United Fresno

All students are safe and accounted for. We are still working to remove the roadblocks keeping the busses from arriving at camp. We have contact with each bus and the adults therein. CHP is on scene and coordinating efforts. Tow trucks have arrived to ensure safe roads along with plows. We will give a final post when every student has arrived at camp.

Old Oak Ranch phone number is 209-532-4295

Camp update: the busses have had trouble making it up the mountain due to chains breaking; all students are safe, morale is good. We are committed to making sure every student arrives at camp safely.

Who hasn’t even packed yet? He he he… I’ll make this short so all the guys can get to work. Ladies, I know you’ve been packed for three days. :-)

Wow, if you’ve been tracking for the past three weeks, I think it’s been an incredible journey. I was talking to someone the other day and explained the three fasts this way. The first week was about being aware of some change. The second week was really about setting aside time for that change. The final week was really about feeling that change from the inside out. If you’ve joined us in this, awesome.

Hey, if you’re the kind of person who likes to get ahead in class, I want to give you a heads up on where we are going this weekend. Check out the book of Jonah. It’s in the Old Testament. It’s a short story but a powerful one. I think that, as you read it, you’ll realize that the story is a whole lot more than a childrens’ fish tale. Can I pray a blessing for you guys as we are on the eve of something awesome?

“Father, I pray for all those who are going to be going to United Camp this weekend in Senora. Father, in Your omniscient mind, You knew every single kid, every single adult leader, every single person who is going to be there. This time was prepared for each of them. Father, I pray that You reveal Your heart to all of us this weekend. I pray that people who have never known You as Savior will turn to You this weekend. I pray that those whose faith have been on life support will get that surge of life pumping into their hearts this weekend. Father, I pray that individual lives will be changed, schools will be changed, and our ‘land’ will be changed. Amen.”

In a week where we have given up food of some sort, have you really contemplated the power of food? Food is powerful, man. Make no mistake about it. It brings people together. It’s a way of bridging all kinds of people.

A couple of years ago, I was able to experience the power of food. I was in Vancouver on a mission trip, and we were given two sack lunches one day— one to eat and one to share with anyone we wanted to share with. It was on that day that I saw the power of food in a whole other dimension. I remember sitting on a sidewalk eating lunch with homeless man whose accent was so thick that I couldn’t really understand what he was saying. I remember just sitting there eating a sandwich, some fruit, and some juice with this man and realizing that, at least at that moment, we were both the same— just two guys whose stomachs were growling.

What opened the door to me being able to sit and talk with this man? Food.

You know, anyone can really do something like that. You don’t necessarily have to be a Christ-follower to eat with random people. But, the truth of it is that our city needs food of an entirely different sort. Look at the words of the Bible one more time:

“’[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and will heal their land’” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

The world has scars from all of our sin. Sin didn’t just mess up people’s chances at spending eternity with God. Sin has taken a toll on our world, on our land, on our city. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that things are a little out of whack in many corners of our city: poverty, crime, hopelessness, hunger, etc. Our land needs healing. Isn’t it amazing to know that God calls us to seek Him as the solution to these needs as well? God wants us to seek Him so that our land can be healed!

We’re definitely going to talk a lot about what that can look like at United Camp, but I think it would be awesome if we could prepare our hearts by praying for that healing to happen today:

“Father, I do want you to heal our land. I see the brokenness that is in our land. I see young lives that lack hope. I see the elderly that no longer dream. Father, I know that this is not as it should be. Father, I know that you want more for Your people than to just be satisfied with ‘doing church’; You call us to serve and love those who need Your love. Father, I humble myself and admit that oftentimes I am way more concerned about my own well-being than others’. Father, break my heart for where I live. Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Amen.”

“’[If] My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin and will heal their land’” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

My wife and I are going to be doing the Daniel fast during the third week of the fast (remember, I’m writing this a little early). I would imagine that, by this time, I will be starting to miss meat, carbs, etc. It’s going to be an amazing challenge, but I wouldn’t call it a problem. My stomach might have a hard time to adjusting to nothing but fruits and vegetables, but there are worse things…

Based on what God is saying in 2 Chronicles, it’s pretty obvious what our primary issue is— our sin issue. Now, I’m not going to pretend that everyone who reads this blog truly understands what that means. I feel like (since it’s such a huge part of this verse) that it’s fair to go through a quick refresher.

Because of sin, man cannot be connected with a holy God. Boom. There it is. If life is all about being close with God, if life is all about being like Jesus, well, we’re already bad off from the beginning. But, then again, God’s grace was always the solution.

For those people in Solomon’s time, they didn’t know where their forgiveness was going to come from exactly; but they held God at His Word. They knew that if they sought after God and humbled themselves that God would answer with forgiveness.

It’s really no different today. We have to be humble enough to admit that we need Jesus, that we need the Cross. Are you humble enough to admit that? We have to pray and seek God’s face in and through the moment that probably best captures God’s true countenance— the Cross. We have to look at the Cross. Not the wood but the event. We have to see what Christ has done. We have to see who God is in that. Jesus’ blood was the payment, the solution, to our biggest problem— separation from God. If you have never prayed to accept that gift, understand the hugeness of that decision. If you have already done so, praise Christ for the life that is in Him!

“Father, like the song says, ‘lead me to the Cross.’” Help me to understand the weight of what Your Son did when Jesus died. Help me to meditate on Your love for us that You would die like that. Father, You are the solution to our greatest need. I pray that I would understand that life is only possible through You. As we get closer to camp, God, I pray that You would reveal Your heart to all those who search for life. Amen.”