RYC, part 5

I started out this series thinking I would recap the week chronologically but that didn’t happen; I got ahead of myself talking about the seminars. For those keeping track at home, I’m planning on at least 3 more entries. I’ve been putting off my recap of and response to the last seminar because it affected me the most in my current circumstances and what God has been showing me about Himself lately. The seminar message actually coincided with my last non-camp entry (Life Lessons). I want to do it justice so it may take some time before I feel I’ve adequately covered it. And I want to dedicate an entry to highlighting the purely fun times too. But for today, it’s back to Wednesday night at camp and the large group message. It’ll take another entry at least to finish up the large group teaching.

Moving from the broad message in Genesis of God separating the light from the darkness to how that is accomplished in Christ to how that manifests in our lives, we again went to different passages from all over the Bible. Pastor Welzien started in John 12, verses 44-50 which say “And Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.’”

Jesus came so people don’t have to remain in darkness; they/we already stand in judgment and darkness and must be saved to escape. To drive home the point of how much we transgress, we looked at the list of blessing and curses in Deuteronomy 28. The Law has been broken by every person except Christ. The Law has been kept perfectly by only One who deserves the blessings listed, yet Christ took the curse of Law-breaking on Himself and gave us the blessings only He deserved!
We also looked back to Exodus, at the plagues listed in chapter 10 which include total darkness over Egypt but not where the Israelites live, and then in chapter 12, where the only salvation is offered in the sacrifice of the spotless lamb. In Chapter 14, verses 19 and following, the presence of God is manifested in the pillar of fire/pillar of cloud, and in this passage, moves to separate the Israelites from the forces of Egypt. Egypt is cast into darkness by God, while Israel is in light. All these chapters have such a clear picture foreshadowing what Christ would do for His people to save them from darkness.

Mark 15:33ff talks about the darkness that fell over the land as Jesus was being crucified. Darkness is clearly symbolic of judgment throughout the Old Testament and reiterated in the New Testament, and here shows the judgment of God moving on to Jesus. Matthew 8:12 talks about the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the judgment of being cast out from God’s blessings. The book of Jude speaks in poetical, vivid terms of those that are rejecters of the truth, and in particular verse 13, which speaks of them as “wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.” Jesus is the light and our way out of it.

That last verse really stood out to me and in our small group discussion that night my group had a good talk about that thought. I’m going to venture to say that everyone I know has been left out by someone or a group of people at some point in their lives, and universally, it’s a horrible feeling. It’s hurtful, embarrassing, shaming, and it’s what hell is. Being left out of God’s family, and His blessings… forever.
Coming up: Delighting in obedience.

RYC, part 4

The morning large group lesson on Wednesday morning was on spiritual warfare. The main text was 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, “Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

Pastor Welzien went through some of the names/descriptions of Satan from the Bible: a roaring lion seeking to devour, a fierce dragon, Destruction, the Destroyer, the prince of the power of the air, the god of this world. Even so, we’re not sentenced to live in the darkness. Satan is a deceiver and a blinder, but Christ is our light.

Galatians 3:10 and 13-14 states “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them’… Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree’— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

The righteous live by faith, only because of the work that Jesus Christ accomplished. It is the only way to overcome.

2 Corinthians 6:2 states “For he says,
‘In a favorable time I listened to you,
and in a day of salvation I have helped you.’
Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

Today is the day. What side are you on?

Coming up: Escaping the darkness.

RYC, part 3

Each morning at large group we started out with a dance to get everyone awake. It was pretty fantastic. The first one was to Istanbul (Not Constantinople)by They Might Be Giants, then there was 500 Miles by the Proclaimers, Walk the Dinosaur, and Star Trekkin'. The last night at camp was a mini-dance party, with all those songs plus Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down. There wasn't a dance for this song, but Sweet Caroline quickly became the theme of camp. Tim played it while we were walking in for large group one night, and after that it was being sung all over camp. You could at any point sing out "Sweet Caroline..." and be answered with "bah bah bahhhh."

The afternoon game on Tuesday was a crazy match of Capture the Flag; I got a little beat up but our team did awesome. That night's activity was a giant slip'n'slide.

The teaching Tuesday evening was based on I John 1:5-10: "This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." The emphasis was on practicing the truth: what does that mean and what does it look like? Pastor Welzien then went back to Genesis 1-3. This coincided with Dan's seminar teaching from the morning on creation. Those first few chapters are necessary to explain our plight and purpose. He also emphasized that God is reality, and we need to recognize what He says about us. I thought that perspective was so convicting: what better source to search for what humanity is about than what the Author of life gave us? How often do I try to muddle through on my own instead of running to God's Word?

Then we looked at Ephesians 2:1ff, (go read it!) and Ephesians 4:17-18 which states "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart." The application was to have teachable hearts, and to question ourselves if we were really serious about walking uprightly, participating in spiritual warfare, having a prayer life.

To close, we looked at Romans 1:18ff (read it!). V. 25 especially, which says "they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen." is a challenge not to put our own abilities, ideas, philosophies, above what God Himself has given to us in His Word. God give us the truth; why would we give it back? One of the last thoughts I wrote down from what Pastor Welzien said was that God's word is always there for us to refresh ourselves with. It's what keeps us walking in His light.

The seminar my small group went to Wednesday morning was led by the OPC missionaries to Haiti, a family with 4 kids, talking about how they were called to Haiti, what they gave up to go there, what they gained in going, the challenges of their ministry there, and how God is at work in the church. The previous OP missionary to Haiti died in a motorcycle accident and there was an article about his ministry in the magazine the OPC publishes. They each read the article and individually they felt the call to go, and decided if at the next GA (I think... it might have just been a presbytery meeting) someone asked him specifically to go to Haiti, they would say yes. Someone did. They went. During the seminar we saw some videos of what life and ministry is like for them in Haiti. It was a neat opportunity to get a better glimpse of what the OPC is doing around the globe in His name.

The next day's seminar, taught by my hubby, was on loving Christ and the Church and the importance of observing the Sabbath in attending church. The main texts for this were Ephesians 2 and Hebrews 12,emphasizing that we are saved into the kingdom and family of God, to be a part of His church. Ignoring corporate life is to ignore what we are saved to. The means of grace given to us, the preaching of the word and the sacraments, are only legitimately available in the church.

Coming up: spiritual warfare.

RYC, part 2

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.

RYC, part 1

Before RYC (my denomination’s church camp for middle and high school that meets just outside of central Florida) I had some trepidation because it was turning into a huge ordeal for us to go, or at least that’s what it felt like, and it was going to be the longest I’ve ever been away from my son. It crossed my mind a time or two to just not go. Boy am I glad I didn’t let that thought take root.

One of my favorite moments out of all the amazing things that went on happened the first night, and I knew this was where I was supposed to be that week. It was time for our first evening large group, with worship songs led by Danny Iverson and preaching by Pastor Bill Welzien. We finished singing a song and Danny started to lead us in “Be Thou My Vision”. The slide with the lyrics wasn’t up yet but it didn’t matter because everyone knew it by heart. For the first verse, everyone sang it without the words up and sang it loud. There were less than 100 people in the room but it sounded like several hundred voices lifted up in worship of our God and Savior. It was so moving, and I kept thinking as we sang how much Satan must hate it and of our Father listening, smiling, at His children. I will never forget that moment.

The preaching came next. The theme for camp was Breaching the Darkness and all the messages in our morning and evening large group sessions were on this idea, starting with Genesis 1 where God separates the light and the darkness. Pastor Welzien took us from there all through the scriptures on how that is God’s purpose throughout time, until the final judgment, and what it means to be in the light, and at many examples of light and dark imagery in the Bible. He pointed out that the scripture doesn’t give time to trying to give proofs that God exists; it’s assumed to be self-evident, and you either accept it or you don’t, and it remains the truth regardless.

In preparation for instruction from God’s Word, he took us to Psalm 32:8-9, which says “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you.”
Proverbs 30:1-4 which says
“The words of Agur son of Jakeh. The oracle.
The man declares, I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and worn out. Surely I am too stupid to be a man. I have not the understanding of a man. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in a garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name? Surely you know!”

And lastly Psalm 33:4-9 “For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.”

The challenge was to recognize that God is God, and He is orderly, careful, wise, personal, deliberate, and good. What He makes is good, what He says is good, what He does is good, and by rejecting His word we choose to remain stupid and in the dark.

After that we looked at Psalm 119:104-105 and 130 which say, “Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path… The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” And then Proverbs 4:18 which says “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.” The contrast to that is the wicked, who are in deep darkness. The next morning we went to the New Testament, in John 3, and Christ entering the world to bring judgment, but I will write about that in another entry. Coming soon: fig leaves, dinosaur skin, and CCM. Oh, and Crisco. Stay tuned!

Life lessons.

I haven’t blogged in awhile. My last couple entries weren’t even my words. The last was a hymn that I was clinging to because of what I was going through at the time. So much has happened since then, and I keep thinking I need to write, but I haven’t had the time or the heart. There were also too many things I wanted to blog about.

There is one thing, though, that keeps coming back to my mind, and it’s mostly related to the hard times. Several years ago, after my Grandma’s funeral, a friend asked me if it gave me closure. I don’t remember what I said because that time is kind of a blur, but I’m sure I wasn’t honest. Closure means to bring to an end or close the door on, and I have come to learn that’s impossible after loss. I hated the word then, and I hate it now, and even in my pain I think I was polite enough not to tell my friend that. (I remember who it was but they probably aren’t reading this. So if by some crazy chance that person is reading this and remembers saying that to me… that’s awkward. Sorry.)

When someone dies, a grandparent, parent, your child, a friend… or someone wanders out of your life, or suddenly and painfully leaves your life, you don’t get to close the door on it, because for the rest of your own life that person isn’t there. I guess it gets easier with time, sort of but not really, but it becomes an indelible mark on your heart that that person is missing. As you go on with the milestones of life, someone isn’t there that ought to be, and it’s unpredictable when that sharp sense of emptiness is going to smack you in the face.

A few months ago something happened that felt like God took my life, turned it upside down, and gave it a good shake. I haven’t landed yet. And it’s never going to not have happened. It’s never going to not affect me. Thank God He blessed me with amazing friends who held me up with prayer, scripture, and love. I think part of the sense of never having closure is that we’re never done learning about God’s character. Everything happens for His glory; I truly believe that, even if I don’t always understand it.

The other day I was talking to a mom at school whom I’ve known for several years now, and we were semi-joking about the lessons in life we get from God, when He reminds us that He’s in control and we’re not, and how sometimes it’s like “I GOT IT! I’M NOT IN CONTROL! CAN WE END THE LESSON NOW?” But it’s about more than that.
When those painful moments come, I remember that God is my refuge and my strength; an ever present help in trouble; the LORD of Hosts is with me. The God of Jacob is my fortress. I still have my Job moments though, of wondering why these things happen when I didn’t do anything wrong. While God has spared me the fury of His answer to Job, He does remind me that the world is a fallen, wicked place, and terrible things happen. But He is sovereign. He is good. He is love. He is mercy. He is my savior, every day. And I don’t want to close the door on that.

hymn for the moment

Whate'er My God Ordains Is Right

1. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Holy His will abideth.
I will be still whate’er He does,
And follow where He guideth.
He is my God,
Though dark my road.
He holds me that I shall not fall
Wherefore to Him I leave it all

2. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
He never will deceive me
He leads me by the proper path,
I know He will not leave me
I take, content,
What He hath sent
His hand can turn my griefs away
And patiently I wait His day

3. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Though now this cup in drinking
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it all unshrinking
My God is true,
Each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart
And pain and sorrow shall depart

4. Whate’er my God ordains is right,
Here shall my stand be taken
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken
My Father’s care
Is round me there
He holds me that I shall not fall
And so to Him I leave it all