Elevate: Day 4

It's hard to believe that we have crossed the mid-point of camp already. And I know I promised some more pics, but I can't seem to find the USB cable so I figured I would get a text update and can maybe do some pics tomorrow.

Today was a big day for the majority of our students that braved the cold water and rapids of the Ocoee. I've heard some good stories about some students taking an unexpected swim, but thankfully no rafts taco'd on rocks like last year! We did have a few chickens... I mean some leaders and students stay behind and took their own excursion downtown to see some sights.

I made it back to camp right when our evening worship was beginning and am so glad I did. Adam and the band led in a powerful time of worship and Brent again did a good job of helping the students see the pitfalls of idolatry. One of the verses from Isaiah 46 that really stood out to me says, "To whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?" (vs. 5). We have this idea that these idols in our lives can satisfy or bring happiness, yet God clearly sets Himself up in a way that no idols could ever compare. And for the most part, I believe we know that in our head, but His majesty and sufficiency doesn't always impact our heart.

Tomorrow will be another full day of activities here on campus and then in the afternoon we will head downtown for our free time. Tomorrow night after worship we will cap off camp with our "Southland's Got Talent" show. Our students have been hard at work on a musical number that they are very excited to perform.

I would ask that you continue to pray for all of us and pray that God would speak to our hearts in a powerful way that changes our lives!

Elevate: Day 3

HIgh School Camp has been a definite change for me this year with my increased responsibilities being the director of Elevate Camp 2009. I've been quite a bit more removed from our students' lives as I've had to manage the behind the scenes and day to day operations of the camp. But this gives me a great chance to brag on the Wildwood student staffers that are serving as counselors this week to our students. They have done an awesome job leading in my absence but also in investing in the lives of our students this week!

God has been actively challenging us through Brent's messages each night regarding our idols - not the little statues, but rather the many things in our lives that take our time, energy, attention and even top priority away from Christ. As Brent shared - the antithesis of Christianity isn't atheism, but idolatry. He also shared that most of our pursuits can generally be "good" things, but they become idols when we elevate them to "God" things. So we are all trying to examine our hearts this week in our time alone with God and family group time.

It's been cool having our own Adam & Teri Hill lead us in worship and today was no exception. For our Sunday morning worship, we loaded all 300+ at camp and headed into downtown Chattanooga to worship outside on the riverbank at Coolidge Park. This was a logistically challenging, but rewarding experience to worship out loud downtown! God held off the rain just long enough for Trey to finish sharing about how we find our strength and identity in Christ.

We took it easy this afternoon and didn't venture off campus for any excursions, but tomorrow is our big Whitewater rafting day on the Ocoee River. I apologize for not being about to upload any pictures tonight, but I've had to fly back to Tallahassee to preach in the morning at a funeral and will fly back tomorrow afternoon to rejoin camp. Please pray for me, but also continue to pray for our students and leaders that God would continue to shake us up spiritually! I'll do my best to catch up on some pics tomorrow night!

Elevate: Day 2

Our first full day of camp is under our belt and we are having a great time so far. Today was a full day both spiritually and activity-wise. I'm just flat out exhausted and since it's late I'm not going for a full write up, but here's some pics to enjoy.

Elevate: Day 1

It has been a long day and trip, but I guess it wasn't as bad for us as those from South Florida who had to leave at 3:30 in the morning. I was excited to see our students and staff when they arrived. From what I understand it was a pretty uneventful bus ride which is always a good thing. We had a good first session tonight with worship and our speaker, Brett, who spoke about the idols which take priority over Christ in our lives. I'll try to get some pics posted soon and don't forget you can get more updates at twitter.com/wildwoodstudent.

Reflections on Fatherhood

I'm a dad to three boys... called me blessed or call me crazy. Actually it is mostly both at the same time. We don't really hype holidays or special occasions all that much in our home, so this post isn't too linked to Father's day, but it did get me thinking on the subject. And since I've been re-reading Wild at Heart, everything came together in thought one night and now I'm just getting around to putting it down.

To be honest, I'm a little amazed at this whole concept of fatherhood. To think that I have direct responsibility (or better privilege) in shaping the hearts and lives of my boys is at times overwhelming. I've thought back quite a bit on my own father (and Happy Father's Day and birthday, Dad) and the relationship we have now and what it was like growing up. It's kinda funny how it took becoming a father to realize how much I was shaped and influenced by my father. Needless to say, some of the shaping came in the form of a thick leather belt traveling at the speed of sound towards my backside.

I realized this Father's Day that Brock has already crossed the halfway point in his time in our household. Man, the time has flown by. Jake's in the middle and appropriately usually in the middle of trouble. But he is in the "I love Daddy" stage. I'll remind him of this stage when he becomes a teenager. Bringing up the rear is my newborn, Cole, who just looks at me and smiles... until Brooke goes to work and then he cries... and cries some more. Such innocence is amazing, though. What a gift God has given me in these three.

Thankfully the whole understanding of my spiritual Father overshadows my fears, insecurities and inadequacies of being a father to my boys. As if the promise in 1 John 3, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called sons of God..." isn't amazing enough. Proverbs 14:26 says, "He who fears the Lord has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge." It is so comforting to know that I'm not in this alone. I run in pursuit of God so that my boys can be challenged by the potential of likewise knowing, loving and serving God.

I can only pray that my boys will come to the realization of Christ's presence in their lives so they may discern that being a Christ-follower is infinitely more about a heart relationship with Jesus than simply trying to live a meager existence of Christian duty. I desire that they would give their lives away for the sake of the Gospel. I hope that the things of the world would pale in comparison to the joy of being found in Christ. I pray they understand their lives will be measured by how well they love. I want them to know that God desires our best, deserves our best and will ultimately demand our best. I pray they would know that following Christ isn't something that can remotely be done halfheartedly, but that it is central to all that they do and all that they are. I want them to know that the greatest fear in life shouldn't be failure, but of succeeding in life in things that don't matter for the Kingdom.

Ultimately, I don't want to have to read these things to them in an effort to teach them... I simply want them to look at my life, and like Paul, be able to say to them, "Follow me as I follow Christ."

Consuming Love

So I ran across this quote from David Shibley the other day. Not sure where I read it, but I hung on to it and have been processing it for a good while now. "God is not calling us to win the world and, in the process, lose our families. But I have known those who so enshrined family life and were so protective of ‘quality time’ that the children never saw the kind of consuming love that made their parents’ faith attractive to them. Some have lost their children, not because they weren’t at their soccer games or didn’t take family vacations, but because they never transmitted a loyalty to Jesus that went deep enough to interrupt personal preferences.”


To be honest, family life and ministry life has always been an interesting and challenging combination. I have been doing ministry quite a bit longer than 'family', so I knew there would be a definite adjustment factor for me. Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 7 speak about it being good for a man not to marry. Most theologians have traditionally interpreted the first two verses of the passage to show that Paul is suggesting celibacy as a higher calling than marriage. The usual explanation - especially for those in ministry - is the greater opportunity to dedicate themselves entirely to the Lord. The church fathers taught this view and it impacted the Roman Catholic Church as they forbade their clergy to marry, so as to not keep them from their higher calling.

This explanation has always been troublesome because at the beginning of time God said “it is not good for man to be alone” and in a sinless world instituted marriage. Since then it would seem that marriage has been the norm for Christians.

But there is little doubt in my mind that a life lived on mission can quickly and easily be distracted... by so many things, family being just one of those. Yet the calling to mission includes the family and I would say even goes out from the family. How can I lead others to do what I'm not leading my family to do?

I desperately desire for my wife and children see the consuming love I so often preach about. A love for Christ that compels my life and calling as a husband, father and pastor to go into the world with the love of Christ.

Caught rather than taught... it's a great teaching principle that has to be applied to how I live out my faith before my family and those around me. Words become meaningless devoid of action. God asks for the faith He has given us to be expressed through a life of selfless devotion to the cause of Christ and for the sake of the Gospel.

Jesus trained His disciples in an amazing way for the work He would have them accomplish following His departure. He did not gather His disciples in a formal classroom and begin to lecture. Instead, Jesus did His teaching “on the way” (and thus explaining why the early Christians were called "Followers of The Way"). The roadways of life was Jesus' classroom. He communicated His principles, values and mission right in the middle of daily experiences. The real beauty of our Lord’s teaching is that He taught and led by example. He fleshed out in His own life what He expected His followers to do.

Shibley's final sentence, "A loyalty to Jesus that goes deep enough to interrupt personal preferences"... even family life is so incredibly challenging. But if I want my three boys to 'get it' than I have to 'live it'... only by His grace and solely for His glory!

We want A king... not THE KING!

So I realize I haven't been as active in the blogging world as of late. It probably has more to do with the addition to the family, ministry responsibilities and other things that would make a pretty long list, but I'll spare you. And I don't ever write feeling I have something to say that others need to read, as much as I write because I need to read! This serves as my online journal I guess.

Anyhow, I was reading in 1 Samuel 8 the other day and was really struck by the request of the people... God's chosen people for leadership. In verse 5 the elders met with Samuel and said, "Give us A king to judge us like all the other nations have." Seems an innocent request at first glance. We want to have a king to rule us, and why not, everyone else does.

But then Samuel's reply, "Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance." I just have to wonder why the elders from all the tribes didn't do this in the first place. For generations, God had spoken to, led, provided for, instructed and cared for His people. Yet the lure of "having what everyone else had" became too great, yet again, in their life. God answers Samuel by saying, "They don't want me THE King any longer. So give them what they want."

Before I get to critical of the Israelites, I had to do a little soul searching. How many times have I said - verbally or non-verbally, intentionally or non-intentionally - "I want A king, not THE King!" So, thousands of years later, not only does the pattern continue among God's chosen people, but it is even evident in my own life. It is so tempting to look around and see what the world offers and desire their king(s) over the one and only King.

For as much as we all push against authority, we're still always asking for it. As much as we want freedom, we ultimately by our choices end up as slaves. But the distinction isn't in having authority - it's being able to select what authority we fall under. Do we live in humble obedience, a life pleasing to THE King? Or are we out looking to set up our own kingdom with our own king? It doesn't matter what king we are bowing down to - the king of popularity, power, prestige... the list goes on and on and on.

As that passage continues you can hear the heartbreak in God's response. He basically recounts His faithfulness and love for His people and their continued fickleness, abandonment and downright rejection. How it must break the heart of God when we decide we would rather have a king over the King of kings!