Beckoned to Faith

Is your faith affecting the way you live?

We are, what I would call, beckoned to faith. Faith is not merely suggested in scripture or mentioned as a side comment; faith is required of every one of us. Whether you would consider yourself a Christ Follower or are completely apathetic to religion as a whole, we are all called to account for what we believe.

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20)

However, our savior God is not merely sitting on his heavenly throne waiting for us to come to him, but rather he is beckoning, summoning, us to come to him. God in all of his glory and power sent his son to die for us so that we could be saved by our faith. But what is faith really?

Faith, calls us to action. When Noah was called to have faith, God called him to build an ark. What in the world was an Ark? When Abraham was called to have faith he was told to sacrifice his son. Abraham was prepared to go and sacrifice his son in order to live his life according to God’s will. When Moses was called to faith, he was going to be leading the people of Israel out of Egypt. Not only did Moses have to have faith but the Israelites had to trust that God would provide manna daily. When Paul was called to faith, he was leaving his stature and lifestyle behind to live a life by the grace of God. Paul says:

"Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” (2 Corinthians 11:24-27)

These are not passive faiths rather faiths that lead to action. James 2 says that if we have faith it will be displayed in our actions. So where have we gotten the idea that we are called to live an “American Dream” Christianity? Since when has God called us to live, as Joel Osteen puts it, “Your Best Life Now?” Honestly, if you are living you best life now you are destined to hell. This phrase is strong and may lack tact but it is awfully true. When Heaven is the standard our world as we know it pales in comparison.

So if we are seeking heaven wholeheartedly and unreservedly then what does scripture say?

“Thus says the LORD who made the earth, the LORD who formed it to establish it— the LORD is his name: Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” (Jeremiah 33:2-3)

The LORD is beckoning us to come to Him and He is saying that is we call to him he will reveal his will to us. The condition of his revelation is that we have to cry out to him. We have to first cry out to him in order to see him work because we have to have faith to see him work. The problem though God is that I already have a plan for my life. I want the wife, the kids, the white picket fence, the good job that allows me to golf on the weekends, just the good ol’ American Dream as the world sees it, but God has called us to much more. How can we claim to have it all figured out when God is waiting for us to call to him as a condition to him doing great and mighty things we don’t even understand. God is beckoning us to seek him but that requires action from our part in crying out to him. As we seek God, he will in turn honor our steps and scripture even points to God lighting our path. We will never be able to see 10 years down the road what God has for us but if we are seeking Him and actively living out our faith we will continue to see God placing no limits on us as we place no limits on Him.

A Prelude to Brokenness

This note is only a prelude to a blog that I will be writing later but I don’t think I have ever thought so hard about a blog or been so concerned about how what I typed would come across. I guess the reason I am so concerned is because I think the topic is very important to everyone who calls themselves a Christian. This topic calls for a lifestyle change for many and even more, it calls for a mindset change. This topic calls for us to allow God to take all of us. As you look through scripture you don’t find many people saying, “God just take this part of me” and those who were lukewarm and didn’t come to Christ whole heartedly were scolded. In order to say that we are fully sold out to God we must allow God to test us because scripture says, “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:12-13 ESV) I had a professor who said that in scripture all means all and that’s all that all means. Paul is clear that all who want to follow Christ will be persecuted, not some, not a few, not the dads, it clearly says ALL.

This all leads me to the statement that church goers everywhere have said and it goes like this, “Don’t pray for patience because God might just give it to you.” When you pray for a loved one to be healed from sickness do you want God to answer that prayer request? When you pray or have prayed that God would bring that special someone into your life did you want God to answer that prayer request? When you pray that God will lay out his will in your life do you want God to answer that prayer request? You may be thinking duh why would I be praying if I didn’t want God to answer the prayer requests but therein lies the problem. We want God to give us all the good things in life but we won’t dare pray that God would test us. We don’t want to pay a price for all that he gives us and we, “Mistake our happiness for blessing” as Caedmon’s Call would put it. As long as we are living a good life and getting good things then we are happy with God, but Scripture NEVER says that the Christian walk will be all butterflies and rainbows. Actually, scripture promises the exact opposite. 2nd Timothy says that we will be persecuted. James 1 says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-3 ESV)

So this leads me to another question why aren’t we praying for patience? Why aren’t we praying that God would test us? We should be begging God to give us trials so that we can prove ourselves worthy of the calling to which he has called us. This comes down to more than just the issue of patience but the whole mentality of praying that God gives us all the good without the bad. If we look at the early Christians they rejoiced in their sufferings because in their weakness God’s name was made known. Paul had a “thorn in the flesh” and prayed that God would remove it three times but in the end God said, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong...” (2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV) Wow and hello scripture (that was even a wakeup call for me at 12:28AM), when was the last time I was thinking about how God was made strong when I am at my worst? Isn’t it all about me? That is at least what our culture wants us to think. I heard a pastor by the name of Walt Barnes say, this summer that the reason the church of Laodicea in Revelation is lukewarm is because they put their focus on themselves and not on God. “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” (Revelation 3:17) The people of Laodicea had lost sight of what the main thing was. Look at all the I’s in this passage. Good gracious people, where is their focus? Where is our focus?

I say all this to say that this summer I went into camp very full of myself. I looked at my personality, my abilities, my experience, and I had no reason to doubt that I was going to be a good camp staffer. I knew that I could very easily go about camp this past summer and in the flesh do just about everything that was required of me. I could be the outgoing staffer, I could be the knowledgeable Bible Study Leader, and I could be the organized Track Time Leader because I was gifted at those things. However, at the beginning of the summer I prayed that God would use this experience and make it all about Him and not about me. Now I said at the very beginning of this blog that this was a prelude to a future blog and the future blog will be about learning brokenness before God because the summer was all about Him. When you pray for God to test you He will do it, but the beauty of it all is that in our weakness God is made strong. In our weakness we have nothing to boast about but God himself. The reason we need to change our mindset from that of how much can we get to what can I endure for Christ is because His name is made evident. So, I want to end this blog with a few questions. Where is your focus? Are you so busy seeking God’s hands that you are missing his face? and do you trust God enough to pray that he will be glorified in your weakness?

Campanigans 10!

Well people I am sincerely sorry because I haven't blogged once since camp started.  Wow I can't believe it was that long ago but here I am sitting in the office on a Mac typing up a campanigans in my few minutes of spare time.  Honestly there is not enough space or time to tell you guys just how much God has done in the past 3 weeks but I can just tell you that it has been awesome.  It's crazy right now because a ton of people on our team are sick and they are taking mucinex and antibiotics to fight off this nasty cold.  Fortunately I am on the back side of my cold and the medicine has done its job.  So here I am pretty awake considering how late it is and just how tired I normally am at this time in the evening. 

So the first week was pretty awesome and I had a Bible study of just 8 people.  That just seems pretty much unreal to me now as I consider it.  The first week only had about 200 students and while that may seem somewhat large, it's not even close.  It was pretty cool the first week because I felt like I knew every student at camp and so it was neat to go around and know everyone.  I honestly can't say that that will happen again this summer considering how many students we are having week to week.  My week one group was pretty excited to be at camp and it was cool to see the relationships formed in our group in just that very short time.  That first week I did not get to teach my Guy's Track or apologetics tracks because no one signed up for them but it was cool because the first week I got to help with Basketball and Handball, which is pretty much amazing.  Handball is like a mix between ultimate frisbee, soccer, and a bunch of other sports.  Anyway, week one ended successfully and I shipped those students off with a tear.

The second week was equally awesome except for the fact that the second week is when I began to come down with that nasty cold.  My group second week was very enthusiastic and I had 15 college students from the same church.  It was crazy because I went from 8 students to 36 students in my Bible Study!  I could not believe the difference but it helped to have a group that was very excited and self motivated because I just did not have the energy to do it on my own.  After I started to take the Mucinex I began to feel better and by the end of the week I got to be excited and loud with my students.  The second week I ended up having 40 students in my apologetics class and 17 in my Guy's Track.  The apologetics classes went extremely well and it was cool because at the end of the week the guys track met with the girls track and asked them questions.  Week two was interesting but the thing that stinks is that I didn't feel like I knew nearly as many people.

Week three has just begun and it's cool because I can say that I know every one of my students' names.  My Bible study is really cool and I am looking forward to getting to know these students better but it's hard to keep myself from getting tired of the same repetitive Bible lessons and track outlines.  It is cool because I have been getting things revealed to me on a weekly basis.  I have been super encouraged in reading the book of Galatians.  Galatians is by far my favorite book and I have an awesome verse to share with all of my devoted readers.

In Galatians 4:9 which says, "But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?"  I found this passage quite cool because it talks about how we have come to be known by God.  God knows who each and every one of us is by name.  We have come to know God but even more to be know by God our creator.  This verse stood out to me in a new way that I had never experienced before and I wanted to share that with ya'll.  Please pray for the team and their sickness and thanks for reading once again.  I am sorry if this seemed rushed or all over the place but here ya go!  I don't know when the next one will come but happy readings and happy trails.

Campanigans 9!

Well, let's see, I guess it's that time again where I sit down in front of my trusty ol' Toshiba and pump out a campanigans before I hit the hay. So yeah, get excited everyone it's CAMPANIGANS time. Honestly, I do not have a whole lot to say today, which probably means that I'll end up saying a lot more than I ever intended to. We started out the day by the typical breakfast and quite time. I really enjoyed the quiet time and it was another good time to pray for those campers that I have yet to meet.

After my quiet time it was off to the Rec field to learn about Mega. Mega is a big deal at Fuge and it is where Bible Studies compete against each other in a huge relay. The staff ran Mega but since I am currently a cripple, I pushed the staffers and helped to call out the next thing that was in line for them to do. After successfully completing the events of mega relay we discussed other rec stuff before heading into the sanctuary to run rehearsals all day. After we finished the rec stuff we followed our camp coordinator, Kevin Spratt, to the Worship center where we had a small graduation ceremony in which we received a certificate, whistle, and our team flags. I honestly don't know if there is significance in the whistle other than as a way to quiet our students down, but that is beyond me. After the ceremony we hopped right into the rehearsals with the band.

Since I am now running pro presenter I got to sit at the sound booth and run that program all day. I want to say first and foremost that we have a rocking band and I thoroughly enjoy being able to help with an aspect of worship. However, this may be a surprise to many of you, but I am not perfect, and throughout the day, we all head our share of mistakes such as a missed line, mistimed sound byte, or other such things. Now since Brandon requested that I mention him in my Blog, this is my opportunity to do so. Brandon is my PD (program director) who essentially tells me everything that needs to happen. Brandon is also what you would call a class clown type and has earned the nickname of "Coach." Here's to you Brandon/Coach.

After running all of the AM shows and Worship sets, we all got to go to dinner at TGI Fridays, and I must say that the Sizzling Chicken and Cheese with bread sticks hit the spot. We all conversed at the table and I thoroughly enjoyed the Calvinism v. Armenianism debate as well as the guys' discussion on caving and our experiences. After Fridays Marc, Katherine, and I went to Walmart where I got a coffee cup, pop tarts, and caribiners for my backpack. I must say that I am a cheap college student and got the significantly cheaper off-brand pop tarts. However, being the coffee connoisseur that I am, I could not get myself to buy the cheapest ugly coffee cup, but I bought a coffee cup that was a dollar more because it looked more stylish. I know this is only for a cup of coffee in the morning but it made a difference to me.

Once we returned to campus, we went into a staff worship time, which was by far the best part of the day. With music being played we had a time to focus on the word, prayer, and community. We were encouraged to take time and pray by ourselves as well as with each other. As I knelt by a chair I opened up my Bible to Psalms and I came across Psalm 139 about God has knit us intricately and knows exactly how everything has to work out. As I read this I was comforted to know that God has done everything at camp for a purpose and before time he was thinking about me. Nothing I do at camp this summer will go unnoticed or unplanned. God knew exactly what he was doing when he created me, put me in the family he did, and put me at Union Centrifuge 2009 as a Bible Study Leader. After the time where we got to pray with each other, I came back to the dorm and called my awesome parents and then went outside to hang out.

With everyone outside I just layed on the sidewalk and looked up thinking about how vast God is but yet he knit me and knows everything about me. God planned for me to be right here right now writing this blog for all of ya'll to read. Wow he knows it all. As I looked into the sky I just prayed that God would use this staff to touch students who would in turn touch the world. Here at camp we are touching lives one by one day by day and that is what God has called us to do. Place no limits on God and he'll place no limits on you.

Union Love,
Jason

Campanigans 8

Well people I feel like I have been in Jackson, TN for quite some time now and it amazes me that I have only known my fellow staffers for like a week and a half. However, I am so glad that God has put this team together because we all get along very well. I have felt this blog is starting to become somewhat hum drum and I am trying to think of a way to revamp this and help my thoughts come across in a new way. I thought about a poem but there is just too much to talk about and be able to keep the poem going well and making sense. I also thought about how cool it would be to do a video blog every once in a while, but alas, I have no webcam and while I love all of my concerned listeners, I am not forking out the money for a webcam. So this leads me to a rap but again, like the poem, I do not think I could go for as long as necessary to cover all the information.

So here we are my friends, with the same ol same ol but I guess that's fine, I mean who doesn't love to read my witty intern banter because these are all things running circles in my brain right now. It's funny how I can rationalize things in my head and essentially argue with myself over things, it kinda cracks me up to think of myself arguing myself. Lord only knows that would be one heated argument considering how stubborn I could be. Me arguing myself would be a battle-of-the-stubborn-titans-who-know-they're-right and that would never work out. Good thing God only created one Jason Walters.

So enough with all of the rambling because when I go about writing this blog I just seem to start typing and what you all read is a result of my regurgitation upon the computer keyboard so to speak. With that said, never seems to fail, that I remember things I wanted to say after I have already posted my campanigans so no one is perfect and I am just elling you guys everything that comes to my immediate attention. Anyway, I woke up this morning as I do most every morning and got ready for breakfast. We then went to the sanctuary and filled out fun EXPENSE REPORTS. Honestly, if I could spend all of my camp time filling out expense reports I would love my life (I hope you hear the sarcasm in that statement). The only good part about the expense report is the fact that I spent $50 in gas to get out here to Union but Fuge is giving me $200 for my round trip. That means when it is all said and done, I will have earned about $50 just from driving to camp. That is a pretty sweet deal I can't lie.

After my favorite part of camp, we began to clean up the worship center and I took the position of holding a ladder while people climbed up to put black butcher paper on the windows to keep the light out of the auditorium. Let me just tell you, I felt awfully useful leaning on a ladder as a girl climbed up to tape butcher paper on the window. However, my scared of heights self was staying on solid ground no questions asked. After holding the ladder for a couple of hours we were able to grab our typical sandwich bag lunch and many of us headed back into the worship center to continue working.

The programs director had asked if anyone was good with computer programs like powerpoint and mediashout and I told him I would be interested in helping. After a bit of training, I am now the pro-presenter for the AM Show and for Worship services. What this means is that I sit back in the sound booth playing with the backgrounds, lyrics, and making sure anything that is involved with the media screens is running smoothly. Now while pro-presenter may sound like a fancy title, it is really the name of the computer program we are using. However, it was neat to sit back there and work with the program. As Mr Beck would say, let me tell you somethin, I really loved being able to be a part of the worship service through the media and production side of things. For me to be able to contribute to a students worship experience through visual media is an amazing opportunity and I am pumped about it. Continuing in this pattern, as my grandpa would have said, let me be honest and truthful, I get frustrated by churches who do not know how to flip a slide and me being personally ADD get very distracted when people are flipping all over the place trying to find where they are supposed to be. This gives me an opportunity to see worship from that side of things and I am excited to be a part of it.

It's cool to see how God works to put us in different situations in order to see us being used for him. Pray that God will give me the confidence needed to minister to the students that I am going to have and also pray that our team stays strong. I love my teammates to death and I know this summer is going to be a one of life change for me as well as many students.

Union Love,
Jason

Campanigans 7!

Well guys I am sorry to disappoint you all with no campanigans but I will do a short recap of yesterday just to fill all of you anxious readers. Also, I want you all to be aware that these will not be as frequent after Monday just due to the business of camp and the sleep needed to maintain a high level of performance. That means that these might become weekly or biweekly and hit more highlights of the week rather than just the day to day activities. With that said, here goes.

Well yesterday was our camp day off, which was much needed, and much appreciated. I slept in till 10:30am which was awesome and then I took a shower and just lazed in my bed surfing the web for a bit. Then at 1:00pm we all went to lunch at Wendy's and came back to Union. When I got back I played a little disc golf on the random baskets that are dispersed around campus. It was really frustrating because I can't do my x-step for my backhand throws and that is so stinking rough so I didn't play for long. Then I did a few things in my Bible Study room and chilled till dinner when we went to Red Robin and I got the amazing Guacamole Bacon Burger. After dinner I ran back to Union, well I didn't literally run, but I rode with someone back to Union and got my truck. Then a bunch of us went to see Night at the Museum 2 which could beat Ben Stiller's highest grossing movie which to John Calhoun's surprise is Night at the Museum 1. I really enjoyed the movie and then we all came back and I got to bed somewhat early because I was exhausted.

Today we woke up and started training as usual but Kevin Spratt our camp director came in last night and will be with us at camp for the next couple of days. After morning devotions and other such activities we headed over to the worship center to hear about Crisis Management and Ministry through relationships. It was sad because we heard about the stats in the Southern Baptist Churches and how many students are dropping off the bandwagon after high school. Tonight we had Fazoli's for dinner and I just want to give a hand to our awesome FD (financial director) Danielle for providing such good food for our group. However that will begin to change when Union provides our food. Tonight after dinner we headed back to the office to talk about worship and the programming aspects of camp that we are going to have to deal with. Then we came back to do a scavenger hunt and if you are Leslie Hunt I ask you to stop reading here because I am getting ready to reveal the staff gift.

We went from station to station and since I couldn't run my group and I walked around the campus. In one station as we got on the ground, I saw a huge spider and I hopped up faster than a jackrabbit being chased by a coyote. I off course killed the spider and proceeded to do the human pyramid and when we had gotten to our last station we were directed toward the office. Now let me preface this statement by saying that every year Fuge gives away a big gift to their staffers. Also, Fuge has a contract with North Face and gets deals on North Face gear, so I knew it was going to be something good. We were all at the door and Jonesy our camp director told us to pull out our keys because we jingle our keys when we are getting ready to get free stuff. Also, I must say that Fuge gives away a ton of awesome free stuff, and before this staff gift I got, three shirts, shorts, sweatbands, a bracelet, and now our awesome staff gift.

As we walked into the office our camp coordinator, Kevin Spratt, also the guy I interviewed with, was sitting in a chair in the middle of the room. Kevin is also known as papa fuge and all around papa fuge were awesome North Face backpacks with the Fuge name and logo on them. There book bags are like $100 book bags people and they are stinking cool. I am so pumped and this is definitely what I was hoping we would get as staff. You will all get to see this sometime as I will be rocking it from now until forever. Thank you Fuge for treating us like royalty. I am so pumped to be here this summer. Hope this makes up for yesterday's lack of a Campanigans.

Union Love,
Jason

Campanigans 6!

Well guys I must say that right now I am just totally exhausted and ready to go to bed but here I am once again writing my little campanigans. It's interesting to see just how much God works in and through situations and even on a pretty normal day like today, there is a lot to think about and a lot to talk about. It is also amazing to me, that I have been here a week tomorrow. Wow I have know these people a week and we have already seriously bonded. I am so excited! But anyway, here goes...

This morning we woke up and had breakfast and devotional time as usual. After that we got to go and work on our Bible study rooms and while mine is not the most decorated I think it looks pretty good. However, in the midst of creating my sheet for students to sign when they leave, I made a pretty big mistake. I got a bed sheet for students to sign and my intention was for it to say Union Fuge 09' and then Revolution, which is my Bible study name. However when I began to trace the outline I wrote Uoion instead of Union. I was so upset because here was my sheet with the wrong word on it in big blue marker. I sat and stared wondering what I could do and finally came up with an idea. I went down the hall and grabbed a friend Chelsea who is an art major. I explained the situation to Chelsea and I asked her if there was a way to draw a globe over this in such a way as to cover up the mistake. Chelsea in all of her amazingness fixed my mistake and my sheet is now AWESOME.

We ran through what registration will look like tonight and I must say that I am stinking pumped for camp. I am going to be playing games and getting to knw the students as they wait to go to the Track Time Show or as they wait for their Youth Pastors. Basically, this means that I get to get paid to be energetic and hang out with kids. I want to say right now PTL (praise the lord in Fuge language) because my ankle is feeling great. Today I actually walked around with no brace or anything. I am still going to have to keep up the strengthening and range of motion exercises, but it's getting there.

Also, today I got to share a little bit of my story with the team in my little share and prayer time. It was cool to look back at different situations and realize how much they impacted me in the past. As most of you would probably guess my share time went a little long because I like to talk just a little bit too much. However, when I was talking about going to Liberty I realized just how different my plans were Freshman year then what God had and than where I am at now. I went in wanting to play football, study history, and eventually teach and coach. However, now I love student leaership, I am studying youth ministry, and I want to be able to impact a generation of students for Christ.

Tonight we had a man night and we thought a lot about what we wanted to do but I was very pleased with our decision. We broke the guys up into groups. A group of five, which included me, went into out staff office and began making cards for all of the girls on the staff. The other 6 guys went to Walmart and got flowers, cookies, little Dove chocolates, princess plates, and tea candles and we put it all together as a gift to our amazing staff girls. It was so cool to see the girls come down after they got back and they hugged us and told us they loved us and it's neat to see just how close our team is already, and the summer hasn't even really started yet!

I am now going to wrap up this blog because I feel it is subpar. There might not be a blog tomorrow but it will just depend on what I am doing. Tomorrow we have a day off and the first thing on my priority list is SLEEP! Anyway, depending on how eventful the day is will decide whether or not it is worthy of a campanigans blog. Thank you for reading and I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am.

No Limits,
Jason

Campanigans 5!

Wow five campanigans already and it seems that I am getting more and more readers. Who knew my fun musings about camp would attract readers?!? Anyway, I will start tonight's campanigans with an interesting little candy that I found on the Internet.

I am a HUGE fan of gummy bears and I mean, who isn't? The little candies are so simple and delicious! Anyways, as I was surfing facebook I got an ad for a 1/2 pound gummy bear. A HALF POUND GUMMY BEAR!! (http://www.vat19.com/dvds/giant-gummy-bear-on-a-stick.cfm?adid=FBKgummi2) This candy even comes on a stick so one can avoid the sticky mess that could ensue when eating this delectable treat. I so want to get one of these and I will sometime soon! Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know about the amazing treat that I happened to stumble upon the other day. With that said, it is time to get to my camping shenanigans of the day.

Today was a pretty ordinary day and it consisted of quite a long amount of time devoted to preparing for my Bible Study, Apologetics Track, and Guys Track. There are so many things that need to be done between now and when students come but I am so stinking pumped. I don't know what it is about the opportunity to minister to students but it seems that I am completely wired to do student ministry. For dinner tonight we all hit up Moe's and I got a homewrecker that as the burrito maker said was, "the biggest burrito I've ever seen." I honestly don't know why my burrito is any larger than anyone else's. I got your typical homewrecker except I added black olives. Who knew black olives could add so much girth to a stinking 12" burrito? I guess I think about these too much and if you are reading these on a regular basis and are wondering when in the world I will get to the stuff that has significance then skip to the bottom. I almost always save the super spiritual stuff for the bottom so if you don't feeling like listening to my ramblings just skip to the bottom. Anyway, when we got back we all headed to the office where our last day of Bible Study training took place, and here is where the spiritual stuff begins.

In the last night of Bible Study training we talked about Moses and the 10 Commandments. We broke up into two groups and my group discussed the first four commandments that had to deal with our relationship with God. Honestly, I had never thought through the commandments as much as I did tonight but there is so much to pull out. Our assignment was to put the commandments in modern language and this is what we came up with in slightly different terms:

1. God is # 1 -- There are so many times that we allow God t take a backseat, however, God has to be number one in our lives. God should be the first thing we think about when we wake up and the last thing we think about when we go to bed. Now there's a challenge I know all of you readers out there think about my little blog first thing in the morning (only kidding). However, I know it is a struggle for me to check twitter and facebook right after I wake up and right before I get in bed. Our priorities have to be in the right place!
2. God is our 1st Priority -- Honestly this isn't the way we put it but it still has the same principle behind it. God has to be before all of the junk in our lives. Our idols don't come in the means of golden calves but rather in the form of a girlfriend/boyfriend, job, money, or other such things. However, God needs to take precedence in EVERY situation.
3. Represent His name well -- If I was to go into Chester, Virginia and get in some sort of major trouble, my name would be plastered all over the local and potentially even national news. This would now only bring shame to my name but to my whole family's name. This is what this part of the scripture is like. Many people just think of this solely as using a cuss word or something like that and using God's name in vain. However, as a Christians we have God's name all over us all the time. Every time we do something wrong we are shaming God's name because we carry the name of our creator. Just like I can bring shame on the Walters name, so I can bring shame to God's name through my actions.
4. Rest in Him -- The importance here is NOT in the day. I mean if someone wants to make that argument then I could say right back that Jesus did not have sabbath on Sunday but rather on Saturday. Many people may not like the fact that I don't hold the particular day in high esteem but it seems all too often to me that Sundays are our busiest days. When I was a student in the youth group I was basically at church from morning Sunday school till like 8:30pm. The principle here is that we have to intentionally set aside time to be with God. Also, in the Jewish culture, this time is largely spent building family relationships. We have to take time out for a Sabbath with God and while it may not necessarily be on Sunday we have to have that time.
   

God has really been showing and moving in my life and right now I feel closer to God that I have been in a while. With that said, I need to go to bed because I am exhausted and I will not be displaying the love of God in the morning if I don't go to bed here soon. However I have one last thing to say. Tonight I was listening to the names people used for God in prayer and I realized that I often times use the word father when I talk to God. The reason this phrase is so natural is because I had an amazing relationship with my father and so it makes it easy to picture God as my father. With that said, I want to give a shout out to my dad who has been my inspiration to follow God in ministry and who has raised me to be a biblical man of God and thank you mom for always being there to be a comforting shoulder. I hope tonight's campanigans was not too unorganized or all over the place but give me a break I'm tired.

Union Love,
Jason

Campanigans 4!

Wow, it's hard to believe that I am on number 4 of my infamous campanigans. Hopefully the word gets out about these and people can begin to read them more widely. I actually am surprisingly excited to write these every night and there is always so much that I could talk about. Tonight's format will be a bit different than other nights simply because I have a lot to say about a really neat, deep, and somewhat spiritually weighty topic. With that said, I am going to cover all the fun and lighthearted Jasonesque things that you have all grown to know and love.

First of all, I must say that Bolt is an excellent cartoon movie full of fun quips and clever dialogue but the movie would be nothing without Rhino the Hamster. Rhino is a hamster who has idolized Bolt for quite some time and eventually gets the opportunity to travel with his main man Bolt. I won't say too much because I don't want to ruin it for the rest of you but I will will give you guys one great quote from the movie. At this point Rhino is getting ready to join Bolt and Bolt is warning him about things to come. Also, Rhino is always in a hamster ball. With that said, here's the dialogue.

Rhino: I'm Lightning Quick, I have razor sharp reflexes, and I'm a master of stealth. Plus, I'll keep the cat in check.
Bolt: The road will be rough
Rhino: I have a ball.
Bolt: There's no turning back
Rhino: I guess I'll have to roll with the punches.
Bolt: I gotta warn you going into the belly of the beast danger at every turn.
Rhino: I EAT DANGER FOR BREAKFAST!
Bolt: You Hungry?
Rhino: STARVING!

Anyway if you want to see those clips check out go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQqBpDDrurc. We watched this movie during our family time and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of that.

With all of that said, I must say that today was the best day of training yet for one reason. This morning after some of our usual things that we do in the morning we packed up the vehicles and got ready to go out to do a service project. We had been told we were working with an organization called FICA which does a lot of work for the community around them and we were also told that we would be working in a small soup kitchen. In all honesty I was not really looking forward to doing this, which looking back, sounds awful. I did not feeling like spending my morning/afternoon in a small soup kitchen but God has a way of turning things upside down I guess. When we arrived I must say that my boisterous outgoing self clammed up in the midst of poor people who I had no clue about. As people came in and we began serving food I saw people for our fuge team beginning to sit and chat with people. Again, I must say that I was somewhat uncomfortable with the situation that I had been put in, but I stepped our of my spoiled little bubble and began to talk with people who were being served lunch.

The first woman that I talked to had hit a hard patch and even though she was working it wasn't enough to keep her afloat and in a home all of the time. This woman was full of stories of travel and even of getting to experience the Richard Petty Driving Experience as part of a prized draw that she had entered herself in. As I talked NASCAR with this lady I began to build up a little confidence and I began stepping out of my box a little bit more.

The next man that I talked to began asking me about football and I began telling him of my football history. He was a big giants fan and began telling the people at the table and I about the old teams and the current team and how the Giants had always been his favorite football team. He asked me what my major was in and I proceeded to tell him youth ministry in which he responded that I needed to stay strong because there are a lot of people in this world who need helping. Here this guy who was down and out on his luck was practically telling me to go out and help because those kinds of people had helped him when he was in need.

The next fellow by the name of Raymond Smith was a rather odd man who seemed to be a motorized bobble head but he was rather amusing. As I talked to him about his home and things he proceeded to tell me that he normally ate at the soup kitchen later in the month when his checks ran out because he didn't want to overstay his welcome. Apparently Raymond was living on disability and had been laid off. Raymond had lived in Jackson all of his life and he kept telling me how good the food was here and how I needed to work hard and keep my scholarships so I could do well for myself.

In the midst of serving these people who were smiling ear to ear, I was being served and stirred in my soul. I began to talk to Mr. Dan who runs the facility and he told me that this soup kitchen had served 51,000 meals in the past year and as busy as the place was today was slow compared to some days. Here was a man who gets nothing for what he does but he is constantly investing his life into other people. As many of the regulars left they thanked Dan and told him how much they appreciated what he did. The picture was never so innocent as an 8 year old kid eating a cupcake or the grandmother and grandson who came in while we were cleaning everything up looking for a piece of cake. Apparently the grandmother had frequented this food pantry for quite some time but was now far less reliant on the pantry to be able to live her life. Dan gives everything he's got day to day to serve these people in his community. Along with that, this food pantry serves lunch 365 days a year and dinner twice a week. WOW!

The last person that I talked to was probably the most influential person I talked to the whole time. His name was Orlando and he was a pretty clean cut guy who was just an all around nice person. I sat down at Orlando's table and began to talk with him as we got close to the closing hours. As I listened to Orlando's story about his victories over crack and weed and other such things I was amazed. This man had moved away and come back to be near his family but was living in a Christian homeless shelter kind of place. He told me about all the shelter did and how they had offered him a position of staff getting the men who stayed to do their "chores" at the shelter. Orlando continued to tell me it had been 9 months since he had done crack and how much that struggle had taken from his life. He talked to someone of the phone that he called his brother and I mistakenly took it as his literal brother but Orlando continued to tell me that I was his brother too and that he was blessed to have such people around him. This man was willing to accept and try to help anyone that was around him and he was reaching out the those who had gone through the struggles that he was finally starting to see victory in. He also talked to a friend on the phone and asked to call her back later because he was talking to his friend Jason. This man had no clue who I was but was willing to call me his friend. As we left I shook his hand and joked with him on our way out I told him how much I appreciated his time. No amount of me serving him food could pay him back for how much his story touched my heart.

I can admit that sometimes I look at poor people and think it is ridiculous because they just don't try hard enough but God slapped me across the face and refocused my attention on him tonight. Who am I to ignore people less fortunate than I? Honestly, I pray that the service project today and the passion that I gained from it will never fade because there are some genuinely amazing people who are struggling and crying for help. Thank you Orlando for changing my perspective and thank you Dan for pouring yourself out to see others' smiles because the joy in their eyes is what makes it all worth doing.

I'm sorry if tonight's was long but I have been thinking all day how much I had to write tonight. I can't wait to tell some of you guys this story in person because God really moved today. Continue praying.

Union Love,
Jason

Campanigans 3!

Well people, I must say that I am pretty proud of myself for keep up with a nightly type blog but I will tell you now, when campers get here I doubt this will continue. However, I tonight have another day of camp shenanigans to write about so let us get to it shall we.

Well today we had a lot of time to decorate our Bible study rooms and do various things dealing with our track times. I am teaching College students in Bible study as well as the Apologetics track and the Guys Track. As I was working on my apologetics track I figured I would search the web for a good video on apologetics and came across this one, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PySzv2RxwdM , which is R. C. Sproul talking about how much importance we should place on apologetics. Now I will warn you that this video is deep and even gets over my head at times but I love R. C. Sproul and apologetics is all about the defense of the faith as Sproul says in the video.

After taking the time to go over our Bible study material for day three we all went to dinner and tore the CiCi's buffet up. The sweet tea was bangin and the Dessert and BBQ pizza was off the chain on some real (the ghetto way to say it was good). After we came back I had some more preparation time and I got my room decorated as well as some personal time with the Lord (or as Rick Pino says, the Lordy). I just want to put in a disclaimer that I do not like Rick Pino I just like making fun of him. Anyway sorry for the ADD moment but I am now back on track.

At 8:30 we got together in our awesome Fuge office to talk about nightlifes and my team is in charge of hang night (we are considering an open mic night, Bball tourny, etc.) and then we went into family time.

Family time tonight was extra special because we played the Newlywed Game and me and my "wife" (Jess) got a perfect score in the first round. However, in the second round we did poorly and did not win the game. There was an epic moment when the guys came in singing My Girl to all of our "wives" and it was definitely a highlight of the night. This was a time to laugh and just hang with the amazing staff that God has put together.

Lastly, I ended the night with an amazing walk in the rain. I was the last person to leave the building because I had to go back and clean up my stuff that I had left in my Bible study room from decorating. When I left, the rain was coming down somewhat hard and the lightning in the sky was gorgeous. It was like a torrential downpour but it was enough to get fairly wet on my gimpy walk back. As I was walking I just began singing praise songs and I realized that at this moment I am happier than I have been in a while. Even though I'm a gimp and even though I am going through long days of training I love the fact that God is in control and the rain reminded me of the power that God has. It's funny how something so simple can catch your attention but it did.

As I write this this evening I am really stinking tired and am getting ready to go to bed but I can honestly say that the ankle is getting noticeably better day by day. Keep praying that God uses this staff to serve and tomorrow I will have a story about serving in a soup kitchen. Peace out to all you in cyberspace.

No Limits,
Jason

Campanigans 2!

So I have been at camp for 2 full days and move in day. I have to say that it is a little different than I thought it would be and most of that stems from the fact that I sprained my ankle about 15 minutes into the first day of staff training. For real, I was chilling with my camp director at the doctors office for like 2 1/2 hours. The funniest thing is that the place was called "Convenient Care" however the place was the opposite of convenient since Ashley (my camp director) and I sat in the waiting room forever. Anyways, when I came back we got to do other staff training things and I counted like 500 shirts for inventory. At night we had "family time" which is a time for our staff to get together and hang out and get to know each other better. We played catch phrase and like a little league baseball game in California everyone won.

A time that I have been enjoying is the jingling of the keys which whenever keys are shaken we get free stuff and already I have gotten a bracelet and a t-shirt. Today we had various bible study trainings and stuff and then tonight I got to run lines with the drama people since I can't do anything. I have earned the nickname hop-along and I sure hope that doesn't stick.

There are so many people here who I have really connected with and it is so cool how God can take a big group of people called by him and help us to work together as a team. All the people on the team have clicked so well and it's neat to be able to sit and have a spiritual conversation with anyone at any time and it never be awkward.

I guess the biggest thing I have been learning in my devotions and my time with camp is the fact that none of this is about me. The morning I sprained my ankle I had been praying that God make this camp about him and not about me and BAM it happened. I guess you get what you pray for and the fact of the matter is that God has put me right where I am to get me right where he wants me. The past two days it has been such a struggle to sit by and not be able to help with lifting things or helping to move things but the staff has been so helpful to me. Tonight we went to Walmart and I was motoring around on their little motor scooter cart things which was awesome. God is so above and beyond me and this camp experience is going to be all about his will and not mine. I would have never choosen to sprain my ankle and be worthless as far as helping with certain things goes but God has got me right where he wants me to do exactly what he wants me to do. Place no limits on God and He'll place no limits on you.

If yall could just be praying for my ankle and that our team is continuing to prepare for the students that will be coming June 1st. Lastly, pray that as I am preparing for the Bible studies and such that I am being sensitive to God's leaning. I am so glad you're all in my life!

Union Love,
Jason

Campanigans!

Hey everyone! Well this should be a happy time for anyone who reads my blogs because with me being at camp I will hopefully be blogging regularly about my camp shenanigans as this note is titled, campanigans! There are many many things going through my head about how excited I am to be working with my team here and to se what God is going to do this summer but this little blog will hopefully become a means for me to connect and share my times here at Union University with those out there in the world. Tonight is the beginning of more to come but let me just give a short run down.

• Drove 6ish hours to SC to stay with my awesome cousins at my halfaway point.
  
• Drove 7ish hours when I finally arrived in Jackson, TN at Union University.
• Moved stuff into the awesome dorm. (I have a small room to myself, air condition, the dorm is brand new, and we have a kitchen!)
• Went to dinner at "Coach's" house. (Apparently everyone calls him coach and he is a guy who has been at Union for a long time)
• Met as a group and talked about any questions or worries, got to know some of the staff better, and found out our prayer partners or PPs for short. (I will have to do a blog on Fuge lingo because it's pretty extensive)
• Went outside and did a team activity and prayed as a team. (We have alot to pray for this summer so if ya'll can pray and I will keep you all up to date of prayer requests.)

Jackson, TN is an awesome area and all of the people that are associated with Union Univ. are awesome as far as I have seen. I want to say in this first note that I have no doubt God is going to do some amazing things and I am just along for the ride that we call Fuge. This summer is going to be one of placing no limits on God because when everything else is put aside all I have is God. In order for camp to be successful God is going to have to be evident in and through our lives on a regular basis and without that realizeation, NOTHING can be accomplished through this camp. Your guys' prayers would be much appreciated and hopefully I can keep you all updated on my campanigans. Place no limits ya'll!

The Heart of the Matter

1 Peter 3:13-17

¹³Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, ¹⁵but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. ¹⁷For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

The audience in 1 Peter is a group of Christian exiles who are all over the world and these people have been persecuted and put through the ringer so to speak. The Emperor at the time was Nero and he was known for dipping the Christians in tar and using them as human candles to light the way to his palace. Needless to say, the Christians were going through heavy persecution and Peter writes to these people as an encouragement to stand strong in what they have been taught. In 1 Peter 1:3-4 Peter writes this, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you." Peter is encouraging the people here that God has promised them an inheritance and says that he will follow through on that promise.

In Chapter 3 Peter discusses different things like husbands and wives but here where the passage comes to a climax is what I would like to call the HEART OF THE MATTER. The heart is widely considered the organ of emotion and the people are feeling the emotional weight of a persecuting culture. In verses 13-14 Peter is essentially asking what is troubling the people and the problem is that even though they are doing everything right, they are still facing tons or persecution and the weight is becoming too much.

A few weeks ago I saw a couple at convocation and they were going back and forth and yelling at each other before convocation started. I could see that other people were staring at this conflict unfolding before our very eyes and I took it upon myself to confront the couple. It was obvious that these people were dealing with some major heart issues and they were going about dealing with them in the completely wrong manner. These people like those in 1 Peter were going through emotional turmoil and these were issues of the heart. However, do you see the transition between verses 14 and 15?

Gotcha there huh, the word BUT has a huge part to play in the transition from emotional turmoil to Peter's point in this passage. BUT is a word of contrast and in this passage BUT is a word of hope. Peter turns the focus off their emotional turmoil and back onto their identity in Christ. The words "in your hearts" has the idea of a deep seeded inward confidence," the people, as Peter discusses in chapters leading up to chapter 3, have a confidence in Christ that they can rest in and that is where this "deep seeded inward confidence" comes from. The fact of the matter is that these people have a deep emotional turmoil butting heads with the deep seeded inward confidence they have in Christ. The inward battle is raging and it all comes down to what is at the HEART OF THE MATTER. What do these people have at their core and is their faith in Christ enough to battle against this turmoil? When everything is stripped away, EVERYTHING comes down to you core or the heart of the matter.

The last verse essentially covers the fact that we have to stand strong behind closed doors because we cannot be ones who suffer for things they deserve to suffer for but rather things that other people find so right that it's wrong. It is kind of like the story of Daniel who could not be found doing something wrong so some of the King's men had a decree that made a religious practice of Daniel's illegal. We must be people of integrity because God calls in so many passages to be above reproach.

Now as much as I realize this might sound a little preacher-esque I have three alliterated questions for you.

1. What's troubling you? (1 Peter 3:13-14)
2. What are you rooted in? (1 Peter 3:15)
3. What are you doing behind closed doors? (1 Peter 3:16-17)

When everything else is stripped away what is at your core, what is at the heart of the matter?

Rather Inspired

So I was discussing with people this past weekend how I only blog when I feel rather inspired and unfortunately I am not inspired as often as I would like to be and that is also unfortunate for a person who would eventually like to write a book or something along that line. However, with all that said, I am feeling rather inspired today. There really is no rhyme or reason to my inspiration it just comes to me, but today's blog is about the youth culture that has unfortunately developed in our nation as it is today.

Just two weeks ago here at Liberty we had our annual Youth Emphasis Week, which is rather exciting for a person involved in the Center for Youth Ministry. Throughout the week we had various speakers come in and talk about the state of our youth culture today and the following statistics really caught my attention.

According to Gay Railsback's study 33% to 50% of students who claim to be a Christian when they enter college claim not to be a Christian when they leave college.

According to a Barna Study:

• 20 % of students who were churched as teens were spiritually active at age 29
• 61% of church teens disengaged during their twenties
• 19% never churched youth will still be unconnected.

Accoring to the Institute for Jewish and community research 53% of college faculty have unfavorable feelings toward evangelicals.

Now with all this said we must confront the issue of why this is happening to our students. As more and more students grow up in our postmodern generation, more and more students are beginning to run away from a religion they were brought up in. However, part of this fall is due to the current student ministries that we are running. One major problem with churches is the fact that we belittle students' ability to comprehend doctrine. The way in most people are moving is that of pastors such as Rob Bell who seeks to be relvant while sacrficing doctrine. In Rob Bell's book Sex God he writes this, "Sometimes when a couple is living together, one of their friends tells them they should make things right in God's eyes by making their relationship a legal marriage. But maybe it's already a marriage in God's eyes, and maybe their having sex has already joined them as man and wife from God's perspective. This isn't a low view of sex, it's a higher view of sex. It's a higher view of marriage. It's people living in the reality of the decisions they've already made." These are the trendy Christian authors that our students are reading and if youth workers are not combating these false views then students who are having sex outside of marriage are finding validation in the words of Rob Bell. Why are we no longer confronting the issues but rather skirtting the issue in the name of relevant Christianity?

The issue at hand is that students are following away from the church and that means that something is not working. Maybe we are in a searching generation who is not looking for fun youth games and the best worship band, but rather students who are looking for real answers. These postmodern students are searching everywhere for answers and if we as the church of God are not confronting the issues at hand then we will lose our students. In order to win the battle for the hearts and lives of our students we have to be transparent and honest. We are losing upwards of 60% of our churched students to the world and that is unacceptable. Place no limits on God and he will place no limits on you.

Undue Blessing

So I haven't posted in a very long time but I thought that tonight was an appropriate night to change that.

In the past month and a half I have seen God bless me in ways that I so did not deserve. Over Christmas break God opened some amazing doors to ministry and it blew me away that despite the fact that I was completely unqualified, God still choose to use me. But I asked myself why me and this is what I came up with.

I was reading the other day in Matthew about Jesus and his disciples and just about every time that Jesus told the people a parable he then explained the parable to the disciples. I was sitting in a wonderful coffeeshop called The Good Cherry and it was there that I found a sermon series in a simple cup of coffee. The sermon came to life because of my passion for coffee and everything related coffee.

At The Good Cherry, they have this coffee machine called the clover that is designed to bring out the best in the coffee. The clover is a mixture of a vacuum coffee brewing method and a french press brewing method. Both of these methods are meant to accentuate the intricacies of the coffee and through this amazing machine I found principles within Jesus's ministry.

When Jesus was in and around his disciples he acted like the clover coffee machine. Jesus in his ministry brought out the best in every person and extracted every intricacy of each person that he surrounded himself with and I realized that God is trying to be the clover in my life simply meaning that God wants to extract everything I have. However, coffee all starts with a good bean, and if I am not sowing good things then God can't extract good things. In order for God to really get everything he wants to get out of me I first must be surrendered to his purpose or else I am sitting waiting and not seeing the finished product. Jesus wants to extract everything from us but we first must be planting good things into our lives. Now as Paul said, I am the least of these and I do not deserve any of these amazing things that God has given me but just like the parable of the talents, God wants to see what I do with the good and the bad situations.

As long as we place no limits on God he will place no limits on us, which in this silly illustration means that as long as we are allowing God in, he can extract all that is good in us just like the Clover.