We rarely expect God to interrupt our routine.
But sometimes He shows up on an ordinary day,
and nothing is ever the same again.
Ordinary Days
By Armon Jorden
Almost 20 years ago, I woke up to just another normal morning. I was working as an installer for a satellite television company. I arrived at work, picked up my orders, loaded my van, and set out to complete the day’s assignments. Little did I know my next stop would change my life forever. I greeted the homeowner who opened the door and said, “Hello, my name is Armon, and I’m here to install your satellite television.”
The man at the door was a pastor named Chad Kivette, who had just moved to Colorado to start a church. After a short introduction, he asked, “Where do you go to church?”
“I don’t,” I replied.
For the next few hours, the man followed me from room to room, showing me where he wanted his televisions and asking questions like: “Why don’t you go to church?” “Do you know who Jesus is?” and “Have you ever been to church?”
Honestly, I was annoyed. I just wanted to do my job and go on to the next house. Today, I understand the tremendous love Chad showed for me, but in that moment, I just wanted to get away from him! Finally, I explained that my experience with Christians had led me to believe they were all hypocrites, and I didn’t want to be around them.
He replied simply, “Well, you can be with the hypocrites in church, or you can be with them in Hell.”
I didn’t know it then, but what I’ve come to realize is that I had based my relationship with God not on who God was, but on those who had expressed faith in Him. I saw imperfect people claiming to follow a perfect God and failing miserably. What else did I expect?
I went home that night and told my brother about my interaction with the pastor. My brother had recently begun getting serious about his own faith and had been urging me to go to church. So, we made the decision to attend a service together. I’m not sure what I expected, but it was far more than I ever imagined. Even now, as I write this, I am flooded with the same emotions I felt that day. I was breaking, or maybe I was just realizing I already had been broken.
When Pastor Chad spoke, everyone else faded into the background. I remember sitting there, hearing the gospel for the first time, and being overwhelmed because this man seemed to know all the secrets about me I didn’t want anyone else to know. For the next three Sundays, I listened as Chad shared about who I was and what God had done for me. Then, humbled by the Holy Spirit, I walked into his office on a Wednesday night and said, “I need to give my life to Jesus.”
Chad immediately began spending time with me, becoming my mentor and my best friend, pushing me to be faithful, giving me opportunities to grow, and correcting me when I fought against all of it. Looking back, I wish I had been more submissive to his leadership. I fought hard at times because my flesh and my pride were being challenged to submit to God’s will. As silly as this sounds, I remember getting into a yelling match on the phone where I exclaimed, “Dude, you’re not my dad!”
I’ve hung up on him, yelled at him, cursed at him, and believe it or not, even unfriended him on Facebook. (Yes, we’ve reconciled!) Through it all, Chad never stopped loving me and guiding me. He has, though imperfectly, loved me and shown me what it means to love others like Jesus. Most of all, Chad demonstrated the difference you can make in people’s eternal lives. His sacrifice and his family’s sacrifice brought me to the Lord. Along with many others, they gave up the comfort of home and family so I could have the opportunity to hear the gospel.
Since that first day at his house, my wife, my daughter, my son, my mom, and my dad have all become believers or turned back to God and have been baptized. The sacrifice of the Kivette family made an eternal difference in generations of my own family…and not just mine. Countless others have had similar, life-changing encounters.
Watching him, my love for sharing the gospel has grown. Chad’s desire to see people come to know God’s love has kindled in me a need to live for the same outcome. Maybe it’s the difference I see in my own life? In the life my kids now live? Whatever the reason, I know this: if I do anything less, I will have wasted my life.
I have since answered the call to pastor. My wife and I, along with two other couples, are moving to Hawaii to start a church, where many people are far from God. We want to make the same difference in people’s lives. We want to love them, share the gospel, disciple them, and send them out to start more churches. We want generations to be changed. We want God to have the relationship He desires with His people.
In 1 Timothy 2:3-4, Paul made it clear God desires all people to be saved. His heart longs for the salvation of His creation. And He uses us, His followers, to spread that message. I wish I could say I perfectly live out the example Chad has shown me, but I don’t. I wish I could say I perfectly obey God in everything He commands, but I don’t. I wish I could say I wasn’t the hypocrite I once accused others of being, but sometimes I am.
But I can say this: God will use people like me — and people like you — to reach those who need Him. We simply must open our eyes to the opportunity. Maybe someone else’s “ordinary day” will become life-changing because we said yes to God’s call.
About the Writer: Armon Jorden and his wife Yvette are lead church planters at Ho’omana Church, a Free Will Baptist Fellowship in Hilo, Hawaii. Armon was saved through the ministry of a North American Ministries church plant in Grand Junction, Colorado, and he is one of the first “second-generation” North American Ministries planters. The Jordens and their team are passionate about sharing the gospel and discipling the lost.
