March 21, 2025

In 2009, Jason Brown seemed to have it all.  He was in the prime of a successful NFL career and in the middle of a five-year contract with the St. Louis Rams making nearly $40 Million, which at the time made him the highest-paid player in the NFL.  He married the love of his life in 2003 while they were still in college.  Despite the significant struggles of chasing different career paths and chasing the pleasures of the world, they started a growing family while living in a mansion with two fully-stocked bars.  In the midst of what the world would see as massive success and everyone’s dream, he and his wife were miserable.  Brown said that his marriage was on a one-way path to divorce and he was terrified of losing everything.  To add salt to his already open wounds, after two seasons with the Rams, he was informed he would no longer be the starter and was demoted.  Facing significant adversity, Jason and his wife Tay were chasing money, possessions, and entitlement while putting on a façade that they were still devoted Christians.  Everything seemed to be falling apart and their dreams appeared to be on the cusp of shattering. 

Jason admits now that his faith in Jesus and the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling him that if he didn’t make significant changes in his life, he was going to lose everything.  Walking away from his football career at age 29 seemed unthinkable to his teammates, friends, family, and coaches.  Jason was confident, however, that he had heard God’s call.  He began releasing his grip on his exuberant lifestyle by pouring thousands of dollars of expensive liquor down the drain of his high-dollar mansion. 

After making the decision to leave the NFL, Jason left the Rams and turned down multi-million dollar offers from three other teams.  The Brown family put their mansion up for sale, and bought a 100-year-old farmhouse in North Carolina complete with a dairy barn and 1,000 acres and started a farm – First Fruits Farm.  The name was inspired by Jason and his wife believing God was calling them to feed the hungry and use the farm to share the Gospel.  In 2014, they donated 120,000 pounds of sweet potatoes and 10,000 pounds of cucumbers to regional food banks. 

Doesn’t that sound like something God would do?  He took the broken pieces of a NFL football player’s life who was in a free-fall headed straight for destruction and restored it – or dare I say REVIVED it – literally and figuratively blessing them with the fruit of their obedience and labor to leave the things separating them from God and turning back to him. 

We will look at another story of REVIVAL this coming Sunday found in the book of Joel.  I am looking forward to worshiping with you and being reminded how we can go From Devastation to Restoration. 

Grateful,

Pastor Brandon