Stop the BB’s!

No, this is not a rant against BB guns. I was reading in Colossians 1 this morning, and I learned something that was a blessing to me, and since the point of this blog is to share what I’m learning (manthano - i am learning) I thought I would share it.

In one of my undergrad classes, an adjunct teacher (who happens to be a pastor), challenged us that our prayers for others should be more than “BB” prayers. What’s a “BB” prayer, you ask? You know, “bless ‘em, be with ‘em.”¹ So if we aren’t to pray “BB” prayers, how should we pray for other believers? In Colossians 1 where I was reading this morning, Paul recounts how he prayed for the Colossians. So let’s look at his prayer, and perhaps use it as a model to frame our prayers for brothers and sisters in Christ. [Ok, so maybe I've lapsed into preaching.. too bad, Bible majors are prone to do that ] There are a lot of references in the rest of this post, but you should just be able to hover over them and they should show up in a little box.

Paul tells the Colossians that he began his prayer with thanksgiving for two specific things about the Colossians (Col. 1:3). In Col. 1:4-6, he tells them that he is thankful for their faith in Christ, that is, their salvation, and also for the evidence of that salvation. The primary evidence is their love to all the saints or other believers, but it also shows itself in their hope of heaven (Col. 1:5) and the work of the gospel in their lives in bearing fruit. So in applying Paul’s prayer, when we pray for other believers we should thank God for their salvation and the evidence we see of that salvation, again, primarily love toward other believers (John 13:35; 1 John 4:7-8, etc.). But also their expectancy of heaven, or as it’s often put, their “living in light of eternity” and the fruit that has appeared in their lives through the power of the gospel.

Col. 1:7-8 are kind of a parenthesis while Paul expresses his appreciation for the ministry of Epaphras in presenting the gospel to them originally. (Remember, Paul has never visited the Colossian church.) He only knows about them through their pastor Epaphras whom he’s met there in prison.

Paul continues the recounting of His prayer in Col. 1:9, this time focusing on the requests he has made to God for them. In Col. 1:9-14 there appear to be four primary requests. The first request is that they might be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, or in other words that they might know God’s will. This is not necessarily talking about what might be called the future will of God (things like who am I going to marry, where will I go to college, what ministry does God want me to have, etc.) although it certainly applies, but I believe Paul is more specifically referring to the present will of God. He’s referring to things like abstinence from immorality (1 Thess. 4:13), refusing to conform to the world (Rom. 12:2), serving God wholeheartedly (Eph. 6:6), counseling believers, not taking vengeance, following what is good, always rejoicing, always praying, giving thanks for everything, being sensitive to the Spirit, having a good attitude toward preaching, being discerning, not doing anything that might look like evil (1 Thess. 5:14-22), submitting to every ordinance of man (1 Pet. 2:13-15), possibly enduring suffering (1 Pet. 3:17; 1 Pet. 4:19), and not living to please self (1 Pet. 4:2). And this list isn’t exhaustive by any means.

Paul’s second request is not only that they would know God’s will but also that they would obey it, or “walk worthy of the Lord” (Col. 1:10). He gives three ways they can do that. One, do what fully pleases God. What is pleasing to God? A couple quick examples are obeying parents (Col. 3:20) and sacrificial giving (Phil. 4:18), but there are many more. Two, bear fruit through good works. We know what fruit is. The Bible tells us of the Spirit in Gal. 5:22-23 and the essential virtues of the Christ-centered life in 2 Peter 1:5-8 (hmm… somebody ought to write a book about that…). And it’s through their works that they demonstrate that fruit. Three, increase in their knowledge of God, or as I often put it, grow in their relationship with God.

But how are they or anyone else going to do all this? Paul’s third request — that they might be strengthened with His glorious power. Obviously they can’t obey God’s will, do what pleases Him on their own (Phil. 2:13). And this glorious power has some side benefits, you might say. It results in joyful patience and endurance. When they know that it’s God doing it, and not them, they don’t have to worry about it, which bring joy rather than frustration. They can patiently endure because they know He is in control and will accomplish His will in His time.

Paul’s final request is that the Colossians might also give thanks to the Father for what He has done in their lives. Paul mentions 3 specific things that they should give thanks for: their eternal inheritance (Col 1:12), their deliverance from the realm of darkness and deliverance to the realm of the Son (Col. 1:13), and their redemption and forgiveness (Col. 1:14). We are to pray that other believers would be thankful that God has given them a home in heaven, that He has delivered them from Satan and delivered them to His Son, and that through His Son He has redeemed and forgiven them.

A lot better than “bless ‘em and be with ‘em.” Here’s a brief outline of Paul’s prayer.

Thank You for… (Col. 1:4-6)
saving them (v. 4a)
the evidence I see of Your saving them (v. 4b-6)
love for others (v. 4b)
hope of heaven (v. 5a)
the gospel bearing fruit (v. 5b-6)
Help them to… (Col. 1:9-14)
Know Your will (Col. 1:9)
Obey Your will (Col. 1:10)
by doing what pleases You
by bearing fruit
by growing in their relationship with You
Depend on your strength that produces joyful patience and endurance (Col. 1:11)
Thank You (Col. 1:12-14)
for their home in heaven (Col. 1:12)
for their deliverance from Satan and deliverance to Your Son (Col. 1:13)
for their redemption and forgiveness (Col. 1:14)

Week 10: COR… Counselors Occupied Rigorously

Yes, as you can probably tell by the title, this was a busy week. We often joke about COR (Counselor on Rotation) standing for Counselor on Relaxation, but that was not the case this week. We did the most varied jobs that i’ve ever done while on COR. Here’s a partial list of what we did: sorted soda/pop/coke can from the trash, security, supervised the boat docks, moved picnic tables, restocked soda machines, inventoried air conditioner filters, scrubbed algae off of 25 boats, deep-cleaned the guys floor of the JBC dorm , cleaned trash cans, set up for games, set up water for after the games, prevented guy/girl mingling in the dark after evening games, deep-cleaned Willie & Sarah’s new house, and helped Willie and Sarah move to their new house.

Most of those things are normal COR responsibilities, with the exception of the cleaning the Partin’s house and helping them move, but they don’t normally all happen in the same week. But as it was the last week, they wanted to get as much done as possible. Normally there is some time set aside for us to sleep on COR, but there wasn’t any of that this week. So why was i helping Willie and Sarah move? Well, one of the families at the camp, the Del Porto’s, are moving to Arizona to help with a camp out there. Also, Willie and Sarah are starting to outgrow the trailer they are living in right now. So it was decided that they should move into the house where the Del Porto’s were living. They moved out in the first half of the week, so on Thursday after supper we went over and deep cleaned what was the Del Porto’s house (vacuumed, scrubbed floors, washed windows, cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, etc). We actually ended working through the service, as we have an early service on Thursday. Then on Friday after supper with a couple of the full time guys (Rand, Ranger Rick, Matt Herbster, Matt Tracy, etc) we moved almost everything from their trailer to their new house. I must say about 10 guys with about 5 pickup trucks is an exciting way to move. So Willie and Sarah are moved into a larger house now, which is good as i believe Sarah is expecting again (i forget exactly when). I believe the Taylors are moving into the trailer that Willie and Sarah were in. They just had their first little guy, Braden, a couple weeks ago.

As I didn’t have campers this week, i got to be a prayer partner for one of the other counselors on my team. It was neat to see God work in the life of one his campers in particular. On Thursday night he came out and got a lot of things right (music, friends, attitude, etc) and then on Friday I got to counsel him after the service and he surrendered to full time Christian service. That was pretty neat.

When I was a camper, one of my favorite things about camp was Christian Life Seminar. Christian Life Seminar (CLS) is service where one of the camp staff (Rand, Matt, Willie, or Scott this year) preaches/teaches on an area that teens particularly struggle with. It’s a very practical session. During CLS the counselors have off for choir practice or personal time and sometimes required nap time depending on the day, so CLS is also know as Counselors Like Singing, Sleeping, Socializing, Surfing (the net) etc. On Tuesday Rand preaches a message to the Sr. High called “Global Warming, Aliens, and Dinosaurs.” The point of the message is that just as God’s Word has answers about these seemingly difficult questions, It has the answer to other questions teens face like Why don’t adults like my music? Why do I have to be careful how I dress? Why is there so much suffering in the world?, and etc. The Junior High get to hear Willie’s message called “Is God Pleased with What I Play?” talking about video games. On Wednesday CLS is combined and Rand preaches a message called “Pet Sins That Become Killer Monsters.” Just as our pets beg for attention and don’t stay small and cute, the same thing happens with “little” sin habits. It could also be subtitled, Just one Puff, Just one Sip, Just one Kiss as the “pet sins” that Rand deals with are smoking, drinking, and immorality. Thursday there is no CLS as the church groups get together for their family reunion time of testimony and snacks. On Friday, Matt Herbster preaches to the senior high on “Why You Should Go to a Christian College” and Scott preaches to the junior high on “The Truth about God, Tragedies, and Natural Disasters.” Just as I always did, many of the teens seem to enjoy these services and they provide great material for counselors to ask questions about later (since we weren’t there and they don’t know we’ve already heard them).

Well, as I write this final note for this summer, I’m back at BJU. My GAship resumes Monday morning, and my boss has already communicated to us that she is looking forward to seeing us at 8:30 tomorrow. And so another semester begins. I’ll be taking Hebrew and New Testament Introduction this semester, both of which are known as difficult classes, as well as a preacher boys class. I would appreciate your prayers, especially in regards to Hebrew. I’m looking forward to learning it, but dreading the process at the same time :). Thank you so much for your prayers for me at camp this summer. It has been so amazing to see God work in my life and in the lives of my campers for yet another summer.

Week 9: More energy than a hyperactive kid

Thank you very much for your prayers this week. The Lord was very good this last week of JBC. I could tell people were praying and my energy level was was amazing for week 9. Normally by this time you can tell the counselors’ wagons are draggin’, but I had as much energy as I’ve had all summer. Which was good, as I did have a very hyperactive camper this week. He was diagnosed with ADHD, and although I don’t agree with the vast majority of behavioral diagnoses (in my opinion, ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) is better understood as Adults Don’t Discipline)), i could at least see why he would have been labeled as such. He had a lot of energy! But God gave me more, and it was me who was running down the hill while he dragged behind rather than the other way around.

The speaker this week at JBC was Mike Wessburg, he travels as a team with Rich Tozour who was preaching for the teen camp. The juniors enjoyed his magic tricks and dummy Stanley. None of my guys made decisions in the services, but as we talked one on one with several of them decided to get serious about their devotions and other things. I talked with the hyperactive kid after lights out one night (he wasn’t going to sleep anyway ) and he was able to nail down the assurance of his salvation. All the guys pictured above are my ROBOTS, the one in the picture on the left playing tube tug is the same guy that is on the left in the picture on the right. He, the hyperactive kid, and the hyperactive kid’s older brother (center guy, center picture) were all from Wilson, NC, where I used to live, but they go to a different church than we did. Three of my other campers were from the Brevard area, and I actually saw two of them at church this morning.

Well, only one more week of camp, and as I will be on COR (counselor on rotation), this last week was my last set of campers. That’s kind of sad as they may have been my last campers ever, depending on what I do next year. So what is COR, you ask? Well, see my explanation from last year, week 3. Yes, all these notes are posted on my blog for your perusal and enjoyment. So rather than repeat that from last year, I will give you a different “in depth” look of one of the favorite activities from JBC, the game show…. “Spin That Wheel!” Rather than have an elaborate funtime in JBC like we do in teen camp, we have what is known as the JBC game show. It combines elements of several game shows, largely Wheel of Fortune and The Price is Right (and maybe some older ones I’m not familiar with). The standard teams of Red vs Blue are laid aside, and the classic battle of Boys vs. Girls is taken up. The announcer, Abe Abey (dressed to the “kilt” as a Scotsman - ha, ha, sorry bad pun - complete with accent) comes to the platform and introduces the host of the show, Big Bob “Woofer.” One final character is probably the kid’s favorite, Leonard (he’s a goofy brainless character that acts as the stagehand for the game show) Kids are called at random from the audience, introduced as holding the record of shopping for 27 straight hours (girls) or the largest booger collection (guys) and are invited to “Spin That Wheel!” On the wheel are different slices, such as various numbers of points, Song, Spar, and Skit. The kids continue spinning the wheel and collecting points until they land on a song, spar, or skit slice. (yes, the game is completely rigged, but the kids don’t seem to know or care). When they land on the song slice we all sing a crazy song together like…

Oh let me tell you a story about a computer named Charlie,
A computer i used to use
Until one day I fed him too much knowledge,
And he nearly blew a fuse.

(chorus)
He went Beep - O - Beep Beep
Rattle, Rattle Bing-Bang
Bing Bang Boing B-Boing

Then we do sound effect of lighting a match, setting off a fuse, and exploding… something like…

Fwshhhhhhhht!
Fsssssssssssszzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!
BANG!

If they land on a skit slice, the team leaders come out and do skit like the wagon ride one they do at teen camp, or a classic, “The King and I” If you don’t know what that one is, ask my dad And if they land on a spar slice, the boys and girls have a little mini-game competition like a relay race to complete a giant board puzzle or a rearrange letters to spell certain words or put the shapes in a skill ball. Throughout the game there are various interruptions such as someone running in wanting to be on the game show because he can do a really good imitation of the chicken (stick a rubber glove on his head and blow is up until it pops), a policeman coming in and calling up one of the guy counselors to give him an “Ugly Violation,” etc. There are also breaks for a message from the sponsor, Jacques and Johnk’s Magic Shop. The great magician, Jacques, comes up to do a magic trick for the kids but messes it up and his lowly assistant Johnk ends up doing it instead. Also something that is said randomly reminds Abe Abey of his homeland of Scotland and he goes into a soliloquy of how great Scotland is and how they were never conquered, etc until he realizes where he is and abruptly stops. It’s a lot of fun! So know you know about America’s most under-watched, overrated game show, “Spin That Wheel!”

This coming week is half teen camp, half family camp. Rusty Smith will the speaker for the teens and Jim Binney will be the speaker for their parents. The younger kids will either be with their parents or have a special service with some of the Wilds staff preaching/teaching. It’s much smaller week than the rest of the summer and about 30 of the counselors leave to go home after the last required service and Staff Appreciation Banquet tonight. Oh yes, we have more special eating tonight! Yum, yum, yum! For the Staff Appreciation Banquet the dining hall goes under a major transformation with tablecloths, candles, placemats, etc. At the end of the banquet the Spark Plug awards will be given out as well as the best cabin cheer award. Spark Plug awards are given to the most servant-minded, encouraging op staff guy and girl and counselor guy and girl.

Well, as usual, my laundry is about done, so I’ll end this brief, err…. maybe not so brief note. Thanks so much for your prayers. Next week at this time I’ll be in Greenville, preparing to start another semester.

Week 8: ROBOTS?

Hello all! Wow, i can’t believe there are only two weeks left! What was that about time flying when you are having fun? Well I have certainly been having lots of fun and it does seem that time has just flown right by without even waving!

Ok, so I’m sure you’re wondering what ROBOTS has to do with my week. Well, it certainly doesn’t describe the mechanical obedience of my campers, although they weren’t too bad. Nor does it have to do with any of the skits or other crazy things going on a JBC (other than crazy me ). In JBC, we don’t have cabin names like at teen camp (Varmint, Monsoona, Misery, Toad Island, etc). Instead we just have Barracks numbers (mine is 114). But when you want your campers (and in JBC they have to be with you almost all the time except for when you’re at the GHQ (General Head Quarters - where all the services, store (PX), Canteen, etc are)) (how many nested parentheticals was that?) it doesn’t sound cool to call out “Barracks 114!” so the counselors come up with their own terms to call their troops. So we were the ROBOTS. To everybody else, they thought we were just using the term in its normal robotic fashion - mechanical robots that are really cool. But we knew that ROBOTS was a secret acronym… Royal Order Bearers Of The Savior (which, btw, is not original with me, it come from the BJ film Treasure Map). At the beginning of the week, they didn’t understand what that phrase meant, it just sounded cool, but each night in cabin devotions I explained a little bit more of the phrase and how we are ROBOTS, not just at camp, but that we need to go home and act like royal children of the King, declaring His message to others because of what our Savior has done for us in not only saving us from sin but from self as well. So, now that you know what ROBOTS are, you can put your mind at ease and continue reading the rest of this epistle

As you can probably tell, I had a great week up at JBC. I always enjoy hearing Big Bob Roberts and the Lord used him to work in the hearts of my guys in various ways. Several made decisions regarding their personal devotions and really had a desire to get more out of God’s Word. Several others made decisions regarding their TV and video game habits as well.

One of the things that the WILDS has in place to help us summer staff is a program called PDA (no, they don’t give us palm pilots ) PDA instead stands for Personal Discipleship and Accountability. We are given a notebook at the beginning of the semester that has a bible study for each week we are here this summer. Then on Monday morning after choir practice we meet in small groups to discuss what we learned. This summer we are studying through on how to be a Useful Tool. This past week’s study was entitled “run away” and focused on . We studied how we need to be cleansed from youthful lusts or passions in order to be the right kind of vessels or tools for God to use to impact the lives of our campers. And not only do we need to cleansed of that which is impure, but we need to pursue that which is godly and be set apart and ready for God to use. I don’t have my book right here with me or I would give some more details, as it has personally been a very spiritually challenging study, helping me re-evaluate how earnestly I’m pursuing being a useful tool that God can use.

Yesterday we had our staff parties. Each staff group (counselors, lifeguards, waitresses, landscape, etc) gets together and has a time of eating, relaxation, entertainment, and did I mention eating? As counselors we had steaks on the grill served alongside Owl’s Frothy Limeade (scrabble scramble allusion, maybe the teens will get it). Then the lead counselors did some skits about being a counselor or lead counselor such as reactions to medical slips, giving an honor camper presentation, etc. and we played some games and watched a slideshow of the counselors and ate brownies and ice cream! Afterwards several of the guys got together and began sharing stories of childhood injuries which was humorous as well, complete with Brian Regan imitations (Get some leaves! - and if you have no idea what i’m talking about by that, don’t worry about it ) Basically we just enjoyed some goof off time

Next week we will have Michael Wessburg as our speaker at JBC. I’ve never heard him before so I’m looking forward to what he will bring. That will be my last week in JBC, as there isn’t JBC week 10. I’ll probably be on COR, since I haven’t done that yet, and then it will be back to BJU to get back to work at the Media Center before the semester starts. Thanks so much for your prayers!