The last three days have been filled with all kinds of new experiences; this weekend I was privileged to accompany the Infinity Church youth group to their summer camp. First off I got to meet a whole new group of people and got to develop deeper relationships with others I knew before. Spending a weekend in the woods with a group of middle schoolers can bring any group of adults closer together. All in all the kids were great, well at least the fellas were. I can't attest to the ladies too much. But it was great getting to spend some time with the volunteers in the youth group, even though I already knew all of them in some form or fashion I was able to really get acquainted with them. I also knew a few of the kids that went with us, but most of them I had not yet met. We had four fellas go, so Mike and I had it pretty easy. And it really gave me the opportunity to spend one on one time with all of them. It was fantastic.
I certainly enjoyed that part of the trip much more than the camp itself. This camp was structured a little different than what I'm used to. Even different from the weekend camps that I've been to. The worship services were something new to me, as odd as that sounds. It was more the worship and singing that was new for me. My favorite song was definitely the "funky music" version of "How Great is Our God" that we sang Saturday night. Let me just tell you though, we sang that song for at least 15 minutes and didn't even sing a verse! The slide on the screen could have read:
How great is our God!
Sing with me, how great is our God,
And all will see how great,
How great is our God!
(x 50)
You might laugh, but I really do think we sang that chorus 50 times. But it really gave time for that to sink in and encouraged me to just try and think about how great God really is. But yeah, all the songs were like that. The messages this weekend were well worth the trip. The camp was centered on change, metamorphosis, transformation, II Corinthians 5.17 kind of stuff. On Saturday night and Sunday morning we had a Gospel rapper preach. Yeah, that's right, a Gospel rapper who goes by "The Ambassador." I need to look him up, apparently he's a pretty big deal. If his music is as good as his preaching I'm sure I will like it. Another gentleman preached to us on Friday night. He told us about the change in his own life. He said something Friday night that just smacked me upside the head, it was intense. Talking about people who think they're saved, he referenced Matthew 7.23. He said, "For an omniscient God to say, 'I never knew you' is a BIG deal!" I had to do a double take with my ears on that. It was an astounding statement that I wasn't really sure what to do with. I realize the passage he is referencing is pretty hardcore, certainly a hard teaching. People who think they are saved will hear those words one day. Can you imagine?! It's really a warning for people in ministry who preach and prophecy, and yet God doesn't know them. It made me wanted to get reacquainted with God in a new way for sure.
So that was this weekend, and what a set of days to have behind me as I approach the days ahead of me. This is the last week to get everything ready and organized for the sports camp next week. It will definitely be my busiest week so far, but I'm excited. It was great to hear several messages this weekend all centered around Gospel presentation as I will be sitting down this week to write 4 sermons all with the purpose of presenting the Gospel. I feel like I have a pretty strong foundation for what God wants say next week to all those kids. It is great to be able to use the whole week to share with them. It will allow me to build and develop each sermon into a strong presentation of the Gospel. By the end of the week I pray that God will use me to make clear to all who come to learn sports will that they are sinners in need of a savior, that Jesus is the ONLY way to salvation from those sins, and that salvation comes by grace through a relationship with Christ which must be worked at. Just like coming to that sports camp one week out of the year will not make them an athlete, neither will making an uncommitted decision to follow Christ save them from their sins. Just like sports, this lifestyle takes practice, and just like all relationships on earth require correspondence, so does our relationship with Christ. I do not just want to tell the kids about Jesus so they will say a prayer and go through life telling people they're saved because they prayed once, but I pray that God will show these kids the way He will not only change their eternal destiny, but He will change their way of life here on earth. Similar to what this weekend's camp was about: change, transformation.
So pray that God will help me put all of this together in a way that will glorify Him, that will be truthful and honest with the kids, and that will at least plant seeds that can be harvested and discipled by Infinity Church or any other Gospel preaching, God fearing church. I have never been about numbers or twisting people's emotions to illicit a response, so pray that God will not let me settle for half truths or sharing a false, "more appealing" Gospel. I put that in quotes because people often try to soften the Gospel to make it easier to accept, and the fact is that it is not easy for self-centered human beings to abandon their life to God; however, despite being hard to accept, it is the only true Gospel. Therefore, any other Gospel is not appealing because it will not save you. So pray that I would not compromise or soften the Gospel. Pray for the camp as well, that everyone stays safe, healthy and learns life lessons along with all the sports talk. Pray for good weather. That is definitely necessary for what we've got going on next week. Pray for all the teams that are traveling up here to help us with this camp; pray that all the youth would learn from this week how to serve and minister and that they would get excited about it and want to live a life of ministering to those around them, or even going somewhere else to share the Gospel. Thank you for your prayers, support and encouragement. It has been a great summer so far and I'm only halfway there. I cannot wait to see what the Lord has in store for me during the next five weeks.
*"Hills" here are quite a bit different than hills in Tennessee. But it was nice being away from all the non-stop commotion of being so close to the city.
To God be the glory.
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