:: Re:Generation Student Ministry at Sheridan Hills ::

Let's all pretend that it hasn't been 5 months since I last blogged.  Ready? Set?  Pretend!


Well, I'm going to play catch up over the next few days.  


The first thing I wanted to recap is the single most important event that our student ministry has participated in since I began as Pastor to High School and College students in July of 2008.


We are all aware of the earthquake that hit Haiti this year, and so many people have made significant life changes in order to help the people of Haiti.  I've been to Port-Au-Prince twice this year, and God has really burdened not just me, but our students.


After the earthquake happened, Karla Aparicio and Audrey Aurigemma, two student leaders in our ministry, came to me with the idea of doing a benefit concert in order to help the people in Haiti.  Thus, Mission:Haiti was born.


We had 3 different bands play, countless volunteers contributing to the effort, and over 300 people attended.  We were hoping to raise $1,000.  God blessed us with a matching donor, which would turn our $1,000 into $2,000.  We felt like this would be a HUGE accomplishment for the kingdom and a great win for the student ministry.


At the end of the night, Mission:Haiti had raised a total of over $5,000 for the people of Haiti!


Malachi 3 is a chapter that is, in many ways, about trust.  We all, to some degree, battle between trust in money and trust in God.  To that, God says, "Test me in this, see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it."  


I saw a room full of young people (and some older folks!) put their trust in what God could accomplish with their own money in a place a thousand miles away for some people they don't know.  


If you don't know how awesome that is, then you need awesome lessons.


Maybe even more awesome is how Mission:Haiti brought our student ministry together.  We rallied together around one cause:  living out the gospel of Jesus for the people of Haiti.  


That's a bit more meaningful than a bonfire, I think.  We have now completely rethought our approach to events in student ministry.  Why waste time, money, and resources on things that accomplish nothing for the kingdom?


We'll still have fun, because I can tell you that it's a lot of fun changing the world together!


Big thanks to all who were involved with Mission:Haiti, and continue to pray that it's impact grows!


Click here for Mission:Haiti pictures!



til the whole world hears,


Pastor Kevin

Well, yesterday marked the 3 month point of my blogging hiatus, so I figured it was time to get back in the game.  I've got a list a mile long of things I want to blog about including a review of Mark Batterson's new book "Primal" and my thoughts on what I'm calling the new choir and orchestra, but the thing that I'm the most fresh on right now is Passion 2010.

If I don't intentionally keep this brief, it will be WAY too long.  So, I'll just give a few highlights.

"Determine who you're going to BE before you determine what you're going to do." - Andy Stanley
I'm not a huge Andy Stanley fan, but this REALLY hit me and is shaping the way I look at myself and what God has called me to do and how I'm doing it.

"God didn't create you to BE somebody, he created you to KNOW somebody." - John Piper
There was so much to take from Piper at Passion, but I tend to digest the simplest of what he says the best.  This just echoes a great theme of the week, the glory of God and the de-emphasis of ourselves.

"We need to complete the integrity of the things we SING with the things we DO." - Chris Tomlin
As someone who leads worship, preaches, and leads others in ministry, this is ABSOLUTELY HUGE, and I think it's a great way to measure our faithfulness in ministry.  We sing of how God loves the broken, but are we loving the broken in our community?

"What we think about, we care about.  What we care about, we CHASE." - Ben Stuart
It starts with what we allow ourselves to think about...I had to ask myself, "What have I been thinking about?"

"When it comes to Jesus, proximity is the priority." - Ben Stuart
A great way to shed light on the parable of the vine...we need to embrace our role as branches that ABIDE in Him!

I'm going to put some photos from the 268generation blog here so that you can get an idea of what Passion 2010 was all about.  I can't wait for next year!

til the whole world knows,

Pastor Kevin

Something I'm super pumped about in our student ministry right now...a group of cool, godly, relevant ladies has risen up in our church with a heart to mentor high school and college-age girls in our church.  This is SO needed in EVERY church, and I think it will probably have as big an impact on our student ministry as anything we've done.  Thanks to the ladies who are stepping up and investing in this generation of strong young ladies, and I ask you to pray with me for the girls who will be participating!

Til the whole world knows,

Pastor Kevin

Hey guys.  I just had a few pictures on a memory card that I thought I would post...sometimes I can't believe how crazy my house is with 3 little boys in it!  Hope this makes you smile as much as it makes me smile!


til the whole world knows,

Pastor Kevin

I've always said that a songwriter never stops being a songwriter.  I think it's something that God puts there, and we never really lose that fire and passion to write.  I've prayed many times for my boys to have that passion...is this the beginning of an answer to that prayer?!  : )


til the whole world knows,


Pastor Kevin

Hey everyone.  So yesterday, I was hanging out with my good friends Joey Wilson and Christian Funez...and we saw these really cool, bright green parrots just chillin on a telephone wire in Hollywood.   Naturally, this led to a discussion about ways that we could catch these beautiful creatures and possibly sell them to pet stores.  That, in turn, led to a conversation about some ways that maybe we should NOT try to catch parrots.  Thus, I present to you our Top 10 Illegal Ways to Catch Parrots in South Florida (according to Kevin, Joey, Christian, and Michael Morgado...these ways may or may not actually be illegal!)

1.  Stun Gun
2.  Pepper Spray
3.  Dynamite
4.  Flame Thrower
5.  BB Gun
6.  Hypnotism
7.  Chinese Throwing Stars (Japanese are acceptable)
8.  Bear Traps
9.  False Promises
10. With your pants (thanks to Michael for this one)

Hope this is informative to you and provides you with some clear guidelines.

This never gets old...I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  What a privilege to be a part of so many great moments in the lives of so many people in the middle of so great a work of creation!

Imagine this:

You receive a card in the mail.  It's nicely wrapped and packaged, and you're kind of excited to open it.  You tear off the ribbon, open the envelope, pull out the card, open it...and it says this:


You are invited to come to my house
Hope you can make it!

You stare blankly at the invitation, confused and a little annoyed.  You ask questions like, "When am I supposed to be there?  Who sent this?  Where is the house?  Should I bring anything?  How long will the party last?"

You can't make a decision to go or not to go...because you have no idea what you're committing to.

Or maybe you can do what I've seen hundreds of teenagers do:

You write a note in reply that says, "I'll be there." 
You jump in your car and drive, though you don't know where you're going.
You bring nothing with you because you haven't been asked to.
You choose a direction on the highway because you haven't been given one.

You were confused by the invitation.


We had a great time this past weekend at Rock the Universe in Orlando.  We saw some great concerts, rode some great rides, and made some hilarious memories.

During the Sunday morning worship service, which was @ Universal Studios, I witnessed yet again an extremely confusing invitation time.

The speaker was engaging.  A former All-American wrestler and a current Lifeway executive, he told some funny stories and challenged several hundred kids to prepare educationally, physically, and spiritually for the life that lay ahead of them.

All of a sudden, seemingly out of nowhere, I hear him say, "If you'd like to begin that relationship today, I want you to stand up."

Maybe 50 kids stood up.

The speaker then led the congregation to rejoice in seeing so many teenagers become "part of the family" of Christians today!

With no mention of the cross, no mention of sin, no mention of repentance...students who stood up were told that they had just become a "part of the family".

I saw two teenage guys stand up on the front row in the center section.  The first one to stand up was dozing as the invitation was given and seem to be awakened from his sleep as soon as the speaker said, "...i want you to stand up..."  So what did he do?  He stood up!  The kid next to him very reluctantly stood up, looking all around himself in every direction, as if asking, "Should I be standing up?"

The speaker stood directly in front of that second kid and said, "Welcome to the family.  This means we'll be seeing each other in heaven!"

Listen...I'm not trying to drag anyone through the mud.  But as preachers, as teachers of the Bible, we have a great and constant responsibility to preach the gospel FULLY (Romans 15:19).  We can't leave out sin.  We can't leave out the cross.  We can't leave out repentance. 

And we certainly can't offer someone the assurance of salvation simply because they chose to stand up out of confusion.

I'll be honest.  As a pastor to high school students, I was pumped that my kids stayed seated.  I'd rather have those conversations one on one than have to clean up that kind of theological mess.

TEENAGERS:  Count the cost of following Christ.  It's not as easy and pain-free as some make it out to be.  It is, however, worth every minute.

YOUTH LEADERS:  If you can't, or are unwilling to, approach sin, the cross, and repentance while giving an invitation, then leave it to someone who will. 


til the whole world knows,


Pastor Kevin