My fist love *sigh*

He sees. He likes. He pursues. You test it out. You enjoy. You commit. You love. [Something changes]. You break up. You’re upset. You’re sad. You’re regretful. You start over. You compare the new fish in the sea to the X. You think “I’m never going to meet anyone as good as X”. You worry “I’m never going to be able to find as good of a connection as the one I had with X”. Sound familiar? What I’m referring to is the inevitable stage post-break up during which the person you were formally dating becomes the measuring stick to which you compare every new potential mate. In some weird sense, this is EXACTLY how I feel right now, except it’s not with a guy it’s with my church. Over the past four years I have fallen madly in love with Frontline (young adult part of McLean Bible Church) and have recently parted ways due to moving to Chapel Hill NC. Although dating of an X is normally not something I would support or encourage, I would like to invite you as well as anyone else you know to get to know Frontline. If you have a pulse, I think you'll love it. (even if you don't live in DC , you can still enjoy it). The story is below.

How we met
It was a crisp Autumn day in the fall of 2005. A friend of a friend had taken me to 4th Presbyterian in Bethesda, and it was “very nice, but just not my type”. This same friend of a friend said “You might like the music better at McLean”. Two weeks later, by myself, I walked into the church that sat 3,000 people, not knowing a soul, and the rest is history.

Why I fell so hard so fast
#1 The Style/Looks
Church in the past, I found to be boring, a waste of time, and hard to understand. Lots of stand up sit down, look at watch, lose interest, feel confused. Frontline, however, was like a breath of fresh air. The service starts 5:30pm on Sundays with a live band playing contemporary Christian music for about 20 minutes. After that, a staff member talks for a few minutes about upcoming events at the church and how to get invovled. Finally, Todd Philips, the pastor, comes on stage and talks for about 30 minutes. That's it. [Note: communion takes place once every few months.]

What drew me in so quickly was the pastor. He is an excellent public speaker, he is charismatic, hilarious, and his style is much like a college lecture (but a really exciting class, not the boring ones). His sermons are structured in a way that keep your attention because he always relates the message at hand back to how to apply to your own life. He also is honest with us, and shares his personal struggles which makes it all the more personable and not detached like some preachers who come off as 'holier than thou'. What's even cooler and more awesome is that each talk given is part of a sermon series. Series can range from 2 weeks to 12 weeks and can be either based on a topic such as grace, life after death, dating, money, or can be based on a book or story in the bible.

#2 The Values -
So crucial! Mission of the church is plain and simple: Share the message of Jesus Christ with DC. The core and heart of Frontline is the doctrine that is taught. Frontline teaches from the bible. It is not the opinion of the man, or the church elders. Every point that is made during a sermon is backed up with scriptural references, making for a very sound, logical, presentation of great truth! For more detail about Frontline's statement of faith, go here.

#3 The Personality
I was previously under the impression that it was all about the looks (shallow I know). But as it turns out a church has NOTHING to do with a building (looks) and everything to do with it’s people (personality). Below are some ways I've been able to get involved and I've organized it by Frontline's 4 point vision Connect. Grow. Serve. Share.

Connect- Interacting with friendly people that have a genuine interest in you (Dinners at Jason Deli and the like after church), Going to a camp for the weekend in the mountains to zip line, relax, learn about God (Frontline Fall/Summer Retreats), Playing left midfield for Frontline Soccer (Athletics Ministry), Encouraging, comforting, and sharing life with others (Small Group),Welcoming people and handing out brochures at a newly opened church campus (FL Arlington)

Grow- Learning my spiritual gifts and that my personality is combination of lion/otter (Shape Workshop), Taking a class on how to share my faith (Christianity 301), Taking a class on how to study the bible (How to Study the Bible Workshop) Studying parts of the bible and praying each week with 8-10 women my own age (Small Group)

Serve- If there isn’t a ministry in existence, you can start one (ex. A woman had the idea to go to a nursing home and show old woman love by painting their nails, and then Pretty and Polished was born). Running in a 5K to help bring clean water to the entire nation of Liberia (www.thelastwell.org); cleaning/landscaping/beautifying/painting the public schools in DC, making care packages to send to deployed soldiers (Operation Kindness), preparing 10,000 boxes with thanksgiving goodies to give to less fortunate families in the DC area (Turkey Outreach), buying Where’s Waldo books and Girl Talk as Christmas gifts for less fortunate kids (Angel Tree)

Share- Feeding lunch to and sharing the gospel with the homeless (Homeless Ministry), passing out plastic eggs filled with candy and a frontline card (Egg the Metro), teaching 3rd graders about Jesus using awesome arts/crafts/videos/creative ways (Kid’s Quest), Watching Frontline LIVE on the internet even when you aren't in DC (Internet Campus)

That's a wrap. If you too have become gaga over the awesomness that is Frontline, feel free to comment and let people know what captured your heart, haha.