Just as God never forgets us and celebrates when His prodigal children return home. Whoever they are and whenever they come Home.

You recall the story of the prodigal son in the Bible, the son who wanted his share of his inheritance long before dear ole dad passed away. The prodigal son goes on his own path before coming home to his father and reuniting with his family.

In our relationship with God, we have our Heavenly inheritance upon accepting Christ but we too can choose to go our own way, turning our back on God.  The Good News is that He never gives up on us. 

Today’s focus of our Sponsor Spotlight – Javan Montgomery – is an example of that.

One of our team writers and I sat down with Javan and Tony for an interview to learn more about their relationship, both personally and professionally. When Javan told us about the moniker he had for Tony, it made us smile. When Tony dials his cellphone, the name “Tony the Baptist” pops up on caller ID.  

“I believe Tony’s talent is ministering to other men. I call him Tony the Baptist after John the Baptist because he’s baptized more men than anybody I know. He’s a modern-day John the Baptist. In fact, it’s in my phone that way. I really believe that’s a gift that God has given him. Over my years at Southeast Christian Church, I’ve never seen anybody have the impact and the influence that he’s had on so many men and so many opportunities to bring them to God.” 

Javan would watch him baptize men each week and upon learning about Tony’s story and the disciple-making movement ministry, he caught Tony in between the double doors near the portico at the Blankenbaker Campus in early 2019. 

It was at a time when Javan was going to an Encounter class on marriage crisis and Tony was on his way to a 3Thirds group. 

Though Javan – who owns Lighthouse Property Management and Safe Harbor Management – is one of our premier Kingdom Community Impact Sponsors and financially supports us as missionaries of Team Expansion and also in our vision of Freedom Lake for men being released from incarceration, he has become a good friend of Tony’s beyond their business relationship. 

“Tony has played a very intricate purpose in my life when I was going through a very big struggle,” Javan added. “I confided in Tony and he helped me through a crisis. He came out to the houseboat and talked to me about my situation. That I didn’t need to focus on the problem and heartache, but turn my focus to, ‘What does God want you to do out of this and through this?’ Tony told me he was going to roll with me until the wheels fall off as long as I keep rolling in the direction towards God. I will never forget that.”

One of Tony’s sayings is, “Honor God in whatever you’re facing.” He says Javan did just that when his family was falling apart and business took some unexpected hits. 

“I’ve never seen somebody go through as many storms as he has in two years’ time. I mean hurricanes, fires and a lot of the houses being destroyed,” Tony said. “He’s flying back and forth… It’s one hammer after another. I hear his words and I’m not hearing despair. I’m hearing heartache and suffering, but I’m hearing faith and pushing through.”

Come home

That faith was something Javan took for granted when he grew up in a Christian home and was involved at Southeast. 

After graduating from a Christian college, he ran from God. 

“I was what I considered a prodigal son,” Javan said. “At the point I was actually free, I rebelled. I turned my back on God. I stopped going to church. I said, ‘What does this world have to offer?’ I basically started blasting down a path that was the fastest way to success and what I thought the world was going after. Unfortunately, I fell flat on my face.” 

One of the reasons Javan and Tony click so well is because he got a small taste of incarceration. 

At 23, a cop tried to pull Javan over at night while he was going more than 130 m.p.h. on his motorcycle in Virginia Beach. 

“Instead of stopping, I just ran off. For some reason, I was way ahead of the cops and – I don’t know why – but I just sensed, ‘Stop the bike.’ I stopped the bike… I looked up and realized why I stopped because they actually put up a concrete barricade less than 200 feet away that if I was going more than 55 m.p.h. I would have blown into that barricade and died.” 

Not only did God spare Javan’s life that night but behind bars for the next three weeks, jail actually became a place of freedom in Christ. 

“The thing that comforted me more than anything was there was a prison ministry and a chaplain that gave me a Gideon Bible. My grandfather was a Gideon. The Bible is the only thing that I had in jail. I opened it more than I had in years. I was able to start from scratch in an orange jumpsuit. That’s when I decided God is going to be first and foremost in my life and I had to change my course.” 

After being released, Javan called his parents and experienced the Father’s love. 

“I called mom and dad and said, ‘I don’t have anything. I’ve lost everything. I just got out of jail,’” he said. “My dad said the best two words that I’ve ever heard. He said, ‘Come home.’”

Enjoying God’s Grace

While Javan moved back to Louisville, his dad talked with him about his future. 

“I told him, ‘Well, I think I have a talent in sales and business. I would love to be an entrepreneur,’” Javan said. “He said, ‘What’s something you would love to deal with?’ I said, ‘I love housing’ because my grandfather was a builder. He said, ‘Why don’t you do real estate?’” 

Javan bought his first house for $15 thousand in Middletown so he could move out of his parent’s house. It was a major house flip—one that “should have been torn down” – but would cause a ripple effect. He still owns that small house to this day along with 300 additional rental properties across three states that he eventually owns, operates, and manages. 

About a decade ago, Javan walked into a mismanaged and underutilized Taylorsville Lake Marina as a customer and saw a dream in the making.  

After chatting with the owners and realizing the value and opportunities, he bought the marina about a year later. 

Shortly thereafter, God confirmed that decision through someone who asked Javan if he’d be willing to buy their virtually brand new houseboat in less than 24 hours. 

“It was a gift from God because the name of the boat before was ‘Blowing Money,’” Javan said. “We actually christened the boat and took it out for the first time and said, ‘We are going to change the name and the purpose of this boat.’ We call it ‘The EGG… Enjoying God’s Grace.’ My whole dream is to provide a great opportunity for a place that people can get closer to God as they get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. They can get out into nature, experience the lake and really enjoy God’s creation.”

Javan’s dream for Taylorsville Lake Marina connects with the vision God put on Tony’s heart for the dorm inside the current facility where we serve and for the next endeavor, the Freedom Lake property, that one day will be a home for recently released men to “get out of the rain” as Tony says, draw closer to God as they seek His direction in their lives, and to one day may be Kingdom makers in their own right.

If you use your business as a way to share the gospel or to be a blessing to the community, we want to hear from you! Check out our Business Community Partner opportunities for ways we can serve and make an impact together. Plus, you could be featured in a future Community Impact Sponsor article in our monthly newsletter!