Today at Opportunity Camp I had a chance to visit with one of our first-time counselors. Alex is thirty-eight and is doing a great job with the kids. What many of the campers and staff may not know is that Alex first came to camp thirty years ago as a camper. He attended Opportunity Camp for five years, missing a few years here and there. The last year he attended was when he was seventeen - and he wasn't planning on coming. He was dropping off his nieces when the director asked him to stay. It was a decision he still is very thankful he made. He told me of growing up in a rough part of the Bay Area, running with gangs, and dealing drugs. The years at Opportunity Camp made a difference; he didn't want to stay like that. He knew there was something better. He had seen…
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The kids arrived Sunday, many without toothbrushes or sleeping bags -- another ordinary start to camp. We have around one hundred campers this years and over one hundred staff. That's a good ratio! Opportunity Camp has a tendency to work its way into your blood. I'm always grateful to see familiar staff faces, many of whom have been coming to camp far longer than me -- and that's been fifteen years on my part. They come from NYC, Texas, Seattle, Portland, and, of course, California. And now Colorado. Our theme for this is simple: The Life of Jesus. It's my task to tell the story of Jesus to kids ranging in age from eight to sixteen. Each day I'm telling a different part of the story, beginning this morning with the birth of Jesus. I shared with them the ordinary circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus. How his mom rode…
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As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been asked to speak at Valley View Christian Church on July 3. My text for the morning is this one: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16 Rather than debate the ins and outs of predestination (see verse 16!), I'd like to focus more on this aspect of God's call on your life and mine. I grew up in a church fellowship that didn't…
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I've been prepping for a message I will preach at Valley View Christian Church on July 3. The theme is taken from Psalm 139:13-16 ... "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." What a wonderful passage about the providence and provision of God! As I've thought about being created, knitted, and ordained by God, it's been a good time to reflect and assess. We have been fashioned by God -- physically, emotionally, and spiritually. …
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"Execution is not a one-time event." To grow a business (or a church), leaders must develop organizational habits that promote execution at all levels. Do you send the message that execution counts?
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