DEVOTED: “Everything” is a Powerful Story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyheJ480LYA

Heather Allen, staff writer | journalism major

The Lifehouse “Everything” skit is a powerful reminder of the work of Jesus and the love of God.

Have you ever felt like there are a whole bunch of things keeping you away from having a strong relationship with God? Maybe it’s the pressure to look perfect. Or maybe it’s the excitement of being in a relationship. These are some examples of distractions that are acted out in the famous Lifehouse “Everything” skit that has been performed in churches all across the United States.

The “Everything” skit is about how there are many things in life that can keep us away from really achieving a beautiful relationship with the Lord. The lead—a young woman—starts off with having such strong faith where she can literally feel Jesus’ presence flowing through her. Soon, lust comes in to woo her away from Him, followed by greed, gluttony, vanity, and lastly, death – each one placing itself in front of Christ and making her go further away. Once she realizes that she needs the power of God, she tries to fight her way back to Him, but each sin pushes her back to keep her from reaching Him. As she comes close to reaching Jesus, He steps in and stops the sins from reaching her, and eventually gets rid of them for good. The skit ends in an embrace, symbolizing that although we may find ourselves falling away from God, we can always find a way back to Him.

This past summer, I was a leader at my church back home’s annual summer camp for high school students. This year’s theme was “The Choice.” We chose to re-enact the “Everything” skit for the campers because we knew that it would have a great impact on them just as much as it had a great impact on each of us as staff members.

Instead of having just a female lead, we decided to change it up and include a male lead as well as an Adam and Eve beginning. I was fortunate to play one of the leads, and I worked very hard to give everything that I had for my role. Like many others who have watched the original 2006 skit, I was moved by the story and felt myself relating to what was being performed. Being a part of a re-enactment of this skit is something I will never forget because I felt God’s power work through me when I was performing it for our campers who needed to see a story like this one.

This skit was originally performed by a school of ministry from Eldersburg, Md. called Mission Baltimore at the 2006 Smoky Mountain Winterfest. Each night, 30,000 people gathered who wanted to feel Jesus in the form of a five-minute skit that almost everyone can relate to. The video has accrued more than 10 million views on YouTube and is the second most watched video on GodTube.

For more on how this skit has made an impact, check out this article:

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/us/2008/December/Lifehouse-Everything-Skit-Draws-Millions/