Last Monday morning at 3:30 a.m. I was awakened by one of my kids to let me know it was time to get up and ready to go.  We met a total of 53 students and adult sponsors at the church for a seven plus hour trip to Lookout Mountain, Georgia to attend Student Life Camp. Interesting thing is that it was not that long ago that I declared (at the end of a 13 year run as a Youth Minister) that I had been to my last camp! 

Fortunately, that was not true.

I once heard that the spiritual condition of the youth of a church are the truest picture of the church as a whole.  I suppose that one reason for this would be that the true spiritual vitality of parents is becoming evident in the lives of their children.  If that premise is true, we have a fine church!

Here are some of the highlights I enjoyed:

* Watching our students grow in their worship of the Lord.  As students had time to detox from all of the worldly influences on them most days and, instead, spend time in God's word and prayer ... their hearts warmed for God and this showed up in their worship.  The last worship service of the week was especially sweet.

 * One of our young men brought a friend who gave his life to Christ while we were at Camp.  It was thrilling to watch him come to faith in Christ; his friend was so encouraged by getting to participate in God's work, ... and the Youth Group celebrated the young man's decision!

* Watching Josh and Cassidy Robinson love and lead our students.  These two love Jesus with all their hearts and are great with our teenagers.  We are blessed to have Josh serving our church as Student Pastor and Cassidy as his wonderful wife and example for our young women.

* Seeing our older students develop a heart for the younger students as they encouraged them and cared for them.  As they moved from a mindset of just getting to now beginning to give.

* Listening as our students evaluated the messages they were hearing from the Camp Pastor and discerning whether they were accurate or not.  It was great to hear them talk, dissect and assess the relative truth and value of what they were hearing.

* Okay - the late night wrestling matches, pizza runs, lack of sleep, group "hugs" called a "Man-wich" and pranks are just a regular staple of Camp that keeps things exciting!

I praise God for the Student Ministry at Celebration - the wonderful students, leadership ... and the potential they have to change our world. 

God bless,

Pastor Paul