What is your role at MHC?

Co-Pastor of Redemption Groups and Biblical Counseling.

Tell us about your family:

My wife’s name is Gina and my 16 yr. old daughter’s name is Kaitlyn. We like to hang out on out deck on hot days. We like to watch American idol and 24 together. My daughter is a Star Trek geek, for which I praise God. My wife and I do ministry together for which I also praise God.

When did Jesus change your life?

The winter of 1998, I was at the end of destroying my life with a love of the world through addictions and self-love.

How has your life changed since meeting Jesus?

It is like I have a whole new life. If you knew me before Christ, you would agree that I am not the same person that I was. Where I hated, I now love. Where I was once in bondage, I am now free. I am truly a different person than I was before I met Jesus.

Tell us how you came to be at Mars Hill, as a visitor, member, and elder:

I was an Elder at Doxa in West Seattle when we made the decision to merge with MHC. I felt called to MHC immediately and entered into the Elder process.

What is your biggest challenge in this ministry?

In our generation there has been so much suffering from abuse that it is so easy to get caught up in lies from the enemy of God. I have watched people die based on a lie they heard from the enemy of God. These lies are so entrenched in one’s soul; it is very difficult to help someone see that what they saw as truth all along was a lie. In addition, the lie can be so entrenched that when they hear the truth of the gospel, it sounds like a lie and to them God seems like the enemy.

What is your greatest joy while serving in this ministry?

To have front row seats when someone really gets who Jesus is for the first time, when the light really goes on for the first time. You literally watch their heart melt in the presence of God. It is an amazing thing to watch; I feel very blessed by God to have such a great job that I get to watch lives transformed before my very eyes.

What are you looking forward to seeing God do in this ministry?

Uncovering more of the enemies schemes, that the church actually becomes a real healing ministry, that we do not have to rely on outside sources to help our people, and that the church is seen by the secular world as a place where real change that glorifies God is going on.

Please share a favorite quotation:

“Christ leads me through no darker rooms than He went through before.”
“You can’t lead where you’re unwilling to go.”
“You worshiped your way into sin, you have to worship your way out.”

What books have fueled your thinking or challenged you in the last few years?

“Freedom of the Will,” “A Divine and Supernatural Light,” “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” and “Religious Affections” by Jonathan Edwards. Edwards was a Puritan who understood the human heart when there was no psychology.

“Overcoming Sin and Temptation” by John Owen. Owen, another Puritan, also understood the human condition and our trials that come from our sin.

“Blame it on the Brain” by Edward Welch. Welch does a really good job of distinguishing between chemical imbalance and sin.

“According to Plan” by Graeme Goldsworthy. Goldsworthy really nails how to look at the story of God through a biblical theology lens.

“A Christian Directory” by Richard Baxter. Baxter also gets to the heart of man and God.

What’s your favorite/preferred genre of music?

Old rock Led Zeppelin’ish ; Blues; Funk, yea I’m not ashamed to say I like disco. I am currently praying that disco makes it back. Yup, that’s right, I am not afraid to say it. I’m speaking on behalf of all the closet disco fans out there; I know you’re out there.

What’s your favorite Seattle-area eatery?

New Fav. is senior moose in Ballard. And any good pub.

What’s your favorite scripture?

2 Corinthians 3:18 ESV
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Why?

All of 2 Corinthians 3 shows us that the law was a shadow of greater things to come and that we now have access to God, because we become the holy of holies–we are the dwelling place of God. There is no longer a veil that separates us from God. When Christ died, the veil was ripped and now we are the holiest place on earth.

Read Pastor James’ blog post when he baptized folks at Ballard on Easter 2009: In the Tank.
Also check out Pastor James’ other blog posts HERE.