The Other Side: 03-21-10
Hey Gang, it’s Carrie. I’m coming to you live from my living room in the heart of Kempsville (woot woot). Each Sunday Jason gives his side of the service, message, and how things are going. Well, here’s… The Other Side.
The service yesterday was inspiring.
I am so excited that weekly now people are getting baptized and giving their lives to Christ. That is definitely a testimony that God is working through Forefront Church. If you hadn’t heard, 5 people came talked with Jason yesterday about getting baptized (That’s 10 people in the last three weeks. So cool.)
The bible passage in the message, Mark 7:31-37, was eye-opening. How Jesus, even in the midst of healing a deaf and mute man, thought about all of the temptations and trials that man would now endure in life- it was a change in perspective for me. Up until being healed, he had never been influenced by a dirty joke, curse word, or angry rant- he couldn’t hear it. He had never been tempted to say an evil thing, yell at someone, or speak in gossip- he couldn’t physically do it.
Lady Gaga, via Google Images
In thinking on that, it reminded me of the “innocence” of children. How they are slowly being exposed to all the negative influences we see in culture/society (as is everyone else who interacts with society). And it only took jumping into our car right after service to see it all go down first hand.
As we drove to lunch, we had the radio on and Lady GaGa’s “Poker Face” started up. Jason went to change the radio station and our 22 month old angel in backseat became unruly as she started screaming “NO! Song! Song! Daddy! Song!” She wanted to listen to Lady GaGa (seriously? she’s 22 months old!). Definitely not the influence we want Chloe to seek. But even at that young an age, she is already being exposed to the negative influences all around us. I am not saying that we shouldn’t listen to the radio or watch TV. I love TV (speaking of TV, any LOST fans out there? I love that show). But, we need to stay focused on God constantly so we do not become desensitized to the things around us. Once we become desensitized, we more easily give into those negative influences and the temptations they bring.
Wasabi Gospel by Shawn Wood
I finished a pretty good read recently, titled Wasabi Gospel by Shawn Wood. He takes a deeper look at key Bible passages that some of us have read 100 times and never thought much about, or maybe some of us have never read ever before. The main themes revolve around “true forgiveness” and “overcoming sin.”
At one point Mr. Wood discusses Matthew 5:27-30, where Jesus is teaching on sin and our actions, “If your eyes cause you to stumble, take it out, for it is better to loose an eye than for all of you to end in destruction.” The point the author gets to is that at the root of all sin- is our heart/mind. What we fill them with will ultimately be what we give and show to the world and others around us.
I was challenged on Sunday…
To share my story.
To live a life that makes people go, “Do you follow Jesus?”
To be a better woman of God.
Until next time, Carrie
