Youth Camp

“And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.” (Mark 6:30-32)

Well, here we are at youth camp again. This is an annual event for kids ages 12-18 that we host along with our friends in churches of like faith. I actually wrote this blog entry last week because I knew I would not have time to do it while at camp. This year we have over 50 youth at camp along with over 20 adults to try to keep track of them. It is a daunting task, but youth camp is always one of the highlights of our year. Lives are changed at events like this in ways that are not possible during the “normal” flow of life. Statistics tell us that about 80% of all people who get saved do so before their 18th birthday. I got saved when I was 25, so I am abnormal (but you already knew that). Many of the “under 18 crowd” whose lives are permanently impacted by the Lord Jesus Christ point to a youth camp as the source of that transformation. There is something very special about having a concentrated time away from the “hustle and bustle” to focus on God and his word. These are “landmark events” in our lives that must be encouraged and maintained.

God designed man to require times of recreation. He set the pattern himself in Genesis chapter 1 when he rested on the seventh day. Vacations are very important times, not just so the family can see USA in their Chevrolet while the kids argue in the back seat. (“Mom…! Johnny is thinking about touching me…!”) In fact, recreation means “re-creation”. It is a time to restore the basic foundations of our lives. Getting away and doing something different and special recharges the batteries and energizes us to accomplish our daily tasks in a more effective way. Jesus knew that and called his disciples more than once to “come apart” and rest. Lester Roloff was an old time preacher from a generation ago who picked up on that verse and said, “If you don’t make time to come apart, you are going to come apart.” (Think about it for a minute…)

A closer look at the verses above shows a deeper aspect of the need to “come apart” than just a time of rest and relaxation. The disciples had “no leisure to eat”. Life and ministry had become so busy that they were skipping meals. But the Bible tells us, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) The bread of life is even more vital to our well being than physical bread. Job said, “I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.” (Job 23:12) Man needs to feed spiritually from the word of God as much as he needs to eat to keep the body healthy. Some of us could stand to skip a meal at times (Amen!), but none of us are strong enough to quit feeding from the precious manna of the Bible that sustains our soul. Times like camp refocus our lives around the word of God. Not only will the 75 of us have a great time of fun and games, but there will be about 15-20 hours of concentrated time in the word of God without distractions – no cell phones, video games, facebook, or newspapers to worry about. I won’t be able to track my retirement portfolio or follow the latest news in Washington D.C. (thank God). I won’t know how the Royals are doing (they will drop at least 3 of 5). And unless there is some sort of earth-moving international event, when I return after 5 days of camp, nothing will really be any different. But 75 campers will be.

In a country where obesity is a serious issue, we are starving to death spiritually. The “cares of this life” have kept our Bibles on the shelf. We need to fight to make time for the word of God during the normal flow of life. But you can also fight to carve out a time to “come apart”. It will keep your spiritual life glued together, and you will not “come apart.”