So, we’re in this series “House Rules.” One of the rules at my house was, if you make a mess you clean it up. BP has made quite a mess. My momma would not be pleased. So, we want to help them in the idea process. This Sunday, during the welcome, we are doing a Top 10 Ways To Stop The Oil Leak. Some of the ones people have come up with are hilarious. If you were to write “Top 10 Ways To Stop The Oil Leak,” what would you put on this list?
Make ‘em funny people. you can send them to jason(at)forefront(dot)org.

Jason *over and out*

Well, recently someone visited and asked how we got our pre-service stuff “looking so smooth and connecting with people who need the info?” Great question! We focus a great amount of energy not only on making sure people feel comfortable and welcome during our service, but before it ever starts. The lobby has music playing with a party type vibe, people who volunteer are encouraged to be friendly & available, but not stalkers (the difference between the people at Target and walking onto a car dealership parking lot and getting attacked… ya get it?!). Along with that, we have slides that roll with announcements & funny stuff. Then, a few minutes before service begins, we play this:

The song is one edited from some work we did w/ Verve in Las Vegas, and the slides were created for Forefront and Verve, with color differences (their color is red, obviously we roll with green). But, if you don’t have super cool, video editing magic- and you don’t have the money to pay someone to use After Effects, Final Cut, or Adobe Premiere. Here is how to make something like this for your church…

Unfortunately, you need an Apple computer to do this. Many churches have at least one of these laying around, so you should be in good shape. Other things you need to get this done: iMovie, Keynote, a photo editor (either Photoshop-or a free program called Gimp).

Step One: Create Each Image (in parts):
- Make your image in your photo editor in layers.
- Now, save each layer you want to move around in your video, as a PNG file with a transparency (that means there is no background, just the image).
- To make it easier, for each batch of layers that create one whole image, create a folder and number them in the order they appear (i.e. 001.png, 002.png, 003.png, and they are all in folder “Missions Announcement”).
- Once you have all of your layers saved from your photo editor, jump over to Keynote.

Step Two: Create The Raw Video File:
- Keynote is a better quality version of Power Point. You want to create your template size as 1280 x 720 (this is the HD size for our screen, if you shoot 4:3, you can make it 720 x 540).
- Now that you are in your template, you begin to add each layer and with the “Inspector” tool, you can animate the way each item comes in, time it, etc.
- Continue doing that until all your layers are in and you have the animation style you want.
- Next, you want to record your slide show. Click, “File” and “Record Slideshow” and go through your show until it’s finished.
- Once recorded, you go to “File” and “Export.” You will export it as a Quicktime file and the default setting should work just fine unless you want to tweak something, you decide (I just left it as is).
- Then save it into the appropriate folder.
- Repeat steps one and two until you have all the parts to your intro video.

Step Three: Make Your Movie:
- Now, open iMovie and make a 16:9 new project.
- Import all of your videos into one Event.
- Move each of your movies into the project one by one in the order you think they look best.
- Make sure to go into each of the individual video settings and change the Saturation from 100% to somewhere around 135-145%. When exporting out of Keynote, the color goes a little pale compared to what the image actually was.
- Once all the videos are in place, drop your track* in there, export as a Quicktime HD file, and Viola! An opening video that will inform people, get them into service, and get things rolling.

*Our track was edited in Garageband, but there are free programs like Audacity out there as well.

Jason *over and out*

What is Relevance really about anyway?

The message of Jesus is relevant.
Love. Hope. Fresh Start. New Life.
We saw this type of excitement with the most recent presidential campaign. People fell in love with the promise of “hope.” They believed “Yes we can.” And we watched as people came out in droves to support a man/campaign that stirred emotion.

It moved people because it was relevant to their lives. It struck a chord. They had less money, felt greater pains, and wanted direction and someone to lead them to answers. It’s a great example, but it pales in comparison to the message and hope that Jesus brings.

That’s why I love Forefront. Because we take God’s relevant message of the Bible and present it to the people He has led us to reach in a way they can understand. It’s making sure we weigh the message and the method in an appropriate manner. A Biblical manner. Out goal is to not get them confused and remember their pecking order.

1. Message: relevant and life changing
2. Method: breaks down walls and opens people’s hearts

For instance, Forefront has a worship gathering every week. The message is to Love God, Love People, and Turn The World Upside Down. That is relevant to every person’s life that comes through the door. The method we use to break down the walls and hear that is more of a laid back atmosphere, music you hear normally during the week, worship songs that stir emotion/point to Jesus, and emotive/humorous videos that “break down walls & open people’s hearts” so when they hear the relevant message, they can be open to God moving them to change their lives and live for Him. Getting the two reversed can be trouble, because the message carries a boat load more weight than the method.

Because this is the case, we (the staff) celebrate the way we plan for things to make God/message first, method second:

• What’s The Reason: “What are we trying to communicate about who God is, what He does, and how He loves?” We look to the Bible to make sure what we are doing is beneficial for the community and people who need to experience Jesus.
• Expect A Response: “What is God going to do in people’s lives when we present this?” We assume God is going to do something amazing when we follow Him. The great part is, He never lets us down.
• Prepare For Response: “Are we equipped to handle people responding like this?” We evaluate our systems, people, and current structure to make sure we are equipped to handle people’s needs from what we’re counting on God to do.
• Dream The Design: “What does this look, feel, smell, taste like?” Now that we have something God-led, let’s creatively paint this in a way to make people willing to listen and experience this.
• Execute The Plan: “Everyone has a job? Well, then… do your job.” We divide and conquer to make this come to completion. Everyone knows the reason, so it’s important to them to see it through.
• Evaluate The End: “Did it produce the things we hold as important?” At Forefront, we don’t measure the # of people coming on Sundays or money (those usually drive pastors/staffs crazy). We measure baptisms, life change, community service hours, % of people involved in small groups, and is everyone “known.” If we can look back and meet one or more of these, we’re presenting God as being relevant to people’s lives.

It takes the pressure off. It allows Forefront as a church to thrive. It also allows us to give God 100% of the credit. The things we measure are up to God. It’s a great place to be and it’s what makes Forefront a great church to be a part of. This process allows us to start with the relevant message and transition into the method that breaks down those walls people have as they encounter the church’s services, projects, and outreach events. If you go to Forefront or are thinking of checking out Forefront, be assured we put God as the focus of all we do. And…

This process is definitely universal. Not only do we use this as a staff– but Carrie and I use this in our family, parenting ideas, when we work with other people, and counsel families, etc. So how are you starting with the message and moving on to the “how to’s” of making it happen? At home? Work? School? Your church?

Jason *over and out*

What is relevance?

I had a handful of really good emails, a couple concerned emails, and a few “likes” on Facebook concerning the last post “The New Stereotype.” First, let me just say I love the church. By that, I mean the church universal, not just Forefront. I love the culture that’s been created over the last 12 years here at Forefront. People are open, honest, and real about their struggles, flaws, and journey with Jesus. They serve him with reckless abandon and I love it.

Second, this blog is read by both Christians, Non-Christians, other pastors, volunteers, leaders of non-profits, etc. It’s a great bunch and love that we all can get along here on the blog. But, this blog isn’t themed specifically for Forefront Church. It’s not just about my family, and the goal isn’t just to be for other church leaders. It’s all those things depending on the posts, thoughts, and feelings as I humbly serve Jesus.

I say all that because although I love the church, I sometimes can get caught up more in the music being perfect, setting the excellent environment, making hilarious videos that bring down the house, and making sure people leave feeling like that place is so cool. Now, people thinking Forefront is cool makes me very excited. If people just think Forefront is cool and it stops there, that breaks my heart- because that means we’ve lost our focus. The cool factor shouldn’t define us as a church, it should be our impact of aiming people to Jesus.

We create an environment on Sunday mornings to break down walls/misconceptions that people might have when they come to Forefront. We do that so the message can be received in the best possible conditions for God’s Spirit to do it’s work on the hearts of people. If next year there is a huge shift in the people coming through the door & we realize that making that environment work means we worship by candle light and sing from hymnals (I highly doubt it, and hope not- but God is God and can do crazy things), if that needed to happen- we would do it. But it wouldn’t be done because we think that is being “relevant” to our audience. We we do that to make it a safe place- what is relevant is the message, communion, worship… the story of Jesus.

I would hate for Forefront (or any other church for that matter), to get caught up in “keeping up with the Jones’” and measuring their impact on the community by the best projector, rockin’ band, or funny/clever videos they create. That doesn’t make anyone relevant, it just means you have the money to get equipment. Again, those things are great and we use them all the time at our church, but that’s not what makes Forefront “Forefront.” Maybe it’s better to look at what relevance is:

Relevance is…

• meeting people in the community
• loving the homeless
• taking care of orphans and widows
• community outreach projects
• sharing a meal with your next door neighbor
• volunteering at your kid’s school
• coaching little league
• being a part of your work’s social events
• setting an example at work, home, in the neighborhood
• working through missions to aid the needy
• finding out how the people respond best to the message of Jesus and keep it at the “forefront” of all you do (pardon the pun)
• giving to people in need
• sharing community with people far from God and Christians
• living like Jesus

In the next post I’ll talk about some ways we (the staff at Forefront) guard ourselves from getting off track and making sure our services, missions work, and ministry projects focused specifically on Jesus.

Jason *over and out*

The state of the church today? (ht: marc johns)

The house lights dim, colored gels are illuminated as smoke machines fill the room. The first chord rings out as the drummer lays down a heavy beat. As the rockin’ ends- a video explodes onto the large HD screen with welcoming images of the theme of the day. As it fades to black, the lights come up to a hipster, faded jeans wearing, MTV’esk guy in his mid to late 20′s talking about… love. community. come as you are. welcome to (insert cool name that we have to look up in the dictionary)… church.

This has become the new tradition. The church has traded hymnals and suits for pre-worn jeans and multimedia. Is it bad? Not entirely. The church body at Forefront has many of these same elements involved in our weekly worship gatherings.

Is it sinful? No, it’s not a sin to have these things as part of your corporate worship experience.

Is it relevant? No. Though many would say yes, I’ve been debating the idea of relevance in my head for a few years now. What is relevance? Relevant is defined by Dictionary.com as, “1. Bearing upon or connected with the matter in hand; pertinent. 2. Tending logically to prove or disprove a fact of consequence or to make the fact more or less probable and thereby aiding the trier of fact in making a decision.”

As I see it, in light of this definition; the “church” should aim at being connected to teaching/educating/discipling people towards the truths about God & eternity. That is the matter at hand for mankind. That is what connects them to the message of Jesus. That is relevant.

Now lights, video, cameras, bands, multimedia, etc. are great. They help break down the stereotypes of a generation. A previous generation (not all but some) that focused on money, huge buildings, growing “their” church and not “God’s” church. But, for most of the country, the new stereotype is exactly like the opening paragraph. What is the reason we live and breathe as the local church? How are we relevant to the community and people who need Jesus? It’s not our band, videos, or hipster pastors the church planting organizations are pumping out. It’s connecting people to Jesus.

I think the church has a new image problem. It’s only going to get worse until we step in and make the changes necessary to show the world we’re done trying to “be cooler than your grandmas church” and strive to “be people who simply love like Jesus.” I have some ideas, well more just ramblings. We’ll hit it up next time.

But… what about you?
How do you look at relevance?
Does the local church in America measure up?
How do we change the current paradigm?
Let’s talk it out people…

• Definitely enjoyed the acoustic music that started off the service Sunday.  It was nice to change it up a bit.
• Watching little kids take their shoes off and throw them in the relief supplies for Haiti… man that was intense.
• We’re up to 30 women so far for the Women’s Retreat. Are you going? I’d love for you to come with us.
• I have been excited about this series through the book of James.  It’s neat to look through a whole chapter of scripture during service instead of just a verse here or there.

I have been thinking a lot about the scripture and the sermon Sunday.  What stuck out to me was the idea that we are all teachers all the time, whether we want to realize it or not.  As a kindergarten teacher myself, I know it isn’t always easy to be a teacher and teaching doesn’t always happen how you plan it.  There have been numerous lessons that I have planned to precision, but the teaching came when the lesson turned into TOTAL CHAOS.

It also made me think of our daughter, Chloe.  She is 19 months old and everyday she is learning new things.  Many times when she doesn’t do things the way we want her to, Jason is ready to drop the hammer, but I remind him that it is a teachable moment for her.  She is new to this following rules, respecting authority, not always getting it her way kind of life.  Many of us have been in this world 20, 30, 40+ years and we all of us still struggle with following rules, respecting authority, and/or not being selfish some of the time.  She has to learn all of that from her “teachers” and if we are still struggling with it, we can’t expect her to have mastered it in 19 months.

After the service Jason, Chloe and I attended the baptism of 2 teenagers.  It was awesome.  It made me think of something else I want to teach Chloe, I want to teach her that people coming to God is number one- and our plans are secondary.  We skipped our usual lunch plans, her nap time was put off, but she witnessed two people become Christians and I think that is awesome.  Although she doesn’t understand it yet, I want her to learn that we celebrate that life change and it is more important than anything else in our schedule.

At the baptism, James, our student minister said that the decision to follow Christ is the most important decision an individual makes.  It is more important than who they decide to marry, where they decide to go to college, what career they decide to pursue, or where they decide to live.  It is The Decision. So where did you go after church yesterday?

Did you race home to catch the football game?  Did you go to lunch like you always do?  
Thinking back to being teachers to those around us, I think about all the time we spend outside of Sunday morning and gel group time.  I don’t think those are the key “teachable moments” when we are teaching those around us.  I think a “teachable moment” occurred when you decided where to go after church. The baptism was announced and did that alter your plans at all or was it Sunday afternoon as usual?  I know we don’t have a building with a permanent place to baptize people.  I know the location was about 20 minutes away from Ocean Lakes High School.  But it’s worth it.  If this is the most important moment in someone’s life, and that someone is part of our church family, we should be willing to drive.  It is such a celebration and how awesome to celebrate that moment with people that will help you be accountable and support you as you grow and mature in your relationship with Christ.

It makes me think of Jason’s new car.  He went over a year without a car after giving his to someone who needed one- and so we finally decided to get one.  It’s nothing fancy, but it has that smell.  It has that new car smell.  When I got in for the first time I smelled that lovely smell and it made me think of how my car no longer has that smell.  It’s gone, it faded away over time.  I relate this new car smell to becoming a Christian.  When you made that decision to become a Christian and live for God, it was new and exciting, you were covered in the smell.  Everywhere you went people sensed it.  But as time went on, the “new scent” faded away.  Maybe that is why not more of us get pumped up and attend every baptism. You forgot what the brand new sensation felt like.  You forgot how exciting and amazing that life changing moment is.  Think back to when you became a Christian.
How did you feel in that moment?
How did it impact the rest of your life?
Did that feeling fade away?
How are you trying to revive it?

Until next time,
Carrie