This past week I attended youth camp with 130 other people. Our local FWB association sponsors a camp every year. Below are ten lessons learned from attending camp with our youth.
10 – I am a goober. At least one teen informed me that he was pretty sure I was a loser in high school and college. This really upset me, until the same student told me he thought fwb21 blogger, and evangelist for the week, Tommy Swindoll was probably a much bigger loser in college then me!!
9 – New Balance tennis shoes are no longer cool. Back in 2006 I got a 2 for 1 deal on some sweet New Balance sneakers. Several teens mocked my shoes and claimed they were out of style. Granted, the student most vocally opposed to my sneaks wore shoes dominated by lime green and bright orange. (That kid’s wardrobe looked like an ensemble pieced together by YP Gowdy Cannon, and yet the kid dares to publicly humiliate me??) For the record, those New Balance shoes have been with me for five years, and I refuse to give them up to satisfy today’s decadent youth culture.
8 – All the spiritually gifted teens watch Phineas and Ferb, those languishing in mediocrity still watch Sponge Bob Square Pants.
7 – Simple songs taken straight from Scripture passages are as relevant today as when Winnona Riggs first taught them to the Upper Cumberland Youth Camp.
6 – The teens from Kirby Church in Detroit MI are outstanding musicians and have a passion for praising God thru song. We were honored to worship with them. They defy many of the stereotypes about musicians, and spent countless hours just hanging out with regular jo’s at camp. For a whole host of reasons, I am not a big fan of the Christian Recording Industry. I am, however, a huge fan of musicians who faithfully serve their local congregations week after week. If you are looking for a great group for your camp/conference/weekend event, I highly recommend the folks from Kirby.
5 – Tommy Swindoll claimed he’s 5’7. I agree with the lady from my church who said “he’s lying, that boy ain’t an inch over 5’4.”
4 – Gifted preachers, like gifted writers, have the ability to connect with people of all ages in the same sermon. Most of us don’t posses that gift, Tommy does.
3 – It’s a cross-cultural world just about everywhere in the U.S. Meeting two Indian high schoolers who converted from Hinduism to Christianity, and who now attend a FWB church in Smithville, TN, was awesome.
2 – Two high school students committed to pastoral ministry at camp – one in the area of youth, the other for lead pastoring. Very excited to see what God does for and thru these guys.
1 – Praying with a teen from your youth group as he accepts Christ makes all the camp effort worth it. We had 1 student from our church make a salvation commitment, and 11 student’s total made salvation professions.
