But, Jason says, when a person tells God he can’t do something, it’s like a dare He can’t resist. God began to put Jason in situations where he had to speak and sing in front of a crowd, and now Jason tours full time to churches and youth camps.

“I learned early on that He doesn’t call us and use us in spite of our weaknesses, but I believe that He uses us—calls us—maybe exactly because of our weaknesses,” he says. “He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and what’s more foolish than a guy with a speech handicap having a career where he’s always on the mike communicating with people? It’s either stupid on my part, or it’s the Lord, or it could be a little bit of both.”

Keep reading to learn more about Jason’s ministry and latest album, All the Lovely Losers.

How did you choose the title All the Lovely Losers?
Part of it is I love paradox, and I think that’s the best way of understanding who God is and who we are, too. The idea behind it was based on the Beatitudes. I wrote a song called “Blessed Be,” which is a little exploration of what the Beatitudes mean to me.

I was grateful to read in the Beatitudes where Jesus seems to be describing exactly the kind of person that He finds to be commendable when He says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit and the meek and those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,” perhaps because they don’t have anything of their own to fall back on. It’s not a list of winners that He’s describing here. It seems to me that He’s saying, “Blessed are the losers.”

I’m grateful for that, because that means that there’s room for me in God’s Kingdom, so that’s what a lot of what the album is about.

How is this album musically alike or different from your previous albums?
I’m a singer/songwriter, and I’ve always loved lyrical artists. Usually if you want great lyrics, you look to folk artists, so I think a lot of my work has that folk heart to it. But we wanted to make an album that had a broader appeal, so this album we consciously tried to make a pop/rock record and have great big hooks and have it be fun and that kind of thing. It’s a more intentionally pop/rock record.

Did you consider or try any other careers beside music?
I knew since I was a little boy that I’d be doing music and not because I had any dreams of glory or anything like that. I grew up on the road with my mom’s bar band, so I was always around that. When she became a believer, we went from singing in the bars to tent meetings. When I sing I don’t stutter, so music is kind of like the Aaron to my Moses. It’s the one way that I’m able to communicate fluently.

I was a youth pastor for a number of years, and I speak at camps and stuff. Youth, in particular, connect with me because this sense of being on the outside looking in and growing up unable to be cool. I’m kind of an unconventional youth speaker, because I have a speech handicap, but what I’ve discovered is that my speech handicap actually makes me a safe place for others to be themselves. I think our strengths are mostly only good for impressing people, which I think is really only good for scaring people or making them insecure about themselves.

You’ve said before that, “I’d rather be real than impressive.” But being in the entertainment industry, have you had times when people brushed you off because of your speech handicap?
Yeah, but that just means I don’t have anything to offer to that person. They aren’t open to receiving what God would pour through my weakness.

With most people I meet, that’s not the case. But there have been incidents, such as a couple of TV programs that didn’t want to have me on because of my speech handicap.

I think any examples I’ve experienced being rejected because of that have been because we live in a culture where understanding weaknesses as an asset is scandalous. It’s hard for people. That’s what the Gospel is built on. Jesus came, and He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey instead of a blazing white stallion. Most people I meet when I share my story are so relieved and so grateful to hear it.

How did you become a Christian?
[My mom] became a believer when I was in the fourth grade after a really ugly divorce and custody battle . Over the years she modeled Christlike love and never pressured me or preached to me but always nurtured faith in me. So I was always aware of God’s presence in my life even since I was a little boy, even though I didn’t grow up in a Christian home.

In high school I didn’t surrender to Him immediately, because I didn’t want to stop making out with my girlfriend. But when I was 16 years old, I gave my heart to Him.

Shortly after that, I remember I was coming home from school, and I was crying out to God because my heart was broken because my girlfriend had just broken up with me. When you’re 16, that’s a huge deal. And things at home were difficult, which meant things at school were also difficult. Then it occurred to me, “Who does God go to when His heart is broken?”

In this grand moment of naiveté perhaps, I said, “Lord, I want You to know that if You ever need to talk to somebody, I’m Your guy. You can cry on my shoulder if You need to.” It’s a little hokey; it’s a little cheesy, I know, but I believe that God honored that, and I believe in that moment He began to break my heart with the things that break His heart.

Is your work with World Vision part of that?
It’s a huge part of that. It’s interesting, too, because that organization began when the man who started it prayed, “Lord, let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.”

We’ve been to Africa with [World Vision] twice, and the work I do with World Vision is probably the main reason why I do what I do.

Is your partnership specifically for child sponsorships?
Absolutely. I came on board with them at a time when I was looking at Christianity and the way that I had lived it, and I knew that there had to be something more. Then I read in James 1:27 where it says, “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” That was what I needed at that moment. I needed understanding of what the truest part of our faith is and was grateful to discover the joy that comes from the poorest of the poor.

When a teenager says, “I can’t afford to sponsor a child,” what’s your response to them?
Well, I’m a musician, and I’m in the ministry. Those two things combined spell certain financial ruin. When we first started sponsoring, I knew that we couldn’t afford it. We were reading in the Word where it says, “He who gives to the poor will lack nothing” [Proverbs 28:27]. So the first time we sponsored, I thought, OK, Lord. I don’t think we can afford this, but I believe Your Word. I think you’re moving in my heart, so I’m going to step up, and I’m going to do this. Now we sponsor five kids.

You and your wife sponsor five children?
Yeah. Regardless of the age, what I try to communicate to my audience is that if you feel God working or stirring or doing something in your heart, you have to respond to that. Then just watch how He works out the details.

That ties to what you said about our weaknesses. If your weakness is that you don’t have much money, give your weakness to God and let Him work through it.
I remember about three years ago I did a concert in Iowa, and it was a well-to-do church. I pushed them hard about how you can do this, and it’s our responsibility as believers.

Afterward, a woman came to my table, and she was in unkempt clothes, and she wasn’t very clean. It was clear that she didn’t have a lot of money. She expressed to me that she was broke, but she felt like God was asking her to do this, but she didn’t know how to do it. I almost wanted to stop her, because when I told my audience that the Bible says, “He who gives to the poor lacks nothing,” I wanted to tell her, “I didn’t mean you. I meant the other wealthy people who were there who needed to give.”

But when she sponsored [a child] anyway, I felt terrified that my words would have consequences. I thought, Man, if she tries this and it doesn’t work out, is that going to hurt her faith because she stepped out? After that moment I really eased back in my appeals. I became wishy-washy.

A year later I was back in Iowa again, and I was worried that she was going to be there. Then I was playing, and I saw her walk in, and I thought, Oh, no!

Afterward, she came to me and said, “Hey, Jason, I want you to know, I’m still doing it. God’s met the need every month.” And that was so moving to me. I was convicted, too, because God’s Word is God’s Word. He’s going to be true to it, or He’s not, so it was a challenge to me as well to really believe.

Most of the people who sponsor can’t afford it. They’re the ones who are most likely to respond, which is so beautiful in a way.

Have you ever met one of your sponsored children?
When my wife and I were in Africa this last time, we got to fly out to Zimbabwe and meet beautiful Ottilia, the first little girl we sponsored. We drove about six hours deep into the African bush. We were truly in the middle of nowhere. The whole village had gathered there and was waiting for us. We were the first sponsors to ever visit the area. When our translator was introducing us, he told people that we flew over on a giant bird.

As we arrived, all the elders of the village and the teachers and the children were there, and they surrounded our vehicle. They began to sing the words to us, “Well done. Well done.” Over and over again. “Well done.” As a believer, these are the words we hope to hear at the end of our lives. “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” And to hear these words from the mouths of the poorest of the poor at that moment was almost as good as hearing it from Jesus himself. It was a big moment in our lives; it was beautiful.

Jason’s Favorites
Favorite store in the Mall of America: Godiva chocolate shop and eating at Tucci Benuch.
Favorite ice cream flavor: Coffee ice cream
Favorite Fourth of July tradition: Doing fireworks on our sidewalk in front of our house.
Favorite vacation spot: Anywhere where there is a beach. Snorkeling in Maui a few years ago was amazing.
Favorite water sport: Snorkeling