Summer Camp versus House Mortgage by Ritch Boerckel


This week I am in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin with 160 teenagers for summer camp.  What a great week as we focus on our theme:  Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.

This topic is drawn from John Owens classic work entitled, "The Mortification of Sin."  When John Owen wrote his treatise on sanctification in 1656, he could little imagine the kind of world that teenagers in 2012 would encounter.  Yet his message is timeless as it is drawn from the pages of holy scripture.

The teens have been learning that sin is a serious wound that must daily be put to death (cf. Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:1-5).  Sin is not only a work of our hands, but a foul condition of our hearts.  We must strike at the root of sin and not just at the bitter fruit of sin.  Sin that is not killed will deprive our soul of strength and comfort.  Such sin will untune our hearts so that we cannot enjoy God.  Yet no one can put to death a single sin without the death of Christ.  Killing sin is the work of redeemed, blood-bought people.  As born again believers, we are able to kill sin only by the power of the Holy Spirit.  We dare not strive to wrestle our sin in the power of our own good efforts.  The messages this week have not be airy marshmallows tossed to sugar starved youths!  I wish you could see the enthusiasm that the teens have for biblical substance in teaching and consecrated faith in living.  What a joy to be here with them.

Before I left for summer camp, I shared with my sister-in-law, Carol, about our plans for camp.  She looked at me and said, "Every year I tell parents and grandparents, 'Find a summer camp that will tell your children/grandchildren about Jesus .  Then do everything in your power to get them there.  Sell the car, remortgage your house, dig into your retirement savings . . . do everything in your power to provide a way to get them to camp so that they can have a week to hear about Jesus.'"

I could not agree more! Why is this particular investment such a significant one?  Let me offer you five reasons why a church summer camp that clearly teaches the Gospel can :

Reason #1:  Summer camp provides extended time for teens to learn the glory of God in the Gospel message.

At our summer camp, the teens meet two times each day to hear a message from God's Word.   At camp we have opportunity to control the schedule of a teen's day so that they have opportunity to think without interruption about God and His design for their lives.  They are free from many of the distractions that keep them from such focused concentration while they are at home.

Reason #2:  Summer camp provides opportunities for teens to spiritually evaluate their own lives and to commit their lives to Christ.


Each morning, the teens meet in small groups to discuss how they are personally interacting with God's Word.  The week is designed for spiritual life change as the teens think about where they are in their relationship with God.  Today I talked with one of the teens about their walk with God.  They said that last year they gave their life to Jesus while at our camp!  They talked about the struggles that they continued to have, but how Christ has made such a difference.  God used last year's summer camp to open this young girls heart to the Gospel.

Reason #3:  Summer camp provides access to spiritual leaders who can talk individually with teens about problems in their lives.

This year we have 28 adult volunteers who have committed themselves to spend this week with teenagers in order to personally talk with them about Christ.  How thrilled I am when I see a group of girls huddled around one of our female volunteers in deep conversation.  Summer camp has reminded me that many teens yearn for adult interaction to talk about spiritual issues in their life.  Summer camp gives the teens access and comfort for deep conversations with godly adults to occur.  My practice at camp is set aside a couple afternoons to plant myself in the sweet shop.  I bring my computer to do some work, but I never get any work done.  Teens will come up to the table, sit down and want to talk about a myriad of subjects.  After we talk for about a half an hour, one set of teens leaves and another appears.  My sense is that teens really want to talk to Christian adults about issues that they are facing.  As a dad of a camper, I am thankful that my teen son has other godly adults who interact with him during his week of camp.

Reason #4:  Summer camp provides an opportunity to develop Christian friendships with other teens.


Many teens share Elijah's discouragement.  They wonder whether there are any other teens who have not yet bowed the knee to Baal and who are faithful to Christ.  One teen that I talked with today remarked that he does not know of any peer in his school who is following Jesus.  He wishes that he would have at least one school friend who would share his fight against sin and his desire to proclaim Christ.  Here at camp, he seems really joyful to be around other guys his age who share his love for Jesus.  Camp is a great boost to his faith.

Reason #5:  Summer camp provides impetus for the teen to connect more deeply to the church when they return home.

While huge decisions can be made for Christ during a week of camp, those decisions can easily fade if they are not followed by a year long commitment to Christ and His church.  Camp often makes a deep commitment to church more inviting to a teen.  Often teens feel that they are on the outside of their peer group when they are at church.  Camp can change that perception.  Often teens feel that the youth group is cold to them.  Camp can change that perception.  Often teens feel that the youth leaders do not know or care about them.  Camp can change that perception.

So if you have to, remortgage your house and send your children to camp.  Oh wait . . . our church provides a scholarship every teen who needs one.  We tell parents, "Pay whatever you are able to and the church joyfully will cover the rest of the cost for you!"  We believe that the week will be worth it for you, for your child, and for God's glory.

The High Cost of Health Care is Worth It

Last week, Newsweek published an article by Amanda Bennett in which she told the heartbreaking story of her husband Terrence’s battle with kidney cancer and his death in 2007.  It was entitled, “Why Did Her Husband’s End-of-Life Care Cost So Much,” and emphasized the high financial cost of his final days of life.

I agree with many of Bennett's concerns throughout the piece, but the underlying assumption of the article is that at some point the cost of trying to keep a person alive becomes too excessive and is even perhaps morally wrong.  Bennett muses:

Would Terence and I have picked hospice sooner had we had someone—or something like a panel—waiting there to help us work through our choices?  I don’t know.  But even knowing the price tag on the care he was getting might have helped him make choices that were consistent with the life he had lived.  The seven-year bill for his care was $618,616.   I believe he would have liked the chance to play a more active role in how we spent enough money to vaccinate 600,000 children in the developing world.  That’s how he would have seen it.

There are a host important things to consider when discussing end-of-life care and it’s emotional and financial cost.  Sometimes our herculean efforts to keep a person alive simply lead to the greater suffering of someone who is certain to die.  Medical care in this instance leads not to continued life but simply a longer death. 

We must also acknowledge there is rampant waste in our medical system that raises the cost of dying.  Tests that are unnecessary are conducted anyway, due to fear of unscrupulous attorneys who prey on grieving families.  The arbitrary nature of our medical costs are highlighted by Dr. Renee Hsia who found that the cost of an appendectomy in California “ranged from $1,500 to an extraordinary $183,000, with the midpoint at $33,000—and no obvious medical reason for the difference.”

My purpose isn’t to wade into the deep waters of a subject I know little about.  Many of you could speak more knowledgeably regarding the cost of health care.  I simply want to highlight this point: the cost we spend to care for a dying person is worth it. 

Yes, it’s expensive.  Yes, we should not unnecessarily prolong someone’s suffering.  But the way we treat those who are dying says something about what we believe about the theology of life.  The care we show those who bear the image of God even in their decaying bodies says something about what we believe about God.

As we consider the cost of caring for the aged or terminally ill, it is important to remember a few things.  First, remember that for most people the cost of dying is distributed among a large group of people through medical insurance.  Not all of us are going to die "expensively," so we share the cost of those who will.  Second, even though the last few months of a person’s life may be incredibly expensive, when you spread the cost of their health care over their entire life, the cost makes more sense.  Third, it is hard to know when we're dealing with end-of-life costs.  It's a case of 20/20 hindsight to say sometimes that a particular treatment was excessive or unnecessary.

Those who criticize the cost of dying like to throw out dramatic statistics that make it seem like a waste of money.  Some researchers estimate that the cost to add a year of quality life is about $145,000.  That means that for a person to go from age 80 to age 81 would cost $1,800 a year over the course of their life.  

If in a family of three, one person developed a life-threatening illness and the family extended that person's life by a year, the cost spent by their insurance company would be about equal to what the family had spent on household cleaning products over the course of that person’s life.  That seems worth it to me.  

But even if this were not the case, I’d still argue that the amount we currently spend to care for the dying is worth every penny.  After all, we’re a people that spend $43 billion on our pets! 

I don't know how to make all the decisions regarding what care to give and when.  I understand that our resources are limited.  We sometimes have to make hard economic choices, such as choosing where to spend research dollars.  The mentality that devalues human life or views high health care costs of the elderly as excessive, however, does not reflect biblical values in my opinion.  The human life at all stages has a unique value that we as believers must champion.  

Lessons from My Father, Part One

Lessons from My Father, Part One

If I were a holiday, I’d hate to be a June holiday.  There’s just no recognition.  Let me be Christmas or even President’s Day before being a June holiday, because when it comes to June, holidays for some reason are forgotten.  Does anyone even know what day “Flag Day” is?  Hmm, does anyone even know that Flag Day is a June holiday?

The other big June holiday, of course, is Father’s Day.  I don’t know why it is that Mother’s Day is so big, and Father’s Day is an afterthought.  I think some serious gender discrimination is occurring, for who can say that one parent is more important than the other?  God has so designed families that we really need both parents, and when we don’t have them, we encounter special troubles, not insurmountable troubles, but special troubles nonetheless.

My father entered the presence of the Lord two years ago.  I continue to draw inspiration from his life.  Six months ago, I became a grandfather, and I've found myself thinking about my father's influence on his grandchilden.  So, as a way to honor his influence in my life and to pass some of what he taught me along to you, I'm going to share 20 lessons that I learned from my father.  We'll have 10 this week, and 10 next week.

1.    Keep the Gospel at the heart of all you do.  Dad saw that the only reason he had any wisdom at all was that God opened his eyes to the Gospel.  He never forgot the grace of God.  Everything else was an outflow of the impact of the Gospel upon his life.  Although Dad was a man of principle, those principles were not ends in themselves.  They derived from grace through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Because Jesus Christ took Dad’s punishment, there was freedom to live for God, to serve Jesus Christ’s church, and to be led by the Holy Spirit.

2.    The Bible is the clear communication of God to us, and I should read it for a feast for the soul.  My Dad read, taught, and lived the Bible.  The discussion of the Bible was part of our natural discourse and conversation.  We simply could not have a conversation in our home without some reference to scripture. 

3.    Love your wife.  My Dad’s earthly affections were always and only for my mother.  He often told us that all he ever wanted was a wife and family that loved the Lord.  And he never got over the fact that the Lord indeed gave him those treasures.  He never got over that Mom said, “Yes.”

4.    Pray for the individual members of your family by name every day.  My Dad did this for each of his children, their spouses, his grandchildren, and their spouses.  He went to bed in prayer for his family.  His prayers were no mere formal, “God bless” prayers either.  He prayed specifically for our spiritual encouragement, most especially that we would stay true to Christ and the Gospel.  As a child, I remember not just that Dad would pray for me, but he would pray nightly with me.  What a powerful way to introduce the wonder of the Divine!

5.    Spend time with your children; have fun with them; worship with them; instruct them.  My Dad spelled the word “father”—T I M E.  He gave us his time.  He played with us, read to us, told us stories.  He made a priority of worship attendance.  He taught us from daily life how to think Christianly.  His instruction was more from real encounters with God and the world than it was a systematic teaching.  And while there is a place for systematic teaching, the teaching that happens “when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down and when you rise” (Deuteronomy 6:7) indelibly connects life to the scriptures.

6.    Laugh at yourself--a lot.  It makes you more approachable and fun to be with.  My Dad might not have enjoyed being the brunt of the joke, but you could never tell it by being with him.  He enjoyed retelling his blunders in life, and he equally enjoyed it when others retold them.  There is a strong humility in this that made my father attractive and approachable.

7.    It is worthwhile to love people who are not very lovable and to do so for many years without getting much in return or response.  My Dad loved and cared for a stepmother in her old age who, many years earlier, had been an active participant in the breakup of his parents.  Seeing such grace in action was a powerful testimony that the Gospel is real.

8.    Be compassionate to those to whom life has dealt tough blows.  My Dad always seemed to be helping and counseling men who had made wrong choices or who had been dealt great misfortune.  His compassion was practical but not naïve.  It was measured with good boundaries, but it was a real extension of the grace of God.

9.    Always stay in the arena of discipleship.  Keep mentoring and discipling people.  Keep teaching the Word of God.  Right until the last weeks of his life, my father was meeting with men, young and old, and encouraging their walk with Christ.  He never retired from the service of the King.

10. Give away as much as you can.  My Dad had a long list of Christian ministries that he supported over and above his regular giving to his church.  If Jesus’ words are true, that a man’s heart is where his treasure is, then my father had his heart in a lot of places but always with one goal—the advancement of the Gospel and the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

Wedding Photographers and the Sweet Land of Liberty

Jesus told His followers what to expect. We can expect to be hated and mistreated by a world that declares its independence from God. Few prophetic utterances are made more clearly in scripture than those that promise us difficulty from our world.

John 15:18 If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

John 15:20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.

Jesus is fully expecting His disciples to experience persecution from individuals and from governing authorities. He tells them to expect it too! The history of the Christian church bears the painful, bloody marks of the truthfulness of Jesus words.

I am thankful that Christians living in America have lived in a country whose governing charter rests upon a commitment to religious freedom. For this reason, Christians in America have not only been free from experiencing any persecution from governing authorities, but we have been free even from fear of the strong arm of government trouncing upon our religious consciences. We have sung joyfully of our sweet land of liberty for over 200 years.

As Christians, we recognize that this sweet experience is an anomaly on the face of this earth. Over the whole course of human events few people have even dipped their finger into the well of liberty that we have gulped from so deeply. We Christians also recognize that our religious liberty is not due to our nation's respect for humankind, but due to our nation's respect for God. A professed respect for humankind separated from a respect for God inevitably leads to a contraction of religious liberty. John Adams recognized this as he wrote, "It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue."

As our nation loses her spiritual light and life, we can expect liberties to fail. This past Thursday (May 31) the New Mexico Court of Appeals made a landmark decision that illustrates the kind of loss to religious liberty that is fast approaching us in our nation. In 2006 a Christian photographer named Elaine Huguenin refused to photograph a "commitment ceremony" for Vanessa Willock and her lesbian partner on the basis of Huguenin's Christian views of marriage as a sacred union between one man and one woman. Her Christian conscience did not permit her to participate in the celebration of this union. Huguenin was sued for violating Willock's civil rights and this week the appeals court found her guilty and required her to pay a fine of nearly $7000. Contained in the 45 page ruling, the court said that the photography business is a public accommodation and as such the business cannot use their faith to discriminate against others based upon sexual orientation. One excerpt from the ruling reads, “The owners of Elane Photography must accept the reasonable regulations and restrictions imposed upon the conduct of their commercial enterprise despite their personal religious beliefs that may conflict with these governmental interests.” Our nation's spiritual lifelessness shakes the foundation upon which our liberty rests.

How are Christians to respond to these news events which will likely multiply in our land? One large reason that we experience spiritual rebellion in our country is because of the spiritual rebellion found in the church. While this is not the only problem we face, my thoughts of our response center around how we might strengthen the church as persecution increases. I ask you to consider five specific responses to strengthen the church as we endure hardship of various kinds:

1. Pray for spiritual revival in our own personal lives. We cannot impart spiritual life if we do not possess it in our own souls. Seek the LORD. Confess sin. Tear down the idols of the heart. Grow in our communion with the Triune God.

2. Pray for spiritual revival in the church and diligently work toward that end. Become active in making your church more like Jesus. Be the gift that God intends for you to be to the church for its health and strength.

3. Be bold and clear in proclaiming the Gospel to a dark world. Only the Gospel can bring spiritual life, let us not shrink from daily declaring Jesus to be both Savior and Lord. Use any hardship to promote the glory of God in Christ Jesus.

4. Be patient in enduring persecution. The cause of Christ is not promoted when we complain. Yes, we are right to argue in the public sphere for freedom and liberty. Yes, we are right to battle against abuse from government. We are right to use political means to secure liberty. But we must not become a whining people. We speak God's truth from a position of peace and confidence, knowing that God is Sovereign.

5. Give thanks to the LORD for His kindness in both prosperity and pain. He sends us difficulty to help us become more like Jesus. Opposition to our faith gives us greater opportunity to worship the God who is worthy of praise. To God alone belongs the glory.
Our fathers' God, to thee, author of liberty, to thee we sing; long may our land be bright with freedom's holy light; protect us by thy might, great God, our King.

Standard Measurement

Two articles by Judy Dutton in this month’s Mental Floss create an interesting juxtaposition, especially in light of the focus at Bethany Community Church in the coming weeks on God’s unchanging definition of and standards for marriage. 

The first article is entitled “In Praise of Sin.”  The tagline introducing the article proclaims: “Scientists have found that the seven [deadly sins]… aren't so terrible after all.  Consider this your official permission to give in to temptation.” 

The article proceeds to cite various studies that could conceivably be seen (if you squint just so) as extolling the virtues of a particular vice.  For example, how could envy be seen as beneficial?  Dutton writes that according to psychologists Sarah Hill and David Buss, “feeling intense jealously [sic] actually spurs the envious to improve their performance.” 

The article was written tongue-in-cheek, but I still saw a conceptual connection with another article by Dutton in the issue entitled, “The Perfect Kilogram.”  Pictured above, the International Prototype Kilogram, or “Le Grand K” “was forged in 1879 from an alloy of platinum and iridium” and “hailed as the ‘perfect’ kilogram—the gold standard by which other kilograms would be judged.”

Great care is taken to preserve the integrity of Le Grand K.  It is kept in a secure location at the International Bureau of Weights and Measures.  Once every 40 years it is taken out and compared against other weights.  Currently, there are 80 replicas that are tested against Le Grand K.

Here’s the problem.  Le Grand K is losing weight.  The last time it was taken from its vault, it was found to have lost 0.05 milligrams, or about the weight of a grain of sand.  While this may seem small, Dutton does a great job discussing the implications of not knowing the true weight of a kilogram. 

“Why should we care whether a kilogram in a vault is “perfect” or not?  Because it’s bad news when your standard is no longer standardized.  While no one’s worried about whether a single kilogram of apples is a hair lighter or heavier at the produce stand, a small discrepancy can become a gargantuan one if you’re dealing with, say, a whole tanker of wheat.  The kilogram is also used as a building block in other measurements.  The joule, for instance, is the amount of energy required to move a one-kilogram weight one meter.  The candela, a measure of the brightness of light, is measured in joules per second.”

But again... so what?  Dutton explains: “These links mean that if the kilogram is flawed, so are the joule and candela, which could eventually cause problems in an array of industries, particularly in technology.  As microchips process more information at higher speeds, even tiny deviations will lead to catastrophes.”

In the first article, we see that the standard by which we declare something “good” or “evil” is not fixed in our culture.  In fact, we could lament that the standard is not fixed within the church.  The second article is a metaphor of a culture—or church—groping around for some unchanging standard by which to live.  There has been a gradual yet consistent rejection of biblical truth and we find ourselves now “off” not by mere inches (or millimeters, I suppose) but miles (or kilometers).

 

In Amos 7:8, God’s Word is the plumb line--the standard--by which He measures the obedience and disobedience of His people: "And the Lord said to me, 'Amos, what do you see?'And I said, 'A plumb line.' Then the Lord said, “Behold, I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass by them."

I know that Ritch, Art, and Scott will be holding the plumb line of God's Word for their churches and our culture this weekend.  At Bethany Community, we will begin to take the plumb line of God’s Word and measure our understanding of marriage and sexuality against it.  I’m excited and fearful as we call people in our churches this weekend to adherence to God’s unchanging and perfect standard.

Heavenly Minded and of Great Earthly Good

Most of us have heard the saying, or accusation, “he is so heavenly minded, that he is of no earthly good”.  The idea behind this criticism is that the more the Christian focuses on the coming kingdom of heaven, the less that same one will seek to be of benefit to others, doing good in the here and now.  I’ve come to believe, on the basis of Scripture, that this statement and the sentiment behind it, is both untrue, and actually a tool of Satan to keep the Christian from an eternal perspective. 

One of Satan’s ploys is to keep the unbelieving mind captive to the here and now.  Through worldly philosophies, ideologies, and especially the fear of death, our enemy attempts to keep man’s focus on living only for the moment, satisfied with cheap pleasures, instant gain and immediate gratification.  “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”  Those same fallen worldviews often snake their way into the community of faith, confusing the minds of believers.  And it is here that we must destroy those speculations raised against the knowledge of God, taking our thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.  God’s word encourages believers to cultivate a heavenly mindedness in order that we might indeed live here and now in such a way as to be pleasing to Christ at His coming.

Let me give a sampling of God’s truth that destroys speculation in this area, so that your hearts will be built up in the faith. 

Heavenly Minded: “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” is followed by exhortations to put aside all immorality, impurity, idolatry, and to cultivate a heart of compassion, kindness and humility (which is of great earthly good).

Focused on Promises Yet to Come: “He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” is followed by the reminder to add to your faith things like moral excellence, self-control, brotherly kindness, and love (all of which are of great earthly good).

Looking for the Appearing of the Savior:  “Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus” is preceded by the call to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and live sensibly in this present age (which is of great earthly good).

Delaying Gratification for Future Reward:  “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” is followed by the encouragement to use current opportunities to do good to all people (which is of great earthly good).

The idea of that fixing our hope completely on the future grace to be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ is actually counterproductive to earthly service to God is impossible to substantiate from God’s truth.  Quite the contrary!

Scott's blog intro

I’m Scott.  Art and Daniel are friends and sincere partners in faith.  Ritch is my younger brother (he would say much younger) which does not necessarily mean that he and I can’t be friends and sincere partners in faith.  I serve as the senior pastor at East White Bible Church in Carlock, Illinois.  I love our church because she reveals so much beauty as the bride of Christ. My precious wife, Carol, and I have been married for 31 years.  We have three grown sons, two daughters-in-law, one grandson, and a grandbaby on the way.

I’m looking forward to this blog because while Art, Daniel, Ritch, and I think alike about many things (and all the important things), we each have a way of expression and even of thought that is different enough that our dear readers will get a more fully orbed perspective than if only one contributor participated.

My goal in this blog is to get famous and be asked to write incredible best selling books.  This will enable me to quit my day job and be one of those famous “former” pastors who only have to prepare one sermon every 4-6 months or so and be regarded as an “amazing” thinker and man of God as well as a well compensated conference speaker.

Not really—I just want to see if anyone is still reading this.  What I really want to do is to point people to the Bible as our authoritative guide for how to think and how to live, to reveal the Gospel of grace as the only means to salvation and holiness, to grow in Christlikeness by interacting with my three brothers, and to reveal the joy of abandoning all I have for the kingdom of Jesus Christ.