Wednesday, July 03, 2013

More About Jesus?

More About Jesus Ohio Campmeeting 2013 was a blast. We gathered for worship Sunday evening then watched the movie about Desmond Doss and heard from Myron - an actual conscientious objector retired on Sunday evening regarding non-combatant options in today's military. Soul Cafe was a great place for breakfast and Bible study M-F @ 8am. By 10am, everyone was up and after all ages and children's divisions gathered for morning worship in the chapel, campers could choose from presentations on Listening for Heaven's Sake, The Widow's Mite: God's Plan for Financial Wellness, or Jesus Loves Me Anyway: An Intro to Following Jesus. Chef Sam had delicious vegetarian meals available in the cafeteria. Then, in the afternoon, options for campers included presentations on inductive Bible study called Good News! The Simple Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Obvious but Unknown Parables of Jesus. Some folks decided to stay in their campers or dorm rooms and take a nap. While others joined the young guns on their community




service projects or cooled off in the bowling alley, women's tea, or pools at the YMCA, Hiawatha water park, or Camp Mohaven.

In the evenings after supper, everyone gathered again to sing more songs including our theme song "More About Jesus" before separating for divisions and options including Spiritual Maturity: A Decrease That Leads to an Increase or Biblical Worship 101. If neither of those presentations whet your appetite,  golf carts could whisk you up the hill to the Mount Vernon Hill Church for the Healthy Cooking for Families classes. I enjoyed eating the finished products in these presentations! It made me feel better about the loads of marshmallows and smores we devoured during Bible trivia around the gazebo campfires at dusk sponsored by the Adventist Book Center.

The weekend was full of fantastic worship celebrating the 150 year anniversary of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Highlights included a puppet show for children's story, presentations by Bernie Anderson and Mervin Burt on the history and heritage of the Adventist Church, an amazing lunch provided by Kettering Health Network (and a team of dedicated kitchen helpers), a commemorative photo, an afternoon spiritual gifts concert featuring some accomplished musicians and some children singing their guts out for Jesus, a watermelon feed, and a couple re-enacted dreams and visions from William Miller and Ellen White told by professional story teller Kharinne Shinaul. After that, Trina Schone, an Adventist Christian songwriter and pianist from Lancaster, Ohio gave a wonderful sacred concert concluding campmeeting that moved everyone from laughter to tears. Despite the rainy weather and one day of 60mph winds that forced tent and some RV campers to tear down their sites and move into tornado shelters for one night, we certainly did learn more about Jesus and drew closer to Him! Save the dates for next year: JUN 8-14, 2014. All registration info will be hosted at www.ohioadventist.org. Our theme for next year  is: EVEN MORE ABOUT JESUS. Click here to see some more my fave pics.

All Parts Suffer?

Iran has sentenced American Pastor Saeed Abedini to eight years’ imprisonment in one of Iran’s most brutal and deadly prisons – simply because of his Christian faith. This action violates Iran’s own constitution and violates multiple international human rights treaties that Iran has voluntarily and willingly signed. Will you be a voice for Pastor Saeed? 1 Corinthians 12:26-27 NLT says, "26If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 27All of you together are Christ's body, and each of you is a part of it." Click here to join over 608k people (including me) who have signed the petition to free him. And click the vid below to hear his wife Naghmeh plead with the United Nations Human Rights Council on his behalf.