Unplug Yourself from the Net, Plug into something even better

Between bed, my car, work, and coming home, I have looked at about 6 or 7 different LCD screens today, and now I am staring into another.  Technology in the U. S. has become so dominant in our lives, and is so abundant everywhere we look, many people actually get anxious when they have been away from their touch screens for too long.  What is even more alarming is that number of times people look at their smart phones even when they are out with friends or family.  The real question you need to ask yourself, do you control your phone, or does your phone control you?  Here are a few signs that maybe you need to give your smart phone a time out for a little while.

• You feel the need to take a "selfie" for every occasion.
• You get upper back pain on a regular basis from hunching over a tablet.
• You get phone-panic when you accidentally left your phone at home.
• You have never accidentally left your phone at home.
• When you walk into the bathroom, so does your phone.
• You have actually gotten into a argument about being on your phone too much.
• You check it before going to sleep at night.
• And then you check it as soon as you wake up.
• How many times have you Instagrammed your meal this week?
• You don't know a family member's phone number.
• Your hand looks like this.

• You use it while talking to people in real life
• You've actually mastered walking and texting.
• You miss entire TV shows because you are engulfed in what you were doing on your phone.
• You can't really enjoy anything without posting about it on Facebook or taking a picture of it on Instagram.
• Your opinion on a topic of discussion is someone's social media post.
• Did you just check it since clicking this blog post?  Really?

Perhaps we are so comforted by our phones because there is something fundamentally important missing in our lives.  Or maybe it's just a bad habit that got out of hand.  I won't pretend to presume your situation, but I can tell you that there are some pretty great advantages to taking some time away from your phone, and even the internet in general.  These are advantages like getting more sleep at night, building friendships, exercising and getting in better shape, and enjoying the world around you.  There is also a certain freedom in not being able to be reached in any way.  In the back of our heads, you might think that you are missing some huge, amazing part of life by unplugging yourself for even just a week, or that your entire world may be unraveling on Twitter without you supervising it, but you can rest assured, the world will continue without you, while you enjoy your night out with your family.  So turn your phone off, and enjoy the world around you for an hour tonight.  Enjoy the silence, or the sound of the rain outside, or the people that live in your home.  Your notifications will be there when you turn your phone on again.  Try leaving your phone at home for the day.  Not much happens on social media from 8am to 4pm anyway.  Maybe think about unplugging yourself for a whole week at a youth camp.  I guarantee, it will be worth it.

-Jack Grimes

The Great Sin

We're all guilty of it, we've all been on both ends of this sin, and it hurts every relationship we have had.  So what is the 'Great Sin'?  Pride.  Pride is the root of many of our sins, the root of many of our inabilities to improve our hearts, pride is what often times prevents us from honestly examining ourselves and seeing where we need to be more like God and less like us.  And the type of pride I am talking about, is the pride that is buried in all of us.  It's not being proud in a good day's work, proud of your children, proud of someone complimenting you, etc....but to a certain degree, the pride I am talking about is a perversion or an uncontrolled obsession with the mentioned examples.

C.S Lewis wrote,

"In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself.  Unless you know God as that - and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison - you do not know God at all.  A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and, of course as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you."

Pride leads to judgement, to jealousy, to anger, to spite, and many other sins because it becomes more about how we measure up to the person next to us, and not about bringing glory to God.  That is the difference from being proud of something and being prideful.  When we are proud, we accept compliments but recognize that we succeeded because of the gifts God gave us, for his glory NOT for our own. How many times do we get upset when we don't feel like we were recognized for something we did? That is our pride essentially wanting and longing for people to see us as superior or better.  As an athlete this resonates with me, how often do we want to celebrate all the good plays we made, but forget about the mistakes we made?  This is what makes pride so dangerous, because we often want the most grace from other people so our pride is intact, but our pride prevents us from giving the grace in return when other people mess up.

Finally, when we give our receive advice, pride so often gets in the way of the words being said, and the truth that may or may not be there.  We love to give advice, but often when someone says something true about us, whether it be a fault or a shortcoming, how quickly do we discount what they say.  Pride prevents us from taking criticism, but also enables us to be the harsh critic that our friends and family might not need in that situation.  Show some humility, show some love that person, and more importantly be understanding and receive constructive advice from people that you trust.  They see you a lot clearer than you do sometimes.  

There is no love in pride, there is no humility in pride.  God calls us to be humble before him.  Jesus tells a parable about two men going before God to pray, one a righteous pharisee, the other a tax collector.  The pharisee praises himself before God, while the tax collector humbles himself and says, 'I am not worthy'. (Luke 1 18:9-16).  So give glory to God in everything that you do,   because nothing we have is our own, but everything belongs to Him.

-Nick Kratz

Routine

Often times when we are crunched for time or running late the first thing that gets forgotten or ignored is the time we set aside for God.  I know I'm guilty of this all the time, whether it is first thing in the morning if I'm late, or if it is late at night and I am really tired, I often sacrifice my spiritual well-being, for the demands of this world. How many times have we played a sport, or been at work, or been at school, and messed up because we weren't in "rhythm"?  When we miss a step in our daily routine, it often has the potential to throw off our entire day, and I don't think that our spiritual life is any different. 

When we get into a groove and intentionally spend time with God, we feel at peace, we feel fulfilled, because we are doing what he has commanded us to do.  And this is important to realize, because when we are called to go to God in prayer, it's never for His benefit, I believe it is for ours.  God doesn't gain anything from our prayers, God doesn't need us to go to Him in prayer, He WANTS us too.  He knows that when we decide to spend time with him, we show Him love, and it shows a desire for a relationship, because that is what he has given us. 

How many times have we gone to a friend who will just LISTEN, and felt so relieved after venting because that's all we needed to do; just speak it out loud.  Praying to God on a regular basis is no different then talking to a good friend, in fact it's better.   We bring our joys, our worries, our fears, and anything else, and he listens.  The God of the universe  WANTS us to spend that time with him, WANTS that relationship with us, so why don't we use it?  I believe we are most vulnerable when we aren't being intentional about our time with God.  Like an athlete or a performer, who doesn't warmup properly, and they feel out of whack, when we aren't being intentional about our time with God, we leave ourselves vulnerable for poor decisions, poor judgement, and temptation. 

Praying on a regular basis, and making that commitment refuels us, it releases anxiety and stress, and frankly it allows us to maintain some sanity.  Verbally speaking out loud the problems that I have often clears up a lot of the anxiety and worries.  We tend to answer our own questions when we just talk about them out loud.  God wants to listen and we should let him! 

Like a player taking the baseball field who messed up his pregame warmup, or a singer, who didn't go through their vocal exercises, when we break these routines we often find ourselves in a funk.  Prayer is important, not just when we are asking God for something, but when we are choosing to share our lives with Him.  So i challenge you, to spend sometime in prayer every day...a minute, five, or ten, just get into a routine of doing so, and watch how it affects the rest of your day. 

-Nick Kratz

A message from the President...

Dear Friends,

In the late 1800's some christian men came together and created an annual week of evangelistic meetings. Their goal and purpose was to provide a place where people could come and gather, getting away from the rigors of life, and share in singing, reading, and hearing the word of God, proclaiming the salvation message of Jesus Christ. Initially, they would use tents, and a large tent for the services. This evolved into an outdoor tabernacle, open on three sides. Then they began to lease lots for the erection of cottages surrounding the tabernacle. Eventually, they added dorms for the purpose of housing teens, and a dining hall, thus began the youth camp program. 

"Oh that men would praise the Lord's goodness, and proclaim His good works to the children of man." Psalm 107:8 

These same goals and the grounds remain as a place dedicated to Jesus, and that redemption from sin is a free gift. In this tabernacle, cottages, dormitories, and on these grounds we pray that many more may find joy, and freedom in this good news, joining the thousands who professed faith in Jesus Christ at Highland. 

It is my sincere wish, and the hope of the board of directors, the Jr. Board of directors, Camp staff, Ladies auxiliary , and cottagers, that God will bless this Holy ground, and even more bless the individuals who annually hear and accept the invitation of Jesus to come to Himm confessing their sins, and professing faith in Him for eternal life. 

"What does the Lord require of you? But, to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God". Micah 6:8

Join us for the Highland Park Camp meeting week, check out how you can be a camper or attend services. Then praise the Lord for what He is about to do! 

"Behold, what manner of love the Father bestows on us that we are called the children of God.". 1 John 3:1 

Your servant in Christ, 
John D. Hollenbach, President