Inked. Branded. Marked.
What does it look like to be marked by God?
By His love, healing, restoring power?
Last week we launched this series, “Inked” which is an extension of the scenes we see throughout the New Testament of the Bible. People’s lives being touched (branded) by Jesus, they are healed, and life as they know it is never the same.

As we filmed for the series bumper at Fuzion Ink, we hung out and talked with the artists (one of which attends Forefront with his family) and it was so cool to hear their stories.
How life has moved them.
How their lives and their clients stories intertwine through this artistic medium.
How a community of artists who many people are scared of just because the way they look (craziness!), is actually an amazing family of people who look out for one another.

One of the first guys we caught up with is Forefront’s very own, Dave Lukeson. Enjoy.

Forefront meets 10 a.m. Sundays at Ocean Lakes High School.
Fore info and directions check out: http://www.forefront.org

What does it feel like to open yourself up to love?

“…it makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you… then… You give them a piece of you… and then your life isn’t your own anymore.
Love takes hostages.”
- Neil Gaiman

When it comes to the love of God, I’m a hostage by choice. God messed me up (in a good way). Once I experienced His love and transforming power, my world was turned completely upside down. Loving this series (Inked) at Forefront as we venture into the depths Jesus, his healings, his mark on our lives, and how we can open ourselves up to His leading.

How has God marked (inked, branded, etc) your life with His love? If you haven’t allowed yourself to accept His love and mark on your life… why?

Check out the videos from things happening this past week:

Women’s Retreat: March 4-6, 2010:

Baptisms: Sunday, March 7, 2010

Photo by Jessica Riehl | www.jessicariehl.com

It breaks my heart.
This boy is in the middle of chaos and looks so confused.
Westboro Baptist Church is touring VA for the next three days.
Their goal is communicating their love for God… through hate.
They are protesting and picketing everywhere.
High Schools. Performing Arts Centers. Soldier funerals. Holocaust Museum.
I received 28 emails asking, “What are we going to do about this in Va Beach?”
Pray. Write. Educate.

PRAY: Pray for the people protesting, the people protesting the protesters, and for the people who come into contact with this mobile circus of confusion. Going out to the protest and protesting the protesters can add to the chaos (and according to an interview with some of the protesters, it reaffirms their ideals &  position). Don’t fuel the fire. Pray for all the people involved.

WRITE: Write the organization. In love, let them know you are praying for them and that God outlines a different idea of love and how to communicate that to people who are far from God.

EDUCATE: Talk with your kids, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Let them know the heart God has for them. When things like this happen in culture, it’s a great way to invite positive conversation about Jesus and let others know God is not like that.

It’s moments like these we have an opportunity to share Jesus and crush people’s misconceptions of God. Praying you get to have some challenging conversations with people about this happening in here in Hampton Roads. Let me know how it goes…

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*