The conversation with my guest today, John Jarman, the Author of Broken and Redeemed was a welcomed reminder of the beauty of redemption.
I can’t think of anyone who has been able to avoid the broken parts of this life. I think we all get it, that at some point we will be handed difficult obstacles, painful life experiences and overwhelming grief. At times, it comes from other people in their brokenness and sometimes it’s our brokenness that affects others. Especially the ones we love most. John is one of us, familiar with how tough life can be, well aware of how this world wants to weigh you down with guilt, shame and lies.
John is a former football coach and marine. He’s currently a professional fitness coach and discipleship leader. As he and I were talking I took a close look at the contrast of this man’s man partnered with a tender heart for the things of God.
John has given me a short answer to some very tough questions…questions along the line of, “How do I find freedom or a renewed life?” “How can I know truth or find peace? I’m going to answer, abiding….in Christ. John uses that term several times. Abiding means enduring, continuing, unceasing. So abiding in Christ is how we bring heaven to us in the here and now.
Since the ebb and flow of this life is sure to bring pain and suffering then maybe the question we should be asking is, “How do we redeem it?” And I think John’s book Broken and Redeemed is a perfect example of how we can overlay what he’s learned onto our own lives and we too, can walk in intimacy and freedom in Christ.
John’s story is a reminder for us that when we step through the gate, the door, Christ, (making what he did on the cross personal for us), we get direct access to God Himself. We are positioned to discover directly from our Creator, how He made us in His image when He knit us together in our mother’s womb.
We get to participate in God’s love story with us. We get to experience what being an overcomer is like. We overcome our circumstance, our pain is redeemed, we receive deeper revelation of God’s heart for us, we grow in intimacy with the God, and His truth sets us free. Where there is truth there is freedom, and when we dwell in freedom we receive peace. All the while we’re building trust in God.
You can’t force trust. Trust doesn’t come until there’s a trial. We test God in our pain, and with our questions and confusion and we find Him faithful.
This life dishes out its weak, temporary value system but when we submit our broken things to God and let Him take over, He restores, heals and makes broken things whole. The beauty of God’s restoration vs us pulling up our boot straps and making it happen is that it’s not simply restored to the way it was. It’s restored to the original plan. The plan God had for us before the foundations of the earth were laid, before we were impacted with imperfection and evil.
As you listen to John talk about how he overcame, let the beauty (and by beauty I mean strength and power) of submission and humility be revealed to you in a whole new way.
Lived Loved and Thrive!
Connect with John:
www.brokenandredeemed.com
https://brokenandredeemed.com/products/broken-redeemed-paper/ (you can get it autographed when you order through John’s website)
https://www.facebook.com/BrokenRedeemed
https://twitter.com/broken_redeemed
https://www.instagram.com/john_brokenredeemed
BIO:
John Jarman is a professional fitness coach and men’s discipleship leader with a passion for seeing lives changed by Jesus Christ. A former football coach and Marine Corps veteran of Desert Storm, John’s life was radically transformed from a self destructive trajectory to one of life, wholeness, and a dynamic walk with Christ, a story that is told in the pages of Broken and Redeemed. John holds a Master’s Degree in Physical Education from Ohio University, and, as of this writing, is close to completing a Master’s degree in Theology from Faith Seminary in Tacoma, Washington where he resides.
Transcript: https://www.happyscribe.com/transcriptions/b21b8b1347174007984799c0e6f8cd31/edit_v2
