Monday, June 29, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Pictures....that you WILL want to see
SORRY GUYS! This was meant to post last night but didn't for some reason (probably due to total lack of REM sleep) but here it is! I'll post final camp reflections and plans for RidgeStudents moving forward in light of our camp experience but for now, enjoy the pics!
Hey parentals and blog readers everywhere! It's been such a blast to be in Orange Beach these past 5 days and we have many stories. Suffice it to say, there is not enough room here to tell them all and I am pretty stinkin' tired anyway, so let's just direct you to some fun pics. In the interest of time, I have uploaded some "choice" pics from the trip onto my Picasa page so go over to that and look at your students cutting it up and being awesome! Here are 5 fun facts from today:
1) Stuart Hall (speaker) tried to steal my wifey's wedding ring
2) 3 Tiki torches on the beach make for a great late night discussion
3) David White has some mad zip-line skills.
4) Airbrushed shirts make ANY trip 100x more awesome
5) Worship was an amazing experience and makes us long for heaven
See you tomorrow parents. Please pray for the drive home. We'll need it!
Slowly shutting his eyes,
Coleman
Hey parentals and blog readers everywhere! It's been such a blast to be in Orange Beach these past 5 days and we have many stories. Suffice it to say, there is not enough room here to tell them all and I am pretty stinkin' tired anyway, so let's just direct you to some fun pics. In the interest of time, I have uploaded some "choice" pics from the trip onto my Picasa page so go over to that and look at your students cutting it up and being awesome! Here are 5 fun facts from today:
1) Stuart Hall (speaker) tried to steal my wifey's wedding ring
2) 3 Tiki torches on the beach make for a great late night discussion
3) David White has some mad zip-line skills.
4) Airbrushed shirts make ANY trip 100x more awesome
5) Worship was an amazing experience and makes us long for heaven
See you tomorrow parents. Please pray for the drive home. We'll need it!
Slowly shutting his eyes,
Coleman
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Scoffers, fools, wise....
Super camp day! Is it Sunday? Wow. Miss Joda has been cookin' some great food, the beach has been beautiful, and the sessions have been phenomenal! We did some games at Adventure Island today as well as some dodgeball on the beach. Thanks again to all your guys for great emails! Keep em' coming on the last day!
Today Stuart Hall gave us the challenge to be wise. Some of us are foolish and some are even scoffers (put down those who do good) but God has called us to a life of wisdom. Life is more than just a series of right or wrong decisions, it's about being wise. This kind of mentality breaks the mold of many "churchianity" teachings about right or wrong, Stu shared a very impactful story regarding a previous student that he knew who chose to do un-wise things and ended up dead. Without sharing all the gruesome details, needless to say it was a tragedy. Are we living wise lives? Are we looking to just go as far as we can without doing something wrong, or are we dedicated to wisdom in all areas of living? These were some great words to all students and leaders!
Compassion International has had a strong presence throughout the camp and today a young man from Kenya shared his story about becoming a child sponsored by CI. He is living proof that the pictures of these children that one chooses to support are been nourished, both physically and spiritually, and are growing up to be mighty men and women of God. If you don't already, take a moment to hop over to Compassion International's site and start sponsoring a child today. If you already have one, do another! What a great opporunity to make a large impact with a small amount.
So yeah, again, I managed to get to the room without any pics to load (the ladies have all cameras) but tomorrow we'll finally throw up some choice pics from the week. Continue to pray for fruit to come forth from our students. Continue to pray for soft and open hearts. And most of all continue to pray for salvation and true heart change in the lives of our students who don't know Christ. Thank you parents and others for your awesome encouragement, support and love and check back with us tomorrow for a last day update. Take care and have a great day in the Lord!
With sand between my toes,
Coleman
Today Stuart Hall gave us the challenge to be wise. Some of us are foolish and some are even scoffers (put down those who do good) but God has called us to a life of wisdom. Life is more than just a series of right or wrong decisions, it's about being wise. This kind of mentality breaks the mold of many "churchianity" teachings about right or wrong, Stu shared a very impactful story regarding a previous student that he knew who chose to do un-wise things and ended up dead. Without sharing all the gruesome details, needless to say it was a tragedy. Are we living wise lives? Are we looking to just go as far as we can without doing something wrong, or are we dedicated to wisdom in all areas of living? These were some great words to all students and leaders!
Compassion International has had a strong presence throughout the camp and today a young man from Kenya shared his story about becoming a child sponsored by CI. He is living proof that the pictures of these children that one chooses to support are been nourished, both physically and spiritually, and are growing up to be mighty men and women of God. If you don't already, take a moment to hop over to Compassion International's site and start sponsoring a child today. If you already have one, do another! What a great opporunity to make a large impact with a small amount.
So yeah, again, I managed to get to the room without any pics to load (the ladies have all cameras) but tomorrow we'll finally throw up some choice pics from the week. Continue to pray for fruit to come forth from our students. Continue to pray for soft and open hearts. And most of all continue to pray for salvation and true heart change in the lives of our students who don't know Christ. Thank you parents and others for your awesome encouragement, support and love and check back with us tomorrow for a last day update. Take care and have a great day in the Lord!
With sand between my toes,
Coleman
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Hot, Red and Toasty
First full day of activities. Yeash, it was a blast. Mermaids and mermen, volleyball glory, sand mansions and some good food made for a successful day!
Stuart Hall has continued to bring us challenging messages that are fun, yet full of truth. Tonight he spoke on true biblical faith. Biblical faith is more than just hoping for something better. Biblical faith is more than just trying to do more scripture reading/praying/singing in order to finally achieve an ultimate faith experience. Biblical fatith is not something you learn in order to get something from God. Biblical faith is a promise from God. A promise of ultimate deliverance. Biblical faith is hope bridged with promises from the Word.
Are we faithful or merely hopeful? Another great challenge was to discover whether or not our faith changes when life throws junk in our face. Great words. Thank you parents for all the emails, they have been a great encouragement to your students! We'll have pics up tomorrow and Monday.
With droopy eyes but a joyful heart,
Coleman
Stuart Hall has continued to bring us challenging messages that are fun, yet full of truth. Tonight he spoke on true biblical faith. Biblical faith is more than just hoping for something better. Biblical faith is more than just trying to do more scripture reading/praying/singing in order to finally achieve an ultimate faith experience. Biblical fatith is not something you learn in order to get something from God. Biblical faith is a promise from God. A promise of ultimate deliverance. Biblical faith is hope bridged with promises from the Word.
Are we faithful or merely hopeful? Another great challenge was to discover whether or not our faith changes when life throws junk in our face. Great words. Thank you parents for all the emails, they have been a great encouragement to your students! We'll have pics up tomorrow and Monday.
With droopy eyes but a joyful heart,
Coleman
Friday, June 12, 2009
Orange Beachy
12 hours, 40 ft of rain, Hurricane Carrollton, all on the first day of travel!
But by God's grace we are here in Orange Beach, Alabama and having fun. The beach is beautiful, the sun is out, and Miss Joda is cookin' up a storm. Tonight was spaghetti with homemade meatballs, and some ice cream. We've had two birthdays in our group so far; David White (June 10) and Burns Thacker (June 11). Burns wants you all to know that you can overnight your gifts to him here in Orange Beach.
We had our first session tonight featuring Fee (worship) and Stuart Hall. Stu-man challenged us with this thought: "Don't let the unexplainable overshadow the undeniable." Just because we may not have all the answers all the time, we can not deny the awesome work that God has done in our lives! He shared with us the account of Jesus healing the blind man in John 9. The Pharisees focused so much on the unexplainable that that could not see the undeniable! The blind could see yet those with sight had become blind. What a flip! Tonight in group time we talked about the concept of repentance and the "flip" that occurs when one enters a life of continual repentance. Our memory verse for the night was Mark 1:15 (NLT), "The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!"
Continue to pray for all students and leaders here! That God will open the eyes of our hearts to reveal and see His truth. Please also be in prayer for those students who are wrestling with doubt and questions. My hope and prayer is that genuine conversation can take place, that prayer and accountablity will happen, and true heart change will be the result! It's such a joy to be here with students and leaders and I can't wait to have a great week of sand in my toes and stories about the Lord's work! Take care, we'll update soon and have a great day in the Lord!
Slighly sun-burned and ready for bed,
Coleman
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