Here’s a little background information on myself. I grew up in South Texas (Raymondville, to be exact) in a Christian home, the fifth out of eight children. My father had been a minister and missionary, and was (and is) a very spiritual man. Even so, I didn’t become a Christian until my senior year of high school. I went to church every Sunday for all those years, and still didn’t have a clue who Jesus was, and what being a Christian was all about. I thought church was hopelessly boring, irrelevant, and hypocritical. I began reading a lot of philosophy, especially George Bernard Shaw. He was a Socialist/Atheist playwright of the 19th Century. I was very influenced by his thought, and began to formally reject Christianity.
I remember arguing with my father after hearing a hymn with the words There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel’s veins, “How can the death of a man 2000 years ago have anything to do with me? It’s just that. A tragic crucifixion by the Roman Army like countless others. Why does God demand the bloody death of his Son? ‘Fountains of blood’ seems so pointless and gory.” But I went through a period of depression my senior year, and in that dark time I began to realize that I was in need of the very grace of God at which I had scoffed.
I heard a presentation in the Spring of 1980 (the year I graduated from high school) about the historical evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. I was impressed someone could argue with such persuasion about a faith-event like the resurrection of Jesus. The next day I went out in the woods by myself, I sat down on a rock, and told God I was sorry for my sins and I wanted to be a Christian. I felt an incredible wave of peace and joy come over me. It was as if a fountain of fresh water (or a fountain of blood!) washed my soul clean from the sludge of sin and guilt. I knew in my heart I was changed forever. I literally felt God come into my life. My friends at school, even without my saying a word, would say, “Joel, what got into you?” I couldn’t help but tell my friends about Christ because I was so excited. I knew immediately that I wanted to serve God with my whole life.
I went into a missions group for youth called “Youth With A Mission” or YWAM for short. There I experienced what some call ‘the baptism of the Holy Spirit,’ and my life with God went a whole lot deeper. I experienced more than forgiveness of sin, but love for God for God's sake. I couldn’t believe that the religion of my parents could be so interesting and life-affirming, because I had rejected it so thoroughly before.
I’ve served several churches as pastor. In college, I was the pastor of Faith Community Church of Maple Plains, Minnesota while I was a student at Crown College. During my four years at Asbury, I was a minister of Music at Broadway Baptist Church in Lexington, KY (1991-1995). From 1995-1997, I was a teaching fellow of biblical languages at Asbury Theological Seminary. From 1997-2001, I was the pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church of Augusta Kentucky part-time while I completed my coursework at Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati. I am presently completing a Ph.D. in the History of Biblical Interpretation, also at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. If you have any questions about me or Barbourville First UMC, or the Methodist church in general, email me at jallen@barbourvillefumc.org.
