69. "Am I That Hard to Love?" with Jerome Gay

Have you ever searched for your love and worth in all the wrong places? Pastor Jerome Gay will be the first one to tell you he has. But it was his father—the person who should have been helping him define these things—not being able to provide what he needed that led Jerome to search for anything to help him earn it. Through twists and turns, Jerome finally found the One who freely loves him—and all of us—with no strings or conditions. And that love has been the fuel for his mission to train up others to grow, teach, and preach the truth of the gospel that makes each one of us…whole.

Guest Bio:

Pastor Jerome Gay Jr. was raised in Southeast Washington, DC before moving to Raleigh, NC in 1997 to attend Saint Augustine’s College—graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications. While there he founded a campus-wide ministry that emphasized the gospel and biblical orthodoxy in the urban context, resulting in the decision of many students to profess Christ as Savior. 

Upon graduating, Jerome served as an elder for several years. After fervent prayer, he was led to plant Vision Church in Raleigh, North Carolina in October of 2010. As the Lead Pastor of Teaching and Vision, Vision Church has grown by God’s grace and is impacting the inner city by missionally engaging people with the gospel of Jesus Christ through discipleship, leadership development, service, and holistic empowerment. Jerome has a vision to see gospel-centered churches and leaders raised within the urban context and sent out to plant other gospel-centered churches. 

Jerome is also the Founder and President of The Urban Perspective and the author of four books, Church Hurt: Holding the Church Accountable and Helping Hurt People Heal, Talking to Your Children About Race, The Whitewashing of Christianity: A Hidden Past, a Hurtful Present and a Hopeful Future and Renewal: Grace and Redemption in the Story. 

Jerome is also a lead contributor to The Whole Man Project, a book and video series provided by VOICES from Our Daily Bread Ministries. You can learn more about The Whole Man Project—and preorder the book—here!

Jerome is the proud husband to his wife Crystal and father of two.

Notes & Quotes:

• “Uncertainty is what makes you walk by faith and not by sight.”
• “I believe you most aptly understand God's will in hindsight. He knows the end from the beginning. We don't. We're living it.”
•  “My contention for the church is we're saying that there's one way, which I concur, that there's one God, I concur, and that there's one book. Again, I concur. We're saying that that's just one for 8 billion people. If we're going to make that claim, and we are, we need to be able to defend it. We should not make that claim that there's one book for 8 billion people and not be able to answer questions.”
• “We must stop giving faith-based answers to fact-based questions.”
• “We want to come back to that gospel foundation so that we can have men that are mentally, emotionally, and relationally well and whole.”

Links Mentioned:

• FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
• Learn more about Jerome’s involvement in the upcoming The Whole Man project, provided by VOICES from Our Daily Bread Ministries.
• You can order any of Jerome’s books, Church Hurt, Talking to Your Children About Race, The Whitewashing of Christianity, and Renewal using these links. 
• Check out Jerome’s work with The Urban Perspective and listen to the podcast on your preferred streaming platform. 
• Jerome’s Instagram
• Visit the VOICES website to sign up for emails. Get new episodes sent straight to your email. 
• Tell us how much you love Where Ya From? by rating us five stars and leaving us a review. 
• Check out VOICES from Our Daily Bread Ministries
• Follow VOICES on Instagram.

Verses Mentioned:

• Psalm 77
• 1 Corinthians 7:32
• Jude 1:20
• Ephesians 6:17
• Hebrews 4:12 
• Genesis 2:18
• Matthew 5:13-16
• Mark 1:15

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices