Jason has been raised in church all his life, and was saved in 1985.   He lived the Christian life pretty well...until he hit his teen years.  He began to hang around people he truly shouldn't have.  They used bad language, drank alcohol, and some even used drugs.  Though he never used the drugs, the alcohol did get in, and the language stuck.  In trying to "play church," it often became hard for Jason not to let some of that "weekday talk" slip out.  This also planted the seed for his lying habit, which made a large part of his life as well.

     He continued to play church on Sundays throughout his teenage years, and into his early twenties.  On Sundays, he was all about God and his loving Grace.  But when Monday rolled around, everything changed.  His lying habit was so bad at this point he could lie to anyone, looking them straight in the eye, and get away with it.  He had gotten good at fooling people.

     In his mid-twenties, he accepted a position as Wal-Mart Vision Center manager in Campbellsville.  Jason says it was fun at first, but for a 22-year-old man, it was a lot of responsibility.  During this time, he met Melissa.  The couple had lots of fun together, and still do.  Things at work continued to get worse as they always did, and he began drinking even heavier to try to help get rid of some of the chaos.  But, as usual, it didn't.  He really enjoyed drinking.  It always seemed to make him popular with their friends who we spent lots of time with.

     But, of course, the drinking didn't fix his problems, nor lessen the chaos that his life had built up.  The drinking was just one more problem to throw on the pile.  He and Melissa continued to date, and got married in October of 1998.  He admitted to Melissa on their honeymoon that he figured his parents had six months, maximum, before they'd split up.  He told her they'd been having plenty of arguments, and things between them just didn't seem to be working themselves out.  And, sure enough, on their five-month wedding anniversary, his parents filed for a divorce.

     "I don't know whoever said that a divorce on a child that has already moved out of his parents house wouldn't be hard," Jason said, "but I'll stand in front of anyone today and say that they were wrong.  The divorce tore my life apart."  Jason would keep his loyalties to both his mom and his dad, on top of his job, and his new wife.  But it turned out to be more than he could handle.  It wasn't long before he was admitted to the hospital because of what all was happening.

     Now, don't think all this took Jason astray and left him there.  Jason re-dedicated his life several times since his early twenties.  He would stay faithful to that commitment...for a few months.  But it just always seemed so easy to go astray.  He would get back into all the things he would promise himself he would get rid of.  And, just to throw one more thing on his pile of things to get rid of, he developed an addiction to pornography.  Anything for a thrill, he would do his best to get hold of.

     Then God stepped in.  Obviously, He'd had enough of Jason's "playing church" on the weekends.  Conviction is a tool that God likes to use to get people where they need to be.  That was the direction God decided to go with Jason.  He was hit with so much conviction at once, it was all he could do to get through each day.  He was leading a life of filth and sin, and he knew it.

     Finally, he decided God was right.  Enough was enough.  He cried out to God to cleanse him and he would live his life for Christ, no matter the cost.   One night while reading his bible, he couldn't concentrate because he knew he had an eighteen-month subscription to pornography magazines in the closet.  Sitting there that night, he decided that was one thing he was going to start overcoming right then and there.

     "I walked to the closet, picked up the pile of magazines, walked over to the trash can, and dumped them in.  I immediately walked over to my wife and assured her she was the only woman I needed to look at."  That promise was one of the hardest he had ever made, and it's the hardest he's had to keep, because of the addictive effects of pornography.  But he continues to fight it because Satan knows it is his greatest weakness.

     An opportunity opened to move to Nashville, Tennessee.   Jason was offered a job as a Vision Center manager there.  He was so very burnt out on Campbellsville.  They had also told Melissa, who was then working for the One-Hour Photo center at Wal-Mart, that she had a very good chance of becoming manager of that department in Nashville.  Everything seemed to be in order.

     Jason and Melissa found an apartment for just over six-hundred dollars per month in Nashville.  Jason had said his good-byes.  He was ready to get out of Campbellsville.   But Melissa still had a week left at the photo center.  Jason drove down and worked for three days, and had planned to drive back to their duplex to move their belongings to Nashville.  But the whole way home, Jason cried.  He stopped by his dad's house to say goodbye to him, since Jason wouldn't see him again before they moved.  But instead of wishing Jason luck and patting him on the back, his father gave him a bit of advice that he will never forget.  He said, "Son, if it doesn't feel right, don't do it."

     Jason knew it didn't feel right.  He didn't want to move so far from home, so far from the place and people he knew and loved.  He went home and found Melissa waiting for him.  Jason sat down and told her he didn't want to move.   To say the least, Melissa was a bit shocked that Jason had changed his mind.  They talked about things for a little while, and came to the conclusion that they were in just a bit of a bind.  The duplex they were living in had already been rented to someone new.   Jason's position in Campbellsville had already been filled, so he couldn't just go back to the Vision Center and go back to work.  But luckily, Melissa still had her position in the photo center, and she had that to fall back on.

     Jason got a job as an associate in the vision center at Campbellsville Wal-Mart...the same place he was so glad to leave only days before.   He and Melissa found a house just down the street from the to live in.   Everything finally looked as if it were going good...except one thing.   Neither he or Melissa were happy at our home church.  The Friday night before they were supposed to move to the new house, they had their last supper with his cousin, and Antioch Pastor, James Wright.  After wiping all the joyous tears from their eyes, he asked if Jason and Melissa were still at their home church.  Jason told him they were, but that they weren't happy.  Bro. James invited the couple to Antioch, and the rest is history.  Jason and Melissa have loved being at Antioch since day one.  They felt the calling of God on them here, and moved their memberships.

     Jason claims that he had never done very well around children.  "They got on my last nerve at times.  But my wife was a kid fanatic.   She seemed to draw children like magnets.  God and Melissa seemed to take partnership in getting me to where I would interact with the children and youth of the church."  Jason began to get where he liked being around them, and began to teach the youth Sunday School class.  God has greatly helped Jason with his language, drinking, and lying problems since he joined Antioch.  "I still confess to people today about lies I'd told them."

     By the year 2003, Jason had become really active within the church and the youth.  He was taking a seminary extension class at Pleasant Valley Baptist Church.  God began really dealing with him about ministry.  Jason made excuses.  He would tell God he wasn't old enough, or didn't know enough...anything to get out of answering a call like that.  But, knowing how hard-headed he had been in the past, God knew He had to speak plain English to get Jason's attention.  One morning, He said, so boldly, "Preach My Word.  You won't be using your words...you'll be using Mine."

     That was all the convincing it took.  Jason announced his calling into the ministry at his seminary class two weeks later.  He made his announcement at church in March of 2003, and was given the chance to preach his first sermon two weeks later on March 30.  "That day was awesome, and I will always cherish it."

     Since that day, God has allowed Jason to preach several times.  Jason was licensed to preach in July of 2006.  He was accepted by the church into the ministerial position he's in now, serving as Minister of Youth.  "I know I've not got everything figured out, and I know I have and that I'll continue to fall into sin.  Satan knows our weaknesses, and will throw them at us every chance he gets.  But I have assurance that God is always there to pick me up when I fall.  I thank my God who is always faithful."