The first thing you might notice when going to Skylinechurch.org are these words: No perfect people allowed.
And once you hear the stories of two men on the pastoral staff, you realize just how true that statement is. Growing up on opposite sides of the tracks, both found themselves in exactly the same place — in need of the redeeming grace of Jesus Christ.
At a July 11 Brothers in Christ event at Skyline, a Wesleyan church in the greater San Diego area, Pastor Tobin Wilkins, Skyline’s Operations pastor, facilitated the conversation between Pastors Greg Williams and Jason Hensley as they shared their personal stories and close bond. Now best friends, Greg is a former felon and methamphetamine addict who once fled law enforcement, while Jason is a former police officer who sacrificed family time to pursue people like Greg.
“Greg and I often talk about how, 20 years ago, if you said this guy would become one of my closest friends, and vice versa, we would have laughed. I was very much ‘Joe Cop’ taking bad guys to jail, and Greg was running away from guys like me,” said Jason. “Obviously it is the cross that brings us together.”
Greg, Skyline’s Sports pastor and athletic director, and Jason, it’s Men’s and Safety pastor, have spent the past four to five years reaching people through sports, the Skyline Men’s Ministry Breakfast and Thin Line Ministries, which serves first responders and military personnel.
Often men get connected with the church through sports or as Greg likes to say, “We call the gym the side door to the front door.” Whether he is organizing Turkey Trot 5Ks, basketball, volleyball or soccer, Greg says, “If I can detour traffic from going through that wide road, that’s what I’m going to do,” referring to Matthew 7:13.
Greg’s story
Greg Williams
As a teen, Greg was a person who looked like he’d never darken the doorway of the narrow gate. Describing himself jokingly as a young entrepreneur, he was stealing from stores and reselling the items at school as early as the 6th grade.
Raised by his mother after she separated from his alcoholic father, Greg grew up fast. “I was drawn to the guys down the street with the Porsche and the dope and the girls,” he said. By his senior year, he was addicted to meth; for the next 17 years, he bought and sold drugs, robbed and assaulted others.
Greg was a natural at sports and got good grades, allowing him to skate under the radar for many years. Coaches and teachers would vouch for him when he got into trouble. “I knew how to bob and weave through the system,” he said, until that ended in 2005 with a high-speed car chase. After bailing from the car and hiding in the bushes, the unthinkable happened. His cell phone, which he says was ALWAYS on silent, rang out loudly. “It was like God was pointing and saying, ‘He’s right here. Come and clean him up!” said Greg.
A fellow inmate gave Greg a Bible. Every morning he would wake up and read it. “I just knew I had to keep reading.” One day, a guard pulled him aside and allowed Greg to ask questions about God.
After being released, a girl invited Greg to church, where he received salvation; her father later baptized him. With guidance from a Christian case manager in rehab, his faith continued to grow. During that period, Greg said, God showed him that “my so-called home boys were nothing, and he was going to replace them with people he wanted in my life.”
Greg believes God opened a path joining his passions for sports and ministry. After parts of his record were expunged, he lost a trucking job on his first day — after praying that God would close the door if it was not where he belonged. Though devastated, he trusted that God had something bigger planned. He later volunteered on a church facilities team and was hired full time with benefits.
Greg has now been clean and sober for 20 years. He and his wife Sarah are a blended family with three children and two grandchildren.
Jason’s story
Jason Hensley
It would be easy to look at Jason, who enjoyed a successful law enforcement career, and think he had it all together. But God also allowed Jason to walk through dark times, teaching him to trust in the Lord and shaping him to be the leader he is today.
Raised in a conservative preacher’s home, Jason developed a particular view of family and marriage. He entered the Police Academy at 28, although his wife often said she married a pastor, not a cop. “You live in a glass house as a preacher’s kid. I learned to live in the glass house, to hide things. You carry that into your adult life,” said Jason.
Jason became introverted, socialized with other officers and worked extreme hours. After nights on duty, he sometimes reached church in time for his children to see him, then slept in the balcony. “I was completely disconnected from my family and my marriage,” he said. Although his wife and two children appeared to have an ideal life, Jason distrusted everyone.
At just the right time, others intervened: a sergeant asked when Jason had last spent meaningful time alone with his family, and a police chaplain let him break down in my patrol car. “I was going through such a dark phase, and I knew it,” said Jason. The experience convinced him that, if given the opportunity, he would serve military personnel and first responders — those living with great job pressures and the stigma of seeking help.
That dark season prepared Jason to serve with Skyline’s Option C ministry, which pairs military personnel and first responders with mentors. For people reluctant to approach a superior or seek counseling, Option C offers support. “We are not counselors,” Jason said. “We are pre-crisis. But we are biblically based.”
As Jason, Greg and others expand Skyline’s sports programs and ministries, they remain focused on “bringing someone to Christ or closer to him,” Jason said, crediting Lead Pastor Jeremy McGarity for that intentional approach. Jason estimates half of the firefighters who first attend Tuesday mornings Bible study do not attend Skyline, as they become members. The men also credit McGarity with them freedom to use their skills and “just run with them.”
Despite the ministry’s success, Greg says overcoming his past remains a daily battle. “I know that guilt and shame will take me right back out,” he said, calling them tools of Satan he must refuse each day. “I know that my past is redeemed and my future is secure,” he said. His prayer is that others will experience true surrender.
Jason wants every believer to know that no one should be ashamed to seek the support, accountability and encouragement of brother and sisters in Christ.
Jennifer Jones is a journalist and pastor’s wife serving as the North Carolina East District administrator.
