Making friends as an adult is tough.
It’s not life grade school, “Hey you like blue? I like BLUE! We’re B-F-F’s Now!!!”
It’s scary as an adult.
That’s why Gel Groups @ Forefront are so great. It takes the edge off.
You can come, relax, get to know people, learn about God & make new friends…
Friends that are there for you. Push you to new levels.
Friends who will help you conquer your fears:

(viewing from a mobile device? click here for video)

So big news of the “yet to be released” new iPhone being left for people to find and share about on the internet so Apple has some buzz going on lost in a bar, and Gizmodo has all the specs here (it looks lovely).

Oh, and ht to dave for turning me to this gem of a video.
These guys make me want to DJ again (with my dirty old vans, ha).

So my daughter has iCarly, the Mickey House “Hot Dog” song,  and “Jesus Loves Me” on lock down.
She can sing ‘em on demand.
But she won’t let us film her singing ‘em. Arrrrgggh.
Doesn’t she know she can be an internet sensation?!?
Doesn’t she understand she’s gonna have to support mommy & daddy one day?
Kidding (sort of).

Maybe I need to teach her some Jason Mraz…

So, we get asked on occasion how things happen here at Forefront.
Small Groups. Community Events. Reaching People Far From God. Music. Video & Design. Etc.

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*

The angst of another season

So the NY Mets are 2-5.
It’s only the beginning.
I’m not heart-broken… yet.

They start a 5 day road trip today.
First with the Rockies and then the Cardinals.
*sigh*

Lord, is this the year for a miracle in NY?

Will wins fall from the heavens?
Will bats swing with a vengeance?
Will bases be stolen swiftly?
Will this photo end up being me in front of my TV only instead of throwing my arms up, will I be throwing the remote across the room and subsequently apologizing to my wife for the hole I now have to fix in the wall?
Will Mr. Met confess his undying love for Hostess Twinkies and Root-beer Floats?

We can only wait and see.

Jason *over and out*

[ht: the pez]

I love Beck.
He’s odd. strange. artsy. talented. I love it.
But this project is great, and Christians can learn so much from it.
What if Christians turned from lone rangers into collaborative dreamers?
What would it look like? The local church? Communities? Families? Schools? Work?
I pretty sure we’d see much of the same thing Beck & Co. did…

A wildly exciting time of people getting together, sharing life, and watching that expression of life bloom into something that no one could contain.
All the while God looks on smiling.

What’s your dream?
Let’s collaborate.  It’ll be beautiful.

Jason *over and out*

[if your using a mobile device, click here]

Send your name, email, and story to: story@forefront.org
We cannot wait to hear what God is doing in your life.
Who knows, you might win an awesome chance to hear some great leaders and kick it with the staff and other Forefront peeps.

So… let’s hear your story.

Jason *over and out*

Easter Sunday Worship @ForefrontChurch

Easter was unreal. I’ve been doing this lead pastor thing for a year and a half. Been in some form of ministry for over 12 years. Easter 2010 will be a defining moment in my life.

It was the day I realized God wasn’t just playing a cruel joke on me when me moved our family to do ministry at Forefront and then transitioning us to lead His church here. Truth be told, I had no earthly idea what God was thinking when He prompted me to accept the role of teaching pastor at Forefront. I thought He was crazy. Seriously. I was following the guy who started the church, wrote a couple books, and has more energy on stage than Gallagher. The church was in a financial bind, we were in the process of going from three campuses down to one, our worship pastor resigned, our campus pastor was leaving to explore church planting, and families were bleeding out left & right because…

“The church is just different now.”
“What can a guy your age teach a man like me?”
“You don’t preach like the last guy.”
“The music isn’t really my style anymore.”
“I feel like God is leading me in a different direction.”
“You really aren’t the leader I want to follow.”
“This place isn’t feeding me. It’s your fault.”

If that isn’t enough to kill your spirit- During that time we moved in with my in-laws to take care of my mother-in-law who died three months later. My wife started a new job. We were learning how to be the parents of a new baby. My wife got pregnant (again- with a girl, ugh). We had 4 different couples we were close with (almost like family) struggling with divorce and looking to us for counseling. It was a whirlwind.

But… I wouldn’t have traded this year and a half for the world.
The main reason- I felt God.
I felt Him like He was crawling within my skin and almost audibly speaking my steps into being.
It was bizarre on a whole new level. But in a good way.
I don’t want anything else. And, I’m seeing the fruit of being faithful through all of that chaos…

• I’ve watched as we’ve baptized almost as many people in the first 3 months of 2010 as we did all last year combined.
• Easter Sunday we had 600+ people in attendance. The last time we had that many people was at the launch of our three campuses.
• Our staff could do battle with any church staff in the country (Ministry or American Gladiators… I’d like to see the 2nd one personally). They are really all-stars.
• Many people have said that we’ve moved backwards. I say they’re crazy. Pulling everyone back together from three campuses to a single campus and refocusing our energy was the best decision ever. God has confirmed it exponentially.
• The number of broken marriages being healed is more than I can count. The cool part is people are coming forward and talking about it.
• I could write an pretty intense book on ministry trenches just from my Gel Group alone. If you knew their stories, it’s a lifetime of practical ministry knowledge (Hhmmmm, who knows?!?)
• The leaders coming up right now are “Grade A” Amazing. We have two new elder candidates who I cannot wait to share with everyone at Forefront (very soon, I promise).
• In 2009, I served in Ta Phin, Vietnam putting a water purifying system into an elementary school. We were asked if we could take on a water project to bring clean drinking water to 600 families in the valley and surrounding area. They also asked if we could put in a computer lab. Our student ministry committed to building a house in Mexico. And we had a plan to give a financial gift to the local homeless ministry we work with (People In Need). The total cost of those projects is $20,000 dollars. I said yes. I had no clue where it was coming from. I didn’t consult any of the leaders. God presented a need, and we’re commanded to meet needs, so I said Forefront would do it. Now we’re coming close to the date we need to get all the money in as a church… and someone walked into my office last week with a check for $8,563.00. Yep. They just said they were sold out to God’s mission and Forefront’s vision and wanted to be a part. There’s another guy out Southwest who saw this video and was prompted to set up a meeting with our missions coordinator to give a large portion to the projects.
  God is good. I mean it. GOD IS SO GOOD!
• I sat in my living room a couple months ago during Gel Group and watch a woman in tears share her story about a driver loosing control of the car and hitting her stroller, ripping it out of her arms, and watching her baby boy die on the scene. It was her 2nd time at group. As she told the story, another girl (first time at group) was sobbing as she told the story. She looked up and shared that she was the 911 operator who took the call of that accident. The whole group was in awe & silence. It was a God moment. They shared and brought a bit of healing to a horrible situation.
• Before we moved in with my in-laws, our small group met at our apartment. One night a young couple who was recently baptized came for the first time. They were awkward in group, but it wasn’t too bad and everyone made them feel welcome. Afterwards, they stayed to chat. They shared with us, “We’ve been in your apartment before.” “Um, no you haven’t” I replied. “This is your first time at group.” He sat for a second, “Well, we have been in this very apartment before. It was with the previous tenant over a year ago. We started our drug addiction here. It’s where it all began. Smoking up and what not in the very same spot we just had Bible study.” My eyes showed my emotions. I was wrecked. Tears. He continued, “Her and I are ending our lives like that and starting our lives anew in the very same place, kinda cool eh?” I would say it’s totally a God ordained thing, eh? Still get the chills when I talk about it. Whoa.

I could go on. But during communion this past Sunday- it all hit me.
God isn’t playing a cruel joke.
This was in His plan.
His plan never fails.
I just need to be faithful.
Forefront has to be faithful.
We have to  be about His mission.

I love you guys.
Jason *over and out*

Well, actually… there is nothing special about the water or the hot tub, but man it’s had a lot of use lately. Every Sunday for the last 7 weeks, people have been asking to get baptized & turn their lives over to God. It’s been amazing to be a part of and to catch you up, here are videos from the last two Sundays…
(viewing from a mobile device? see the videos here & here)

Easter Sunday:

Week Before Easter:

Easter Sunday.
Forefront Church.
10 am @ Ocean Lakes High School.
http://www.forefront.org
Bring a friend. A cousin. A dog named Larry.
2 People getting baptized after service.
Maybe God is moving you to make a life change?
See you there.
Email me if you’ve got questions…