JOE: What an awesome day, a day to serve Jesus by serving
others. We're here at a trailer park and truck's just pulling up
volunteers by the dozens are behind me about to give out
food, necessary food, needed food. People are hungry. They're
hungry for food, and today we're demonstrating God's love here in
this trailer park with being the hands and feet of Jesus because
of people's needs. But we're not only going to hand them out
food, but we will be praying with them and sharing the hope
of Jesus. Remember, we don't only demonstrate God's love by
meeting the needs of the poor, the homeless and the hungry, but
we also provide hope because we share Jesus who is the hope of
the world with all of those who we meet. So it's so exciting,
exciting, always to serve Jesus by serving others. Many times
people think that if they don't find their purpose right away in
life, if they don't find their purpose when they're young and
maybe in high school or college, they never will. For me, my
purpose in life, I found very young. In fact, at 17, God
called me and gave me a purpose to share the gospel, to share
his love, to let people know that Jesus loves them, that
Jesus cares, that Jesus died for their sins, that if they would
just believe and receive and trust in Jesus, they could be
forgiven for all of their sins, washed, white as snow and have
eternal life and go to heaven one day when this life is over.
And so for me, it was very young, but let me tell you, it
wasn't always easy. In fact, even though my calling, my
purpose in life was clear that I was going to serve Jesus by
serving others, serve Jesus, by serving the poor, serve Jesus
and try to bring honor to His name by following Him every day
and sharing His love and the gospel message of hope, it
wasn't always that easy. It was very difficult. You see for me,
I had a father, Fred Jordan and a mother Willie Jordan who to
me, I mean they were like rock stars in the Christian
leadership world. They were ones who were older who had been
doing it so long and who seemed to really have it down, how to
follow and honor God and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
And even though I know they weren't perfect, I really didn't
see too many flaws in them ever because they honor Jesus. They
followed Jesus and they tried to obey Jesus in everything they
did. But one thing now as I'm older and I look back, they were
older at the time. You see, my father was an older father. I
was blessed to have an older father, and my six brothers and
sisters also were blessed because I think about it, if my
dad would've had us all when he was 20 and 25, I don't know that
we would all be alive still. I think with all of the mischief
and all of the craziness we put my mom and dad through, I think
my dad might have, well, I won't say, but I think he might have.
I just don't know that we would still be here because we got in
so much trouble and we put them through some heartache. But I
look back and we were so blessed because my father was older, so
he had already had so much experience. He had gained so
much wisdom, but most of all, he learned the grace and the mercy
from Jesus because he knew that in his own life, the mistakes
that he made when he blew it. When my grandfather Jordan, who
was a pastor had to deal with my dad, Fred, when he messed up, he
saw grace and he saw mercy out of my grandfather, and so I saw
grace and mercy out of my father. I feel very excited that
I didn't start my family at 20 and 21 because I think it
would've been really rough on them because as I was younger, I
was very judgmental. I thought you either get it right or
you're not following God. You either do it perfect or you're
not following God. You either do it right, get it perfect or you
don't love God, but what a legalistic and what a wrong
thought that was. As I've gotten older and older, I've just
realized that we all fall short. We all make mistakes. We all
miss the mark. We all mess up. And that's why today if you're
struggling with purpose, if you're struggling with what is
your purpose, it's never too late. There's a few things that
I wrote down that I just want to encourage you with that what we
need to do is persevere. What does that mean? We need to keep
going. Never give up, never quit because the only way I think
that we can fail in life is if we throw up our hands and just
quit and just stop and don't pursue God anymore and his plans
and purposes. So I encourage you, never give up, never quit,
persevere, press through it and God will take you there and keep
your faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone. In Isaiah
60:22, it says this from God's Word, when the time is right,
the Lord will make it happen. What I've learned is that God's
timing is not our timing. God's ways are not our ways, and it's
very clear because it says that in the Bible. And so when we
realize that, when realize that sometimes it's just not God's
time yet for something to happen in our life, sometimes we're not
ready for the next step God has, and so we have to be patient and
wait upon God. The other thing I wanted to share with you and
what I've learned in my life is that you never mess up enough.
You never do too many things that are wrong, that disobey God
to where you're disqualified and thrown out of His plan or
purpose for your life. You see, I did a lot of things in my life
and I'll share those in just a minute. A lot of things that
would've disqualified me or I thought at the time disqualified
me from ministry, disqualified me from even having a
relationship with Jesus. And those were some detrimental and
some hurtful thoughts and thought processes I had at the
time that were faulty thinking. And I finally learned as God
taught me and I sought Him and I went after Him and I just said,
God help me and I read His Word and He spoke to me and he made
things clear that with Jesus all things are possible and that His
purpose, if I would just trust him, will be fulfilled. But I
had to press on, forget the past and follow His plan. Stay tuned.
GINA: We have got back to school coming up one of our favorite
times of year here on Skid Row, seeing children's coming from
all over the inner cities, and we're going to be able to give
them new backpacks, new outfits for school, and it's all made
possible by all of the viewers and our impact partners, and we
just can't thank you enough. And it's just we're all going to be
able to on events like this. It's like all of us get to
experience the joy on each face, but it's fun that the people at
home, that love, pray, support get to really be involved as
well and see what a wonderful day this is going to be. Joe,
what is it like for you to be able to see thousands of kids?
You know that when a kid has a new outfit and they're going
back to school that they're going to do better, they're
going to know better, they're going to do better. They're
going to succeed a little bit more just because of that
day of receiving these new gifts.
JOE: I just want to say thank you because back to school will
literally change lives, if not for more than a day, hopefully a
week, a month, six months, because every time they look at
those new shoes, that outfit, every time they remember that
day of being loved and encouraged and being blessed,
they're also going to remember the message of Jesus because
that day catered to kids and youth and teens we're going to
preach the gospel. We're going to share with these kids. Kids
Jesus loves you when you go to school. You don't need to be in
fear that whatever happens at school, whether it's good or
bad, it is going to be the end of your story. We need kids to
know in their neighborhoods when they're scared and they're
afraid because our world and our neighborhoods are kind of scary.
There's a lot of evil in this world, but they need to know
there's a God that's bigger than that. And we want to give
children and families that certainty of knowing that no
matter what this crazy world will bring at us, that Jesus
Christ loves them and has a plan for their life. And that's
probably the most exciting thing for me.
GINA: That's exciting. And again, we want to thank you at
home for supporting this amazing ministry and just know today
that Jesus loves you. No matter what you are going through
today, no matter what you're facing, remember that us here at
Fred Jordan Mission, we love you, we appreciate you,
and more importantly, God loves you and he'll
meet you right where you're at. God bless you.
JOE: As I was sharing with you a few minutes ago, God has a
purpose for our lives. And even though we feel like there's
times that we disqualify ourself or we mess up or we do the wrong
things, and there are those times when we feel like we will
never get to God's purpose and we will never get to God's plan
because we've just messed up too many times, but it's not true. I
told you in the beginning that when I was 17, I was called to
ministry. God gave me a purpose of serving him by serving
others, but it wasn't always easy. There were many times as I
went to play football in college and then I was a leader on
campus, I was sharing the gospel and I was counseling and
praying, and I was helping older students. When I say older, I'm
talking about like 21, 22, 23, but I was only 18 and 19. But it
was overwhelming at times because I thought, wow, this
calling is heavy. There's a lot of pressure with it. And I
thought, man, I have to be like my dad. I have to fill his
shoes. I have to be who he is. But at the time at 18 and 19,
and I want to encourage you with this, I was thinking the wrong
thoughts. You see, my dad was 55 years older than I was. He had
already lived 55 years more of life being taught the Word of
God, having the Holy Spirit guide him and lead him in
ministry, learning from his mistakes, growing as God led
him. And here I was at 18 thinking that I had to be
somebody that I wasn't. Yet I had to already have arrived, but
I've realized now we never arrive. We just keep learning
and growing and hopefully get wiser as we seek God and his
plan for our lives. And so for a long time after that period of
college, I kind of ran from God and my calling because it was
scary to me that I was going to be responsible to take the
message of hope, the message of the gospel, Jesus, to a broken
and hurting world, to the lost. And I took it on myself as being
all my responsibility. It was my calling and I had to be the one
to do it, but after running from God for many years and
feeling guilt and shame and just feeling so discouraged that I
would let God down over and over and over, and then by not
following God in my calling for those years, I lived under a
heavy discouragement that was almost depressing because I
knew that I was supposed to be following God, serving God,
honoring God, and taking Jesus to a hurting world. And yet I
was running and I was hiding and partying and just rebellion
because I was scared and I had fear and anxiety and worry that
I would fail God. But then I realized one day as my dad told
me before he died, son, it's not your responsibility. It's not
your job. It's not up to you to fix yourself. Yes, Joe, you have
to say yes to Jesus. You have to give Him your all. You have to
surrender your will to His will, but it's your job to do that,
not your job to fix your life. God is able. God is capable.
Jesus will take your life, and I've said it to you a thousand
times. He can take your life that is upside down and turn it
right side up. He can take your life that's a miserable mess and
turn it into a miraculous miracle, but you have to allow
him to. And it was at that point, I realized that I took
all this pressure on myself. I thought I had messed up too many
times, and I lived in so much shame, and I finally just
surrendered and said, Jesus, I can't do it, but you can. Jesus,
I can't follow you and be faithful, but you can help me
too. God, I can't be successful in being a pastor or a leader in
ministry without you. I took all the burden off me and I gave it
to God and God's Word says, cast your cares and your burdens upon
Him and He will care for you. And God did I surrendered my
life and a little saying that my dad used to say that. He said,
when he was a kid, I said the same thing, sink, swim, heaven,
hell live or die. I'm going to follow Jesus. And when I fall,
I'm going to get up as another good friend of mine that played
pro football who's a great preacher, Oscar Roan would
always tell me, said, Joe, if you fall down, if you hit your
face on the ground, if you stumble in sin, get up, get over
it and get on with it because God has forgiveness for you. God
has a purpose and a plan, and God will get you there, but you
have to trust Him. You know running and hiding from God,
being afraid of His plan for your life, or even feeling at
times like you're going to miss out. I used to think as a
teenager that I would miss out if I followed. I'd miss out on
all the fun. But you know what I've realized? When you're in
that world of fun, in the world of partying and whatever you're
into, whether it's drugs or alcohol or sex or whatever it
is, when you're caught up and you're bound and all of that,
all it does is it bind you up and it puts you in a bondage
that's not free, but when you realize that Jesus has a plan
and a purpose for your life and you can honor and love Him and
live the great life, not that there's not going to be problems
or issues, but that Jesus will always be with you to carry you
through those, that He can break every chain, that He's got a key
to unlock every door that you need to walk through, and that
He's got to lock big enough if you ask Him to lock every door
you shouldn't walk through and you trust Him. He can accomplish
His plan and His purpose. Some people ask, well, how do I keep
the hope? How do I keep the hope alive? And I say this again, the
Bible says nothing is impossible with God. Jesus is our hope He
can take and make miracles in our lives every day, if we'll
trust Him, there's nothing too great. Remember this, the battle
belongs to the Lord, not us. I had to learn, and I encourage
you to learn to not fight your own battles, but let God fight
your battles. To not think that you have to be the one that
somehow victorious gets through it on your own, but allow Jesus
to give you victory and take you through it. If we would just
trust His plan, His purpose for our lives and not our own His
word says that His good pleasing and perfect will be accomplished
in our lives if we'll just trust Him. His Word also says in
Jeremiah 29:11, as I close for I know the plans that I have for
you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you.
Plans to give you a hope and a future. God's promises are real.
They're certain and they're true. God never goes back on His
promises, hold His promises, get into God's Word and trust him
with your life and the purpose He has for you. He will fulfill
it if you will just allow Him to and surrender your will and your
plans to His. Always remember Philippians 4:13, one of my
favorite verses, I can do all things through Christ who gives
me strength. Let me pray for you. And if you don't know Jesus
today and you are like, wow, I don't know how to find God's
purpose, because I don't know Him. Just know this, God created
you. He created me, and we sinned and we messed up, and yet
He sent His son Jesus to this earth to die for us, and Jesus
died on the cross for our sins and then Jesus rose from the
dead three days later, He's alive and He wants to bless you.
He wants to save you. He wants to forgive you and give you
eternal life. Jesus came here to forgive us, but we have to trust
Him. The Bible says, if we would believe and receive that free
gift of salvation and forgiveness, that we can have
eternal life. So all you have to do is say a prayer like this,
Jesus, come into my heart. Forgive me of my sins. I'm sorry
I've sinned against you. Wash me white as snow. Cover me with
your blood. Thank you for forgiving me. Thank you for
saving me. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Help
me to walk with you and honor you every day of my life. In
Jesus' name, amen. And if you know Jesus, and yet you're
struggling with God's purpose, I want to pray for you. God, I
pray in the name of Jesus that all of those who are listening
that feel like maybe they've messed up too much or they've
fallen short, or they've let you down too many times, that you're
a big God. You're able to forgive and move on. You're able
to take our lives, even the messes that we've made of them
and still bring purpose and your plans out in our life if we
would just trust you. So help everybody that hears my voice to
follow you, to love you, to seek you and your purpose every day,
and help us, Lord, to say yes to you every day in Jesus' name,
amen. Just as we're here today in Thermal serving and in LA
right now at the mission serving Jesus by serving the least of
these, God has a purpose for your life to serve Him by
blessing someone else in some way. God bless you.
ANNOUNCER: It's that time of year as school bells ring across
the nation with kids of all ages, ready to go back to
school, wearing brand new clothes, tennis shoes,
backpacks, a fresh haircut and smiles from ear to ear. However,
consider the contrast with the kids in those communities
affected by poverty that have no other options, no choices, but
to wear the hand-me-downs, the torn clothes, the shoes that are
too small or too big and dirty, or cradling, a paper bag used to
carry their school supplies. Fred Jordan Missions looks to
change that for kids headed back to school once again this year
at the annual Back to School Extravaganza. It's truly a party
on Skid Row and we need your help to throw it. As FJM gives
hundreds of brand new shoes from the Foot Locker, fresh, clean,
new clothes, new backpacks, and new school supplies, and yes,
even haircuts to the kids of Skid Row and the surrounding
areas. We love the huge smiles and big hugs and even the tears
of joy as precious kids pick out new shiny shoes, stock up on
needed school supplies and even select a brand new backpack. We
invite you to be a part of this party and support this event
with the financial gift. Great or small, your best gift will
make a difference in the life of a child heading back to school.
To give safe and secure online, go to fjm.org or send a check to
FJM Box 12345, Covina, California 91722. Do it now
while it's on your heart. All gifts, no matter what the size
are so needed and greatly appreciated.
JOE: We want the world to know that Jesus loves us all, that He
cares for us, all that He died for us all and has a plan and a
purpose for all of us if we will just trust Him, and you're a
part of that too. Thank you so much for helping us to be on the
front lines and the hands and feet of Jesus. We love you and
we're grateful, and my prayer, like I said earlier for you, is
that you find that purpose, that perfect plan that God has for
your life where you can honor Jesus and bless others.
There's nothing better. God bless you.
ANNOUNCER: FJM Mission has been giving hope to those on Skid Row
for over 80 years, and we need your help to continue declaring
and demonstrating the love of God. Donate right now online at
fjm.org or if a stamp and snail mail is more your style,
then please send your check to FJM
12345, Covina, California 91722. Thank you.
FEMALE: We will overcome this sorrow. We will see the dawn
tomorrow. We will soldier on down this road, as
we reach for hope, reach for hope.
ANNOUNCER: Please will you join us in feeding hungry children
and their families by phoning today? 844-FJM-FOOD or donating
online fjm.org. That's fjm.org or mail your check to
Fred Jordan Mission, PO Box 12345, Covina,
California 91722. Please will you help?
FEMALE: (Singing) Reach for hope.
ANNOUNCER: The proceeding program was sponsored by
Generous Friends and partners of Fred Jordan Missions.