I love music.
From touring with a band, playing shows to sitting with my iPod.
It’s so refreshing.
Music just stirs the soul. It’s remarkable.

So, with that, here are some of the songs I’m enjoying at the moment:

David Crowder & Daniel Bashta, “Like A Lion”

Bon Iver, “Calgary” (Snow Panda Remix)

Imogen Heap, “Hide And Seek” (Murdok Dubstep Remix)

Listener, “Wooden Heart”

Gym Class Heroes w/ Adam Levine “Stereo Hearts”
(this isn’t GCH, but I liked the acoustic version these guys did)

What are my late night people listening to? (include a link for me to check it out)

Jason

Seconds into the verdict, Twitter, Facebook and all of social networking is in a frenzy.
A few posts from people I’m friends with or follow on social networks included…

“I cannot believe it?!”
“WTF!!!!!!!!!!! Are they crazy???”
“Way to go, another G@# Damn OJ set free…”
“OMG!!! i just threw up in my mouth. I cant believe this.”
“Can I just grab my gun and shoot her now? Who is with me…?”
“I hope the jurors can sleep at night knowing they let a child killer loose.”
“I AM F*#@IN’ ANGRY! WHO DOES THIS AND GETS AWAY WITH IT!!??” UGH!”

I don’t know all the facts of the case.
I’m not her lawyer or the states lawyer.
If she did kill her child, by law, she deserves a penalty for that.
She admitted about lying to the police, she will be penalized for that.
Do I think a mother who cannot find her child should be out partying? Absolutely not.
Does her story comes across shady at times, needing a lot of clarification? Yes.

As a parent, I’m pretty certain I would do anything for my girls.
I mean swim oceans, climb mountains, battle reptiles…
Nothing short of beg, hitchhike, and grovel to keep them safe.
I’m their father. It’s my job. It’s my duty and promise to them.
So, I get a bit of the outrage people feel when they watch a case like this.
Parents want justice.
Crimes are deserving of a punishment.

But, before we start chanting “IT’S ANOTHER OJ!” (which is ridiculous to begin with)
Let’s just step back for a minute…

As a Christian, I’m reminded of a couple of truths:

I have crossed the line God has set (too many times), and because of that deserve a penalty. Romans 3:23
Though I deserve a penalty, God saw fit to save my sorry tail and show me love. Romans 5:8
Because I’m thankful for that love, I show that love to others. Actually, I’m commanded to. Eph 4:31-32
When things arise, I’ll listen way more than I talk. Being angry accomplishes nothing. James 1:19-20

I’m not sure where you’re at in your journey with Jesus.
This isn’t about rules and regulations to follow, it’s about a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe. In that relationship, I’ve learned that I never have the whole story. Even when I think I do, it’s usually tainted with bias, emotion, and turmoil. As a Christian, my role is to love others, help lead people to Jesus, help hold my fellow Christians accountable when I am in the position to, and if someone walks through the doors of Forefront or I pass by them in the community… I’m to be Jesus to them. Period.

So what if a pedophile walked into service next week?
A prostitute? A murderer?
Casey Anthony? OJ Simpson?
What if it was someone who just lied a few times?
The guy that just had a little side action without his wife knowing?
The woman who just needed a fix to calm her down. But she promises it’s the last time?

Listen, I’m not saying it’s easy.
Things like this get me all worked up.
And right before I’m about to shoot out with my emotions in a heated conversation or post all over social networking and fuel the fires of the American way, I’m reminded…

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;  ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:5-8

Sometimes I need to just slow my roll… and realize I put just as many nails through the body of Jesus as the next person. It’s time for us to stop throwing daggers at people and start passing out shoulders to cry on and arms to embrace those who are hurting. When I was at my worst, that’s when Jesus died for me.

Let’s show the world Christians can behave better, show love more, and be compassionate.
I for one and glad that Jesus stands as my advocate, because even though I deserve death, I’m going to be in Heaven for eternity.
Oh, and I definitely do not deserve it.

Jason

To be a part of something bigger.
To watch God perform the miraculous.
To let go of our own egos.
To be a part of the church instead of simply “showing up” @ church.
To be free.
To accept and trust in God’s promise.
To believe in that Jesus doesn’t make bad people good, he makes dead people live.
To give back to His church and others from the overflow of our hearts.
To be still- and experience this week after week…

Baptism: Jake & Kelly Lengel from Forefront Church on Vimeo.

Dan Almos, Rick & Chrissy Hoyt Baptism from Forefront Church on Vimeo.

Forefront Baptisms: Jordan Kay from Forefront Church on Vimeo.

I wish I had the time and energy to create something like this.
Ronen V is pretty creative, check out this video:

Ronen’s Adventure: Trapped in an iPhone from Ronen V on Vimeo.

You ever feel like that?
Ever have that “I feel like I am completely trapped” kind of feeling?
You feel boxed in. Isolated. No means of escape.
For all intent and purposes, the end is all that’s left inside your head.

Well, the other day our family was at the Outlets in Williamsburg.
I hate the outlets. Seriously. I would rather lay on I-264 than be there.
But, what mamma wants, mamma gets. And mamma wanted a day at the outlets.
So we went.

On the 1.5 hour drive back, I hear from the back seat, “Daddy, I HAVE TO POTTY!”
Super.
We were about 30 minutes away from the house.
I cannot pull over and let a toddler do #2 on the side of the road.
“She doesn’t wear diapers anymore, so it could end badly,” I thought.
Maybe we could drive really fast?
Nope, I’d surely get a ticket.
We could get off on an exit and use a bathroom at a business?
Nope. HOV lane.
Now, I normally don’t pick the HOV. But, remember… what mamma wants, mamma gets.
Carrie is always asking me to get in the HOV for times sake.
This time I took the initiative and got in the HOV with out her asking.
Yep. I knew what was coming…
“Well, we could get off on an exit if you didn’t get us trapped in the HOV lane,” she said.

We were trapped. No where to go but straight down the HOV lane with a toddler crying about her imminent “movement,” a baby screaming for her afternoon bottle, a wife letting me know I could have made a different choice, and me (breaking down on the inside like a kid who got beat up and had his lunch money stolen). Although many different options were running through my head, I could only drive and pray things didn’t end badly.

But, I made the choice.
I’m the one who had picked the HOV lane.
I didn’t ask my daughter if she wanted to use the potty before we left.
I placed the diaper bag in the far back of the car, where the baby’s bottle was.
I did it to myself.
It affected the people around me. Badly.

We all experience things in life. Sometimes it is completely out of our control (it’s usually pretty clear when these times are). But many times, it didn’t just “happen to us.” Our decisions and actions led to the tale of being trapped and now we’re reaching out from the hurricane we created screaming, “I have no idea how I got here?!”
Well, you made choices. Good, bad, indifferent- choices.

When we feel trapped in our daily grind (job, soccer practice, choral rehearsal, kids behaving poorly, domestic issues, lack of communication, etc), it’s because more often than not, we neglect to make the choices that can remove us from the cell we’ve become trapped in. The point of difficulty is when we find comfort in the cell, the walls are all we know, and we fear getting loose because the unknown is scary and awkward. But, it’s in those storms that we encounter (created by us or not), that we move ourselves towards God.

⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:6-8

I struggle heavily with anxiety.
It ravages me internally.
This passage from Paul gives me peace when I’m feeling trapped and confined.
When you’re feeling trapped, focus on this truth.
Allow God to free you from the trappings of this amazing life American dream you keep chasing.

Growing up, you never know what kind of lasting impression you’ll leave on people.
For many, you don’t get the chance to speak into the lives of your childhood friends, as an adult.
Fortunately, that chance came around.

Joe and I grew up together.
We ran with the wrong crowd. Wait, we were the wrong crowd.
Not all the time, but we were definitely far from perfect.
Your parents warned you about… us. Ha.
We grew up, and parted ways.
Just over a year ago, our paths crossed.
He was wrestling through a broken marriage.
I was fumbling through pastoring a church.
We sat down in the mall food court and talked about life.
He shared his mistakes, and his deep love for his wife.
Joe wanted to make things right.

Melissa had been coming to Forefront for awhile.
She was searching for healing in their marriage.
God eventually brought Joe along to experience God’s love, through His church.
A year later, this is what God is doing…

Forefront Baptisms: Joe & Melissa Hunter from Forefront Church on Vimeo.

“Love is when the other person’s happiness is more important than your own.”

H. Jackson Brown Jr.

“Do all the good you can, By all the means you can, In all the ways you can, In all the places you can, At all the times you can, To all the people you can, As long as ever you can.”

John Wesley

Disaster Relief in the Southeast U.S.

As we’ve seen on the news and in the paper, the Southeastern United States was hit hard with tornadoes and disastrous weather. Well, it’s our job to do something about it.

We have been invited to join a number of other churches from the Northeast (PA & MD) and our area to donate items to be transported to Capstone Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama to support the thousands affected by last weeks tornado’s. This has taken a lot of coordination within a number of organizations.

Here’s How You Can Help

Items needed include: Bottled water, sports drinks, diapers (various sizes), hand sanitizer, non-perishable POP-OPEN and eat items, and toiletries. Items donated should be boxed and labeled. Water and sports drinks that are packaged together in a bundle of a 12 pack or more can come as is. Having items boxed and labeled will make packing the truck so much easier.

Drop-Off date is May 12 at the Forefront Offices, 2697 International Parkway Suite 3-132, Virginia Beach, VA.
For directions, http://tinyurl.com/forefrontoffice
Drop off items directly behind the building from 8am-5pm.
If you need another time to get your material here, please contact jason@forefront.org or call 757-373-9171

Forefront People: You can drop your stuff off at church or at the offices during business hours.

Church/Community Leaders: We have a video below that you can play on Facebook, Twitter, etc. If you create a free vimeo.com account, you can download it from the vimeo site to play at church this Sunday.

Tornado Relief from Forefront Church on Vimeo.

Jason

UPDATE: Items added to the list of donations

- personal care items, shampoo, deodorant, feminine hygiene, toilet paper, tooth paste, etc
- baby items – diapers (all sizes), formula, wipes (big need!!)
- new underwear, sox all sizes (Big Need!!)
- tarps
- chainsaws, chainsaw oil
- air mattresses and cots
- sheets, blankets, pillows
- food items
- can openers
- hand sanitizer
- soap
- sleeping bags

At Forefront, we embrace people’s stories.
Everyone has a story to share.
You might think it’s boring or uneventful, but you have one.
The amazing part, your story needs to be told.
It’s a part of the puzzle, a piece of the body, the scene in the movie.
Your story helps share this “good news” with others.
You telling your story matters.

We have a few people who are going to start a new chapter in their story this Sunday after church. They are taking the step to surrender to God and allow Him to transform their life. It’s another moment to watch the miraculous happen. I love it.

Here are a few recent baptisms that took place here at Forefront.
Awesome.

Forefront Baptisms: April 10, 2011 from Forefront Church on Vimeo.

Derek Smith’s Baptism from Forefront Church on Vimeo.

Great new movie coming in Summer 2011.

Yes, my littlest girl rules.
Thank goodness Roxy is finally crawling.
She has taken terrorizing her sister Chloe to a whole new level.

I woke up this morning, opened up the paper and saw this:

Many different emotions swept over me.
Relief. Anger. Jubilation. Sadness. Grief. Worry. Anxiousness of the unknown future…
I remember being in a church gym with 48 other student pastors as cell phones started blazing with the news.
We huddled around a 13 inch black/white TV as we watched the replay of planes flying into the World Trade Center.
It was unbelievable and frightening.
Was this some kind of stunt?
Who could do such a thing?
What is happening?
People were asking all kinds of questions, with close to no answers being given in the hours following.

And so began “The War on Terror.”

Since that time we’ve witnessed massive casualties of our military men and women, innocent civilians caught in the midst of battle, terrorists dying for their cause, Saddam Hussein’s capture/trial/ and death, and a rise in security in every aspect of our lives. You cannot get away from this truth: the fabric and landscape of our world was changed forever by the tragedies that took place on September 11, 2001. We cannot go back to the old normal.

So, today with the news surrounding Osama Bin Laden’s death, we are hearing quite a frenzy of opinions. Across the board every news station is covering this. Newspapers are plastering the event across the headlines (i.e. the photo above), and social networking was set ablaze over night by the news. Here are some of the Twitter & Facebook updates I awoke to:

• “Just heard on the news “VB based seals” killed Osama!!!! Way to go Boys!!!!”
• “This has nothing to do with Obama. Stop celebrating him. Lets celebrate the troops who have been fighting for this day!”
• “Boy I love being military!!!!! Congrats USA!!!! And good job soldiers, you all are amazing!!!!”
• “Hell just received a new tenant. We warned you not to mess with the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave!”
• “Woke up and saw that Osama Bin Laden is dead – there is no way America can have a case of the Mondays today! Now lets get to whoever terrorized these gas prices!
• “Okay, I’m hearing some Christians celebrating the recent news, and some Christians saying that celebrating someone’s death (even an evil person) is wrong. I guess I’m stuck somewhere in the middle.”
• “Not to blow up people’s news feed, but if you’re cheering the fact that Osama was killed, I urge you to check your heart. I don’t think that God cheers when one of his lost children is lost for good… Granted, God has the final say on who goes where but I can only assume by what I’ve seen that he did not accept Christ.”

Processing My Response

I was trying to process all of this and make sense of everything I was reading. The “Jason” in me began to celebrate that justice had come. The “Spirit” in me was mourning the possibility that another person more than likely will spend eternity separated from God (I don’t know where He stood with God, but his belief system point to one that was far from him). It’s like I’m schizophrenic in need of clarity. As a Christian, what am I supposed to do with all of this?

I find some relief, like the writer in Proverbs, who penned the words “When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous, but terror to evildoers” Proverbs 21:15. I remember David in the Old Testament writing, “The righteous will be glad when they are avenged, when they dip their feet in the blood of the wicked. Then people will say, ‘Surely the righteous still are rewarded; surely there is a God who judges the earth.’” Psalm 58:10-11. When evil is dealt with by the hands of the Lord, His people rejoice that oppression has been brought to justice. This isn’t joy in seeing that person’s demise. This joy and jubilation is a reaction to the timeless truth that God’s mighty protection has reigned above all.

The flip side of this… a death took place. The death of an individual. Was he evil in his actions? Absolutely. Did he commit heinous murders through his terror plots? There is no doubt about it. If he came to God, could God forgive Osama Bin Laden of his actions and pardon him of all his sins and allow him to enter into Heaven, as a new creation? Yes. But… here is where I struggle. Based on God’s plan of salvation, and accepting the Bible and truths there-in, it does not look like Osama Bin Laden came to that place. Now again, I’m not sure whether or not he did or did not come to Christ and turn from his ways while hiding in caves and dodging military forces. If I were to consult my childhood Magic 8 Ball, “Outlook doubtful.” With that in mind, Biblical truths would point to the strong possibility of Osama spending eternity in Hell, and that breaks my heart.

As a Christian, no matter how awful a person, I wouldn’t desire for anyone to go to Hell. God, in His justice and holiness, can have no part with sin, and that penalty is separation from Him for eternity. It reminds me that I am thankful and in eternal debt to a Creator who showed me the error of my ways and I now fully submit to each day I walk this earth. It harkens me back to the image of the cross, Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. It’s His conquering over death that allows those “in Christ” to celebrate eternal life. I am thankful for God caring that much for you and I.

This is where I’m at. But…

Why Does Your Reaction Matter?

Simply put: you have influence. Around the water cooler, throughout social networking, at the dinner table with your family – you have influence. Your opinion and reaction matter. It helps mold those around you.You have the power to help guide others in an open and honest dialogue about pain,  suffering, justice, God, faith, etc. It’s an amazing opportunity to talk about things that normally wouldn’t come up in some circles you travel in.

Unfortunately, I think the overwhelming message/reaction is that somehow God is blessing America and everyone else around the world is kind of missing out. This “God Bless America” crap has got to stop. Really? Is America a “Christian” nation? (take a few seconds to watch the evening news and you’ll find the answer to that question). Is God really blessing America and leaving everyone else out to dry? We don’t have the market cornered on the “blessings” of God. Having traveled around and conversed with people outside the U.S., the view of Americans and Christian Americans especially isn’t all that great. The sentiment is, “Americans think God is on their side and everyone else is just screwed. How pretentious to think you’ve received all God’s blessings and somehow arrived.” (other people’s words, not mine).

I pray as we parse through all of our emotions, we don’t allow our love for the “land of the free and home of the brave” to cloud our understanding of “love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and soul” and “love your neighbor (no matter how far away) as yourself.”

Where Do We Go From Here?

Someone is going to (and probably has already) rise up and move into the position Osama Bin Laden left vacant with his death. Terrorism, war, fighting, and fear will always be a reality after the events on September 11, 2001. As we move forward, we can…

• Pray for our President. No matter what party you claim, his job isn’t easy and scripture calls us to honor and lift up those in leadership
• Pray for our troops & families. Being from a military family myself, I know the harm, danger, and anxiety that a family feels when a loved one is over seas. May we never forget their sacrifice.
• Celebrate today. You are breathing, you have life within you. Each day is a day of celebration for a life found in Christ. Take hold of it and don’t let anything steal your joy.
• Be aware that evil will still happen. There is no shortage of bad guys, evil henchmen, and terrorists. Bad things will continue to happen in a broken world that is in angst for the return of God upon judgement.
• Evaluate your life. What matters to you? Is God the most important thing of your list of loves? If not, what are you doing to make the strides to connect with Him? If He is, how are you taking hold of every opportunity?
• Pray for your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. The old saying, “Kill ‘em with kindness” (in my mother’s voice) is still something I hear echoing in my head.

It’s a tough thing to wrestle with. In the end, God judges all. Our job and duty is to cling to His teachings and make every effort to use today to the best of our ability.

Jason