The ”all that JAZZION” Audio Podcast

"So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me."
-Romans 7:21
We are in week two of our series, "My Mental Health is my Full-time Job" where Pastor Jazz opens up the Word of God to encourage, equip, and empower us to put our sinful nature to death and to gain control over the habits that do not serve us by starving our flesh and feeding our spirit with the Gospel. 
Prepare to be BLESSED and to work with GOD to take your life to another level!
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Hope City Fellowship is an authentically Christian, intentionally-diverse church plant based in Asheville, North Carolina that officially launched in November 2021. 
Our mission- "Glorifying God by making mature, multiplying, world-changing disciples of Jesus who carry Gospel-hope!"
To learn more or to support our ministry, visit our website at hopecityfellowship.org

"Do not become proud at that time and forget the Lord your God, who rescued you from slavery in the land of Egypt."- Deuteronomy 8:14
Every Fourth of July 300 MILLION Americans across our entire country, 5 major territories like Puerto Rico, and more than 150 American embassies stop what they’re doing, cancel workdays, workOUTS, and business as usual… and get together for hamburgers, pool parties, and of course… fireworks. The bigger the BETTER! Some say that the Fourth of July is a redneck’s early CHRISTMAS! It’s a big DEAL!
But think about it. Why does an entire nation stop what it’s doing in the middle of the summer every year in the name of so-called “Independence Day”? It is because civilizations understand something that we as individuals tend to forget.  If you don’t intentionally remember the important things that produced your freedom, you will eventually unintentionally forget... to your own demise.
The Fourth of July isn’t actually about pool parties and fireworks. It’s about a nation saying, “We must refuse to forget the price of our freedom.”
And that’s exactly what Moses was doing in Deuteronomy. The nation of Israel has been Kunta Kinte’ level SLAVES to Pharaoh and the Egyptians for four hundred years and are about to enter- not only freedom… but abundance. And the greatest threat is not enemies. It's not drought. It's not giants. It’s amnesia.
“For when you have become full and prosperous and have built fine homes to live in, and when your flocks and herds have become very large and your silver and gold have multiplied along with everything else, be careful! (vs 12-13). He goes on to say, “But I assure you of this: If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods… you will certainly be destroyed.(vs 19)”
Prosperity can be a greater threat to spiritual life than adversity itself. C.S. Lewis said, "A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered." Have you ever noticed how it is upon remembering and reminiscing that an experience reaches it peak in your heart? Not only does pleasure grow when it is remembered… faith grows when God is remembered. And it is when we remember God rescuing us from slavery to sin at the Cross that we truly begin to rise.
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Hope City Fellowship is an authentically Christian, intentionally-diverse church plant based in Asheville, North Carolina that officially launched in November 2021. 
Our mission- "Glorifying God by making mature, multiplying, world-changing disciples of Jesus who carry Gospel-hope!"
To learn more or to support our ministry, visit our website at hopecityfellowship.org

"He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less."
-John 3:30
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Hope City Fellowship is an authentically Christian, intentionally-diverse church plant based in Asheville, North Carolina that officially launched in November 2021. 
Our mission- "Glorifying God by making mature, multiplying, world-changing disciples of Jesus who carry Gospel-hope!"
To learn more or to support our ministry, visit our website at hopecityfellowship.org

“…the whole crowd heard her explain why she had touched him and that she had been immediately healed.” 
-Luke 8:47b NLT
I was driving my princess to school a few days ago and we drove past a utility van with these words displayed across the side, “Call Dad”. It’s an HVAC and plumbing company based in the Carolinas (USA) whose name is an absolutely brilliant marketing tool. The idea is to appeal to that universal experience of, when something at the house goes wrong or gets broken- call Dad. He’ll know exactly what to do or how to fix it. Some of us grew up without knowing, or being able to call our dad. But God has a way of providing just what, or who, we need… when facing something broken… or worse, something dire… or worse, something absolutely desperate. 
In our text today we read about not one, but two different people who heard that there was a Man in town who could possibly fix their dire, desperate, deep need and they both- independent of the other, made a decision to do whatever it took to get in front of Him and ask Him for help. One had been on “The Struggle Bus” for twelve long years… each year longer than a country mile. She was dealing with a personal bleeding problem that not only left her with just enough strength to breathe and pump blood, but kept her completely socially and spiritually isolated from community. The other had his own princess, twelve years old to be exact, on the brink of an untimely funeral and he didn’t know what to do. It’s one thing to call Dad- confident he’ll know what to do. But what do you do if you ARE dad, and you don’t know what to do. 
On this occasion, the massive crowds were eagerly waiting for Jesus, but only two of them got exactly what they needed from Him because they were the only ones sufficiently desperate enough to seek Him and take hold of their blessing. When Jairus came and threw himself before Jesus, was it any surprise that He would actually go with him to heal his daughter (vs.42)? When the woman with the issue of blood managed to push her way through the crowd and merely touch the hem of His robe, not only did she feel virtue fill her body, Jesus felt it leave His (vs.46). This is a picture of the Great News… Jesus heals and saves us, but it comes at the high cost of His own life. 
The Gospel is about God sending His Son to do the work of the family business… to a world full of people isolated from the Divine Community of Yahweh because of sin. The world is in desperate need of a touch of grace that gives life, holiness, and restoration. What an amazing God we serve, Who is not only able to heal but is willing to do so at His own expense.
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Hope City Fellowship is an authentically Christian, intentionally-diverse church plant based in Asheville, North Carolina that officially launched in November 2021. 
Our mission- "Glorifying God by making mature, multiplying, world-changing disciples of Jesus who carry Gospel-hope!"
To learn more or to support our ministry, visit our website at hopecityfellowship.org

Sam and I are good friends from the gym!
We've had phenomenal conversations through the years about all the things that they say you shouldn't discuss openly or in public!
Sam identifies as a muslim mystic... meaning- he believes in the Qu'ran and the faith championed by Muhammad but not the faith of any organized religion. 
He believes that every human being can have a mystical, one-on-one relationship with the Creator of the Universe without any need whatsoever of an intermediary- including that of the Jesus that Christians esteem and exalt as the God-Man.
Zoom into our conversation as we discuss faith, politics, Zionism, Charlie Kirk, sex outside of marriage, Jesus being God, The Qu'ran, cheap grace, true religion, and much more!
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If you have a question you would like me to answer on my podcast, or if you would like to engage with me on a recorded zoom call about a specific topic, shoot me an email and let's talk!   allthatjazzion@gmail.com
 

“You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” 
-Genesis 50:20  
I can only imagine the mental, emotional, and spiritual strength it took for a 38 year-old dad to cling to his two daughters, the hope of surviving, and his small engine airplane that had crashed down into a freezing lake close to the Kenai (kin-NYE) Peninsula in Alaska in March of 2025. 
Can you imagine the surprise when locals in the area had gotten word from a post on Facebook that the plane had gone off radar in a cloudy, windy area? A Good Samaritan pilot named Terry Godes responded, saw the small airplane down in the freezing water off in the distance, and was both shocked and relieved when he saw the three frostbitten survivors standing on the wings of the plane waving their arms. 
Not knowing if anybody even knew they were missing, much less coming to the rescue, it was the will to survive and save his two princesses that kept this father from giving in to his natural limits and dying before time. 
It was Bob Marley who said, “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” We have to be willing to go to great lengths to do great things. 
Going great lengths requires a different mindset and a resilience that emerges from walking with God and clinging to Him in such a way that we don’t break before our breakthrough. 
This is precisely what we find in Genesis chapter 50. Young Joseph had been betrayed, beat up, beat down, and put through the blender for more than twenty years before it all turned into Heaven. God Himself was divinely interacting with all that had happened in Joseph’s brutally difficult life in order to put him in position to fulfill His massive, life-giving purposes. But Joseph’s resilience was not random. It had emerged from a reality. Joseph had learned to walk with God, to cling to Him, and to draw strength, hope, and wisdom that was not his own. We must learn to do the same in our Rabbi’s School of Greatness. 
The Gospel reveals to us that God Himself has gone to great lengths to save humanity and to reconcile the wayward Universe back to Himself, by working with and through each of us, as a part of His story. And at the epicenter of His story, we find a Man… our Rabbi and Redeemer… on a Cross who didn’t break until He said, “It is finished”.
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Hope City Fellowship is an authentically Christian, intentionally-diverse church plant based in Asheville, North Carolina that officially launched in November 2021. 
Our mission- "Glorifying God by making mature, multiplying, world-changing disciples of Jesus who carry Gospel-hope!"
To learn more or to support our ministry, visit our website at hopecityfellowship.org

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions- it is by grace you have been saved.” 
-Ephesians 2:4-5 NIV
Starbucks unleashed some really hilarious commercials a few years ago, showcasing a live rock band following seemingly average corporate America employees at work, playing a specialized rendition of “Eye of the Tiger” featuring their own name and success-narrative in the song! The message?… “Drinking a Starbucks coffee turns the ordinary into awesome… and drinking Starbucks is just like having a rock band thunder your own theme music to start the day!”
Theme music. 
There is something so powerful about it. Whether it is the Undertaker coming out to chokeslam his next victim at Wrestlemania, the Samoan national rugby team getting ready to take the field, or the beginning of your favorite t.v. show during the glory days of T.G.I.F. Come on! Who knows about vegging out on pizza and the latest episodes of Full House, Family Matters, and Step by Step?!!! I’m an 80’s baby and those were the GOOD ole’ days!!!!!
Theme music sets an atmosphere, says that something significant is about to happen, or someone significant is coming- so pay ATTENTION!!!!! 
When we read Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 10, we see that the family of God has our own theme music and it is called… GRACE. 
It is the music that we play to begin our day. It is also the background instrumental that shapes the atmosphere of our minds and hearts. It tells us that whose, who, and what we are doing is important, and turns the ordinary into awesome.
Grace is the unearned commitment and kindness of God Himself to people who deserve one thing but get another because of love. It empowers us to walk in the not-so-easy yet absolutely needed good works that God has orchestrated for us to do as we treat people the way we ourselves are treated by God in Christ. 
The next time God calls you to be or do something that is needed but not easy- by the Spirit of God inside of you, hear Him say… “Somebody cue My theme music”.

"And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes."
-Galatians 3:27
There is a lot of psychology in how we dress. 
Miucia Prada, granddaughter of the founder of the Prada brand said, "What you wear is how you PRESENT yourself to the world.” "Primetime" Deion Sanders famously said, "When you look good, you feel good. When you feel good, you play good. And when you play good, they PAY good!"
In this sermon, Pastor Jazz agrees and also suggests that what you wear says something about the way you PERCEIVE your own self. He contends that it is also a powerful means by which we position ourselves inwardly for success and to seize the day. 
But this conversation gets most interesting and impactful in its relationship to the Gospel. The Apostle Paul says that all believers in Christ have been given the freshest fit known in existence... the perfect righteousness of Christ Jesus. This gives us total access to the Banquet Hall of God Himself and powerfully shapes how we live out our day to day lives for His glory.
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Hope City Fellowship is an authentically Christian, intentionally-diverse church plant based in Asheville, North Carolina that officially launched in November 2021. 
Our Mission: "Glorifying God by making mature, multiplying, world-changing disciples of Jesus who carry Gospel-hope!"
To learn more or to support our ministry, visit our website at hopecityfellowship.org

"Do all that you can to be at peace with all men."
-Romans 12:18
On September the 4th, 1957, a fifteen year old African American young woman named Dorothy Counts walked into Harry Hardin High School in Charlotte, North Carolina along with the three other black teenagers for the first time in the newly de-segregated Southern school. She was met by a crowd of white students as well as adults spewing racial slurs, throwing stones, and literally spitting at her.
Forty-nine years later, in 2006... a Sunday School teacher at Assurance United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina asked his senior citizen class members if anyone had a story to tell about dealing with a sin of omission. 
Woody Cooper raised his hand and said two words: "Dorothy Counts". 
He had been in the crowd on that fateful day that Dorothy Counts walked into Harry Hardin High School, was actually filmed making a monkey face at her, and had been consumed with conviction and deep regret for 49 years. 
What followed became a story of repentance, reaching out, and reconciliation that mirrors the powerful story of Jacob and Esau reuniting and finding peace all the way back in Genesis chapter thirty-three.  
In this sermon, Pastor Jazz speaks on how fulfilling Jesus' call to be peacemakers requires mastering peace within oneself... by virtue of encountering the Prince of Peace Himself.
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Hope City Fellowship is an authentically Christian, intentionally-diverse church plant based in Asheville, North Carolina that officially launched in November 2021. 
Our Mission: "Glorifying God by making mature, multiplying, world-changing disciples of Jesus who carry Gospel-hope!"

I met and made friends with Karen while having lunch in town with one of my best friends. I told her, "Let's talk more on my podcast channel!"
I started this podcast in part so that my audience could have a window into people with different convictions having conversations like this one about the big issues.
I am a passionate Follower of Jesus... and I take His loving command to share the Gospel and to tactfully challenge people and perspectives in order to shine the light of God's Kingdom and grace seriously! 
The video you are seeing is the first of what I hope will be MORE with Karen who is a Unitarian Universalist... meaning she doesn't believe there is a Hell, or a Devil, or that Jesus is the Divine Son of God, or the only way to God. 
Karen, THANK you for having a discussion with me. God bless you and may He help us all come to know truth and build our life on it. 
Let me know what you'd like to see us engage in this podcast next time!