Camping For Jesus

I had the privilege of working a high school week of camp up to Lake James last month. It was a wonderful opportunity to serve the kingdom in a different way than what I am used to. I typically steer clear of camp. I was honestly not looking forward to it at all and I made no secret of my feelings either.

Thankfully, God used me regardless of my poor attitude. I know for a fact that God’s Spirit is active and powerful at Lake James Christian Assembly, because it softened the hardest of hearts towards camp and its ministry. I don’t think I could do another week for awhile, it really still isn’t my thing, but I really felt like God was using me there.

I had an interesting experience while there. I was the leader of a group, a dorm dad and I also taught a workshop. The workshop was what I was most excited about. I enjoy teaching, and that was going to be my opportunity to reach the most kids and get to know them.

My workshop was entitled “The Importance of Daily Bible Study.” Everyone else had the really exciting topics; one guy got to burn stuff…the new guy (me) was given the daunting task of convincing kids that they should read their Bibles more then play their video games. Now that’s what I call “Fun!” I figured no one would come with more exciting choices offered. I was wrong. Over 40 kids showed up for the first offering, and 30 for the second. I was excited, and I thought the lesson went really well on Tuesday. I thought for sure the rest of the campers would show up on Thursday for the next offerings. I calculated that was enough time to get them to tell all their friends about the best workshop with the coolest title. I thought for sure there would be 50 kids for Thursday’s lesson.

There was one. His name was Kyle. I didn’t know what to do. I asked him if he wanted to go to a different group and come back when I offered it the next hour. He didn’t care. But then something came over me like I needed to share my lesson with him one on one. So, I did. And we had a wonderful conversation. I will probably see him again next year. We won’t be best buds. We didn’t have a heart wrenching moment where we will forever be united. We simply spoke about Christ, what he is doing in our life, and how we can encourage that relationship every day.

I’m really glad I didn’t pawn him off to some other group. To think I was well on my way to doing that frightens me, but also assures me that God was a part of that camp, especially that week in that very moment. Thank goodness he is, because otherwise, my ego would have prevented an opportunity to share with a young man who is contemplating a life of Christian service. I never would have met him, shared with him, or encouraged him if it weren’t for the activity of God.

I could have talked my way out of going to camp. I could have come up with something else that I much rather of done, but I would have missed an opportunity to share with students about God and encourage them, and for that, I am forever thankful that God uses us even when we are stubborn, grumpy, egotistical and think there are more important things to be done. I don’t know how many times God is going to teach me this lesson, hopefully I will learn sooner than later. At the end of the week, I believe God used me. I made some good relationships with the students and I was able to challenge them. As I think about it more now, I wonder how much more God could have used me had my heart not been as hard as it was. We are truly fortunate to have a patient God who uses us even when our actions and our thoughts can be so distant from what he expects of our life. God is truly gracious. It seems every day is a reminder that “I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace given me through the working of his power.” (Ephesians 3:7)

- Jordan

FRUITY

Since reading Dallas Willard’s The Great Omission, I have had a strange obsession with the mention of “fruit” and its usage throughout scripture, specifically in the Gospels. Willard had a statement that made a significant impact on my life and my own spiritual journey, the statement being “If you tend to the tree, the fruit will take care of itself.” His statement was in the context of Luke 6 in regards to the good and bad trees bearing their respective fruit. The statement hit me in the heart. Am I putting my life in the way of God, the One with the pruning sheers, who can shape my life into one that bears the fruit of righteousness, goodness, patience, self-control, wisdom, peacefulness and gentleness? The statement made me ask the question, “Am I becoming the good tree?”

I recently read a scripture verse that never before stood out at all. I have read over it multiple times, in one of my favorite books of the Bible, yet the words never spoke to me until now. The scripture verse, Matthew 3:8, is quite simple and therefore, easily overlooked: “Therefore, bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”(NASB)

The context is John the Baptist speaking to the Sadducees and Pharisees who approached him while he was performing a baptism of repentance. John’s initial greeting for the Sadducees and Pharisees wasn’t charming, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” It sounds like John is upset that someone let the cat-out-of-the-bag about a special event like a surprise birthday party. John, it seems, would like to know who told the Sadducees and Pharisees that now was the time to repent and turn to God.

John continues in his message saying essentially that God can make up new children who belong to him out of anything, even inanimate objects like stones. So don’t think because of who you are (Pharisees and/or Sadducees) that you can live as you please and be children of God.

I started with talking about fruit. We enjoy summer and its fruit, with fond memories of scavenging berry bushes, spitting cherry pits, and eating strawberry shortcake…lots of strawberry shortcake. These are the conventional thoughts on fruit. Obviously, there is more in mind in the biblical sense of “fruit.” It has to do with the fruit of our life, which is essentially our “works.” I believe our works are not what make us righteous; rather, works are a response out of our righteousness. Our good fruit comes out of a life made good by God through Christ Jesus. The word “fruit” has captured my attention lately and I think that’s why the scripture jumped out at me like never before. I like how the NLT translates it: “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” I had one of those “wow!” moments that you always enjoy when reading scripture.

If every confessing Christian took this scripture seriously and started living to its command of “proving by the way you live that you have turned to God” then maybe people might begin to see a difference in Christians, maybe even some fruit would come of what it is like to live in the kingdom of God and belong to God as his children.

But so often we don’t set out to prove we live for God. We try proving the things that simply don’t need our pathetic pontificating. We set out to prove: the existence of God, the creation of the world, why we take communion every week, the essentiality of baptism, the importance of coming to church services on Sunday, why people shouldn’t drink, smoke…Christians seem to get so enveloped with arbitrary things, if we actually set out to prove that we have repented of our sins and live for God then maybe people might see a different sort of faith where Christians no longer live a life of “sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy and drunkenness,” Paul warns us, “those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

We need to take serious the way we live our life, and what we set out to prove. When we set out to prove we live for God and have repented of sins, we will bear fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. My point then is what are we setting out to prove? That we are right? Or that we live for God? I think there is a drastic difference, one that separates the Christ followers from the Pharisees. For one, they set to prove their ways were right, for the other, that God can be trusted and is who we all ought to live for.

This verse climbed the ranks of my favorite verses. It once wasn’t even in the running, now it sits before me at my desk. “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” In other words, live like you love God. Write this verse down and put it in places where it is always before you, where you walk through the door, open the fridge, look at the speedometer… Always have before you words that encourage you to bear the fruit of a godly life. Ask yourself this question, “What am I trying to prove?” The answer is the fruit.