Pastor Jake Schnoor is our guest host this week. He spoke with Christian Lange about coming to faith in Christ and living as Jesus’ disciple in the Navy.
Download the Christian Lange Harvest Time
Episode Transcript
Chris Harper: Welcome to Harvest Time. My name is Chris Harper, and our host this week is Pastor Jake Schnoor. Every week, we spend these twenty five minutes together telling you the stories of our church by interviewing our members and other friends of the ministry. We’d invite you to join us at Harvest Baptist Church this week. We have two services, one at 08:45AM, the other at 10:45AM.
We offer Japanese and Korean translation during the 10:45AM service, and that’s also when we live stream at hbcguam.org, hbcguam.org. This week, our guest host, Pastor Jake Schnoor, will be speaking from First Corinthians 16:13-14 on Principles of Powerful Living. Let’s begin today’s Harvest Time by welcoming Pastor Jake. Hi, Pastor Jake.
Jake Schnoor: Well, hafa adai, Chris. Good to be with you once again. And for the listeners, we’re so glad that you joined us today for this segment. We’re going be interviewing a good friend of mine, Christian Lange, and excited for you guys to hear his story and just how God has led him up to the point where he’s at right now serving in the Navy in some pretty cool ways. And then I want you guys to hear how he has been serving our body here at Harvest.
But I’d encourage you all, don’t miss this Sunday. This is going to be an exciting passage. It’s going to be a high intensity passage where there are five different commands, and that’s really all that they are in those verses. And I want to unpack how those principles of powerful living, if we live them out, we can impact a society that is both morally dark, we’re going to unpack that a little bit, and then spiritually apathetic. I don’t know if you’ve noticed the culture around us that they simply, by and large, do not care about God.
And if we’re not careful, we can end up like the church at Corinth, was taking in the the moral bankruptcy, and then adopting the moral apathy. And I don’t want that to happen for me. I don’t want that to happen for you. So tune in this Sunday, both of those services, and we’re excited to have you there. All right.
Again, our guest today is Christian Lange, and good to have you with us today, Christian.
Christian Lange: I’m so excited to be here. Thank you for having me today.
Jake Schnoor: Awesome. Yeah, I got a couple questions for you just to get the ball rolling right away. I thought we could get to know you a little bit and maybe describe briefly how you wanted to join the military originally and then how you ended up with the Navy specifically.
Christian Lange: Okay. So I grew up in a very military heavy family, entirely on my dad’s side, my grandpa, his dad, and so forth. Even my little sister and brother joined the military. I originally wanted to go out of high school, but my mom stopped me right away and goes, you need to have a fallback plan. So she said, it wasn’t no, but not yet.
So went to went to college, got my BA in criminology, sociology. And then right after, even got laser eye surgery and joined the Navy. And, I currently serve here at Agency 25 up at Anderson Air Force Base as an aviation rescue swimmer. So the joke I like to make is if you ever seen The Guardian with Ashton Kutcher, we’re the Navy equivalent. So we are tasked with going around the island, providing overland and overwater, help if need be in storms, typhoons like we just had, and we provide aid if you’re up hurt or just need help.
We provided the best best case possible.
Jake Schnoor: So if me and Chris are going on a hike later this weekend and we get lost?
Christian Lange: I can help you, but just a fair warning, it’s a pretty expensive ride back.
Jake Schnoor: Okay, maybe Chris will cancel that hike. Scratch that. Awesome! Yeah, and there are countless stories that I’m sure you could share with the listeners on both exciting things. We’ve been able to really help people.
I’m sure there’s probably been some heartbreaking moments that you’ve had on the job. But I want you to say thank you on behalf of all of us on what you do and your service. My next question for you though would be, what are some of the biggest struggles being a believer in the military? You’ve been serving for how many years now?
Christian Lange: Just over three years.
Jake Schnoor: Okay, just over three years. So it’s enough for you to get a good grasp on, let’s say, the spiritual temperature of the military. What are some things that have been really difficult as a believer trying to live for the Lord in the military?
Christian Lange: A lot of times, we’re called to… Where everyone comes to church, you do sometimes look to see the other person’s world. We are called to… We get excited when we come to church. We get to serve in so many different capacities.
And oftentimes, we have a challenging job or we’re tasked with bringing that same energy to an environment that sometimes challenges you in ways you don’t even realize and being able to… And and get, in in essence, not intentionally compartmentalize your own faith and without you even realizing it. And a lot of times where you have to show the same love to others at… You show you show the same low… Show the same love to those here on campus, it’s quite difficult sometimes when you’re in an environment where it can be hard to show the same love.
And so it’s a call to have content in your situation, but also show that same love with the same energy. Because we’re not called to stand firm and hide, we’re called to stand firm and love others and make disciples of all nations.
Jake Schnoor: Sure. Would you say the difficulty could be being consistent in every sphere of your lives? Both work, social, church. The idea of compartmental Christianity, I don’t know if that makes sense to you, but I’m one version of me in one sphere, and as soon as I cross the threshold in a different sphere, I’m a different person. What are some of the things you’ve learned or are learning maybe that God has been leading you or teaching you specifically with that?
Christian Lange: Specifically with that is, in essence, would, categorize it as speech, proper speech in every environment. Because a lot of times, in military, often anger is a common emotion that could arise in certain situations. And learning how to handle that by simply just saying okay and walking away is a big step in the right direction by not only just showing that you’re not giving into anger, you’re being able to be calm and show love in every aspect and be that person that people can lean on and show that you are consistent in who you are. And when they see that person, they don’t just see a guy who is kinda wishy washy, they see a guy who’s consistent in himself, his faith, his values, and it never shakes.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah, controlling the tongue is probably the hardest thing that anyone could ever do. Pretty sure it’s James that says that if you… The one who can control what they say completely, would be a perfect man. And that just means that we can’t. But, that would be an awesome thing to…
As an encouragement to anyone who’s in the military, or is considering joining the military, if you’re listening right now. Being consistent, where you’re at in every sphere, whether you’re with family, whether you are at your job, or if you’re in college, or just hanging out with friends, developing an authentic relationship with God, where you can have communion with Him through prayer, and through just thinking about scripture, thinking about truth, sharing truth in every area of life, that’s probably a great step to take.
Christian Lange: And another big thing that also helps with even in whatever military rate or job you’re in is learning that you don’t have to go with the crowd. You can be an outlier, and that’s okay. Because oftentimes the most the best choice is oftentimes not the most popular choice. Because for… Like, know, for example, at least for myself, I wear a verse on my arm.
I wear a verse on my arm for my uniform. Psalm 80 2:4, Rescue the weak from the hand of the wicked. And that’s oftentimes… It’s often a conversation starter and an eye turner.
Jake Schnoor: So would you say there’s been a lot of flack, a lot of backlash, the moments like everyone, we’re not totally consistent. But in the moments that you have took a stand, where you try to stand up for God, maybe say no to a certain situation. If they ask you to do something, or act a certain way, or say something, How much flack or or, backlash have you experienced when you try to do that?
Christian Lange: It’s a lot of confusion on their end, where it’s not necessarily often negative. It’s more just kind of a persistent questioning of my realm of thought, which can lead one way or the other. But being able to, as stated earlier, be calm in those moments, you’re able to kind of utilize those questions to even pick their own brain about and introduce your realm of thought to them and explain more about who you are. So
Jake Schnoor: it’s led to more questions
Christian Lange: Yes.
Jake Schnoor: Than accusations or any form of maybe even rejection. Right? It’s been more curiosity.
Christian Lange: At this stage, Because at the beginning, it was more of when I got questioned and got challenged, in the military, it was kind of just, I’m gonna do my own thing, I’m going to just stand firm and hold my own ground. When I should have been at the very beginning and not waited till this year of my life to stand strong and explain to others.
Jake Schnoor: Sure. Yeah. Well, that’s good. All right. I want to switch gears a little bit and kind of turn from how did God lead you into the military, what has God been teaching you in light of that.
Specifically, now I want to make the connection to Harvest. And I always love talking to you about what God is doing through you at Harvest and what God could be doing, will be doing through you. But how did you hear about Harvest? And how has it been acclimating to our church?
Christian Lange: So originally, my first heard of Harvest back Christmas last year, because my command did a toy drive for Harvest House. And at that time, I had zero clue about the church, here. And I remember going to campus, calling Harvest House, asking, I have no idea where I’m dropping these toys off. Can anyone guide me? And they go, Oh, just the white the white building.
And I go, Which one? And then they, the the phone hung up and I couldn’t get anyone to call back. So I remember walking this campus for about twenty plus minutes till, and then I finally found it and gave it to him. And then a few months later, I met my great friend now, Jared Ball at Southern Mountain Gear. And I was showing one of our new guys on the island the store because he was talking about going hiking and wanting some gear.
The conversation came about like looking for a church here. And Jared Ball just pops out of a corner and goes, Church? And so we started talking and got his connection. And then I was able, he brought me out to young professionals, here at Harvest. And ever since then, it’s been history almost.
And as we all know, I’ve gotten to know not only Jared Ball, but you, Pastor Jake, the experienced young pros developing, a bigger knowledge and bigger love for the Word, and chasing after new ideas, and now being able to help it out with worship. It was kind of a snowball effect in getting the chance to learn more and plug in more here. It It really picked up this past June, when I got to help out with the camps this year. Started out helping with, Vacation Bible School, got to help out with the young kid and teen ministry camps. Got to help out with the summer team going on different hikes, different groups, and now getting my hands in other places, getting to experience more things such as prison ministry, helping out with Heart for Christ here, getting actually to be in charge of seventh and eighth graders.
It’s unique to see that in such short time, I’ve been able to build a unique and my own ability to give back in some way or another. And it’s… It was it was… I remember, I’ll never forget asking you so many times about, when when is the next class? When’s the next class?
Can I be a member? Can I be a member? And, finally being able to become a member was one of the best days ever.
Jake Schnoor: It’s been a blessing getting to know you, Christian, over the last… It seems like it’s been a lot longer, but over the last few months to a year or so. And what has always stood out, there’s been two things that I think for you, the kind of very strong is your ambition, in a good sense, right? The excitement, the drive, if that might be a better word. But at the same time, teachability.
Which is not a unique combination of being very driven, motivated, but at the same time humble enough to not just be corrected, but to seek out, How can I do this better? How can I change? How can I grow? How can I develop what God is calling me to be as a man, as someone in the military, and as a church member now? How can I develop in those areas?
So that’s always been something that’s been a blessing. Because sometimes, you can just have people who are super strong in one of those, but not always the same. So, in the areas that you’ve been able to get plugged in, if you were to choose one or two that have maybe impacted you the most, what would you say they are, and in what ways have they impacted you?
Christian Lange: Okay. I’ll start with the one that’s impacted me the most, and it’s definitely young professionals, because that was where this journey started. Getting to be with people my own age when I came to this island thinking, I don’t know who I’m gonna get to know here. I didn’t know… I haven’t I didn’t have any friends coming And getting to meet people who are like minded military, non military, who are believers my age that not only just wanna say hi and get to know you at church, but they wanna do stuff too and get to know each other.
Go hiking, doing stuff together, building that community and learning how to actually have the tough questions asked by everyone around me and not being afraid to just, oh, he’s fine. He’s just some smelly navy guy. He’s going do his own thing. And, no, they’re there to care about you. They want to help you, and they wanna ask you the tough questions that they’re not afraid to, which is something I’ve always admired about everybody that comes through the young professional’s doors.
Sure. And the second one I would give it to is, that I didn’t mention was the lab Bible study that I’m in. It’s a time where it really is called iron does sharpen iron does sharpen iron. And it’s a time for men often… Any type of man, military or not, often have a hard reality in society nowadays of living a quiet desperation.
And a lot of times, it’s hard to have that group that can be there to say, are you okay? What can we do for you? And how can we help you? Yeah. And it’s a time just to be honest, grow together, and just be there for one another in the times, even the lows, and most importantly, even the highs.
Mhmm. And you’re able to praise together. Right? It’s ultimately changed my life.
Jake Schnoor: Sure. Well, that’s awesome. That’s an interesting phrase, a quiet desperation. I think it speaks a lot, and it speaks to a lot of people’s circumstances and situations where they recognize the need, they recognize they need help, and they need guidance and wisdom. And for those who aren’t aware, there’s a men’s Bible study.
There’s a couple throughout the week, but the one that Christian’s referring to is Saturday mornings at eight in the morning. And we go for a couple hours, give or take how the day is going. But we try to focus on really two things: feeding on the word, and then being transparent with one another. And just, we say a couple of things, we say, We don’t have to tell me everything, just don’t lie to me. That doesn’t help anyone.
And what is said here, stays here. There you go. And then we just unpack a few things from a stress, a struggle, and then a sin. And if that is speaking to you at all, in the audience, not even if going to Harvest, but you want more information on a group like that, please give us a call and we’d love to help you out. We have resources, we have some sermons, we have things that we can help you and equip you to do the work of this ministry, which is so needed to have transparent conversations we unpack.
And one thing that we sometimes say is, it is okay to not be okay. Because those are the types of people who recognize that they’re not okay on their own, that God longs to help. Well, we have a few minutes left. I wanna get two things, and then we’ll be done. I was thinking it’d be good to hear a little bit of your testimony.
So we heard how God brought you to Harvest, we heard how God brought you to the military, but how did God bring you to Him? So from a salvation perspective, what was your journey like?
Christian Lange: It was an interesting one. I remember growing up, was a typical kid going to church, learned what it took to really understand it at first, because a lot of times we’re taught, go to church, do this, check, check, check, check, check, and you’re fine. And as a kid, it’s understandable. There’s appeals. I was the typical kid, went to adventure camp.
Went this camp called adventure camp in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, went through the VBSs, went through the camp, became even a counselor, a junior counselor, counselor throughout the youth group, joined the youth group at seventh, grade, went all the way to high school. Got to really just see it all. And I honestly give a lot of my credit to me coming to faith to two specific people. My old children’s pastor, Pastor JD Sluss, from New Ridge Baptist Church, and Pastor Dave Wilde, my youth pastor growing up. He was a former Marine, who turned his life around and became a youth pastor and a youth minister and is currently a teacher in Henrico Public County Schools.
And he wasn’t ever afraid to ask the tough questions. He was always there for me in every capacity. This is the same man, that I pinned as an Eagle Scout. It’s the same man that pinned my gold wings, upon my finishing selection. He really pushed me to be honest with myself because I got to the point where I graduate high school and I go, okay.
What’s next? How do I act as an adult in faith? Because we’re always shown this, this, and this. I didn’t know what to do next. So I went to college, figured out that the world’s not the best sometimes.
And it’s what they say, curiosity does kill the cat sometimes. Mhmm. And upon graduating college, joined the military. And I’ll never forget, first week of boot camp, they… It was during COVID.
We went to their version of COVID church, at the Great Lakes. And I remember hearing Corey Asbury’s song, Reckless Love Come On. I remember crying. And it was kind of that realization where to be in faith, you have to lean on every day. That’s what it means to an adult in faith.
It’s… You’re… Every single day, you’re leaning on God. You’re leaning on… You’re you’re not on your own understanding.
Mhmm. You’re… It’s as the song says, Lord, I need you every hour, every minute, ever of this day. Mhmm. And it’s something that I don’t forget now, and I’ll never forget because it’s something that has kept me on the right track.
And it’s when I… As it says in Matthew, we’re called when we’re reckless to take the yoke of the Lord. And it’s oftentimes when we are tired, it’s a constant reminder that lean on Him when you’re tired. Lean on Him when you’re struggling. Lean on Him in any area and be content with wherever you’re at.
Jake Schnoor: So would you say the moment where things really clicked for you about salvation and Christ, would you say that was somewhere in high school with one of the youth pastors?
Christian Lange: Yes. It was high school I got saved and got baptized before going in the military. And I give that credit to Pastor Dave Willey for not giving up on me when I gave up on myself a lot.
Jake Schnoor: Okay. Yeah, it’s always encouraging to hear just specific ways and things that God uses to open our eyes, get us to the point where we want to yield our lives, and where we need to depend on God for everything. The last question that we will close with is just one, it’s pretty basic, but what advice would you give to any military listening who wants to grow in their walk with God?
Christian Lange: As biblical biblical men, it’s in any environment, we’re often taught to act a certain way. And the best advice I can give in any environment, fight passivity. Do not be passive. It’s where passivity can lead to so much. It can lead to doubt.
It can lead to deceit. It can lead to dread. It’s it’s not a good thing. And it doesn’t matter if you’re at church. It doesn’t matter if you’re at…
If you’re in the military, if you’re at your job. Be who you are. Do not be passive in who you are, and embrace every individual thing that makes you unique.
Jake Schnoor: Well, thank you so much for doing this interview and allowing us to hear a little bit about your story, allowing us to share a little bit of what God is doing in your life and how God’s leading you. And really, there’s so much that I believe God’s gonna do in the next years to come. Again, if you are listening today and you have questions about anything we talked about, feel free to come visit us in person or you can visit us online, or you can call us at our offices. We encourage you again to come out to our services this Sunday morning at 08:45 and 10:45.
Chris Harper: Yeah, I did want to take this moment as we do at the close of the program to invite you again, really personally invite you here to come to Harvest Baptist Church. Two services, 08:45AM, 10:45AM on Sunday. We do have that Japanese and Korean translation, which is available during the service at 10:45AM, and that’s when we livestream as well at hbcguam.org. Hbcguam.org. We hope to see you this Sunday.
Thanks again for listening to Harvest Time.