I’ve been trying to think of a way to describe the atmosphere of camp. The best way I can put it is it’s like a family reunion where everyone is excited to see each other, except in my case I was meeting almost everyone for the first time. And the gem about that is, it IS family. I got to meet brothers and sisters I didn’t know I had. Some of you know about my family drama, and this week was like a pat on the head from God and a reminder that my family in Him is bigger and more loving than I can even comprehend. So humbling.
So, part of the fun was a trip down memory lane about old Contemporary Christian bands I hadn’t given thought to for over a decade. This was in part brought about because the worship leader had us singing the chorus of “In The Light” as recorded by DCTalk, which I believe is a cover of Charlie Peacock. (Not that that last bit matters, I just feel proud of myself for knowing it. I like obscure facts; I can’t help it.) It took me back to trips to Lakeland, with my friends and I piling into the van, driven by my dad, who very graciously without fail agreed to take us to whatever show was in town, and we would go to Steak and Shake first, then go stake out our place in the crowd for the general admission seats. William likes to harass me about my CCM collection. There are so many memories linked to those bands though, and now new ones from new friends at RYC.
William and I have a long running joke that there is always a Roebke you don’t know about popping up (also you shouldn’t get water on them or feed them after midnight, and if you know that cultural reference, you are awesome.) And guess what? There was a new-to-me Roebke at camp.
My last entry had a summary of the first night’s teaching. The first morning had us looking at John 3:16-21 which says “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”
And Hebrews 1:1-3 and 11:1-3 which state “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” and “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
One of the points that stood out to me from Pastor Welzien’s preaching is the falsity of the phrase “blind faith” which people use to criticize Christianity. Our faith is not blind; it is built on God’s word, and our hearts and minds are illuminated by the Creator of the universe. Also, in the John passage, the idea that the light came into the world and it was judgment jumped out to me. The world already stands condemned, and when Christ came, He brought the way of salvation, His light to lead us from darkness, but it was also a seal of doom for those that hold on to the dark. Pastor Welzien took us to the original sin of Adam and Eve, where Satan plants seeds of doubt and then direct contradiction against God’s Word. That’s where this all started; not believing God means what He says. Then Adam and Eve tried to cover their own sin with fig leaves which was the start of humanity inventing religion and morality to try to bridge the gap and take ourselves up to God, which is impossible. When the fig leaves didn’t work, they then cowered in the darkness, trying to hide from God, which is also impossible.
Correlated to believing what God says was the first seminar of the week for my group, which was on creation and dinosaurs, taught by Dan Burns. He took us on a trip through scripture looking at the words for different animals in Genesis, and the descriptions of the Leviathan and Behemoth, which showed that at the time of the writings, there were big ol’ creatures that were well-known culturally. Also very interesting was the use of the English word “cattle” in some places which in Hebrew doesn’t actually mean “cattle;” it’s more like a word for a big beast that has no obvious correlation in English. Dan had a fossil collection from digs he’d been on, and some of the more memorable ones were dinosaur poop and dinosaur skin. The fossil record points to a single catastrophic event, and he mentioned that the dinosaur skin fossils really send evolutionary theorists into a tizzy because it can’t exist if the time periods that they hold to are real. (My paraphrase. Dan said it much more eloquently than that.) He also threw down the challenge that if Genesis 1-3 isn’t real, if Adam and Even aren’t real, and the Garden isn’t real, then what’s the point? It was really refreshing to hear such a strong reminder that you can’t pick and choose, randomly deciding certain things are poetry and not literal and certain things are to fit whatever earthly filter you are putting on the Word of God.
On a completely different tack: RYC is known for messy games. I was a little concerned about them, and wasn’t sure about playing, but jumped in anyway. The first messy game was like Steal the Bacon, except the bacon was a watermelon coated in Crisco, places on a tarp covered in water and slime. SO MUCH FLIPPIN FUN! After the game it was much easier to talk to people; nothing breaks down walls like sliding all over the ground scrabbling for lard-covered melon.
Coming up: Teachable hearts, loving Christ and the Church, and assorted fun times.
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