Pastor Kevin

Preaching Jesus with the help of a snake.

Snakes! from Oneighty.com on Vimeo.

Looking at CHRISTIANITY a whole new way.

Last week at Oneighty I stood in front of our students and told them something that is very shocking to a lot of christians...."Living right will NOT make you right with God."  A lot of times we think that if we simply live right, go to church, pray a little, and be a moral person than we are good with God.  But that mentality goes completely against the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Jesus was constantly giving examples of how the religious (good moral) people of his day were far from God and on the day of judgement they would be told "depart from me, because I don't know you".   So when you look at the scriptures it is very easy to see that living right will not make you right with God.

That was last week...this week I'm continuing on with that same train of thought by teaching our students.  That "Living the right way will not make you right with God, but if you are right with God you will live the right way".  

To illustrate this I'm going to bring my dog Buddy out on stage and state the obvious...Buddy is a dog. But because he is a dog he acts like a dog, barks like a dog, eats like a dog and goes potty like a dog.  Because on the inside he is 100% dog on the outside his actions are 100% what a dog would do.

Now if I were to bring a student up on stage and give him $50 to act like a dog, bark like a dog, eat like a dog and go potty like a dog....is this student a dog.  No...he is a kid acting like a dog.  You see just because you act like a dog does not mean you are a dog.  But if you are a dog, then you will always act like a dog.

It is the exact same way with being a Christian.  Just because you live right (go to church, pray, and be a moral person) does not mean you are a Christian.  However, if you are Christian (you have accepted Gods gift of grace thru Jesus Christ death, burial and resurrection from the dead) then you will live right. You will go to church, you will pray, you will treat people with respect, you will be a good moral person.

This is something I think a lot of "christian" teenagers struggle with.  Either they think they are right with God because they are "good" or they think they can do what they want, live how they want because they've asked Jesus into their hearts and he will forgive them when they ask. Both of these view of Christianity are flawed and unscriptural.  Because of that tonight at Oneighty we are going to help our students look at CHRISTIANITY a whole new way.

You can download and listen to tonight's message at "Oneighty Message Audio" on iTunes.

Look at CHRISTIANITY a whole new way.

Tonight at Oneighty I'm going to help our students take a totally different look at Christianity.  

We have this view of life that if we want to reach the top in sports, dating, school or money that all we need to do is do the right stuff and step by step we will get where we want to go.  This view trickles into our view of faith as well.  If we want to reach the top with God (go to heaven someday) we need to do the right things, go to church, be a nice person, don't cuss, read the bible and step by step we will climb the religious ladder and be good with God.

However, that is a totally wrong view.  In Luke 18:10-15 Jesus shows us thru the parable of the Religious Leader and the Tax Collector that what you do, all our right motives, and religious deeds you accomplish will never make you "justified" or in right standing with God. Only thru Christ death on the cross will we ever be saved...and right with God.

Going to use a 15' tall ladder as my prop tonight.

Should be a lot of fun and a big eye opener for some of our students.

You can download this message on iTunes at "Oneighty Message Audio"

Talking about SEX at Oneighty.

Wednesday night I am going to be talking about SEX at Oneighty.

This is always a very interesting topic to discuss with teenagers because sex is something they are all very interested but aren't suppose to have.  And for those who are having sex, I have to try and talk them into stopping something they enjoy doing....not the easiest topic to delve into that is for sure.

Here is how I'm hitting the sex talk this week.

Sex is viewed by people in three different ways.  To some it is GOD to others it is GROSS and to a select few it is considered a GIFT.  

First sex can be a GOD.  Through their thoughts, addictions and actions many people daily and weekly bow to the golden god of SEX. (I am going to have a 9 foot tall golden statue that says SEX on stage - this should get their attention).

Second sex can be GROSS. To many teenagers that have been abused the thought of physical touch and becoming intimate with someone is a very harmful and disgusting thing.  To other students that have been taught by parents that sexual intimacy is a dirty thing that should never be thought of or openly discussed ...sex is also considered gross.

Third sex is a GIFT. The correct way to view sex is how God views it.  Sex is a gift.  It is for pleasure, comfort and reproduction.  This is a very holy and sacred thing that God himself thought up.  Because of that sex outside of the marriage relationship can very quickly become gross and worshipped as a god.

This message is going to be very illustrated.  For GOD - I will have a 9 foot golden god of sex on stage. For GROSS - I will call a student up on the platform and pour chocolate all over them.  And for GIFT - I will have a giant box wrapped up with a bow on top.  

I'm really looking forward to giving this message to the students.  I think it is something they need to hear.  My prayer is that we will keep those who have not started down the road of sex, sexually pure.  And possibly talk some of those that have the wrong view of sex into putting the physical stuff on hold until they get married.

I'll have some photos for you in my next blog.