Branded With Love

In Mid-July, 6 people from Area 10 Faith Community in Richmond, VA, Michael Kelly, and myself from here at Forefront- will be heading across the globe to share life with the Mien people in Vietnam. We’re in the works of doing a water project there (not sure exactly what’s in store), but we know the work we’re going to be doing there is crucial.

As our last push to get the team there and working on the project we’ll be selling these shirts starting Sunday (logo below). They will start at $15 a shirt, but our prayer is people will buy more than one and donate more than the price of the shirt. We have 150+ shirts and once they’re sold, they’re done.

150 shirts at $15 a pop is $2,250. Our goal is to raise $4,000 with these shirts for the work He is doing there in Vietnam. We’ll be selling them at Forefront starting this Sunday. But, if you’re interested in supporting and don’t go to FF, send: Your Name, Shirt Size, Address to: lisa@forefront.org and we’ll hold a shirt for you.

You can send a check made out to Forefront to:
Attn: Vietnam Fundraiser
P.O. Box 2524
Virginia Beach, VA 23450

Once we receive payment, the shirt will be in the mail. But- you need to email ASAP because if you live out of town, shirts will go quickly. We’re looking forward to this adventure as the 6th team in this journey to head to Vietnam and share life with the Mien people.

Jason *over and out*

I was sifting through my daily blog reading this morning and came across a post by Seth Godin that made me stop an think. Check out this video from the Sasquatch Music Festival. Guy #1 is dancing and acting a fool. Guy #2 joins in the party and equally has a ball. But watch what happens once Guy #3 jumps in…

Whoa! Being a leader is BIG, scary, and overwhelming at times. Having someone come alongside you in that is refreshing. But seeing Guy #3 jump into the mix gave it validity and momentum. Thus the movement began and people flocked to be a part. All that to dance around in joy/silliness during a concert.

With such an amazing message of love, redemption, and eternity with God the Father. God’s church needs more #1′s to step up and show their skills to lead. More #2′s to show the #1′s that they support and trust them… but man, we need the crucial #3′s to show others that God’s power isn’t going away and He’s just as strong as He has ever been.

So where are my 1, 2, & 3′s? Stand up and make His message known.

Jason *over and out*

Ruuhh Roooh!

I just got my passport back and saw the picture… I leave for Vietnam in a little over a month. I’m pretty scared that this photo and this face won’t match enough for me to get in (or out) of the country!

I hate to say it people- but the beard might have to grow back. No one wants me spending 10-20 in a Vietnamese prison camp for putting up a fight at the airport… or do they?! It’s a conspiracy people. I’m gonna get to the bottom of this.

Jason *over and out*

I get anywhere between 60-80 emails a day.

• “Join our new Facebook Group ____________!”
• “You have received a direct message from _________ on Twitter.”
• “__________ has left a comment on jasonbedellonline.com”
• “Hi Jason, my name is ______________ and I need some help with my marriage.”
• “I was in service yesterday, and I am so coming back. It was amazing.”
• “I just wanted to let you know the music is way too loud at your church!”
• “I’ve never been to your church, but checked out your YouTube page, is that what Christians really should be doing???”
• “Pastor Jason, I just wanted to say that yesterday’s service changed my life.”
• “FWD from Lisa Gollihur: ___________ is interested in getting baptized.”
• “FWD: Send this to ten ppl or you’ll have bad luck for 5 years.”

And the list goes on.
Before I had an email account, I received about 1 letter a week (not including bills). From people who cared, those few that I was extremely close to, or someone inviting me to a gathering of family and friends.

It took Effort. Time. Energy. You had to really be passionate about something to write a letter, fold it up, lick a stamp and throw it in the mail. It was an investment of sorts. You had to go and buy those stamps, paper, pens, and envelopes to send your letters. Now, it’s as easy as running to the endless array of computers and hitting “send.”

I wonder if our “electronic” mail has ruined us when it comes to communication… Now, I am one of the first people to jump on board the cutting edge bandwagon- but is it sometimes more hurtful than helpful?

Email has conditioned us to communicate anything our heart desires. We love something, forward it. We hate something, email the creator. We think about something we need, send a quick blanket email to find it. Email has made everything in our life come into the priority spotlight. Unfortunately, I believe this has also tainted our communication with God. He wants us to bring everything, but with this new priority scale in our culture- the things we are praying about might not be the things we need to be focusing on… (I know I have to check myself on this every once and awhile).

What if we had to invest money into every email we sent out? What if we had to put a little more work into the communication we engaged in with people? Would we or wouldn’t we hit “send?”

I’m thinking our inboxes would be less full, but we would open our email inbox with excitement and joy like we do when we walk to the curb and see a letter from an old friend. And who knows, maybe our communication to God would begin to improve as well…

Jason *over and out*

So in today’s message we talked about Spiritual Gifts and wanted to include some info for you to dive into this further. Here are the links to the passages we talked about today:
- Romans 12:1-8
- 1 Corinthians 12:1-30

Also, if you’re interested in taking a spiritual gifts inventory; here is a link to a free one that only takes about 10-15 minutes. Think about each questions and answer honestly- it will give you clearer results:
- Link to Spiritual Gifts Inventory by Team Ministry

If you need assistance in finding a place to serve once you take the spiritual gifts inventory, check our our website under “upside down” and click “take action.” Someone will call you in the next 48 hours with news on how to get involved. Or you can email the ministry staff person in the area you are looking to serve (emails are below).

Office/Admin: lisa@forefront.org
Gel Groups/Missions/Frontline: dan@forefront.org
Student Ministry: james@forefront.org
Children’s Ministry: becky@forefront.org
Creative Arts/Music: justin@forefront.org

Praying for you and how God is going to move in your journey to serve Him.

Jason *over and out*

This is Ayanna (12) and Imani (9) and they went missing near our Ocean Lakes Campus on Saturday, June 6, 2009. During our picnic today a sheriff dropped off these fliers.

UPDATE: Last night on the news, both girls were found. It is definitely great news. As soon as I saw this flier it made me think about what would have happened if my daughter had gone missing. All you parents out there, keep a close eye on your kids, set boundaries, and teach them who to talk to- because you never know what could happen.

Here are a few videos from our series titled, “Broken.”
Enjoy.

Here are a few videos from our series titled, “Commercial Genius.”
Enjoy.

Here are a few videos from our series titled, “unSTUCK.”
Enjoy.

Here are a few videos from our series titled, “Business Time.”
Enjoy.