"Revive us, and we will call on your name"

                                 Psalm 80:18

No verse could sum up this Disciple Now weekend better than Psalm 80:18.  It's as if God was foreshadowing the events of the weekend by burdening me with this verse beforehand.

To be honest, the weekend didn't turn out the way that I thought it would.  My grand vision for Re:Vive was a ton of unsaved teenagers coming and finding Jesus...a great weekend of salvation and revival.  I had no idea that God was interested in something a bit different.

Of the 30 students who showed up for Re:Vive, 18 of them were members of The 12, our Student Leadership Team.  I was immediately torn:  Excited to see The 12 stepping up by showing up, but frustrated that we hadn't really reached many lost students in our community with this event.  I wanted to see a mighty thing happen, but my vision of mighty things was sorely limited.

Our students, by the power of the Holy Spirit and the incredible words of Rayden Hollis, were challenged to a lot of things this weekend.  They were challenged to love well the people around them out of a love for God.  They were challenged to reorganize their priorities around God's plan for their lives.  They were challenged to pray for their lost friends.

And boy, did our students pray. 

Saturday night, we saw the Holy Spirit fall in a powerful way in the Theater at Sheridan Hills.  Arm in arm, and all together, we heard the voices of our students rising above the loud music played by the worship band.  We heard them crying out to the Lord on behalf of their unsaved friends.  We heard them lifting each other up in encouragement.  We heard the voice their griefs and joys to the God who created them.  We witnessed the Holy Spirit's power to humble and encourage the human heart.

Several of our students confessed that this was one of the great spiritual experiences of their lives.  I have to agree with them, and it has certainly been the greatest moment of my ministry here at Sheridan Hills.  To God be the glory.

Laser Tag is fun.  Rock the Universe was exciting.  The Annual Re:Generation Christmas Party will be a blast.

But nothing compares to being in the presence of our holy and righteous creator as He speaks in power to His people. 

It was certainly a weekend I'll never forget.

 

Til the whole world knows,

 

Pastor Kevin

 
 

Hey everybody!  Since this is my blog, I feel no shame in posting this!  I am finally selling my Crate GFX65 Amp.  I have wrestled with it for a few years, but I'm finally giving in.  It's time for me to start saving up for something better, and my first step is to unload my baby!  It's a really loud and strong amp for a great price.  Here are the details:

65 Watts...it gets really loud

2 channels...clean and distortion (both are good, but I love the clean channel)

Totally rewired and new clean channel installed about a year ago.

I'm asking $100...you will not find a 65 watt amp for anything close to that!

My loss is your gain, and before I put it on ebay, I wanted Re:Generation students to have first crack at it!

If you're interested, just leave a comment, give me a call, or talk to me at church!

Til someone buys my amp

 
 

Hey Re:Generation Friends! I have a challenge for you!

In a desperate effort to increase traffic to our site and raise awareness for our student ministry, I challenge you to come up with the absolute coolest idea for a 705 video. We have a great video on our website right now, but I don't think it really captures the hilarity that is Re:Generation students.

Here's how to play my game:
Go to www.therealregeneration.com.
Scroll down to the conversation board.
Under the General Discussion folder you'll find a post called Awesome 705 Video Ideas!
Leave your post there.

We will judge your posts on or before December 1st, and the winner will get lots of great prizes (CD's, posters, a free Re:Generation T-shirt, etc.)

 
 

Today, November 10th, marks the 10 year anniversary of the day i asked my wife, Crystal, to be my girlfriend.  I was a junior and she was a senior at Fox High School, and we were outside the choir room where we first met.  I had planned already what I was going to say, and I said it.  She said yes, and the rest is history.

At my age (26), I don't have a whole lot of 10 year anniversaries.  Really, the only thing I think I've had going on in my life for 10 years is the guitar...big whoop right?  Anyway, I can hardly believe that Crystal and I have been together for 10 years.  We've seen so much together and had so much fun together.  I can honestly say that I love her more today.  I know more about her, and I want to know more about her.  She understands me more, and I still don't understand her.  She would agree.  We've had 3 awesome little boys together, and I love the way she teaches them and loves them.

We're going to have lunch on the beach today.  I wanted to go to Orlando, but it's all good.  I hope we'll have at the very least another 10 years to do that!

Here's to my love, Crystal Wright...hit her up on Facebook and congratulate her on 10 years of putting up with a doofus like me!

 

Til the whole world knows,

 

Pastor Kevin

 
 

                Well, it certainly has been too long since I posted to my blog!  I think it’s because last time I tried, the entire thing got erased before I published it.  That’s actually happened three times since my last official blog post.  It’s so irritating!  You feel like you’ve written this great thing…poured out your soul and given something great to the world...and then it’s gone.  Just ones and zeros in cyberspace, never to be seen again.  Oh well.  Time to move on I suppose.

                I’d like to address an issue that I get a lot of questions about from students.  In fact, just today a student from Re:Generation Student Ministry asked me, “Is it wrong for Christians to drink alcohol?”  My initial reply, since I knew that I didn’t have time to have the full-on discussion that was needed, was that the answer is no, but it doesn’t just end there.

                There is no inherent sin in the consumption of alcohol.  This being such a hot button topic among Christians, especially those that are investigating the post-modern version of liberal Christianity, I think Christians’ understanding of this on the whole is growing.  Many have moved away from saying the brother who has a glass of wine in the privacy of his own home is in sin.  Rather, most I have had the discussion with are intent to focus on what the Bible really warns us of…drunkenness.

                Ephesians 5:18 puts it very clearly: Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.  This is one of a large amount of Scripture verses that address the issue of drunkenness.  I encourage you to just get out a concordance and check out the word drunkenness .  Rather than addressing the consumption of alcohol in moderation (which rarely leads to any physical damage), Scripture addresses the over-consumption of alcohol, forbidding it categorically.

                This is really just an outgrowth of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12:  “Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything.  As he discusses the freedom he has in Christ, the freedom that replaces the tyranny of Jewish law, he is careful to help us understand the power that world things can hold over us.  He says to us, “There are things I can do, things I shouldn’t do, and things I absolutely will not do.  I am not immune to addiction.

               

                I hear it every time the discussion is brought up:  Jesus drank wine!   Everybody drank wine in the days of Jesus!  Truly, it was very common for people to drink wine in the first century.  However, though it was fermented, any scholarly research will show that it wasn’t the wine that people drink today.  Wine, while not really just grape juice, was a necessity because of the dangers of drinking unpurified water during those times.  To be sure, wine was had by most, if not all.  Paul even instructs Timothy to drink wine because of a stomach illness (1 Timothy 5:23)  While the Bible never explicitly says that Jesus drank wine, it is probable that both He and the disciples did.

                Is this a license for you, Christian, to drink?  Not necessarily.  I think there are some major questions to ask before you can confidently make the consumption of alcohol a part of your operating lifestyle.

 

1.)      Could I be causing another Christian to stumble in his/her faith if I do this? (1 Cor. 8:9-13)  By this, you’re really asking if, when other Christians see you drinking, they could feel as though they had the freedom to do the same.  Remember that Paul said not everything is beneficial.  This often varies from person to person.  You may be strong in your faith with a beer in your hand.  Chances are, there is someone in your life who can’t say the same.

2.)     Am I glorifying God by doing this? (1 Cor. 10:31)

3.)     Is there a chance I could end up drunk if I do this? (Eph. 5:18)

4.)     If I were to make this a habit, could it master me? (1 Cor. 6:12, 2 Peter 2:19)

 

                I’ve known a lot of Christians, and I’ve known a lot of alcoholics.  I don’t think I’ve met even one on either side of the fence that could answer each of these questions in a good way.  This leads me to say that the consumption of alcohol is just not a good thing for a Christian to do.  Plain and simple.  It will very likely take you farther down the road of sin and farther away from the presence of God.

                I don’t slam Christians who drink.  I love the Sippin’ Saints!  But, I often use this analogy.  We’re all standing at the edge of a cliff, and we’re holding on to Jesus by the tips of our fingers.  We want to make sure we’ve got hold of him, but we also want to lean over and see as far into sin as we can.  How close to the edge of that cliff are you going to get?  Are you going to let go of Jesus for a minute, hoping the ground doesn’t give way?  I challenge you to remember that the same thing sits at the bottom of every cliff in the entire world: death.

                I encourage you today to walk away from the edge of that cliff and walk toward Jesus.  As someone who comes from a long line of alcoholics, I choose not to drink for a variety of reasons.  I don’t believe I can honor God with it, I want to model righteousness for my kids and other kids, and, sadly, I don’t believe I could exercise self-control while drinking.  If genetics are any indication, I would end up a complete mess.  Totally not worth it to me.  What is most important is that we approach the topic biblically and always seek answers that will glorify and honor our great Lord and Savior, Jesus.

 

Til the whole world knows,

 

 

Pastor Kevin