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.