Why Camp?

Some people today may wonder if church youth camp is all that important.  They may wonder this especially when they see the cost of it.  However, in my opinion camp is worth every penny.  That is not because I am a youth pastor and it is part of my job.  On the contrary I am volunteer staff at the moment, I am organizing much of the camp for a total of three churches, doing all the speaking, missing a week away from my family,  and trying to help pay a little for myself to go.  With that said, I am not looking for a pat on the back or anything else.  I am simply trying to show how important camp is to me.  Now comes the reason why I would be willing to do all this work.

When I was in jr high I went to my first youth camp.  It was only my home church that was using the facility that we were at.  I can still see the entire place in my mind as if I had just got back from camp yesterday.  The meadows, forest, pond, buildings, main hall where we gathered for worship...everything as clear as day. I remember this camp because it was the first place where I learned to wake up in the morning and listen for God's voice (No accident that is the theme for camp this year).  I remember sitting on a stump overlooking the pond below with the woods surrounding me and the building behind.  I remember opening my Bible, being quiet and hearing the Holy Spirit gently whisper to me.  It is an experience that I can never fully explain to someone.

The other camp experience I want to relate to you is the last camp I went on as a student between my junior and senior year of high school.  Again I heard God speak to me in an extraordinary way.  Throughout the camp I had been drawn to reading 1st & 2nd Timothy.  Most of what I read I did not understand but that didn't keep me from reading and rereading these letters.  Finally one night I broke down in tears when I realized that God was calling me to vocational ministry.  On the final night when our church and a couple others where in the main hall they told us that if we needed to speak to a leader about anything we could find them in the back.  Well I went out and told my leader and within less then a minute a leader from another church walked out and stopped next to us.  He then took a moment and stated that he believed that one day I would be a pastor and felt that he needed to share that and went on his way.  That was my first experience of seeing the body of Christ being used by the Spirit to speak truth to me.  I received not only confirmation of this call on my life but witnessed obedience by a brother in Christ to go out in faith and communicate what God had told him to say.

I have many other camp experiences but these are the two that I desired to share with you.  The reason is that God used youth camp to bring me to West Greenway Bible Church.  That is why I believe youth camp is important.  I believe that it is a time that youth get away from the world and can much easier hear the voice of God speaking to them.

So if your youth hasn't signed up for camp it is not to late.  Please just let me know or even just show up ready to go on Sunday.  We will figure out finances later.  God is powerful enough to figure that out.  Send your student to camp...You never know what God will have to say to him/her.

More information can be found at my website:

http://www.lovinggodlovingothers.org/#!camp/cs5l

Holy Week or How Quickly Praise Withers

This last Sunday I took palm branches that I had cut from a palm tree in front of the church and laid them in the hallway in front of the youth room.  They were beautiful!  They expressed and demonstrated the praise that was given to Jesus as he rode down main street Jerusalem that Sunday long ago.  We thought about how the vast majority of the people praising Him had different expectations of what the Messiah would do when He arrived on the scene from what Jesus' intentions were.  We talked about what some of our misconceptions are when it comes to Jesus.  After that we took time to praise Jesus for not being the Savior we wanted, but for being the Savior we needed.

Fast forward a few days.  The same palm branches are still in the hallway.  However, they are no longer green and beautiful.  Instead, they have withered and become brittle.  Such was the praise of the mob.  They went in a few days from shouting out "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" to "Crucify him!"  How quickly people can change.  I am reminded of some of Jesus' final words to his disciples before he was betrayed.

John 15:1–8 (NLT)

¹ “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. ³ You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. ⁴ Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. ⁵ “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. ⁷ But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! ⁸ When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, "But Jesus is talking about two separate groups of people in this passage: Believers and Unbelievers.  That is true.  It is easy to see those that are like the withered palm branch if you are spiritually discerning or just take enough time to watch people.

However, there are times when a branch will remain in the vine and for a period not bear much fruit and needs pruning.  Only John followed Jesus all the way to the cross.  So we are left with 11 disciples who did not follow him all the way.  Judas was like the branch that had different expectations of who/what Messiah should be and so instead of accepting this he turned away from Him and betrayed Him.

The difference with Peter is that he truly did love Christ but experienced a moment of weakness.  So he needed to be pruned by the master and was later restored and shown forgiveness by Jesus.  The rest of the disciples presumably hid out in the upper room not sure of what to do.  Presently, much of the American Church are not necessarily the ones that are denying Christ, but are the ones who are like the other disciples (besides John) who are hiding within the church afraid to give all to Christ.

So I ask you the question, If you are not like John right now and are more like Peter and the rest in the upper room keeping your faith to yourself, are you willing to be pruned by Christ this week and share your faith with others as we move close to our most sacred and joyous celebration of the year?  Or, are you going to keep your faith to yourself.  The church needs everyone to be willing to follow Jesus to the cross and shine their light high on the hill of Golgatha.  Only than can we be a city shining on hill that cannot be dismissed.

Dil...The Super Pet!

6 1/2 years ago Jenny and I got married.  6 years ago we got our first pet together.  Now our Super Pet Dil, the guinea pig, has died.  Death is always hard to deal with.  It reminds us of the fallen nature of this world.  Even Jesus when faced with the death of a friend  wept.  How much more should we weep when confronted with loss that is caused by death.  So when it sank in that he was gone I broke down and cried uncontrollably for a moment.

Now I know that Dil is not a person.  However, that does not mean that we don't give characteristics to him.  That also doesn't mean that he didn't have a personality.  That also does not mean that we did not love him greatly.  So never give someone who loses a pet a hard time or tell them to just get over it.  It is a loss and they have to deal with it.  This is especially true for anyone that is older and/or has never had their own children.  For that person that pet was their child.

However, whenever I deal with the pain of loss it brings to mind a promise that God has given us:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:3–4 (NIV84)

When we are faced in times of hardship it is difficult to imagine such a day as the above passage promises.  But, that day will come.  Until that day all I can suggest that you do when faced with any type of loss, pain, or grief is what this old hymn says.

Behold the Power of Grace

My list of top 5 favorite fiction is as follows:

1.  Les Miserables

2.  East of Eden

3.  To Kill a Mockingbird

4.  A Tale of Three Kings

5.  Sherlock Holmes Series

So as you may guess I really like the story of Les Miserables.  I have read the book, enjoyed the stage production, and just recently enjoyed the movie.  I enjoyed it so much that when I got home I listened to the soundtrack and I am now in the process of re-reading the book(s).  It is really a series of 5 books, but it is usually published just as one work.

I love the story because of 4 of the primary characters.  These characters demonstrate the power of grace and forgiveness so well.  So here is a synopsis of each and why I believe they teach important lessons.  (Some spoiler...but most of this is known and won't hurt if you have yet to either read the book or see the musical.)

1. The Priest Monseigneur Myriel -- He is a man that is in the musical very briefly.  However, his back story of some 50 pages is what begins the book.  He is a man that daily did his best to help the widow and the orphan.  He gave all that he had to help the poor and beat down when he could have lived a very comfortable life.   He is the man that shows Jean Valjean mercy and gives him a food and a warm bed for the night after being shut out by everyone else because of his past.  He then goes further in showing this man grace when Valjean is brought back by the police for stealing the silverware.  Instead, of pressing charges he tells them that they were a gift and gives him his silver candlestick holders as well.  He then bids him farewell after explaining the gospel and charging him to use the silver to become an honest man.

2.  Jean Valjean  -- He is a man that when faced with his sisters child starving to death attempts to steal bread.  For this he receives 5 years in prison.  He spends a total of 19 years in prison due to escape attempts.  He comes out hardend.  However, after being shown grace by the priest he changes his life.  He is able to understand what it means to love others because he understands the true love which is from Christ.  It wasn’t just a sermon but demonstrated.  The rest of his life is spent taking care of others like the priest who took care of him.

3.  Fantine  -- Here is a young woman that circumstances get the best of.  She falls in love with a man one summer and becomes pregnant.  Upon learning that she would bear him a child he abandons her.  She leaves the child with an innkeepers family to raise so that she can work to support her.  Fate shows her the door to unemployment unjustly.  So in an attempt to continue to provide for her child she sells her hair, her front two teeth and in the end becomes a prostitute.  All this is done out of the love for her daughter.  Valjean finds this poor wretch on the street and does not walk past her.  Instead, he takes pity on her.  On her death bed he promises to take care of her child and to watch over her as a father.  This woman at the end of her life learns grace.  She sees the face of God in Jean Valjean, for he showed pity and love to her when all others looked down on her in contempt and judgment.  He does what Jesus did for the woman caught in adultery.  He offers grace and hope.

4.  Inspector Javert – He is one of my favorite characters because he believes that he is on the side of justice and God.  He pursues Valjean after he breaks parole and never gives up the chase, even when the trail goes cold.  He believes that Valjean is a criminal that he cannot change who he is.  Javert believes that even the good that Valjean has shown in his life must be a sham.  It must be done for some ill-gotten gain that cannot be seen on the surface.  It is not until Valjean has the Javert at his mercy and is able to kill him that he truly sees the heart of the man he has been chasing.  Valjean frees him and informs him that after he has saved one last life he will meet Javert at the precinct and turn himself in for judgment.  Javert does not know how to handle grace.  He had lived a life of works.  He lived in a world of black and white with no space for any gray.  He cannot process this grace and forgivness and it sadly drives him to suicide.

I write about these characters to ask a few questions. 

1.     Are you in the place of Javert who doesn’t understand how to give or receive grace?  Do you read stories like the woman caught in adultery in John 8 and feel confused to how Jesus could show someone like that mercy?  Please do two things.  The first is re-read the Gospel of John and the second is please come talk with me.

2.     Are you in a place where you just need to feel the grace and mercy of Christ, but like Fantine all you feel is the weight of judgment placed on you by others?  If so come to Christ whose burden is light.  Also, please talk with me or another pastor and one of us will do what we can to help ease this burden and bring you closer to the hope, healing, and holiness that Jesus has to offer.

3.     Are you in the place of Valjean?  Do you understand that why you have sinned that there is grace and mercy to be found in Jesus the Christ?  If so, I implore you not to horde this gift which has been given to you but to share it with others that you come in contact with. (Matthew 5:14-16)

4.     Lastly, are you in a position like the priest?  Do have the title of pastor or elder?  Then my question is this, are you trying to ease the hurt and suffering of others in your congregation? Are you doing your best to shepherd them or are you allowing them go their own direction aimlessly while taking from them more than you should?

These are just a few things that I take from this book.  They are a few lessons that I take from this story that I also see in God’s word.  So if you are interested read the book.  I leave you the brief preface from the book.

So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilization, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age—the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night—are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, son long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless.

Hauteville House, 1862