About Harvest Youth Ministries:
Our Vision:
To serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, by serving youth around the world.
What We Believe
Our Mission
About The Author
Interesting Stuff
What We Believe:
The Bible, as originally written, was given through inspiration by God Himself without error to show us God's plan for how to enter into a relationship with him and how to live our lives. It is God's final authority for all Christian faith and life.
There is only one God, Creator of everything, absolutely perfect, and existing forever in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ was wholly God and wholly man. The Holy Spirit placed Him in the womb and He was born to the virgin Mary. He died on the cross for our sins. Further, he arose bodily from the dead and ascended into Heaven.
Man was created in the image of God. Because of sin mankind is separated from God and faces eternity apart from God. However, through faith in Christ, we can receive a new life and the assurance of eternal life with God.
The death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ provide the only way to complete forgiveness and acceptance by God. Only those who believe that Jesus died for them personally, who turn away from their sins, and confess Jesus to be their Lord and Savior are given new life through the Holy Spirit.
The personal and imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ is what we await.
There will be a bodily resurrection of all dead. The believer will be raised to a life of peace, joy and worship forever with the Lord Jesus Christ. The unbeliever will be condemned to never-ending suffering and conscious punishment.
Our Mission:
To fulfill the Great Commission [1] by bringing consumable pieces of God's Word directly into peoples lives and by providing a non-threatening forum for investigating the truth of Jesus' birth, life, and resurrection.
1. The Great Commission: Matthew 28:19-20a
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching
them everything I have commanded you." Jesus of NazarethAbout The Author:
Jim Kilby
Founder, Harvest Youth MinistriesClick here for a picture of Jim
Jim is an ordained pastor, and Founder and Executive Director of Harvest Youth Ministries, a small non-denominational youth ministry. In addition, Jim runs a teen hangout called "the Cellar," as well as helping lead a large and very active youth group at Far Hills Church, in Dayton, Ohio. He is 38 years old and a husband and father of six children. Jim is also a retired Air Force officer. During his Air Force career, Jim worked on some of the most classified systems in the world; such as the awesome F-117 Stealth Fighter!
Jim is definitely not your typical pastor. Not raised in the church, he rarely entered one as a young man. His father abandoned his mother and his little sister before his second birthday. He was raised by his very young mother and a line of several stepfathers. Along the way, his mother had two more children, making Jim the eldest of four.
For most of his young life, Jim lived in virtual poverty, his family frequently found themselves on State or Federal assistance. His mother's career as a country and western singer kept her away from the house much of the time. The family often moved from state to state--and the kids moved from school to school. As the eldest child, Jim was routinely left to care for his younger brothers and sisters. Although difficult, this task instilled in him a deep-rooted sense of responsibility. It's also where he began to learn the leadership skills that would later make him successful in the military.
With a lack of supervision and no spiritual foundation, Jim began to get himself in trouble with school officials and with the police as he neared the age of 15. It was also during this time that Jim fathered his first son... and because of the transient nature of the next 23 years of his life, a son he didn't know he had until he was 38! Just before his 16th birthday, his mother sent him to live with a stepfather in Oklahoma. With "male-supervision," Jim cleaned-up his act some, but after returning to live with his mother a year later, he again found himself headed for trouble. After an argument with his mother, he moved out on his own at 17. He subsequently dropped-out of high-school and took a job as a construction laborer.
Constantly drinking, using drugs, and running with a very rough crowd, Jim wondered how he had slipped so far. The realization that his life was on the wrong track often brought back thoughts of a profession of faith he had made during vacation bible school at the age of twelve. While attending the week long school, Jim accepted the fact that he was a sinner and accepted Jesus' sacrifice for his sins. Still, without any real Christian upbringing, he was at a loss for what to do. Looking back, he believes the Holy Spirit led him to act upon a dream planted in his heart by his mother many years before. In a moment of amazing foresight, she told Jim she believed he would one day be an officer in the United States Air Force. Knowing he had to make a dramatic change, one day Jim quietly walked into the office of an Air Force recruiter.
Although the military's rules and regulations helped Jim keep his career on track, his private life was quickly on the wrong path again. Inside he was still a very angry young man. After marrying another young lady he got pregnant, Jim's antics off-duty calmed down substantially, but his marriage was built on a very weak foundation. Soon after the birth of their second child, the marriage was in serious trouble. Caught in severe depression, Jim's wife made a serious attempt to take her own life. It was during the aftermath of this suicide attempt and the subsequent divorce that he finally sought the peace and love of Jesus Christ.
After finding a church and with mentoring from several Christian men, Jim's life was eventually back on-track. Still, he had left three children, a wife, and many others in his path of destruction. Even though the situation isn't ideal, with his heavenly Father as the model, Jim works hard to be an active father and spiritual leader to his wife and children.
Not long after re-dedicating his life to Christ, Jim met and married the love of his life, the former Jill Brensinger of Waldorf, Maryland. Soon after, he completed his bachelor's degree; finishing with a perfect 4.0 GPA. Later, he applied for an appointment to Air Force Officer Training School, and was selected. On June 22, 1994 he turned-in his enlisted man's stripes for the gold bars of a second lieutenant. With the help of the Lord, Jim had finally achieved the dream his mother had planted in him so many years before. He was an Air Force officer! Funny though, it wouldn't be long before God would ask Jim to give up his military career, in favor of reaching out to youth for Christ. Following that call, Jim founded Harvest Youth Ministries in 1998.
Jim is quick to point out that his Lord and Savior deserves all the credit for his transformation from high school drop-out to a college graduate and beyond. His current goals include continuing to grow closer to Christ as he works hard to be a spiritual leader, mentor and friend to his wife and his four children. He also plans to continue his work as a youth speaker and evangelist.
To ask Jim a question, send an e-mail to harvest@mics.net
Have Jim Kilby speak at your next youth rally or retreat. Fill out a request.
Interesting Stuff:
Our Christian roots run deep in this nation... Check this out!
"I speak as a man of the world to men of the world and I say to you, search the scriptures, the Bible is the book of all others to be read at all ages and in all conditions of human life; not to be read once or twice or thrice through and then laid aside, but to be read in small portions of one or two chapters every day and never to be intermitted unless by some overruling necessity." -- President John Quincy Adams
"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis. A conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God. That they cannot be violated except with His wrath. I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just. And that His justice cannot sleep forever." -- Thomas Jefferson
From an old-time Christian song.
"Though none go with me, I still will follow"
A good friend of mine said this one morning and it hit me like a ton of bricks!
"God judges our successfulness by our faithfulness -- not by the number of souls we win to Him." -- Ken Parsons
Something I heard in a sermon on in 1997...
"The Lord Jesus died for me, and now I'm going to live for Him." --Dr. Wayne Ward
Lyrics I like from contemporary Christian songs...
"It's not what I did or didn't do, it's why I did it and for who." --Aaron-Geoffrey
"Dear God, surround me while I speak." --Jars of Clay
These words are written in the "Occasions to Remember" section of my bible.
They were written by my children Christina and Jimmy--they're followed by their by their signatures. I can't read them without tearing up... I hope I never can!
"On Sunday, January 28, 1996, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior." Christina Kilby
"On Monday, June 3, 1996, I prayed the prayer for Jesus to save me." Jimmy Kilby
