Jarrod Jones

I was in the middle of preaching through the book of Nehemiah from a series called “Envision.” Then, God began to lay on my heart another direction:  Tithing.

Tithing? Woo-hoo! The perfect sermon series for Church growth! The sermon series that will generate untold buzz around the community that will bring people flocking to Grace! The sermon series in which people will make countless phone calls and write countless emails inviting friends and family to come!

Not.

Grace’s Executive Pastor, Mark Lingerman, and I had discussions about tithing. Then we both wrote articles for Grace’s monthly periodical. One of our Elders had talked about the need for discipleship when it came to tithing.  And seeds from those discussions began to sprout in me. A couple in our small group, after having read the periodical, said to me, “Jarrod, I hope we’re not stepping out of bounds to share this. But when you start praying through a future sermon series’, maybe think about tithing.”

(Insert Twilight Zone theme song here).

The following week, again in our small group, I shared my fleshly hesitancy to preach a sermon on tithing, much less a series. Then a new believer in our group said to me, “Jarrod, if you know something that will draw me closer to the heart of Jesus, you have to tell me.”

Um, wow…

That basically did it.  Still, the following Sunday, I took two sermons with me into the Worship Center. One was a sermon from the “Envision” series out of Nehemiah, and the other was the tithing sermon.  As I stood before the people I knew the Lord wanted me to trust Him and launch us onto a journey about money, tithing, and giving.  I didn’t have a title for the sermon, much less the series.  I had a video clip I was going to use with the Nehemiah sermon, but instead used it for the tithing sermon and launch of the series. As I began to preach, I choked up with tears. And I said, “My fear is that you will miss out on God’s pleasure by not tithing and giving for the glory of Christ and His work.” I don’t know where the tears came from, nor the words (though I think it’s safe to say, the Holy Spirit), but I meant every word and still do.

And the series right then and there became entitled, “God’s Pleasure.”

We are 3 weeks into the series ( I had to leave for the last two weeks but kept the series in front of our people by way of video and Grace family testimonies). I have no idea how long the series would be. I’m still not sure. But it’s like a mini-revival is happening in the hearts of the Grace fam. We are growing into “fully devoted followers of Jesus”, and we’re experiencing God’s pleasure. Yes, our giving/tithing has gone up. But what excites me is that it’s not a one time call to give that people are responding to. Rather, it’s a response to the gospel and giving/tithing becoming part one’s DNA. A lifestyle of worship…

I’ve gotten some emails in response to the series. The following clip of a recent email sums it up best.

“What an even greater privilege and joy it will be for our family to offer the first and best we receive from God because He gave the first and best He had, His Son.  Thank you!”

Are you experiencing God’s pleasure through tithing and giving to your local church and missions? Don’t miss out on God’s pleasure.

I miss my family, and I miss being at Grace.  Two weeks from my fam, out of the office, and out of the pulpit and I’m getting very ancy.  But God has afforded me some sweet time here in the hot woods of Lone Star, TX for ministry, meditation, reflection, praying, repenting, reading, journaling, listening, and envisioning where God has us going in the future.

I’ve asked the question of myself and our people: “Are we motorboating or sailboating?” In other words, are we the ones doing what we think God wants us to do–steering the boat, determining the speed, etc.  Or, are we seeking, listening, and responding to the Lord’s direction—raising the sails and God blowing His Spirit wind in the direction He wants us to go and at the speed He wants us to go.

We desire to be a “sailboating” Church. In other words, we want to be a praying Church, a pleading Church sensitive to the movement of the Holy Spirit among us. And when we sense His movement among us, we want to work at raising more sails, turning the sails, patching the sails, or whatever needs to be done to move along with God’s Spirit.

Now think of your life.  Are you motorboating? Or sailboating?  Are you doing what God wants you to do, are you being who God wants you to be, and experiencing His blessing and joy (sailboating)? Or are you doing what you want to do and asking God to bless it (motorboating)?

I invite you to join me, my fam, and Grace.  Throw the motorboat keys over the side.  And pray up the sails.

Seven years ago I married Christie Joy Lutz of Ridgefield, CT (formerly Long Island, NY). While speaking in Connecticut, I saw her walk into the room as I was meeting leadership for a young adult gathering, and that was all she wrote. I stalked her. She hung in there. We were married 13 months later.

As I’ve rejoiced over her today, Proverbs 17:22 came to mind. He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD. (Proverbs 17:22)

I was single until I was 31 years old.  And at about 24 years old, I didn’t want to be single anymore. So a 7 year haul was before me! And for 7 years, I prayed, and even fasted, and waited, for my future wife. But that’s not all. I “looked” for her too. During those years, I kept my eyes open. And frankly, to “find a wife” was like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.

In my early twenties, I had mistaken a strand of hay for being the needle. That was rough. It happened while I wasn’t following Jesus. Beware of the enemy and sinful desires in you. A hay-strand can look like the needle.  Even more dangerous is that you can convince yourself that a hay-strand is the needle. Beware.  (Sorry. I’ve taken the whole hay and needle thing farther than originally planned :)).

If you’re single, and God has given you the desire to be married, start looking and keep looking. Not desperately… (it’s a needle in the haystack, not a kitten in the haystack. (Sorry again…)).

The Scripture says, “He who FINDS a wife…”, not “He who waits on a wife,” or “He to whom God brings a wife…”. It’s not spiritual to pray and wait upon the Lord to bring you your wife (or ladies, your husband). It’s spiritual to “find” them!

Although I didn’t meet Christie on a blind date, I was a fan of blind dates.  I had some catastrophic experiences on blind dates, sure. But hey, you never know what God is up to in those situations, and what He may have to teach all parties involved. And besides, they make for great blogs.

I suppose you can “find” something (and someone) without looking for it. There are testimonies out there where people were not thinking of marriage, only to meet someone, and… the rest is history.  But I’m thinking that is more the exception.  I don’t buy the whole “when you’re content you’ll meet ‘the one’” thing, as if that means we’re to be so content with being single that we no longer have the desire to be married. We’re to be content in Christ, yes. In that contentment though can be holy desires, such as the desire to married, and to be a parent. Those desires, surrendered and entrusted to Christ, are God’s way of keeping our eyes open to what He has for us… like a spouse.

For those of you who are unmarried, there’s the chance that you’re looking for what’s (or “who’s” rather) standing right beside you.  Kind of like searching for your sunglasses when their sitting on your head.   I hear stories all the time about someone who was friends with someone for years and then one day, the eyes are opened, and there he or she is, and has been all along. God does that type of thing too.I wondered often if that would be the case with me someday. It sure would have made things easier.

And then there are the times that what you’ve been looking for shows up in an unexpected place.  Kind of like when I was looking for a certain brand of toothpaste (even at Target and Wal-Mart) to no avail, and then one day buying gas at “Crump’s Gas and Grocery” and there it is!  I would never have believed I would meet my wife in Bethel, CT.

And to “find” a wife is to “find” a good thing…. That is the understatement of the year, it seems. Albeit, Jesus is the best thing. So I guess my wife would be the “good thing.”  Christie has been so good to me, and good for me. God has made His grace alive to me through Christie’s love and patience. He’s also made me holier b/c of her.  So true the cliche’ that marriage isn’t for happiness, but for holiness… and joyfulness.

I have indeed “obtained favor from the Lord.” When I gaze at my wife, I gaze at flesh & blood favor from the Lord to me. The thought that she’s “God’s favor to me” actually helps keep me accountable and empowered to treat His “favor,” His “gift,” with tenderness, care, love, appreciation, and gratitude. Indeed, when I married Christie I looked into her eyes before a crowd of people and repeated the words, “Christie, I vow to love Jesus more than you so that I will love you the way you deserve.”

So here’s some advice for those who want to be married:

1) Pray and Fast for your future spouse before the Lord

2) Surrender all your desires and affections to to the Lord

3) Love Jesus “more” now so that you will love Him (Jesus) more than your spouse in the future… and thereby loving him or her the way he or she deserves.

4) Go on blind dates

Behold & tremble.

My last two blogs dealt with how while in Alabama I came to a renewed sense of how much I missed my family and hometown friends. But I wasn’t finished…

My final thoughts following Bama is about how excited and thankful I am to be pastoring Grace Community Church, Washingtonville, NY.  I greatly enjoyed Bama, but my thoughts and prayers were not far from the Grace family.  While in Bama, I would reflect at different times of the day about what the staff would be doing, who was meeting, what small groups that I knew about were happening.  The Sunday I was away, I was praying for Matt as he preached, Ryan as he led worship, and all of the staff and volunteers who were laying it on the line to welcome people with the joy of Christ and the hope of Christ, whether they were parking cars, greeting at the doors, tidying up the bathrooms, stocking the cafe, or brewing the coffee.

I thought about the new friendships God has granted Christie, me, and the boys with other families at Grace.  And how thankful I am for those friendships. They are growing more dear to us by the week. I got emails and texts from some of those friends while in Bama encouraging my heart in Christ.  The friendship connection and intimacy didn’t happen overnight in Alabama, and neither will it here. But I delight in the journey with these new friends as God draws us closer to Himself and to each other.

I compare my relationship with Grace Community Church with my relationship with Christie after we first met.  With Christie, right after we met, I knew that God had brought us together. I proposed to her three months later. I loved her. I was committed to her.  At the same time, we had a lot of growing together in that love and commitment. It was beautiful at times, rocky at times, scarey at times. But God was in it, He sustained us, and we’re having a blast. It’s the very same with Grace Community Church.

I reflected on how God is moving so powerfully at Grace.  People being saved by God’s grace through faith. People growing in Christ and repenting of sin. The love and warmth and joy that is sensed so powerfully among us.  Indeed, that is the testimony we hear often… how loving and warm and accepting the people of Grace are, and that we preach the word and give glory to Christ! The growth that God is granting us has been overwhelming–literally. As I shared a few Sundays ago. It’s as if God is blowing His Spirit’s wind into our sails, and we’re working hard raising sails, lowering sails, shifting sails, and so forth trying to keep up! Growing pains are just that–pain. But a glorious pain.

Wherever God is moving powerfully, that is where I want to be.  And God has gifted me that opportunity. I reflected on how I’ve prayed for years that God would bring revival in the Northeast and if he would allow me to be a part of it I would be honored. I prayed that if God called me to pastor, that I wouldn’t have to tell anyone, that I would never have to send out a resume’, that He would drop it in my lap, and that He would send me to the Northeast (Read about “The Journey To Grace” here). God answered that prayer spot-on.  And I believe in my heart He is going to answer my pleas, and the pleas of Grace, to bring revival to Orange County, the Northeast and beyond. I truly, truly, do.  Prayed specifically for it with the Elders and staff at 6:30am today.

Following Bama, I was reminded of how much I missed friends and family. It was the first time I had slowed down long enough to let it settle in. At the same time, I was affirmed of how thrilled and overjoyed I am to be the Lead Pastor of Grace Community Church, Washingtonville, NY. And as we departed Bama, I could not wait to hit the ground running back into God’s work here.

Greater things have yet to come….