Dads and Lads “Passed Thru Fire Experience” camp

This coming Thursday (29 September 2011), I am taking my son on a camp called the “Passed Thru Fire Experience.” The “Passed thru Fire Experience” is built around a series of Activities/Ordeals and Sessions addressing the 6 attributes of Courage, Self Control, Righteousness, Care for the Weak, Integrity and Obedience to godly authority – the whole event unfolds throughout the 3 days and culminates in the Passage, an incredibly profound experience for both fathers and sons.

The camp is essentially a 3 day experience, although we are arriving on Thursday and return on Sunday. We arrive at the camp on Thursday evening at 18:00 and return home just after lunch on Sunday.

The next two videos give us a glimpse of the camp.

More about the “Passed Thru Fire Experience” can be found at Heartland.

I wish I was more like Paul

Paul, the apostle by Rembrandt (1635)

As we continue living, we come to realize how frail we are, and many times those frailties can get us down and influence those around us. I have back problems, severe degenerative spinal disease (you can read about it here). Of course, it can greatly impact my mood on the day. When I wake up in pain, like I did today, it slows me down considerably, and can sometimes make me real grumpy. Instead of responding in love to my family, my replies will be short and unkind at times.

At least, my mood at these times is never that bad that everybody just wants to stay out of my way. I simply start withdrawing from people and become quiet. At least, I suppose, it never gets as bad as it truly can, but when it carries with it constant pain for almost 2 months like it did last year, then I want to crawl in a hole and die. It does happen sometimes that I can go for about 10 days without pain. Then it is like heaven on earth. A wonderful streak like that can be brought to an end very abruptly by something as simple as picking up a towel after a shower. A friend of mine said the other day that he was in agony when he hurt his back moving heavy stuff, and that didn’t even last that long! he couldn’t imagine how it must be for me when it carries on for days or weeks!

That brings me to the apostle Paul. Here was a man that suffered for his Lord! Several times he was left for dead after being beaten to within an inch of his life. Paul recounted some of his hardships, and I wonder how I would have taken these hardships. Would I have carried the torch of Christ like Paul did? Or, would I have thrown in the towel?

“²³ Are they servants of Christ?—I speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments, beaten times without number, often in danger of death. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. ²⁵ Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. ²⁶ I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; ²⁷ I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.” (2 Cor 11:23-27)

A little personal…

At the age of 13, in 1976, I came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ at a Christian Students Association camp in Winkelspruit, South of Durban, South Africa. For the next 5 years I was very busy at school with athletics, rugby and karate (which I stopped in favour of rugby around 1979). I also studied… at times!

By the time my final year in school came around, my matric year, I was set to become a school teacher. However, I experienced a real renewal in God during this year, and really felt the call of God on my life and decided not to pursue a career as a teacher after all.