Miracle Camp

BMA Miracle Camp, Ringgold, Louisiana.  Is this a blast from the past for anyone but me???  When I saw this picture, I could smell the pines and remember the emotions that came over me each year.  For those who don't know, BMA stands for Bible Memory Association.  (It's now called Scripture Memory Fellowship)  BMA was an organization designed by Dr. Woychuk to encourage scripture memory.  This wasn't just one verse a week.  Oh no.  I was 8 years old when I started and I believe I was memorizing 5 verses a week then.  We were involved every year after that.  By high school, we were memorizing 13 verses a week.  Each week, we went to our "hearer's" home and recited our verses.  (My hearer was Tom Kelley.)  It had to be done word perfectly.  This was usually a Saturday morning--which insured we got to hang out with friends!  But as you can imagine, it was a little stressful, trying to make sure you knew your verses.  And I remember a few weeks when I didn't memorize my verses until---Saturday morning!  I think there were 12 weeks of memorizing in each book.  Once a month, I think, we'd get to select a reward from a book.  It was usually books that told stories about missionaries.
And then....THEN in the summer, there was BMA camp.  If you finished the program, you were eligible to attend the camp.  There were actually several around the country, but Louisiana was closest to us.  But, of course, you had to have parents or sponsors take you.  It's so hard to believe, looking back, that our family went nearly every summer to Ringgold, Louisiana to Miracle Camp.  We absolutely loved it!  When we arrived, we had to quote 3 chapters of verses (that would be 39 verses in high school) word perfectly in one sitting to be admitted to camp.  I don't know that my dad ever memorized with BMA, but he got a free pass as a driver and a sponsor of a boy's cabin.  Ha!  He always had us worried on our drive to Ringgold--wondering if he'd be allowed into camp.  (I admit, he had me worried!)  And then we stayed in unairconditioned cabins---rustic cabins.  It was hot and sultry.  But oh---so much fun!  We heard wonderful Bible teachers (can anyone name any of them?), learned choruses (I even played piano a few times for camp), fell in love, and used our manners at mealtime.  It was a well-organized camp.  And I learned a lot.  I never got to do this, but I know my older brother did.  When you were in high school, you could apply to be a Whitefoot.  It was a much sought after position, but actually, you were the "help" for the week--or 2 weeks, I think.  Ha!  But it was prestigious to be accepted as a Whitefoot.
I hadn't thought about Miracle Camp in a long time.  What a treasure!!  I was so blessed to be taught so much about the Word by such deep Bible teachers all my life.  Blessed!

Did you hear about this?

 The Atheist Agenda of the Univcrsity of Texas in San Antonio was exchanging Smut for Smut recently.  You could give them your Bible in exhange for pornography.

"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them."
II Timothy 3:1-5

Reminder

I needed to be reminded of these simple verses that pack such a powerful punch tonight.  I thought I'd share it:

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 12:1-2

Great Donation Idea!

Do you have a prom dress or wedding dress hanging in your closet?  You would make someone's day by donating it to Living Water!  We usually get some very out-of-style dresses before prom and before summer weddings, but it would be so nice to have some that are stylish available.  Why just let it hang in your closet when you could help someone less fortunate?  (Unless, of course, you're planning on passing your wedding dress on to your daughter.)  There are so many young women who could never afford something really nice.  And hey!  If you have a veil or the shoes that match---even better!!

Haters of Good

I'm disturbed.  Tonight, I was flipping through channels and landed on Fox News and stopped because they were talking about the Focus on the Family ad (above) that the NCAA pulled.  I wish I'd paid closer attention to the woman who was speaking on behalf of the NCAA.  She was from some women's group.  She was praising the NCAA for pulling the ad because "Focus on the Family is only wanting to lure people to their website where they promote their agenda.  These people are homophobics with no thought for diversity, etc., etc...."   I honestly sat there with my mouth open, incredulous that I was hearing someone state that we have a generation that is not open to the things this organization is teaching.  That this generation is diverse and won't stand for the hate that is promoted on Focus on the Family's website.  So...in light of their great diversity, they censored this ad.

The greater battle here is a battle for our voice.  Christians are being silenced.  There is a concerted effort to usher in lies, fear and intimidation to silence us.   (If you want a good picture of this in scripture, look at the life of Jezebel.)  We were told to expect it.  II Timothy 3:1-3 says that "in the last days...people will be haters of good."

I urge you to be a seeker of Truth.  Guard your heart and mind against deception.  Any of us can be deceived.  Don't give in to fear and intimidation. Instead ask God to fill your heart with courage.  And pray.

Philippians 1:28
 "And do not [for a moment] be frightened or intimidated in anything by your opponents and adversaries, for such [constancy and fearlessness] will be a clear sign (proof and seal) to them of [their impending] destruction, but [a sure token and evidence] of your deliverance and salvation, and that from God."

Does it bug you...

...like it does me? I'm seeing more and more people out in public in their pajamas!! I hate it! In fact, yesterday, I was going to Wal-Mart and saw a mother/daughter duo in their matching pajamas. What were they thinking? Now I'm all for comfort, but seriously...pajamas??? Have we quit caring? I heard an employee of Wal-Mart say that our manager had to send another employee home from work to change out of their pajama pants. What???

I'm just wondering what this says about our culture...?

The love of many will grow cold...

I've been stuck on this verse for a few weeks. Matthew 24:12, "And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold." The context of the verse is talking about the last days. And we all know lawlessness is abounding. We have no idea what's ahead.

But it's actually the last part of the verse that's been stuck on my mind. "The love of many will grow cold." I've found myself growing cold. Not all at once...I would have noticed that. But it's been gradual. And suddenly, I found myself enjoying being alone more than hosting in my home. I know it's not wrong to want to be alone some...but I've gotten to where it's an ordeal to get out of my box and hang around people. And it scared me.

Then Carl Duso was teaching on Mark 14 in Sunday School about Jesus taking Peter, James & John to the garden to pray. You remember the story---the disciples fell asleep. When Jesus came to wake them up, He said to Peter, "Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch for one hour?" Did you catch it? He said to Peter, "SIMON..." Why did he call Peter "Simon?" That was his old name but Jesus had renamed him "Peter." I think Jesus was addressing Simon's flesh. He was saying, "Simon, you're asleep. You're giving in to your flesh and what it wants to do. Wake up!! You don't know what's ahead of you!!" And soon after that, Peter denied Jesus three times.

It's dangerous to be asleep in these days. I don't want my love to grow cold. I know I need the fellowship of other believers but more importantly, I need to be in love with God. I need a prayerful life. After all, I don't know what's ahead.