From Rock Bottom to Redemption: Pastor Jason Krail's Incredible Journey

Imagine hitting rock bottom as a homeless heroin addict, only to rise and become a dedicated pastor and family man. That's the incredible journey of Pastor Jason Krail, our guest on this powerful episode of the Dorsey Ross Show. Jason's captivating story starts with a childhood memory that adds a touch of humor before we navigate through his dark past and his remarkable transformation. His story is a testament to the power of faith, hard work, and taking life one step at a time. Jason’s message is clear: regardless of how bleak your past may be, with faith and effort, a brighter future is within reach.

We're unpacking the complex issues of addiction, faith, and family, with Jason offering his unique insights drawn from personal experience and biblical principles. He highlights the destructive forces of selfishness and self-centeredness, linking them to broader societal problems like addiction and the absence of father figures. Jason's perspective on the urgent need for Christians to foster stronger spiritual connections and support each other in faith serves as a wake-up call in a world struggling with widespread addiction and societal unrest.

Lastly, we turn our focus to the ever-evolving challenges of youth ministry and parenting in today's tech-driven world. Jason shares his pastoral counseling experiences, tackling issues such as addiction and eating disorders, while stressing the importance of professional networking and spiritual guidance. We discuss the alarming decline in church attendance among youth and young adults, and Jason offers practical advice for integrating youth groups into the main congregation and balancing technology use in family life. Don’t miss this episode filled with personal anecdotes, practical advice, and a deep dive into the everyday miracles of faith and recovery.

Chapters

• 0:00 From Addiction to Ministry
• 8:32 Addiction, Faith, and Family
• 17:48 Youth Ministry and Parenting Insights
• 29:46 Journey to Pastoral Leadership
• 33:17 Path to Pastoral Calling
• 36:31 Everyday Miracles of a Recovered Addict
• 46:25 Podcast Guest Thanking Host and Audience

Transcript

Dorsey Ross: 0:15

Hello everyone, thank you again for joining me on an episode of the Dorsey Ross Show. Today we have a special guest with us. His name is Jason Krail. He is a husband, a father convicted. Felon. Jason has been in active pastoral ministry for over a decade now and has been married to his wife for 10 years. They have three boys Maxwell, paxton and Miles. Pastor Jay has a master's degree from Liberty University and has spoken at numerous blessings, and for government officials, while doing chaplaincy work for large corporations. He has received many different awards for his contributions for the community and leadership awards for his dedications to serving Jesus in the margins. Pastor Jay's introduction to Jesus comes in an unorthodoxy way, on the run from authorities and living as a homeless hearing addict in the addict in Kensington, philadelphia. The Holy Spirit entered his life and was forever changed. Pastor Jason, thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Jason Krail: 1:53

Thank you for having me Looking forward to it.

Dorsey Ross: 1:55

Absolutely. Let me, as I always start off with I always start off with a icebreaker question what is your most embarrassing?

Jason Krail: 2:06

memory One of the biggest ones is when I was a young kid and I was at the pool. I have two older brothers and, being the youngest, I was picked on quite often and one time I jumped off the high dive. I did a perfect dive. You should have saw it. It was like Olympic medal award winning dive at least in my mind it was and I went down but my swim trunk stayed at the top and I went all the way down to a 15 foot pool and my brothers jumped in and grabbed the swim trunks and ran away with them. So I had to sit in the pool for a half hour while other people were looking at me laughing because I was naked in this pool it was a community pool, there were so many people around. I was embarrassed. I didn't live that down for a few years, but it still sticks with me to this day, which basically the reminder is to tie your swim trunks really tight there you go.

Dorsey Ross: 3:03

Before telling your story about your past, let's talk about your present for a moment. And you know right now, like I said in your bio, you've been a pastor for the last you know 10 years past, for the last you know 10 years. And I'm sure a lot of people, regardless of you, know their past and what people go through. They probably think to themselves right now where they are. Because of where they are at the moment, they're probably saying I'm not going to be able to do anything that I want to do in the future because of my past, because of my criminal record, because of my addictions, because of this, because of that, how did you decide? Obviously it was Jesus and you know your conversion story, your facing moment. Obviously it was Jesus and your confidence through your faith in the moment. But what made you finally decide, hey, I want to take that step of faith, get my degree and become a pastor.

Jason Krail: 4:13

Yeah, I would say for those that are stuck right now and feeling like the odds seem insurmountable. I've been there too. I remember sitting in a prison cell. I was like $50,000 in debt owed to the state. I was sitting in this prison cell. I had no family by my side, everything. And I had Jesus at this point because, correct, you're right, With Jesus behind you. No obstacle in front of you can stop you. That's a fact.

Jason Krail: 4:40

But there is going to be some requirement on your part. Everybody wants the results without putting in the work. That's what I've come to find, as long as you're working hard to get to where you need to be and you actually have a plan. So there's a saying that goes plan your work and work your plan. So that's what I did.

Jason Krail: 4:51

They say how do you eat an elephant, One bite at a time? How do you get ahead in life? One day at a time, so every day. Head in life one day at a time, so every day. And it's still the same processes that I used from that time that I was sitting in the prison cell, that my odds seem insurmountable, until it is right now where it's like okay, I owe 50,000 or whatever the money was how do I pay that off? $1 at a time. Everything is just like these little baby steps and then, if you calculate them and quantify them all up over the course of 15 years or whatever, you look back and you see that, as long as you have those actionable items that you can execute on and be obedient to the process, obedient to God, for sure that you're going to be able to get to your destination.

Jason Krail: 5:33

That's just been my experience throughout my entire life and in my entire ministry. Like you know, people always say God will move mountains, but you've got to bring a shovel. There is going to be a requirement on your part, but don't think too far ahead. That's my suggestion, rather, to anybody who is stuck thinking that I'm a felon or all these other things. Don't get stuck on what happened in the past. Don't project too far in the future. Live in the moment, stay in the day and take it one day at a time.

Jason Krail: 6:07

See, I think, Dorsey, even as a pastor for a decade now, people are always coming to me with some revolutionary type of advice. Right, Like pastor, how do I get through these things? And it's simple, right? The basic spirituality is what I try to live my life by. And if you do that in your own walk with God and I call it the common walk with God. See, God had this amazing, miraculous experience with me and we'll get to that later, but really it's that common walk with God day by day. Right that it was going to actually get you to the goal line. Same thing as spirituality, but the same thing in anything you want to complete in life. You got to take it one day at a time, one step at a time, and you'll get there.

Dorsey Ross: 6:42

Yeah, and even the Bible. You know they talk about worry about today. Think about today, don't worry about tomorrow.

Jason Krail: 6:50

Amen. It says what does worrying do? What's it going to add to you? It steals really. You know, anytime I project or reflect, I get sick. If I stay in the moment and live in today, I've never had it so good.

Dorsey Ross: 7:02

Amen.

Jason Krail: 7:09

What's been one of your biggest challenges in your life, pre-christ BC, before Christ I would say heroin addiction, any addiction, right, because I was an alcoholic, I was a heroin addict. I popped pills like you wouldn't believe, like Tic Tac. So I would say before Christ it was absolutely addiction. And people don't realize addiction is addiction, no matter how you slice it. Right. There's people in the churches that might be like, oh well, this guy's suffering from heroin but they're gambling on their money away or they're not healthy and spiritually healthy because they have a shopping addiction. Addiction is addiction, no matter how you slice it. Being in the field of addiction and working in addiction, substance use disorder and mental health, we see it shooting up at an all-time high right now. Really, what you'll see is people are moving away from the main solution, which is it's a spiritual disease number one and you need a spiritual solution, which is G. That's really the ultimate resolution to the problem. But they're moving away from that because, just like anything, it's mental. So you have a mental obsession of physical dependency. Once you start doing it and it could be betting, it could be buying clothes, heroin, and then the spiritual malady, that spiritual disease. So I do believe that it's a three-stage disease, no doubt about it. So that would be my biggest one prior to Jesus right, because he is the answer. And then after Jesus, my biggest hurdle, my biggest hurdle now after Jesus, is myself. You know what I mean. So it's my own thinking and my thought process, and that's something that I think everybody could.

Jason Krail: 8:40

Quite frankly, selfishness and self-centeredness is the core, root problem of everybody, even since the garden, you'll see, it was selfishness and pride that got in the way of man. Well, nothing is new under the sun. The same rules and problems exist for me in my own life, and selfishness and self-centeredness could take form in a different type of way for everybody, where it's like you know, I worked so hard to get where I'm at and I feel like I should be further. Well, this is exactly where God wants me to be. So it all comes back to the original thought of if I stay in the moment and live in the day and remember all the gifts that God has given me, I will never forget the giver. See, that's the problem. A lot of people think like they should.

Jason Krail: 9:21

When, anytime I say like I deserve or I need, I'm in headed for dangerous ground. But as long as I just say I am perfectly fine, I am exactly where I need to be, I am loved by God. As long as I say those, I am statements just like Jesus did. I am a sinner saved by God. As long as I say those, I am statements. Just like Jesus did, I am a sinner saved by grace. I'm able to handle the things and my mindset more appropriately because I know that God has a plan for me and it isn't my job to speed that plan up. It's my job to follow that plan one day at a time.

Dorsey Ross: 9:55

And then why do you think heroin and drugs, even to this day, over all the years that we've known they're addictive, we've known they're illegal, we've known all these things and what they can do to our bodies, why do you think there's still such a big addiction to those drugs? It's like a big addiction, you know, to those drugs.

Jason Krail: 10:19

Yeah, I mean, well, it's fine, it's. I think it's like a person dies every I forget what it was minute or something in America from heroin, like it's. Something like astronomical is too hard to quantify and it's quite depressing. But I mean, you know and I'll get to the point of helping others which I see people liberated on a daily basis by Jesus from that. So that's what keeps me going. But I would actually say it's because you look at the culture that we're in, right, I mean our culture in America here resembles God, but little anymore.

Jason Krail: 10:49

And of course there's always been, you know, even opiate addiction. Back in the Wild West days, when somebody got the tooth pool, they drink some or smoke some opium or they would drink whatever. Days when somebody got the tooth pulled, they'd drink some or smoke some opium or they would drink whatever. So there's always been addiction and I think there always will be, because it comes down to a lack of a spiritual connection. Like when you try to find answers to the problems internally and outside of what God wants for your life, you're always going to be left hurt because we always try to find the easier, softer way and that isn't what God wants for you. Sometimes God is calling us to something greater, and sometimes that's going to come through a pain. It's going to come through a process, it's going to come through a refinement. God is putting us through the furnace at times to refine us, to make us better, but I've only found one way to overcome that and that is through the blood of Jesus Christ. For sure for me, but to people that are out there right now. You look at the cultural climate, the politics that are going on. You look at all the people that are riding in the streets in America right now. You look at the border right, not to get too crazy on that, but that's where all the heroin is actually coming from right now. It's just coming through.

Jason Krail: 11:55

So, profit motive you look at the profit motive, right, and it all comes down to a spiritual disease. We don't have the answer to our solution outside, so we try to find it somewhere else, in a bag, in a box, in a roulette wheel or whatever the case may be. But all we're doing is actually kind of giving us a sense of temporary relief. See, I've had that times, right, dorsey? I tried every way. See, this is not new to me.

Jason Krail: 12:22

Trauma number one is probably the greatest offender right. Resentment and trauma at all kind of stems from this disease that we are hurt by from an early childhood, the systemic patterns that happened in our upbringing, our cultural climate that we live in, all these things and ultimately it leads to a lack of connection from God. But trauma and then resentment, those two things, coupled with fear, coupled with mental health issues, coupled with the three stages of alcoholism and addiction, are the driving force on why you see young kids passing at a greater rate in society. And then also, not to get too on a tangent, because this is very important to me, because I grew up without a father. My dad was in my life early on, but he was a heroin addict, alcohol, coke addict, everything under the sun, and I followed in his footsteps as fatherless homes in America. If you look at the numbers of fatherless homes in America, you'll see that, like 75% of people that are in men's prisons and women's prisons in America and who have addiction issues, by the way, come from fatherless homes.

Jason Krail: 13:29

So we have to do better, even as Christians I'm speaking to myself right now we got to do better at stepping up and fighting against this culture that wants to make you depressed. They want to give you pills to make you feel better. They want to give you this. They want to give you pills to make you feel better. They want to give you this. They want to do that. But really, ultimately, christians, we need to stand up and be louder than the culture that we live in, because that's what Christ has commanded us to, because where there is hope, there is freedom, where there is Jesus, there is salvation. Where there is Jesus, there is freedom and salvation and peace in the stream of life.

Dorsey Ross: 13:56

You know, we hear about that a lot, where you know the parent is, you know a heroin addict or you know an alcoholic or an abuser, and then the son or the daughter. You know if it's the mother, it's the daughter, if it's the father, it's the son, and it will like it's the daughter, if it's the father, it's the son, and it would trickle down, in fact, to that. Why do you think that is? Why do you think that it was when your father was in a hearing addict? Then you became one? Was it because you saw your father doing it, or was it something else?

Jason Krail: 14:43

Well, there's a ton of research on this that tells you that it is actually hereditary. Addiction issues do pass along the family timeline, so sometimes it might skip a generation. There's all the scientific proof and facts that go about it. But the chemical makeup? The fact remains that the alcoholic and addict brain is different than somebody else's. It's true. We've seen it before. They've seen it in rats. They've done so many different tests. So sometimes it'll skip generation. But a hundred percent.

Jason Krail: 15:12

If somebody in your family is an alcoholic or an addict that are suffering from substance use disorder, chances are somebody in the immediate line is going to be affected by it too. So really the only thing you can actually do is draw awareness to that issue. But then it also goes back through the familial tree, which is like now, and praise God, it's all through his grace and mercy in my life that I was able to break that chain, and now that I have three children on my own, chances are they might have the components that make up an alcoholic or an addict. So what do I do? I raise my children. Well, I show them how to be servant leaders. I show them how to be healthy individuals, even amongst this terrible culture that we're in right now and I feel like it's going to get better because God is at work in American society, regardless of what we see. But it's up to me, as a father, to mold these children, to teach these children the ways of the Lord. That way they will never depart from it. That's what the Bible says.

Jason Krail: 16:09

So that's what I do with my children to say, hey, I am an alcoholic and an addict, but, more importantly, I'm a Christian, I'm a follower of Jesus. But you got to be careful with those kind of things. Right, I don't rule with an iron fist. I mean, I correct them and I'm all about obedience and all those things too, but they're going to make decisions someday when I'm not around. So I need to help them formulate that plan now, that way, when they're around, those temptations, they're going to remember that. Oh wait, dad, right, he told us about this. Maybe I should call him and tell him to get me out of here, or whatever. That's the plan, dorsey. But so I do think that it does pass along the family tree. There's been so much history and scientific proof that shows that. But it's up to the people within that system to break that family curse, and God is all about breaking chains and he's all about setting generations different, and he's a fan of the underdog. That's been my experience.

Dorsey Ross: 17:02

Amen. Going back to your working in the church and yourself as a pastor, what do you think the church can do better in helping or accepting those with addictions?

Jason Krail: 17:18

Yeah, I would say, see, see the church, right, they kind of fall short in that regard where they don't know. So if somebody comes to them, like somebody who's a church member comes to them and they're like I'm suffering from alcoholism, a pastor might feel like, oh gosh, what do I do? Well, it's simple For me. If somebody's coming into that, for me it's a little easier, obviously because I have the historic background from it. But I always tell pastors that they should actually get in touch with people who understand the disease of addiction, right. So they have that in the Rolodex. See, I know, as a pastor who has done a lot of pastoral counseling over a decade, that I don't have all the answers. Yeah, I could throw scripture at it for sure, because ultimately it's going to be God that changes that person. But at the end of the day it's like all right, we'll go read whatever, whatever scripture, whatever, whatever. That doesn't necessarily, that's not going to really just change. Scripture does change you, but they're going to need support, they're going to need guidance, and this goes for not just addiction but anywhere else where it's like eating disorders. I don't have eating disorders, but I know a bunch of people who has had relief in that.

Jason Krail: 18:20

So I think a pastor needs to do a good job of networking around his peers and colleagues in different churches to realize I don't have all the answers, but at least I know the people that do. And I think that's really where the community comes into play, because a pastor might say, hey, you need to stop drinking. But to an alcoholic that's going to take a divine act of God. That's like telling a fish to breathe air. It's hard right. So I'm telling you, for me it's always pointing them in the right direction. The people who are professionals when it comes to the disease of addiction and alcoholism. 100% pray for them. Obviously, that goes without saying.

Dorsey Ross: 18:57

Pray for them, Encourage their walk, hold them accountable, but also put them in touch with the people who really understand the disease of addiction and alcoholism why do you think that we've seen, especially when it comes to the youth, that we've seen a decline in the attendance of youth and young adults attending?

Jason Krail: 19:19

That's a great question. These kids today, their attention span is worse than mine and I'm telling you, I'm undiagnosed ADHD. There's no doubt about it. It's like a gift and a curse for me, but these kids' attention span, they're good for 30-second TikTok clips now, dorsey, right? So how do I actually engage the community and these teens right now? Because, let's face it, you see kids, even when it comes to addiction and alcoholism and even addiction for gaming you see that now, the gaming addiction. So it's terrible, right, because these kids lack guidance, right? Instead of them playing with their iPads and their iPhones or whatever they have, they need to be active, and in the community too.

Jason Krail: 19:55

But also churches. I think they need to do a better job of integrating the youth groups into the main church, right, it's always like, oh, we got church on Sunday and a youth group this day, right. So it's always been like this thing to the side at least in my experience, that's what it's been where it's like, oh, but the youth ministry meets downstairs or whatever, and that's fine. But we need to have the people that are in the main church the elders, the people who have been walking with Christ for a long time actually involved in these kids' lives. Parents? Obviously number one. It starts at home. It's always going to start at home. So you need to actually be in your child's life. You need to be watching what they're, what they're taking into their spiritual diet. You know what I mean? I always say that Watch what goes into your spiritual diet, watch what goes into your kids. If you think that they're just surfing TikTok, you know they shouldn't be. My kids don't get those kinds of things right, because Because I don't need them to be, because if I'm not influencing them, the world is and I don't need them. I don't need them to.

Jason Krail: 20:52

So I think that's the biggest thing that we see with especially the youth groups and the kids today is that their attention spans are so low because of technology. It's the gift and the curse. We live in the best of times and the worst of times. That's an old saying and it's true in any century or any decade. We do live in the best technological times, but it's also a curse too, because now we can plug into the computer really fast, but it's hard for us to plug into other people now. And what does that create? It creates disconnection, and that's what the youth groups and all these kids nowadays are going through lack of connection, so I think it's up to us as the adults, as parents, to make sure that they're connected to something outside of a youtube screen. That's the truth, because if I'm not influencing them, the world is, and I don't want that for my children yeah, and even with it, even a lot of the adults.

Dorsey Ross: 21:44

You know, you go to restaurants or you go outside and what do you see? You see the adult on the phone. You know.

Jason Krail: 21:51

Yeah, yep.

Dorsey Ross: 21:52

Looking on the phone or on social media and whatnot.

Jason Krail: 21:56

Yeah, don't catch me frauding. Sometimes when I go out to dinner I will bring a little tablet for my youngest son, miles, because, trust me, he's like sitting there we're trying to eat like a nice dinner. We don't get out much three kids, you know but sometimes I'll throw on a little you know Sesame Street cartoon or whatever and throw it in front of them. But I do try to. I mean, my phone is always blowing up. I've been, you know, blessed that people see me as a resource for a long time, but I need to actually take my own advice a lot where it's like let me just turn off these things and go play with my kids. I'll tell you what, dorsey, the other day this is a little pat on the back, I guess, but I'm really proud of it the other day I was playing wiffle ball outside with my boys and my son crushed one and hit the lady's car. It's only a wiffle ball, she's a neighbor, but it's across the street. I go up to her and I said sorry about that. She said no problem, she's like. No, I mean that. She's like. I always see you outside every single day. It doesn't matter what the weather is. You're always out here playing with your sons, and I can see it, and it's really nice that I have somebody else that doesn't even really know me like that say that about myself.

Jason Krail: 23:01

So I say that as a father. I think fathers need to spend time with their children. I think it's so vital that they need to get that, especially in these sweet years, because I never had that Growing up. I missed my dad from the ages of nine until I was 20-something when I came home from prison and I lived with him for a little bit. But those years were such a formidable years that I was being formed and I was being influenced. Unfortunately, I was being influenced by the streets and, lo and behold, that's what happened until Jesus saved me.

Dorsey Ross: 23:29

Yeah, and hang on to that and tell us more of your story.

Jason Krail: 23:34

Oh yeah, absolutely. So I could talk for another two hours about that, but I'll keep it brief. And you know I've lived a crazy life, right, there's no doubt about it. I was I think I was 11, 12 years old when I was taken from the state of Pennsylvania and put into a foster home. I think I was 12 or 12. Yeah, 12 years old and I was put into a foster home and I ran away from that foster home within a year and I went out on the run because my dad was an addict and an alcoholic and very abusive and my mom couldn't take care of me because I was a misguided kid and I was breaking laws, quite frankly, literally breaking the law. And so I went on the run and I ended up back down in North Philly with my brother and selling drugs, doing drugs and just hurting, robbing people and just doing all these things that were just terrible. I hurt other people, not proud about that whatsoever.

Jason Krail: 24:23

And and you fast forward I was 26 years old, homeless, in an abandoned house in Kensington, on Cambria Street rather, and at this point I burned every single bridge. I was already a two-time felon, convicted of two felonies, already did a bunch of years incarceration and I was just a shell of a human being, right, I was living to use and I wanted to die, and that's just the bottom line. I did die from heroin three times prior to this experience and I was 26 years old and it was June 10th. I robbed some kid for heroin on the streets of North Philly and I tried to do all the heroin at once and I was not all of it, but close to all of it and I wanted to die from it and unfortunately I couldn't even kill myself correctly.

Jason Krail: 25:06

And I woke up and that was June 10th and I was walking back to the abandoned house where I was living in Kensington and I seen this church that said free pepperoni pizza on the side. And eating is a luxury for a guy like me. When I'm out there, rip running and if it's free, it's for me. That's what I always tell myself. If it's free, it's for me. So I went into this church and I went down into this basement and they were eating pizza there. I sat in the back and I always say I look like Forrest Gump. After he stopped running, right, like my beard was down to the floor, I look like a whole mess and it was a Spanish church. I always tell people I'm not Puerto Rican, but I'm sort of Rican, you know what I mean. So I'm sitting down there in this church and I'm eating this pepperoni pizza and this Spanish pastor is speaking Spanish and then all of a sudden he switches to English and he starts walking towards me and he starts talking about this God that was foreign to me. He talked about a God who was ready to save me. He talked about this God that said, doesn't matter what you've done in your past, this God will redeem you. And I was so convicted that I started tearing up and crying a little bit eating this pizza, and I did what I only knew how to do, and that was run. So I ran away, but not before I took a few slices for the road. You know what I mean, dorsey, when you're home eating the luxury. So I grabbed these couple slices and I ran out of there. Then I went back to the house on Cambria street and I was sitting there eating this pizza and I couldn't stop thinking about this Spanish pastor that talked about this foreign guy. I'll never forget it.

Jason Krail: 26:25

The next morning I woke up and I had a few bags of heroin on me from the day before and I was just, for some reason, I just felt different. I just felt I felt different and I was walking, I was running with this guy who had an old cell phone and I took the cell phone off him and I asked him to use it and I called my mom and my stepfather answered the phone and my stepfather was a Vietnam War veteran, an amazing guy, and I robbed him too. He tried to be the dad that I never had, and I robbed him because of my addiction. I'm not proud about that either whatsoever, but he got to see me become a dad, a husband and a pastor. So, praise God, before he passed from cancer recently, amazing guy. And so I called home to that faithful day, june 11th 2011.

Jason Krail: 27:07

So I called home to that faithful day, june 11th of 2011. And my stepfather answered and my mom said she refuses to get on the phone with me because she's prepared to bury me. And really I needed to hear that, because I was just a tornado roaring through her life. Every relationship I ever had I destroyed and the only thing I really wanted to do was hear her voice. That was it the last time I saw her. That was probably like two and a half, three years prior, and she just didn't want nothing to do with me. She said she was prepared to bury me, and the smallest words of love, driven by the power of God, can save somebody's life.

Jason Krail: 27:39

Because my stepfather said I know your mom won't talk to you, but I refuse to turn my back on you. He said I know I'm not your dad, but I sure as heck do love you like I am. He said do me a favor, turn yourself into authorities. And he hung the phone up and right there I started thinking about the Spanish pastor and all about the foreign God that he talked about and I said God, I don't know if you're real, but I need help. And right there, in an abandoned house in North Philadelphia, in Kensington, you know, god saved a w rest like me now, and I had this white light experience in this abandoned house and at a time when I thought my life was over, I realized that God entered in my heart. It was finally just beginning, when love was the only thing that mattered and I knew nothing else really mattered at all. God came into my heart, the Holy spirit penetrated my heart and and he saved my life. And I haven't thought it necessary in 13 plus years now to put anything stronger than it'll leave in my body, and I'm so grateful for that. I always say that in God's garden of grace a broken tree can bear fruit. I've heard that saying before and that everything's true in my life. I'm just a broken tree.

Jason Krail: 28:42

I went to jail that day. I turned myself into authorities. That day I was on a run from three different places. I turned myself into the jail that served the best food because I've been to them all, so I knew what kind of trays I was getting. They used to call me a tray slayer. That's what I used to do, and I ate the food.

Jason Krail: 28:55

But I was in this holding cell and it was wild because there was a Bible there, a life recovery Bible, and the first verse I ever read in the Bible was Isaiah 41 to 10. It said fear not, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will help you, I will strengthen you, I will hold you with my righteous right hand. And I knew that God was calling me and saving me, to save me. But he was also calling me to say that the age of miracles is still upon us. That's what I get to do. I live on the front lines of my life. Every single day. I talk to people that are broken every single day and I tell them that Jesus is real, jesus is ready to heal, jesus is going to save you, he's ready to liberate you. See, it's one thing for God to liberate you from your fears, but it's a whole nother ball game when Jesus uses you to liberate somebody else's. See, it gives a new meaning to a life of purpose, it gives new meaning to your life in general and it gives you a life, and I'm very grateful. But I knew God was calling me to be a pastor that day. It didn't happen.

Jason Krail: 29:47

The next day that I was a pastor, it took me three years of going to school to become a youth pastor and then, from youth pastor, it took me another three after that to become the associate pastor at a church which I just stepped down from. Obviously, I go to Trinity now in Westchester. If anybody's watching this, come check out Pastor Jimmy and the crew over there. They're the best, amazing, amazing church and now I'm serving over there. I'm looking forward to the future for that. But I went to a prison. I mean, excuse me, I went to the first church I ever went to outside of a prison cell. I became a pastor and I served there for 12 years. Now I was serving there for 12 years, which I just stepped down about six or seven months ago just because I felt the Holy Spirit calling me to leave. But it was a very hard decision for me to make because that's the only church I ever knew and they treated me. I was rough around the edges but they treated me as one of their own and I'm really grateful for that.

Jason Krail: 30:39

And I always say this first, because it's one of my life errors is in Hebrews. It says remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you, consider the outcome of their life and imitate their faith. And I'm so grateful to God that I've had the best men as leaders in my life and women, but men that have walked with Jesus, the pastors in my life that I've served under. I have been blessed that they have shown me the path and how to be obedient, how to be a good husband, how to be a good father, how to counsel other people and just really walk that narrow path that it takes to be a pastor, to be above reproach, because you see that in our society, a lot of pastors falling by the wayside, big names falling by the wayside and I really getting back to our first discussion is that common walk with God, not letting you become the destruction in your own life. And I think that's because if you don't have other people holding you accountable and you're the only person balancing your checkbook, you're going to go broke. That's like when you become super pastor, whatever that is like. You know. I mean, we're all just sheep among sheep. But even a pastor, their job is to not lead sheep astray and God holds them accountable. So I think it's important for pastors, especially pastors that have bigger churches.

Jason Krail: 31:58

I'm always a small church guy. I love smaller churches. That's how I was raised. I know every single person by name. I get to see their kids graduate or whatever. That just means so much to me. But I think a lot of pastors they don't have the checks and balance and that's why they fall out of line with Jesus If you don't have somebody checking you and I'm not just talking about God, because of course you go to God and that's always going to be number one but you need other men and for the ladies, you need other women in your life holding you accountable. Iron sharpens iron. If you don't have that other piece of iron, you're not going to.

Dorsey Ross: 32:34

You mentioned the day after you stopped doing the hearing and everything, that that was the day that you wanted to become, or you felt called to become, a pastor. Some people may hear that and you know, down the road, like you said, it didn't take you. It wasn't like the next day you became a pastor. It took you several years. Oh yeah, what made you that day? You know, obviously, you know probably the Holy Spirit moment. Amen. You know, obviously, you know probably the Holy Spirit moment Amen.

Dorsey Ross: 33:17

What was it that day that you were like, okay, that's what I will do, and that like, no, I can't do that. That's not me, that's not who I am.

Jason Krail: 33:32

Well, I mean, I think number one I am a little crazy in a good way. I'm a good crazy today, and I don't think anything's impossible. I just don't. You know now, like, and let me just get back to one thing before I speak on that Any role with God is a big role, right? So it doesn't even have to be pastor. You could be a greeter, you could anything. Any role that God has you is vital to the body of Christ. God uses the least extraordinary to do the most extraordinary. That's been my experience. That was just what God had for my life. But 1,000% it's a slow walk with God sometimes, sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. That's how God works.

Jason Krail: 34:22

It took me I had to wait, or I had to grind through nine years to get my master's degree. It gets back to our original. I love how we're guys that work right here at Dorsey, because how did I do that? One day at a time I felt like I was going to be so I did. One year incarceration, a small year, and the first church I ever went to, I pulled a pastor off the pulpit Andrew, pastor, andrew, one of my first mentors. I told him God is calling me to be a pastor. When can I preach? I said, can I come here next week and preach? He's like who are you Like? And then he's like do you even have any education? Not that you necessarily need all that, obviously, some people have been walking with the Lord. But he saw me. I was an infant. I'd been to church while I was incarcerated. That was the only time I'd really been to church. So it took him to sit me down and be like yo, you need schooling, you need to go back to school. So over this course of time, so did I feel like God was calling me to be a pastor? Yes, I did, a hundred percent, unequivocally. I knew that's what it was and it proved to be true. But I also had other people in my life, pastor Andrew being one. That he saw the call on my life. It's one thing for somebody like I want to be a pastor. Maybe that's not what God called some people to, and that's okay.

Jason Krail: 35:40

It was other people who kind of walked me along this process and through that process of grinding it out, becoming a youth pastor after three and a half, four years, or whatever the case was, of them saying, yes, god's hand is on you. In this call Number one, you got to be called by God, but number two, you have to have other people that see that call, can't just be you to see that call. And like I've been wrong a lot in my walk with God. So let me just go on record and say that like I have a plan for myself and God has a whole different one, let me tell you and the more that I stopped fighting that, the better off. I am for sure. But like 1000% I see God in the small things. Right, that happened. I had this revolutionary experience with God. I felt like God was removing me from that situation and it proved to be true. I felt like he was calling me to be a pastor. It proved to be true.

Jason Krail: 36:32

But over the course of 13 plus years that I've been walking with the Lord, what I've come to find is that common walk with God, that common walk with God is where I get to see the true blessings in my life. That common, arduous walk sometimes can be arduous with Jesus is when I get to be able to see the miracles that happen, the miracle that I even have every single day that I open my eyes. People forget about that miracle that you opened your eyes. Anything that comes after is just a bonus. It's the truth. You know, I know there's people that are in hospital systems around where we're sitting at right now that are begging God for the opportunity that we have, and that's a fact. So anytime I open my eyes, that's the true miracle. But I get to have these things like love in my life. Right, that I don't ever, you know, take for granted, because I've never actually had those type of things. I get to be the dad to my own children. How about? That's a miracle. So it's like, yeah, I had this revolutionary experiences, but now it's in that common walk with Jesus that I get to see the miracles on a daily basis, as long as I'm in tune with the Holy Spirit, as long as I realize that the best of God is in the small things. Not waking up every day, wanting to shoot a bag of heroin in my neck Dorsey, sorry to be graphic, but that's the truth. Not wanting to happen to do that, not even having a desire, having that removed from me you know somebody that was shooting heroin for over a decade, since I was 14 years old was when I first shot my first bag of heroin. Not having that and I get to sit with other people and I realized that my experience is radical to some degree. Now it's just pretty normal right Now. It's pretty normal.

Jason Krail: 38:04

My spirituality, my walk with God. It ebbs and flows like everybody else. Sometimes I'm on the peak, sometimes I'm in the valley, but I'm always climbing, dorsey. I'm always climbing and I tell people that let's look at your life right now. Like, yeah, you might be struggling in one area, but I remember you came to me in the past and you were struggling in this area. What happened? God did? He's going to take care of that too, but we just got to be obedient to the process and we got to trust that process that it's going to work just like it always has before. And as long as we do that and don't blame God and all these other things, that's one of the big things. You'll see, it's like well, if God, if God, if, if it shouldn't be that way.

Dorsey Ross: 38:40

Yeah, Now you had mentioned also that you said that you died from the heroin overdose three different times.

Jason Krail: 38:50

That's right.

Dorsey Ross: 38:51

What was it like? Was it like did people come and save you? Was it an ambulance? Was it, you know? Did they do knock-in? What was that like?

Jason Krail: 39:02

One time it was on Somerset Street and I was giving mouth-to-mouth because we didn't have those pumper things. It was actually a person who was suffering too with me. They do CPR. They brought me back to life the second time. I was done for like a solid minute in the back of an ambulance. They brought me back again and then they had to bring me back when I got to the hospital again. So, yeah, they both, both, both times or all, three times, twice in one day and then one time over there, and I'll speak on that too.

Jason Krail: 39:30

Right, dorsey, that when I died and came back, I didn't want to come back. I didn't want to. That's how terrible of a life that I was living back. I didn't want to. That's how terrible of a life that I was living. And all you got to do is look around our neighborhoods now, especially in our inner cities. You could pick any city. You could pick any city. It doesn't have to be Philadelphia, where I was at. You could pick any city and you'll see the terrible destructiveness.

Jason Krail: 39:49

People don't believe in the devil. Well, I could tell you, I could recommend you, going into the inner cities where people are shooting heroin, pregnant women you see a pregnant woman shooting heroin. You think they actually want to do that. They lost the power to choose. There's something outside of themselves that is making them do that too right. Of course it's going to be a mental, physical and spiritual disease. But evil is real and a lot of times it has a hold on our youth and our generations that are falling off into oblivion. But I didn't want to come back. That's how miserable my life is, and today I can honestly say I shudder to think that I almost missed this life, that the Holy Spirit and God has transformed my life in every single way. Yep, just a normal dude like everybody else. But when I look back and look at the blessings and the moments that God has led me and saved me from myself and still continues to do maybe not as miraculous as that I always tell people continues to do, maybe not as miraculous as that I always tell people. You know the Bible says heaven repents anytime a sinner is saved, right. So I don't even sometimes like you know my radical stuff.

Jason Krail: 40:47

I remember early on in my preaching career I would use illustrations that like were kind of wild right, like one time I was in a high speed chase and it's like you know little Bobby over there that's been walking with Jesus for 20 years. He's never been in a high-speed chase. You know what I mean. So now it's kind of like I tone it down over the course of 10 years of preaching. Now I tone it down to make people relate more, and I speak about the principles because my experience is not like somebody else's, but the principle is the same.

Jason Krail: 41:15

Right, we've all been foreign to God. We've all had our own struggles in life, enemy of ourselves. We've all dealt with selfishness. We've all dealt with pride, lust, greed, all these different things, and that's something that, like, everybody can relate to. We're all just trying to you know better ourselves in Christ's eyes as Christians and walk that path.

Jason Krail: 41:35

But we also, you know, I would encourage people to do something for other people. I think that's like one of the things that we need to see a revival of in the Western church is like, okay, church on Sunday is great. I'm not telling you not to do that, but that is just a spectator sport, like you might get filled, your cup filled and all these other things, but are you actually trying to fill somebody else's? Are you actually playing the role that God has for you, using the spiritual gifts that God has called you for in the community at large right. So you need to get active after Sunday. We need to be the church on Monday. We need to actually do more, because there's people that are dying right Every single day, or even divorces at an all-time high. Christians aren't immune to that either. They're a part of that 50% or whatever that crazy number is. Why is that? It's because everybody is focused on themselves and we need to step out of ourselves and focus on other people if we're going to heal as a nation. That's a fact.

Dorsey Ross: 42:29

When you went to the hospital and they found out that you were high or that you had overdosed, did they give you any type of help? Did they give you any type of Succession, any type of help?

Jason Krail: 42:41

Yeah, they weren't too keen about me being there For long though. I'll say that, but I'm not going to. You know, there's some people like the nurses, like you know, I mean I wasn't no picnic dude there's people coming in there with Gunshot wounds and stuff or whatever. Somebody that had a heart attack. And you know, I mean there is a. There is some stigma around addicts and alcoholics, no doubt about it, and I fully am aware of that. But yeah, I mean, they weren't too keen that I was there, but they treated me.

Jason Krail: 43:10

Nurses and doctors have a servant's heart. You know what I mean. I always look at it like that. Even my parole officer, andre I don't know if he's watching, maybe he will Andre, I had him as he was my Philadelphia parole officer. I put this guy through so much pain and stuff Not even pain because he wasn't in pain, but I put him through so much aggravation. He used to be like, when are you going to get this right? I'm like I don't tell you know. So, even him, though, he had a servant's heart. You know what I mean. Like, at the end of the day, these people are just and cops, and all these people, they all have a servant's heart. So you know I've been blessed that I've had people come in and help save my life multiple times. That's a fact.

Dorsey Ross: 43:50

Yeah, so as we get rid of the clothes, I always ask my guests to give encouraging word and encouraging message to those that are listening.

Jason Krail: 44:02

Yeah. So all right, you know, let me just the main thing that I would tell somebody you know, as a word of encouragement and this is specifically towards people that, like you, feel, like you know they are hopeless, right, I think that's like a thing and I honestly believe, and we're not just talking about obviously I'm not a pastor just for alcoholism and addiction, I'm a pastor for the people, but I even think it doesn't matter if you're suffering from those diseases. I think that we are all suffering from some form of lack of faith or hopelessness and despair. And, like I said, you look around our country and you see all the warring that's going on across globally. You see the warring that's going on in our communities. You see the youth that we talked about and touched on. I just think that we need to really understand and realize that the problem that we're facing is not new to God. Praise God for that.

Jason Krail: 44:58

What's the Bible say? That God is the same today, yesterday and forevermore, and we can find comfort in that. The Bible also says that Jesus experienced everything that we do as human beings. Right, he's experienced everything we did. He didn't sin, obviously, but he felt pain. He felt things that we feel we don't have a God who is foreign. We have a God who can relate to us in every single way. Yet he stayed true, which means he can help you get out of that. He did it and through his power, through his love, through his grace, through his sovereignty, he's going to bring you out of that too.

Jason Krail: 45:37

I'm telling you this, dorsey, that I have been at the lowest of lows and that God has plucked me from the margins, a state of hopelessness and despair. I'm talking about wanting to die numerous times, dying physically, dying numerous times, coming from that to a life that is full of love, that is full of peace, that strives to be better every single day. This can be anybody's story. Who's watching? Whether you're suffering in your marriage, whether you're suffering with your children, whether you're suffering from some type of an addiction? God is not deaf to your problems. He has a quick ear to listen. God is ready to redeem you. He is ready to save you.

Dorsey Ross: 46:22

He is ready to pluck you from your own margins and give you a life of purpose. Amen Well, Pastor Jason, thank you so much for coming on the show today.

Jason Krail: 46:26

Blessed to be here, dorsey, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it.

Dorsey Ross: 46:30

Well, guys and girls, thank you so much for listening again and please like and share this episode and leave a review on all podcast platforms, and please go check out my website at wwwdorseyroastministriescom. God bless, bye-bye.

Jason Krail: 46:49

Thank you, thanks, bye-bye.