GOD is GOD wherever you are

     It's been a while since I've sat in front of my computer trying to put my thoughts together. Honestly I don't know where to start. I spent the summer at a ministry camp knowing it would be a time of growth- but not like this. "This". How can I explain it? How do I tell you what "this" is? Marannook (the LORD's resting place)  is like a snow globe. Your trapped in this little world that is so special and intimate where time doesn't exist. I know it sounds like a dream, but that's because it felt like one. Part of you doesn't ever want to leave it, but the other part of you knows there is a big world out there. This world. Where cars are buzzing, people are in a hurry... and broken. In one hand it feels like your waking up from the most wonderful dream to a nightmare. The thing is GOD is the same GOD no matter where you are- no matter where I am. The things of this world are constantly changing, but GOD is always the same. Whether we're in a season on top of a mountain or in a valley- GOD is the same. That is what sustains me. That is why I am not concerned that I had to wake up from that beautiful dream. Marannook will always be a special place to me, but it is GOD who made it so. GOD is the one worthy of such credit for the growth in me. GOD is the one worthy of credit for the change of my brothers and sisters in CHRIST. 

     I suppose one may want to know these changes,and I have no desire to with hold such a thing from you. Yet it goes back to "where do I begin?". Before going into camp I knew one thing I struggled with the most was self righteousness. Upon studying Romans I saw and felt in some measure the weight of my sin. At this point all I wanted to do was condemn myself! Like Paul at the end of Romans 7 shout out "Wretched man that I am!". My point is this- both outlooks are completely wrong. We are not good enough. I am NOT good enough. We don't deserve salvation. I DO NOT deserve salvation. Yet this- I DO NOT have to earn it. The problem was once I saw how wretched I was I suddenly felt the desire to earn my salvation. What a fool! SALVATION is a GIFT. A GIFT that is FREELY given. Dear friend. Do not take lightly the cross- Jesus suffered in full for our sins. HE endured the wrath of GOD, the weight of our sin, the physical pain of the cross, and the pain of abandonment in our place. It should have been me on that cross. It should have been us. GOD is a JUST GOD! Yet dear friend take a breath- it does not end there. Though we do not deserve such a salvation GOD blesses HIS children beyond the cross. GOD is a just GOD, but HE is also a loving GOD. GOD created this world knowing we would sin, and yet HE made us anyways. HE knew HE HIMSELF would have to come to suffer on our behalf, and HE made us anyways. HE as CHRIST hung on that cross through the agonizing pain, because HE loved us. As Romans 8:37-39 tells us "nothing can separate us from the love of GOD" because HE loved us. Not even our sin could separate us from HIS love. You see GOD is just AND loving. GOD is loving AND just. You can't have one without the other. 

     Honestly I could go on and on about how GOD transformed my heart this summer- the growth was drastic. No matter what I could say it would all point back to the cross. There a many things that I have learned- they often came in bits and pieces (like a puzzle) pointing to the bigger picture. Least I not forget GOD is still working, because GOD is the same GOD no matter where I am. No matter where you are. This world is changing. This world is falling more and more apart. It is broken. GOD however is the same always. HE is the one who sustains. As I have stated my uncertainty of where to begin even more so I cannot say where I shall end. Why? Because GOD is still working.... 

     

"JESUS CHRIST is the same yesterday and today and forever" -Hebrews 13:8

Special dedication to my dearest Tifteen (Training Staff):

Thank you for allowing the LORD to work through you to minister to children, and to me. Tifteen would not be the same without any of you. (To: Anna Seay, Austin Fell, Caitlyn Sells, Cary Kendrick-Holmes, Devin Williamson, Evelyn Chang, James Carmichael, Katherine Killingsworth, Laura Braden, Elizabeth Williams, Mitch Wunderlich, and Nathan Fell)

To my program Staff:

Thank you for leading so well. Thank you for the sacrifices you made to better serve us and the precious children that came through Marannook. (To: Taylor Coleman, Monan Lu, Kat Spain and Cameron Hernandez)

Thank you to all the wonderful support staff for all your work and service!

Thank you to my dear teacher and friend for leading, listening, and loving us all so well! (Mr. Keith Ray)

Thank you also to his lovely wife and daughters! 

Thank you to Mr. Charles and Mrs. Barbara Kendrick-Holmes for making camp so fun, and educational. It is truly a special place. 

Most of all: Thank you JESUS for changing my heart. For working through and in my brothers and sisters in YOU. Thank YOU that YOU are always the same no matter where YOU take us.