The Other Side, 01-10-10

January 10, 2010 in Forefront with 0 Comments

My wife, Carrie, is going to take over the blog on a weekly post to share her thoughts and take away from Sundays & life at Forefront. Please be nice and show her a little love on her first installment. She’s a nervous and reluctant blogger. Enjoy.

Jason asked me if I would make some observations, jott down some notes, and share my thoughts from Sundays to give you “the other side.” I think this is good, even though it’s not really my thing. I’m a do’er- not a writer or communicator like this. I enjoy my time behind the scenes. Do’ers enjoy working and serving without needing recognition. In the Church (at large), it’s been labeled being a “worker bee.”

In the system of bees (I guess it’s time for a Discovery Channel lesson- hold on tight), worker bees get the short end of the stick in many people’s eyes. You see, the queen bee lives about 3-4 years, while worker bees live about 3 weeks in the summer or a couple months in the winter. The worker bees slave away for the queen and the hive and don’t get any of the glory, recognition, or pats on the back (or on the wings in their case). They just die. The thing of it is- they aren’t out for the medal ceremony, awards show, or nobel. They do it because it’s part of who they are. They are worker bees. Worker bees serve the hive. The overflow of their identity as worker bees demands that they serve. It moves them to do things. It’s part of their DNA.

As we listened today during the message, Jason talked about James Chapter 2 and pointed out this idea of faith and works. I like how James (the writer of the book) breaks the idea down for us to understand. We can believe in God, but even the demons believe. Belief isn’t enough for us according to God. Our faith becomes real when we begin to practice it. When we love, serve, share, do, give, extend a hand, open our homes, share our lives. It is at that point that our faith in God lives. The thing I get hung up on as a do’er is that I do so much of the things that I believe God would want me to do, that sometimes I just get in the do’er mode for the sake of doing. I forget the why and who. The why I serve and who I am serving.

That’s why I am excited for Forefront as we go through this series. I’m looking forward to the next three weeks. A couple other things that I walked away with today:

  • I started to think about how excited James must have been when he started living for God. How come more Christians do not keep that excitement?
  • The NeedtoBreathe song, “These Hard Times” was a good worship song. That was the first time I heard us sing it at Forefront and the band played it well.
  • We have a ton of people volunteering at Forefront. I want to say thank you for the hard work you all put in. You expect to hear thanks from the staff, but I see it and you all are so wonderful.
  • Praying for the women who are thinking about going on the Women’s Retreat in March. It is the 4th, 5th, and 6th of March. I would love to get to know you and worship/learn together. Email me or Lisa Gollihur if you are interested in going.
  • I love my husband, but I do not claim him when he is in rap videos like this one today:

A special thanks to my hubby for helping me with the links and editing. I will talk to you all next week and if you ever have any questions, what to talk, etc. please contact me (Facebook or email).

Until next time,  Carrie