Answer the Call

I was born on Friday,November 14,1975 in Athens Ga at Athens Regional Hospital. The time of entry into the world was 11:30am. It was snowing when my mothers water broke;and when she was able to bring me home the temperature reached an unseasonably warm 80 degrees.I was presented to ecstatic parents Barbara and Phil Mooney. The name Jason can be translated "One who heals." The Bible passage that correlates with "One who heals" can be found in Is 61 and Lk 4. I was raised in a loving,Christian home where the truths of Gods word were presented faithfully and in an exiting manner that awakened in this boys active imagination a desire to follow Christ in some way. When I was about six years old,and in childrens church at Shiloh Hills Baptist church there was an invitation time. I told a church member named Gerald Keeslor that I wanted to accept Jesus Christ into my heart. So he led me through the sinners prayer. I have never forgotten the purple and yellow pains of glass in the secondary chapel that let such comforting light in. I made my decision to accept that a very big God had a son who died for me,and at this moment in my young life Jesus was calling me to respond to the most important decision of my life. I knew many fears as a child,but I also realized that Jesus longed to fill my whole heart with His love. A few weeks later I went forward when an evangelist named Tim Maharas led an invitation. I told him with my mom standing close by that I was called to be a missionary to Africa. I never did anything with my faith after this early decision. I do know that if you call upon the Lord like a child and you sincerly accept Jesus into your heart you will be saved. I have also understood that God can use fragments and threads of the gospel into a beautiful woven tapestry that leads to decision of mature faith when you realize Yes,it is Christ alone.
It may sound surprising that a young boy would be so matter of fact and convicted in making such a decision for Christ,but in order to recognize this it can only be seen by surveying the precious foundation that had providentially been inlaid all around my childhood in that most crucial time as a young person when you are so impressionable and most formative. I know my mother prayed scripture over me when I was in the womb that "God would give me a future and a hope and plans for my welfare and not for disaster."(Jer 29:11-12) "So when I called out to God one day He would be found by me." As my mom glided gently back in forth in her favorite rocking chair reflecting on my soon to be birth she would even pray aloud for my future mate.
I gravitated to the experience of God that was taught to me through stories of the Bible which were shared as truth without any doubt or skepticism in a way that my tender heart was stirred. I was involved in AWANA at Shiloh Hills Baptist Church which is an athletic competition that emphasizes the memorization of the truths of scripture so that "one may be an approved workman who needeth not to be ashamed,rightly dividing the word of truth." As I have become a man I am so greatful that those Bible verses covered over my ears at a young age and deposited wisdom into my heart and mind,because this foundation would prove instrumental in ultimately giving over the control and direction of my life to Jesus Christ later in life. Now dont get me wrong I wasnt packed and ready for Africa just yet. I would begin to say to my mom Awana,Awana,Awana quit before each Tuesday evening that my Awana team met. I would consult my moms nursing textbooks to try to come up with an illness if it would keep me from awana. I also had many fears as a child that would often wake me up in the middle of the night. I would yell out to my parents because I was afraid;and my mother would always suggest that I get out my Bible, because the living God cared about my fears.



I adored my mother and father as I was growing up. They were affirming,and instilled in me the fact that I was special. I embraced life with an air of possibility and exitement. Around age 5and 6 I remember how exited I was when my dad came home from work at Oxford Industries. My dad was a touchstone of unconditional love. We spent time together working on piecing together and painting model airplanes that we would string up and tack through the cieling which became a virtual skyline full of aircraft battle that my vivid imagination would summon any time I looked up in my room. My mom was a nurse;and I remember her tender care during those times I was sick with the flu. I will never forget how she would gently message my cheast with vicks vapor rub to soothe cheast congestion.



To be lost as a child in a world of National Geographic,The Chronicles of Narnia,by C.S. Lewis, and Choose Your Own Adventure books allowed me to become someone else in an instant. National Geographic became an open door to adventure,and a busted out window to a place of light far removed from some of the dreary moments of esteem issues that seemed to surface really no more than a gentle dip into a blue sea in my soul where some unexplained sadness tended to float by often unrecognized in the ebb and flow of a childs life. Each month when I recieved a copy of Natl Geog it was like a ticket for a far flung journey amidst the exotic places and people of the world. As I expectantly turned page after page of each issue what was impressed upon my heart was the handiwork of God throughout the earth and the far reaches of the universe. I will never forget those coveted trips to Gritters Library adjacent to Shaw Park in Marietta,Ga. I can still remember the moldy smell of worn books and stretched binding. I even enjoyed just rubbing the yellow stained corners of pages between my fingers;and it puzzled me to think about this peculiar and growing affection toward words that seemed to follow one another into orderly sentences as if from nothing, in some strange other world. Who are these writers I would whisper aloud if I was brave enough to break away from the childrens books in pursuit of the stacks which held adult, classic fiction books I had overheard my group reader mention. It was all about savoring the experience of the inner life of ideas awakened.

In 1982 when I was six years old I attended Greater Atlanta Christian School. I was selected to be the reader for several school plays including The Giant Turnip. The Marietta Journal did a piece on an airline trip my class went on to Montgomery Alabama. There was a picture of me taken from the cockpit,and in the article I was called the "inevitable cassanova" when I disclosed to a reporter that "I had just broken up with another girlfriend because all they do is pester me."

Binding the Brokenhearted

I remember a verse my mom shared with me at an early age that made quite an indelible impression on me that has remained with me to this day. Even when significance issues began to uproot the fibre of my innermost being I believe the themes of Isaish 61 that my mom shared with me were influential in shaping the man I have become.The name Jason can be translated as "One who heals";and it coincides with Isaiah61:1."The spirit of the Lord God is upon me to bind up the brokenhearted." Often times on my journey I have sought out the power and comfort in this passage of scripture. To me what makes these verses so powerful is that they prophecy a time of the Annonited,Messiah in Christ Jesus. In fact when Jesus entered the synagogue on that day He turned to Isaiah 61 and read the passage;and then He revealed to those in attendance that the famous passage in Isaiah 61 was about Him. In effect as Jesus proclaimed that "the spirit of the Lord God is upon me" He revealed His sonship and likeness to the Father. Jesus words that day were astonishing because the people knew that Jesus was born in homely and backward Bethlehem. Its interesting to me when you realize that God has walked into the assembly,and those in attendance had so the bar so low for even Him in the person of Jesus Christ. It was an intentional purpose in my life to place myself under the annointing of "the spirit of the Lord God is upon me." I knew I was one of the "broken hearted" who certainly needed "binding." Only such a great promise of the Lord God revealed in Jesus Christ could meet my needs so unconditionally. As I have been discovering healing and freedom in Christ I can look back on a time when my precious mother bestowed such Godly favor on my life in sharing Isaiah61 with me as a child. Back then we could have never imagined just how vital and critical a Christian foundation would prove to be in our family.

In the Garden

I sit outside the tomb(sepluchre) in the garden of my life like Mary Magdalene who leaned against the rock waiting for Jesus on the day he resurrected from the dead.
I'm waiting for the stone to be rolled back in the garden of my purposes,and Christ Jesus a glow with heavenly light to emerge into the resurrection of the purposes of my life.
The growth of vine and brown brush has completely overtaken the grey stone covering the tomb. The weed and grasses are waist high in most places. I will wait,and keep a watchful eye upon the signs of life that are awakening within the garden of my soul.

Media Bias

This is not to take anything away from Alec Baldwin's talent as an actor with comedic flair and genuis,but there is a double standard in the media coverage of his career as opposed to Mel Gibson. Baldwin's situation in regards to his daughter was shocking and quite reprehensible,and the media chose not to cover his situation more than a few days. In the case of Mel Gibson his conduct was embarassing like Alec Baldwin,but the media covered it for almost two years non stop and with such vitriol. Why does the elite media seem to give Baldwin not only a free pass,but a renewed place as one of our great entertainers. Many hope that Mel will never be able to work again. I believe Mel was bashed so extensively not just because of the racial language that he chose to use during a drunken arrest,but I think on a much deeper level many people despise the film The Passion of the Christ that Mel Gibson directed,and they were given a great opprtunity to nail Mel Gibson in an attempt to find any way to take away from the success of the film.It amazes me that some non believers who may be atheists become so infuriated when it comes to Jesus Christ suffering for the sins of the world. In interviews journalists still feel the need to refer to Mel's situation when he promotes a film two years out. If an elite,liberal member of the media were to throw Alec's flagrant abuse toward his daughter up to him in an interview they would be excuriated and probably lose their job. There is a double standard in the media when it comes to the extensive coverage of the shortcomings of people of faith as opposed to cultural figureheads the media accepts as valid.