About Me…
My name is Jonathan. Some people call me Jon Jon, John, Johnny, Johnny Boy, Jon Boy, Ellis, JE…take your pick, doesn’t matter.
A few words about me…
I’m ordinary. The only possible reason you would pick me out of a crowd is because you need me to grab something off of a tall shelf.
I’m a husband. My wife, Julie, is wonderful and I’m lucky to just be in the same room with her. She’s beautiful, caring, loving and a wonderful mom to my son. In addition, she is creative, hard working, intelligent, and sarcastically humorous. Together we are trying to raise a family and strengthen our marriage in a way that honors God. She inspires me daily. Again, I cannot reiterate how lucky I am and how she got the short end of this marriage deal.
I’m a father. The day I became a dad was one of the greatest in my life. Jacob is a loving, playful, and energetic child. I never knew just how much a child could change you, inside and out. The fatherhood experience has been an incredible spiritual catalyst for me. My appreciation of God and loving and understanding Him has greatly expanded. I can’t wait to have more children.
I’m an engineer. My desire to understand and create technology is coupled with a passion for problem solving. Mix that with an attitude of “make it bigger, better, faster” and you have a equation that generates a manufacturing engineer.
I’m a pastor. I work for a great church and serve some great people. I dream of this being my full time job someday soon (when engineering finally and officially takes the back seat). Shameless plug alert! - Check us out at www.uprisingchurch.org or come and visit us at 10 am on Sunday mornings at the Bellevue YMCA in Nashville, TN. We’re located right off of Hwy 100 behind Starbucks.
I’m a follower of Jesus Christ. In all that I do above, this is the foundation. The love of Christ and the grace of God are the fuel for fulfilling my purpose in life. I want to honor God in all that I am and do. I don’t just want people to know Jesus, I want them to see Him alive in today’s church. I want the church make the impact that God intended in today’s world. Lastly, I simply want to serve others and be an example of love and obedience.
Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog.
-Jonathan
February 29, 2008 at 9:38 am
Jonathan,
It was great to meet you yesterday and sorry you had to leave. Hopefully we didn’t scare you to bad. Thanks for all your doing to help Uprising be the place that it is.
Let me know if I can help.
Randy
April 7, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Jonathan,
I found your blog through a wordpress search on small groups. I work for one of the largest Christian media companies and I wanted to let you know of an opportunity regarding writing and small groups. I couldn’t find your contact information so if you’re able, feel free to email me your info.
Thanks so much.
April 8, 2008 at 11:24 am
Yo Jon. Good to see you’re in the blogging world. Hope you and your family are doing well. Talk to you soon!!
April 29, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Hey Jonathan,
I had coffee with Pam Case the other day and she raved about the support that you and your wife are to Uprising. I think it’s amazing that you give of your time to fill the Executive Pastor role at Uprising. You are a strength to Joe and Pam and the rest of the congregation. We haven’t officially met, but we should connect at some point to share Executive Pastor/Director stories.
July 10, 2008 at 8:13 am
Hey Jonathan,
I hope all is well. Looks like God is blowing the doors off of the UC…Go God. We are gearing-up and kicking it up a notch. Our staff is coming into focus now that we have a worship pastor, Kermit Easterling (www.kermiteasterling.com); a children’s pastor, Matt Lee; an administrator, Gretchen Norton; and I am meeting with someone this week who has a heart for small groups.
As we get closer we obviously are getting busier. I was wanting to ask if you could email a copy or a sample of the Tennessee Charter you did for UpRising. Gretchen is filling out the application for non-profit incorporation and I told her I would ask if you had that available so we could use it as an example.
Thanks brother, you can email gretchen@chartertn.net and summitchurch@charter.net. Call me sometime (865-686-5280) and may God bless you guys.
Bryan