I've finally found the opportunity to get to the library at the bustling metropolis of Maple Creek, SK (town of about 1000) which is only about one-half-hour from the camp ground.

http://diamondwillowretreat.ca/Diamond_Willow/Welcome.html

We are located squarely in the middle of nowhere.

The peacefulness out here is indescribable. Internet is 30 mins away, cell phones on roam, and absolute silence. Amanda and I walked to the "upper cabin" about a mile away from camp yesterday, and we could hear the kids playing volleyball over a mile away. The focus and perspective I've achieved are like nothing I've ever experienced.

This is very unlike Virginia camp. In Virginia, every moment of every day is scheduled in detail. We often ask the campers "where are you supposed to be?" But here, the schedule is more relaxed, the campers are allowed, even encouraged, to wonder off alone. I've always thought that I was an improviser, and laid back guy, but here I'm the rule-following stiff. It made me nervous at first, but hearing the words that God is speaking into these kids as they get alone with him is life changing. I've always said that students can hear from God just as well as adults, but I'm beginning to think that without their ipods, cellphones, videogames, and televisions, they might even hear Him more clearly than we do.

We spent time around the fire last night and the kids reiterated what God had been speaking to them. Amazing.

The intimacy is different as well. In Virginia we need to be more structure as there were 275 kids at camp, but here with 30 or so campers, and 10-15 staff you get to know everyone. Kids open up like I've never seen -- in front of peers even.

The first night six students raised there hands for salvation, and another 7 or 8 for rededication. Almost everyone responded to the altar call and sought healing for brokenness. The second night service was outside and the call give it all to God holding nothing back...to truly SERVE God. (No man can serve two masters). Several made new committments to sanctify their lives.

We are praying for God to continue to move Wednesday, (tonight) Thursday, and Friday nights.

Please be in prayer with us.

Its amazing how much our bodies are connected. I recently awoke with a fever of 103.2 degrees which held on for two full days. I thought nothing of it because my daughters had previously had much higher temperatures. And I had no other symptoms. I didn't feel sick. Just a little weak. I was surprised at how concerned the other members of staff were about my situation. They told me that adults should not have a fever that high. They worry too much about me...it’s really sweet that they care. This was my attitude. So I went to the doctor. Again I was surprised at his concern. My doctor usually assures me everything is fine, not to worry. But this time I could see the concern in his face. He ran bloodwork...stat. Nothing.

With no answers readily available I told him about a tooth I had had trouble with six months before. My dentist had called it a "root canal gone bad". The nerve was gone so there was no pain, but the root around the post to the crown had rotted away leaving the crown loose. It eventually fell out. My dentist glued it back in but recommended that I have the whole thing extracted and an implant placed in my jawbone. With the obvious expense and likely pain, I waited.

Apparently, six months later, an infection had developed underneath. No pain still, because the nerve was gone, but below the surface all was not well. The infection grew until it spilled over into my bloodstream. This is what was causing my high fever. That same day I saw a documentary on the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut who was killed by a similar tooth infection. Thankfully with the modern antibiotics my doctor prescribed I was right as rain in now time. The hidden swelling went down and the old crown fell out again. Now it was obviously time to take care of this tooth.

Even as I write this I'm sitting in the dentist's chair waiting for the anesthesia to kick in so the doc can rip what's left out of my mouth and put an implant into my jawbone…

He’s done, I’m numb and he says this is one of the top five worst teeth he’s ever dug out, and I do mean dug. If you want the gory details, just ask me sometime.

We can learn a lesson from my tooth. We are all a part of the body of Christ. When one of us hurts we all hurt. But our bodies hurt for a reason. Pain lets us know something is wrong. Because I had no nerve left in this tooth, I didn’t know anything was wrong. So it got worse and worse, until my dentist declared it “Tooth of the Year” – the most difficult extraction he’s seen in some time. I’m not recommending a Seinfeldian “airing of grievances” with all your friends and family, but if you are hurting, needy, offended, confused, or depressed, you have to set aside your pride and let the rest of the body know. Like my tooth, there’s often no need to go into the gory details, but some sign that there is a need is essential to finding a solution. Also, we can learn that problems under the surface can fester. If there’s a situation, it needs to be addressed or it will just get worse and cause more trouble.

1 Corinthians 12:26, 27 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Hey look for updates and pictures of the family at billandthegirls.blogspot.com!

The Real Reason for Global Warming

Put the X back in X-mas

I cringe when I see the abbreviation x-mas. Not because I think its sacrilegious. I cringe because I know some irate Christian is going to throw up their hands in disgust blaming the ACLU for ruining Christmas. As a matter of fact, I like X-mas. Not only because its shorter, but it also allows me to connect to the historical Christianity, allows me to break free of my Americanised, Jesus-was-born-in-a-barn, dumbing down of Christianity.

It allows me to feel connected to that day in October, two thousand and twelve years ago, when God became man, and was born as a baby in a likely stone trough in the back of the cave where they kept the animals because there was no room for him in the guest bedroom.

Everything in the above paragraph represent true facts that defuse myths about Christmas. Jesus was likely born in October. Probably in 4 B.C. A manger is simply a trough and in Isreal 4 B.C. most troughs were stone not wood. Houses were built into the mountainside like caves and had three room the living quarters, the guest room (or place where guests stayed - interpreted by King James' boys as "Inn") and an animal room in the back to heat the rest of the house.

Oh and X-mas isn't a sacrilege. X stands for Christ. More than stands for it is Christ. See, in the first few centuries AD, the church in the Roman empire was under intense persecution. They weren't allowed to meet in public. They hid in house churches and under the city always alert to the danger of persecution to the extent of martyrdom. They would communicate their meeting places through symbols. One of these is the ICTHUS. Icthus is Greek for fish and the symbol looked like just that. A fish. The letters of ICTHUS stood for the Greek words I (Jesus) X (Christ) Ө (God's) Y (Son) Σ (Our Saviour). See! The X (or Chi, pronounced Kie) stood for Christ.

But wait!! There's more!! [/used car salesman voice]. Another symbol they used to communicate was the Chi. A simple X on the wall to denote Christ is worshiped here. So I'm not a big fan of Christmas. All the shopping (yuck) and Santa's and Black Friday and commercialism and consumerism. But I love X-mas. X-mas is great, because Christ is worshiped here.

Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg

That's easy for you to say! This is actually the ancestral name of Lake Webster and also the longest place name in the US.

More info on Lake Webster here and of course the wikipedia entry.

More on long words here.

Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg literally means "you fish on your side, I'll fish on my side, and nobody fishes the middle".

We are often told that Native Americans had/have no sense of land ownership. Everything belonged/belongs to all. This striking example shows us that even in this culture, ostensibly unencumbered by the concept of ownership, some conflict and territorialism at at least one point crept in.

Staking a claim can inhibit our flexibility. In our endeavor to hold onto what is ours we so burden ourselves with territorialism that we cannot even pronounce, much less enjoy what God has provided to all.

There is a great "game theory" exercise entitled, "Win As Much As You Can". The goal is to "win as much as you can". What you don't tell the participants is that they are to work together within their apparently adversarial groupings. Someone works for their own gain and hurts the group. In the church world, if we would let go of "my ministry", "my class", and "our church" and acknowledge that it all belongs to God, perhaps we would all be able to fish out of the deep water at the middle of the lake and enjoy its harvest together.

From MSNBC’s Newsof the weird:

The periodic Christian Nudist Convocation took place in July at the Cherokee Lodge nudist camp in Tennessee, and according to a dispatch in Nashville Scene, the group evokes skepticism not only from most Christians (who dislike the flaunting of naked bodies, even if innocently done) but from most Cherokee Lodge members, who see them as too intense for naturism's laid-back attitude. One CNC attendee acknowledged that many Christians would not approve of Cherokee Lodge, but to him "(I)t's Jerusalem." Another compared his work at nudist camps to missionary work: "(S)ome people get sent to Africa, some people get sent to South America and the Lord was like, 'I want you to go to nudist resorts.' And I'm like, 'Wow, what an assignment.'" [Nashville Scene, 8-2-07]

It never ceases to amaze me what people will blame on God. I had a girl in college claim that God had told her to marry me. Apparently He forgot to tell me.

Don’t get me wrong, I firmly believe that God still speaks to His people, if we will but open our ears, but some of the so-called words from the Lord out there are out and out lies, wishful thinking, or pure delusion. Throughout history God's so-called voice has been the cause of The Children's Crusade where thousands of children were sold into slavery after the Mediterranean Sea failed to part as they marched on Jerusalem. In fact, "God wills it" was the battle cry given by Pope Innocent II to begin the first Crusade.

The Spanish Inquisition, though in reality mostly a political tool (it was set up and controlled by King Ferdinand and was essentially a secret police punishing crimes against the state) was enabled by the support of the religious leaders as a way to force conversion to Christianity through torture and if necessary, a death sentence.

Paul Hill has promoted the "justifiable homicide" of abortion practitioners. Hill's describes his "joy" after killing an abortion doctor and gives voice to his feeling that, in murdering the doctor, God had done "great things" through him. Many horrible and simply silly things have been blamed on God's voice.

A word from God will never be contrary to His word, and whether your cause be personal, political, or a genuine desire to do right, any perceived word from God must be lined up with His Word, the Bible. If there is a discrepancy, your perceived message is wrong, not the Bible. The Bible wouldn't condone murder, wouldn't suggest torture, and wouldn't point you towards life on a nudist ranch.

The Bible is our primary source for hearing from God. Its high time we treat it that way. Having rooted and grounded ourselves in the Word, we can seek specific words for our lives. Lord speak, your servants are listening.