Amazing Day

    Today has been an absolutely incredible day.  It is hard for me to even remember much of what has happened today because it feels like a whirlwind.  Started out with breakfast this morning and then led into the morning session.  I spoke this morning on “Love the Lord your God with all your heart.”  It went really well, and I had a great response this morning.  In fact, after I was done speaking there was a Jr. High boy who came up to me and said, “thanks for your sermon, I really liked it.”  This was SO incredibly encouraging to me… partly because unsolicited feedback from Jr. High students is very rare, and especially from Jr. High boys.  There was then a break for cabin time and some short free time before lunch. 

After lunch, we were scheduled to have “free time.”  Well, I had shared with a couple of the counselors that I had a HUGE collection on my hard drive of funny videos.  So, they thought it would be fun to be able to stop by and see some of these during free time.  Then a number of students said that they would like to see some too.  Well, the truth is, I LOVE to show funny videos to people.  It seems like I could watch them endlessly.  My poor wife has to see these videos more times than she should have to in 10 lifetimes, so she often groans whenever I pull out my computer to show people funny videos.  Since Christi wasn’t able to join me here at this Winter Retreat I decided this would be a great time to fulfill multiple desires.  I announced that I would set up my computer in the main meeting room and project funny videos on the giant screen during free time if anyone wanted to see them.  So, during free time there were consistently about 4-6 individuals in the room watching funny videos.  I showed them for about 2 ½ hours – and probably showed somewhere around 200 videos (some more than once because students would walk out talking about them and others students would come in wanting to see those).  This was actually a LOT of fun for me, and was a fun time to connect with the students here.

    After free time there was about an hour to just relax before our evening leaders meeting.  I played some ping-pong with some students and a leader.  I then made a couple of phone calls.  Finally, I just went in to sit for a while and do a bit more praying and prep for tonight’s talk.  We had the leaders meeting and then went on to dinner.

    Tonight’s talk was the altar call talk.  I have spent a LOT of time over the past couple of years thinking and praying about the methodology of doing altar calls with students.  I have had the great advantage over the last 20 years to observe many altar calls – but as a student and as a youth pastor.  I could spend a LOT of time explaining in depth my thoughts on this subject, but for now I will just highlight my main conclusions.
•    Many speakers use emotional manipulation for their altar call.
•    Jr. High students can be fairly easily manipulated emotionally.
•    If a speaker’s primary focus is on number of decisions, then emotional manipulation is a tool that speakers use.
•    I believe that while any salvation contains an emotional element to it, that a decision based SOLELY on emotions is not likely to stick once the emotions have worn off.
•    I feel that the “scare them out of hell” tactics of speakers are quite contrary to the message of Christ.
•    I think too often leaders focus on the “savior” part of Christ and completely ignore the “lordship” part of Christ.
•    I purposely designed my altar call time to be as unemotional as possible, and to focus on making a decision to love God with all your heart AND all your mind – Lord and Savior.
•    Every time Christ talked about the Kingdom of God – his focus was on love, not fear.  I want the students to know that the reason they should make a decision for Christ is not because there is something they need to be afraid of, but because Christ has an amazing, gigantic level of love that he bestows upon us and wants us to know PERSONALLY.

Ok, those are the basic points.  I could continue on and on – this is something I am very fired up about because I have seen it abused in so many ways, so many times. 

    Anyway, tonight was on Loving the Lord your God with all your mind.  This was a great follow-up from this morning’s talk, and I used it to tie the two ideas together – and to address the issue of making a decision to make Christ “Lord and Savior.”  I then, of course, led the students into a time of prayer where they could make a first time decision to follow Christ, or they could make a decision to “get back on the road” of the Christian journey that they might have stepped off (often called re-commitment, but I prefer not to use this term for a number of reasons – that can be for another time).  I am always in awe of when God moves.  I often sit there thinking, “who am I Lord that you would use me in this way?”  and “Who am I Lord that I get the honor and privilege of witnessing this miracle of salvation?”  Tonight there was an incredible response of students to both of these decisions.  There were about 8-10 students who raised their hands about making a first time decision to follow Christ and about 20 or so students who raised their hand for getting back on that road walking with Christ.  All of these students then came forward and prayed with their camp counselors/youth pastors.  What an incredible time. 

    The students then went off to have cabin time together and talk more about their relationship with Jesus Christ.

    The evening ended with the students gathering back in the main room to watch the movie “Ratatouille”.  Then off to bed.  I am EXHAUSTED and pumped at the same time.  What a great day!!!