HEY, MY NAME IS ETHAN JAGO!
(It’s pronounced Jay-go,
by the way).
QUICK BIO
Dr. Ethan Jago is the Lead Pastor at 5 Bridges Church in Panama City Beach, Florida. He is a graduate of Liberty University, holding a Doctor of Ministry in Theology with a focus on the reliability of New Testament/Textual Criticism. He served in the USAF as a Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) Specialist for 15 years and as a Private Military Contractor for four years. Ethan hosts the Battlefield Theologian Podcast and YouTube channel, providing sound doctrine for everyday people through digital media. He co-authored an a study through 1 & 2 Peter with his wife Dianne, released in October 2024. Ethan also is the founder and owner of Sola Gratia Jiu Jitsu. Ethan and Dianne have three children.
ACADEMIC CREDENTIALS
Associate's Degree in Survival Instruction, Community College of the Air Force
Bachelors of Science in Work Force Education, Southern Illinois University
Masters of Divinity in Apologetics, Liberty University
Doctorate of Ministry in Theology/Apologetics, Liberty University
SCROLL DOWN TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MY CALLING FROM MILITARY TO MINISTRY
I grew up in a church culture where you weren’t there wasn’t much space to ask the hard questions.
HOW IT STARTED:
I grew up as a pastor’s kid, so I always knew how to give the right answers to the right questions. But it wasn’t until God’s convicting grace broke through my self-assurance that I realized I wasn’t truly living what I claimed to believe. The Lord opened my eyes, confronted my pride, and called me to surrender—not just to the idea of Christianity, but to Christ Himself. That moment changed everything.
I spent 15 years in the military, training operational forces around the world on how to survive, evade, resist, and escape the enemy.
Here I earned German foreign Airborne wings while working at the US Army Airborne School.
My training gave me a tactical mindset, but ministry gave me a greater battlefield. The true enemy is not flesh and blood but the one who stirs doubt and despair. Scripture is our arsenal, and through it God gives us the weapons to resist and overcome.
After the military, my mission changed—from instructing others in surviving capture to instructing others verse by verse through God’s Word.
HOW IT’S GOING:
“My mission is to equip Christians to give a clear reason for their hope (1 Peter 3:15). By addressing the hard questions, I want to show that Scripture offers real answers—far deeper and stronger than the hollow reply of ‘Just have faith.’”
Currently, I’m the Lead Pastor at 5 Bridges Church in Panama City Beach, FL.
My mission is to call sinners to salvation, disciple them in the truth, and train every generation of the church with the weapons of God’s Word. The real Enemy wages war to steal, kill, and destroy, but Christ equips us to stand firm, grow strong, and advance His kingdom.
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