I love the Mississippi river. Its power, majesty and beauty is easy to recognize and appreciate. Being from Memphis I have spent much of my life on and in that river. While I can attest that it tastes terrible, and may make you glow in the dark, it's an amazing sight. I have faith that it will continue running and that it will be there today and tomorrow. But, it's an informed faith, not a blind faith. My faith in Christ is the same - what I know and what was written about Him speaks to the depth and complexity of Christianity. As a result I walk confidently in my faith and relationship with God. Is your faith is blind? What if your questions about Christianity could be answered? How might that change how you live?

Recently, AreaOne 2015 keynote speaker, Alan Shlemon, recorded a message for youth pastors who are exploring attending a SummerCON. If you are looking for a weeklong event that does more than entertain your students, look no further. Alan almost gave up on his faith when he entered college. He was unable to answer basic questions about his Christianity that were proposed to him by friends. Because of his lack of knowledge, and confidence, he was tempted to give up on Jesus. Until, that is, a Christian professor was able to answer his questions in a way that was simple and clear. Because of this, Alan was inspired to "devote my life to training believers to articulate their convictions in a winsome manner.” AreaOne was created to inspire, train, and mobilize teenagers to live out every aspect of their lives from a Christian perspective. We have a passion to see youth staying grounded in their faith. You can see Alan live at AreaOne's 2015 summer conferences. Click here to learn more. 

For AreaOne 2014 we recorded a series of videos based on our theme, "I Am".  This video was created in response to many who claim Christianity can't be true because it can't be scientifically proven. Ironically, many things that we know to be factually true can't be "scientifically" proven. In this video we applied odds and statistics to biblical prophecy which resulted in learning some crazy math. 

This video was shot by Timid Monster at the former Millington Naval Air Station outside of Memphis, Tennessee. The plane was a former Fedex 727 that had been donated to a training academy. Built sometime in the 1960's the inside was at the same time frightening and fascinating. The cockpit was was a ruined time capsule and we had fun trying to imagine all the places the plane could had been though its journeys.

Recently, AreaOne 2015 keynote speaker, Alan Shlemon, recorded a message for students who are considering attending the event. You can see Alan live at AreaOne's 2015 conferences. Click here to learn more.  

This is the second in our 2014 AreaOne Conference video series. After our first video with the race car we decided to go out for pizza. After all, you can have anything you want on pizza... or can you? Our American "have it your way" culture shapes most aspects in our lives. However, it can be funny when our ridiculous expectations collide with reality. 

This video was shot with Rachel's sister, Ashley, and her husband Dave. Dan Baker, independent filmaker from Timid Monster, made us look great. Thanks for helping us put this together!

For years, Rachel has been the creativity behind the morning am:DEVOS at AreaOne camps and conferences. This year in addition to those duties she took to the camera to share some of the things God has spoken to her about. This video is first in a series of three. 

For the AreaOne Summer Conference 2014 we decided to move away from our usual motion graphics for more of an organic story telling style of filming. Earlier in the year we had been attacked online by several atheists. The resulting experience led us to start challenging them head-on. We didn't want to fire back just to argue, which would most likely have been pointless. Rather, we refocused all of our efforts to compete for the hearts and minds of this upcoming generation of youth. While I have a relationship with Christ and have an understanding of just how deep and complex the Christian faith is, too often youth get a slanted story thanks to a biased media. The mocking caricatures that those in pop-culture and the  media make of Christians influence youth to reject the very idea of God through the vehicle of shaming and bullying. This video is first in a series that responds to these issues and shows that there may be more to Christianity than what students have previously thought.

My brother is a master mechanic that can do just about anything with a good set of tools. It's always amazed me how he can listen to an engine and know what is happening inside. This is similar to how God knows everything about us, including our hidden secrets. He built us and He knows us better than we know ourselves. This video is our first attempt at story telling and while there is much room for improvement we were generally happy with how it turned out. Next time we'll get my brother's national championship drag car for the shoot and we'll probably need a faster camera, too.
Kiley Butler, President

Looking for the latest information about the 2015 AreaOne SummerCons? Click the link below for a printable version of the 2015 event information. For questions or to register call 888.GOAREA1 ext 2.