Firefighter Faith Builders

06/03/2026

05/31/2026

SUNDAY CHAPLAIN’S CHAT
5/31/2026
“Strength in Weakness”

2 Corinthians 12:8-10
“Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Everyone has their strengths…Just like everyone has their weaknesses!
If we are all honest with ourselves, we all like to highlight where we excel and hide where we fall short. I think that’s why sometimes we shy away from training opportunities. So often, we avoid hands on training because we’re not always as proficient as we like to think. It is real easy to talk a big game when you all you ever do is talk.

Sorry, but here comes my soapbox…. Somewhere along the line, the sigma of training has shifted from teaching needed skills to showing everyone how unprepared they are. In my early years within the fire service, I’ve had instructors that let you fail at a task, and then just tell you how you did everything wrong.
Honestly, as a former teacher, this has always been a pet peeve of mine, because that isn’t what true teaching is. As a teacher, I would teach my students individual skills, then I would work along beside them as they mastered those skills. I would build trust and give them opportunities to build their confidence, so they would be able to shine when it came time to utilize those skills.

I am thankful that I currently work with an agency that works to build needed skills. They aren’t looking for those “gotcha” moments to show how weak or unskilled you are. They are looking to facilitate actual learning.

See, in our verses today , that is what God is saying to the Apostle Paul when Paul asked God to remove his “thorn in the flesh”… his weakness. God didn’t remove the weakness or reject Paul. God assured Paul not to fear his weaknesses, because He would help Paul through them.

So as, emergency services personnel, we mustn’t shy away from areas that we struggle. We need to find the help needed to become more proficient to master our craft! And when we instruct others, may we do so to encourage them to never stop learning, not to discourage them.
Because our lives depend on our proficiency!!

So this week, I pray that we all will embrace our weaknesses so we can work to master them thru God’s grace and instructors/leaders to help show us the way to better ourselves. May God bless us all with His protection and safety!!
Serving You For Him,
Chaplain Jason

05/24/2026

SUNDAY CHAPLAIN’S CHAT
5/24/2026
“Rollercoaster of Life”

John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Have you ever just had a bad day? I mean, when things just seem to be moving right along, and then, life just hits you like a ton of bricks. Yeah, I’m guessing, we all have at one point or another. I have often heard life to be compared to a roll-coaster with its ups and downs. They say… “just hang on for the ride…what goes up, must come down.”

Well, I promise you that your chaplain or preacher is no exception to life’s downfalls. We try to stay upbeat, but we get knocked down just like everyone else. As for me, when I do fall, I tend to crash pretty hard. I guess that’s why I fight so hard daily to stay on the sunny side of things. I had a captain once that ask me why I was so “happy” all the time. I told him because I didn’t like who I am when I’m not happy.

It can be real easy for things of this world to highjack our joy, because we all face things like death, sickness, loss, broken relationships, or sometimes just dumb mistakes that can send us in a downward spiral of gloom.

So, what do we do during those moments? Those moments when grief and worry seem to consume us.

Well, today’s Bible verse, Jesus tells us to take heart when we face the tragedies of this world, because He has defeated the things of this world…and because He has defeated them, we can take heart!

See, Jesus was given this encouragement to His disciples when He was predicting how the world would reject Him. He knew His difficulties was just beginning, BUT He didn’t let Himself get caught up in details of this world. He had His focus on the Glory that awaits us all in Heaven with His Heavenly Father…OUR HEAVENLY FATHER!!!

So this week, I’m praying that we will not focus on the tragedies and hardships of this world, but that we will keep our eyes on the One that has defeated our tragedies and hardships!!!
And may He bless and protect us and our families with His Protective Hands!!

And pray for your chaplain, because he’s human just like everyone else…
Much love to you all!

Serving You For Him,
Chaplain Jason

05/17/2026

SUNDAY CHAPLAIN’S CHAT
5/17/2026
“More Than A Piece Of Paper”

2 Timothy 2:15
“Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.”

It’s that time of the year…many students will be getting their diplomas and will be recognized for their accomplishments. It’s a definitely a huge milestone for them and their families.

In emergency services, we also work hard to get all of our certifications. Sometimes, the list can seem to never end as we advance in our careers.

Like the seniors’ diplomas, our certifications are what opens the doors for us to advance.

But in our quest for advancement, we need to be careful not to become so focused on getting certs that we forget about honing the skills. Just because we hold a piece of paper, we must work to master the skills attached to those papers.

Our verse today was to a young man being encouraged to keep studying to show himself approved as a worker of God; who is knowledgeable enough to break down and explain the scriptures.

Following this model of learning, we should know our skills beyond our certifications, because after all, they are just papers.

This week, I am praying for our training and the opportunities for us to show ourselves approved…as servants to God as well as to our communities! And may He bless us and our families with His protection and safety!

Serving You For Him,
Chaplain Jason

05/01/2026

04/27/2026

ATTENTION SAWMILLS:

On Thursday April 30th, a Memorial Service for Chief Keith Owens will be held at Mount Zion Baptist Church. Between the time of 1:00pm to 5:00pm you may see an increase of emergency vehicles in the area. Minor traffic delays may occur.

Helena Street across from Mount Zion will be utilized for fire apparatus parking along the cemetery. (Cemetery side only) vehicles can enter Helena Street from Cajah’s Mtn. Road, but will not be able to exit. Jay Street will remain completely open for traffic flow.

If you have any questions, please call Town Hall at 828-396-7903.

03/29/2026

SUNDAY CHAPLAIN'S CHAT
3/29/2026
"Evaluation"

2 Corinthians 13:5
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?"

Yesterday, I completed my six month probation period as an Apparatus Operator. In which, my captain was required to complete a written evaluation of my performance. This evaluation is to ensure that I am making sufficient progress in my new position as a driver.

We all tend to have some kind of way to measure progress or ensure we meet a certain standard. Even when I worked in the school system, we had yearly evaluations.

I guess evaluations have never really concerned me. Honestly, I am usually my greatest critic, so I generally appreciate the feedback from my superiors.

My time as a teacher taught me to self-evaluate on a daily basis... sometimes on an hourly basis. I'm definitely not one to keep beating a dead horse, so if something isn't working, I'm all for a new strategy.

This process and today's verse put me in mind of our spiritual walks as well. I had a Sunday School teacher challenge us one Sunday; he said, "if you are the same Christian you were a year ago, then you're not growing."
Really, that can apply to so many things... Firefighter, Patrol Officer, Driver, Detention Officer, Captain, Detective, Paramedic, Bailiff, Resource Officer, Chief. But let's take it a step further... Husband/Wife, Parent, or Human Being. But the biggest in my eyes... God's Servant. WOW, I don't know about you, but a couple of them got real personal with me.

This week, I pray that God will help us to find time to stop and evaluate ourselves to see if we are progressing in the only standard that really matters...the One set by Jesus. He should be the stick that everything we do is measured by...then all the other evaluations will come easy.
May our Heavenly Father also bless us all and our families with His Protection.

Serving You For Him,
Chaplain Jason

02/08/2026

SUNDAY CHAPLAIN'S CHAT
2/8/2026
"Man's Corruption"

1 John 2:16
"For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life is not from the Father but is from the world."

Galatians 6:8
"For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life."

Hopefully, our snowy winterland is coming to an end. I think most folks are ready to move on, but before we do, let's obtain one last lesson from our icy classroom.

Think about the snow when it first began to fall...it was so white and pristine in its first arrival. There is such a clean feeling watching it fall on the world about us.
Do you have that image in your head? Now look around to see what remains...the dirty looking mess that we find piled up all around us.
So what happened to it between the clean whiteness and the nasty remains??

Us...we happened! In our efforts to manage and remove it, we add the grime and the filthiness. Don't believe me...go into the woods and nature, where no one has interfered, and you will find snow melting away just as white as when it fell. Yes, our good efforts tend to make the mess.

Guess what?? It's not just with the snow. The same is true in life! Looking back in Genesis, it was the actions and decisions of people that caused the ugliness and brokenness to enter into our world. Even in today's times, the more that we, as humans, get involved, the more complicated things get. We try to make rules to clean up the world's messes, but when in actuality, we need to clean up our actions and seek God and His ways. Because you cannot regulate morality.

Now, in emergency services, we deal with a lot of this ugliness and brokenness within the world...we often are called upon to help deal with and pick up the pieces in these situations, so it is important that we approach every call with a godly mindset to leave people better than we found them. For us to complete this calling, we must first work diligently to prevent the grime of this world from entering into our hearts and lives.

So today, I pray for us to evaluate ourselves and ask God to clean up the grimy areas in our own lives, so we can better reflect what...WHO...is really needed to clean up this world.
And may He bless you and your family with safety and His protection!

Serving You For Him,
Chaplain Jason

01/29/2026