John Jarman- Broken and Redeemed

The Ed Mylett Show recommended podcast
Broken and Redeemed (Jon's book)
John's website


Few people have a memory block of their entire childhood. 

Most of us have Bits and pieces pop up, like a birthday, or walking home from school with a friend, or a conversation with a family member.

Not so with today’s guest.

 With no memory of his childhood till the age of twelve, John Jarman had no conscious way to overcome the unknown pain in his past. When his adult life crumbled around him, he finally reached out for professional help, both emotionally and spiritually. Over the next ten years, this inner work lead John to places he—and his counselor—would never have expected. 

As John moved closer to God in the process, the storm hit harder than ever, taking him to his knees. Discover how John got up and, by the grace of God, walked through the storm of his life and strengthened his faith through completely surrendering to his Heavenly Father. 

As John learned and shares in his book, trusting God and becoming vulnerable are the only way to true freedom. In Broken and Redeemed, John Jarman shares a story of beautiful, authentic brokenness that rests in the redemption only found in God.

Would you like to get a weekly sneak peek into the guests?
Join my Substack @janjohnson3

JustTalkingAboutJesus.com

If you have a story to tell, check out the form on my website.
I'd love to connect with you!

Transcript

[00:02] Jan: Welcome to just talking about Jesus. I'm Jan Johnson, a seasoned believer who.

[00:08] Jan: Loves relationships and, you know, just talking about Jesus.

[00:17] Jon Jarman: I went into the marine recruiter's office and I said, how fast can you get me out of here? He said, have you committed a crime? And I said, yeah, but I've never been caught. So we sat and talked, and two months later I was in San Diego in boot camp. And looking back on that, that was God involved in my life before I even knew who God was, because he knew that I couldn't stay where I was. Because if I would have stayed, I'd have been dead or in jail.

[00:45] Jan: Few people have a memory block of their entire childhood. Most of us have bits and pieces pop up like a birthday or walking home from school with a friend or conversation with a family member. Not so with today's guest. With no memory of his childhood till the age of twelve, John Jarman had no conscious way to overcome the unknown pain in his past. When his adult life crumbled around him, he finally reached out for professional help, both emotionally and spiritually. Over the next ten years, this inner work led John to places he and his counselor would never have expected. As John moved closer to God in the process, the storm hit harder than ever, taking him to his knees. Discover how John got up and by the grace of God, walked through the storm of his life and strengthened his face through completely surrendering to his heavenly father. As John learned and shares in his book, trusting God and becoming vulnerable are the only way to true freedom. In broken and redeemed, John Jarman shares a story of beautiful, authentic brokenness that rests in the redemption only found in Goddesse. Welcome, friends, to episode 28. My guest today is John Jarman.

[01:57] Jan: Thank you for being here.

[01:59] Jon Jarman: Oh, it's my pleasure. It's my pleasure. I was looking forward to this.

[02:02] Jan: So, yeah, tell me a little bit about your testimony.

[02:06] Jon Jarman: Well, it's, you know, it's a kind of a weird journey because I didn't really realize that, you know, I was a victim of childhood trauma until I was in my late forties, early fifties, when I moved back to the Pacific Northwest. And I started to explore my past and I kind of uncovered that. And then I really didn't grow up in the church, so I didn't know a lot about Christ other than when I would visit my grandmother, who's from Arkansas, and she would always tell me, you know, John, she'd say, johnny, God's got something planned, special plan for you. And so, you know, when the book came out, I knew she was smiling down from heaven because she knew something like this was going to happen. But as I got older and I went into the Marine Corps, I started getting exposure to church. My, started my football coaching career, and I was down in the south, and so I don't know if you're familiar with Fellowship of Christian athletes, huge organization. So I started attending our schools, huddles and that type of stuff. So my faith was growing, but I wasn't walking. And there's a difference between giving your life and then actually walking and understanding what faith really is. It wasn't until I came back up here and I started working with my counselor and my spiritual, I found a spiritual mentor about five years into working with Christina. And that's when everything really changed. And I started working on just, you know, prayer plans, reading that type of stuff, trying to understand the Bible more. But even working with Scotty, it wasn't until 2016 to when I truly gave up control and said, look, God, it's all in your hands. I'm not. It's your timing. Because even as I walked, I still wanted to do things that I wanted to do. I wanted to do it in my timing. And I think that's all new christians, because they're not sure, especially if you don't have a mentor. I mean, that's what I said when, as soon as I found Scotty, that's when everything started to change because it was a more of a disciplined regiment, you know, daily reading, daily prayer. And that's what you have to have to grow your relationship. And, you know, I tell people all the time, it's not a religion, it's a relationship. And, you know, it's a one on one relationship. Aw. Tozer, I don't know if you're familiar with his work, but he says that when you meet Christ, you're going to be alone. And I was, because it was 330 in the morning. I was in my, on my living room floor in my prayer plan, and tears were pouring out of my eyes. And I was just like, I'm done. I can't do it alone. It's all yours. Here you go. And that's really when my vision and the Bible changed, because the Bible, you know, I read the Bible and I understood things differently. I started to see the world differently. I started to see myself differently. And I call it, in my book, I call it the self examination. And it caused, you know, that aspect of it causes you to start looking at yourself because, you know, you have to renew your heart and your mind and you have to see what's not of Christ. And that's. That's the tough part. You know, it's a bed of roses, but we get the thorns when we're doing that because it's a little bit tough.

[05:04] Jan: Yeah.

[05:05] Jon Jarman: So. So, you know, that's kind of how I came to Christ. There's a lot of stuff in between, you know, that, and we can get into that. I'll just, you know, I'll let you ask questions, and we can go from there.

[05:16] Jan: Yeah, yeah, it's really, it's it, you know, and I do think that it is to begin with, it's just ahead. Knowledge, accepting the Lord, you know, but it's. When it gets down into this part. Yeah, you got to move down to where the whole can move you.

[05:32] Jon Jarman: And when I think, too, that's where the church and I. When I say the church, I speak of the body of Christ, not the buildings we go to on Sunday. I think that's where we kind of let down new christians because, you know, they accept Christ and we don't say, hey, let me show you what you got to do now. They just, you know, because when I stepped to Christ, I was like, okay, what do I do? You know, I don't know what to do. I started reading the Bible. The Bible was super complex to me at the time, and I didn't know how to pray and all that stuff. And so, you know, we have to have that mentorship and that discipleship.

[06:04] Jan: So, absolutely, you got to get plugged in right away, and somebody. Somebody needs to invite you, put their arm around you, say, come on, buddy, let's. Let's walk this together, you know?

[06:15] Jon Jarman: Yeah, well, I mean, the Bible, I mean, if you're a new Christian, you start to Bible in Genesis and you start reading the Old Testament, you're going to get scared.

[06:23] Jan: Exactly.

[06:25] Jon Jarman: You know, I used to call so Jan, I used to call the old Testament the. The dark side of the Bible. And so when I started working with Scotty, you know, I started really kind of understanding what he was teaching and everything. And so it's like, I want to know more about them. I want to get kind of behind the word. So I enrolled in seminary school, and I'm 8 hours shy of a master's of theology. And my very first class was old Testament review, and I just went, oh, you got jokes, you know, and so, you know, it's just, that's the way things happen, you know. And then after that class, I started seeing correlation between the Old Testament, the New Testament all, and all of that, and, you know, it just made more sense. And that's the thing where I think discipleship and finding that person that's farther along on a walk than you are, that can help answer questions. You know, I still read the Bible, and I call Scotty, and I'm like, hey, what is. What are they talking about here?

[07:18] Jan: You know so well, and, yeah, when you really realize that the Old Testament is all about the New Testament.

[07:25] Jon Jarman: Yes.

[07:26] Jan: When you understand the old Testament, then you go, oh, I need sacrifice. I see why. It's the blood of the lamb. I see why, you know, all the sins that weren't there and also see how much God really loves you.

[07:40] Jon Jarman: Well, and you also see the fact that he's going to use the least worthy people, because, I mean, you look at the people he used in the old. I mean, Moses was a murderer. David was an adulter. I mean, the list goes on and on and on. And so, you know, he, he's trying, I think, to show us that it doesn't matter what you've done in your past. I have a purpose for you. If you just let me in and let me get into your heart, I'll show you the purpose. And so that's the beauty, I think, of the Old Testament so, well, let's.

[08:08] Jan: Talk about your book a little bit. Title and why did you write it? How did, how, how did that work?

[08:15] Jon Jarman: My counselor told me in 2014 that I should write a book. My story is not too unique, but it is my story. And so I shared that with a couple friends that she told me to write a book. And then I told them a little of the story, and they're like, yeah, John, you need to write a book. And I'm going, okay. I'm a PE teacher and a football coach, a former marine, and I have dyslexia. How am I going to write a book? And so I found a young lady that, at the church I was going to, she did all the media for the church, and so she helped me kind of outline the book as far as the chapters and stuff. And so I started writing. And about the fifth chapter, I was like, where do I go? I don't know what to do. And so I put the book on the shelf in 2014, and it wasn't until, let's see, today it'll be three years. So it was 20, 2021. Friday morning, I was reading in the Bible, Hebrews 1036 talks about the will of God. And it says, when you're doing the will of God, you must persevere to get what he promised. And then an hour later, I read a lot when I do cardio and I listen to worship music, and I was reading AJ Swabota's very first book entitled Messy. He was talking about the will of God, and in his book, he said nobody told him if anybody would read his book or buy it. He just had to write it. And I went, okay, I got to finish my book. Six years have passed, so my faith is totally different.

[09:34] Jan: Yeah.

[09:35] Jon Jarman: And so I said, okay. So I was getting ready to go on a trip to the Gulf of Mexico, and I said, I'm going to write for 2 hours every morning. Figured, where else? You know, pretty inspiring sunrise at the Gulf of Mexico. I'll get up 2 hours, right. And then go, you know, have my vacation. So then I continued that when I returned after a week, and the book was done in four weeks.

[09:53] Jan: Yeah.

[09:53] Jon Jarman: So it was just a spiritual dump. You know, there's. I use a lot of Bible verses and quotes in the book and in the text and the chapters, and people ask me all the time, how did you know where to put that? And I'm like, it just came to me. I was writing, and I'd be, oh, this is perfect. And I'd throw it in there. So, you know, it was truly God's hand in all the writing. The title came just because the original title was God was waiting for you. Because that's how what I felt this. He was. He's standing there waiting for me. Okay. He's knocking all the time, but I'm not listening. And then after I got in the book, I was like, well, broken and redeemed is better, because Titus three through seven is the broken and redeemed Bible verse, and I don't have it committed to memory, so I can't recite it right now. But it's the broken and redeemed Bible verse, because we're all broken, and then we're all. We all have to have that redemption. And then as I was working with my publisher, the subtitle originally was, well, it was broken. Broken and redeemed. God is waiting for you. So they didn't. The subtitle is actually supposed to speak more to what the story is about, so they actually changed it to finding freedom through complete. It wasn't surrender. They used a different word, and I can never remember it, but I didn't really like the word. And so I kept. As we finished the meeting, I was like, God, give me another word. Give me another word. And then the next day, surrender came up, and so I sent an email to this publishing company, and I said, hey, what do you think about this? I can do either. I'm okay with either one. But this, I think this sounds better. In less than an hour, they emailed me back. They said, john, this is awesome. It's perfect. So that's where the title came from. Finding freedom through complete surrender. And if you flip the book over, it says, God is waiting for you. You just need to surrender. And then it goes into the synopsis of the book. So they kept the original subtitle in there, which I thought was pretty cool of them. And that's how the title came about. And, you know, we. The manuscript is that I submitted to my editor is everything but the 14th chapter. We added the 14th chapter during the editing process because my editor wanted to. She felt there needed to be something between what's chapter 13 and then what was chapter 14, which is now 15. And so she did an interview with me about how I surrendered what work I did with Scotty, and so that became chapter 14. So that's how the book came about. I also have discussion questions at the end of every chapter, and I tell people, you don't have to do them as you read it. You can come back. But the questions are designed, the way I put the questions in, I hope, are designed to help somebody who's brand new to Christ know how to kind of grow, and then somebody that's extremely faithful, that makes them kind of see where they test their fate and do that self examination. And so hopefully it deepens their faith. And that's the design of the questions. But I would encourage anybody that reads the book to do the questions, because I think it's a great self reflection. So. Yeah, well, the teacher in me, and.

[12:43] Jan: I would guess that probably. I wrote my first book, was a memoir. My first husband had a brain tumor and ended up paralyzed after the surgery.

[12:53] Jon Jarman: Oh, wow.

[12:54] Jan: He died when he was 38, but he kept this journal, walk through it and stuff that was so rich. It's like, oh, my gosh. And I felt like God wanted me to write that, but that was, you know, it took me almost 30 years to write it because I was doing, you know, and how to put it together and all of that, but. But it's really turned out to be a real blessing.

[13:15] Jon Jarman: But that's awesome.

[13:16] Jan: It's hard to do, to write.

[13:17] Jon Jarman: Yeah, it is. It is. And it's just, you know, I had to have. Yes. And I had to have an editor because of my dyslexia. You know so well, everybody.

[13:29] Jan: Yeah, yeah. But just even because you're vulnerable.

[13:32] Jon Jarman: Yeah. And here's the funny thing. So my counselor for eight years of counseling was trying to get me to become vulnerable, because as men, and I say this on a lot of podcasts, and if there's men listening to the show today, and I just. I want you to know, let down your pride, let down your ego, open your heart to God, and then your life gets so much easier because the veil gets removed, and then you can be true to yourself and true to people that you love, because without that, I think you hide part of yourself from people because you don't want to ask for help and you don't want to be vulnerable. And I think it's tougher for men than it is for women. And so my counselor is trying to get me to become vulnerable. And so the review of one of the people I submitted the manuscript to, she wrote back and she said, it's such a pleasure to see the vulnerability from a male author. So I sent that to my counselor, and I said, all right, you got your wish.

[14:23] Jan: Nailed it.

[14:26] Jon Jarman: After ten years, it took that long.

[14:29] Jan: What was the hardest part to write?

[14:32] Jon Jarman: You know, I think it was just. It was about some of the trials and some of the things I've been through because I didn't want to hurt people. I didn't want to reopen wounds because, you know, I made some bad decisions. I'm not going to sit here and say that I've been. I mean, I was not perfect, and so I made bad decisions. Well, no, I'm not. Yeah, I'm not perfect either. But. But, you know, it just. It's. It's because of those decisions, you've affected other people's lives. And so I didn't want to open those wounds again, but I wanted to share enough of the story so people could see where I was and where I've come to and what God's done in my life, because that's important. That was important to me, and that was the toughest part of the book to write, is to speak of those and. And try not to open up anybody who read the book, so.

[15:16] Jan: Right, right. So.

[15:18] Jan: So what were some of the things God actually did with you since the book? Yeah, that. Or in the book, too.

[15:24] Jon Jarman: Well, I mean, you know, I mean, the thing is, looking back on my life and knowing where God was in my life, even though I didn't want him. And I'll give you an example. So when I grew up, I, you know, my dad was my dad left when I was twelve. I got involved in drugs and alcohol, and I was in the party scene selling drugs till I was 23 years old. And I was in a party and I was like, there's got to be something more to life to this. And I got up and I walked out of. Two days later, I went into the Marine recruiters office, and I said, how fast can you get me out of here? He said, have you committed a crime? And I said, yeah, but I've never been caught. So we sat and talked, and two months later, I was in San Diego and boot camp. And, you know, looking back on that, that was God involved in my life before I even knew who God was, because he knew that I couldn't stay where I was. Because if I would have stayed, I'd have been dead or in jail, you know? And so that's the beauty of looking back on things like that, you know? And then since the, you know, if you'd have told me four years ago that I'd be on a hundred some podcasts and radio shows talking about my testimony and preaching the gospel and sharing the gospel, I would have laughed at you even then, four years ago. And, you know, my faith was growing, was in a place where, you know, the book was almost ready to start, and so, you know, but you don't know, you know, and it wasn't until I hit that that I knew this is, you know, this was my calling. And so this is what I do now. You know, I try to share it as much as I can. I go back to that old Testament. I have a tattoo. You can barely see it on my forum here, it's Exodus 2020. And it says, do not be afraid. God has come to test you so that the fear of God will be in use to keep you from sinning. But the address is what caught my eye when I read it, because it's 2020. What's clear vision 2020. So to me, that's the clear vision of God. And there's 17 other verses in the Bible with that address. Ten of them have instructions on how we're going to behave and act as Christian. The others are just parts of stories. And so, you know, that spoke to me so much. And I was a marine for four and a half years, never got a tattoo. And that was my first tattoo. And, you know, I put it there to remind me. But what it does is now is when I meet people and I shake hands, they see it and they're like, what is that? And so now it's opened the door for a gospel presentation, and I don't press it. If they. If they want to know, then I talk to them because, you know, I don't like to push it, you know, but if somebody has questions, then I'm going to sit there and talk to them.

[17:47] Jan: So invite them in. Yeah. To what you found. Yeah. You said you were abused when you're small. How did. How did your view of God, how.

[18:01] Jan: Did you get to a point where.

[18:01] Jan: You could call him daddy?

[18:03] Jon Jarman: Well, that. That was the weird part, because I, you know, growing up, I. And, you know, it's hard to say this, but I didn't. I didn't see evidence of love in my. In my childhood. It was violence. And so it took me a long time to understand God's true love. I mean, again, probably wasn't until I started working with Scott, you know, in the. In the passed, you know, from 2015 till, you know, the current time. And so it took me a long time and to realize that. That I did have him. But I also made amends with my dad before that. And we had a heart to heart talk. And, you know, I wasn't. I hadn't met Scott yet. I was in the military still. It was probably 1988 when I went to my dad's house. And how I started the men's is I punched him in the mouth, and then we went talk. So I don't recommend that to anybody, but that's all I knew at the time. And we talked about the past. We talked about everything. He showed me things that. That were, you know, that weren't, that I was told were not the truth. And then I flew back to Seattle, and I confronted my mom. And so we had the heart to heart, and so that. That made it easier a little bit. And my dad, you know, changed his ways. He was married again to a. My stepmom. He was married to her longer than my mom. They raised one of her grandkids because her daughter died on an operating table, because she was a heroin addict. And my dad and Millie took Josh in and raised him until he was in high school. And when my dad passed away, and it's just to watch him make amends with Josh, I could have been jealous of that, you know, because the way he treated Josh. But what I saw it is my dad's trying to make amends to. That's the way I looked at it. He's trying to say he made a mistake and he's not going to do it again. And that's the way I envisioned. I looked at that situation and, you know, it was truly awesome to see.

[19:55] Jan: So that transformation. Yeah. Did he feel like your dad had accepted the Lord or, you know, I.

[20:03] Jon Jarman: Don'T, I truly don't know if, I mean, he knew who God was because of my grandmother, because my grandmother in Arkansas was his father or was his, was his mother. And so, you know, he knew who God was, but truly accepted. We never really talked about it because I wasn't in my faith place enough to know. I hope so, you know, that's all I can say. And, you know, but by his actions with Josh, I think if he accepted Christ, he's in heaven because of what he did with Josh. So.

[20:33] Jan: Yeah. Isn't it, isn't it neat, though, to know, you know, that your grandma had.

[20:39] Jan: Been praying for you forever?

[20:41] Jon Jarman: Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, that's, and I, and I tell people that if you, you know, you got to have somebody that's praying for you because that shield of protection, you know, and the real, it was just, yeah, yeah, it is. Looking back on it.

[20:56] Jan: Yeah, yeah, it was, my father was praying for me and I just, I know that.

[21:03] Jon Jarman: Yep.

[21:03] Jan: You know, I mean, all of us have gone astray. God.

[21:08] Jon Jarman: Well, and, you know, it could have happened to any, I have three brothers. Well, I had three brothers. They've all since passed, but they, you know, they, you know, they, same with them. They could have went down a different road, so.

[21:18] Jan: Mm hmm. Yeah.

[21:20] Jan: Yeah. So I imagine along the line somewhere.

[21:23] Jan: You had some forgiveness to do and.

[21:25] Jon Jarman: Oh, yeah. You know, first of all, it was forgiving me for my, for my actions and then, you know, talking to other people and then I had to ask for forgiveness, too, you know, and when I talk about people ask me, well, how do you forgive somebody that abused you or hurt you to that extent? And it's, it's not forgiving the act, it's forgiving the person because we're all susceptible to sin at one, some level or not. And I think when you forgive the person, then it releases you from the condemnation and the shame and the guilt of the action. And that's, that's the hard part for people to understand, I think. And it takes time and it takes counseling and it takes pastoral counseling to get through that.

[22:10] Jan: So, yeah, it's not an easy thing to do.

[22:14] Jon Jarman: No.

[22:14] Jan: There's the horrible things that have happened to you especially.

[22:18] Jon Jarman: Well, and, you know, for me, I don't remember, I don't remember any of it, so I don't have any memory. So I was twelve years old, so I don't and my counselor's like, Jonathan, if you. If we were to recover this memory, you'd probably be in counseling another 15 years. And I'm like, well, I don't want to do it, you know? And if. If, you know, if God wants to reveal it, he'll reveal it, but, you know, if it's that bad, I don't want to know.

[22:39] Jan: Well, it's hard enough to forgive somebody who slighted you, but when it's nothing really bad, you know, it's just, you feel like, well, they don't deserve that, you know, and they don't. But we don't either, you know?

[22:51] Jon Jarman: No. And what it says in the Bible, you, you know, I forgive you, so you must forgive, you know, so. I mean, we have to forgive to be forgiven.

[22:58] Jan: Yeah.

[22:59] Jon Jarman: And so, you know, and then, you know, when you. When you start to. You know, for me, when I started to look at the people I really hurt and tried to ask forgiveness, you know, some people said yes. Some people said no. And, you know, that's the. You know, that's kind of hurts a little bit, but it's. They own that. And all I could do is pray that someday they will forgive me. And, you know, that was tough to swallow for a little bit, so.

[23:24] Jan: Yeah, because you kind of hope that things are gonna go okay, but they aren't always. They don't always.

[23:29] Jon Jarman: Yeah. And I have, you know, I coach football for a lot of times, and I, you know, I have. I hate to say it, but I made some bad decisions and hurt some kids, and they're like, coach, why weren't you like this back then? And I'm like, I'm a different person. You know, I'm totally different than I was when I was teaching and coaching and, you know, my life. And, you know, I don't regret not having the faith when I coach, but it would be interesting to see with what I have now and my faith and then go back to coaching, but I don't want to coach anymore.

[24:01] Jan: I know. I don't want to go back to teaching anymore, either.

[24:03] Jon Jarman: Yeah. You know, and it's just. It's. The schools are a tough place right now, and. And, you know, it's just there's so many distractions and, you know, I just. I was like, I like what I do. I still coach. I'm in the fitness industry. My more, you know, I work with more adults than kids, but I do have some kids, but, you know, it's a different type of coaching and, you know, so I still coach, and it's a lot different. But, you know, some of me go, so how. What would have been different? And I don't think, you know, I don't dwell on it because that time in my life was needed to get me to where I am today, so.

[24:38] Jan: And isn't that the neat thing? You know, the journeys that you're going through and know at the time how God.

[24:45] Jan: That later on.

[24:46] Jan: Yeah, gonna run into meat or whatever. I. The Bible study that I'm just finishing up is called journeys, and that's walking hand in hand with God. But basically, you know, I've got this format of because this happened, because of this such and such happened and resulting in something, and so go through, and you write out your journey of what happened, and then you compare them to David's life and Joseph's life and Jonah and all these characters. And what did God teach them along the way? Go back to you. You see where he taught in that. But.

[25:19] Jan: But things.

[25:20] Jan: You wouldn't be where you are.

[25:22] Jon Jarman: Yeah, well, and I kind of. I make a joke that I'm the next to Paul. I'm the second biggest sinner. So when Paul was Saul, you know, I'm pretty close there.

[25:33] Jan: You didn't slay anybody, right?

[25:35] Jon Jarman: No, I didn't slay anybody, but it felt like at a time. But. But, you know, for. For me. So the 15th chapter of my book is called Dear Younger me, and it's after mercy's me song. Okay. And so I. When that song came out, it really spoke to me. And part of it is because the verse that Barth wrote, and it talks about, we weren't meant to carry this beyond the cross. That was a verse that I was just like, oh, my gosh. It was like an eye-opening thing. And so I was like, I want to know what made him write the song. So they were coming to town up here in the northwest, and I was dating young lady, and it was near her birthday, and I. So I bought two vip passes that they would sing not mercy me, but the opening act would sing Happy Birthday to her. And then we got to go backstage, and so I thought, okay, I'm at least going to be in a position where I possibly could meet the guy. So I told the opening act what I was trying to do, and when we got backstage, they brought mercy me's road manager over, and I told him what I was trying to do. He goes, well, Bart will be here in ten minutes. Let me talk to him and see if he has time to talk to you. So he comes over and goes, Bart would love to meet you. And so I went over, and we sat for 30 minutes in the backstage, and we shared testimony. And if you've seen the movie, I can only imagine Bart shared all that with me, and I don't. This was 2015. I don't think he knew the movie was going to be made yet. And, you know, so that when I watched the movie, I was like, wow. And so Bart and I grew up a lot alike. And so his counselor, I said, well, what made you write this song? He said, well, my counselor told me to write this song to my son as if I was writing it to myself. And I said, that's awesome. My counselor told me to write a book, and I want to use your song on my book. Can I have your permission? He goes, yes. Just under one condition. He goes, I'd like a copy. And so I've sent him a copy. I haven't heard from him. I don't know what he. He's even read it, but. But anyhow, and I took a picture backstage, and that's in the book. Some people can really see that I was with Bart that day. I have proof. But what I did, too, is, you know, I kind of broke down the song and how it affected me the very first time I heard it. And then I write it. I write a letter to my younger self, and I encourage the reader. The very last question is to write a letter to your younger self, trying to figure out what in your life would you change? What would you wouldn't change, because there's some things that made you who you are, so you don't want to change those things and then just go through that and look at your past and write a letter to. To somebody or to yourself. And that was a tough. That was a tough, right. But it was one of the. My favorite parts of the book, and so I closed the book with that.

[28:07] Jan: Yeah. Yeah. That's great. That is so a neat opportunity you had, Jeff.

[28:13] Jon Jarman: Oh, I know. I just. And, you know, I've tried to. He's been in concert before, and I've tried to get backstage, but with COVID and all this stuff, you know, they won't let anybody backstage, you know, because I wanted to try to see him, you know, I'd love to. I'd a. Bart, if you're listening, I'd love to. Love to know what you think of the book, you know, that type of thing, because it'd be interesting to get a little bit of note from him. So.

[28:32] Jan: Yeah, yeah, that. Well, how special is that, you know?

[28:37] Jon Jarman: Yeah.

[28:38] Jan: Don't know how you affected him.

[28:40] Jon Jarman: Yeah, true, true. Yeah. And I mean. And we look at.

[28:44] Jan: I think they're much bigger than who we are. We're just. Y'all put. No, yeah, they're just people, hands on time, and you're.

[28:51] Jon Jarman: Yep, yep. And, I mean. So last year, when I was at the Christian product Expo, I did a radio interview. And when I got done, the guy says, well, my next interview is Lee Strobel, because he was one of the keynote speakers at the event. So I said, really? And so I said. He goes, yeah. And so I wanted to meet Lee, you know, and give him a copy of my book, because, I mean, get a review from Lee Strobel. Come on. So Im standing in the hallway, and Lee and his wife come walking down the hall. And he walks, right, Jen? And this is the truth. He walks right up to me and goes, do I know you? And I'm like, no, sir. This is the first time we've met. I said, but I'm happy to meet you. You know, I appreciate, you know, love your stories, blah, blah, blah. And I said, here's my book, and I'd love to have you read it and, you know, tell me what you think of it. And, you know, he went into his interview, and I sat outside and talked to his wife the whole time he was doing the interview. So, you know, I've had the opportunity to meet people like that and, you know, to share my testimony with them and to hear their. It's just been, you know, opening God's opening so many doors, and it's just been amazing.

[29:48] Jan: So, yeah, that is amazing. What would you like to leave with your listeners?

[29:55] Jon Jarman: Well, the biggest thing for me is to understand that no matter what you've been through, that you always have redeemed. God's going to redeem you, and he's going to accept you, because it doesn't matter what you've done. And then, when you're ready and you've accepted Christ, find that person that can help guide you, because that's the key, and that's what the key was for me. And I wish I would have met Scottie ten years ago, but I wasn't supposed to. But finding that person that's willing to mentor you and to guide you through how to read the Bible. And Scotty has a ten-step discipleship program that he uses. He calls it the Big Ten. He allowed me to put it in the book, and it's a ten-step process of how to teach Bible reading, prayer, Bible memorization, gospel presentation, invitation, memory, all that stuff. And it's a fantastic program, you know, and I've been through it. I've used it with people I disciple, and it's got power to it. And Scotty's probably discipled 1500 people in his life because he used to coach college football, and he would do this with all the football players at Plu. And so it's just, I was thrilled when he allowed me to put it in the book, so.

[31:03] Jan: Oh, yeah, that's really great to have.

[31:07] Jon Jarman: Yep, yep.

[31:08] Jan: Oh, well, thank you so much for joining me. This has been a pleasure and I'm anxious to read your book. I will be looking for it. Is there an audio version, too?

[31:18] Jon Jarman: No, not yet. It's available on Kindle and then anywhere books are sold. But if your listeners want a signed copy, they can go to my website, and if they use the verse exodus three, three through seven, they get discount and I'll sign the book and send it off to them, so.

[31:33] Jan: Oh, awesome. That is good.

[31:35] Jan: Thank you.

[31:35] Jon Jarman: Yeah.

[31:39] Jan: Do you know how to follow a show?

[31:41] Brenda : I do.

[31:42] Jan: So why would anybody want to follow it instead of just listening to it.

[31:46] Jan: Whenever they found it?

[31:48] Brenda : Because it's the right thing to do.

[31:51] Jan: Because if you push that little plus.

[31:53] Jan: On there or follow, depending on where you're having your podcasts, then you can get notified of as soon as a.

[32:01] Brenda : New episode arrives, which is brilliant, honestly, because we all live busy lives and I don't want to miss things, and I will.

[32:09] Jan: Especially. You don't want to miss just talking about Jesus.

[32:13] Brenda : That's right. That's right.

[32:16] Jan: I know. All right.

[32:18] Brenda : Do you know that you can also text after the podcast?

[32:22] Jan: Isn't that cool?

[32:23] Jan: That is a new feature that they.

[32:26] Jan: Have with buzzsprouth, and so it's right.

[32:29] Jan: At the top of the show notes.

[32:31] Jan: And you can just click on it.

[32:33] Jan: And it'll send me a little text with what your thoughts are about things. Super easy to do.

[32:39] Jan: So I would just love to hear from listeners and know what they were thinking, you know, how they affected it or maybe how it touched you and whatever. So, yeah, give it a try.

[32:49] Brenda : Absolutely. We need to do that.

[32:51] Jan: We need to hear from you. Well, I don't know about you, but my big takeaways from this are that you can have abuse in your background that has formed you, but God can redeem you. You can get to the root of your anger and learn a way of peace and acceptance. Nothing you do can keep you from the love of God and it's possible to be transformed into God's image. Friend if you or someone you know has grown up in abuse, seek godly counsel. And if the first one doesn't work, keep seeking. Delve into the word of God, especially in psalms where you can see others who lament and still see God. God knows, God cares, our God listens, and he answers our prayers. So I would definitely recommend John's book broken and finding freedom through complete surrender. A link for that will be in the show notes the recommended podcast this week is the Ed Milet show. This showcases the greatest peak performers across all industries in one place, sharing their journey, knowledge and leadership includes guests from business, health, collegiate and professional sports, politics, entrepreneurship, science and entertainment. You'll find motivation, inspiration and practical steps to help you become the best version of you and I have found that it's a really inspiring podcast. So if you want to be motivated, there's a place for you to go. And if you've enjoyed this episode, please feel free to share it with someone you may know, a family member or friend that it may speak to as well. I appreciate you doing that and sharing that and be blessed this week. My scriptures for today are Romans 835. Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted or hungry or destitute, or in danger or threatened with death? Nope. Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loves us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below. Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I look forward to joining you again next time in your car, walking the dog, wherever you are listening. Blessings, my friend.