Monday KK 2011

What a GREAT first day! After a smooth check-in, the buses rolled into Pineywoods right on time. The excitement for the week ahead was so evident you could almost touch it. As students walked into the new Tabernacle, they were blown away. Pineywoods has changed so much, and it is truly a first-class kampground. We had our opening rally, and everyone headed off to meet their rec team and make their team flags! It was so hot yesterday afternoon, but it didn’t affect the spirit of the students.

Every night, we have Evening Celebration, which is our evening worship service. For junior high worship, we have invited a band named Collide_Worship. They are the most genuine group we have been around in a long time. Their hearts for praise and worship to the King are contagious, and the students voices were strong as they worshiped King Jesus. Then Frank Vaughn, our JH Pastor for the week, challenged the students from Jeremiah 1. Frank is a dynamic speaker, and a familiar face to Kamp, since he was our JH Kamp Pastor last year as well. Frank began the night by defining Momentum, our Kamp theme. Momentum is massXvelocity. We, the body of Christ, are the mass, and we need to move quickly towards Jesus. Frank described us all as a work of art, and God was the artist. We are His masterpiece. Too many times, we try to take the paintbrush out of His hands, and we try to create our own work, but it is never as good as letting Him be the painter! Frank went on to share that God wants an intimate relationship with each of us, and that we are set apart. We were chosen and created for a purpose. Our purpose is not to just take up space for a while on the earth, but to bring glory to the King! We had a decision time, and several students came forward. Praise God!

The High School students approached everything we did at Kamp yesterday with zeal and enthusiasm. Last night’s evening worship was no different. The students clamored to the doors yesterday eager for worship. Our high school band, The Museum, led the students in praise and worship and the students responded so well to them. It is a wonderful sight to see hundreds of high school students lifting their hands to the Lord in complete honor and worship. Tyson, our High School Kamp Pastor, spoke to the students about grace. The premise of the message is that Paul starts every one of his letters with the words grace and peace. The reason for this is grace is the beginning. Paul was radically rocked by grace. The Lord transformed him from a notorious, heinous persecutor of Christianity to one of His chosen instruments to take the gospel to the Gentiles. Because grace rocked his world, he highly elevated grace in his ministry. Tyson’s challenge to the students was to think about the things you are doing that you can’t undo and the things you are saying that you can’t take back under the banner of grace. Because of grace the Lord chases after us! What a beautiful thought! Please pray for God to continue to work in mighty and powerful ways today.

Our night ended with some fun out on the rec field. We had 7 GIANT inflatables, plus a mechanical bull. The bull got the best of us, and bruised quite a few “macho” egos. Ha! It was fun to just mill around and watch students love each other and get freed from the distractions back in Katy.

Thank you for trusting us with your students this week. It is an honor to partner with you as we raise up a generation that will love God, love people, and equip the generations to come…one home at a time!