thank you, Lord.
Jason:I'm blessed. But it's all dust. Don't forget that. And I think when you read that once a year, I think that just like charges my heart to be remember, like, no matter what you're doing, like, this is all dust.
Craig:What are the things that truly matter in life?
Jason:And I think Solomon does such a great job at just showing us that. So I talked through that, fell in love with it. And yeah, then the Lord kind of put on my heart, can we really do this full time? Yeah. I love it so much.
Jason:Lisa loved it, and we looked at each other like, man, I was I was making my next pay raise would have been 6 figures. Yeah. And I'm like, And it's automatic. I don't know about the cover, man. Show up with a heartbeat.
Jason:Absolutely. You're going to go up the pay scale, you know? And so we looked and I'm like, Man, this is quite the leap, you know? And so we prayed for six months about it. And sure enough, the Lord is like, this is for you.
Craig:Significant pay cut?
Jason:Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And so it was cool, though, because I loved it because we looked at that pay scale and we said, you know what? Like, if we're going to do it, it's going to be for God.
Jason:Yeah. Absolutely. We're gonna free fall. Yeah. You know, I'm gonna leave the thing that the master's degree might everything lined up for us in going to ministry.
Jason:It was it was like it was just even thinking about today, I remember us. So I'm like, this is crazy.
Craig:Logically, it makes zero sense.
Jason:Zero. And my father-in-law is a very logical man who helped me get my job. I have four children at this time. Think, yeah, I think at this time we had a two year old and a one year old Tanner and Taryn were just newly. And so we got four kids.
Jason:Yeah. I got a career, a degree. Yeah. And God goes, yeah, you're gonna go my way. And I'm just like, oh, I don't know, Lord.
Jason:Yeah. So I have to tell my father-in-law, and that was the first time. The the only two times I've seen my father-in-law really angry at me in my life to my face was when I asked to marry his daughter. Oh, yeah. He didn't like that, you know, because we were both young and he he didn't like that.
Jason:And the second time was, of course, hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna walk away from being a case manager to go into ministry. He just,
Craig:What a fan. Yeah. That's my baby girl. You've got four kids.
Jason:Exactly. Rightfully so. At first, I was upset about it. But now looking back, I think now that I have daughters that old, everything that he's done, I'm like, would act in the same way.
Craig:Yeah, you understand a lot better as a dad now.
Jason:100%. So yeah, we took it. We took the leap and I walked in. I'll never forget this story. It's one of my all time favorite stories.
Jason:I go into the ward and he runs the prison. And I have my letter of resignation and I give it to him, you know, and he's like, you know, you you know what you're doing? You know, like, and this ward's office is massive. I mean, he has a button to open and close his door.
Craig:Fancy.
Jason:It's fancy. And I walk in and I tell him, and he's actually the one promoting me case manager. So he knows about me and he knows I'm a good worker and this is a great job for me and my family. I go, yes, sir. Like, I need to resign.
Jason:He goes, he looks at me like, is there anything we can do to change your mind? And I said, no, sir. I'm going to go into ministry. And I never forget, he looks at me and goes, well, I guess I can't argue with the big man. And he shook my hand and says, you're going to be great.
Jason:He said, you do anything, you just come back. Okay? Okay. And so I was like, it was cool to be part of that and watch him just like he didn't even try to argue. Yeah.
Jason:That's I was going to ministry, and he was like, I ain't even gonna mess with the big
Craig:man. Yeah. Absolutely.
Jason:You go for it, man. So it was cool. It's kinda like God's like, go for it. Yeah. It's clearly part of you.
Craig:No doubt, man. And so how how did you guys end up at San Antonio? So this is all happening in California.
Jason:Yep. So we go to California. I start that youth pastor job. Yeah. And it's one of the most difficult jobs I've ever done.
Jason:Yeah. I mean and I I would say if anybody you you know. Yeah. You don't understand the front lines you get into spiritually until you go into ministry.
Craig:Absolutely.
Jason:Like, it's not I don't think it was taxing physically and managing. I think spiritually it was just like when you open that door into ministry, you get to see the eyes of God, and it is like, I I don't know if I can do this.
Craig:Yeah. It's it's the brokenness of sin. Yep. And and whenever you're around the brokenness of sin, it affects you and it has a toll on you and your family.
Jason:And I think like people start opening up to you. Oh, got ordained as a minister in that church and prayed on the church. And the next day, people are just coming up to me and telling me just how broken they are. Yeah. And they're just vulnerable because they trust you.
Jason:It's like, man, I remember going like, I couldn't believe how many people were just hurting and broken. Absolutely. It was just it was devastating. Yeah. Driving down my small town and looking at the streets going on this block, this person's dealing with this on this block.
Jason:This person's got an addiction. This person's going through a divorce. And I was like, man, this world is broken. And that was just a lot for me. So had That was one of the roughest times I've ever been in my life, just spiritually.
Jason:And I was like, man, this is a lot, you know. So I didn't know if I could continue into the ministry. And then you get into the church side, which then you have logistics, money, appointments, and I couldn't deal with that. Well, so the church just wasn't really working out for me. Yeah.
Jason:Spiritually, it was an attack on me and my family that I was I was buckling under Yeah. Which I'm I'm grateful for. It definitely refined me and opened my eyes to the true God. Like, woah. God is real.
Jason:The devil is real. Yeah. This is this is absolutely the spiritual warfare
Craig:aspect of the the powers and principalities that are around us and unseen at oftentimes.
Jason:And
Craig:yet you feel the realness of Satan at times.
Jason:Yep. Because once you get into that ministry and in church ministry, I think Satan no longer is gonna play the the back, like, don't exist game. Like, you're in it. And so here you go. Like, buckle up.
Jason:And that was just a lot. Yeah. And then the church side of the finances is up. I just didn't do well, and I didn't like to collect money. I didn't do that young in my walk, and I just didn't didn't mesh well with me.
Jason:Yeah. And I just, I didn't, I don't know if it was for me. Then COVID happens. Yeah. And so like everything gets shut down.
Jason:Oh yeah. You know, it was one of those, a lot of people started shifting and moving pieces. Yep. It was, and then I had to go online and start teaching and making videos, and I just despise that. Yeah.
Jason:I hated making online videos. And I think a youth pastor nowadays and age has to be able to have a presence and a footprint online making videos, and that's cool. It just wasn't for me. Yeah. And so I told him, I just kind of hey.
Jason:I'm just gonna I think we're gonna try something else, and so I want to get out of there. So we moved to Arizona
Craig:Okay.
Jason:For a year to kind of, like, catch our breaths, get off the off the front lines of the ministry battle. Yeah. And God just did a one I mean, I think every Sunday I slept for, like, six months. Just like, oh, man. I was just exhausted.
Jason:Right? Yeah. So it was just a it was a reset for me and my family, and just we didn't know where we were gonna go, what we were gonna do.
Craig:Yeah. It was a sabbatical season for us.
Jason:It was sabbatical season.
Craig:Because you're you you've done six days of work, and on the seventh, you rested.
Jason:And that was my absolute rest, and God gave it to me. Found a great church in Arizona. Oh, man. It was so lovely. They were so wonderful.
Jason:Took us in immediately as family. It was just so great. It was just such a revival in my heart and
Craig:soul. Yeah. That's good. Yeah. That's great, man.
Jason:Yeah. I needed it. I was tired.
Craig:Yeah. Absolutely. But and
Jason:and then I'm for getting emotional. Just You're
Craig:good, you go back in
Jason:those times, man. I
Craig:was Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. You go through seasons where you work and it's exhausting and it's hard. And some of those seasons you end up at the end of the day saying it was good.
Craig:Yes. And other days you say it wasn't good, that you're striving and working and it's like, no, this was not good and this was hard. Yeah. In either either case, I think that there's a need for each of us to take a step back. Yeah.
Craig:I see the seventh thing resting of God as a biblical example. And I think we as a nation, we as kind of the Western church really struggle with the aspect of pausing and resting because I think there's a lot of it where it's reflecting that we don't want to do of, you know, where is sin in my heart? Where have I wronged others? What's the log within my own eye as I'm looking for specs in others? And there's also that season of we need the rest to forgot to remind us of the simple truths of who he is, who we are.
Craig:So, yeah, Arizona was kind of that time for you guys. It's fantastic.
Jason:It was fantastic. And I just got a break. And so during that time it was COVID and there really wasn't a lot going on. Picked up a job as an Amazon flex driver.
Craig:Oh, perfect.
Jason:That was big for me. Yeah. Because I got to get out
Craig:of the house
Jason:and beg for my wife. And I say like, yeah, are you going go on that flex job? Because you've been here for like three days straight,
Craig:you know?
Jason:Yeah. So I got to deliver some packages and fill in with that. And then I said, You know, substitute teaching. Yep. I've been a teacher before.
Jason:And so then I said, Well, I don't want to do public school. There's a lot of good Christian schools. I said, Let me put my application in. So I substitute taught for two Christian schools in Arizona. I can't remember the names of them, but they're both really good.
Jason:They took me in and got to sub, and there was this job that I've never heard of. It's called Bible in high school. I just substituted it, and the Bible teacher there at the time just had a kid. So I filled in for, I think, two weeks, and I was head over heels. I couldn't believe it.
Jason:I was like, Wait, you get the real high school schedule to teach the real Bible? I didn't even know that was a thing. I just fell in love with it, passionately. Fell in love with the students within two weeks. I mean, we're praying together in the hallways.
Jason:And I just I just didn't know there was such a thing. And God just opened my eyes and revealed, like, this is a this is a good thing. And I just fell in love with it. So I had a master's in criminal justice and I had no teaching experience. Yeah.
Jason:And I said, okay, Lord, this is what we're gonna do. I'm gonna put out my resume half Uh-huh. In criminal justice. And I really wanted to do juvenile justice.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:I had a heart for that. Yeah. I really wanted to work with juveniles that were in the slums, like a case manager in the penitentiary, but just younger to try to help them. So I put in for a bunch of jobs for juvenile justice all across the country. I don't care.
Jason:And then I've just put in jobs for a Bible teacher. Was of half and half. And I said, okay, Lord, let's pray over it. And let's just you lead the way. Craziest thing ever.
Jason:I am not qualified for juvenile justice, not qualified for case management. They won't return my calls. I even called the institution one time like, hey, I have a master's in criminal justice reintegration rehabilitation. I literally did this for five years of penitentiary. I think I'm a perfect fit.
Craig:You have the degree. You have the experience.
Jason:Everything. And they're like, You know, you're just not going to be the fit for us. And I'm like, so I put my jobs out for the school. I don't get anything in Arizona, which bummed me out because I love those schools. Yeah.
Jason:And all of a sudden, I get a call from San Antonio Christian. No. The crazy part was I put in for a teaching job at criminology. I forgot about this part. I wanted to teach criminology somewhere in Texas.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:And it was Pleasanton. Yeah. And the principal called and said, you're you're a good fit. You're gonna this is what we need. You've got everything we need.
Jason:And I was like, cool. It's gonna be teaching. It's not Bible, but it's a teacher job in Pleasanton. I'll teach dual credit criminology. And the pay was great.
Jason:I was like, this is a good pay. This is good. You know? And so we we prayed about that for about a week, then we started looking at the videos of the school online. Yeah.
Jason:I mean, this is kind of looked at each other. Lot of things we didn't agree with, which isn't the worst. It's You public school. So sometimes God will send out his people into public schools.
Craig:Absolutely.
Jason:But my track record with passion against those things, I mean, Lisa kind of looked and said, hey, this just might not be a good fit. Don't know how long it'll last here. If the if the leadership is gonna be pushing this kind of agenda Uh-huh. I don't think I can be part of it because it broke my heart because it didn't honor God. And so I called up the principal and said, hey.
Jason:I can't take this job. She was like, are you serious? I'm like, yes. I'm really sorry. I have to go a different route.
Jason:This is before I I don't have any offers on. This is only offer I got. Yeah. And so it was kinda like a test that we feel like because then the next day, San Antonio Christian School calls and says, You know, we we have a a job opening in Bible. We think you might be a good fit.
Jason:Yeah. And I'm like, okay. Alright. So I kinda go forward, and it just goes door just swings wide open. Yeah.
Jason:And and the last thing I remember telling him was like, you know, I have no teaching degree. Yeah. I've never taken a Bible class, and I've never stepped foot in a classroom other than a substitute teacher. I And remember he and he goes, I I think you're just gonna be the fit for this school. And we're in Arizona.
Craig:Yeah.
Jason:And I look at the pay. It was it was both it was half of what I was getting in youth ministry.
Craig:Yeah. Yeah. So we
Jason:walked, oh, here we go again. Are we gonna do it for the money? Are gonna do it and trust God? Yeah. And sure enough, man, we were just like, let's go for it.
Jason:So we signed, packed our stuff in Arizona, head out to San Antonio. That was 2021. Yep. And I do my first Bible teaching job for freshman high school Yep. Right here in San Antonio, Texas.
Jason:Doing it?
Craig:You're, like, five years in now?
Jason:This I've done it for five years going on my six.
Craig:Yeah. Yeah. I remember your guys' very first Sunday at Stone Oak. Yeah. It was at the shrine.
Craig:Yes. It was walked in. Yeah. Just kind of I got to meet you guys kind of in that front little lobby Uh-huh. Area that we kind of created, and you mentioned, yeah, I'm looking at this job, and I just accepted it.
Craig:Yeah. I sent it to a new Christian doing a freshman Bible.
Jason:That's right.
Craig:Which that was that was my background. So before the church launched, I taught at SACS for two years doing freshman bible.
Jason:That's right. We connected. Yeah.
Craig:We make that connection right from the beginning. So
Jason:Yeah. That's right. I forgot about that.
Craig:Yeah. So you guys been at Stone Oak now for six years?
Jason:Yeah. I mean, well, let's see. I know we got here in 2021. Okay. It it's gonna be pretty close.
Jason:Yeah. Probably five, six years. I know we did a little bit of a look around for churches verse by verse. We know we had our list,
Craig:like what's going to Things that you're looking for in
Jason:a church. And I remember Lisa found Justin on a I think he was, I'm say, in a hotel or something that time. Maybe a different pastor. In we watched him and I was like, Yeah, he's pretty good. I think Lisa's like, No, this this is verse by verse.
Jason:This is a good church. Let's just go check it out. Yeah. And so we went. We're like, This this is good.
Jason:Don't think we I think once we went there one Sunday, I think that was it for us. We're like, This is this is our home. This is where God's calling us. So Nice. Yeah.
Jason:It's cool to be part of.
Craig:Absolutely. I'm glad you guys are here for sure.
Jason:Thank you. I'm glad to be part of this church. I love this church. Yeah.
Craig:Me too. Yeah. It's good. So so you have now teaching experience.
Jason:Yes. So now I have five solid years in the classroom. Yeah. Yeah. And I have when I say that every day gets better, I mean, there's bad days.
Craig:Of course. You're dealing with students, first of all.
Jason:Yes. And there's a lot. But when I have the schedule and what I'm gonna teach and I built this curriculum, they gave me the Gospels, like you're teaching the Gospels, and I got lots of help. Doctor. Sheets, Mr.
Jason:Sugg, they poured into me and helped me. But basically, I built this thing from the ground up. And it has just absolutely blossomed into, like, incredible scripture and not not by me, but by the He Who Helped Me and by God, for sure. It's been awesome.
Craig:One of the great things about you too, Jason, is that you get to kind of scratch the additional itches that you have. So you just came literally before you hopped on this podcast with me from football. Yes. And so that being kind of a big push for you and kind of the upbringing of you. And now you get to invest in young men.
Craig:And you're a football coach, but even more than a football coach. What I love about how you guys are doing football is not about the sport. It's about developing young men into just followers of Christ. Yes. And one of the ways that you get to do that is through the act of football.
Jason:Yes. I think that's why football is so great because I don't to me personally, I don't think there's a bigger battleground and the heat and the fire on Friday nights. Yeah. And the preparation for it and the absolute war zone. And how can you go into a war zone where people are so violent and so incredibly engaged in winning and gritting your teeth yet still honor God?
Jason:Yeah. I mean, that there's some beauty to that. That's why David in the last couple of summers, I just dig into David. Like, David, how did you go to battle? How did you slay your enemies yet still honor God?
Jason:Yeah. That's been such a cool, like, journey for me. Yeah. And to share it with others.
Craig:That's awesome, man. Starting this Sunday, for this Sunday and then four weeks total, are leading us through a seminar.
Jason:Yes, I have my notes right here for
Craig:this Beautiful. Give us an overview. What are the four weeks going to look like and just broad 30,000 foot level?
Jason:Okay, 30,000 foot level. I think I wish I had five weeks because I would like to do a full one week of just the overviews and how they correlate together. But it's okay. Four is probably just more than more than plenty. We're going to look and see how four authors wrote theirs individually and how they have different perspective, different audiences, different themes, just and how they all just pour into the one true messiah.
Jason:So the 30,000 foot view is that many people know there's gospels, but they've never really seen how the four are so unique yet so similar. I think from my teaching point of view, I just want to do one week at a time. One week will be Matthew, one Mark, one Luke, and one John. It's a freshman level class. I'm going to absolutely technically do what I do in class for forty five minutes on that day.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:And I'm really excited because I think one of my most enjoyments in all the school year is the introduction on those those days. Yeah. I just love it because I think so many light bulbs go off when you get to see the introduction to a Bible. I do it through the Bible Project, the video. We do about ten to fifteen minutes of taking notes, and then we'll walk through the video together because I am a visual learner.
Jason:If you watch those Bible project videos
Craig:Oh, they're so well done.
Jason:They're so well done. And we don't just watch it in class. We'll watch about thirty seconds, pause, and we'll talk about it
Craig:and answer questions.
Jason:Yeah. So it's really cool to see. And then at the end of the video, we have a full, clear picture of that gospel. That's And what we're going do week by week.
Craig:Yeah, that's great. What made you want to lead a seminar on the gospels?
Jason:Good question. Last summer there were some seminars, and I thought they were really, really good and really helpful. I think you did one of them. Did Justin do one of them last year?
Craig:I usually do something and he usually does something. I don't remember what they were.
Jason:Yeah. I remember Justin coming up to me and saying, Hey, would you be interested in a seminar? And I was like, Yes. Like, I don't even think I hesitated. Was like, Yes, I want to do a seminar.
Jason:That'd be great. He goes, What would you like to do? I'm thinking in my head, I'm not sure, but I want to pray about it and I want to teach because it's my time when I don't teach and I have an absolute passion to teach. So I thought about it. I told Justin, I think I want to do an introduction to the Gospels.
Jason:Would be really cool. I've been doing it for five years now, and I still know, like, maybe 1% of the entire gospels because they're so rich. Yeah. But five years of experience, if I can pour into somebody this seminar to show them how beautiful and interconnected they are to the to the Old Testament, I just felt like, man, this is what God's called me to do. Just just introduce his gospels one by one.
Craig:Yeah, I'd say this. It's a little upset with you because it's about time, man. It's one of those things where you you have this gift of teaching.
Jason:Yeah. Thank you.
Craig:And and we as the church have not benefited from it yet. And so
Jason:It's so funny you say that because I don't think a Sunday goes by where I'm like, man, I really wanna get up there. But it's such a blessing because the church that I came to, it was like you were forced to go up there. You were the only one. You had to do it. And being part of a church that's never asked me to teach has I know you guys don't know this, but it's been a true blessing and a curse.
Jason:Absolutely. Because I wanna teach, but I'm in the the season of my life right now where I have so much going on, and everything in me says we need to teach. I wanna lead communion. Give me something to do up there. Yeah.
Jason:But God has so wonderfully orchestrated your leadership and Justin's leadership and the elders just to say, hey. For whatever reason, I haven't been up there. And it's been it's been a weird I know it's gonna be it's been a weird blessing to be part of just Yeah. Beautiful. Being able to watch you guys work and just and be poured into.
Jason:It's Good. Been
Craig:Good. I'm I'm glad that we get the opportunity to to sit underneath your teaching over the next four weeks. So for someone these these are I hate to say known, but well known. Yes. Books of the Bible.
Craig:Probably the most well known just because there's been movies that have been made on these accounts of the life of Christ is really what the Gospel's covering. So, someone that is familiar with these books, what's your hope for for them? How do you how do you hope that they see this with a fresh set of eyes? Because, you know, as as a as a pastor, as a preacher specifically, one of my fears is anytime I preach on a well known text Yeah. That people think I know this already.
Craig:Yeah. And they overlook even the simplicity of that text. And I think there's that fear within me of, you know, how do we take this these four books, which are relatively well known, and how do we present it with fresh eyes? Or how do we present it in in a way that people can see this is still worthy of discussion?
Jason:Yeah. You know, that's a great question. One of the things that I get concerned with in teaching things for so many years and knowing, especially coming from a Christian school where many of these children have been raised in the Gospels, and I've heard the stories over and over again, is, you know, I actually look at it opposite. I don't want to impress you. I don't want to teach you anything new.
Jason:Well, secretly, I do want to impress you, and I do want to show you new things, and I do want to do this, but I think God's always like, if you're going to impress people and show them new things, you take the eyes off the simplicity of the gospel and his glory. So I don't look to do that. I try not to, you know. I don't want to go so theologically deep to where you're like, wow, I never saw that, you know. I want you to look and go, man, God's good.
Jason:It's so simple. Yes. So beautiful. So when I look at people that study the gospel, maybe even have a master's in the gospels, I think that it's so important to go back and just take a look at it and just say, look how simple and awesome these are at the same time. Let God do a work and just I I like I said, I've taught freshman Bible for five years.
Jason:I I'm I tell you the truth. There hasn't been a day that goes by where I don't learn something new from the Bible Yeah. And the the lights go on. Yeah. And it's simple.
Jason:You know? It's just talking about things. So I think when I look at somebody who comes there, I hope to just line dots up that they never really saw in the simplicity of the Gospels.
Craig:One of my favorite pastors that I love to listen to is a guy by the name of H. B. Charles Jr, African American pastor. And one of the things that he says, I've listened to him in person a couple of times,
Jason:and I feel
Craig:like both times that I've listened to him, he said the same thing. And it's, let's open the word of God and let me tell you what God has already told us.
Jason:Yes.
Craig:Just that simplicity of here's what we're doing. Yes. God has already said it. I'm just saying what God has already said. Yes.
Craig:And it's that aspect of the gospels that that you're hoping for.
Jason:That's right.
Craig:Is let me say what God has already said.
Jason:Yeah. Let me show you what God's already done and how incredible it is without trying me trying to wow you. Yeah. I'm not here you know, I think you get into entertainment factors, and I'm not I just don't wanna be that guy. I wanna be the simplicial simplicity, show you Yeah.
Jason:How incredible God is without doing any anything fancy. Yeah. You know? So I do have some object lessons that I wanna show you about how the Gospels can be looked at differently. Yeah.
Jason:And I really am a good I believe in good object lessons. Yeah. And so I got a couple good ones that I wanna share with Fantastic. Yeah. It's cool.
Jason:It really makes you look at things from a different point of view.
Craig:Yeah. Like,
Jason:oh, yeah. And how the the Bible, especially the gospels, well, the whole Bible never contradicts itself. You just see different angles. Absolutely. I get to tie it into the criminal justice aspect because police investigations are a lot like gospel investigations.
Jason:When you look at it from that, it's really cool. I'm a big case for Christ reader, read it every year. How he ties those gospels in the case for Christ. I like to tie that in and make it fun and make it understandable.
Craig:Great book, if you haven't read your case for Christ, Lee Strobel. Man, just a fantastic story as well of an individual who was journalist. Atheist. Yeah. And wanted to look at Christ from an atheist perspective and look for evidence.
Jason:And
Craig:God, in fact, showed him evidence.
Jason:Yeah. And I love it because the book I always tell the kids, the students when we go, freshman year, this is not a book that he's trying to prove Christ. Yeah. He's trying to disprove Christ. Yes.
Jason:So he's everything in this book is is aimed at. He's gonna set something up, he's gonna disprove it Yeah. Because his wife becomes a Christian. And he's like, you know what? I'm I'm gonna have this this robot person in my house has all these bible dumping laws, you know.
Jason:So let me just do my journalistic evidence, which I'm he's really good at when he was young. He got a bunch of awards. He goes, I'll knock this right out of the park. I'll take this stupid bible out of our house. We'll get on with our life.
Jason:And here you go. A couple months later, he's like, this this this is this is real. This is this is not you can't argue this. Yeah.
Craig:God met him. God met
Jason:him and did a work on him in his heart, and I just love that whole let's approach it from an atheist. Let's try to knock God off. I like that challenge. Yeah. And God's like, go ahead.
Jason:Yeah. Come on. Let's let's see what you could do. And then ends up just just bowing his knee and saying, you are you are you win, God. I remember that line.
Jason:You win, God. Absolutely. It's cool to be part of.
Craig:So, let me put you on the spot. You're familiar with each of these authors. Each one of them has a different perspective. Yes. You get one hour.
Craig:You get one hour to sit down with one of these authors. Okay?
Jason:Okay.
Craig:God's bringing them back.
Jason:Oh, boy.
Craig:Okay. You have one hour and that's all you get. You can only meet with one of them. First, who are you meeting with? Oh,
Jason:I can only meet one.
Craig:You can only meet one. Oh, You don't
Jason:get all four. Oh, I thought
Craig:that You only get one. I had four dinners coming up with these guys.
Jason:I got only one dinner.
Craig:You only get one. You only get one hour. What are you who are meeting with, and what are you asking?
Jason:Well, okay. So I I would have okay. On the spot, I'm gonna go ahead and knock off Mark and Luke because they didn't walk with the Christ.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:Luke was a Greek doctor, and Mark was around. He could have walked with him, but he wasn't the first early 12 disciples. I want a first person perspective of Christ. That's an immediate elimination for me. Man, coming down to Matthew and John's tough.
Jason:John lived to be the longest, and he actually was one of the only ones that didn't get martyred for the faith. Yeah. He was in his nineties or upper, so it'd be cool to sit down with him because he lived a long life. And so when I go to Matthew, he was younger but died for the faith. Matthew was the sinner that came to know Christ and walked with him, and John was the loving that's a good one.
Jason:It's gonna go down to these two. Oh, man. Oh, man. I'm probably gonna say I'm gonna say John.
Craig:Okay.
Jason:I'm gonna say John because he lived to be so old, and I would love to sit down with somebody who went through it, and he really just loved Jesus. In his gospel, he'll say, the one whom Jesus loved, is how he refers to himself in that one? He's a little boisterous of himself, but I think I would love to talk to John just to tell me about the Christ.
Craig:Any specific question that you would ask?
Jason:And John was on his inner circle too, right? Yeah. Yeah. That's a big one too. Absolutely.
Jason:Yeah. Maybe I want to talk about the Garden Of Gethsemane. Like, how was that? Why did you keep falling asleep, man?
Craig:Come on, man.
Jason:Why could you stay awake? Tell me about the boat. I just wanna know how was he. You know a big question of mine? Yeah.
Jason:And this is interesting now that we're thinking about this. Jesus comes off to the world, and I know this is kind of Amy Tacky, he's just loving fairy tales, and, you know, he just loves everybody, but we
Craig:read the gospels. Light skinned, blue eyed, long haired.
Jason:He accepts everybody, and even in your sin and staying in your sin, but we know that's not the gospel. Yeah. He tells us he does love everybody and he does bring everybody in, but he says go and sin no more. But I would like to know because when you read through the parts where Jesus gets frustrated with his disciples, we all read a little bit different. I'm a very disciplined to the point, hey, you're being stupid right now.
Jason:But people read that like, hey, you're not thinking right now. I wanna know, like, when Jesus got frustrated with you, what was his demeanor like? Yeah. I I would be really cool. Like, was he really frustrated with you or was he soft and kind?
Jason:Because I wanna emulate that. How do you correct somebody that brashly in his gospels? Like, are you guys that dumb? And then we always read that part, and we go, like, yes. You're gonna be like, I am that dumb.
Craig:You know?
Jason:But I want to be like, how did he correct you so boldly, yet so gently, so I could emulate that? And I would love for John just to teach me through that. It'd be cool.
Craig:Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, the the it really would help, I think, just putting on the humanity of Christ. Yeah. I think the Gospels do that well to where we can see Christ sleeping and Christ being, like, the human aspects of the God man. Yet, I want to know all of those things too.
Craig:I want know, like, hey, did he tell jokes?
Jason:Yeah. What what was, like,
Craig:Jesus', like, go to joke? Does he do dad jokes really well? Like, those types of things.
Jason:Like, did he have a joking demeanor, or was he always serious?
Craig:You know?
Jason:At the weddings, was he the guy that was dancing and having Did you ever see him trip? Yeah. Like, those aspects? Just simple things, right?
Craig:In his perfection, like, was he always perfect in walking as well? Interesting. He ever knock a cup over? Like, those questions?
Jason:Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting.
Craig:The human aspects of them.
Jason:Yeah. I know that The Chosen tries to go off on that sometimes and, you know, getting into The Chosen, I'm on the fence about, you know, it's more of like a it's more of like a I just keep it at at palms. Like Yeah. I I I always tell the students, like, oh, so you're against The Chosen? No.
Jason:Yeah. If you're gonna sit there and binge watch TV, sure. Binge watch The Chosen. Yeah. Okay?
Jason:But it's not the Bible. Yes. And to be fair, my wife says it, and she's right, and it's there. It's in the beginning. It says this is not the Bible.
Jason:Yeah. This is our depictation of what we see Christ like. Absolutely. When you're 13, 14, you don't read that. You're just thinking that Jesus is doing all this stuff and and having and so and then I have to there's lots of times we have to walk students, like Yeah.
Jason:Off this. Oh, I know. Yeah. Peter had a wife, and they argued about this. I'm like, excuse me?
Jason:Like, yeah. Peter argued with his wife all the time. I'm like, I'm like, Is this a chosen thing? And they're like, Yeah, it's a chosen thing. I'm like, Okay.
Jason:Yeah. I a professor,
Craig:Doctor. Gore Giza. He was probably one of the smartest guys I ever had in my undergrad. He would memorize entire books. He would go kind of Old Testament rabbi and memorize whole sections of Scripture.
Craig:And this is whenever the passion of the Christ came out. Yeah. And he cautioned us going to watch it.
Jason:Yes.
Craig:And the reason he cautioned us is because he said, you know, God revealed himself to us through the word. Yes. And part of that. Yes.
Jason:Is that we
Craig:create images from the word. Yes. And he said the danger of going to see a movie is that will forever be the image that is created for what you're reading. And so it's similar with the Gospels, it's similar with The Chosen. There are people I have not seen The Chosen.
Craig:One, it's I hate to say this, but most Christian things are done so poorly that they are frustrating for me to watch. I've heard The Chosen is great, and there are many people that love it. I've just chosen not to watch it so far. Yeah. I don't have a stance on it if people want to watch The Chosen.
Craig:I don't have a problem with that either. But there is that piece of the fear of me.
Jason:Yes.
Craig:Of I know that if I watch it, whenever I read the text from this point forward, Peter will be seen as Peter from The Chosen.
Jason:Yes. And I grew up the Charleston Heston, the Tinke Oh yeah. I mean, my mom, the double cassette tape would pop it in. Right? And she'd make not make me.
Jason:She'd put it on, you know? Yeah. Put it on. It was so that's my Moses. Yeah.
Jason:Just like you're saying, when I read through, you know, the the Torah. Yeah. That Charleston Heston is Moses. When I get to heaven and I meet that Moses, I'm gonna be like, no. Charleston Heston
Craig:is Moses.
Jason:You know what I mean? So right along that line, that's what I see, and you can't unshake that. Yeah. You know? And I think when we look at the scriptures I do this really cool thing in class.
Jason:We'll read through the scene when Jesus is on the boat and he calms the storm. I think it's from the Gospel of Mark. I know it's in there, but he does several snippet gospels. I tell the students, Okay, We're gonna read through it. We read through that whole story.
Craig:Yeah.
Jason:And I want you to think about how your Jesus responded. Yeah. What how did he how did he talk to the storm? Was it yelling? Was it calm?
Jason:You know? And sure enough, everyone, thirty thirty percent of them all have, oh, yeah. Mine was screaming at the storm. Mine was shouting. Mine was like, you, storm, be still.
Jason:And there's no. No. No. Mine's whispering to the storm. That's a you know?
Jason:But I think that's the beauty of the scriptures like you're saying.
Craig:Absolutely.
Jason:God's speaking through individuals on those those little parts where, like, God speaking, your Jesus isn't screaming, but he could have been. Yeah. This Jesus isn't yelling. He's quiet. But it kind of goes to that personal where he really pulls on the individual heartstrings Yeah.
Jason:Which I love that poetic about reading. And then we put on the this video from Amazon, which is the Gospel of Mark, and the the Jesus is just shouting, you will be quiet. And he's just going crazy. And the people are like, what? Yeah.
Jason:That's not what minded. I said, now just think if we watch that first Yes. Forever, your Jesus would have shouted in those scriptures, and you would have lost that. So it's a really cool, like, flesh like you're saying. It's an imprint that I don't know if I wanna if I want people to go into those imprints.
Craig:Absolutely.
Jason:So that's that's my perspective when it
Craig:comes to They can be helpful, but they can also be harmful.
Jason:Yes. You never know.
Craig:But I like to take the Da Vinci's Last Supper, the painting.
Jason:Yes.
Craig:And I love to look at the biblical text in comparison with the painting. Da Vinci. Yeah. It's different. Yes.
Craig:Very different.
Jason:Like, very different.
Craig:Aspect of they were seated. Yes. And in Da Vinci, it is in the Last Supper, the painting, they're at a table.
Jason:Yes.
Craig:Yet, whenever you read the text, it's like he was reclined and he leaned back. It's like, that doesn't make sense whenever you're sitting at the table.
Jason:That's right.
Craig:Well, it's it's done in a way that is culturally relevant for the time that the painting is from.
Jason:That's right.
Craig:Also, like, sitting on one side of the table. Yeah. It doesn't happen. That's weird. Like, why is everybody on one side of the table?
Jason:It would have ruined da Vinci's painting if they're all on
Craig:his back.
Jason:Exactly. But you but we've studied that, now when we read through the Last Supper
Craig:Yep.
Jason:What image do you have in your mind? They're all sitting there, you know, and it's just interesting.
Craig:It is.
Jason:It's very fascinating. It's it's a it's a good thing to at least I'm not like you're saying, I don't think it's enough to not watch The Chosen or not look at the DaVinci brain. Absolutely. But I think we need to be aware of it.
Craig:My kids have seen The Chosen.
Jason:Yes. Okay?
Craig:Yeah. Me Let just throw
Jason:that up.
Craig:My kids have seen The Chosen. They both love it. Great. I don't have a problem with
Jason:it. And I think as long as you're aware of it, I think that's a big thing. Like, just be aware. That's why I love to do that that exercise in class. Just be aware of don't let, like, movies burn images into you and think that's the end of it.
Jason:Like, God's much bigger than that, and he's doing things that could be different to have an open mind. Yeah.
Craig:So, Jason, we have seminar coming up this Sunday. Yep. Anything you want our people to do to prep for seminar? Do they need to read all four gospels? It's funny you say that.
Craig:What are they anything that that you would want them to do before they're walking into seminar on Sunday morning?
Jason:It's funny you say that. I remember when I became a youth pastor for the first time and I was getting ordained the next day, and I it hit me hard, like, I never read through the whole Bible. Yeah. And I remember going, I got twenty four hours. Let's do this.
Jason:You know?
Craig:And I remember going,
Jason:man, what was wrong? No. No. I think when you when you come, I I hope everybody who wants to learn about the gospels gets a chance to be there and just be in prayer. You know?
Jason:Let the Lord do a work. I I I have so many options that I wanna do. Right? I wanna Of course. Put on a show.
Jason:I wanna do all these games, and the Lord just this week had been like, you know what? Let's just show up and be part of this and let the Lord's word do his thing and come with a heart ready to learn and ask good questions and be ready for the Lord just to pour in you through his word. That's that's the biggest thing. Just be in prayer and just come ready to have, have some fun and then learn and learn something good about the gospels for sure.
Craig:Absolutely. Jason, it's been a blast having you on here, bud. Yeah. Great to get to know you. I'm excited for the Sunday.
Craig:Yeah. Church, if you have not registered, don't worry about it. You can still show up this Sunday at 08:45 in the morning. If you can only make one week, it's okay as well. You don't have to make them all.
Craig:But we would love to see you for each of the upcoming Sunday morning seminars beginning this Sunday. Church, looking forward to seeing you next time we gather together.