Also, I kept up with the readings, but there are 7 entries that have to be written, so it'll be a while before I'm completely caught up.
I'll write a significant entry about camp
Also, this is probably going to be a long entry, and it's only half the week, so be prepared. Some great stuff in here, though.
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Where to begin. . . I saw God's hand all over the place during the trip. The bus ride up there (which was on a very nice charter bus) was pretty uneventful, but I was directed to this passage. I don't know why, but it got me really excited. Like, REALLY excited, enough that I kept sharing it with people. Basically, the reason we can go back and read the Bible over and over and have it seem fresh each time is because the Holy Spirit reveals to us new things or reminds us of things each time we read! I don't know, I just think that's amazing. And it makes so much sense. How else could we begin to understand how God is working in our lives unless we are given Heavenly insight into it?
Well, that moment basically set me up for the rest of camp. I barely remember much of the first day, but one important thing did happen: at the family group leader meeting, they announced that there was a group (#42) that did not have an adult leader. The way things worked, I was going to be in a group with an adult leader and student leader from my church, and I thought that was kind of silly, so I immediately volunteered. And oh, how God blessed me through that choice. I met my family group that evening, where we discussed Micah 6, which provided the theme for the week: our response to God is to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly. We did some silly activities (like using our initials to fill in different responses) and got to know each other a little bit, and dove into looking into that passage. I have to be honest: I was a little terrified at first with the idea of leading a small group, even though that's what I knew I was signing up for. I just feel like I'm so new at some of this, so who am I to be leading others? God knows differently though, and I put aside my fears and prayed He would work through me. I liked my group from the beginning, and although each session we had wouldn't be perfect, well. . . I'll get to that.
The first family group session was good, which was encouraging to me. The first worship experience that evening was a little overwhelming for me, but not really in a good way- the music was SO LOUD. It took some getting used to, for sure, and by the end of the week, I let go of my preference and focused on Who we were worshiping, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The message that night was from Ecclesiastes, where Solomon talked about how he had experienced everything and anything life had to offer, and still came up with the conclusion that it was all meaningless. We have to explore the question of "what is my life about?" to discover what it is that is truly motivating our every action. If there were no meaning in life, then there would be no reason that anyone would be searching for it. After all, if there were no food or water, there would be no desire known as hunger or thirst. And speaking of desires, our desire to see/hear/feel/know is insatiable. It doesn't matter how many viral videos we watch, how many different songs are on our iPods, or how many friends' status updates we can read in a day- it's never enough! AND it gives us NOTHING in return (if it did, then eventually we would reach the point where it IS enough). All of it is meaningless: social status, wealth, sexual pleasure- none of it gives us a stable way to base our life on. What can we do then? Seek after God. It is only in a life lived for and through Him that we start to experience true peace and joy (notice I didn't say success and happiness). The Creator who made us gives us the easiest and most sensible way to live a fulfilled life: we have to be fully connected to Him! How simple to grasp! But how hard to live out, especially when the world and its ruler, Satan, entice us with all sorts of things that seem to fill us. If we could exist in the place that camp was at (that is to say, a place where the whole focus of everyday is glorifying God and getting to know Him better), then we would be fine. Unfortunately, we let our jobs, our families, our friends, our activities, etc. get in the way of that. I think that's the biggest challenge for me (and for everyone as they leave camp).
That evening we had large group church time. I don't really know a whole lot of the youth from our church (since this was really my first time working with them), but it was pretty neat to hear some of the deep theological questions that were coming up because of Adam's message. I think that's one reason I enjoy teaching so much: the inquisitiveness of students never ceases to amaze. I'm sure other things went on that day, but honestly, that feels like so long ago, and it hasn't even been a week yet! Crazy.
So, Day 2, which is really the first full day: I got up early-ish but didn't end up watching the sunrise; I don't really remember why. Breakfast was good (in fact, all the meals were good- it was a pretty typical college caf, so I was pretty happy with that). We had our first Family Group Debriefing on the scripture lesson for the day. The speaker, Jared, was PHENOMENAL. He was only 25, but his passion for the Word and for the Lord. . . it was contagious. I never got a chance to tell him so, but if there were any person that really made a huge impact on me the whole camp time, it was him. Just to see him buzzing around and talking like he couldn't wait to say everything he needed to. . . it was inspiring, to say the least. Anyway, we talked about a passage in Romans 3. Actually, he walked us through the first three chapters of Romans, talking about the importance and need for Christ, why God's wrath fell on all people (Gentiles, "moral" people, and Jews) and how no one is righteous. BUT THAT'S NOT THE END OF THE STORY. God sent Jesus into the world, and His death was propitiation (overpayment) for our sins, which are against an infinitely Holy God.
Celebration (morning worship) was good. Adam talked about how badly our society needs truth. Moral relativism prevails, and we fall into the idea that, as long as we are sincere, that's all that matters. It doesn't matter what we believe- it matters what God thinks. Our views can change, but God's word is constant. We have to be open to Scripture changing us, rather than trying to make it fit the way we want life to be (what a smart statement! And challenging too).
Then we had our first Recreation experience with family groups: games in the gym. It was pretty fun (minus the part where I got pelted in the head and. . . other places. . . in the football game) and I started to see my group work together, but I also noticed the church-cliques (there were 5 kids from one church, 2 from another, and 2 from yet another) still holding on pretty strong. After lunch, we had our second Family Group excursion into the Word. This lesson went the worst, because it started raining not too far into it, and we had to relocate twice, so it was very distracting to me and the students, and it just, it wasn't a good situation. One good thing that did come out of it that helped set the tone for the rest of the week was the opportunity for me to share my testimony with the group (the theme was "repent"). I realized that very few people (as in, maybe two or three?) know my story at my church- most of them are content with seeing the new creation that God has and is transforming me into, and that's fine. But sharing with my family group where God had brought me from allowed me first to show them that I am a real person and I have had struggles, and secondly reminded me how much God loves me. Again, I was terrified to be open and honest and reveal my heart to them, but God certainly gave me the words (remember, I don't think of myself as much of a speaker, and while I had my moments of stuttering or not being able to find the exact right word, I never froze up. I never became so overwhelmed with fear or whatever and just shut down. What a miracle, seriously).
After free time and dinner, we had family group prayer time, which was also interrupted by rain. We focused on what we have to rejoice about and what God has done, is, and will do. I told my group to write out some ideas, and then we each took time to say at least one thing aloud, because the power of spoken prayer is something that we don't allow ourselves to do enough of (and I told them as much). It wasn't the most amazing prayer experience ever, but again, it began to break down some walls and open some eyes to what God was doing in others' lives as well as each of our own.
The message that night was from John 3. Based on the idea that the Bible is God's love letter to us, we are forced to respond (the idea of the MS letter of "Do you like me? Check Yes or No"). This passage of Scripture shows us three things. First, we are dying. No matter what we do or what we wish, our physical bodies (and spiritual souls, without Christ) are on their way to decay and death. All our actions have consequences, and since all of us have gone against God's will and allowed sin to separate us from His holiness, we have a death sentence standing over us. Second, we love evil. Something inside of us is wrong and broken, and we invent new ways of doing evil (the idea of, "how can I get away with doing this without getting caught?"). Although we don't want to admit our failure, we are born with it. Even at a young age, we have the capacity to lie (think a three year old who eats a cookie even though they are told not to. Even the best behaved kid is likely to lie, even if they are taught by their parents to be truthful). The other half of that idea is that we are SO loved. Individually, specifically, especially, incomprehensibly, God loves each of us in all those ways and more. Think about it: Jesus KNEW what was going to happen in the world, KNEW that He would have to die, KNEW that many people would reject Him, and HE CAME ANYWAY. This was the night of the "death and life trains" analogy- as soon as we sin, we get a ticket on the train leading to death, but Jesus reaches out his hand from the life train and then takes our seat on the death train. It was a very dynamically told analogy, and I was nearly jumping out of my seat! I can't begin to describe it exactly, but if people in there weren't inspired, then they were trying not to pay attention or something. The third point was that we MUST be born again to have a changed life. The idea of a new birth out of a life of death makes so much sense. We have to transfer or exchange places with Jesus, because in His life, HE HAS ALREADY DIED. We give Him our lives because it's going to die! Our perspective totally changes when we are born again, and we find quite literally new life. If there is any truth I have found in my life in the past year, it is that God truly gives us NEW lives: not just improvements on the old one, but completely brand new lives lived in the glory and presence of Christ. One last analogy: if a person pushed you out of the way of an oncoming bus and saved your life but died in the process, would you live the rest of your life in grateful appreciation and pointing towards what that person did for you, or spit on their grave? And how many "Christians" choose the second one? Clearly they need to go back and read Romans 6-8. One last thought: faith is an act of the heart, a response to truth.
Church group time that night also yielded some good questions, and students started opening up a little bit. The theme was repentance, and so there were some broken relationships between different students that started the healing process with asking for forgiveness. Again, for me I didn't know the background stories, so I missed out on connecting too deeply with that, but it was still very cool to see God acting on their hearts. Little did I know what was going to be in store the next day. . . but you'll have to wait for me to do that entry :)
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