Youth Camp 2013 Saturday

Day 6 – Return to Reality

Sleep was in short supply for a host of reasons not the least of which was Star Tripping and other intellectually challenging exercises.  But everyone was up in time for fruit and breakfast sandwiches.  Micah challenged the students to seek those things which are above (Colossians 3:1) and don’t lose the focus on God and others developed over the course of the week.  A last session with the team leaders explored best memories and pictures from the week together.  Following a group pic on the redwood deck, the guys pitched in (almost voluntarily) to load the girls' luggage on the bus and clean their own cabins.  With the super crew loaded, we departed camp, bound for the real world and equipped with a plan. 

Youth Camp 2013 Friday

Day 5 – Make it Last

The last full day started with a little extra sugar boost for breakfast.  Not that Coco Puffs are short on calories but the cinnamon rolls really hit the spot on top of eggs and potatoes.  We discovered that chiggers are the official bugs of the Rocksprings metro area and they have an itch that demands a scratch (see the pics).   Morning rec for the high school team was the Super Swing.  This particular incarnation of the 3-man giant swing was people powered.  The entire team got the chance to participate in each ride and once again observe physics in action.  A large drum roller in the top of the tower was rotated by the kids, similar to oxen in a grist meal (without the grain pouches), to raise the swing to the launch position.  After release and requisite screams by the riders, gravity worked its magic and the trio became a giant pendulum.

On the backside of an awesome lunch, the high schoolers play Bassball  - a water game in which points are scored by knocking a small soccer ball off of an elevated tee.  It more resembled a water based version of dog pile than baseball and extracted every ounce of spare energy out of the participants.  The last rec for the day for this group was a long hike to the bluffs for rappelling. Most of the team members were able to overcome their fear of the rope breaking, losing their grip or having the entire rock face of the cliff fall into the Nueces River and proceeded to jump (well - slow walk) their way down the face of the 85 ft. drop.

The middle school team rappelled in the morning.  Once again, almost all of the students took the plunge and jumped down the mountain under the watchful eyes of the Camp Eagle staff.  After lunch this crew took a break for Bible study in the coffee shop before ending the rec time with a group kayak time below the spillway.

Lessons for Friday centered around the life and times of Joseph in Genesis 39-45.  They explored the trials Joseph endured for the sake of others.  They saw how his faithfulness through many highs and lows was instrumental in saving his family and nation from starvation.  Our life is also marked with this rollercoaster pattern and we are called to be faithful.  Students were challenged to examine their walk with Christ in light of Joseph’s example.  In the 10 ft for 10 minutes morning session, they focused on the one thing that God is leading them to do when they get back to family, friends and the “real world”. Their challenge verse was I Corthinians 10:31 “… do all to the glory of God.”

In the first evening service, Micah presented Paul’s direction to the Galatians (5:1) to avoid becoming entangled with the world and take what they experienced at camp and keep the fire burning.  Following a meal in the former Garden of Eden consisting of various staples of fried cuisine, chocolate cookies and ice cream, the kids had a 20 ft - 20 minute session to explore God’s specific near term direction for their life.  They shared these messages from God in the group debrief on the tennis court.  To a person they agreed to be accountable to the group for the decisions and commitments made at camp.

The final event was a time of praise and worship (full Psalms style) in the Pavilion after which (most of) the students headed to their cabins to go through piles of clothes and packing for the return tomorrow.

Youth Camp 2013 Thursday

Day 4 – The Mountain Altar

A lot of sleepy eyelids this morning but a breakfast of biscuits and gravy with scrambled eggs on the side got kids cranked up for worship and rec.  Most of the kids have been really good about getting up in the morning but a few still require some persuasion.  It’s not like the smell of wet clothes and dirty socks is something you want to stay and bed and enjoy, but after three full days of hiking in the sun, there are a few struggles to roll out.

Seems the middle school team failed with keep their “contract” with them at all times and suffered the consequences in front of the entire camp at the morning service where the punishment was meted out.  They had to sing songs suited for 1 year olds and be team tied with climbing rope on their way to rec.

Thursday’s study focused on the faith of Abraham in Genesis 15-22 and God’s provision of a sacrifice.   In their 10 for 10 time alone, the students were challenged to examine their life and rate where they stand on their faith and commitment to God.  In their Bible studies through the day they looked at how Abraham tried to help God’s plan along but realized that only when things happen in God’s time and His way will he receive the glory.  Any other way is a reflection of our desire to move the focus to ourselves.

The middle school team became Sherpas for the morning rec time.  When they finally made it to the wall, they traversed the goat trail at a quick gait and lost none of the team.  It’s miracle season at Camp Eagle.  For the afternoon rec, they hit the climbing wall where they scaled the rock like pros.  One middle schooler went about 20 ft. higher than any of the high school group on the most difficult climb that was open. 

The high school team’s first rec was World War III using weapons from the Middle Ages.  TAG uses bow and arrows with marsh mellow tips. The teams were fairly matched and games proceeded at a conservative pace until the “referees” entered the game, free to shoot at will with no worries about getting tagged – they are never out. In Survivor terms, they had unlimited immunity.  Game players quickly learned they only course of action when a ref is spotted is: RUN.

The second rec was a piece of equipment called The Claw.  This excavator was remotely controlled with ropes (which needed Johnson’s No More Tangles) run by team members.  Suffice to say they didn’t create a new Devil’s Sinkhole

Both groups teamed up for Waterfront as their last rec.  There was a whole lot of Blobbing and King of the Hill going on.  Launchees came up with some new moves that looked to be straight from the annals of Saturday Night Fever.  Check out the gravity defying pics. 

The post supper service offered a chance for everyone to worship as the Holy Spirit impressed. We were challenged to honestly identify our priorities and compare with God’s order.  Just as Abraham prepared wood for the sacrifice everyone collected sticks to represent our priorities to be placed on the altar.  We hiked a sketchy trail to the top of the hill overlooking camp where a large altar had been constructed.  The altar was filled with commitment sticks of previous campers.  The worship leader described Abraham’s attitude toward the sacrifice of his son that God commanded.  Each team held a debrief session to discuss the priorities they placed on the sticks and how they were committing make changes to place the priorities in the order God requires.  The students were incredibly honest in their assessment of where they stood and their desire to reorder these priorities and to support each other as they work on following God’s plan.  After placing the sticks on the altar and a time of praise and prayer, we made our way back to camp – some to showers, some to bed and some to the back to the leaders lounge!

Camp Eagle Day 3

Day 3 – God Provides A Way

Genesis 6 was the key scripture text for the day.  The students studied how the story of Noah foreshadows the provision of salvation through God’s Son.  In the 10 for 10 time, they explored how Noah’s situation and God’s work can apply to their lives and the personal relationship He desires with us.

The high school team spent the morning climbing the wall – literally.  They were introduced to technical climbing with four choices of difficulty which started at Hard and went up from there.  No one would tackle the level 4 rope and a few tried their hand at level 3 including the elder statesmen who showed the youngsters he’s still got game.  All those who hitched up were left with jello arms and a quivering calf.  Turns out it's harder than it looks.

After lunch, we hiked to the rec fields to make rafts for the Noah race.  Each team had to construct a raft with 2x6s, cardboard, plastic drop cloths and, in true MacGyver fashion – duct tape.  Each team selected a Noah to compete in a raft race.  The high schoolers came in first with a ringer at the helm.  The middle schoolers had a few delays getting to the water but the preacher’s kid maneuvered the craft deftly through the water and a respectable finish.  Once the boats were out of the water, the Rainbow Games began.  Each team had to complete seven challenges, all of which involved hurling paint of every color.  Flexibility was a plus for these challenges which required a lot of teamwork and patience.  The last challenge was a water slide into a mud pond which provided the final bit of color to complete the ensemble.

After a quick clean up the middle school team tried their hand at Target Zip.  They attempted to hit targets with rubber arrows while strapped to a harness and zip line.  All targets were safe and sustained no damage.

The waterfront has an awesome collection of slides, swings, and zip lines.  Middle schoolers had morning rec here while the high school team dived in for one of their afternoon recs.    The feature attraction is the Blob – a 50 ft. long air bag which classically illustrates constant volume relationships of pneumatic systems. After launching from the elevated platform, the Blobber leaps to a strategic position on the bladder to launch the Blobee off the end.  The pics on the Shutterfly album tell the story on this one.  One “lucky” SHBC youth was on the receiving end of a record setting launch.

The high school team finished rec with a devotional in the boonies somewhere past Mill House (they were never located by the author).  Middle schoolers tried their hand at Shipwreck where the laws of physics (and more specially statics -for the engineers in the audience) were on display.  They had several challenge games to balance a houseboat with varying degrees of teamwork and verbal restrictions.

The evening service tied together God’s provision with personal application.  Students were challenged to select areas of their lives where they needed to respond to His promises.  The service was followed up with a time of sharing and commitment.  Several of the students made a commitment to take specific actions in their walk with God and symbolized this with a salt covenant.  The student’s salt (promise) was mixed with God’s salt to form an inseparable mixture.  The students really made a lot of breakthroughs and discussed some very important challenges and commitments to the youth group.  They expressed a strong desire to be open and accountable to each other to encourage and support their walk with Christ.  God truly moved in their lives in this group time. 

Youth Camp Tuesday

Day 2 – Banished The morning meal was familiar San Antonio fare – breakfast tacos and mango punch, well at least we know tacos. During morning Chaos, the fall of Man was presented from Genesis Chapter 3. The pavilion has a tree, painted on the wall, which is upside down symbolizing the result of man’s sin in perverting the worship God created. The kids were introduced to a 10 for 10 activity in which they spread out over the camp to create some separation (10 ft+) and spent 10 minutes journaling about what God showed them in this chapter. They reconvened for praise and worship before a pizza lunch. The high schoolers took a Sherpa trek, hugging the limestone bluffs high above the river floor. This journey of about a mile gave some great lessons about dependence on your neighbor to keep you on the trail and not becoming a “ROCK” to campers below. Exiting the trail, we ascended to what has to be one of the largest crosses in the state of Texas. Constructed of 24-in. diameter ductile iron pipe, this cross will be standing when Jesus returns, even if He delays for a millennium. Once off the mountain the high school team descended to the river and jousted in a water polo match. The competition was heated but the scores were a bit lopsided. Exiting the river, the group headed up a hill on the edge of camp for Bible study. The middle school team started with a battle royale. Each gladiator was fitted with soft tipped archery weapons and commenced to seek and destroy the enemy. After a break in the coffee shop, they walked to the far end of camp to cool off in the “bath tubs”, an area in the river with a series of depressions in the river bottom rock with trapped water. The theme for the week – God is good, Man falls short, God provides the Way - was dramatically illustrated through the activities at the end of the day. After the paradise of the Garden of Eden yesterday complete with food at every turn, today we were banished from the Garden and forced to eat our meals in the wilderness. Fortunately this was an object lesson and we didn’t truly have to become hunter-gathers. Our meal consisted of beans and chicken meat mixed together and cooked over a campfire in the cans they came out of. After a devotion exploring the struggle of Adam and Eve outside the Garden and the effect on our sin condition, we returned from the wilderness to a praise and worship time at the rock climbing wall.

Youth Camp 2013 Monday

Day 1 -  Arrival

The SHBC youth super crew (53 “yutes”, eight brave counselors and our fearless leader) boarded the Megabus at noon:30 bound for the wilderness of west Texas.  Camp Eagle, our home for the next week, is located near the headwaters of the Nueces River, east of Rocksprings and south of Junction.  The Megabus driver skillfully negotiated the one lane trail leading into camp, occasionally met by a lagging camp sponsor vehicle (who shall remain nameless).

Our accommodations this year are 5-star, with real bathrooms and no 400 yard treks to the showers.  We are definitely going to get soft.  The weather is awesome, complete with cool breeze and no rain – yet.  Our kids were able to get a quick swim and some get acquainted games with their team leaders before the kickoff service.  

The camp staff is dedicated to the students experiencing God in a very real way.  The theme for the camp is FamUnity which is a smashup of Family and Community.  The scripture basis for the week is the book of Genesis.  Monday night emphasized the good that God spoke into existence and His desire for a relationship with His special creation.  Our first meal, a vegetarian delight, was in the “Garden of Eden” located in the courtyard at the Rivers Edge.  After more Nuke ‘em, Frisbee soccer, and other unrecognizable rec activities, we convened for a late praise and worship time.  The sponsors got a brief on the activities for the week but have to keep it secret.  The staff wants the kids to live in the moment and keep ‘em guessing. The kids got some more rec time before heading for the showers – ok so nobody took showers, it’s camp. 

Determined Part 1

Series: Determined

Text: Nemehiah Chapter 1

This summer our theme is "Determined" as we study the book of Nehemiah.

Quick History Lesson...

There are 12 big events that sum up the Old Testament:

• Abraham's Call
• The Birth of Isaac
• Joseph in Egypt
• The Exodus
• Moses Gives the Law
• Joshua Conquers the Land
• Three Kings of the United Kingdom (Saul, David, and Solomon)
• The Kingdom Splits (Israel in the North, Judah in the South)
• Assyrian Disperssion (Israel taken over)
• Babylonian Captivity (Judah taken over)
• The Return to the Land
• The Coming Messiah

The Assyrians took over Israel and then about 130 years later the Babylonians took over Judah. The Persians later conquered the Babylonians, and Cyrus the Great allowed the Jews to return to their homeland.

This is where the books of Ezra and Nehemiah come into the picture. Ezra sets out to rebuild the Temple, and Nehemiah sets out to rebuild the walls that surround the city.

Nehemiah was the king's cupbearer. This meant that he got to test out the king's food and wine (the best in the land!) to make sure it wasn't poisoned. He lived in luxury, and most likely was good looking and well educated. He had everything going for him, but we'll see in Chapter 1 that he decides to leave it all behind to pursue God's mission above his own.

The chapter starts off with a question, "How are things going in Judah?" Ezra had led a return to the city, but things weren't going well. The walls and gates were torn down, and the city was left wide open for enemies to attack and purge, and on top of that, there was a famine in the land, so food was scarce.

This news broke Nehemiah's heart and led him into a time of prayer and fasting.

It is really easy for us to sing songs and voice prayers where we ask God to "break our hearts for what breaks Yours." But it is a completely different thing to truly experience it.

Israel's condition broke God's heart, and because God's heart broke, Nehemiah's heart broke too.

His prayer starts off adoration, "Great and awesome God..." and then turns to confession, "we have sinned against you." After that, we see a thankfulness and confidence in God for being faithful to His promises, "if you return to me and keep my commandments... I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen." And then the prayer ends with a supplication (or request for God's help), "... give success to your servant."

This is a great way for us to model our own prayers... if you're not sure how to prayer, remember ACTS.

As we read scripture it's important to ask is the text just describing something that happened, or is it also prescriping something for us to do. Some things are descriptive and others are prescriptive.

So we have to ask, is Nehemiah's life just a description of an awesome hero of the faith, or is there something about his life that we should be living out?

This text is very much prescriptive, and the first chapters gives us the building blocks of a maturing faith.

We all should want to grow in our faith, and Nehemiah shows us how!

First, God starts a work on his heart. God is always speaking to us through His Word... the problem is that we aren't always listening. When you remove yourself from certain distractions it allows you to hear Him more clearly. This is why so many students feel God tug on their hearts during camp or disciple now... it's not because God is finally speaking to them, it's that they have removed themselves from distractions and can finally listen.

If you are a Christian, God is working on your heart! You just have to decide what to do with it... will you ignore it or take action on it? A mature Christian takes action!

Second, the result of God working on Nehemiah's heart leads him to compassion.

Third, his compassion leads him to prayer. I love that his prayer is rooted in scripture from Deuteronomy. He's not praying for what he wishes God would do... he's praying for what God has promised to do. Because his prayer is rooted in scripture he has confidence that he is pursuing God's will and not his own.

Lastly, the confidence his prayer instills in him leads him to action. He prays that God would give him success because he knows that he is going to go and take part in rebuilding the city walls.

I think it's important for us to remind ourselves that when we pray, God very well might be asking us to take part in what we're praying for.

As you can see, these building blocks aren't supernatural things that we can't obtain... these are things that God prescribes of all Christians who are maturing in their faith.

Here's a quick recap of the Building Blocks:

• God Works on Your Heart
• You're Lead to Compassion
• You Pray for God's Will
• You Have Confidence
• You Take Action

When we observe all the things that need to be done in the world to make it more like heaven on earth, it can be pretty overwhelming. Is God calling you do take on all of the work? No! Is He calling you to do some of the work? Yes.

Take some time to remove things that distract you from listening to God. Maybe turn of the radio as you drive and spend time in prayer. DVR your favorite show and watch it later, and spend an hour in God's Word when you normally wouldn't. Open up a journal and write out a prayer. Take time to see where God is leading your heart. If God is burdening you with something then He's probably asking you to take part in helping bring His will into that situation.

As God works on your heart, the temptation will be to busy yourself and forget about it, or convince yourself that work is too great. These are both strategies of Satan to keep you from following God. Fight these temptations with prayer.

Have confidence in God more so than yourself, and remember that He has a track record of doing extraordinary things through ordinary people.

And take action where action needs to be taken!

In "Determined Part 2" we're going to look at how Nehemiah's faith helped him channel his maturity into action... so if you're not quite sure how to take part in what God's placed on your heart, then stay tuned!