Statement of Faith

The Bible - The Bible is God's perfect word to us. Every word in the Bible comes from God. There are no mistakes in the Bible at all. The Bible tells us exactly how God desires us to live. The Bible has all you need to know to live for Jesus and find your satisfaction in Him.

God - The God of the Bible is one God. He shows himself to us in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Jesus - Jesus has always been God. We believe in his virgin birth, sinless life, all his miracles, death for His people through which salvation comes, His resurrection from the dead, that He went back to heaven where he sits next to God the Father, and that He will come back one day to judge the earth.

The Holy Spirit – God, through His Spirit, dwells in all of those who have come to fully trust Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. The only way a believer has the strength and ability to live a godly life is to continue to daily trust fully in God’s power that He gives through His Holy Spirit.

Sin – Anything that breaks God’s Word is sin. Every person is guilty of sin. Sin affects every part of every person. How we think, how we feel and what we believe to be important is all deeply effected by sin. According to the Bible sin must be punished.

Humankind – Humankind was originally made to have a beautifully perfect relationship with God. Do to our sin choice we have become desperately broken on the inside. The Bible teaches that no one on their own even desires or tries to find God. If someone seeks the true God it is only because God graciously is giving that person the desire and ability to seek Him.

Salvation – To be forgiven of sin you must fully trust in Jesus as your Savior by believing that Jesus took your punishment for sin on the cross. You must fully trust that what Jesus did on the cross is the only thing that can save you from sin and sin’s punishment.

God’s Saving Strength – Once God has brought someone to salvation he/she cannot lose their salvation. A true believer in Jesus may have some difficult times spiritually, but their life will be changed and they will learn to love God, obey God and love others more. A person who is not growing spiritually may need to check their life and make sure that they have really trusted Jesus as their Savior.

Judgement – One day Jesus will return and resurrect from the dead all those who have fully trusted and followed Him. All true believers will have eternal life with God in heaven. Those that have not trusted in Jesus will be judged and sent to a terrible place called hell. Hell is a real place as described in the Bible. Anyone who dies without fully trusting Jesus alone as their savior will suffer eternal punishment in hell.

Purposes

"Connecting students with Jesus by injecting the truth of God's Word through the power of God's Spirit and biblical relationship."

Connecting students with Jesus – The only thing that will really satisfy our hearts is finding our greatest joy in a love relationship with Jesus.

The Truth of God’s Word – In a world of instability our young people need to know that God and His Word will never change. We at Kiokee believe that God’s Word is active, alive, and powerful. Lives are changed as God’s Word is taught, read, and internalized.

Power of God’s Spirit – All people are powerless to eternally change themselves. We desperately need God’s strength, given by His Spirit, to fill us, enable us, and give us a passion for Himself and others. Humbly we confess that we are needy and inadequate. We fail when we attempt to live for God without Him; but with Him, He enables us to have victory for His glory.

Biblical Relationships - God has purposed for us not to be in the spiritual journey alone. He commanded us to encourage one another and be involved in others lives in very intimate, honest, and supportive relationships.

What we desire to be made up of (the five “P’s”):

Purpose – (explained above) We are going places. We desire your young person to grow spiritually and have a passion for Jesus. We are specifically aiming for spiritual excellence. We purposely plan what we do, not just for socialization, but specifically so that your young person will have an opportunity to meet Christ and grow in Him.

Parents – We believe that the most effective youth ministry happens in the home, where as parents we attempt to live out our faith in an honest and real way. In the home God’s truths are made practical by a parent training, guiding, and disciplining his or her student. Any success that Powerhouse Ministries has is in direct relationship to parents, by God’s grace, investing in their students. We support and applaud parents!

Peers – All of us need friends our age to hang around and influence us for Jesus. We believe that students desperately need lasting godly friendships that can encourage their relationship with the Lord.

People – As great as peer friends are, all of us need more experienced guidance from time to time. We believe that to grow a young person spiritually, they must have regular contact with growing adults. Our adult support and help is outstanding!

Process – No one changes overnight. We believe that real spiritual character change happens as a process over time. We are happy to not only be a part of that process, but also be patient in it.

Values Impression

One way you get to know people and a ministry is by slowly discovering what they think is important. Here is a list of the values that we purposefully try to be about and some that through our group’s personality that we’ve just found ourselves in. We’ll let you figure out the difference. The list is intentionally randomized. It is randomized because as our group evolves and travels through teaching cycles certain values are more emphasized than others. It is also randomized to annoy those people who think that organization is the answer to the world’s problems (LOL).

• Learning God’s Word
• Random Humor
• Loud Music
• Building Relationships
• The Persecuted Church
• Just Hanging Out
• Encouraging Each Other Spiritually
• Worshiping to God Focused Music
• Parents Leading Their Students Spiritually
• Purity of the Mind, Heart and Body
• Eating Fattening Food
• Talking Trash About Georgia Football
• Teaching Through A Verse, Passage Or Book Of The Bible
• Laughing Until You Get Sick
• Telling Friends About Jesus
• Getting Challenged Spiritually To Grow In New Ways
• Sharing Scripture With Each Other
• Did I Say Random Humor?
• Jump’n In The Christian Mosh Pit When “Thief On The Right” Plays
• Small Groups Where You Can Share Your Heart And Life
• Not A lot Of Drama
• Giving Testimonies About What God Is Doing In Our Lives
• Meeting New People
• Sharing Jesus With Lost People In The Slums Of Brazil
• Going to Camp
• Great Leaders that Live And Teach God’s Word And His Love
• Learning Why the Bible Is Really From God
• Guys That Try To Lead Spiritually
• Girls who like to pull their hair in a pony tail and get messy
• Missions/Evangelism and Unreached People Groups
• A Hard “Good Game” Every Now and Then
• A Good Hard Hug
• Shoot’n A Deer In The Eye!

Expectations for Kiokee Students

Know God deeply and personally through His Word
Trust the Bible as completely true in all it says. Pay close attention when someone teaches you the Bible. Daily Read the Bible for yourself.

Beg God regularly for help to grow spiritually
Grow more and more in a daily desperate dependence on God. Believe that you can only grow with His strength. Trust in the power of His Spirit to enable you to live an obedient life.

Live a life of worship to God
Purpose to glorify God in all aspects of your life by living in complete surrender and obedience to Jesus. Live life with the awareness that your life is to reflect to God, and others around you, your “wow” of Jesus. Allow God to satisfy your heart even in situations that are tough. Be purposeful in doing what helps you grow in love and obedience of Jesus (examples – thinking/meditating about what you read in the Bible, Memorizing scripture, fasting, praying, listening to Christian music).

Grow in your passion for encouraging others spiritually
Be sure you understand the Gospel well enough to be able to clearly explain it to an unbeliever. Ask God to bring people into your life that you can share Jesus with.

Look for ways to encourage other believers and unbelievers spiritually (especially with scripture). Look for opportunities to serve others.

Expectations for Kiokee Parents
Be committed to what we expect of our students plus:

Live out a Godly attitude toward your spouse in front of you teenagers.

As parents work as a team to lead and guide your young person spiritually.

Model before your young people the kinds of attitudes and actions that you expect them to have.

Appropriately share with your young people what God has been teaching you in your life.

Take time regularly to read scripture together with your teenager and discuss it together (teach them small portions daily).

Ask your young person regularly how they are doing spiritually and what God is teaching them.

Help them guard their heart. Many times they don’t see how what they are doing will hurt them spiritually and emotionally.