Jason Bedell Online

What if you had an inside look into a day with Death? Well, now is your chance. We followed along with the Grim Reaper and saw first hand how he spends his days. Enjoy.

We got our hands on the super awesome, fantastic, mega, amazing, deluxe disc edition of Twilight. On the extras we found a character we are glad was axed from the movie.
Enjoy.

We got our hands on the super awesome, fantastic, mega, amazing, deluxe disc edition of Twilight. On the extras we found a character we are glad was axed from the movie.
Enjoy.

A few Sundays ago we used text messaging to interact with the audience. We asked people to text/email their name and response to the what we were talking about to "text@forefront.org"

We had a HUGE response. People didn't have to have Twitter, Facebook, or MySpace. They just needed a phone and the ability to text. So, we've been encouraging people each week to text in if they have questions about the message or service. Each week we'll respond to people individually and place some of the questions (without names) here on the blog. It will be a way to keep the discussion going. Here we go...

Question:
Why do we do communion every week? I went to a church as a kid and they did it once and awhile. Just curious.
Answer:
One of the the things we talked about today in the message was the early church in Acts Chapter 2 from the Bible in the New Testament. We discussed what example the early followers set and how we (Forefront) want to follow that example. When they met, they studied God's teachings, shared community (share life together), they broke bread (communion) and prayed to God (Acts 2:42). Since they met together every week to do these things, Forefront's Sunday services reflect that. We also sing to God and have a children's ministry (which aren't noted in this passage), but we feel that by doing so it enables us to communicate God's message effectively to the entire family.

Question:
In Jason's message today, he talked about some signs a church is doing community like God says. Is there any way I can get that list?
Answer:
Absolutely. All of the signs are ways you can measure if a church is fully committed to Godly community and following the New Testament Church. It's found in Acts 2:42-47. We don't think it's a coincidence they are in the order they are, so without further delay, here ya go:

• Sign #1: The Church Together Weekly v. 42 “The devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching & to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
• Sign #2: Miraculous Things Are Happening v. 43 “...and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.”
• Sign #3: Everyone Is On The Same Page Toward God’s Mission v. 44 “All believers were together an had everything in common.”
• Sign #4: The People Are Sacrificial and Giving v. 45 “Selling all their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.”
• Sign #5. Meeting & Eating Together v. 46 “Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts...”
• Sign #6: People Are Giving Their Lives To God v. 47 “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

This has already been called one of THE most powerful moments in Catalyst's ten year history.

There wasn't a dry eye in the arena after Jimmy Wambua met Mark, his Compassion Sponsor of 19 years, for the 1st time. It was an unbelievable moment... Jimmy begins to share at minute 3:45.

Compassion International is a great organization.
Check out their website right now.

Jason *over and out*

Main Session 4: Matt Chandler

Let me just say, Matt Chandler is one of my heroes. I know we don't agree on everything, but I love to hear him speak. His passion for God and His Bible/Word are amazing to me. He has a great way of communicating things and is able to correct you and poke a little bit at your insecurities without making you feel like turning and giving up. Just has a way of bringing things clearly and balanced.

Okay, enough on my "man crush" Here are a few of my notes from His talk during day one of the main sessions...

• Hebrews 11, History is a weird animal, how history haunts
• The fall happens and fractures everything, Cain and Abel, God regrets He made us. Then the great children’s story when he destroys the world... We talk about this with our kids like it's some kind of fable of child's tale and do these stories/history a diservice and someitmes feel like as adults they don't mean anything for us now. (And most of those Old Testament stories should scare the crap out of little kids).
  
• The rest of time it is God preparing the world for reconciliation from the fall
  
• Let all the nations be glad because of what God is doing
• 400 years of silence, then Jesus, and that is the Gospel, His sacrifice alone and grace of God
• Jesus walks righteous life, dies righteous death, Matthew 28 is a collision of human mess, Jesus ascends into heaven and some believe and some still doubted...
• It's like there was a guy there looking up and just goes, “I don’t know... I dunno? I got a cousin down in Capernum who does something similar.” Are you kidding me? He went up into Heaven and you people are still doubting?!? Then...
  
• Peter gives the most un-seeker friendly sermon ever and thousands were added to their number. 3,000 and then 5,000 and then it keeps going by the hundreds.
• Cornelius’s house: Get up and eat Peter. THen it's like Petere responds, “No way! Remember that rooster thing, nah uh, where is that rooster, no way man. No way.”
• Cornelius gets saved and Peter goes, oh great, and runs back to the leaders and they gather everyone together to see if it’s okay. Cornelius speaking behind him and asks if gentiles can be saved. They say it’s all good, as he speaks tongues behind him.
• What God says he was going to do in Genesis Chapter 12 is happening right now. RIGHT NOW.
• Hebrews 11, The Faith of our Fathers
• Switches from some great stuff to torture and more, quite a switch with no transition and then talks about the cloud of witnesses
• Let us also lay aside every weight and sin that clings to us & our being
• 1 John 5- God is light, in Him no darkness...
• Run with endurance in the race God has designed for us.
• Nobody wants the ministry of Moses. His ministry was wandering in the desert with whining people for 40 years (but people have changed in our churches, HA), some of you will spend your whole life with stiff necked people and you’ll never be called to speak at a large conference and God is going to reward you in the end of all of this.
• 1, He is the Founder of our Faith
• 2, He is the Author & Perfecter of our Faith
• 3, He is the Joy of our Redemption

Main Session 3: Robb Bell

I know there is more than enough controversy surrounding Mr. Bell to last an entire year of blog posts. In my own RSS reader I probably see 3-4 posts a week from different people ready to string him up. That's not what these take aways from Catalyst are for. I am not a big fan of Robb Bell or have a "man crush" on him like some pastors do, but he had some good things to say while at the conference.

Here are a few of the things I was able to type away while listening...

• Recently talking to a pastor who said he wanted to quit, I asked Him why, he said "I'm just really burned out from all of this ministry work.
  
• So, he turned over a paper plate, turned it upside down, drew a pie chart on the bottom and asked, what you do? He explained the office hours, multiple services, counseling, events, time away form family, retreats... He spent close to 90+ hours a week on the church and little to no time with his family.
  
• He had only been the pastor a year and "every day I want to quit."
• Some of the other guys he talked to- preaches 5 services, craziness. Neglecting his families time and values
• Then the guy turned to Robb and said, "I have 300 people, but it’s nothing like what you are doing!" Robb responded, "as the French would say- "WTF?!?"
• "You have 300 people who are looking to you for guidance and they need a shepherd and you don’t think that is significant?" He urgently expressed to Him that God laid on him a calling to pastor/shepherd/and lead those people closer to Jesus.
  
• But... Is bigger better? Robb would answer no.
• You are a living Eucharist
• We are loved exactly as we are! Don’t be seduced by “The Big, The More…” Your Heavenly Father is not asking them to be you & you to be them… rather asking You to Be You!
• “Put the crack pipe down!” as it relates to Christian organizations ranking churches. Why are we putting out lists of who is better and bigger in the kingdom? Remember when Jesus said the last shall be first and the first shall be last. If you're on those big church, exciting churches list, do something to get off them- because Jesus said you are basically out of luck in the end if you're on that hip, cool, look-at-me list.
  
• John 6, Jesus has a crowd that is following him, verse 22
• Verse 66, “Many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed Him...”
• Sometimes the crowd thins and people leave (when the truth is shared)
• In the journey of God, if we are to choose between the cross and the flag, we choose the cross. Sometimes it's not politically correct, but we're not call to be P.C.- we're called to follow the Creator of the Universe.
  
• Sometimes everything is up and to the right. (like a diagram, we watch as we mathematically do the "right things" and se see movement and growth. But, those ideas don't always translate to the idea of "success" that all these big time guys promise. you can't melt down the growth of God's church into an equation. It takes out the power of God to do what He does)
  
• If you do “A” and “B” and “C”- then this and this and this will happen. Not true in the church.
  
• Jesus would say, "I love your desire and passion, and sometimes their are crowds and you find yourself with a parking problem, but the crowd will eventually thin and your methods aren’t always going to produce the “results” you thought.
• You might even think with some people, "I thought we were going to go the whole way together? I thought you were going to be here from beginning to end?" Unfortunately (or fortunately) some people only stay for a season. That is alright. Let them go. Keep moving forward.
  
• Luke 21, looked up, saw the rich, saw the poor widow drop two copper coins, widow put in more than all the others. All the peeps gave from wealth, but she from poverty gave all she had to live on...
• John 5, Deuteronomy
• "When you obey God- you won’t want anyone else’s life."
• So now, let’s talk about a couple things, love your neighbor as yourself. How are you doing with the "as yourself" part of that?
  
• Is there any possibility that you haven’t taken care of yourself enough and in turn you cannot love your neighbor as God calls you too?

Main Session 2: Shane Hipps

Shane is the author of Flickering Pixels and is the pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church. He is an ex-employee of strategic planning for Porsche (bizarre). Anyway, in his talk during the labs day and on the main stage the following day- he covered the ideas in his book that technology shapes our faith. We take in so much from TV, Media, Computer, Web, Music, Movies, etc. that it begins to mold the way we process information, believe in moral absolutes, and more.

It was an interesting talk and I'm not quite sure I'm even on the boat with him at this point... but, I'm willing to listen and process it more. I think he is a little off base at times, but we can agree to disagree. His stance on "a couple things concerning God's message and it's evolution over the years" has gotten me a little stirred up, but you can read His idea about it here at this blog post and draw your own conclusions.

Anyway, here are the notes I jotted down while trying to wrap my head around all the really gargantuan words he was saying. Seriously, the guy has quite the vocabulary.

• At Porsche, He was responsible for strategic planning
• Brand people’s brain with the Porsche logo and make you think you need their cars
• Christianity is fundamentally a communication event
• Pillars of fire, smoke, prophets, burning bushes, donkeys, etc.
• "The medium is the message"- Marshall McCullen
• What you communicate with is going to determine how the message is received
• When a human reads printed words, left brain, mathematical encounter
• When you show an image, right brain, experience & encounter
• Mark 2:22
• One day I was spending time at a pretty famous art museum. I walked into a very stark room with one piece of art. There was a gaurd there who was very serious and stern watching everyone who entered the room. The guard in the museum was there to protect an artifact, walk out to the garden and the gardener is promoting life and growth.
• What if what Jesus said is actually true, that the gospel is a lot more like the garden than a painting. If that is true, the kingdom needs more gardeners and a lot less guards.
• Guard is motivated by fear, a Gardener is motivated by love and looks for growth and life. To cultivate the gospel rather than being a guard who spends their time tearing everyone else down because they don't start every sentence with the word, "Gospel."
  
• We simply need to love this gospel because perfect love casts out all fear.
• Is the bible old and a relic? No. As trees grow, roots go deeper and deeper. So it is with the local body. As we learn the fundamentals of His heart, our roots will grow deeper. We don't need to strive for just plain old knowledge. Better to put that knowledge into practice.
• When you do, you won't have time to criticize others... you'll be too busy spreading the gospel as a gardener and less likely to sit as a guard doing nothing.

Interview with Jessica Jackley, founder of KIVA

KIVA is a micro-lending initiative to help individuals world-wide start businesses, get rolling, give back to the community, and pay back their loans... so they can re-invest again. It's an amazing concept and it is obviously working according to the stories of people who have been touched by this. Check out this video on how KIVA works:


Here are some of the notes I took during her interview with Reggie Joiner:

• Jessica spent some time really trying to gain a clearer perspective on our world and helping people in need
• Normally the situation for giving in many organizations is to give to a hurting need and out of pain. Watching the hurt and (in the nicest way possible) throwing money at it.
  
• Kiva strives to move in a different direction
• Compassion is part of these situations when we look at them and a larger part of that is guilt. Guilt for the situation we live in as compared to how they live
• But the problem kept raising questions in her soul...
  
• What is my personal role in all of this?
• Tried out multiple different serving opportunities, but something wasn't filling this compassion for people who need something more.
  
• Micro Finance, lending for the poor. All of these are built for the needs of someone living on a few dollars a day.
• It was about trying to encounter business entrepreneurs who are trying to build businesses from the ground up
• As you help them, you build up a livelihood for the community
• They already have amazing stories, why can’t we lend a few hundred dollars to get them to the next level? Let’s help them help their communities.
• Went from 7 to 50,000 to 1,000,000 to 100,000,000 in less than four years. Insane.
• KIVA basically works with the banks for the poor (Micro Financiers).
• Work by posting people who need loans, profiles of everyone, people browse, lend money, get updates, get paid back so they can lend again.
• It’s interesting to watch how people view KIVA over the course of it’s life, but the money moving back and forth is a tool. To help people and to bring lenders to a new place of understanding.

Main Session 1: Andy Stanley

Andy talked through Joshua's story and how we have some defining moments as leaders. Here are (some) of the bullet points I walked away with from His talk.

• Our desire is that when we leave this earth, people will talk about our mark, praise our mark, and love the fact that we walked through life with God and it impacted them
  
• Some of you (leaders in the room) view leadership is a bad thing
• "If you are discontent with the status quo, it’s because God is building in you the heart of a leader."
• You won’t realize your biggest mistakes until years later and you won’t realize your defining moments until long after you’ve left it
• I don’t want to make a difference for my sake, but for God’s sake and the kingdom growth and unfortunately you won’t know the thing you did to leave that mark and change/ create significance until much later
• Joshua 23
• “When you have all the things you need, don’t forget the Lord your God”
• Nation had crossed the Jordan River, mana from heaven had stopped coming in the morning and they got up and now started living off the land
• On the other side of this incident, Joshua is about to take down the walls of Jericho and he is on the verge of making his mark in God’s name
• When he was 110 years old, he addresses the nation and tells them that through his whole life he was dependent on God
• Joshua 23:8, Cling to the Lord your God, Take heed to love God, If it is disagreeable to serve God, choose who you’re going to serve. But as for me, in light of everything up and down, we will serve the Lord...
• You've probably seen this at your little granny's house, "As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord." It's in every old farm house in the south.
  
• I would like to think that when I make my mark at the end of my lifetime, to continue to be in love with God, he used me in a significant way, and there is no greater joy than to take your leadership gift and use it for God.
• Later, a couple days out from taking Jericho down, 5:13, he looked up and saw a man with a drawn sword, not following rules or an assassin, are you for us or are you against us?
• Neither, vs 14
• And the angel of God said... No.
• It was as if God was saying to Joshua, I have not come to be a part of your story or the story of Israel, or what I’m doing through Israel, I’m coming to see if you want to play a role in MY story. Your answer will determine what mark you make and “whose” mark you make...
• Am I willing to submit myself to a bigger story and not to live a selfish story
• Angel says, “But as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come.” and waits for Joshua’s response
• Joshua fell down in reverence, “What message does my Lord have for His servant?”
• He would be a man of authority, He was going to be a leader under authority and allow God to move through his life and not waste one minute of time on people who were for or against him, but who his life was for.
• Joshua is falling to his knees, And the commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for where you are standing is Holy Ground.”
• The point was simply this, “Before your name becomes great and you become a household name that god had to make sure Joshua was a leader “under” authority and you are leader who is more concerned about whose side you’re on than who is on your side.”
• A man out to SERVE SERVE SERVE the Lord.
• Daily thing on our knees where we say before God, “Thy will be done and Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done and Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done and Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done and Thy Kingdom come.”
• It doesn’t happen until we come to that place that once and for all and every single day that we are under His authority, making His mark, and being devoted to “Whose” you are and who you’re for and not who is for you.
• Our mark isn’t worth our life. Living to make my mark is too small to live my life for. Living for His mark is worth giving my life to.

This is Amena Brown.
As they opened the session, she performed a spoken word piece that was so engaging- you could have heard a pin drop in a venue of 13,000+ people.
It's people who grab a hold of the arts like this that encourage me to continue to pursue innovative and exciting ways to communicate God's message of grace and love.
Here's a pic of Amena performing at Catalyst...

As the church, I don't think we need more "shows."
We don't need more rockstar worship leaders or paparazzi-seeking teachers & preachers.
We don't need more tech, lights, sound, digital loops, or clever series set designs.

We simply need a voice.
A voice that is surrendered to God.
A voice that is connected to God's heart and mission.
A voice that is truly courageous.
When we have that kind of voice...

The gates of hell will tremble as words roll off your tongue.

Jason *over and out*

A couple of quotes of guys who weren't there from the lab session leaders:

“The size of your ministry is in direct proportion the the pain you can endure”
- Craig Groeschel

“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go with someone else”
- David Gergen

During the conference, we were not only challenged by the speakers, but had some fun with the videos and in between moments. Andy Stanley opened and closed the main sessions (we'll get to notes from him later), but they remixed some of his live speaking moments into a music video.

It made the place go nuts. Too funny. I love it when leaders don't take themselves too seriously.
Enjoy.

Jason *over and out*

Lab #3: "From Ideas to Action" with Mike Foster

If you've heard of the "Midas Touch," many people say Mike Foster has it. The guy is the brain/founder of things like XXXChurch.com, Plain Joe Studios, Ethur, and Junky Car Club. Now, don't get me wrong- all these people at conferences like these are just people.

You cut them, they bleed.
You look at their life, they sin.
You analyze their ministries, they didn't make it amazing.
God did.

They are just men/women who are trying to follow God like you and I. Mike shared a good amount of information that moved me to fill three pages, but he told a pretty simple story that just got to me...

In CA, he used to go to a park on a regular basis. The park overlooked the water and he loved watching the boats as they go by. He told himself quite often he would one day sail, but years later- still no movement. One day he signed up for a class and began to learn the very thing he watched from the park bench for so long.

Towards the end of his class he was able to sail by the very same park he sat and watched boats from. This overwhelming feeling came over him. He knew what it was. It was moving from ideas to action. And life for Mike Foster was never the same after that. He wanted to be the kind of guy who moved in what God called him to do instead of sitting on the side lines watching and criticizing others. A pretty valuable lesson for each of us as followers of Jesus.

Here are some other notes I jotted down during His session:

• If God has a wonderful plan for my life, why doesn’t He just tell me?
• Why isn’t He just clear and tell us?
• You just keep shaking the eight ball until we get the answer to our question or the answer we WANT to our question of God
• It doesn’t come through yes or no answers, sometimes it’s through His word and His wisdom imparted to us
• Our actions and plan in life is not a bullseye.
• There is a little thing called faith that is a little more fluid than we might imagine. We sometimes wait on His blessing and getting it right, but He blesses action. Just do it.
• God will be excited with us when we act, even if we foul it up. He desires us to move and act in Him, not just listening to a direct voice form God.
• Church leaders are in a laboratory of ideas. Maybe you’ve hit a place that it isn’t working, it’s tough, you feel stuck and like a failure.
• Four things that can help you get perspective
• Number One, “What is right?” find it and optimize it
• Number Two, “What is wrong?” find it and change it
• Number Three, “What is confused?” find it and clarify it
• Number Four, “What is missing?” find it and inject it
• Keys to Initiate all of this Action
• A- Overcome Your Fear of Failure
• The Bible talks a lot about failure from different people in the Bible, we need to create a place and culture where people are allowed to fail
• We are all people of the second chance
• Love this saying- “God will not make His work made manifest through cowards”
• Courage, boldness, we all need a dose of this
• The idea of community is so incredible, especially when it comes to this idea of fears
• B- What We Do Needs To Flow From Our Story
• Everything Mike has done has been about Mike. It birthed from my passion for God and what He did in me. What you're passionate about personally will move better than things you don't feel passionate about.
  
• When we do things that spur from our story it motivates us to move forward
• There are two reasons to do thing, the good reason and the real reason
• Warren Buffet, “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.”
• C- Character Is The Foundation For Everything
• Too many leaders are leading people to something that they themselves don't have the faith to live and character to maintain
  
• We need to have the character that stands above reproach

Lab #2: "The Story of To Write Love On Her Arms" with Jamie Tworkowski

Let me just say right off the bat- I love what Jamie and his team at TWLOHA is doing. They help people through depression, suicide, self-mutilation, etc. It is truly a cause worth getting behind to help people in need. Anyway, he told the story, which is found on almost every t-shirt (on the inside printed) and I was pretty familiar with that.

What I wasn't prepared for was the first part of his story. He worked as a product rep for Hurley in CA. He had a friend named Zeke Sanders who was a rep as well here in Va Beach. "Strange" I thought, "I had a friend named Zeke who I went to high school with and surfed with some." Jamie went on to talk about Zeke suicide and how it rocked the Hurley company.

I was floored. I remember hearing about Zeke taking his life and how it really took myself and many of the people who knew him back into a speechless state. "Zeke? Not him. He was one of the happiest guys we've ever met." Jamie went on to talk about how it started the wheels in motion for his heart to think about this idea of changing people's lives and educating them on this idea of suicide and depression.

I didn't expect to walk into a Lab session at a Christian conference 10 hours away and hear about an event I was so closely tied to- so many years ago. I went up and spoke with Jamie and we talked about our friend Zeke. I know if Zeke were alive today he would be ecstatic that people are helping others out of tragedy like this. Too many people struggle with depression and ideas of hurting themselves... and they rarely seek out help or treatment.

That Lab was God appointed and I am excited to begin a dialog with Jamie about Zeke. He was a great guy who had many more years of life and joy to offer. Praying God will use Zeke, Jamie, TWLOHA, Forefront, and everyone who loves people to reach out to those who need to hear about His love and grace.

More will be coming from this as our dialogue continues.

Jason *over and out*

I was very appreciative that Forefront gave our staff the opportunity to head to Catalyst and experience the conference as a team. With great leaders, amazing worship pastors & bands, and a firehouse of knowledge coming at you... it's hard to process and take it all in.

Over the course of multiple posts I'll share some of the things I learned, gathered, and thought over this last week. The first day we attended the labs section, which is multiple leaders, 30-45 minutes each, and you pick who to go and spend time with and learn from.

Lab #1: "Off The Blogs" with Anne Jackson, Jon Acuff, and Carlos Whitaker

Now, I follow all these individuals blogs, but honestly... only Jon was able to impart anything that really hit me and stuck. He shared his journey of sarcasm, pride, book deals, and trying not to get a big head because God is the only one who matters. Here are some of his thoughts I jotted down...

• You have a story to tell, and God designed you to tell it to everyone you meet
• The devil will try to take your story and ruin it. He doesn’t want you to tell it
• Satan wants us to discount our story
• Satan wants us to think that other people are better and who am I to tell my story? Their story is way cooler because they have this big fall they overcame- and I'm just a kid who grew up in church and followed God. Who wants to here that boring story?
• When we feel like that, we need to hand our stories to God.
• The alpha and omega knows your name, you’re as famous as you are ever going to be. Don't think a blog, anonymous replies, Google Analytics, or your Facebook or Twitter follower count is any indication of how cool or valued you are. You are His. That is enough.
• If you believe in those other things; I'm sure God is looking down and wondering, "Whose praise and mention is going to overshadow Mine?"
• We need your story and want your story. Your story matters.

What happens when we read between the lines, thoughts, and things we say?
With many people our "yes's" and "no's" and "statements in between" are not always the truth or a clear picture of the truth.
Sometimes life is crumbling around us.
It's in those moments we need to let people in.
Share in community.
Love God enough to let people know our hurts and pains.

It's tough, but when we do- Jesus goes from a plastic idol to a Living Son.

Jason *over and out*

Have you ever wanted something?
I mean so bad you couldn't wait?
There are a ton-o-things I would love to have RIGHT NOW.
But...

There are clearly lessons learned from waiting.
Waiting on people.
Waiting for God.
Waiting for a moment of clarity.

The process of waiting and not jumping right in to everything we see allows us to think clearly, gain perspective, ask God for His direction, and move as He tells us to. Now, there are somethings where we just need to leap and have faith, but... I think there is some wisdom in situations to wait a moment.

What do you think???

Jason *over and out*

11:25 pm Friday Evening.
On the road.
My view from the back of the van as we head up I-85 N to good 'ol VA.
It's never been so good to think about home.

I'm a pretty crappy husband at times. Listening to many of the speakers, worship music, and moments of tuning in to the whispers of God's voice... I realize I need to change my intentions into actions when it comes to my wife and daughter.

They deserve my best, not my left-overs. If I give you my best on Sunday morning and give them 70% of me because I gave my all to you, I'm a horrible example as a pastor and a lame husband. I try hard to be a strong husband, but it's time to be stronger. Try harder.

God, I'm yours. I am going to honor my wife. I am going to honor my daughter. I will no longer sacrifice them on the altar of neglect and lack of attention.

From Your servant who is learning & getting it. *over and out*

We have a a couple dozen women who attend Forefront and their husbands do not. We have some families that have just started coming and the wife has committed to God, but the husband isn't quite there yet. The question has been asked,

"What if I want to give to God's church, but my husband does not?"

I received two inquiries about this on Facebook last week after our meeting and it breaks my heart to hear about this. God's desire was never to have two people in a marriage relationship where they differed on whether or not to love God. The ideal and His plan is for two believers to come together and love one another as Jesus loves them in their marriage. So, what happens when this isn't the case?

Number one, God loves you. Two, God knows you probably didn't think that this was you're big perfect plan, it just happened to end up this way... and Three, God loves the fact you are searching after Him and living a life for Him.

But, when it comes to giving and your husband, you have some things to consider. God calls us to follow Him before all others. That includes your husband. But, if your husband isn't loving God the way he should, that makes this difficult- because you are to honor and respect your husband as teh leader of your family. I would say first, talk with him. Have an open and honest conversation about your faith in Him and your desire to give to a God who is changing your life. And, you desire for him to know and understand the God you love and care for.

Secondly, I would cling closely to 1 Peter 3:1, "Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives," He's saying, be submissive and honor your husband, and maybe instead of wearing a brotha out with words and banter about this...

Love him.
Love him.
Love him.
So that he may be won without words.
Simply by your example of Jesus living through you.

Wives of men who aren't quite there yet... hang strong. Love Him and him (God and your hubby). Show the man of your life the MAN of your life. And by those actions you may allow a crack in his hardened heart for God's Spirit to slide in and convict him of his need for an ever loving, grace filled Savior.

Jason *over and out*

A young lady came and met with me on Thursday of last week to discuss how life was going for her and the family. She discussed how God had been moving in their hearts about how to give to God and how they felt He was calling them to a higher standard.

She then proceeds to tell her about her and her husband's heavy smoking habit and how they spend hundreds of dollars in cigarettes in a month. In a month. She pulls out an envelope and places it on my desk. "That's mine and my husband's cigarette money for October. We're giving up smoking. We're going to make our cigarette money- God's money instead. It's what we need to do."

I was blown away. I know the road for both of them has been hard this past week. It's difficult to give up something that can be very addicting. But, God is moving in their family. He has been doing it since the day they accepted God's amazing gift of grace and love. They experienced here at Forefront. I'm glad they're here.

It's stories like theirs that keep me moving. Thank you for following Jesus.

Jason *over and out*

So we get to the room, wind down, talk some, check email... then Dan lays down to go to bed. 3 minutes later- this is taking place. All night long. Seriously. Dude was waking up all of ATL.

Enjoy.

Jason *over and out*

So, the team arrived down here at Catalyst 09 and we couldn't be more pumped. The road trip down was good, 9+ hours in a van brings out the best (and laughter) in people. It's great bonding as a staff and we cannot wait until the workshops start today.

The staff and I are very grateful for our Forefront Family and all of your support. You all are truly amazing. If you need anything from us, contact Lisa, lisa@forefront.org or 757-468-1188.

We'll have some fun video updates and more as we spend time down here in ATL.

Jason *over and out*

God's church is on a mission.
A mission of love.
Loving people where they are. And...
Loving them enough to help them go from there to the feet of Jesus.
Forefront rocks at this.



But it doesn't end here.
Now is the start of the journey.
Now is the time to encourage & teach.
Train and love.
Counsel and hold accountable.
Serve and lead by example.

God is moving in big ways through His church and I'm glad he allows me to be a part of it.
Congrats Steve and Sam.

Jason *over and out*

There are times when God moves.
I mean, He REALLY moves.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 was the date.
Over 140+ people gathered to talk from our 500+ congregation.
It was a Forefront Family moment.
They didn't have to come.
They came because they cared.

And it meant the world to me, the staff, and our leadership.

We talked about some pretty difficult things. It was an honest discussion. And most churches don't like to do these kinds of things. But I love to embrace the "faux pas." We talked about finances. Discussed how Forefront reaches a ton of people far from God and how it's the believers in our community who are to teach them, help them and continue to practice their spiritual disciplines in order to move the body forward.

The hard part was to discuss that before that meeting- I informed them we had not paid 5 of our staff people. Because the tithes and money collected was not enough to pay everyone. I brought to their attention that my wife texted me earlier that day, "I left the store in tears because we had no money to buy groceries and I had to put it on our credit card." The room- silent. I told them about how our Children's Mininstry Pastor came to me almost cringing because she needed $20 to buy pre-school supplies. Silence.

I used the word difficult earlier. It doesn't even begin to describe it. But, as those things were mentioned, we watched what I can only compare to a Pentacost-type movement sweep through the room. We watched as a physical, emotional, and spiritual wave slowly moved over the room. It was clearly God's Spirit at work.

As we opened the room up for Q&A (scary to think what might happen in a meeting like that, but we are family and it's appropriate), it was great. The family began to repent, say the hard things, convict and hold accountable others, share stories, express their love and thanks for the staff. It was incredible. One thing that blew me away was the a comment made and the response from the entire room. Someone said, "Jason, we just want to say thank you to you and the staff for bringing this to our attention. We need to be reminded of the need and if we don't know, we cannot take care of our church and our leaders we love." The response... the loudest applause and confirming body language of the night. It brought me to tears.

It truly was a defining moment and talking about this even here probably isn't considered the most "cool, hip, or exciting" thing to do. Forefront has been looked at since it's launch as a model on how to do church planting and reach people who are far from God. It could "hurt our image" in many people's eyes to know we struggle, hurt, and have times of trouble. I could care less about our rep' in the church world for talking about things like this. Because our people are the best Christ-lovers I've ever seen.

They answered the call of God that night. They raised support, covered the pay checks of the staff, repented to their leaders for not doing what God has called them to do, and asked for accountability. They even heard the need for our staff to be poured into and heard we were going to cancel our trip to Catalyst Conference in ATL because we didn't have the funds to pay for gas or a hotel... those funds came in too. Forefront Church rocks my socks off.

To all of you church leaders who might think it's only cool to talk about missions, baptisms, and awesome new series and that people will run when you talk about finances- quit disobeying God and having a lack of faith in Him as a leader. God wants you to stand in Him. In the good times and bad, in Him.

Today is my one year anniversary as the Lead Pastor, Evangelist, Minister (whatever you would like to call me) of Forefront Church. We've seen a lot in this year, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Thank you God for making me the man I need to humbly be in You.

Jason *over and out*

(Forefront Family: The video link of the evening meeting will passed around through our Gel Groups with a password protected link. Since some details of family meetings stay within the family, we felt this was the best approach. So talk with your Gel Group Leader starting Monday for the info).

I absolutely love this video. Our Creative Team (@allenj @jdtheart4) filmed it and did a great job. Glad that we only have one James. Any more than that is waaaaay too many. Enjoy.

Jason *over and out*