Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope it is a blast and that we all just sit down and realize the true meaning of this day! The birth of Jesus that changed the lives of so many 2000 years ago! We just want to say at One Love that we wish you a Merry Christmas and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS!

1 John 4:19

One Love

Cam and Mike

Worship

Just makes you want to jump up and worship God! Check out these 20,000 Ugandan students just absolutely worshipping...pretty sweet sight!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmvFVeEXjqE

Gods view

Have you ever been at a time in your life where you had time to think? And when you had time to think you often pondered on how God views my life? What does God think of my life right now? Those are definitely some tough questions that can bring some tough answers sometime, but let's see what it says in scripture about this particular subject of God's view of yourself and how he made you. Psalm 139:1-14 says,

"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in--behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being, you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Amazing! As we look at our lives sometimes we look at the negatives of how we were created or the way we were made. How did David see his life when he wrote this. He was vulnerable before God and really found out how much God loved him. He was in awe of how God saw him and how God viewed his life. We need to be vulnerable under God and realize how much love and passion God has for us. Its just astonishing how Great our God is! He knows every thought, knows every action, and its so amazing how much he wants to be involved in our lives! David was so overwhelmed by how much God loved him. The challenge is allowing yourself to be vulnerable and seeing God for who He really is and how He created you! Do not look at the negatives of your life, but be vulnerable and allow God to show you what He wants for your life and let Him lead it! Let Him show you why He created you for who you are. Do not listen to what the world says about you! When this happens and you listen to God's view, it will be like what David saw, the everlasting love of God!


One Love
Mike

CHECK IT OUT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ya12I036lg

WOW!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2pyPCnFPSY&feature=related

I AM A DISCIPLE!

SO i was listening to this some Infiltrate by Worth Dying For and it starts with there words that hit me hard:

I’m a part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed.
I have Holy Spirit power.
I’ve stepped over the line.
The decision has been made.
I’m a disciple of His.
I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.
My past redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.
I’m finished and done with low living, sidewalking, small-planning, smooth-knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, worldly-talking, cheap-giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, position, promotion, applause or popularity.
I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded or rewarded.
I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience.
I’m uplifted by prayer, and labour by power.
My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my God reliable.
My mission is clear.
I cannot be bumped, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of my adversaries, negotiate at the table of my enemy or ponder at the pool of popularity.
I won’t give up, shut up, let up until I’ve stayed up, stored up, prayed up, preached up for the cause of Christ.
I am a DISCIPLE OF JESUS.

Just read it and pray about it i think it speaks for itself.

Check it out! http://vimeo.com/2157536

One Love,

Cam

Amazing!

God is Amazing! Nothing more can describe and i begin to think that there isn't a human word deemed high enough praise for him. God..... just sit and take a min or two to think about all he has done in your life, all he has done period. Trees, people, animals, air we breathe, the world, the universe, the galaxy, compared to him how small we are. Our lives here on this Earth are short in comparison to eternity! the recent average age of living is 77.7 (crazy God number there ha ha) and now take that and subtract your age and you get what time you have left to CHANGE THE WORLD! just think about how much time we waste on petty things its crazy! I was just thinking about how great God is and how Powerful he is that he can take all of our past and DESTROY it then wreck us in such a way, as to make us something beautiful! Just take some time and thank God for all he has done! Dont lose sight! and your Free to Change The World!!!

One Love!

Ca,

Community

After getting back to the basics, there is definitely a need for a community of believers in your life. It gives you encouragement, love, care, and support in your life that is an absolute need in your own walk in faith. Sometimes we lose track of how important fellowship in a body of believers is. Illustrations of this are Hurricane Katrina and 9/11. What happened after these events happened? There was encouragement, support, care, and love given to the survivors of these tragic events. People helped others out in their time of need. See when I think of community I think of groups of houses. Well think of each believer as their own house. Each person might struggle with something such as hurt in the family, relationships, pain, sorrow that may tear at the house (person). The greatest thing with a community of believers though is that you will have people standing outside your house ready to encourage you and build you back up in your life. They are ready to take you and love, care, and support you to get back on your feet. This is so awesome that you can be prayed for, encouraged, loved, and cared about in the good times and the bad. Its so awesome! So I encourage each and everyone one of you that a community of believers is a must need in your life! I want to make sure in my life I always surround myself with this community so I feel I am not fighting this good fight alone. We all cannot do this alone the body is a unit. (1 Corinthians 12:12). If you want to see how this community is represented in the bible just read Acts 2:42-47. The people learned together and grew together as a community rather than alone. It is an awesome sight to see when this is truly lived out! I hope you enjoyed this little blog and I hope you have a great rest of the week! Keep allowing God do work in your life and continue to listen and be open to his plan! One Love!

Mike Kozlowski
One Love Ministries

Back to the Basics!

WOW its been forever since i last blogged and so much has happened!!! Im now in my second year of college and it's getting all but easier. I was blessed this summer with an intern position at the church and it really set a fire in my heart to work with youth and to do what i can to change the way the youth of today think. One Love is about living out the love of Christ!!! So i had been so busy thinking about ways to improve the youth group and ways to make other things better that i totally lost sight of what sparked me to want to be in ministry in the first place... the kids and seeing God do work! God is a big God and knows all and sees all and its just hard to think about people that dont believe there is a God.... Evolution? i mean really.... monkeys? well how'd they get here?.. bacteria....c'mon! howd that come about! it had to start somewhere!! God is the only answer to any and all questions you may have! But back to what i was saying (srry for the wild tangent i just get so worked up!) ha ha I was losing sight of what i really fell in love with. So i have dedicated this month to getting back to the basics. spending time on relationships, and spending more time in prayer and in the word, and just loving on kids and asking God about the future! I've been blessed already in the few days i've spent digging in, and im starting to get some guidance and wisdom beyond my years in where i feel i need to go and where i should be stepping up. I may be 19 but i got God backing me up! there is nothing that man can do to me! (Heb 13:6...my fav. verse by the way!) so live out LOUD!!!! and live Large! think BIG! and lean on God!!! Anything it possible! So i just want to encourage to get back to your first love and the basics that set you up for success!

One Love!!

Cam

The Golden Days

Do you remember the days where you were just a little kid and just jumped around, spun around, and didnt care what other people thought? Tonight at VBS I was just in awe of how these kids were all praising God! It was so awesome. I am guilty of this but we tend to think too much about praising instead of just doing what God lays on our heart. Those kids didnt think they just did it! That touched the heart of me and I want to encourage all of you to look back on the youth and praise like you dont care! Lay down every little thought of what kinda song it is or what kinda music it is and just jump up and down and praise God! Its so awesome how little things can encourage us in our walk! In mine tonight was preschoolers through 5th graders! Oh how God loves his children! Lets go back to the childhood days and praise like we dont care whats going on in our lives, but just listen to God in our hearts and let the little kid come out in us to praise!

One Love

Thrivestylin Crew!

Hey whats up guys and of course the ladies it has been an awesome summer so far and I hope all of you are enjoying every bit of it! The weather has been nice and I hope at least you all got some chill vacation time! Here in the summer though we are starting what is called Thrivestylin Thursdays! These are the days that you can come in to room 201 at Steele Creek Church of Charlotte and just get to know one another. Also it is a chill time where you can talk and snack on food and drinks while just starting conversations. We will have music and games and many other activities throughout the summer and into the fall! So if you feel like coming out myself, Cam and Beth would love to have you out at Steele Creek for a night of fun! Thanks for everything you guys and do and remember to always Do Hard Things!

Matthew 22:37

Michael Kozlowski
Thrive Student Ministry

A sight into an African Village

What a reality God brought on the youth that went to Mission Reality Weekend! Only but a glimpse and taste of what the African Refugee Camps are all about. The Thrive youth students started out at the church to watch a video, but really came out after watching the video with no bags, no shoes, and no cell phones! They were bombarded with smoke and firecrackers and only a bus that stood in front of them! They all hopped on the bus to head to a reality that only the leaders knew about. From there on once they got to the camp, much of themselves started to be broken down. The next 16 hours or so, kids started realizing how the refugees had it so hard and we here in America have been so blessed. Youth had to fetch their own water, were only served one meal over the 24 hours and had nothing but a tarp to sleep on! Bugs were everywhere, there were no bathrooms, and boredom beyond their imagination happened as well. From this though a greater image was brought out in the fact that these kids realized what they had and the broken hearts that were across the Atlantic Ocean in Africa. Thankfulness rose from the kids hearts as the sudden realization of a bed at home, food to eat, and family to love on them.

See there is more to life than the greatest treasures here on Earth. It may take a huge reality weekend to realize that, but we as youth need to be more aware of what really is going on amongst the other nations in the world. Jesus Christ loves everyone even those kids in Africa the same. It does not take the life of luxury to gain more approval from Jesus. Christ loves everyone and only wants to capture your heart. Let him lead your life and he will give an abundance beyond your imagination! "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?" Next time you are in your quiet place or have a moment to just stop and think from everyday life, remind yourself of that comment. If you gain the whole world and lose your soul, what will it profit you? I think to gain the whole love of Jesus Christ and gain your soul profits you eternal life! He loves each and everyone of you! Seek and believe!

One Love Productions Crew

Start of the Summer

I just want to shout out to the youth at Steele Creek for all the work they have done this summer so far for Thrive on Mission! You are all serving well and glorifying God through service of your own backyard! Mission trips are fun, most of them are all outside the state and in different countries, but thrive students are helping the community surrounding them. The charlotte area is deeply blessed by your ministry and continue to thrive throughout the summer! We also want to take time to pray for those students in other areas of the world doing the same thing we are doing! We want to pray and keep in mind the other youth groups serving in other countries as well as around their communities as well. The thrive team is definitely blessed with the youth at Steele Creek and are seeing the change drawn out from these two weeks in the summer. Thanks for all you do and thank you God for all you have provided us with! Jesus you are the ultimate provider and the ultimate healer! We glorify you all our days!

Michael Kozlowski
One Love Productions

"I steadfastly refuse to gratify the devil by becoming discouraged"

Prayer!

What is up One Love Nation?! I hope you guys are doing well and I just wanted to just encourage all of you to keep pressing on through the last weeks of school! Do Hard Things and finish up strong! I know school is not the favorite thing to do, but you gotta do what you gotta do period. Anyways I havent blogged in a while and just wanted to ask you guys for any prayer requests going on? We love praying and seeing the miraculous things God is doing in your lives! So if you are going through some stuff let us know and we will be in prayer for you! Also be on the look out for summer and continue in prayer because One Love Productions is getting more and more out there now that us as a team are done practically with school! haha. Well guys continue to press into the word and continue to Thrive for God!

Matthew 22:37

Michael Kozlowski
One Love Productions

Abandon...

This past weekend me and mike went to help lead a taught at the Abandon retreat for our church. It was an amazing and eventful weekend; and not to mention tireing. God is great at every moment! Well, we were up in the mountains and as if thats not a place to be awestruck enough by God, he truly showed up. We talked about abandoning thing that hinder us from truly being those sold out christians and the crew that rises up and reps the Lord through all they do. Mike talked about abandoning your past which is a huge issue with todays youth. Some feel that they cant move on because of where they have been or what they have done and that couldnt be farther from the truth that God tells us. The the past is called the past for a reason... IT'S BEHIND US!!! Live in the NOW!! One you repent God takes all the big nasty past you lug around with you all the time and DESTROYS IT!! actually he destroyed that on the cross some thousands of years ago (..go ahead and let that sink in...) He was thinking of you when he was praying so hard not to have to go to the cross he was bleeding... he was thinking about you when he took that beating, one so bad he couldnt even be recognized after... he was thinking of you when he died on that cross (where he took your past and bled for it he was the ultimate sacrifice to destroy all sin!! and all PAST!! so give it us an let it go!! Rise up to be the men and women of God he has called us all to be..
I taught about fear! Fear has a way to grip and cripple us through life, it keeps us from doing the BIG things that we know we could do. YOUNG PEOPLE CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!!!!! ( yell it out) I can CHANGE the WORLD!! yeah i said it the entire WORLD!!! it just takes the rising up of a FEARLESS and POWERFUL generation of JESUS FREAKS!!! tell the devil to BRING IT ON! bc we are well equipped and ready to roll, ready to knock that sucka out. BUT beware you better be prepared know what you believe and believe what you know. Equip your self in a way that you're going to battle. train hard, be strong!! Fear is all in your head, God cast out fear with his perfect love as we live in him.
Picture us the young generation rising to take the world for Jesus!! Powerful.. now take that picture and make it REALITY!! Who is gonna stop you? Devil? no Jesus already conquered him. Fear? That is not of God, his perfect love cast it out. The world and man? Hebrews 13-4. yeah dont think so! Death? Jesus conquered that too!! Whats holding you back? what do you need to abandon???


One Love!
Cam

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD?

I went to Charleston, SC, this past week for spring break to visit family there. On the way there i was watching Louie Giglios How Great Is Our God sermon. and i was really sitting there in deep thought about how great God really is.
While i was watching this an SUV up in front of us tire blew out and it began flipping across the interstate at 80mph. The SUV went airborne and as soon as it did my mom screamed out JESUS HOLD THEM. The SUV hit a tree about 12ft in the air and came crashing down below. The SUV looked like a crushed soda can, the front axle of the car came completely off and every single window was shattered. We pulled over and me and my dad ran down to the crash site. i remember thinking as i was running "Lord why did this happen? theres no way anyone could survive this." i was expecting to go down there to see dead bodies, the wreck was that bad.

My dad and I and some other men ran down and saw a man inside with his left arm and leg out of the drivers window, underneath the car which had fallen on its side. He kept saying "my arm, my arm," so we lifted up the SUV and a man dug under his arm and we got it out. His leg was to far and we couldn't flip the SUV without fear of hurting him so we decided to wait for rescue. Just looking at him i knew it was God holding him. I felt Gods presence and so i crawled into the front windsheild and talked with him and prayed with him until rescue came, his name is Jason. The whole time i was praying he was starring at me with tears in his eyes. It was a powerful moment for me and God had proved himself great and how mighty he is.
We had to leave because a helicopter was coming and we had to move the car, so I'm not sure what happened to Jason. But I know God protected him and hes going to be ok.


After that my friend called me and said that last week when we led worship at ONE7, there was a drunk man walking around in the parking lot. He was drawn to the worship music and came over to see what was going on. One of the leaders talked with him for 2 hours and the man hung out with them and talked everyday this past week. He got saved and has been sober for a week! this blessed me to know that God has placed me and the band exactly where he wants us to be used for HIS glory.

As you can tell, GOD IS GREAT.



Keep trusting Him, He WILL use you.



ONE LOVE

Josh Gomez
One Love Productions

TRUST

Its amazing how when we trust God and obey him, everything else falls into place. The last two years of my life has been a bumpy road but God always reveals himself as long as I put all my trust in him. This will be a short blog, but I just wanted to post on how faithful our God really is and all we have to do..is TRUST him.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understandings."-Proverbs 3:5


ONE LOVE!


Josh Gomez

Romans 12:2

(2) Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Stand against all that crap the world is throwing at you. Make the stand for Christ!! Making the stand will make all evil clear and blatant in your eyes! Take the step and stand up for what you believe! KNOW WHAT YOU BELIEVE AND BELIEVE WHAT YOU KNOW!! One Love!

We must Prepare the way for the Lord!

Hey One Love Nation! As this blog continues to grow we love just hearing from different people about the many things God is doing in their lives....this blog that you are about to read is from one of our good friends Stephen Kawakami. I hope you enjoy this as much as it has blessed us. He is talking about Lee and Cleveland Tennessee, but I want you to read this because it applies to everyone. The generation of this world it applies to! Lets prepare the way for the Lord! One Love!


I was reading Joshua chapter 1 tonight and God showed me something...

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea [a] on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 "Go through the camp and tell the people, 'Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.' "

Basically, the Israelites had been in wilderness for 40 years and they seemed to be content with where they were because they didn't want to do what was required to obtain the Promise Land. Moses died and Joshua is now in charge of the Israelites. Naturally, Joshua seems to be a little timid in accepting this role, but the Lord assures Joshua that He will be with him wherever he goes and the He will never leave him or forsake him. So then Joshua tells the people to get ready to cross the Jordan River in 3 days.

I feel like this is where we are now. The seniors are graduating in a month or so and most of our leaders are leaving and it is up to us to step up and take their leadership roles.

I know that God has promised a whole lot of things to Lee and Cleveland that have not happened yet. I think it is partly because we are not prepared and we are not doing the things required to obtain the promises. Just like the Israelites, we are settling and being content with where we are(the wilderness) when we could just put some effort into our relationship with God and obtain the things that God has promised for us.

I believe that God is raising up a Joshua generation that won’t be content with where they are and they won't be content with the unfulfilled promises that God has given them.

No longer will an unfulfilled promise go by this class at Lee. No longer will we be content. No longer will we settle for the ordinary or the good or even the great. It is time to strive for the promises that God has given us. Everything that God had given to Lee will come to fruition by the time that we graduate. Let nothing pass us by because we were not ready for it. It is time to step up and do what is necessary to receive what God has given us.

WE MUST PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD!

Join ONE LOVE NATION!

If you would like to recieve more info on One Love Productions and become of the One Love NATION! just comment and post your email address on this post and we will get more info to you!!!!! One Love!

Thoughts from 1 Peter 4

As i was reading in 1 Peter 4 the other day a few thing really stuck out to me that i thought i would share with One Love Nation!! (cool name huh?? well thats you!!!) In chapter 4 verses 12 and 13 it talks about suffering as a christian, and we all know what it's like to suffer but Peter says this: "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trail when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. (13) But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's suffering." This is saying to rejoice in suffering for Christ...SAY WHAT!!..yeah we should REJOICE when we are persecuted and have trials come our way, because it sets us up a platform to show Jesus! It gives us a ready spot to give an account and the God tells us to always be ready to give an account for what he has done in our lives. I know it may seem hard to think that we should be happy in a time that is hard for us, but ill put a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE (just like Billy Mays and all his infomercials!!) that when you rejoice in your suffering for Christ that he will in return BLESS you many times over!! I dont know about you guys, but Blessing are amazing to receive. It goes on to talk about not being ashamed of your suffering for Christ, so that when judgment day come (dun dun dun, we all know it will one day) we may be ready and willing to give an account, that we obeyed the will of the Lord. can i get an AMEN? (here is a spot for you to randomly shout amen from where ever you are and really shake up the environment you in!!) but this next part has really stuck with me, in verse 18 its says

" if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinners?"

WOW i dont know about you guys but there is truth and challenge in that set of words right there!! Your probably thinking the same thing! Righteous people don't need the saving!! its the ungodly and the sinners! amen (though some "righteous" people could use a little more of the word too! ha ha ) Its our calling to reach out to those groups the ungodly and the sinners...we are called to reach to the ends of the earth teaching and preaching and making disciples of Jesus! word! we wouldnt want our lives to be wasted im sure they dont want to waste theirs! i know we all have many friends that fall into this category that so many people of the world would call "normal" but we know what they are heading for! They are meant for so much more! my challenge it so reach out to those you know personally first.... then reach that same hand to at least 5 people you dont know..show the love of Christ to all people and dont let your friends become merely a death statistic! Rise up and be the Holy Generation God has called you to be!!!Amen!!

One Love

Cam!

A word...

This is a word from on of our friends here at One Love:

"The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a dear, he enables me to go on the heights." Habakkuk 3:19

-Amanda

One 7

I just wanted to blog on something that really humbled me and spoke to my heart. I was asked by my buddy Steve Shak to go out and lead worship in inner city Charlotte at a ministry called ONE7. As soon as i got there i started to fall in love with this ministry. Alot of the Charlotte Eagles go out there and play soccer with the kids and they have teams and games every week. The ministry also tutors the kids and sets time aside for homework so that the kids can do good in school. It was amazing...the kids were very open and loving and quickly introduced themselves to me and the guitar player in my band, woody. When it was time for worship woody and I was expecting them to pretty much stand there and look at us like we were stupid. God revealed himself to us through these kids and reminded us that the youth are hungry for Him. As we started the upbeat songs the kids were jumping around and yelling and clapping and it was amazing to see that kids that haven't ever really been taught what worship is were still worshiping with all their heart. They didn't know the songs but quickly learned the words and began to sing so loud that i could hear them over the two 800watt amps behind me with my own voice coming out of it. When we played the song "All I Need Is You" by hillsong i was blessed yet again at the complete surrender the kids demonstrated as they lifted their hands and worshiped without a care in the world and kept singing "all i need is you, Lord" even as i backed away from the mic.

i think sometimes we take advantage of worship and don't surrender completely to God. so i guess thats my challenge for you, surrender your whole heart to God and he will bless you in ways you never dreamed possible. So dance like no one is watching, sing like no body is listening and raise your hands in total surrender to Christs perfect love.


ONE LOVE!

Josh Gomez
One Love Productions

Quiz Submitted by Christian Taylor

A buddy of mine wants you to take his sports quiz!

http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_is_your_best_sport

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Love....

Soooo i was at school today and between classes we were watching some "Fresh Prince of Belair"...Godly show i know.. but Uncle Phil (will smith's uncle that he lives with on the show) was talking with will about love and something hit me out of now where. He said "Will you will know your in love, when those love songs start making sense." And i was like man how true is that! ha ha Then God was using that to tell me that you know your truly in love with God when you truly understand what it means to worship him. Worshipping him is what he loves, and we sing songs and dance (some of us) as forms of worship to him. I remember when i was a kid i used to sing Amazing Grace like it was no big deal... and then i truly found out what it was like to love God and what kind of love he has for me and that song truly started to make sense to me! Do worships songs make sense to you? are you truly in love? God yearns for your love, so why dont we truly start to understand those love songs?

One Love

Cam

Christian tee shirts from NOTW

Do Something BIG!

So im at the beach this week just relaxing and chilling with my boys...and i decided to get some reading done in this book im reading, "Do Hard Things" by Alex and Brett Harris (I encourage ALL, EVERY, EVERY SINGLE young person do read this book). It talks about A "teenage rebellion against low expectations". So many "older people" today dont expect much out of our youth, but the problem is the youth listen to these low expectations and just coast through life. If you take a minute to think about, all the times you just settled for what was "good enough" or just told yourself the "i tried my best" when you know in your heart you really didnt? WHY SETTLE!? We as young people have to much more to offer the world, because we are the main focal point of the media and society. If we choose to stray from whats normal and become REBELS against the culture and the norm, just imagine what we could do for the Kingdom of God? any thought come into your head? thought so. We spend to much of our time engulfed in the mindset that we are too young or ill do that when i get older....WHY WAIT? Now it the time for the you of this generation to rise! We are the NOW! What do you say are you with the movement???

So back to my main point (sorry about the wild tangent up there just had to let it out ha ha). In their book they talk about a girl Lindsey, who is labeled as the "good church girl" (you know the girl who doesnt watch R-rated movies, the one who is always smiling, the one who doesnt date boys and seems like she is homies with God...that kinda girl). Well all her life all she heard was what a good godly woman she was and how she is better and like a young christian prodigy, because she was so involved in the church. BUT here is the part that really stuck out to me (hints the reason for blogging all this) is that it says "...she knows she's become exceptional for what she doesn't do. She doesn't go to wild parties, cause trouble, or want a tattoo. But what does she do? IS THE CHRISTIAN LIFE ALL ABOUT AVOIDING "BAD STUFF" OR IS IT ABOUT DOING "GOOD, HARD STUFF FOR GOD?" WOW! thats all i remember thinking to myself when i read that is, that this is so true. So many times today christian YOUTH especially get caught up in just avoiding the "bad stuff" out there instead of what we need to be doing which are the hard things for God! Just because you dont do the bad stuff in the world doesnt mean your fully living to your FULLEST potential in Christ! it takes doing the hard things.... Staying in the Word....Studying the Word...witnessing...listening to God (even when its hard)...not allowing fear to tell you, that you cant...NOT SETTLING....just to name a few. Imagine if we all chose to the the hard things from now on, what would it look like? Well, it would look like the will of God being carried out unto the world. Are you ready to lay down low expectations and rebel against the culture? To stop settling for less? To stop avoiding just the bad stuff and start to do the hard things for Christ? Will you rise up and take that stand? I hope so..... 1 Timothy 4:12 "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set and example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." (NIV)

One Love!

Cam Smith

Youth Of Today...

For way too long have you been look at as the "church of tomorrow", and had people say: "when they grow up they are gonna be a mighty force for Jesus". WFe are NOT the church of tomorrow! We ARE the church of today! No longer should we stand down and not participate in what God has in store for us NOW! Now is the time to stand and rise against the culture that we so many times adore, more than the one who created us. The way of the culture is socially acceptable and much easier to maneuver in; however, it WILL without a doubt leave you empty and wanting more. It's time for the our generation middle school, high school, and college age students, to rise up as the mighty generation that the Lord God has called us to be. There is an anointment on our generation, we have to become a rebel to the world. Leading a "Holy Rebellion" against the world, evil, and religion. Its time to throw down the labels that keep us apart and set the standard within the world. Too many times does the church look like the world, it time the church looks like the church of old. Leading with no judgment and open to ALL types of people. Once the church finds a way to be open and acceptable, the possiblities of expanding God's kingdom are limitless! Time for this holy generation to take a step....you dont have to wait till your "all grown up" to make a difference. You can be a world changer today!

1 Peter 1:24

"All flesh is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers, and the flower falls,

but the word of the Lord remains

forever."

Stop, Be Quiet, and Make a Connection

How often are we caught up in the everyday craziness of just being busy? Well I know from a personal standpoint that it is a hard subject to grasp every now and again. We as a team are so caught up in the college studies, in the production of videos for the youth, what we are going to say on Sunday for our message, jobs, hanging out with friends, and spending that other time running place to place. What are we supposed to do when our life gets so hectic? Well I came across a book at the National Youth Ministry Conference and it was written by Doug Fields. The name of it caught my eye by the term "Refuel". Under the title it said "An Uncomplicated Guide to Connecting with God". There and then the book was in my hands and I was ready to go off to read it. There is a great simplistic way of connecting with God and Doug Fields definitely breaks it down into three main points. The three points are Stop, Be quiet, and make a connection with God. A great depiction of these points in the book was when Doug shared a true life story when he was approaching spiritual "E". Yes, you read correctly. Spiritual "E" is when you are so wrapped up in life and do not make those times to just settle down and listen to what God has to say. Your life shows this because you start having less patience, become more busy, you catch yourself just getting more angry, and so many other little things that are bothersome. These things are so true when you do not take the time to stop, be quiet, and make a connection. The passage in the book reads,

" I remember one time when it was very obvious to me that I was approaching spiritual "E". I felt distant from God. It was an overly busy time in my life---I was rushing around from meeting to meeting, and I wasn't connecting with God. And on this one particular day, instead of practicing what I preach and taking time to stop, be quiet, and make a connection with God, I chose to stop at a loud restaurant and connect with food. I was in a hurry to get to an appointment but had just enough time to go to In-N-Out Burger for my favorite "Double-Double, Animal-Style." Timewise I was cutting it a little tight, but if everything went according to plan, I would be okay. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plan. The problem was with the young lady taking orders---she didn't share my sense of urgency. She was focused on trading lip-gloss tips with her friend instead of expediting the line.

I tried to drop hints. I tapped my fingers. I made broad, glancing gestures at my watch. But she went right on gabbing with her girlfriend. Inside my head, my spiritual gift of sarcasm was churning out remarks I wanted to say, like: "Hey, Buffy, it's called In-N-Out, not Wait-It-Out. If I wanted to spend this long in line, I could have ordered a burger from the DMV." I was on the verge of being mean and saying something rude. But I didn't. The only thing that kept me from it, though, was the fact that I'm a pastor and the fear that she might go to our church. Besides, if I had blown up at the gabby girl as I was tempted to, it wouldn't have solved anything, let alone gotten me my food any faster (and there may have been a mystery "extra" on my burger). Sure, she was slacking off, but the truth was, my anxious heart wasn't caused by her; it was my issue. My empty-heart issue. I was nearing empty, and it wasn't pretty. Standing in line and chewing on my fist, I knew something had to change. I got back in my car, and I stopped, prayed, apologized to God, and made a connection. "

Can you relate to this? I know I can and I challenge you to stop, be quiet, and make a connection like Doug did with the heart-empty issue he was dealing with. If you are getting busy and you feel like you are struggling to just get through the day. Maybe just take the time even 30 seconds to just say, "God I know I am struggling right now, but you are greater than me and I ask you to just lead my life and fill my emptiness and restore me to the truth. Lead me into the proper leadership that you have called me to continue my life restored and not full of emptiness. Thank you Lord for just caring and loving on me each and every day! You are so abundant and true! Amen!"

I ask you to pray that and just ask God to lead you this morning and today. Be like Doug today and maybe take that extra time to STOP, BE QUIET, AND MAKE A CONNECTION WITH GOD! God is so amazing!!!

Michael Kozlowski

One Love Productions

Videos

For future videos and such we will post weekly or bi-weekly! We have two new videos coming out soon so be aware and keep updated with the blog! Remember to do hard things for God! Have a great day!

Matthew 22:37

One Love Production Team

One Love Productions

HERE WE ARE! WE HAVE FINALLY ARRIVED!! WE ARE HERE TO CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE PERCEIVE YOUTH AND TO PUMP GOD THROUGH MEDIA!