Peter John Courson

Sitting at my computer listening to Dan Fogelberg sing “Longer” and there’s waves of nostalgia crashing over me.  This is a song and an artist I grew up listening to because my parents really loved his music, along with some of the other incredible singer-songwriters of the 1970s.  

This week has been one that’s caused me to reflect a bit: my life, my past, my faith.  The pastor that cemented my belief in Jesus Christ passed away this last week.  His name is Peter John Courson and he was only a handful of years older than me…which at this point blows my mind, because I think when he came to Applegate Christian Fellowship and took over the main role of teaching pastor from his father, he couldn’t have been older than 30.  

Peter John had a calling and a gift.  His father, Jon, taught in a manner that demanded respect.  Jon’s teachings were always rich, deep and thorough.  They were full of information and insight and were incredibly powerful.  

// Side bar…now listening to Annie’s Song by John Denver - tell me a song with a more beautiful melody.  I’ll wait. //

When Peter John came and started teaching it was like a breath of fresh air.  Gone were the teachings of Old Testament doctrine, and the constant message was that of grace, love and the gospel.  He taught about Jesus.  

One of the things I’ve loved so far this year in reading through the Bible in it’s entirety is the beautiful balance that’s struck between Old Testament and New Testament scripture.  The OT is full of instruction and law and while some can feel suppressed by that, I think it’s a beautiful picture of what God’s ideal was: an earth where people treated each other well, where they loved God and respected Him, and where their life flourished.  Then in the New Testament, you have this balm of grace that permeates every scripture passage.  Jesus died and His death changes the course of history.  No longer are we tied to the law, we are free and we have the freedom to love others well and allow grace to save them. 

When Peter John came to be the head pastor at ACF my faith was struggling big time.  It was the first time in my life where I’d been shown other options besides Christianity and I was a mess of confusion and doubt.  In the months prior I had been hired at ACF to do worship, so I had to be at a certain number of services each week.  It was hard to sit in church and listen with my ears feeling dimmed to what I was taking in.  But slowly, PJ’s words and messages started to chip away at the hardness of my heart.  

I know that God didn’t take Jon away from Applegate for those 7 or so years only to have me be able to take in PJ’s perspective on grace and have that literally save my soul…but what if He did?  

It’s crazy to me that this incredible man’s life was cut so short.  It’s the epitome of life not being fair, because on the one hand, he had so many health struggles that to be free of those was something that everyone would want for him.  But in order for that to happen, he had to be taken away.  

I’m sure I’m one of thousands that can say their life was made better through PJ and his spreading of the gospel.  I am so thankful.  So thankful for him.  

And it has made me ask myself this question all week - what is my life about?  Really.  Not the overarching goal, but what do I make my life about day in and day out?  Because I want it to be about Jesus.  All of it.  I hope that when the time comes for my life to be over that people will think of me, sure, but that they will be able to say that I made them think of Jesus.  Because truly, truly, there’s nothing else that matters.