Church is Better!! Part 2

This summer I wrote about Camp is Great!  Church is Better!!

With my ordination council this past Friday and ordination service this Sunday night, I wanted to return to this theme with a part 2 post.

CAMP IS GREAT!

In sharing my testimony at Friday's council I said that the age of twelve, I was saved at a junior high camp.  "It was there that God grabbed a hold of my heart.  I do not remember the speaker or the sermon.  I do remember being overwhelmed by the fact that I could not live the life God wanted me to live in my own strength.  I repented of my sin and called out to Jesus to save me. 

I am very thankful for Christian camps.  I had many great experiences at camp as a child, which is why I send my children to camp, which is why I served as a counselor at camp in college, which is why I love speaking at camp, which is why I serve on the board at Camp Patmos.   

BUT Church is Better!!

I am very thankful to serve with Camp Patmos, that understands it "exists to assist the church by impacting lives for Christ through a serving staff and relevant programs grounded in the Word of God." 

Camp provides an intense focused time outside the everyday routines of life.  This intense focus in chapels, devotionals and so many other things provide great opportunities for growth but living from camp to camp is not how God designed us to live.    While time a short time at camp is refreshing, the church provides ongoing encouragement (Hebrews 10:24, 25) and edification (Ephesians 4:11-15).

 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IS GREAT!

I understand there are different choices when it comes to education - Christian school, public school and home school.  I am very thankful for my time as a student at Monaca High School, a public school.  I have a lot of good memories and good friends.  I am also grateful for the two years of college education at Penn State.  

I am especially thankful for how God used Christian education.  Roberts Wesleyan College provided great friends, awesome preparation for teaching, an amazing, life changing mission trip.  Santiago Christian School helped me grow so much as a teacher, missionary and especially as a Christian.  Through SCS, God provided life-long, mission focused friends who still keep in touch and awesome experiences like scuba diving, repelling down waterfalls and meeting my wife.  Module at SCS through Azusa Pacific University allowed me to learn many leadership principles and connect even deeper with my co-workers at SCS.  My four years at Emmanuel Christian School solidified my love for the local church, allowed me to connect with the great church & school my wife attended and helped me learn how to deal with a mercury fire.  

BUT Church is Better!!

I am so very thankful for the training I received at Baptist Bible Seminary.  When I say training I mean so much more than the classroom teaching.  I am thankful that one of my theology professors was also an AWANA teaching at my church.  I am so thankful that the seminary not only taught us about the church.  It encouraged involvement in local churches.

Here is a 9 minute video from David Platt about Local Church Membership

Church Membership from Radical on Vimeo.