Hi, my name
is James Lassiter. Those who have known me for any
length of time know me by my nickname, Jimbo. I am a Police
Officer in Springfield, TN. I have been a Police Officer in one way
or another for about 13 years. I was in the Navy for 9 years and
Honorably Discharged in 1999. I was hired by the City of
Springfield one week later. I am currently the Police Department
Chaplain and was ordained to the position in 2005. Prior to being
made the chaplain I was on the SWAT team for 5 years, and on the
Bike Patrol in the high crime government housing areas. I am now a Patrol Officer and a Small Arms Instructor. I know that I don't seem to fit the mold of what many people may think missionaries are made of. I don't profess to be some great missionary. I don't profess to have any special qualifications that make me an obvious choice to be a missionary. The way I came to be a missionary is very simple. I dedicated my life to serve God when I got saved. Since I didn't get saved until I was a grown man, I realized that I had spent most of my life serving the devil or myself and not the One who died for me. So after dedicating my life to serve God I began to study His Word and started preparing myself to be used by Him. My church and my pastor has played a very important part in preparing for a future in the ministry. I really cannot tell you how much my church and my pastor has done for me. My church is very different from most. I encourage you check out my churches web page. You can find it on our "Home Church" page. I am enrolled in the Charity Baptist Bible Institute (CBBI). Even though my church has fed me with the Truth and I am enrolled in one of the top Bible Institutes in the country I still don't know everything and don't expect I ever will. I have a love for God and I just want to do something for Him and to further His kingdom.
length of time know me by my nickname, Jimbo. I am a Police
Officer in Springfield, TN. I have been a Police Officer in one way
or another for about 13 years. I was in the Navy for 9 years and
Honorably Discharged in 1999. I was hired by the City of
Springfield one week later. I am currently the Police Department
Chaplain and was ordained to the position in 2005. Prior to being
made the chaplain I was on the SWAT team for 5 years, and on the
Bike Patrol in the high crime government housing areas. I am now a Patrol Officer and a Small Arms Instructor. I know that I don't seem to fit the mold of what many people may think missionaries are made of. I don't profess to be some great missionary. I don't profess to have any special qualifications that make me an obvious choice to be a missionary. The way I came to be a missionary is very simple. I dedicated my life to serve God when I got saved. Since I didn't get saved until I was a grown man, I realized that I had spent most of my life serving the devil or myself and not the One who died for me. So after dedicating my life to serve God I began to study His Word and started preparing myself to be used by Him. My church and my pastor has played a very important part in preparing for a future in the ministry. I really cannot tell you how much my church and my pastor has done for me. My church is very different from most. I encourage you check out my churches web page. You can find it on our "Home Church" page. I am enrolled in the Charity Baptist Bible Institute (CBBI). Even though my church has fed me with the Truth and I am enrolled in one of the top Bible Institutes in the country I still don't know everything and don't expect I ever will. I have a love for God and I just want to do something for Him and to further His kingdom.
Sandra’s testimony…
I was blessed by God to be brought up in a Christian home. My
father is a preacher and I was in church from the time I was born.
A few months before I turned five, I became convicted of my sins.
I remember sitting on my mother’s lap crying because I knew I was
a sinner and going to hell. My mother tenderly explained once more
how Jesus had died on the cross to pay for my sins, and that if I
repented and trusted Him to save me, and Him alone--He would. I
prayed then and there and asked the Lord to forgive me of my sins and save me. I don’t remember the exact words I used, but I meant them with all my heart and knew-even at that young age-that He had taken away my sins. I was so excited that He had saved me and couldn’t wait to tell everyone I knew so they could be saved and go to Heaven, too.
The Lord used my mother to teach me the role I am to fulfill on the mission field with my husband. My mother demonstrated the importance of keeping the home in order so that it was constantly a place of refuge for my father. She made it possible for my father to focus his attention on the ministry and the work God had called him to do. She demonstrated how to be a helpmeet by encouraging my father to be steadfast in the work of the Lord when he became discouraged at times. She was always available to him to fill whatever need he had whether at home or “in the field”. She gave us kids the blessing of homeschooling which I am now able to pass on to my own children. Being a wife and mother myself now, I strive to meet the standards that God showed me through my mother.
I was blessed by God to be brought up in a Christian home. My
father is a preacher and I was in church from the time I was born.
A few months before I turned five, I became convicted of my sins.
I remember sitting on my mother’s lap crying because I knew I was
a sinner and going to hell. My mother tenderly explained once more
how Jesus had died on the cross to pay for my sins, and that if I
repented and trusted Him to save me, and Him alone--He would. I
prayed then and there and asked the Lord to forgive me of my sins and save me. I don’t remember the exact words I used, but I meant them with all my heart and knew-even at that young age-that He had taken away my sins. I was so excited that He had saved me and couldn’t wait to tell everyone I knew so they could be saved and go to Heaven, too.
The Lord used my mother to teach me the role I am to fulfill on the mission field with my husband. My mother demonstrated the importance of keeping the home in order so that it was constantly a place of refuge for my father. She made it possible for my father to focus his attention on the ministry and the work God had called him to do. She demonstrated how to be a helpmeet by encouraging my father to be steadfast in the work of the Lord when he became discouraged at times. She was always available to him to fill whatever need he had whether at home or “in the field”. She gave us kids the blessing of homeschooling which I am now able to pass on to my own children. Being a wife and mother myself now, I strive to meet the standards that God showed me through my mother.
My Testimony
I said a sinner’s prayer in children’s church when I was eight years old. I did it because other kids were doing it and not because God had convicted of my sin. I was made to go to church as most kids were, but when I became an adult I dropped out of church completely and enjoyed the pleasures of sin for a season (Heb. 11:25). I tried just about everything the world offered me to make me happy, but everything it offered failed (Pro. 14:12). Realizing that I was not finding happiness in the world, I began to suffer from depression. I believed all the TV commercials and TV shows, but the things they did for happiness failed to bring me happiness. As a result I resigned to the fact that I would never be truly happy. A co-worker invited me to church with him one day, so with nothing to lose I went. I heard Pastor Paul Iannello speak about the difference in having a “head knowledge” of salvation and a “heart knowledge”. He explained that it is possible to know the facts of salvation in your head and not have salvation in your heart. That really hit home with me and I began to question my salvation. That night at home the Holy Spirit began convicting me of my sin and caused me to realize that I was responsible for my own failures. He caused me to realize that I had a “head knowledge” of salvation, but not “heart knowledge”. He revealed to me that the world would always leave me empty handed and eventually in hell. He also showed me that I had trusted in “the prayer” to get me to heaven, and not in what Christ accomplished on the cross. I immediately fell on my face heart broken and asked God to forgive me of my sin and come into my heart and save me. I asked God to take control of my life and to direct my efforts from that day forward to bring Him honor and glory.
I said a sinner’s prayer in children’s church when I was eight years old. I did it because other kids were doing it and not because God had convicted of my sin. I was made to go to church as most kids were, but when I became an adult I dropped out of church completely and enjoyed the pleasures of sin for a season (Heb. 11:25). I tried just about everything the world offered me to make me happy, but everything it offered failed (Pro. 14:12). Realizing that I was not finding happiness in the world, I began to suffer from depression. I believed all the TV commercials and TV shows, but the things they did for happiness failed to bring me happiness. As a result I resigned to the fact that I would never be truly happy. A co-worker invited me to church with him one day, so with nothing to lose I went. I heard Pastor Paul Iannello speak about the difference in having a “head knowledge” of salvation and a “heart knowledge”. He explained that it is possible to know the facts of salvation in your head and not have salvation in your heart. That really hit home with me and I began to question my salvation. That night at home the Holy Spirit began convicting me of my sin and caused me to realize that I was responsible for my own failures. He caused me to realize that I had a “head knowledge” of salvation, but not “heart knowledge”. He revealed to me that the world would always leave me empty handed and eventually in hell. He also showed me that I had trusted in “the prayer” to get me to heaven, and not in what Christ accomplished on the cross. I immediately fell on my face heart broken and asked God to forgive me of my sin and come into my heart and save me. I asked God to take control of my life and to direct my efforts from that day forward to bring Him honor and glory.
Calling and Preparation
I attended a Revival/Camp Meeting at my church one week and heard a message preached on John 6, the feeding of the five thousand. The message was titled “The What and The How”. God had been dealing with my heart about surrendering my life to full time Christian service, but I didn’t see how God could use me, so I struggled against God’s provoking. I thought God could only use “perfect Christians” to complete His perfect work. Everybody always thinks that the point of the sermon is for someone else. The preacher said that we were to be concerned with what God has called us to do, not with how He would bring it about. God continued to deal with my heart, so I went forward during the invitation and surrendered to full time Christian service.
A few months later I went to my pastor and told him that I had surrendered to full time Christian service and I wanted his help and guidance in preparing for the ministry. I shared with him that I felt God’s desire for me was to be a missionary in Sicily. He gave me counsel and told me to start in the “mission field” where we lived. He put me over of the Mission’s Program at the church and when he saw I was faithful with that, he then put me over Men’s Visitation. I then started a ministry at our local Veterans Hospital, and started “door to door” soul winning in our local government housing projects. I enrolled in Charity Baptist Bible Institute to further my knowledge of God’s Word. I was also given the position of Police Chaplain at the police department where I worked. At this point I began to question if Sicily was God’s will for me or my will. So I forgot about Sicily and focused on the local ministries I had become involved in through my local church. As time passed, God brought Sicily back to me again and I went to my pastor and told him that God was dealing with my heart again about Sicily. This was the confirmation I needed and pastor gave his blessing to start deputation.
I attended a Revival/Camp Meeting at my church one week and heard a message preached on John 6, the feeding of the five thousand. The message was titled “The What and The How”. God had been dealing with my heart about surrendering my life to full time Christian service, but I didn’t see how God could use me, so I struggled against God’s provoking. I thought God could only use “perfect Christians” to complete His perfect work. Everybody always thinks that the point of the sermon is for someone else. The preacher said that we were to be concerned with what God has called us to do, not with how He would bring it about. God continued to deal with my heart, so I went forward during the invitation and surrendered to full time Christian service.
A few months later I went to my pastor and told him that I had surrendered to full time Christian service and I wanted his help and guidance in preparing for the ministry. I shared with him that I felt God’s desire for me was to be a missionary in Sicily. He gave me counsel and told me to start in the “mission field” where we lived. He put me over of the Mission’s Program at the church and when he saw I was faithful with that, he then put me over Men’s Visitation. I then started a ministry at our local Veterans Hospital, and started “door to door” soul winning in our local government housing projects. I enrolled in Charity Baptist Bible Institute to further my knowledge of God’s Word. I was also given the position of Police Chaplain at the police department where I worked. At this point I began to question if Sicily was God’s will for me or my will. So I forgot about Sicily and focused on the local ministries I had become involved in through my local church. As time passed, God brought Sicily back to me again and I went to my pastor and told him that God was dealing with my heart again about Sicily. This was the confirmation I needed and pastor gave his blessing to start deputation.
'God isn't looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him.' - Hudson Taylor
