1 00:00:00,601 --> 00:00:02,281 I was raised, by God's grace, 2 00:00:02,281 --> 00:00:04,025 in a Christian home. 3 00:00:04,025 --> 00:00:07,697 My father read the Bible to me daily, 4 00:00:07,697 --> 00:00:10,332 and sacrificed a lot to give me 5 00:00:10,332 --> 00:00:11,686 a Christian education - 6 00:00:11,686 --> 00:00:13,103 kindergarten through college. 7 00:00:13,103 --> 00:00:14,807 I went to Bible college. 8 00:00:14,807 --> 00:00:17,233 And so I had a lot of knowledge 9 00:00:17,233 --> 00:00:20,039 about the Lord and the things of the Lord. 10 00:00:20,039 --> 00:00:21,818 We regularly attended a church, 11 00:00:21,818 --> 00:00:23,931 and we were faithful in attendance there. 12 00:00:23,931 --> 00:00:25,869 And at a young age - maybe 7, 13 00:00:25,869 --> 00:00:28,010 I made a profession of faith, 14 00:00:28,010 --> 00:00:30,276 was baptized. 15 00:00:30,276 --> 00:00:32,374 And I prided myself at that time 16 00:00:32,374 --> 00:00:34,522 that I did not participate in things 17 00:00:34,522 --> 00:00:36,792 like drinking or drugs. 18 00:00:36,792 --> 00:00:38,536 But as I look back, I saw that 19 00:00:38,536 --> 00:00:43,118 I just lived openly in so many other sins. 20 00:00:43,118 --> 00:00:44,380 I went away to college. 21 00:00:44,380 --> 00:00:46,410 I met my wife. 22 00:00:46,410 --> 00:00:49,912 She was in the exact same place I was spiritually. 23 00:00:49,912 --> 00:00:52,008 We were married the week after college. 24 00:00:52,008 --> 00:00:55,436 We moved to Dallas for business 25 00:00:55,436 --> 00:00:57,396 and started attending a church in Dallas. 26 00:00:57,396 --> 00:00:58,882 We were faithful there. 27 00:00:58,882 --> 00:01:01,642 And it was shortly after that 28 00:01:01,642 --> 00:01:04,124 that one day I picked up my Bible, 29 00:01:04,124 --> 00:01:05,825 which was not common, 30 00:01:05,825 --> 00:01:07,188 and began to read. 31 00:01:07,188 --> 00:01:10,053 And I read 1 John 2. 32 00:01:10,053 --> 00:01:11,532 "If you love the world 33 00:01:11,532 --> 00:01:12,909 or the things in the world, 34 00:01:12,909 --> 00:01:15,215 the love of the Father is not in you." 35 00:01:15,215 --> 00:01:17,975 And I was so confronted with the reality 36 00:01:17,975 --> 00:01:23,536 that I loved so many other things than God. 37 00:01:23,536 --> 00:01:26,872 I was convicted of my sin. 38 00:01:26,872 --> 00:01:29,361 I didn't have a lot of good doctrine. 39 00:01:29,361 --> 00:01:31,323 I was more introduced to things 40 00:01:31,323 --> 00:01:32,957 like the sinner's prayer. 41 00:01:32,957 --> 00:01:35,508 And I didn't know what to do at that moment, 42 00:01:35,508 --> 00:01:37,209 but I knew this for sure - 43 00:01:37,209 --> 00:01:39,077 I was lost. 44 00:01:39,077 --> 00:01:41,810 And I cried out to God for mercy. 45 00:01:41,810 --> 00:01:43,608 And He saved me. 46 00:01:43,608 --> 00:01:46,045 And as the Scriptures say, at that moment 47 00:01:46,045 --> 00:01:47,941 everything became new. 48 00:01:47,941 --> 00:01:49,778 I was a new creation. 49 00:01:49,778 --> 00:01:51,892 And there was a turning of my affections 50 00:01:51,892 --> 00:01:53,204 from the world 51 00:01:53,204 --> 00:01:54,732 to the things of the Lord, 52 00:01:54,732 --> 00:01:57,545 and by His grace, that has continued to this day. 53 00:01:57,545 --> 00:01:59,813 Question: What led you to ultimately pastor? 54 00:01:59,813 --> 00:02:01,918 How were you called to the ministry? 55 00:02:01,918 --> 00:02:04,310 Jesse: It was not a traditional calling. 56 00:02:04,310 --> 00:02:07,294 The Lord works in unique ways. 57 00:02:07,294 --> 00:02:09,604 After conversion, I was in a profession 58 00:02:09,604 --> 00:02:12,595 where I had hours free every day. 59 00:02:12,595 --> 00:02:13,874 I could finish my work, 60 00:02:13,874 --> 00:02:16,560 and then I had to wait for people to come in. 61 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:18,124 It was a retail environment. 62 00:02:18,124 --> 00:02:23,363 And so I had five to six hours a day often by myself, 63 00:02:23,363 --> 00:02:24,574 which I look back now, 64 00:02:24,574 --> 00:02:26,011 it was the grace of the Lord. 65 00:02:26,011 --> 00:02:28,093 And that went on for ten years. 66 00:02:28,093 --> 00:02:30,004 So for that long time, 67 00:02:30,004 --> 00:02:31,862 I would just read the Bible. 68 00:02:31,862 --> 00:02:35,091 And I read the Bible over and over and over. 69 00:02:35,091 --> 00:02:39,560 And I began to share the truths of the gospel 70 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:40,770 with people around me. 71 00:02:40,770 --> 00:02:43,870 I was so excited about the truths that I was seeing. 72 00:02:43,870 --> 00:02:47,226 And God in His grace began to save people. 73 00:02:47,226 --> 00:02:49,596 And they came back to me after they were saved, 74 00:02:49,596 --> 00:02:52,904 and said, "Well, where should we go to church?" 75 00:02:52,904 --> 00:02:55,007 And brother, I didn't know what to tell them 76 00:02:55,007 --> 00:02:57,158 because the church that I was in at the time 77 00:02:57,158 --> 00:02:59,264 was a shallow view of the gospel, 78 00:02:59,264 --> 00:03:01,994 more entertainment based, 79 00:03:01,994 --> 00:03:05,035 and so what we began doing 80 00:03:05,035 --> 00:03:08,330 is meeting in my home for Bible studies. 81 00:03:08,330 --> 00:03:10,027 And this is further along 82 00:03:10,027 --> 00:03:11,629 after I was converted 83 00:03:11,629 --> 00:03:13,416 and a number of years in the faith. 84 00:03:13,416 --> 00:03:15,630 And we met in our home for years. 85 00:03:15,630 --> 00:03:17,329 Prayer meetings, Bible studies, 86 00:03:17,329 --> 00:03:19,691 fellowship, to go evangelize. 87 00:03:19,691 --> 00:03:22,592 And that became where we're at today, 88 00:03:22,592 --> 00:03:25,288 which is the church that we meet with. 89 00:03:25,288 --> 00:03:27,947 So not a traditional path, to say the least, 90 00:03:27,947 --> 00:03:29,377 but the Lord has blessed it 91 00:03:29,377 --> 00:03:32,786 and graced us and worked through it for His glory.