Your Kids Might Be Changed
Dear Friends,
As I write this, I am with our youth group in sunny Panama City Beach, Florida. I came down to “hang” with the kids today at their Coast Camp. Typically, they attend someone else’s summer camp, but this year we decided to strike out on our own. The staff and volunteers have put together a powerful experience for our kids.
Hundreds of Towels!
The kids are staying in an old converted motel. Each motel room has been filled with bunk-beds enough to fit about eight students, plus an adult chaperon. The rooms are horseshoed around a central pool, and the whole complex is across the street from the sugar-sand beaches of the Emerald Coast. There are about 160 kids and 40 adults in attendance.
I arrived in time for a volleyball tournament, pool party, and a great spaghetti dinner. Then, around 7 p.m., the kids started lining up to attend the evening worship program. Yes, you read this right: The kids started lining up to attend the evening worship! At 7:30, our own Josh Havens began the rock sounds of praise. He brought the whole band, The Afters, and they had the place on fire. They closed in prayer. Then our guest speaker stood to deliver a 50-minute sermon on righteousness before God.
Praise and worship at Coast Camp
Yes, you read that right, too. The kids sat still for a 50-minute sermon on righteousness! The speaker, Tom Richter, is part preacher, part showman, part comedian, and he had the kids’ total attention (mine, too). He laid out the hard truth from Romans 3 in a way that kids will never forget. Near the end of his message he began to encourage the kids to recommit to Christ…or commit to Him for the first time. Dozens of kids moved from their seats to receive prayer.
Good friends and oil-free beaches!
The kids took a 30-minute break while the band re-tuned their guitars and re-grouped. Then, at 9:30, they began the evening Christian rock concert. The Afters played most of their songs, including their newest one, Light Up the Sky, which is sitting at the top of the iTunes Christian chart in pre-release. (This is the song that Josh sang last week in church.) The kids crowded the stage with Josh leading in praise, singing magnificently, and talking about God between songs.
There was no sign of it letting up when I left about 11 p.m. I walked back to my room in the relative quiet of the muggy night and I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving to God. He has allowed us the honor and privilege of presenting His Gospel to new generations. I was converted at a camp like this 40 years ago in the cool Arizona mountains. I gave my life first to the Lord and then to His mission in those incredibly important teenage years of my life. Now, to see a new crop of kids hearing the Gospel, responding, and coming to know Christ as Savior, Lord, and Friend is a great honor for me.
Parents, your kids might be changed when they get home. I know they will be tanned…but something else very special is happening here along the oil-free coastline of Florida. Keep praying for your student. God is doing some serious work in their lives here.
Here are some other things you need to know this week:
Switching to the ESV Bible
Sometime within the next few weeks, you will notice new Bibles in the pew racks. The NIV (New International Version) translation, which we have used for almost 25 years, is being replaced with the new ESV (English Standard Version). This is a wonderfully readable translation of the Bible, and I am excited for you to get to know it. Click here for a full explanation of the switch.
There is still time to join the Holy Land pilgrimage this November.
Holy Land Trip
Again this year, in November, Fran and I have the privilege of leading a group on a tour of the Holy Land. If you think you may be interested in this pilgrimage, please come to an informational meeting on Tuesday, August 10. Click here for complete details about the meeting and the trip.
Spiritual Life Survey Results
Earlier this year, our congregation was asked to participate in the Reveal Spiritual Life Survey. 558 people did so, giving us a great sample from which to gauge how we are progressing in our growth as disciples of Jesus Christ. Click here to see the summary of the results.
Kids in Need Project a Success
Thanks to your generosity and service, over 500 backpacks filled with school supplies have been received and will be distributed to children in Plano, Allen, Frisco and North Dallas. After our delivery to the Assistance Center of Collin County for children in Plano schools, we received this response:
Hundreds of Backpacks!
You blew us away with the School Supplies your church delivered yesterday! What a wonderful gift and just in time, too. We began [distributing] supplies on July 20. We averaged 97 requests a day the first week. We have had to shop each day just to keep up with needed supplies. Your timely delivery was an answer to our prayers.
Thank you to everyone whose generosity made Kids in Need a huge success. If you have not turned your backpack and supplies in yet, it’s not too late. They may be left in the Fellowship Hall through this weekend. Just look for the Kids in Need poster.
Radio Show Begins This Sunday
When classical radio station WRR approached us about a Christ Church radio program, I grabbed it. The chance to reach nearly 250,000 people each week is God-given. Tune in to our first broadcast this Sunday, August 1 from 7:30 to 8 a.m. on WRR, 101.1 fm. I envision this half-hour weekly program as another “front door” to our church. Please pray with me that God will use it to bring people to Him.
‘See you this weekend.
In Christ,
David+
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