Windermere Wednesday

If you have been around Church camps at all you know that there is one day where the kids just shut down.  It not because the don’t care or their not listening, it’s because they have wore themselves out in everyway: spiritually, physically, and mentally.  That day was Wednesday.  By the time we got to Chapel last night the young people were glazed over.  Brandon Briscoe brought another great message from the book of 1 Samuel.  It was the story of David and Goliath.  A well known story no doubt, but I love the take that Brandon brought.  The lesson in a nut shell was simple.  Good things in life will cause you not to do the right things.  And it’s better to be right than to be good.  I loved it.  Anytime a man stands up and preaches about Character and responsibility, count me in. 

As I was talking to Shawn’s small group after the service, they were describing the  fear of going home and being a hypocrite around their friends.  The answer to hypocrisy is a simple one: make the choice and don’t do that anymore.  Choose righteousness!!  Forget all the pier pressure and just make a stand and make a choice.  The harder answer is the real struggle how do I stand by myself.  This is a lie from the Devil and from our flesh.  “I’m the only one that wants to serve God.”  No you’re not.  You just might have to make the stand to find the others that are wanting to stand with you.  When God called a man in the Bible he always calls someone along side that man.  God never intended for us to be the “lone Ranger” Christian and change the world all by ourselves.  This is why a Church, a youth group, and school club are so important and necessary in the life of a Christian.  You should find someone that is striving to be what you are trying to be and stick to them like glue.  Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”  Notice he doesn’t make you better, he keeps you uplifted in the midst of life.  Who is your friend?  who is the one that uplifts you when the world is closing in around you.  Everyone needs someone.

I know the youth will be ready to receive what God has for them on Thursday.  As for me I have been able to do a lot of preparation for Ukraine and finish writing all of my quizzes for the discipleship class, as well as some other items on the to-do list.

Tuesday at Windemere

The second day at camp was a great day.  The food has been really good.  I was able to finish writing all my quizes for my Discipleship class in Ukraine.

One of the things we are trying to do at Fellowship is to focus our missions efforts on the things we believe God has called us, as a church to do.  One of the areas we believe God is focusing us on is the country of India.  The morning session was a missionary from India that was sharing some wonderful stories of the miricles God has been doing to bring the Indian people to the saving knowledge of Christ.  India has the biggest percentage of the worlds lost population.  I had an opportunity to share our burden for India, and I believe God is going to do some amazing things through this new partnership. 

The youth are having to walk literally 15 minutes from their cabins to all the activities of the day.  So, I had an epiphany.  We have a 72 passenger bus sitting in the parking lot.  As I gave the kids a ride to dinner, I have never recieved so many "thank you"s in my life.  Remember, its been over 100 degrees everyday.  I think we improved the camp experience today. 

Last night Brndon Briscoe brought another great message from the book of I Samuel.  It was based on the story of Dagon the godof the philistines when the ark of the covenant was brought into the temple.  I'll let you read the story for yourself.  The point was God doesn't need you to accomplish his will or magnify his name.  He can do that all by himself.  God chooses to use those that are broken to the point that they cry out to him.  This is what we saw in Hannah, and the children of Isreal in order to defeat the Philistines.  God is speaking so loud, pray that it not fall on deaf ears.

SECOND AT WENDOMERE

Sunday night we loaded a bus at 8:30 p.m. and started on an 11 1/2 hour treck to the middle of Missouri to a place called Wendomere.  It is a beautiful camp nesseled in a cove on the Lake of the Ozarks.  There were 40 people on the bus, some Jr. High and some High School students and the couselors and bus drivers (thats me).  I, being a morning person and Shawn being a night person, let Shawn take the first shift.  I was catching some zzzzzzz right after we got out of Pampa.  We had made a little spot in the back for us to sleep, but remember, we are on a school bus and the roads made you think you were in a war zone.  The widows were ratteling, the luggages was boming with every bump, and the High Schoolers are mapping out the next horor movie in the seats in front of me.  Needless to say,I didn't get much sleep. 

As camp got underway we could tell that God has some great things in store for us. One of the things that God has been doing in my life is allowing me to see past the exterior of flesh and see the soul of a man.  This is important, and for some it is scary because they have workedso hard at making a fortified wall so no one can get in.  Brandon Brisco is the High school speaker this week and he was talking about the neccessity of believer having the heart of God toward people.  I belive this camp is changing the lives of our kids.