CARLOS J. ORTIZ/Courier-Post Jeff Crispin delivers a sermon at the Pitman Grove Tabernacle last Sunday. He and his nephew, former Pitman basketball star Joe Crispin, have launched a project they call Seek Him Ministries.

More information: Seek Him Ministries

By KIM MULFORD
Courier-Post Staff

Joe Crispin doesn't want to be known as a basketball player.

So forget the fact the Pitman hometown hero went to the NBA after playing for Penn State. Because it doesn't matter.

This 24-year-old is passionate about God. He wants other churchgoers to feel the same way.

Too many people think they are Christian because they go to church and live a clean life, he says. He calls it "external religion."

It looks good on the outside but doesn't really change people's lives.

He speaks from experience. He grew up in the church. Went every Sunday. Didn't drink, smoke or cuss much. He figured he was a Christian.

Now, he says he wasn't truly converted until he was 20, when he became passionate - obsessed, even - about God.

That changed him on the inside. He quit watching hours of television and picked up religious books to learn more about his faith.

"When God changed my heart, it made me the most happy I had ever been in my entire life," he said. "Everything revolved around how I could be closer to God."

A couple years ago, Joe and his uncle, Jeff Crispin of Pitman, launched a project they call Seek Him Ministries. The ministry is based in offices below Joe's apartment in Pitman.

Jeff, 37, left his job as a pastor for the United Methodist Church. Now, he delivers fiery sermons from borrowed pulpits, preaching wherever he is invited, leading revivals and seminars.

Joe is writing a book about his faith and sometimes makes appearances with his uncle. He recruited friends to help out with the ministry, too.

The seven-member ministry has also run basketball camps but Joe says he is not so good with that. The 6-footer isn't interested in ball and ends up talking about God instead.

They target the people snoozing in the pews. They preach to the choir.

"Ultimately, we want to see the church changed, revived, reformed," said Jeff. "We believe that is going to happen when individual Christians seek (God) for themselves."

Apathetic, indifferent Christians are missing out on what God has to offer, the Crispins say. They don't want people to feel bad about themselves. They just want to wake them up.

The Rev. Dayle Tate, pastor of Waretown United Methodist Church, invited Jeff to deliver a sermon in February. The congregation asked him to come back for a Sunday in July while Tate was out of town.

Tate described his friend as a fast and furious speaker, filled with energy and enthusiasm.

"He challenges you to move on with God," said Tate. "That's going to create within people issues of personal crises, where they're going to have to decide if they're going to change or stay the same."