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Why Summer Camp?
I used to wonder why the Lord chose to send all of his children off to Linear Camp, where time rules our every obsession. All the while He’s back home in the glory of timelessness. Our world has very definite time frames like any camp, be it a summer, or a week or two. We’ll tend, given these parameters, to try and figure out what we enjoy and then load up our schedules with those activities, to maximize our adventure. Authors even write bucket list books of all the great sights and activities which we should strive to get to before we die. Imagine for a moment, instead of this, a world where we’d be allowed to make endless erroneous choices without at least the consequences of wasted time or a wasted life? A world where no matter how many times we get it wrong, we’d all have unlimited opportunities to try again to get it right? Do you think we’d ever learn how to make wise or informed choices or even how to follow a set of clearly detailed instructions? What would be the point, pride? There are a lot of lessons for us to learn before we can ever get to such a glorious haven and then maintain the glory of that haven.
We need to learn how to navigate disappointments, to correct deficiencies, to revise flawed plans and to weather failures. At the same time we should also learn how to succeed with a humble attitude, to assist as needed, to teach from experience and to share or give credit where credit is truly due. There is a certain urgency in this world, because we only have a short time to try and get it right. This urgency forces most of us to learn and adapt, to abandon failure and to embrace successes. Our world forces learning opportunities. “The Jews there were amazed and asked, “How did this man get such learning without having been taught?” (John 7:15 NIV). Experiences come in two forms, our own and those of others. Jesus both lived learning and absorbed learning as He walked through this Linear Camp. He was and remains our model student and teacher. “let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—” (Proverbs 1:5 NIV). We do need to be prepared for that safe haven called heaven. The integrity of heaven itself depends on it. God won’t invite strangers or those who’ve rejected His ways into His home. This short camp life we’ve been given is our opportunity to learn how to cope and how to follow directions. When this camp comes to an end will we have learned how to survive and live eternally? That’s pretty much up to us.
JC Calkins with Hope for all of God’s UNCOMMON PEOPLE 
Ordinary?
The extraordinary beauty of ordinary. Assisting us in finding joy in the most ordinary aspects our lives is the plan, the work and the pleasure of God. If we must go beyond the ordinary to discover our pleasure then we haven’t really figured ourselves out or who God is. Could it be wrong to aspire to greatness? If our foundational aspirations are fame, power, wealth or even personal recognition, then yes, it’s wrong and will only undermine the joy which… read more
The First Act of Love
We are among the most fragile of all species, yet we believe we stand at the pinnacle of the food chain. Our unique and special intellect fosters and then hosts certain insecurities founded by our own limited awareness. In part, being of sound mind means understanding our limitations. While we understand our weaknesses, we’re still unwilling to accept them, so we chose instead to focus more directly on future applications of our proven abilities. We think of this as looking forward… read more
A Treasured Valentine
To simply scratch the surface of the mysteries of this universe is commendable. Deeply understanding even a few of them is however, totally relative. Someone living today knows more about the human body than anyone living a thousand years ago! An accomplished writer living 200 years ago could easily have managed a working vocabulary of over 200,000 words, while most writers today use only half that, which is still twice the voice of most other people. We’ve gained so much… read more
Unrealistic Thinking
When we watch a major sporting event, most of us don’t sit there believing that we’re good enough to play in that game. When we commiserate the choices offered us among those who desire to represent us in government we may think that we’re better than them, but we still don’t throw our names into that hat. When we excel in school we don’t necessarily think we should be appointed Dean. Yet when we skip church, avoid community service, read… read more
Pleasing Enough?
I was discussing the concept of God’s judgements with a recent acquaintance today. He queried the current unrest in Syria, Palestine, Iran and Israel. He asked about the deteriorating state of the EU as it relates to the old Europe thing (the Holy Roman Empire). He questioned Israel’s objectives, which carried our conversation into the book of Revelation. He wondered aloud “have I pleased God enough, I worry about that”? I reminded him that the traditional Jewish faith does not… read more
He Knows The Way
“That’s easy for you to say!” Do you hear that very often? I do. To clear that up, nothing is easy for me to say, especially when I’m talking or writing about God. He is an incredibly difficult presence and subject for me. Ask me about finance, economics, jurisprudence or design and I’ll go on endlessly without concern or any reservations about what’s flowing out of my overly opinionated mouth. It doesn’t matter to me how others react to my… read more
Sharing
I’m not sure how many teeter-totters still exist in playgrounds, but I can certainly understand their scarcity. It takes at least two people to operate one as designed and ideally those two people will be measurably equal for it to function enjoyably. As soon as one person jumps off, the other party experiences pain or at least surprise and the emotions which accompany it. In life we all experience pain and disappointment. These simple but crude playground devices were a… read more
Above & Beyond?
I watched a promotion on TV recently which showed a variety of very “mature” people describing what they want to be when they grow up. After the novelty of the concept wore off, it occurred to me that everyone who is truly open to God’s will should really be thinking like this, while probably leaving the destination space “open”. Just about anybody with even the tiniest speck of faith seeks salvation, but very few will ever accept the baton of… read more
Completeness
“… but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.” (1 Corinthians 13:10 NIV). Having a partial understanding of our purpose and interim roles, is the most that we can hope for now. Yet for us, that is all of it, our everything. For many, even that may be too much. When we begin to realize that our true purpose is to be outwardly focused, to give rather than take, the warm caressing sands beneath our feet begin to wash… read more
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