About Jason
I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:1-3
When in West Africa, these verses from Paul's letter to the Colossian church commanded my attention as I asked God to clarify or to focus my understanding of His purposes for my own life. Those who know Jesus Christ have been adopted into a vast and colorful family of believers worldwide and throughout all generations. This invisible bond of fellowship in the Holy Spirit is one truth that brings me deep and lasting joy. Among other things, I have been trained as a teacher, whose greatest longing is to share and communicate the love of Jesus Christ. By His grace I am also a poet of the King.
My life began outside New Orleans, where I lived for a brief time before moving to northern Wisconsin. There I had a vivid dream in which a dragon chased me around the apple tree on our farm. My mother stepped in to rescue me and was bitten on the hand. That dream, still strong in my memory, reflected my turbulent and lonely childhood and the faithfulness and courage with which my mother, Geri, loved me, despite the intense pain of a broken marriage.
After years without a father, my mother married a man who was able to show me the love of Christ and to teach me more about what unconditional love means. Garth Miller adopted me as his own son, and demonstrated what Paul wrote about God to the Ephesians: "In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the Beloved" (Ephesians 1:4-6). I am eternally grateful that God is a "father to the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5), and that He also provided me with an earthly father who could love me and raise me up to manhood.
I then grew up in Highland Park, Illinois and Gurnee under the influence of some outstanding teachers, as well as my loving parents, three younger brothers (John, Josh and George) and a precious sister (Jennifer)--all the while increasingly conscious that the Holy Spirit was my ultimate teacher, and God my ultimate Father. While I attended Carthage College I more fully investigated for myself what the Bible reveals about Jesus Christ. A Muslim acquaintance asked me what made me so compassionate and I instinctively turned to the Bible on my bookshelf. I made no response, but I knew that the answer to her question could be found in the pages of Scripture. That began a time of intense study at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School where God helped me to understand the work He had been doing since before I was born (Psalm 139).
I currently work at Trinity as an administrator and teacher. I am also a freelance web designer and poet.
|
