Paul Jackson

I mostly grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, but sorta bounced around all up and down the West Coast… Orange County, Tahoe, Oregon, Washington… and now back to where I began my life, in San Clemente, CA. I guess you could say I didn’t have too many things in my life that were solid, and I kinda went from one thing to the next, trying to fill this growing void in my heart. I tried filling the void with everything imaginable and nothing worked. Although there were a few things that worked temporarily, they always wore off into reality and left me more and more empty. Somewhere along the way, I wound up getting hooked on meth and watched my life spiral down into the toilet. I hit several bottoms, but it wasn’t until 1995, at 22-years-old, when I hit my last bottom while living in Longview, Washington. I had been in and out of twelve-step groups and decided to give the program another shot. I got clean but really struggled to stay that way. Meanwhile, I continued to try filling the void in my heart. After I’d been clean for about fourteen months a buddy from my twelve-step meeting invited me to his church one night. At that point I was ready to give anything a try, so I went. The Holy Spirit was all over me that night and I gave my heart to Jesus. From that moment on, I have never had a desire to use drugs again… all the drug using nightmares stopped and God completely set me free! Ever wondered why people say, “PRAISE GOD!”? Well, I had a real reason to give Him praise! God put a guitar in my hands right after that, and I began to lead worship and write songs. A couple of years after I came to the Lord, He led me to Evangel Christian Fellowship (Longview, WA), where I eventually became one of the worship leaders, along with guys like Aaron LaMere from The Blackstones and Gabriel Wilson from The Listening (formerly the Rock and Roll Worship Circus). I could barely play the guitar back then, and there I was, surrounded by these amazingly gifted worship leaders! I quickly had to get over my insecurities and realize that the gift God had given me, wasn’t even about me… it was about Him! It was my pastor, Jeff Hoover, who really saw the gift of worship in me and helped bring it out. I moved back to San Clemente in 2000 and quickly found a home at Vineyard Community Church in Laguna Niguel, where I am now one of the worship leaders. I had to go through “round two” of getting over my insecurities because I am now in a church with other great worship leaders like Chris Lizotte, Rick Kamrath, and John and Marie Barnett! Okay, Lord… it’s not about me, so I’ll resist the urge to bury my gift again! In 2001, I met my beautiful bride, Alicia, at Starbucks and we were married a year later. She has one of the most beautiful voices I’ve ever heard, and we both lead worship and write songs together. I truly have a blessed life, though I don’t deserve any of it… it’s all because I’m just a child of God! If you don’t know Jesus, I challenge you to discover for yourself if He is who He claimed to be when He walked this earth. Take some time alone and ask God to reveal Himself to you and show you who Jesus is. If you seek Him with all your heart and do not give up, I know without a doubt that He will answer you.