I didn't get a lousy t-shirt

This morning Kristy, Caleb and I made our way over to Forefront Church, the home of Author, Blogger, WhiteBoarder, YouTuber, Pastor, Father and overall Funnyman- Vince Antonucci. Antonucci... sounds like an expensive pair of jeans.

Anyway... Vince has a great thing going and over the last several months they've done what any church should do that has a great thing going... give more of it away. Forefront opened a location not far from us so we hit up their video venue.

While I was emotionally broken that Vince wasn't speaking (He went and encouraged another church this morning... What is he thinking? Doesn't he know it's competition? Doesn't he know his church can't run without him? Who is this guy?), he had a solid pitch-hitter. His Creative Arts dude spoke a pretty cool message about acceptance and one of their core values of "No Perfect People Allowed". Much of the message centered around times when "the church" screwed him over by their prejudice and how important it is that we accept people and do church in community.

Apart from Vince's humor, one of the most distinctive features of Forefront (in my humble opinion) is their music. Forefront artists write a good deal of their music and perform it very well. The songs they do take from MSCM (Main Stream Christian Music) are done very well and with purpose. They've never been a church that carbon copies the latest fads. What I appreciate about them is that they are distinctly Forefront. Vince should be arrested for gathering all of that talent in one church. I personally think their Worship Pastor Joe Heilman is the best guy you've probably never heard of.

(not from today, stolen pic)

Forefront undoubtedly speaks to a particular tune in our city. I have always admired their church from afar and today got to see them up close. The campus and attitude is a testament to what a church can do when they are passionate about speaking the truth of Christ in their own voice. Forefront is not about being different just to be different. You can tell when you're among their people that they are simply being themselves and that's what makes this church work.

For those not in our area who've only recently started to hear of Vince let me tell you... he's the real deal. Basically planting a church in his backyard he's always been kind to me and has served as an encouragement a few times along the way. Vince is incredibly passionate about reaching people for Christ... and his church actually reflects it... it's not talk. One time a few years back I asked about his challenges. He said "Tally, if there can be such a thing as 'too evangelistic' I'd say that's me... because I have difficulty getting passionate about the details of long-term discipleship." After that encounter he went out and fixed that problem by hiring people to take care of discipleship. Vince became aware of his blindside and fixed it. Big lesson for the rest of us.

Today what I experienced was a very healthy campus that didn't show signs of weakness in the area of spiritual growth. Their worship guide includes bible studies for basically every day of the week. Each day ties directly to the current message series. They've made it so that if you attended Forefront and didn't grow in your faith... it's probably because you are lazy.

Vince... I loved the church... but I didn't get a lousy T-shirt!

HILARIOUS VIDEO from Forefront.... compliments of too much research for this post.