Church Blog

Jefferson Bethke “Spoken Word” Poem

August 19 2012 at 1:20 pm 2 Comments

Today in church we heard a live rendition of the poem in the above video by Jefferson Bethke, a young man God has used to spread biblical truth through “spoken word” poetry, both live and recorded. Jefferson is a member of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Wash. Some of his videos have received millions of views on YouTube. He is boldly sharing the gospel in a new media format and reaching a wide audience.

Jefferson spoke this weekend at the Worthy12 Youth Retreat, and while he was in the area, we asked him to share his poem, “The Death of Y.O.L.O (You Only Live Once),” during our church services. In the description of the video on YouTube, he explains the thinking behind his poem:

[The Death of Y.O.L.O.] was a poem I wrote for my church’s Easter service this past April. My hope is that someone watching this will walk away with a deeper sense of the grace of God and just how monumental Jesus death, burial and resurrection truly were. If Jesus is still dead, we are to be pitied, but if He really rose, we have to face up with the implications. Nothing is more precious than the fact that when we trust in Jesus, we are united with Him as one. Because of that, whatever is true of Him, instantly becomes true of us. “Spotless,” “blameless,” “perfect,” “righteous,” etc. all are accounted to us since we are “in Him.”

Enjoy! And let’s pray that God will continue to bless Jefferson and use him for his glory.





I was inspired and edified by Jefferson’s contribution to worship this morning.  Thank you for inviting him here!  I’ve heard that he was a big success ministering at the youth retreat as well. 

The above post mentions that Jefferson is part of the Mars Hill Church in Seattle, and gives a link to that church’s website.  Does mentioning that, and giving the link, mean that our pastors are endorsing that church? 

By Jeannie Shenk on 08/19/2012

Hi, Jeannie. I’m not sure what you mean by asking if we endorse their church. We don’t make a habit of officially endorsing churches. But we appreciate the ministry of Mars Hill and thank God for many people who have heard the gospel and been discipled through their ministry. Glad you enjoyed hearing from Jefferson!

By Joshua Harris on 08/20/2012
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