Episode Summary Things in life seldom go exactly as planned, but there are occasions when our plans are completely sidelined by circumstances that are out of our control. It’s in these moments that we must decide how we will respond. We must cultivate a mindset for finding the best in bad situations. Will we get angry and frustrated, allowing somet…

Episode Summary Sometimes it’s easy to get our priorities mixed up when it comes to ministry. It becomes unclear to us where and to whom we should be ministering. There are times when God puts opportunities directly in front of us, and although we might see them for what they are, they don't seem important enough for our attention. A great example …

Episode Summary In this episode, Jon recalls a quote from pro football player J. J. Watt: “Success isn't owned. It's leased and rent is due every day.” As Christians, we must always remember that prayer is not something that is one-and-done. It is to be an everyday part of our walk with Christ. If we are not constantly in prayer before Him, we are …

Episode Summary Oftentimes in our lives, especially when we are in ministry, it’s easy to start taking ourselves too seriously. We forget to laugh at our mistakes or at times when things just don’t go as planned. How often do we meticulously plan something like ministry time and then beat ourselves up when it doesn’t go exactly the way we had arran…

Episode Summary In this episode, Jon recalls a story from his dear friend Dr. Jay Swallow. As Jay was ministering across the nation, the Lord placed him in a unique position of authority among the Native tribes as chief of chiefs in the United States. As such, he was given many opportunities to minister not just to the tribes, but with other men of…

Episode Summary How often in our lives do we attempt to hide the scars of our past failures and defeats? We find shame in these perceived “imperfections” which makes us want to hide them from others. In Isaiah 61:3, we see an image of Christ who came “To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, Th…

Episode Summary As Jon’s ministry in Guatemala continued to grow, word began to spread about the amazing things God was doing. One person who drew particular interest was Brigadier General James “Robbie” Risner who had been a fighter pilot in the United States Air Force and a senior leader among U.S. prisoners of war during the Vietnam War. In Viet…

Episode Summary In the early 2000s, Jon’s church Christ’s Center was experiencing a time of great growth and blessing in all of its ministries. It was at this time that the Lord began speaking to Jon about laying everything down and transitioning out as pastor of the church. The question remained to be asked: who would replace Jon as the pastor? Th…

Episode Summary As Jon moved forward in seeking God about new ministry opportunities, he received a clear word from the Lord out of Psalm 2:8 – “Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.” It took him over a year to finally ask the Lord for a nation, and when he did, God not only …

Episode Summary In Mark 16:15, Jesus gives the command “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” More often than not, it’s incredibly easy for us, as believers, to grow complacent in our walk with Christ. We know we should be sharing our faith with others, but we don’t know where to start. In the 1990s, members from Jon’s chu…

Episode Summary As we grow in our intimacy with Christ, our lives will begin to reflect the Image of The Holy Spirit to those we encounter. This is something that is deeper than our words and actions – a difference in our very countenance. In 2 Cor 3:18, Paul writes “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, ar…

Episode Summary After years in ministry and seeing God do amazing things, some of those who were working alongside Jon began to question a pivotal part of his sharing the Gospel with the lost - The Sinner’s Prayer - also known as the Salvation Prayer. The question began to arise: how did he know that all of the people he had led in this prayer were…

Episode Summary As Christians, it can be easy for us to get comfortable in our faith. We get used to going to the “easy places” – to all of the spots where we’ve done ministry before, and where we know that we won’t be outside of our comfort zones. But if we want to see true change in our churches and our communities, we have to be willing to follo…

Episode Summary Forgiving those who have wronged us is often one of the hardest things that we as Christians must do, especially when those people continue to lie and spread false information about us. Jesus spoke very clearly about loving our enemies and forgiving those who have wronged us. In Matthew 5:44, He said “...love your enemies, bless tho…

Episode Summary Many of us have aspired to achieve what some would call the “American Dream”. But how often does that dream conflict with the plans that God has for our lives? While there is nothing wrong with having nice things, we must be willing to lay them down when God asks us to. In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus says “Do not lay up for yourselves tr…

Episode Summary Operating in ministry is an amazing blessing, but it can also have its challenges, especially when it comes to the battle of Religion vs Relationship. When we prioritize the man-made part of church over the relationships God has given us, we are missing the mark. Religion has a power that the enemy has been working with from the ver…

As we start to move in obedience to the Lord, we will oftentimes see opposition from those who don’t believe in Jesus. It is crucial during these times that we do not allow ourselves to get offended by these people, but continue to show them the love of Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:18-19 says: “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who ar…

Throughout his years of ministry, Jon has had the opportunity to work alongside people of various levels of talent from beautiful singers to gifted leaders and other incredibly skilled individuals. One thing that has always stood out however is that when the hand of the Lord is on a person’s ministry, His anointing always trumps their natural gifti…

How often have we let shame and embarrassment keep us from doing the things God has told us to do? In this episode, Jon recalls a time when he felt the Lord leading him to do something that in normal circumstances would have seemed absolutely crazy. Rather than listening to his emotions telling him not to do something shameful or embarrassing, he c…

Jesus said "If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray.” It’s easy for us to forget this. We place our focus …

In the early days of Christ’s Center Church, Jon would hold prayer meetings with a group of men from the church crying out to God for His will to be done in the church and in their community. On one specific night in 1978, they were crying out for God to send His revival fires to move in the hearts of men when they started to hear fire engine siren…

As Jon’s Bible Study began to grow at the beginning of his ministry, it became more and more apparent that God was wanting to turn the study into a formal church with Jon as the pastor. Up to that point, they had been meeting in his barn, but had outgrown it and were in need of a new place to meet. It was at this time that the Lord not only provide…

Throughout several decades of ministry at Christ’s Center Church in Junction City, Oregon, the Lord allowed them to see the birth of many other ministries. Most of these came in the form of ordinary men who were willing to obey an extraordinary God. Just as we read in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians “ God has chosen the foolish things of the…

Throughout Jon’s years in ministry, there have been several key moments where things did not seem to be going as planned. It was through these experiences that he learned a very important lesson: God’s timing is often not our timing. The most critical thing for us, on occasions like these, is obedience to the Lord; waiting on Him rather than trying…

When Jon was ordained as pastor of Christ’s Center, he wanted to do it on one condition - that he be allowed to have a co-pastor – something he was strongly advised not to do. Instead of listening to the counsel of those he was accountable to, he decided to do it anyway. This all came to a head 14 years later when the church split right down the mi…

After the first pastor’s conference was successfully held in Havana, Cuba in 2004, the Lord began speaking to Jon and the other members of the Alliance about doing something that had never been done before - hosting a worship conference at the Karl Marx theater - the same location where Fidel Castro gave all of his speeches. To everyone involved, t…

When God spoke to Jon about having a pastor’s conference in Havana, Cuba - many said it would be impossible because of the government restrictions. In spite of all of the fear and speculation, God opened the doors for the first pastor’s conference to happen in Havana in 2004, with the leaders of all 39 denominations able to attend. Listen to the ep…

As Jon’s ministry began to grow, one by one, members of his home church began to cut ties with him because they disagreed with what the Holy Spirit was doing through his new Bible Study. It was one thing for him to receive this rejection on a personal level, but when it began to negatively impact his wife and children, he started second-guessing wh…

We’ve all heard the saying “God works in mysterious ways”. One night, a local man called Jon, thinking he was his brother, Jim, to let him know he was leaving his wife that night. Seeing this as an opportunity from the Lord, Jon went over to the man’s house to see if he could pray with the couple to help them save their marriage. What ensued was a …

During Jon’s incarceration, the Lord did many amazing things. One of the most observable was how God’s Spirit changed the entire atmosphere of the prison. As he was nearing the end of his sentence, one of the guards began to express his concern that things would go back to the way they had been before Jon arrived. Jon reminded him that this was God…

Jon’s time in prison was far from normal. But, just like every other prisoner, he was subjected to certain prison rules that were often very humiliating. On many occasions, these “uncomfortable” circumstances would lead to breakthroughs not only in the lives of other prisoners but in the prison guards as well. Listen to the episode "The Power of Pr…

In the prison where Jon was serving his sentence, a local Lutheran church would come, once each year, to host a three-day seminar for the prisoners. While this was a fantastic opportunity for them to have a break from their normal routines, Jon grew frustrated that more Biblical truth was not being presented. When questioned about why he wasn’t mor…

On their many outreaches around the world, Jon’s ministry teams would perform a Gospel Drama called Zion which clearly shows what Jesus did for all of us on the Cross. While he was in prison, he had an opportunity to present this drama to his fellow inmates, followed by a call for them to give their lives to Jesus. This resulted in a remarkable mov…

When Jon arrived in prison, he met a man named Gordon who had recently been transferred from Leavenworth Penitentiary in Kansas to their hospital prison in Minnesota. Gordon had done many terrible things when he was younger which led to him receiving a double lifetime prison sentence. He had also developed the belief that God could never forgive hi…

As Jon was nearing the end of his prison sentence, he received a unique request from the Prison Nun. One of her duties was to visit the men who were dying in the penitentiary hospital. Having seen the work God was doing through Jon’s Bible Study and other places throughout the rest of the prison, she wanted to bring him in to do what she was unable…

As The Alliance grew, the Lord continued to bring pastors and leaders from a multitude of backgrounds to gather at annual pastors conferences and other times of fellowship. On one specific occasion, Jon had the opportunity to welcome Dr. Jay Swallow, an incredibly influential leader in Native American communities across the country. This story is a…

This episode is a continuation of last week’s podcast – titled: "The Washing of Ezra Nehemiah’s Feet". After that unforgettable time at the missions conference in Harlem, NY, a new kind of relationship began between Christ’s Center Church in Oregon and Bethel Gospel Assembly. Deeply moved by their new season of reconciled relationship, Bishop Ezra …

After their initial outreach to Harlem, NY, God began to open new doors of reconciliation between Bethel Gospel Assembly and Jon’s church – Christ’s Center – in Oregon. When Jon was invited back to be the guest speaker at Bethel’s annual missions conference, the Lord began an amazing new work. This was the beginning of a long, meaningful relationsh…

Jon’s 10-month sentence in Federal Prison meant that he would have to spend the holidays in confinement. It was during this time that the Lord began to speak to him about putting together a Christmas Banquet for all of the prisoners in their cell block – something that was absolutely not allowed. But as with so many other stories from his time in p…

During Jon’s time in prison, He was blessed with the opportunity to lead a Bible Study among the other prisoners who had recently begun following Jesus. It was during these times that he was able to teach them how to share their faith with others. On one specific occasion, one of his fellow inmates learned about a death in his family and had a uniq…

In this episode, Jon tells the story of the McKenzie High School basketball player who broke his leg right at the beginning of one of their seasons. When the Lord led the entire Christ’s Center team to surround their opponent’s star player so they could lay hands on him to ask God to heal his broken leg, the miraculous happened. Listen to the episo…

In this episode, Jon tells about two men in the Junction City, Oregon community who were very resistant to receiving the Gospel. In separate instances, the Lord spoke clearly to Jon about what he was supposed to do to see the men give their hearts to Jesus. These stories serve as great reminders to us that the Lord seldom works in the same way twic…

In this episode, Jon focuses on two specific occasions in his life where he spoke and interacted with Angels - Heavenly messengers sent from God - who the Lord sent at just the right time as an answer to his prayers. Listen to the episode "Two Angels In The Flesh" to hear the full story. If you've been encouraged by this podcast and the stories Jon…

After seeing such amazing success during their ministry time in Guatemala, Jon’s team was invited to go to Nicaragua to minister to the soldiers in their national Army. On the heels of seeing so many soldiers won for the Lord on their previous trip, it was easy for them to assume that they would receive the same kind of acceptance as they had in Gu…

In the mid-1990s, God opened the doors for Jon’s ministry team to share the Gospel with the Guatemalan army. Through a series of miraculous events, The Lord created the opportunity for them to not only share Jesus with tens of thousands of soldiers but to present them with Bibles as well. Listen to the episode to hear Jon telling about some of the …

When a young couple at Jon’s church experienced a horrible tragedy, the whole church began to pray for the husband’s healing. After many years of prayers, it became clear that God’s will was not to heal him but to show His provision in a completely different way. Here’s Jon sharing this encouraging story of how God provides for us in the midst of o…

In the early 1990s, the Lord began to open doors for a new kind of relationship between Christ’s Center Church and a church called Bethel Gospel Assembly in Harlem, NY. It all started as an act of obedience when Jon led their High School ministry team to New York City to do street evangelism in Harlem, which at the time was one of The City’s roughe…

In this episode, Jon recalls several key stories of times when the Holy Spirit guided him to those who were ready to receive Jesus as their Savior. These serve as a reminder to us that when we yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to guide us to those who need to hear the Good News about what Jesus has done for us, He is faithful to answer…

In this episode, Jon tells several stories about leading his family members to Jesus. Oftentimes, we avoid sharing the Gospel with those closest to us for fear of offending the ones we care the most about. But if we will simply obey and trust in Jesus to work in their hearts as we speak to them, we can believe that He will do the same miraculous wo…

In this episode, Jon talks about the difference between being a settler and a trailblazer. Between being someone who plays it safe, simply showing up to church on Sunday while never stepping out in obedience to the Holy Spirit, and someone who leads their life in submission to the Lord. As Jon would learn, the process of becoming a trailblazer come…