2020 | Estero Study Retreat

We jumped into the new year with two groups right out of the gate! The first of which was First Baptist Estero’s Salt ‘n Light Teens! Twenty people hopped in vans and drove up from sunny, warm Florida into the cold and leafless forest of the backwoods of Appalachia! I think we’d all agree, we are so glad they did!

Pastor Weston is a guy with a heart for his teens to youth group armed with a passion for God’s Word so they stay near to God as they leave the nest! One way he tries to prepare them for walking life with God is through what we call a Study Retreat. It blows my mind, but these middle and high school teens spend 4 days intensely digging into God’s Word. I  N  T  E  N  S  E  L  Y. We are talking hours at a time.

They learned how to read in context, how to use other resources to gain deeper understanding, how to practically apply what they read. They discussed what they gleaned and asked questions when they didn’t understand.

They may not realize it yet, but these teens were given a treasure as they learned to study God’s Word. Because being in God’s Word changes us and shapes us and leads us in powerful ways. We simply aren’t the same after encountering God’s truth. To be given to tools to break down God’s Word so it’s no longer daunting but actually understandable is a fantastic gift to receive. And Whisper Mountain is grateful for the opportunity to be part of that!

Of course there was fun to be had as well! We got a skiff of snow but to Floridians it might as well have been a blizzard!! They LOVED it! They also enjoyed tomahawk throwing and the simple pleasure of hanging together!

A couple of them were willing to share their experience with you on camera (SO BRAVE!) so follow the link below to catch a glimpse into their time with us!

If you are a youth pastor wanting something unique for your teens, a way to help arm them for life, carrying the Word of God with them rather than abandoning it as so many are doing, then reach out to us so we can schedule your weekend!

Thank you, Estero, for hiking all the way up to us so you can encounter the Whisper of God in deep and personal ways! May you find His light for your path to be enough!

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Author | Cassi     Photography | Susanna Eckert, Marty Paul, Cassi

The Balancing Act

by Marty Paul

Balance. There has to be balance.

I have lived long enough to know life can get really busy with lots of things taking every minute of my day. Early in my marriage with a young family, I was teaching school and coaching basketball. My kids were gym rats because I was always gone and they were usually with me. If I wasn’t planning my work, I was serving at church in student ministries or raising my family and taking time with my wife. When all this is going on, it’s easy to think I can get by with a few minutes of quiet time with God. It’s always easy to put God on the back burner because, hey, I was doing life!

In Galatians 5:13-17, Paul tells us not to turn our freedom into an opportunity for the flesh. He doesn’t want us to fall back into sin and worldliness. Paul goes on to tell us to walk by the Spirit and we won’t carry out the desires of the flesh. The flesh sets us against the Spirit because they are in opposition to one another. There is nothing wrong in living your Christian life like I was, but when it leads to less time with God and more time with works, there becomes an imbalance.

Life will become hard to navigate as more struggles come into our lives. By spending time each day in God’s Word, we will be able to pursue the life of sanctification, of being made holy, like Jesus. Can I ask: Are you putting in the time…the required quietness so God can speak into your life each day?

Let me encourage you today to walk by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within you to empower you to walk in this struggle called life. We always make time for what we want to do. I hope you are making time for Jesus.

“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ…”

Romans 13:14

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Author | Marty Paul     Photography | Adrienne & Cassi

Living In Tents can be Intense!

by Shaun Werner

“For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.”

2 Corinthians 5:1

I don’t know if you’ve heard me say it or not, but one of the phrases I like to use at camp is “Camp is intense! We sleep in cabins, but camp is in-tents!” This play on words, among many others, is one of my favorites. So much so, that my lovely wife made a shirt several years ago that expressed this saying.

We also used this idea of camp and life being intense for our summer camp theme — were you here that year? Based out of 2 Corinthians 5:1-2, we talked about how our bodies are earthly tents and we have an eternal home in heaven.

Remembering this earth is not our home, this life is temporary, we are just passing through offers hope in times of trouble and encourages us to not invest in things that are fading away.

I Peter 2:11 also encourages us to abstain from worldly desires because we are sojourners or temporary residents. Our perspective, or rather God’s perspective from His Word, helps us to stay on track as we seek to follow Him. God’s Word encourages and calls us to this higher road of living for what we cannot see, to walk in this faith that stretches beyond our right now.

I don’t know about you, but what’s happening around me seems to distract me from this big picture living more than I want it to. My focus gets so easily pulled from the eternal things and placed on things that, in the end of all things, really don’t matter at all.

So I leave you with this encouragement: stay in the Word daily so God’s perspective becomes ours and can rightly be placed on the eternal things. Let’s keep stepping toward abstaining from the “worldly desires” today so we can be in pursuit of those eternal desires as we keep passing through to our eternal home! Keep walking, Young People!

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Photography | Cassi Werner

Being a Foodie is Super Spiritual

Written by Patti Paul

Food. I must confess, I think about food much more than I’d prefer. Being the WM Head Cook is honestly not my favorite WM task, however, I recognize the importance of food for our guests as it provides daily nourishment and represents friendship, community and welcome.  If you’ve been to Whisper Mountain maybe you’ve experienced the “voted #1 favorite meal” – Poppyseed Chicken.  However you may prefer the Grilled Pork Chops or the fun Fiesta Bowl! Yum! So, tell me, what is your favorite food at WM, or anywhere?

In the Gospels, food is mentioned about 90 times. Luke’s gospel is full of stories of Jesus eating with people. When God created humans He articulated the human body to require the need of food for energy,  growth, repair, and warmth.  Lack of proper daily nutrients will cause malnutrition and will lead to a variety of health problems and ultimate death.

The love of food is universal!  In fact, did you know that Americans spend more than $60 billion annually on nutrition and weight loss products? In the past 12 years, over 5,000 publishers produced 200,000 cookbooks. There’s also a plethora of food information available on social media and tv chefs. The human race seems obsessed with food and over indulging in it.  In the end, most nutritionists agree that eating a daily, balanced diet of small portions of healthy food will provide ample energy, keep off those extra pounds, and prevent many lifelong diseases.

On occasion, Marty and I have the privilege of traveling on behalf of camp ministry.  We have found it to be true, that whenever we meet up with friends of the ministry, both new or old, our time is automatically planned around a table surrounded by delicious food, snacks, or dessert. Very sweet fellowship is automatically produced in this setting. Valued time spent together with others deepens our relationships together and gives us the encouragement we need as well.

Food connects people together with traditions, memorable moments of celebration, gatherings of family and friends, and turns strangers into friends all while sharing a meal and conversation. Knowing food was a daily requirement for man, Jesus used meals in his earthly ministry as an expression of grace, community, and His mission. He sought to save the lost and carry on a personal relationship with all, and He still does.

God’s Word feeds us spiritually, encourages, convicts, directs, and helps us grow to be more like Him. I truly believe that nourishing my spiritual health must be given even more importance than my daily food. Without Him I will be spiritually deprived, dried up and useless in the life He’s given me. I’m sure you relate. Many times busy life and interruptions can shortchange my daily quiet time with Him.   Growing in my spiritual relationship requires:

• regular scripture study
• communication with Him throughout my day
• keeping a short list of forgiveness of my faults
• and listening & looking for Him to reveal Himself to me in big and small ways.

I can tell the difference in the days I devote quality time of building my relationship with Him by my personal attitude, reactions to those I am in contact with and in my general well being.

Can I ask, how are you doing at making Him a priority in your daily walk? Here’s a couple places the Word uses food figuratively and practically:

• “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good, Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”  Psalm 34:8
• “Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.” 3 John 1:2
• “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matt 5:6
• “And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Acts 2:42

I sincerely hope you will practice enjoying God’s Word as much or more than the good food enjoyed in your daily living! Think of the satisfaction and joy you’ll experience if you do!

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Photography | Cassi Werner

Zooming In on Your Walk with God

Sometimes the whole idea of pursuing God or knowing God can feel too big and overwhelmingly vague that we quit before we really get started. Even when we are doing what we are “supposed to” be doing, we can feel far away from God.

In case you’ve felt the struggle, our staff understands and we have a heart to walk along with you and to zoom the lens in a bit more in your understanding and growth so you can experience a close-up, vibrant walk with the Lord.

Because even while God may feel far away or this vibrant life you hear about may feel just out of your grasp, God actually does see you and know you and desire to be close to you.

He wants you to know His presence in the midst of your struggle. He wants you to know His love in personal ways that light you up in the deepest parts of your soul.

He wants you to know the balance He can bring to your life. He wants to redeem whatever mess you are in and heal whatever brokenness you carry with you. He wants to direct your path where you will flourish. He wants you to know Him so personally that you can’t help but make Him known to others!

And it all begins by interacting with Him through His Word!

We say all this to let you know that our staff is pretty excited (and thankful) about being more intentional with encouraging and leading you through weekly blogs and monthly YouTube videos throughout the year! We can’t wait to see how God is working in your lives and to share how He’s working in ours!

Feel free to reach out to us with questions or struggles you’re having or to share how you are experiencing God in your life! We sincerely want to share in the journey with you!

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Author | Cassi Werner      Photography | Ethan + Adrienne + Cassi

[a new testament] Bible Reading Plan

Feeling discouraged because you’ve been dropping some intentions is a pretty common feeling around this time of year! New habits are hard to build. Because we believe getting into God’s Word changes everything, we want to encourage you and help you get back on track to reaching your goal!

Shaun’s video on instagram last week was a good jump start, but he wanted to follow up with a better explanation of how to get it done. In a perfect world, we would have started January 1 in the book of John and ended in Revelation by mid summer. Since we are getting back on track here in February it might take until mid September to get through Revelation. Then we can circle back and hit the gospels before the end of the year and we’ve completed the whole New Testament. Like a boss! What?!

Like Shaun encouraged last week, connecting with God is what matters, so pick up today where you left off or get started all together! No time like the present!

Let us know in the comments what Scripture has been encouraging you lately! It might encourage us too!

BEFORE YOU GO:
1. If you’d like weekly encouragement as you read along, let Shaun know! There’s a whole crowd of people pursuing this same goal! (you can email him at shaun@whispermountain.org )
2. If you’d like a printable to keep you on track with your goal, get that here.
3. Get a few friends in on this to help keep each other going! We are better together, right?!

the simple truth

Hello there, dear friends!

As the celebratory season of giving thanks and Jesus’ birth warmly embraces us this time of year, I’ve been prayerfully yearning a simple, powerful desire: Give me Jesus. My mind has been warpedwith a recent love of simplicity, and the truth is, learning the power behind it is anything but simple for my over-analytical brain to do. When one of my students falls out of her chair “accidentally” knocking over and spilling my coffee all over the place during a formal test, Lord, Give me Jesus [grace] When I drive to work 55 minutes late for being early, unknowingly forgetting my classroom keys and lunch but get to see the glory of His sunrise over a silent highway, Ah, Lord, Give me Jesus. [peace] When I am constantly being pounded down by hearing unrelenting bad news of family’s health issues, day after day, Just give me Jesus. [power]

All of these daily common circumstances are always bringing me back to the simple reality ofneeding Jesus, simply because of who He is. In John 14:6 Jesus tells us, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” What is the truth? The truth is Jesus. Who is Jesus? Jesus is the most compassionate, loving, gracious, peace-giving, powerful, and faithful man who ever walked this earth. He faithfully took on our ugly sins, shameful regrets, and broken pieces. He washed us clean, forgot our past, and wholly put us back together on the cross that He died on. The truth is, in everything that we say and do, we are to do our humanly best to become the truth, to become Jesus, even when it seems impossibly complicated to achieve.

What does this have to do with discipleship? Everything. We can claim and proclaim all about Jesus as much as we want so people hear us and so we are doing our “active duty” as an obedient disciple of His Great Commission (Matthew 28:19), but if we are telling the truth without being the truth, nothing we say will be heard. Sometimes we try to dig so deeply into the Word to try and extract truths to gain more knowledge, all the while missing the simplest truth. Sometimes we simply read the Word because we know we should, all the while missing the simplest truth. It’s so simple: Just get Jesus. An aspiring theologian, avid disciple maker, and one of my best brothers in Christ told me this one day: “There is a big difference in knowing something and becoming it. I think it’s a problem with Christianity. We become consumed in our rational and intellectual pursuits of God instead of simply allowing Him to change us into that which reflects Him the most.”

With all of this in mind, I have a simple question for you: Truthfully, what are you doing with knowing the truth?

|Author >> Chelsea| ^^ |Photography >> Cassi|

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|

about that following God thing

"You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life." – Dallas Willard

There is a desperate need for stillness in life. One thing I have noticed is that I am a much better person when not in a rush. It is easier to follow God when you hear from him, and much easier to hear from him when you stop and listen.

Let's look at two ways to "be still" as our Father intends us to (Psalm 46:10)!

1. Spend More Time With God, More Consistently.

You may or may not have just rolled your eyes. "Duh! I already get up 30 minutes early to pray…" Or maybe you thought, "I don't have time for that right now." Let me encourage you with this thought: you don't have enough time not to spend more time with God! Theologian Martin Luther understood this very well, saying, "I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer." We are too busy to waste time, but no time with God is wasted. Don't spend any time in the morning praying or reading the bible? Good- start tomorrow! Don't spend more than a few minutes? Good- your Heavenly Father is always looking to spend more time with you!

2. Make the Most of Your Time With God.

I have been so guilty of rushing through morning devotion: get up, read a few verses, say a prayer or two, leave. I say from experience that it is so easy to miss what God has for you this way. Perhaps you don't spend much time with God because you get bored sitting still. That's OK! If you find yourself going through the motions, change up your routine. Go for a walk, or listen to some worship music. Read a book that moves you; do whatever you need to do to get into God's presence where your strivings cease.

Recently, I have started reading "Soul Keeping" by John Ortberg; I realized that my time with Jesus is much better when I read a book that gets me to think carefully about my spiritual life. What gets you into God's presence best may be different from what gets me there. So take your time, experiment, and see what he has in store for you!

|Author >> James| ^^ |Photography >> Charley| ^^ |Graphics >> Vrsly , get the app!|

moving forward after camp

Dearest campers + friends!

Writing from the passenger seat of my car, this is Charley coming to you today! I am thrilled to be a part of the great transition of this blog. I pray these words may encourage you and open your eyes to something new today.

As most of you are campers whom we spent only 6 days with this summer, I decided I would share some little bits of what life after camp looks like for the summer staff. I think it is necessary that you see our humanity and how we are called to step out into “oceans” everyday, just like you are.

Most of us drove back home to our families, jobs, and responsibilities that were put on hold while we were at camp. Some of us face broken families, where our family members do not believe in Jesus. We’ve had to face the skinny fear of new jobs and semesters that look different from any other. I know very well, and I am sure the rest would agree, that we have had to face the reality of not having daily, authentic community. We are blessed to have great friendships at camp, ones that contain deep accountability and encouragement. Coming home is not easy, but it is what the Lord spent all summer preparing us for. I will share personally a few things the Lord has revealed to me since being home…

1) Nothing can substitute His Word. Any quote or cool devotional pales in comparison to the promises of scripture + the peace that comes when you can recite it from memory in times of need. I’m reading a lot of books at once for the ministry school I’m about to attend, but that does not suffice for the power that comes directly from His word. So, read it. Meditate on it and memorize it. It is not impossible, you did it at camp and loved it. You contain the Holy Spirit in you that gives you every skill of memorization possible. You access that power when you press in to Him.

2) God is on my side. He is not just on my side when I’m surrounded by other Christians who encourage me. He is not just on my side when I succeed at something I do. The favor of the Lord is over my abundant life and I need to press in to that truth! Getting in to the swing of school or a new season is not easy or fun, but with God on your side, you can do all things. You can have all the joy and all of the peace that His love made a way for.

I encourage you to keep going. I encourage you to press on and press in to all the Father has set before you. When it is uncomfortable + unclear, keep going. This year will be your best one yet. May His love fill you up today and tomorrow and the next tomorrow.

In Christ, becoming

Charley Jo

|Author >> Charley| ^^ |Photography >> Jamie (photo 1 by charley)| ^^ |Featured Groups >> Estero + Berry’s Grove|