Pastor Jake Schnoor is our guest host this week. He spoke with Tim Bennett about growing up, coming to know Christ, joining the Navy, and coming to Guam.
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Transcript
Chris Harper: Welcome to Harvest Time. My name is Chris Harper, and our host on this program usually is Pastor Gary Walton. Today, a special guest host, Pastor Jake Schnoor, will be with us. 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 have two services at Harvest every week.
The first at 08:45AM, the second at 10:45AM. We have Japanese and Korean translation during our 10:45AM service, and that’s also when we live stream at hbcguam.org, hbcguam.org. This week, it’s the sixth message in our seven habits of highly effective churches series from Dr. Yoh Shirato, Revelation 3: 7-13. Let’s begin today’s Harvest Time by welcoming our guest host, Pastor Jake Schnoor.
Jake Schnoor: Well, hafa adai, Chris. Thanks for having me out again today. It’s always a pleasure to be in the studio with you.
Chris Harper: Yes. And you’re going to introduce our guest for today.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah. Hafa adai. Mister Bennett, how are you doing?
Tim Bennett: Hey. Well, thank you so much for having me today. Yeah. I’m doing great. It’s a beautiful day.
Every day on Guam is basically the same beautiful day. Right?
Jake Schnoor: Amen. There you go.
Tim Bennett: So it’s just a pleasure to be here. This is like the third time I’ve been on the radio in my life. First time on a harvest radio. So even more special.
Jake Schnoor: This day in history.
Tim Bennett: This day in history. Mark the calendar.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah. Yes. Awesome. Yeah. Well, Tim Bennett, we’re going to get into a lot of your story and a little bit of your background.
But Tim Bennett has been a member at Harvest for a while. He’s been an attender for even longer. And it’s been an awesome journey. And sadly, it’s coming to a close soon. We’ll get into a little bit of that and what’s next, Lord willing.
But, Chris, I’m excited. This will be a good one.
Chris Harper: It should be a good one. I’m looking forward to this Sunday and continuing our series in Revelation. And Dr. Yoh Shirato, as always, has a very detailed message, a very focused message, and I know people will enjoy that. Glad to have Tim here today, too.
Jake Schnoor: Awesome. Well, hey, Tim, let’s jump right into it. I want to start off because our time is going to go so fast.
Tim Bennett: I know.
Jake Schnoor: Anytime me and you talk, it always goes fast.
Tim Bennett: Exactly.
Jake Schnoor: So let’s just have at least three questions to guide it. Question one, tell me about your upbringing, a little bit about your family dynamic growing up. And very specifically though, I want the listeners to hear how did you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? So, that’s the first one. Background of family and salvation.
Second question will be military. How’d you get in the military? Why’d you get in the military? And how’d you wind up on Guam? And then, what has been the biggest thing God’s taught you on Guam through Harvest?
And then, if we have time, we’ll get into what’s next for you.
Tim Bennett: Yeah. No, thank you so much for the questions. So my background, I grew up homeschooled. Christian family, my parents very involved in church, ministry, doing missionary work. And the irony, I’m in the military now.
The missionary work that my parents did was to the military. And we’ll get into how I decided to join and all that. But I think that was a big reason why I went to the military. Military culture and missions was like my childhood, environment.
Jake Schnoor: What was the name of the organization there with?
Tim Bennett: It was called, Cadence International.
Jake Schnoor: Ah, yes. They basically open up a house.
Tim Bennett: Yep. Right? That’s exactly.
So the whole concept is you have what are called hospitality houses that are located near military installations. And so you have a missionary family that takes up residence in the house. They host Bible studies, fellowship times, worship nights, meals.
Jake Schnoor: Sounds great.
Yeah.
Tim Bennett: Small groups, just like what we do with our, community groups. And so it was through that and then the military members will pile in the house. You get to know people very intimately and, that was a really foundational, period of my life. And that for me, that is what the church is supposed to look like.
And so it was in that environment actually, really before we moved out to Washington, that was one of the places that we lived. As far as my testimony goes, it was that environment that really, I think, attracted me to the gospel.
Jake Schnoor: Interesting.
Tim Bennett: Seeing my parents, and I was five years old when I made a profession of faith.
Jake Schnoor: Okay.
Tim Bennett: But seeing the faithfulness of my parents to each other and to the ministry, but also to their own spiritual disciplines from an early age, one of those like key memories that I have of them is them spending time together, dissecting and going back and forth God’s word. My dad waking up, early to go to work. He’d always leave these notes, right, for us. One for my mom, one for my brothers.
It was basically, hey, this is the expectation for the day. There’d be, some encouragement there too. It was just like even though he was at work kind of before I woke up, I always felt like that was the right way to start the day. And those letters always contained, so much gospel truth, obviously the words of a loving father. So it was just, I grew up surrounded by my parents’ love, their love for each other, their love for the Gospel more than anything else. I
Jake Schnoor: Every day, in other words, you’re starting off not just, with instructions of what to do, but it’s your father, your dad is communicating with you. Has something to say to you every day you wake up. And that helps to kind of define and set the tone for the whole day. Good. It’s a good even like parallel spiritually.
Tim Bennett: Oh yeah, no, exactly. And so it was in that, environment that the gospel was so attractive to me as a child. And a lot of people I don’t think it’s a it’s a you’re the pastor here. I don’t think it’s a big deal if you don’t remember the exact day that you got saved.
It just really matters what you believe right now, right? In the present. However, I do remember like it was yesterday, the day that I, put my faith in Christ. It was an evening we were walking out of a Christian bookstore and my mom was buckling me into my little car seat right in our Chevy Venture, a 2005. Yeah.
Chevy Venture. I remember her buckling me in and I just bluntly told her, I think I need Jesus. And she stopped what she was doing. She always carried around this old beaten Bible. And that Bible is really special because she actually gave it to me when I got my orders to Guam.
Jake Schnoor: Wow.
Tim Bennett: So if I remember correctly, it was the night before I left, she gave me that Bible. And it’s my favorite possession in the whole world. And whenever I’m in Romans chapter five, it just really sparks that memory of because she walked me through the Romans road.
Jake Schnoor: Sure.
Tim Bennett: So we went through Romans chapter five, Romans three twenty three. We went all these different passages in Romans, right, that basically culminate in the gospel story. Jesus Christ died for our sins, right? He was buried, he was resurrected. He did all of this to reconcile us to God, restore the relationship that we were meant to have with God from the beginning of creation.
Obviously, I didn’t understand all of that as a five year old. I understood the basic necessity that I need Jesus, that he’s done something for me because me and him are not right. Had And I think
Jake Schnoor: a sense and an awareness of your sin. Yeah. And Jesus, in some way, is the answer to relieve that tension.
Tim Bennett: Yeah. And I think, and this isn’t like, I’m not saying I thought this as a child, but I think looking back, the reason why that stuck with me apart from God’s just the work of the spirit, right? And regeneration apart from that, I think the reason why that that resonated with me at such a young age is because I had such a good relationship with my parents. And so with the backdrop of the relationship there, it’s like, oh, I’m supposed to have a relationship that’s similar like this to God. But I don’t.
And it’s my fault.
Jake Schnoor: Sure.
Tim Bennett: But he’s done everything that I need to do in order to restore that union. Wow. And so my parents lived that out and they shared the gospel with us on a regular basis. My dad would read the Bible to us before we’d go to sleep.
He would lead our family in devotionals like with his guitar. My dad could play guitar.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah.
Tim Bennett: So he’d he’d play guitar. He would say he’s not that good, but it was I remember it being pretty good.
Jake Schnoor: Okay.
Tim Bennett: And then he would, yeah, lead us in Bible studies and stuff. And so that was the environment I grew up in. Obviously, one of the challenges of being a homeschooled kid who is not only homeschooled in a Christian environment but grows up around ministry and the faith life of his parents. As you mature and you grow older, you have to make that distinction. Is this my faith or is it my parents’ faith?
Right? But as different trials and struggles emerged, as I was growing up, I think God used a lot of different things as like a catalyst to show that this was a genuine faith and it was my faith. And my faith grew up with me. So the older I got, the more I realized, wow, like that individual necessity, the dependence on the Holy Spirit, right? Just to even be a decent person.
So, yeah, that’s kind of the that’s the Yeah, it’s good. The testimony.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah, no, I like that. And so question number two though, tell us a little bit about why the military. Yep. And I know there’s a little bit of journey of you wanting to go in a certain direction Yeah. In the military.
Tim Bennett: Yep.
Jake Schnoor: God said no.
Tim Bennett: Yes.
Jake Schnoor: And then how’d you get to Guam?
Tim Bennett: Yep. So as far as the military is concerned, like I mentioned earlier, just growing up around military folks in the community, it was, you know, me and my brother’s playing soldier in in the backyard. Sticks become bows and arrows and guns and all that stuff, know, boy stuff. So the military was always like a cool thing to do and both my parents were in the military so, they definitely encouraged it. Didn’t didn’t like, Hey, if God is calling you to do something else, do that.
But they absolutely encouraged it. And it’s just kind of ingrained in me that’s what I should do with my life. But yes, I did the job I’m doing currently. So I’m currently a laboratory, a medical laboratory technician. I work at Naval Hospital Guam.
Well, did. I’m on leave now. But that is not what I enlisted to do. When I was in better shape, much better shape than I am now, I actually joined to be a Navy SEAL. And so actually that came about just by reading this book.
It was called Operation Geronimo, like that. And it was the story of the capture of Osama bin Laden. I had never even heard of a Navy SEAL before. But I loved reading. I didn’t read fiction growing up.
Only read, like history books, biographies, political science books, philosophy.
I was a weird kid.
Jake Schnoor: Rooted in reality, though.
Tim Bennett: Yeah, exactly. It was like this fiction stuff, if it’s not Narnia, don’t what is this?
Jake Schnoor: Sorry, J. R. Tolkien.
Tim Bennett: I’ll make an exception for him.
Jake Schnoor: So you read that book
Tim Bennett: I read that book. You’re
Tim Bennett: Navy SEAL. I was 10 years old. I told my mom I was going be a Navy SEAL.
Tim Bennett: And she was like, Go for it.
Jake Schnoor: Okay.
Tim Bennett: So, when I got a little older, my parents purchased, gym equipment that we could set up in our garage. It was like stuff bought on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, that kind of thing. Started working out, started running, went into the delayed entry program, which is like the prerequisite before you leave for boot camp. Some people are in it for a long time like I was. Some people are in it for like a week.
So you just kind of get a little bit of orientation before you leave for boot camp.
Jake Schnoor: Okay.
Tim Bennett: Through that process, I attended
Jake Schnoor: Do you have to pass a certain thing to move out of that?
Tim Bennett: Exactly. So in my case, because I was going for a special warfare, it’s a what’s called a PST, a physical screening test. And so you have to, complete the physical screening test requirements. So it’s like push ups, a run, a swim, sit ups.
I’m trying to think if there was anything else. That’s that’s the gist of it.
Jake Schnoor: Sure.
Tim Bennett: Couldn’t do the pull ups. Just No. Could I it was a joke. They must have looked at me and they’re like, what on earth is this guy he says he wants be an ACL. He can’t do a pull up?
I could do everything else, but I couldn’t do pull ups. And I spent like nine months in-depth. So by the end of it, I could do pull ups, but not to the the quality that they wanted for Navy SEALs. So they were gonna cut me a different contract and then I’m not exactly sure even how it all happened but I ended up losing that it was for a search and rescue swimmer, like an air rescue swimmer.
Jake Schnoor: Okay.
Tim Bennett: I lost that contract and I know a big part of it had to do with like my record, my administrative record at MAPS Sure. Getting mixed up with another guy, from Anderson, Indiana. Won’t say his name. Uh-oh. But I did meet him in boot camp ironically.
Interesting. Was pretty funny. I knew who he was. When I saw his name tape on his Uh-huh. His blouse and I walked up to him, I’m like, are you from Anderson, Indiana?
And he looks at me like, how do you know that? Right. He’s like the only other Bennett at boot camp.
Jake Schnoor: Oh, boy.
Tim Bennett: It’s like, okay, I got you. But
Jake Schnoor: And you’re saying that is why, so between that that mix up
Tim Bennett: I I didn’t get any special warfare contracts.
Jake Schnoor: Sure. You didn’t you didn’t make it to be a seal Nope. Because of the physical requirements
Tim Bennett: Yep.
Jake Schnoor: Those pull ups are hard. Yep. And then you’re like, okay, but in your mind one notch below that.
Tim Bennett: Yeah, let’s do Special warfare. Get my foot in the door. Yeah. Can work as Rescue a swimmer, exactly.
Jake Schnoor: Like Christian Lang, shout out Christian
Tim Bennett: Yeah.
Jake Schnoor: Potentially could have done it, but there was a mix up.
Tim Bennett: There was like a mix up
Jake Schnoor: and Because he has the same last name and
Tim Bennett: Yeah. Don’t even fully understand what happened. All I remember is the scouts really liked me and they tried to fight for the contract, but MAPS wasn’t having it. They’re like, No, sorry. He’s got to go a different job.
Jake Schnoor: We don’t take any from Anderson, Indiana.
Tim Bennett: We don’t take it.
Jake Schnoor: I’m not even from there. Exactly.
Tim Bennett: Well, we don’t take where you’re from either.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah.
Tim Bennett: Oh, okay. Never mind. Got put into into the medical field.
Okay. Hospital corpsman is my rate.
And for those that don’t know what a hospital corpsman is because it’s a weird term, are the medical personnel for the Marine Corps. So they don’t have their own medical capabilities because they’re the fighters, the killers, right?
Jake Schnoor: Right.
Tim Bennett: The Navy provides the healers.
Jake Schnoor: Okay.
Tim Bennett: So that was my job in the Navy. There’s like a bunch of specialties, just like any medical field, right? Just like the civilian medical field, I should say. From there I chose to be a lab technician and that actually came through some really phenomenal mentorship that I had at my first duty station. The doctor that I worked with, actually there was like a couple of doctors that I worked with that had lab backgrounds and it was really cool to be able to work one on one with a provider and see, oh, this is the diagnostic side.
Got it. Lab tech. Connecting the dots growing up because of the the type of books and stuff I was interested in, I love Christian apologetics this naturally fits my my interests better. Okay. Which kind of takes it to the future.
Jake Schnoor: Okay.
Tim Bennett: How how’s God gonna use this going forward? Yeah. So we’ve talked a lot about that.
Jake Schnoor: There you go. Yeah. So we heard about how did you come to Jesus. Yep. We heard how did you come to Guam.
Yep. And maybe, let’s do two things in the remaining few minutes. Let’s talk about what has been the biggest thing in your time on Guam at Harvest. We’ve talked a little bit about in the past, how you feel like God’s used Harvest in very unique ways. Oh, yes.
And without putting words in your mouth, what are some of the biggest things God’s taught you since being here? And then, what if you could dream and write your own story? What would the next stage, the next phase in your life and ministry for God be?
Tim Bennett: There’s been several big things that we’ve talked about. But on my drive here, I was thinking about everything can be summed up through discipleship. One of the things that Harvest does really well, is discipleship. Very intentional discipleship through, the Bible studies. Right?
We have our men’s Bible study Saturday mornings. There we go.
Jake Schnoor: 8AM.
Tim Bennett: Shout out. We have the young pros, right, ministry on Thursday. So if you want to get plugged in community groups as well. If you want to get plugged in, you can get plugged in. And there’s people willing to sit down with you and do life with you.
Jake Schnoor: Right. And I know you’ve you’ve been meeting with Larry on a one on one basis. Yep. So there’s that
Tim Bennett: For like over three years now.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah. I remember when you first got on island, we were like, Okay, we’d like to have as many people connected in a one on one mentoring relationship as possible. Are you interested? And immediately, you’re like, Absolutely.
Tim Bennett: Yes.
Jake Schnoor: And that has just blossomed.
Tim Bennett: And That was probably the defining thing that God used for all the things that he’s been doing in my life since being here. It’s those meetings with Larry that that really got me into serving the children’s ministry. That time was absolutely instrumental. And one of the things that, me and Larry were really we’ve been discussing over a period of time is my spiritual gifts. And the possibility of my spiritual gifting being teaching.
Jake Schnoor: Sure. Yeah.
Tim Bennett: So I think that kind of leads me to the second question.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah.
Tim Bennett: If could write my own story.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah.
Tim Bennett: What would it be?
Well, if teaching is my spiritual gifting, then that story would would absolutely be, well, okay. How do I teach? Yeah. What do I teach? Well, here here’s the science background that I have through the Navy with a foundational background of in my love of like apologetics and that kind of thing.
So let me take that. God’s opened that door so I could use that and people, here on Guam probably are familiar with Harvest Christian Academy, right?
An incredible school. This was also through Larry. I had the opportunity to do a couple of student observations with some of the teachers at Harvest. Right.
I got to see for myself the classrooms.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah.
Tim Bennett: The interactions between the teachers and the students. That was really incredible experience to see. So if I could write my own story, I’d I’d do that. I’d come back here after leaving, right, because I’m about to to leave Guam, my end of contract. Come back here after finishing my bachelor’s. Teach science. What science? I don’t know yet.
Right. But teach science and and literally just you get to live life here. Yeah. Live life, fellowship.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah.
Tim Bennett: Make an impact for eternity with these students. Right.
Jake Schnoor: Just replicate the spirit of discipleship
Tim Bennett: Yes.
Jake Schnoor: That you experienced.
Tim Bennett: That I was shown here.
Jake Schnoor: Yes. You’re like, if I could do what was done to me Yep. Then that’s worth it.
Tim Bennett: Exactly. Yeah. I couldn’t put it any better.
Jake Schnoor: You mentioned a couple of ministries. Maybe talk briefly, what about, and you mentioned that Saturday Marine Bible study, and you said a couple of things in the past, in your own words, how has that made a difference? And I guess, here’s how I’m gonna frame it. Larry was the biggest thing to kind of catch you, and pick you up as soon as you got here. But it seems like, the way you talked about that Saturday morning study, is that has been something that’s carried you through.
Tim Bennett: Oh, 100%.
Jake Schnoor: And maybe in just a few minutes, how would you describe what makes it unique? Yep. And for the listeners who have no idea, and maybe have never even heard of a group like this. Yes. How is it different than groups you’ve been involved in the past, and why should people be interested in a group like that?
Tim Bennett: Yeah, a 100%. This group has single handedly changed my view on what it means to be a part of the church body. This group that I’m talking about, the Saturday morning group, it’s a men’s Bible study. And the way that we we go about it, we’ll we’ll do a Bible study like straight from the scriptures or we’ll go through a book. Right?
And then we’ll kind of let that guide the discussion. But it’s really cool because these discussions, they they take on lives of their own. Right? And I think everyone that is a part of this and it’s a it’s a really good group of guys, that I can say I actually know these people. Like, yes, we all go to church together.
Yes, we all have different jobs and careers and we we all have lives, right, outside of that that study. But we all share our lives together. I think it’s really rare for men to just be vulnerable with each other. And so when you have a group like that where the whole point is, hey, you can be vulnerable here. And and so we do that through the three feedings.
So we call it the three feedings. How are you feeding your own spirit? Yep. Right? How are you feeding your flesh?
So what what habits, what behaviors through the week are encouraging, sinful behavior, right? And then how are you feeding others? How are you pouring into the people that God has put in your path, your circle of influence?
Jake Schnoor: yah
Tim Bennett: And so through those three questions, obviously that dialogue with a couple of guys, right, we’ll we’ll either go around the table or we’ll have our little breakout groups. Either way, it’s it’s really cool to have people. They’re not afraid of what you think or what the backlash quote unquote is going to be for what they say. It’s just here, this is your time to be honest. Yeah.
Like this is who I really am. Monday through Saturday can be pretty rough. Yeah. And so as Christians, our life isn’t just Sunday morning, it’s every other day of the week.
Right. And being able to share what that looks like,
Jake Schnoor: This that’s is the time of the week where you can evaluate and let people in to open up the window of your life and say, Hey, come inside and examine how my week has been.
Tim Bennett: The good, the bad, the ugly.
Jake Schnoor: And the ugly. Right? Yeah. Good, bad and good.
Tim Bennett: Yeah. A 100%.
Jake Schnoor: Yeah. And I guess maybe what we could summarize with any listeners, there’s nothing here or within that group that is unique in the sense that it’s not in the Bible. These are just things that I believe every Christian should do at some level, to some degree. But what I guess in my experience and what your experience is, it’s not that we’ve never heard of these things.
Tim Bennett: Nope.
Jake Schnoor: It’s just I’ve never been a part of group that actually does it. Yes. And that’s probably the difference maker for me. But we are officially out of time. As we said at the beginning, it’s going fly by.
Tim Bennett: Yes.
Jake Schnoor: But I want to personally say thank you, Tim, for everything that you’ve been involved with, all the ways you’ve served, all the way that God has changed you, because you’re a different person than where you were when you first came to Guam. Absolutely. But I wanted to say thanks for coming on today.
Tim Bennett: Yeah. No. Thank you so much for having me. I really do appreciate the opportunity to share.
Chris Harper: And thank you for listening to Harvest Time. Of course, when we get to this point in the program, we always wanna personally invite you again to services at Harvest Baptist Church Sunday morning, 08:45AM, 10:45AM. Remember, we have Japanese and Korean translation during the 10:45AM service. That’s also the service we broadcast live here on 88.1 FM and khmg.org. We hope to see you this Sunday.
Thanks again for listening to Harvest Time.