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What is a "Ministry
Pastor"?
Jeff directs Servant's Network, the umbrella for all of
our ministries. Jeff's primary job at Fully Alive is helping
people realize how God has gifted them, how Fully Alive's
ministries function, and what ministry roles are available
to people.
How did you come to Fully Alive?
I started coming to Fully Alive officially in July of 1997,
although I have been apart of the church indirectly since
the beginning. It really all started when I was a sophomore
in high school and involved in the youth ministry. At the
time Mark and Kathy Nunn were running the ministry. When
a short, dark haired college sophomore named Scott Owens
was hired to help Mark and Kathy run the youth ministry.
At this point my friendship started with Scott and we became
good friends. When I was growing up I thought I knew what
I was going to do with my life. I was going to go into the
Air Force and learn how to fly and then get out and land
a job with United Airlines. But God seemed to have other
plans for my life. During the spring semester of my senior
year of high school I started to experience a call that was
coming from God to work for the church on a full time basis.
So after wresting with this for a while I went and talk to
Scott and a few others about this. And they seemed to confirm
to what God had placed in my heart, a calling to Christian
ministry. After coming to this realization, I wanted to take
the next step, yet I had no idea what that next step was.
After some time, Scott started to put together an internship
program for me to go through in order continue to confirm
the calling God had given me and to start developing skills
and tools I would need in order to do ministry. I interned
with Scott for about two and a half years and excelled at
it. I started to grow greatly both spiritually and in ministry
experience. In February of 1995 I was given the chance to
solo on my own as the Director of Youth Ministry at Santa
Clara First Baptist Church. This was an exciting yet terrifying
experience for me. It was my first real job in ministry and
because I was now out of my safety and comfort zone. I worked
there for about two and a half years. During that time Fully
Alive was started and I started attending their worship services
on Tuesday nights. During my last six months at Santa Clara
First Baptist I started wresting again, I felt the calling
of God to leave Santa Clara and go work at Fully Alive. This
was a major decision that radically changed my life. There
was no way that the church could pay me anything. What would
I do to earn money? It took me those six months to finally
say "God if this is what you really want me to do then you
will provide for me." So on July 14th, 1997 I said good-bye
to Santa Clara First Baptist and started my career here at
Fully Alive as the Pastor of Ministry and the Director of
Servant's Network Ministries. |
What is your favorite
scripture verse?
"But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different
from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation
from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted,
he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it."
1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT) |
What is your favorite
Christian and/or secular artist?
Christian - Anointed, Avalon,
4Him, Point of Grace, Truth
Secular - Old Van Halen,
Phil Collins, Harry Conick Jr., Brian Setzer, and Chicago |
Where would be your
dream vacation and why?
Australia and New Zealand I've always wanted to go snorkeling
or scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef |
What is your favorite
ice cream?
Quarterback Crunch from Baskin Robbins |
What is your favorite
food?
Anything Mexican or Italian |
Mac or PC
Mac |
Pepsi or Coke
Diet Coke |
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How have you progressed on your
spiritual journey to be a Christian?
I became a Christian when I was ten years old. I walk an
aisle and I prayed a prayer and was baptized. I understood
in my head what I had done, but it really didn't have a
whole lot of impact on my life until I became an adolescent
and got involved with the youth group at church. From there
I began to really understand who God was and started to
develop a real friendship with Him. There have definitely
have been time where I have started pursuing my relationship
with and allowed it to degenerate. But God has been extremely
patient with me, has waited for me to come back to Him
time and time again when I've stumbled and fallen. He has
definitely has picked me up, dusted me, given me a hug
and said to me "The past is forgotten, let's start fresh
and new right here, right now."
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Who are the biggest
influences in your life?
Jesus Christ: The true model of a civilized human being.
Joe Mitchell (my dad): For teaching me how to work hard and
to see things through to completion. He also showed me what
it means to be a gentle spirit. Scott Owens: Helping me dream
big dreams and to see the big picture. Richard Reaves: For
giving me a chance to do ministry and helping me grow and
deepen my relationship with Christ as an individual and as
a pastor. Josh McDowell: For helping me see the inerrorancy
of Jesus through his books. Max Lucado: For painting such
beautiful, and vivid word pictures of Christ. |
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