Jeff became Northstar's second pastor in 2009 after the retirement of founding pastor Bob Jackson. He and his family are from southeast Arkansas where he served as a campus minister at the University of Arkansas at Monticello for eight years before planting Journey Church there and serving as its founding pastor for six years.
Jeff's wife, Carolyn, works at Blacksburg High School in the guidance office as the administrative assistant. Their son Sam is on YoungLife staff in Salisbury, NC and married to Sidney. Their daughter Adelyn is a senior at Christopher Newport University and helps lead youth at a local church as well as serving as a worship leader with Cru at CNU.
Jeff desires that Northstar Church continue to encourage others and build spiritual leaders. He blogs regularly at journeyguy.com, and his first book called Super Center Savior is available at the church office or through online retailers like Amazon.
Jeff is the Lead Pastor on the staff at Northstar. Visit our leadership page to get to know the rest of the team.
Connect with Jeff
The women sadly walked to the tomb. In everyone’s haste to beat sundown on Friday, Jesus’ body had not been properly prepared for burial. They were going to finish the task. They hoped that perhaps the Roman soldiers guarding the tomb would help by rolling the stone seal away so they could enter. When they arrived, surprise, shock and confusion …
Our Good Friday service was alive with the presence of the Lord. We were all deeply humbled and touched by a new realization that it was our sin that killed Jesus, not the beatings, nails or cross that Jesus endured. One of the things God used to powerful speak to us was a video produced by Passion City Church for …
On March 24, 2018, the New River Valley had over 12″ of snow dumped on it! Unfortunately, this meant we had to cancel church services on Palm Sunday, March 25. We were sad to not get to worship and celebrate together, but snow days at Northstar mean Slanket Sermons from Jeff! We encourage you to watch the Slanket Sermon and …
Sunday, February 4 brought a fast-moving snow through the NRV which required the cancellation of services. Our worship team and setup crew was beginning to prepare for services when we realized that travel was getting more dangerous. We hate to cancel church services, but at Northstar, a church snow day also means a Slanket Sermon by Jeff. Here’s quick devotional …
Dear Northstar family, Well, I started this letter last year, and this is what I had *then* – This will be the last time I write to you as your pastor.. in 2017. I sit here before a popping fire on a frigid winter day and think back over this year and wanted to thank you all for the journey …
It’s the day after Christmas, and with full bellies and houses, our culture clamors for our attention. It wants us to focus anywhere but the manger. And oh, there’s so much to distract us from the miracle of Christ’s coming. The Super Bowl, the NCAA National Playoffs & Championship, after-Christmas sales, the “best of 2017” shows and web articles, New …
The following was originally posted on my blog, but I wanted to share it here as well for encouragement for those of you considering investing in or being involved in intentional discipleship. Back in 2014, I wrote about how our church was in the process of rethinking how we do discipleship. At the time, we had a box on our …
How do you respond when an event of such epic proportions inundates a city of 6 million people? First of all, we pray. We pray for God’s people to shine during these moments. For believers across Texas to reflect the strength, compassion and glory of Jesus to a flood-ravaged region. We pray for the first responders. We pray for rescue. …
I have fuller confidence at this point in my life than ever that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. I could point to numerous reasons based on observation, logic and history. However, for every solid reason a Christian posits for Jesus life, death, burial and resurrection, there are contending counterpoints. Some people refuse to believe because it threatens their control. …
