Summer Camp

Well we got back from Summer Camp last night (it was actually more like this morning, but you get the picture). So I decided that I should probably blog about and I guarantee it will touch someone’s life. I will try to describe what went on with accurate clarity, but I will more than likely fail. Oh well, as I like to say, you gotta try or you gotta go.

The first things I’ll share about are more one the fun filled side of the experience. First of all I’ll tell about my roomies. There was Hoshua and Magic-man. I’ve known Hoshua for about half of my life and we consider each other brothers. We’ve had lots of fun times. Magic-man, on the other hand, I’ve only known for a few months and even then I haven’t spent a whole lot of time with him. He’s a middle-schooler and I’m a senior. Hoshua is a Junior, but he’s older than me so we’re pretty much equal. When I first heard that Magic-man was going to be rooming with us I was like “Oh great. Now we’re going to have an annoying middle-schooler with us. This is going to be fun.” Little did I know that he was going to be the one who made me laugh the most.

Now there’s something I need to clarify before I go any further. Me and my group of friends trash talk each other like crazy. If people saw us talk to each other and didn’t know it they would probably think we hated each other. But it’s actually the polar opposite. We are inseparable. There are times where we’ll almost beat each other up and then two minutes later ask if the other wants to come over. Perhaps it is so we prove to each other how much we really like each other. But I don’t really know how to explain it.

Anyway. The first night we were there and unpacking we were already telling each other (me and Hoshua always do this, but this was the first time I had spent any real amount of time with Magic-man) to shut up and go jump in a lake, etc. It was like we bonded after the first minute. He made me laugh to where I couldn’t breathe. Here’s an example. We were rolling around in the computer chairs that were in our dorm and then we got a novel idea. Let’s roll each other as fast as we can at the beds and fly off of the chair. Great idea, huh? What do you expect, we’re a couple of guys. Well it didn’t really work. The first try we decided we would swing the person around in the chair and then let them go when we were pointed at the bed. Well when Magic-man let go of the chair with Hoshua on it the chair immediately flipped over without moving forward. I thought that was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. Round two worked a little better, but not much. It was my turn to be in the chair and we still swung each other around, but this time they didn’t just let go. We would swing and the push them towards the bed. Well this probably would have worked if I had jumped off of the chair. Instead I just sat there like an idiot and almost got my foot smashed into the metal frame of the bed. The only thing that saved my foot was God’s grace and the arm of the chair. They say God pities children and drunks, they should add idiots to that saying.

Well that was just a taste of the fun side. Onto more serious matters.

I don’t know how many of you know of what happened at Camp, but I’m sure most of you do. For those of you who don’t a couple of guys were talking about doing something that is strictly forbidden in the Bible and apparently one had already done it. There was more but it’s all in the past now and I don’t feel the need to share it here.

The whole week’s theme was about being unshakable in God’s word. As you can guess there were a few members of our youth group that weren’t entirely unshakable. Well I’ll skip the details and move one to the most important part. The last night we were there in our share group time our leader decided to put us in a big circle. Then all of the new comers went into the middle and the rest of the group, if they felt led, went and encouraged them, said a prayer over them, whatever they felt led to do. Then the seniors went out. I never knew how many lives I had touched. Then again, I’m not the one touching lives, am I? One thing the Pastor there had said was that we are vessels in which Christ dwells and pours His power and love through us. Anyways, after the seniors were done. The leaders went into the middle and if anybody had a problem they went to them and talked to them about it.

Not only did people go up to the leaders I had two people come to me. I just never knew that I was that important. It was really encouraging to see this. Daughter of the King had knelt by her chair and I went over to her and prayed with her. I realized that I needed to step up to the position of a spiritual leader in our relationship. God was telling me (not in an audible voice, I don’t believe that has happened since Jesus was baptized. I could be wrong though) that if I really did love her then I needed to help lead her in her Christian walk. She supports me in everything I do and I know she’ll support me in this. I also know I’m gonna need it.

The next morning, the morning we were to leave, we got into chapel for the morning worship service. We were all there before the it was do to start and we found out that a couple of our youth members were being accused of helping steal something that a girl from a different church had stolen. We could tell right away that Satan was trying to undermine what had happened the night before. He saw how strong we were (and are) when we stood together. So we all decided (the leaders were dealing with the police, I believe) we needed to pray. We all went out of chapel and stood in a circle right outside the building holding hands. We knew that chapel was about to start, but we also knew that this was what God wanted us to do. We each said a prayer and never before had I ever felt spiritual warfare that close. I know it is constantly going on, but I could really feel it in the air.

Well needless to say, God won. He always does, but He invites us to be a part of that and when we say yes to that it is an amazing feeling.
I think I’ve said enough for today. Until next time I’ll be dreaming, writing, living for Jesus.

I Wonder?

Lately I've been reading a whole lot of Stephen King, the most resent being The Mist (which I have to say here, if you are a parent I would suggest you don't see that movie unless you're a horror movie fan or Stephen King fan [No those things are not synonymous]). But my mind keeps wandering back to one of the first books by him that I read. His work ranges massively from one subject to the other. For example, Cujo is probably the story of Ole Yeller if they hadn't of taken him behind the old wood shed. This also deals with the relationship of a young boy and his mother. Then there's Cell. If you read this you won't want to use your cell phone for months. This particular tale is about a sunny, perfect day that goes absolutely down the pooper (to put it lightly) when a signal is transmitted to every cell phone in the world, turning all that are using them into zombies. And of course how can I mention Stephen King and not talk about IT. Now don't be fooled. If you were to ask the average person what this story is about, the extent of their experience is probably limited to seeing the movie. This person will tell you it's (no pun intended) about an evil clown terrorizing this town. But this gigantic novel (which is over 1,ooo pages long, not including the introduction) is actually about a group of friends having to deal with every day things a child must go through to become an adult and there just happens to be an unstoppable evil force out to get them.

Wow. Sure did chase that rabbit. Sorry. Now back to that certain book I was talking about before. This one in particular was called Desperation. The thing that made this 800 paged book so interesting to me was that if I wanted to prove to you that Stephen King is a Christian, all I have to do is sit you down with a copy of this book in front of you. The story itself is how in the end God knows what He's doing and His saving grace is available to all as long as they ask Christ to live within them. Now if you are a Stephen King fan and have not read this book please do. And even if you're not, and you just want something good to read, pick up this book. Now it is pretty horrific. It kept me up into the wee hours of the night wanting to read something that wouldn't haunt me in my dreams, to no avail, I might add. Yes, he's not the cleanest writer around. No, he has not professed himself as a Christian. And I'm not even saying that he is one. This blog entry was simply to lay down the facts and present the possibilities.

So I guess I will leave you for now. Until next time I'll be dreaming, writing, living for Jesus.