3 ways to keep the flame bright

Hey young people!!

By now most of you are back to school and in a normal routine. I want to wish each and every one of you a great school year! As I have also returned to school myself there is one question I keep asking: how do I keep the fire or the “camp high” going?

Personally, it’s very easy to get busy with schoolwork + friends that I slowly but surely allow my flame to dwindle. When you don’t spend every day in an atmosphere where you are constantly surrounded by fellow Christians who want the same exact thing as you, it is easy to allow your flame from camp to be extinguished.

If this is you right now, does it make you any less of a Christian? Absolutely, NOT!! Jesus loves you right where you are at this very second. He doesn’t love some future or better version of yourself more than He loves you now. Jesus loves you as if you were the only person He created. The crazy thing is that He does that for ALL of us.

So with that in mind I want to offer 3 ways to help keep your flame burning bright for Jesus.

1)   Community - Community in the Christian life is vital. When God made Adam he saw he was lonely and needed a companion so he created Eve. We were made for companionship and community!! Otherwise, God would have left Adam to hang out with all the animals.

If you are not in a small group or some sort of gathering where you can go and just do life with other people, I would personally offer that you find one. If there isn’t one at your church and you want this, you can always start your own! Go for it!! God loves when His people gather together to talk about life and Him.

2)   Listen to the Word - If you go to church weekly but you find yourself wanting to hear more of the word, that’s GREAT! I like to get Podcasts of some well-known pastors and listen to what they have to say. This is a great tool to utilize.

3)   GET in the Word – Daily quiet + alone time with God is the most crucial and fundamental part to keep your fire burning bright. Just like you did at camp. It doesn’t mean you have to get up at 4 am and spend 3 hours praying and reading. If 30 minutes is all you can seem to do right now, that’s awesome! I promise you God LOVES those 30 minutes He gets to hang out with His Beloved child. 

I love you all!
In Christ,

Seth McClure

|Author >> Seth| ^^ |Photography >> Jamie + Charley| ^^ |Featured Groups >> 5 Stones Middle School + Hilton Head + Gateway|

get it in the light

Summer has gone and with her departure a new school year has begun. Some of you in middle school or high school and a few starting or continuing college. Regardless of where you find yourself, one thing is almost certain, your fire from camp has fizzled: maybe a little, maybe a lot.

One of the biggest hindrances to our fire and our entire walk with the Lord, is hidden sin. Satan loves nothing more than to find some way to convince us to keep our sins in the dark.

“Don’t confess that, imagine what they’ll think of you…”

“You just slipped up once, no need to bug your accountability partner, it’s not like you’re making a habit of it…”

Those are a few of the lines the enemy loves to use on me. Maybe you can relate? Maybe he uses different thoughts for you. The point is, if, as believers, we are bottling up our mistakes and trying to ‘work them out’ on our own, we’re doing exactly what Satan wants.

Take a peek at Ephesians 5:11-14:

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.

Therefore it says,
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.”

If keeping your fire burning bright or rekindling the flame is important to you, then this is my challenge:

Examine your heart – are there any hidden sins in your life?

Get it in the light – if the answer is yes, find someone you can trust and get real with them.

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” – 1 John 1:7

Lets be in the light.
Grace and peace, brothers and sisters.

|Author >> Aaron| ^^ |Photography >> Jamie|

on being swept away

So, did you sit a spell as encouraged on Friday? To be honest I got to feeling hypocritical because my weekend felt hectic and exhausting with no sitting. Until the end. Last night…ah last night. I sat still. Not for long, but just long enough to remember what it felt like to breathe slowly. In breathing slowly, I felt a spark catch inside–feeling alive rather than run down; a little want-to rather than the drudge of have-to; smiling rather than gasping for air! There was no blazing fire, but a spark is all it takes, right?

We are wise to guard against being swept away by the demanding whirlwind of life. In being swept away, our joy is lost. And without joy…well, life gets heavy & sour. So if you sat a spell…I’m very proud of you. If you didn’t, there’s always today!

I hope your day is awesome!

stirrings and fires

 Time around a camp fire at Whisper Mountain is not only peaceful and thought-provoking; it is a time of sharing one’s heart and the God who stirred it all week long.

Shaun’s Top 5 List :: #1

I know, I know…you haven't gotten any sleep all weekend because you were just dying to know what Shaun's #1 favorite thing about working at camp is! (hee-hee!) Plan to sleep tonight! (Drumroll please)

Without further delay, Shaun's #1 reason why working at Whisper Mountain is living the dream:

#1: pay day is big on the last night of camp On the last night of camp everyone gathers around the campfire one last time. In the light of the flickering flames, hearts are opened in a way that isn't done in everyday life. Teenagers take the time to offer verbal encouragements to one another. They pray for each other. They pray for their youth pastor. Teenagers, and at times their leaders, become raw, spilling from their hearts all God is doing in them, all He is calling them to, all they hope to apply to their walking through life with Him.  Shaun's payday, as he calls it, is knowing that all the energy, lack of sleep, time and heart that is poured out throughout the week is worth it when the evidence of God whispering into lives is seen. This is the heartbeat of camp, the very life of the ministry…God encountering His people so they will know Him, they will know peace, new life, restoration and hope.  Now, that's a beautiful thing!

 

**Note: If you are just joining today, you can go here, here, here, and here to learn about the other items on Shaun's Top 5 Countdown on why working at Whisper Mountain is living the dream!

Shaun’s Top 5 List :: #4

Carrying on from yesterday with Shaun's countdown of why working at Whisper Mountain is living the dream… 

#4: playing with fire is a common occurrence

With the clearing of the trails always comes a burn pile, with the arrival of campers always comes a campfire! Building a fire might take him back to his Tee-Pee Camp days as a kid, it might simply intrigue him to build something so powerful, but mostly, what Shaun loves about a campfire is the spiritual parallels that can be drawn from a fire.  There are many, but one of his favorites is the idea of keeping our fire burning by avoiding the water of the world…those things that try to quench our love and spiritual fervor for the Lord. Amazing how just a little water can squelch the biggest fire.

Mostly though, he's just a pyro!

Up in Flames

Campfires are a normal part of our days in camp ministry. But a bonfire…now that is something special! (especially for our staff pyros!!) About a month ago, we thought we'd get rid of our huge "burn pile" (all the dead branches and brush from around the camp) while some campers were around for the excitement!The branches and brush had all been stacked up in TeePee style, then lit from the base. It wasn't long before the "teepee" went up in flames! Truly an amazing sight to behold!

Whether its a typical camp fire or a humungous bonfire, fires tend to completely mesmerize me. As I sit and watch the wood burning up into nothingness, I am always pulled into a contemplative state of mind.  Crazy, I know, but even through the pictures on this screen, the fire has a powerful effect on me. I don't understand why, but it's as if all the failures, disappointments, and struggles of this past week are being pulled out of my heart one by one and placed in the fire with the wood for the flames to consume. to make room for a letting go. to allow for some kind of cleansing.

  The warmth, aroma, crackling of this cleansing fire bring such comfort!