Branded With Love

If this guy was my flight attendant. Seriously. This should be mandatory on all flights.

[HT: Dave]

I was asked by a friend to pray at his Commissioning Ceremony at Nauticus today. I was completely humbled and honored to be a part of his special day. I am always in awe of the military and their continuous emphasis on tradition and honor. I am glad I was able to be a part of that today. It makes me wonder what things are sacred & honoring traditions in God’s church? What about for his people?

So, what is sacred to you?

I am a total fan of live drums & rhythm sections rocking out, but this is pretty impressive. The kids hands are too fast for his camera in sections and you see it lag. Enjoy.

Woke up early this morning to hear the news about Flight 3407 and the 49 men and women who lost their lives. Please pray for their families & friends and everyone involved. For more on what’s happening, click here.

Last Sunday, our family went to Mt. Trashmore and braved the hundreds of people there (seriously, it was insane). If you didn’t get a chance to last weekend, take the opportunity to get outdoors with friends and family. It was a much needed break from the norm of being cooped up inside with the cold weather. Here are a few pics.

Anyone else do anything fun with the nice weather the other day??

Our frontline & usher “backstage passes” arrived in the mail today and they look great. If you’re ever looking to do quality badges in bulk, I highly recommend them.

Yep. That’s a cat with a machine gun. You’re eyes are not fooling you. Search Google Images for the word “crazy” and this little nugget of goodness is what pops up first. It’s disturbing on many levels.

Anyway, this weekend/start to the week has been insane, but in a good way. God has been throwing things my way that I actually dreaded and in every situation- it ended up being an amazing thing. So cool.

I can’t tell you enough how excited I am to lead Forefront. It’s a place where people are real, they ask questions, want to serve, are wrestling with big challenges… and I savor every minute of it.

• I had a phone call Monday morning thinking a guy was going to never set foot in our church again, now he and I really have the beginnings of a friendship.
  
• Another guy was looking for a place to serve and I wasn’t sure where that would be… but the meeting couldn’t have gone better- he’s gonna do great.
• Met with Mike DeSelm on Sunday to go over computer stuff as he heads soon to PA with Richie to start the new church. I’m really excited for him.
• Had a guy in my discipleship group on Saturday wonder whether or not God is calling him to make BIG sacrifices and move to a lower income neighborhood to share Jesus. Awesome!
• Sent away our design work for the advertising at the Chesapeake Campus. It’s going to look really good. Check it out soon at Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake near Cinema Cafe.
• Speaking of Cinema Cafe, our first service went great and there were a bunch of new people with some old faces we hadn’t seen in awhile. To all my Chesapeake Peeps, you guys are amazing. Keep it up!
• Sunday’s message at the Beach Campus was really great and tough all at the same time. God prompted me to give my car to someone in need. Bones was in need, so now he has a way to get to Vegas. People after service came up to me and gave over $1,200 for Him to get there to do ministry. You guys are truly the hands of Jesus in the community.
• I’m now driving a borrowed soccer mom mini van (I know the jokes are coming, bring it!)
• Bummed the Cardinals couldn’t pull it together in the last moments, but it was a GREAT game.
• Had our Gel Group over for the game and ate enough food for a small country.
  
• Finishing up the final 4-5 posts in the series I’ve been doing on the blog.
• They start tomorrow morning. Don’t miss it.
• Love ya guys (and gals)

Until next time,

Jason *over and out*

Just testing out a new blogging app on my phone. I would love to start some live blogging about Forefront events and when things go down in the 757. We’ll see how easy this thing is to use.

Sharing my thoughts from this morning’s daily Bible reading…

Have you ever seen the movie Space Balls? If not, you’re not missing out. It’s a pretty lame attempt to parody the Star Wars series. One of the quotes that has been dubbed as affecting pop culture is when the captain informs his crew to, “Prepare for Ludicrous Speed!” They all freak out because it’s never been attempted before, going nuts, and so on.

I’m totally the same way as the captain’s crew. God pushes us to prepare for action (1 Peter 1:13-16) and instead of battening down and getting in gear, I sometimes have the urge to loose my mind and head for the hills. But God is calling us to just hold to what we know: grace, hope, love. The funny (actually sad) part is He ‘assumes’ we’ve been ‘in the know.’

This is a big reminder to me to always put my reading, prayer, and connecting with Him FIRST. I need to know God’s heart so when he makes statements like, “do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.” I can stand up take action as reply, “God, I know what’s right because I searched your Bible and found it to be true. I will be holy as You are holy.”