My Top Ten Passions In Life...The Core of Who I am & Why I do what I do

I want to share with you the things that I am passionate about, those things that describe who I am, these things are really what I am all about. They are not only my passions, they are also my priorities. I will sacrifice and pursue these passions.

1. My Savior, My Lord, My King, My God, Jesus Christ - I am a facedown worshipper of the One True Living God...My relationship with Jesus is at the center of my life...He is what motivates my actions, my thoughts, my desires, and my dreams. I love God through His Son Jesus so intimately, I would have an absolute void and vacuum in my life without Him. He has saved me from a life of destruction.

The greatest way to live is the way that Jesus lived. This is why I am a committed Christ-follower and a passionate facedown worshipper.

Personal Core Statement #1: Loving God with ALL my heart, ALL my mind, and ALL my soul.

2. My Wife - I am willing to sacrifice and give up my life for Lora just the way Christ gave His life up for the Church. I love her so much. I am thankful for everyday that God allows me to be with the most wonderful, the smartest, the most beautiful, the most tender hearted, the kindest, the most giving woman on her. I can go on and on.

I would never want to do anything to ever hurt my wife. She is my friend; partner; someday mother of my children; and lover. I am so blessed to have her in my life for the past 14 years, with many more to come.

Personal Core Statement #2: Loving and giving myself completely, just as Christ loved and gave himself up for the church.

3. Children/"kids"/dogs - First of all, I know we don't have children, yet. Hopefully soon. I am looking forward to the blessing(s) that God will eventually give us. I am looking forward to loving these children and spending time with them.

I am planning to leave behind a spiritual legacy for my children.

Lora and I have many spiritual "kids" out there that we think of as our own. We love them all so dearly and are so thankful for the opportunity to pour into their lives to influence and to inspire them to be Christ-followers. Many of them are committed to serving the Lord and are leaders within their church. We love our "kids' so much and are so glad that they are in our lives.

It is our desire to be a godly examples to those God has placed in our lives. We value our "kids".

Our dogs, Pebbles (Baby Girl) and Bam Bam (Little Man), are like children to us right now. We love our dogs. They are the sweetest and cutest little kids. Lora and I really enjoy our dogs. We are so glad they are a part of our lives.

Personal Core Statement #3: Leaving behind a spiritual legacy and heritage for the next generation.

4. Family - It has been said, "You could choose your friends but not your family". I am thankful for my family and my extended family. Family over time as become more and more important to me. I wasn't always much of a family person, but as I get older and little wiser I am becoming more of a family guy.

My family is very valuable and important to me...God thank you for placing these people in my life.

Personal Core Statement #4: Be a blessing to my family through honoring them.

5. Friends - Great friends don't always tell you what you want to hear, they tell you what you need hear. I have many people I call friends. I have very few I call close friends. My closest friends are of course Lora; the there are Mike and Sonja Colon; and Bill and Elizabeth Fields. I am a very loyal friend. Great friends walk with you through the good and the tough/bad times. To me a great friend holds you accountable and has your back. I love every relationship I have built with individuals and couples (Lora and I) in my journey.

Every friendship has helped form who I am today. I am blessed to have wonderful friends.

Personal Core Statement #5: Cultivate and nurture friendships through accountability and authenticity.

6. Influencers/Mentors - Those people I have allowed to invest, to teach, to train;, and to form my life. I have had closer mentors and influencers in my life, I also have people I have allowed to influence me from a distance. These influencers and mentors have had such a profound and significant influence on my life and ministry. I have learned so much from these people.

Here are just a few of some of my influencers and mentors I have allowed to invest in my life. Mike Colon (former Youth Pastor, accountability partner, great friend and brother); Tim Cerce (my former Senior Pastor); Mike Buckley (current senior Pastor); Mark Batterson (Senior Pastor of National Community Church, I have learned a lot from him from a distance); Dr. H. Robert Rhoden (former District Superintendant, great leader)

My influencers and mentors have inspired me so much that I have this strong desire to influence and mentor others.

Personal Core Statement #6: Allowing others to invest wisdom, knowledge, and experience into my life.

7. The Community of faith/The Church - The church is about people not an organization or a building. I love the community of faith that God has place me in. The people that I live out my faith with are like another family. The community of faith is a source of unconditional love, support, encouragement, and inspiration as we grow together in our faith and understanding of the awesome God we serve.

The church needs to get back to the Acts 2:42-45 model, we must devoted studying God's Word, meeting together regularly, to eating together, to praying for and with one another. The church actually enjoyed being with together.

Personal Core Statement #7: It is my desire to be involved in the life of those within the community of faith.

8. My Community, the Unchurched, the Dechurched and those who aren't Christ-followers- I have a strong desire to reach people. I have a heart to reach the community that the Lord has placed me. I also have a desire to reach teens and twenty-somethings. I take advantage of every opportunity that I have to influence and inspire with my life those outside of the community of faith. I want to be known to those within the community as someone who actions matches his words. I want to live out my faith as a Christ-follower with character and integrity. If I don't have those two things my faith is worthless.

It is important to me have authentic relationships with those that outside the community of faith, as well understanding the culture around me so I may serve people better.

Personal Core Statement #8: Influencing those who are away from Christ to become committed Christ-followers.

9. Education/Learning - I love to learn. I am an experiential learner. I also read alot. I look at every opportunity and every experience as learning and growth opportunity for my life and ministry. It is my goal to read one book a week. I also make it a point to read magazines outside of ministry i.e. Wired; attend conferences i.e Buzz Conference; read blogs i.e. Leadership blog; and learn from those who are more experienced.

I am passionate about being a lifelong learner.

Personal Core Statement #9: Continue to learn so I can grow spiritually and intellectually so I may find favor with God and man.

10. Creativity - Our God is a creative God. He placed that creativity inside of each one of us. I approach everything I do with a creative curve. I get tired and bored with the simple and the mundane. I like to living things up and be creative in all that I do. Whenever I look at something, I look at how I can make it better through being creative. I am creative in my cooking, ministry, in workouts, I am creative in everything I do. I am a very creative person.

As Christ-followers, I believe we should be the most creative people on this planet.

Personal Core Statement #10: Be creative in all that I do in life and ministry.

Everything I do in life flows from these passions in my life...these things are at my core. Those who know me best will say these things best describe who I am.

The one thing I want said about me when I am gone, the one thing I want remembered about me is this..."Chris Jarrell lived with passion".