THE RIGHT KIND OF EXERCISE

Argh!
At my age, exercise gets harder and harder. I remember the days that I could run five or six miles with no problem. Right now I'm struggling to make three miles at a stretch every day.

Physical exercise is great, there's no doubt. Well, how about spiritual exercise? Let's take a look:

1. A great exercise for a Christian is practicing humility to help point others to Christ.
TEXT: John 1:7 John would not let himself be exalted, but pointed people to Christ, the true Light.

2. Prayer and studying the Scripture helps us exercise our readiness to witness.
TEXT:Acts 1:8 We should prepare not only to witness to our neighbors and classmates (Jerusalem) but also other neighborhoods and areas (Judea) and far-reaching regions (Samaria & uttermost parts of the world)

3. Memorizing Scripture is a good exercise to help guard the soul against testimony-killing sin.
TEXT: Psalm 119:11 Hiding God's Word in our heart is a defensive measure against sin.

4. Preparing to actually verbally witness opens up new opportunities.
TEXT: 1 Peter 5:13 Being ready to share our hope keeps us from getting caught 'flat-footed.'

"WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I NEEDED YOU?"

2 Timothy 4:6-7 "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith..."

The newspaper article in the Florida newspaper told it in grim detail. The Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported the death of a 12 year old boy who hung himself. Why? The merciless taunting of his classmates because of his weight. The boy was 5 foot 4 inches tall and weighed 174 pounds. Seems the classmates couldn't get enough of teasing him. So one evening at midnight, he crawled out of the window of his home and went to the backyard tree, got a stool, slung a rope over a branch and hung himself. His 8 and 10 year old brothers found him as they were getting ready for school. His mother collapsed as the paramedics pronounced him dead on the scene. The father immediately took an axe and cut down the tree.
You might say the boy was literally teased to death. Isn't that absolutely tragic?

One observer put it this way: Our kids learn a lot about science and math - but they don't really hang onto the instruction about compassion.

But let me ask you...surely there was at least ONE student in his school who was a Christian, who could have befriended him, and made him feel welcome. WHERE WERE THE CHRISTIANS?

Maybe this same situation is brewing at your school. Are there others who need your care? As a Christian, take the initiative.

Let's not stand by this September! Let's get to work!

Verses for study: 1 Timothy 6:12 - "Fight the good fight...:
2 Timothy 4:9 - "Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me..." Jesus wants followers who are loyal to Him! No deserters, no cowards. Let's show Jesus we mean business.

SECURITY OF THE BELIEVER

Here's where you can guess.
a. Am I deep in theological study?
b. Am I trying to remove leftover corn from my teeth?
c. Am I taking an afternoon siesta - during class?
d. Am I in great agitation since I can't seem to locate any good Bullwinkle and Rocky graphics on the web?

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The question has come up again and again throughout the years of my youth ministry - "Can I lose my salvation? Does the Bible say I will have my salvation taken away? What does the Bible say about eternal security?"

Due to the overwhelming interest in this area to new believers, allow me to share some Scriptures with you.

1. God does not let saints fall
Micah 7:8 - "when I fall I shall arise"
Psalm 37:24,25 - "Though he fall he shall not utterly be cast down...I have not seen the righteous forsaken..."

2. This is the Lord's doing, and it is not in our power to "undo" it.
Psalm 37:37,40 - "But salvation of the righteous is of the Lord..."
2 Tim. 1:12 "He is able to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day."
Jude 24 - "...now unto Him who is able to keep you from falling..."
1 Peter 1:5 - "who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

3. God knows the believer.
John 10:14 - God tells us He knows His child.
Compare that with the lost He speaks to in Matthew 7:23. "...I never knew you..."

4. The believer is in Jesus' hand.
John 10:28 - "...neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand."

5. The believer will not come into condemnation.
John 5:24 - "He that...believeth on Him that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation..."

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WHAT A CAMP IT WAS

HERE IS A PICTURE OF OUR YOUNGEST CAMPER ... JULIANNE ZOCKOLL. She was a hearty participant at the lunch table but had a little problems with the Greek word study.

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I can hardly begin to describe the great joy I feel as I think back on our week of camp. I will be posting pictures of the great times we had but in quick reflection, I must say that the most satisfying thing was our No-Holds -Barred Question and Answer session on the Bible, held each evening. The campers piled into the room and we sat for late evenings at a stretch, taking questions and looking into the Scripture to see serious answers to bothersome questions.. There were no bands or long musical segments in our camp... that's for other camps. This one was for quiet introspection on the work of the Lord in the life of the camper.

Alison Poland will be sending me over 200 pictures and I will be posting them next week. Thanks so much for pryaing for us and letting me know of your support. This was a camp I'll always remember.

Here are some of the things we enjoyed. (Ask some of the campers to explain some of the most puzzling ones):

OX ROAST
AUCTION
WELDED DIVERS COMPETITION
BIBLE TRIVIA ON ACTS
PYRAMIDS
WATERMELON FOOTBALL
VERSE BY VERSE ON THE BOOK OF ACTS
PUSH UP CONTEST
SKIT CONTEST
PIE EATING
GREEK WORD STUDY
STING PONG
CARTOON TRIVIA
CARPET FLOOR TRIVIA COMPETITION
TEENS MADE THE MEALS
CUP-PASSING CONTEST
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
GREEDYBALL
HEBREW WORD STUDY
H-O-R-S-E BILLIARDS

Camp is around the corner

HERE ARE TWO OF MY FORMER STUDENTS FROM GRACE CHRISTIAN ACADEMY: Chris Banks (l.) and Keith Joy, both trying their best to look intellectual, when actually this was taken during study hall. Both young men have graduated and are on their way to fantastic careers.

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I've been getting e-mails throughout the week from our teens who are preparing for camp. We've all been reading through the book of Acts and readying ourselves for a retreat of deep meditation and yet outrageous fun. The excitement is growing.

NOTES FOR CAMPERS:

I believe we have laundry facilities. If you think you'll need to do some wash during the week, then you must bring your own laundry soap.

If you'd like to add decorations to the dining tables when your team does the cooking, bring along some artwork or art gear so that you can design whenever it's your team's turn to serve.

Snacks are okay for your room at night. Buy them ahead of time and stash 'em in your room.

Campers...

We'll be doing quite a bit of journalling. You'll have a chance to write down your thoughts - devotional and otherwise - during the week.

Take your time and really reflect on what God will have you to learn about Him this week. If there's one thing we need to remind oursleves is that it's not about US...it's about HIM!

I find it very curious as I go through the many blogs throughout the Internet of seeing the massive egos of some bloggers. Their whole world revolves around their activities, looks, attractiveness to the opposite sex, sports favorites, foods, music, booze and a whole list of self-centered delights. I'm especially intrigued by the prevalent use of profanity by many... does this show intelligence?

The glory of blogging to many people is that is gives a chance to talk about THEM, the most impotant person they know. Our camp will be centered on HIM, and how we can draw closer to Jesus Christ. This is His world and it's His delight, and we can experience incredible joy as we see what He has for us!

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Optional things to bring that might be part of our week:

- beach ball

- crazy hat

- your favorite devotional book

CAMP NEWS: FOUR TEAMS

Hi campers!

We will have four teams at camp, not so much for competition but for organization. Yes, we will be having a quiz machine and the games will be great, but we will also be using the different teams for doing things that will keep the camp running smoothly. For example, each team will have its turn at cooking...that's right, you will be in the kitchen, cooking one of our meals! Some meals are simple but others will take more time. In all, each team will be preparing at least four meals during the week.

Here are the four teams and the members SO FAR...THIS IS BY NO MEANS A COMPLETE LIST:

1. HARPADZO
Heather Dewey
Tina Luckman
Matt Iden
Ben Andrews

2. KOINONIA
Zack Martel
Mollie Daves
Nick Zockoll
Alison Poland

3. DUNAMIS
Bret Carlson
Peter Zockoll
Jared Wilkins
Ben Brown
Laura Novikoff

4. APOKALUPSIS
Bradley Newburn
Kellen Leland
Chris Bernard
Yani Jackson

I'm still adding people to the teams!!!

Obviously I don't have everyone on a team. Stay tuned for our upcoming e-mails and you'll get the complete roster. If your name wasn't on here and you would like to be on a specific team, you have 24 hours to contact me and let me know.
Keep praying about our camp!

July 4th celebration!

AH, TODAY IS A GOOD DAY! I LOVE SITTING BACK AND REMEMBERING THE WONDERFUL SERVICE OUR SOLDIERS HAVE DONE. I look for any soldiers and personally thank them for what they've done.

I'm also going to Famous Dave's with some of my students (led by the notorious John "BBQ Bandit" Miller) and eat as many ribs as I can get my grubby fingers on.

Theology Camp notes:

We will leave the high school parking lot at 12 noon on July 16th. We will be returning to the CAK high school parking lot at 1:30 p.m. on July 21st.

Campers, this will be a time of serious study. We will be going into Hebrew and Greek terminology in the Bible, for starters.

You will also be learning how to cook...really! There will be Team Chef details, and each camper takes a shift at cooking. Let's call it Heaven's Kitchen.

If you'd like, bring an extra journal for your personal thoughts and reflections after devotional time.

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"If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair." - CS Lewis