Husband. Father. Pastor.
My name is Jeff. Consider the words on these pages as my heart for you – to know the rest that can be found in Christ. Use the links below to find out more about our church community and be sure to read my story. You are loved!
My life before Christ can be summed up in two words:
B R O K E N
My family was broken. My parents divorced when I was 5. Both remarried within a year. My Dad experienced another divorce when I was 12. My Mom divorced again when I was 16. We moved every two years growing up. I was always changing schools and never settling in.
B I T T E R
As a teenager especially I became eaten up with bitterness. I blamed others for a lot of my own internal misery and discontentment. I truly was eaten up with bitterness in my heart. Looking back on that time, in my mind I was playing a victim.
As He does with so many, God used my family brokenness and my response to it to reveal my own brokenness and sin against him.
R E D E E M E D
Although we were not regular church goers by any means, I heard the gospel several times growing up. My uncle shared Christ with me when I was about 12. When I was about 15 I was handed a gospel tract while going into work one day. When I was 16 my dad had taken our family to a local church where we lived and I remember the pastor visiting us in our home and sharing the gospel with us. My dad trusted Christ as his Savior during that visit. I look back I and see all of these instances as God’s gracious pursuit of me and my family.
Eventually the Holy Spirit brought a depth of conviction to my heart over my sin and I heard the gospel again on a Christian radio station and surrendered my life and trusted in Christ for forgiveness and salvation. I was 19 years old.
There were some things in my heart and life that God began to change in me. One of the primary things was forgiveness and peace towards my parents and siblings. God began to change my heart and give me peace.
In other ways, it’s been a long journey of fighting and battling some strongholds that had taken root in my heart over the years. Patterns of thinking with regards to playing the victim and a general spirit of discontent are two areas in particular that God continues to break in me.
I was saved at 19. I entered full time pastoral ministry at 29. I currently serve the Lord as a lead pastor. I really am grateful that God has transformed and is transforming me by his grace.
I’ve been married for 28 years to my wife Robin. She’s a gift of God’s grace to me and we just love doing this crazy ministry life together. We have 6 kids. 4 grown and 2 children, 7 & 8 whom we adopted 6 years ago. All of our grown kids know the Lord and are growing in their faithfulness. We currently have 3 grandchildren and love every minute of being around them.
The Lord specializes in taking ashes and making them beautiful.
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I really see my story as an ashes to beauty kind of story that God continues to write. It’s all been his pursuit and grace over the years. I’m still very much a mess every day, but I’m God’s mess and He’s still working on me and conforming me to Christ. The Lord specializes in taking ashes and making them beautiful. God bless you!
Sheltered Hearts 