The YA Camping Trip, 2007…

This weekend saw a group of Young Adults travel to Valen's Conservation Area.

We arrived late on Friday night and scrambled to get our tents set up before the rain totally soaked everything. Everyone worked hard to help each other get their tents ready to go. Once camp was set and everyone had a place to sleep, we were able to settle down and enjoy great conversation.

The morning brought a bright sun and blue sky, it was a truly glorious morning. After breakfast, we headed down to the beach for hours of sun-filled, fun. It was here, during the second game of high intensity euchre match that Allison Norg and Joanna Shantz toppled the previously undefeated Chris Vrolijk and Jon Warner. And the people mourned...

The evening saw a crowd of latecomers join the fray as the number of young adults staying on Pine Grove doubled. The new bunch added a great new dynamic to the weekend and we were able to experience more great conversation.

With darkness setting in and the fire blazing high, the crowd of young adults gathered around the fire pit had the opportunity to worship with the worship band, Called 2 One. The singing was interrupted abruptly by park security asking us to stop. Singing turned to talking, as we stayed grouped around the fire. We received a second warning from the park superintendent as our conversation around the fire grew to a crescendo. We moved to quieter interaction around the fire, and eventually, sleep found each of us.

It was another great morning as we packed up and headed home, the weekend drawing to a close. And the people mourned…

Thank you to everyone who helped make this weekend a great success. We close the books on the YA Camping Trip, 2007, and look forward to another great year.

Back from camp...

Hey guys, just wanted to share a few of my thoughts with you.

I just returned (along with Mark and Lindsay W) from counselling at Galilee Bible Camp near Renfrew. It was time well spent (10 days for one camp, longer than usual). We ended up there because my brother in law was the program director for boys camp and needed counsellors.

Many great memories were made but I would like to share more of what it made me think about in my own life, what the Lord put on my heart.

Some of you will recall a while ago in YA we were talking about how Bethany measures up in certain areas, and we felt that as a church we were on the right track at least in a number of areas. I certainly feel the same way, but I was convicted this week in an area where we could be doing much better.

Galilee is a camp run by the Brethren Assemblies, and while I do not wish to get into the demoninational pros and cons, I truly admire their emphasis on knowing Scripture. To clarify, I do not believe we at Bethany lack knowledge or sound teaching of the Scriptures at the leadership level. However, I think as members of the church we could be doing much better.

I'm not just talking about knowing what the Bible has to say about this or that issue. I'm talking about a comprehensive knowledge of how the Scriptures fit together, the harmony between the Old and New Testaments and how God's redemptive plan has been established from the beginning. In Hebrews 5 Paul vents his frustration with believers who continue to feed on spiritual "milk" and not "solid food". Let us also desire to consume solid spiritual food.

Another truth that we all know but perhaps dont always experience was evident to me today. I was back up at Brock and I was going through a bit of the post-camp crash. I know it is common for us to talk about spiritual highs when we go away, etc, and I believe these can be worrisome when professions of faith are based upon these. However, as a believer it is wonderful to spend time with the people of God. Praying together, laughing together, facing difficulties together... etc. Community. And back at school, few people share my beliefs, few people can I really talk to about the things on my heart. And I was struggling with this feeling until I realized...it's because I'm not at home. The Bible says that as a believer I am "not of this world". This was very real to me this afternoon, and as difficult as it can be sometimes, I hope I don't lose this feeling.

On Worship...

The word “worship” drums up many different images and definitions for anyone that cares to think about it for any length of time. For me, the most basic way of describing worship is a love response to God.

The Westminster Catechism responds to the question, “What is the chief and highest end of man?” with “Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.”

In a way, it seems like another way of saying a love response to God…

Do I truly believe that my chief and highest end—my very reason for being is to glorify God, and fully enjoy him forever; to respond in love to Him? Do I wake from sleep each morning with a burning passion to live life to the glory of God? Is God’s glory the goal that is the driving force behind every word that I say, every thought that I think, and every decision that I make?

Sometimes.

Sometimes there are even whole seasons where I live life in this place.

In Mark we are met with a surprising image of worship, an outpouring of love that doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense.

It is the week leading up to the cross. Jerusalem is packed, and Jesus is there surrounded by harsh, negative attitudes and awaiting betrayal, the pressure intensified every day. Yet in the midst of it all…

Jesus was in the home of a man called Simon, when suddenly a woman carrying a jar of perfume entered the room. Without any explanation, she broke the top and unashamedly poured the whole jar of perfume over the head of Jesus. It was a crazy thing to do, and everyone there knew it. For one thing, it was an extravagant waste of money. This perfume was meant to be measured out drop by drop, not used all at once. But Jesus didn’t see it that way: He said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:6)

For Jesus, it was a well-timed act of devotion—unexpected, unusual and yet so meaningful to Him.

This woman was responding in a way that showed she had not been tamed by cynical religious attitudes. It was the worship of a woman who didn’t know the rules…an unpredictable, untamed heart on a quest to see Jesus glorified.

In our contemporary context, worship has been hammered down to a fine art. We have domesticated worship, discovered the secrets and even patented them…

It has resulted in a tamed worship. We have confined it to set times and places and activities. Singing songs to God on Sunday morning is clearly seen as a time of worship…but sitting down at our desk at the beginning of our Wednesday morning work day is just life…its not worship.

What would it mean to tap into the deep parts of ourselves that long to worship God with every ounce of our being in an untamed, unplanned, unpredictable manner…like the woman with the perfume…

When untamed response meets tamed worship, a disconnect takes place.

Tamed worship is civilized and sophisticated. Untamed worship is raw and innocent. I’ve often seen tamed worshippers attempt to help the untamed worshippers gain their learned civility and sophistication…

The disciples and other onlookers responded harshly and negatively to the woman’s generous response to Jesus, because...well, she should have known better, right? They were the sophisticated and civilized informing the raw and innocent of her obscene waste, resulting in squelching the bubbling love that was the root of her untamed response.

And Jesus said, “She has done a beautiful thing to me” (Mark 14:6).

May we be worshippers with untamed hearts—responding to Jesus with ridiculous offerings, spontaneous and reckless sacrifices all because we are head over heels in love with our Savior.

May our lives kindle the words, “you have done a beautiful thing to me.”