I was very honored today to do the invocation at a ceremony in which Jeff Pennington was promoted to Colonel in the Air Force. Jeff and his family recently joined our church, and they bless me as much as any family I pastor. They never fail to find me at the end of a worship service and communicate their appreciations to me for being their pastor. Recently, when someone attacked our church with a contentious spirit, both Jeff and his wife Lisa stood to our defense. Jeff is in charge of about 600 people and his wife has been part of large organizations; they know the vital importance of swiftly dealing with contentious people. I cannot tell you what it means to me to have people who have such wisdom and are willing to support their leaders. According to Jeff, last year was the most challenging year they had ever faced; and God brought them to our church — in the midst of the most challenging season faced by our church to-date. The Lord knows that we need each other, does He not.
Today, my two sons were allowed to attend the military ceremony with me and meet all the soldiers and officers, and the 452d AMW. It was a wonderful event, especially watching Jeff’s wife and two daughters pin all the new stuff on Jeff’s uniform. Afterwards we shared a meal at the home of General “Hap” Arnold at March Air Reserve Base.
Then we toured the airport fire department, getting a close-up look at some the coolest firetrucks in the world. Finally, Colonel Pennington took us on a tour of a KC-10 (see photo on the right). These fifty year old planes are used to refuel other planes while at speeds of 400 miles per hour. In May we shall return at get to tour of some other planes during their airshow. We look forward to touring the new C-17 airlifter that Jeff has been flying.
Thank you, Col. Pennington, for your service to our country.
And thank you, as well, for your service to our Lord. Your family is a true blessing to our church and an effective witness of the power of the gospel.
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.