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Fruit at Camp #6: Goodness
What even is goodness, you may ask? Is it just another adjective on the good, gooder, goodest scale? We often sing about the goodness of God, but I’ve wondered what that means. The Greek word for goodness is Agathosyne, which refers to “uprightness of heart and life”. By experiencing the… (Keep Reading)
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Fruit at Camp #5: Kindness
I personally skim over this one way too often. Kindness, yep, I help people and give kids high-fives, surely that counts. The Greek word for kindness, Chrestotes, has several underlying meanings. For one, there’s an assumption that when we show kindness, we do it by meeting real needs. Kindness is… (Keep Reading)
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A Second Camp Story
It was a warm summer evening at camp, and naturally, the Camp Staff had a plan. The campers were gone for the day, so it was just the full-timers. Since our camp is situated on a river, we set off on a canoe/paddleboard adventure. Around twenty of us made our… (Keep Reading)
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Fruit at Camp #4: Patience
I thought patience meant not getting frustrated while stuck in traffic, or not slamming the door in your sibling’s face when they come into your room for the fifteenth time. Turns out there’s more to it. The Greek word for patience is Makrothymia, and it has multiple meanings. (Keep Reading)
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Fruit at Camp #3: Peace
Interestingly, the Greek word often translated as peace is Eirene, which refers to the pagan goddess of peace. Given that the Galatians worshipped pagan gods before converting to Christianity, they would have been familiar with the meaning of the word. So often we look at the world and wish for… (Keep Reading)
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Fruit at Camp #2: Joy
Before we dive into the “meat” of today, we need to know what Paul means when he calls joy a Fruit of the Spirit. The Greek word we translate as joy is Chara. The word occurs more than fifty times in the Bible, such as when the shepherds saw the… (Keep Reading)
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A Camp Story
It was a hot summer day at camp, and naturally, I had neglected to put on sunscreen. Our task appeared simple: move a 26-foot-tall inflatable from the beach to the middle of the river. I’d already spent the morning hunting for missing concrete anchors in the murky water, so we… (Keep Reading)
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Fruit at Camp #1: Love
Since I’m only introducing one new word per week, I think it’s important that we understand what each word means. While the English language has one word for love (which is continually being redefined), the Greek language uses four words used to represent love in the Bible. (Keep Reading)
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A Different Kind of Summer, Part IV
Expect the Unexpected God works in ways we can’t imagine. These last two weeks have been filled with unforeseen events. Through it all, I’ve come to know God’s mighty power even better. In this final installment of my summer series, you’ll hear about my family vacation, an all-important phone call,… (Keep Reading)
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A Different Kind of Summer, Part III
A God of Wonders. We all breathed a collective sigh of relief when we heard what the theme for Middle School camp was (listed above) – a far contrast to The Upside of Down. In my last post, I recapped the first two Middle School camps. Today I’d love to… (Keep Reading)
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A Different Kind of Summer, Part II
Is Upside Upside Down Possible? I promise the next few paragraphs aren’t a copy of my last post. Sometimes God loves repetition. Before I recap my time serving and leading at Middle School camp, I think it’s only fitting that I tell you about my time as a camper. Saying… (Keep Reading)
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A Different Kind of Summer, Part I
The Upside of Down What happens when a group of like-minded people get together and work towards a common goal? What happens when they spend a week together serving, connecting, and growing in their relationship with Him? What happens when the spiritual forces of good and evil tangibly clash? That… (Keep Reading)
