Author of The J Man Review
By: Kelvin Oliver
T4JYM: How long have you been a Christian?
J MAN: I’ve been a Christian since a very young age as I was raised in church. My mom tells me that when I was two while my dad was giving an invitation at church, I asked her if I could accept Christ and she prayed with me. Since then, I have had numerous life-changing experiences with God that have solidified my commitment to Christ.
T4JYM: Can you share a short testimony with our readers?
J MAN: My testimony is more a testimony of healing as I was born with a busted blood vessel in my head which caused me to have to have a V-P Shunt placed in my head to control the drainage. Although there have been quite a few operations to maintain it, I haven’t had a operation concerning that in over 10 years. And even though the doctors didn’t give much hope, I’m now a vibrant 22-year old with his whole life ahead of him, poised to help the Gospel of the Kingdom advance.
T4JYM: Where do you see yourself in five years? Ten? The future?
J MAN: Where do I see myself in the future? Still promoting Christian music, maybe married if God brings Miss Right my way. I’d like to have a label as I run across great talent all the time that are unsigned and unable to get their gift out to the masses. Those are just aspirations, but in essence my ultimate goal for the future would be to remain in the center of God’s will.
T4JYM: What is the main focus of The J Man Review?
J MAN: My main focus for the Review is two-fold: First, to promote Christian music by providing in-depth information and perspectives that the public might not find in other publications. And second, I would hope that people would realize that we have one of the most powerful tools at our fingertips. That tool is Christian music. It is a very vital way that we can reach out to friends who need the message of Christ, but might never darken the doors of a church. On the website we call it: “Pushin’ The Play.”
T4JYM: What made you create The J Man Review?
J MAN: Now that’s a long story! But I’ll try to abbreviate. My pastor asked me to begin writing a review for our church newsletter and I obliged. Let me tell you, those first reviews weren’t anything to publish in the New York Times, but we all grow! After I started doing that, Jars of Clay came to the church and I had the opporutnity to interview them. That interview was picked up by a website in Canada and I wrote for them a few months. Then I moved on to Crosswalk.com for a year and a half and then Diaganote Magazine for nine months.
To back up here, my column was always called “The J Man Review”. But as it is now didn’t start until after Diganote folded. After that folded, many artists, publicists, managers, and the like encouraged me to strike out on my own and give the Review its own voice. So I went to Web Design school and launched TheJMan.com in January of 2004 and The J Man Review became a full-fledged online music magazine in September of 2004.
T4JYM: If you could meet any one person, past, present or future, who would you meet?
J MAN: I would probably like to meet Billy Graham. Anyone who has witnessed that many people come to know Christ and done it with such integrity is someone I would like to receive wisdom from. Artistically, I think it would be great to meet people like Stevie Wonder and Bill Gaither.
T4JYM: How you done anything with the public as far as having a position witha company?
J MAN: Along with my many duties as “J Man”, I also promote business seminars for Get Motivated which features top speakers like Zig Ziglar and Rudy Giuliani.
T4JYM: Who are some of the other media personalities you have met and what did you think of them?
J MAN: Some personalities and what do I think of them? Now this could get me in trouble! Just kidding…Some of my favorite personalities to meet have been Carman, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Kirk Franklin. These men are very genuine in their faith and I applaud them for that. I also have to say that my good friends in Newsong, Avalon, and Casting Crowns and others like Paul Colman and Joy Williams are just great people. I love their spirit and drive to get the Gospel out to as many people as possible!
T4JYM: Who, or what, are your biggest influences?
J MAN: My biggest influences in my personal life would be my parents. In my spiritual life, my pastor, Burnard Scott, is very influential. He’s also influential in my career as he started the idea for the Review. Musical influences change so much now that I’d say look at the previous question for that.
T4JYM: Who do you look up to the most in life?
J MAN: My dad. His strength has always inspired me and caused me to strive to be the pbest man I can be for God.
T4JYM: Do you ever feel fear when you approach someone with the Gospel?
J MAN: Sure. I think we all battle with that. But usually I try to use what Carman calls “the neutral ground of music” to reach out to someone who doesn’t know Christ. I know if I can get them talking about music, I have a huge inroad and it gives me confidence as well.
T4JYM: Are you involved in your own home church? What role do you have there?
J MAN: I’m very involved in my home church. It’s a new work in the middle of Ybor City. Right now, I help with audio production in the services.
T4JYM: Are you involved in any other ministries?
J MAN: The J Man Review has another arm that we are starting up. We bring a multimedia presentation on music where I speak about how music influences your life to youth groups. So far, we’ve done three shows in Florida. Our final show of the year will be in September. We’re looking to do around five shows next year in Florida and then take it nationwide. So if your youth group is interested have a pastor contact me on the website. It’s called Point Of View…
T4JYM: What would you like to tell the youth of our world?
J MAN: I would just encourage them to stay the course that God has them on. The pursuit of God’s will is the ultimate cause we can have as Christ followers. When this pursuit is our goal then everything else falls in to place. Pursue the passion God has given you to become all you can be in Him.
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