Recently in my men’s Bible study, we’ve been looking at Bill Hybel’s book and video, Just Walk Across a Room.  Bill is the senior pastor of a very large church in the Chicago area.  In one segment he contrasts his life with that of a childhood friend of his who grew up going to the same church as Bill, but later left the faith calling it, “…just a bunch of rules.”  Bill, on the other hand, grew in his faith and now leads others to faith.  In a fairly emotional part of the video, Bill comments that the one difference between himself and his friend was that he found out about grace.  He goes on to say that he found out about grace…AT CAMP!  He doesn’t give the name of the camp, but in other parts of the book he tells about putting his faith in Jesus Christ at camp. 

Statistics show that a high percentage of people serving in ministry had significant life-changing experiences AT CAMP and retreat centers.  Some hear the call to salvation at camp, some hear the call to full-time ministry at camp and others find healing and peace at camp. 

In the mid 1980’s Lloyd Weaver and Bob Mast were asking, “Where do young people make the decision to give their hearts to the Lord?”  As they asked around the big answer that kept coming up: AT CAMP.  Their response: “If that’s where the Holy Spirit is working, let’s build a place for the Holy Spirit to work!”   With this leading, they began the work of building WCRC.

I met with a young man this past weekend who was a camper here in 2003.  He’s now a civil engineering student at Clemson University.  When I asked how he planned to use his education, he said he was going to serve on the mission field in Ghana.  Wow!  I know camp wasn’t the only factor that moved him to serve in this way, but it was one.  Praise God!

Thank you for being a part of this ministry.  People need a place to get away from the fast pace of life where they can un-plug and hear the still small voice of God.  Whether it is a weekend retreat, a personal retreat, or a session of Kaleidoscope Camp, God’s voice is just easier to hear AT CAMP.

“Camp totally changed my perspective on life because it taught me that there’s more to life than just saying you’re a believer.  You gotta act on it. As Christians we have this gift that no one else has, the gift of salvation, and it’s our job to share the best gift in the whole world with people who don’t have it. If we don’t share that gift we aren’t doing what we’re called to do.

Another way camp has changed my perspective on life is that I’m not as scared to go out of my way to help people. At camp I was surrounded by so many wonderful people that would go out of their way to help anyone out, whether it was a spoken word or a silent prayer. It helped build the staff up to be a community of brothers and sisters in Christ (pretty ironic considering the theme was Dive into Community this summer)…a huge extended family.

I was a camper for six years before I became a counselor, and even then it impacted my life greatly. I think it’s safe to say that without camp I wouldn’t be nearly as far in my relationship with God as I am today.  Camp is a place filled with love and awesome Godly people, and the perfect place to start, build, and maintain your relationship with Christ.”

Kaylee, thanks for sharing!  Maybe you have a story of how God changed your perspective here at WCRC.  Please email us or post a comment or go to our website and click on the “Tell Your WCRC God Story” button.  We’d love to here more about what God is doing through this ministry.

Below is an encouraging story from a mom whose son came to Kaleidoscope Camp this summer:

Jenn, my son was a participant of Kaleidoscope Camp this past summer where he committed his life to Jesus.  He is now taking the next step in his Christian walk and has asked to be baptized.  His baptism will occur this coming Sunday.  I know it is unlikely that you and his counselors would be able to come, but I do want to extend an invitation for you to join us in this celebration.  He had three counselors and I don’t recall their names…I forgot to ask my son before composing this email!  I realize that these young men may be spread across the world by now, but would love for you to reach out to them if you have their contact information to let them know since they played a big part in his experience.  If any of you are able to come to the baptism please let me know so I can provide more details.

Thanks to you and your summer camp staff, for all the work you do and for the investments that you make in our children’s lives!

(Counselors were Matt, Jonathon, and “Poncho”)

Do you have a story about how God used WCRC to change a life?  Go to our website www.wcrc.info and click on the Story Button to email it to us or leave a comment on the blog here.

After all is said and done, the transition from having power to not having power and back again is an interesting scenario. Not having power is down-right inconvenient. But, the memories generated can actually outweigh the inconveniences. By the third or fourth day your hands know where to reach for the flashlight, you’ve almost stopped flipping light switches, and you’ve had a memorable time connecting over the fence with neighbors. Time seems to slow down or even stand still.

I call this an involuntary un-plug. We go into it kicking and screaming and wondering how we can survive without our electric-powered conveniences, but we come out of it with fond memories of a more relaxed pace with time to talk to friends.

That of course reminds me of the ministry of WCRC. We like to remind folks that from time to time it is good to un-plug — to disconnect yourself from the busy-ness of life; to slow down and really talk with people, and to get away to a place where you can hear the still small voice of God.

Maybe it’s time for you to unplug. Visit our website and see the different options, or just come by for a cup of coffee and relax on the deck.

We’d love to see you and help you unplug!

Below is a picture of a tree we lost in front of Magnolia Center followed by one of Steve Robertson and James Wight helping to clear the entrance lane.  THANKS!

What a blessing to belong to the family of God!  Two of the memory verses for our Kaleidoscope Campers are below.

John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Romans 12:10a
^“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.”

As our campers grow in their relationship with the Lord, isn’t it neat to know that they can be a part of the family of God and experience His blessings through loving one another and being devoted to one another.  And there’s more.  God will use this to draw others to Himself. Praise God!            –Bob Briscoe

Above, Kaleidoscope Campers enjoy a devotion on what it means to live in community.  (Nice cabin too, thanks to the many staff and volunteers and donors in the WCRC community!)

Many of you have now realized that the strange whirring sound outside is coming from the 13 year Cicadas.  In talking with the staff here, this strange re-emergence has caused us to review life a bit.  Larry said he remembers hearing the strange sound not long after he started working here.  We did the math and sure enough, 1998 was early in his tenure. 

I recalled hearing the sound as a kid living in Northern Virginia.  Re-winding two more thirteen’s brings 1985 and then 1972.  I was in Texas in ’85, so I missed that one, but 1972 is consistent with my recollection as I would have been 9 years old.

 Why did God design these strange creatures to live underground for 13 years, emerge and mate during a short 5 weeks of activity, and then repeat that cycle?  There are, no doubt, reasons of ecological balance that we can only begin to fathom, and I think some of the birds out there are “fat and happy” after feasting on this bumper crop of insects, but I’m intrigued about the way it has caused us to reflect. 

As I look back over my life in 13 year chunks, I can see God’s abundant provision over the years.  In 1972, I understood only a little of God’s grace.  It wasn’t until 1980 that the “gospel light-bulb” came on for me, and I put my faith in Christ.  In 1985, while I was living in Texas andattending U T, two of my summers were spent as a counselor and backpacking trail guide at Eagle Lake Camp in the Colorado Rockies.  This was my first of three Christian camp jobs.  In 1998, 13 years later, I was working full-time for Camp Redcloud in Lake City, CO where the Lord had provided a wonderful job, a wonderful wife, and a wonderful daughter named Robin.  We were just beginning to think, “Wouldn’t it be nice to live out East, closer to our families.”  Of course, in 2000, we moved here to be part of the wonderful staff of WCRC in Virginia where both my family and my wife’s family now reside.

Here in 2011, 39 years after first hearing the Cicadas, I can say with certainty and assurance, God is good!  I have an amazing family and I work with a fantastic group of people providing a place where young and old alike can begin a relationship with Jesus Christ and grow in him. God’s provision is so awesome!

Hannah Whitehall Smith once wrote, “The greatest lesson a soul has to learn is that God, and God alone, is enough for all its needs.  This is the lesson that all God’s dealings with us are meant to teach, and this is the crowning discovery of our entire Christian life, God is enough!”

Isn’t it great that God can use Cicadas to help us learn that!

Psalm 108
A song. A psalm of David.
1 My heart is confident in you, O God;
no wonder I can sing your praises with all my heart!
2 Wake up, lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn with my song.
3 I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.
I will sing your praises among the nations.
4 For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
5 Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.
May your glory shine over all the earth.
6 Now rescue your beloved people.
Answer and save us by your power.
7 God has promised this by his holiness[a]:
“I will divide up Shechem with joy.
I will measure out the valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is mine,
and Manasseh, too.
Ephraim, my helmet, will produce my warriors,
and Judah, my scepter, will produce my kings.
9 But Moab, my washbasin, will become my servant,
and I will wipe my feet on Edom
and shout in triumph over Philistia.”

10 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who will bring me victory over Edom?
11 Have you rejected us, O God?
Will you no longer march with our armies?
12 Oh, please help us against our enemies,
for all human help is useless.
13 With God’s help we will do mighty things,
for he will trample down our foes.

I spend the majority of my time at WCRC in my office, so when I do get out and hike the trails, I’m amazed at all the activity in this relatively small chunk of God’s creation.  There’s a lot going on just outside the Magnolia Center door: bees buzzing, birds singing, squirrels carousing, and beavers…chewing up trees and building awesome lodges and dams.

It’s a reminder to me that even if I fail to notice, God is at work. He’s doing much more than we can even imagine.  Among the many things he is doing, he’s showing forth his character in the creation and he’s at work in our lives to draw us to himself.  We should ask him for eyes to see and ears to hear what he is doing in us and around us each and every day.  Psalm 107:1 reads, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!  His faithful love endures forever.

There’s a progression of sowing and reaping involving our thoughts, actions, habits, and lifestyle.  The progression goes like this:

            Sow a thought, reap an action
            Sow an action, reap a habit
            Sow a habit, reap a lifestyle
            Sow a lifestyle, reap a destiny

 There are some interesting things to observe from this progression.  First we should guard our hearts and minds.  We must be very discerning about the things we watch, listen to, and read, knowing that these things will shape our thinking and result in actions, attitudes, habits and lifestyles.  Second, we need to feed on God’s Word.  A startling blurb from CCCA’s Thursday Mail reads:

The Bible, a timeless book that most Americans have in their homes, is rather unlikely to be read. According to LifeWay Research, only 16 percent of those who attend Christian churches read the Bible daily, and one in four churchgoers don’t ever read God’s Word. LifeWay also did research to indicate that the number one predictor of spiritual maturity is daily Bible reading.

We should drink lots and drink often from the fountain of God’s Word and do what we can to encourage those around us to do likewise.  Gods word is “living and active” and it’s presence in our hearts will transform our lives.  Philippians 4:8-9 says, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”  Stewardship of the mind is vital as we seek to live as light in a world that is full of darkness.

Finally, we should be thankful that we don’t always reap what we sow.  We deserve to reap eternal separation from God because we are sinful, but Jesus died in our place, reaping the penalty of our sin, so that by faith in Him we can reap eternity with Him. Praise God!

We have this Cardinal that has been bumping our office window now for about a month.  Jenn decided instead of getting upset about it, that she would ask God what He would have her learn from it.  She shared that we often find ourselves desiring things that are not good for us.  Fortunately, the Holy Spirit, like the glass of the window, keeps us from getting trapped in a prison of sin.  If we would but turn our focus away and repent, we could enjoy the blessings God has prepared for us.  She made a connection to Romans 7 where we find the following:  

²¹ So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

We prayed that God would use WCRC as a place where people can re-focus and break free from the things that keep them from experiencing the blessings of God.