outofthe darkness--- in to the LIGHT

IT IS TIME

the time of darkness is over

this IS the time of light

the bulbs in the ground feel the warmth in the dark and dirty dirt caused by the light as they are coaxed out of that darkness to experience life---light.

not long after...they will BLOOM

color~beauty~life

THINGS THAT MEAN something

b ready

b awake

He is calling you.

wisdom & insight

I think a lot about confidence and motivation.

Yesterday I read Proverbs 4. I keep re-reading it for some reason....I guess there is just SO MUCH there and yet it is all so simple.

I do think that love is a motivator. Good love, the kind of love that refreshes one's soul. The love of loving others and knowing we are loved.

I think that is the hard part....the knowing we are loved part.

If God, is our Father then we need to know how strong His love is.
Truly how strong it is.

Nothing can get in the way of the love of God for His children......nothing.

So let's go forth today resting in the knowledge that we are loved by our Father and there is nothing we can do that will change that.

Staff Shirt

Staff shirt time again!

.....oh no!

Really it means; camp is around the corner should He bless us again!

want a say

want an edge?

post a comment or find me

rules & regs w/b out soon
email pepperplanet@yahoo.com

there's this "guy" on facebook....

This guy I knew, well didn't know him enough to have his cell...but I could get it easily enough. I liked him. He was a pretty cool guy and I know he believed in God. Now this guy wasn't perfect, well really how would I know if he was perfect, but no one is, are they? Well, this guy I know, he believed in God and followed Him the best he could.

Well....he passed away, suddenly and unexpectedly...but I was his friend on FB.
So he's kinda still there, but he isn't....except I really thinks he's there, I do.....you know living eternally...yeah I know, it can sound corny, but it isn't.

So to my friend on FB....you know who you are....one day we'll catch up.

when God calls....

I'd like to think I would not have denied knowing Jesus, but I know my heart.

God does call us....do we answer or do we deny Him like Peter?

God is calling.

We need to answer.

If we light a lamp, it is for light and we let the light shine.

When God calls and He does call, we need to answer.

Answers need to be like actions.
God is calling, do not deny Him. Light the lamp. Put it on a stand. Let it shine brightly.
Do not be ashamed of light. For it is good. Light is good. God is good.

What can man do to me? NOTHING.

The phone rings incessantly. We need to answer.
Answer with our very life for it is by that that we will gain life.

From the guidebook of life; the Holy Bible.
Luke 22
Luke 8
Psalm 56
Psalm 23


eventually....Peter answered the phone.

grasping the truth

When you find the truth, you must hold on to it at all costs

We live our lives, for what?
Education?
Family?
Money?
Pleasure?
In this world we live to live
And as we live we are given opportunities to see
What do we do with the truth when we find/see it?
Acceptance of truth is easy
Application is what those that accept the truth are called to do

What and how are you applying the truth?
Have you found the truth?
And more importantly are YOU looking for the truth?

I do not accept the things of this world as truth
I am called by the truth which is God to be His
I have accepted Him
AND
I am following
PSALM 23
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

Truth- what is "wrong" with that bible verse above?
He "restores" my soul! Wow! He restores my soul....pure beauty!
He leads me in paths of "righteousness"....is there anything better?
Why? "for His name's sake???? Not for me, not for the Philadelphia Eagles or the Dallas Cowboys, not for republicans or democrats, not for LOST or Jersey Shore, but for Him!

Him is God and His Son; Jesus did roam the earth....right? You can believe He existed...right? And if so I challenge you to seek the TRUTH.

I have found the truth and will continue to "grasp" it for the time I am granted and for this reason-
Psalm 23 continued:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all of my days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

What more could you want, really?

so far away, and yet....

the world is closing in.

it seems to have it's talons on me and yet...

so far away, but not.

on the last night of any camp week I always like to think about bringing the heart of camp into the world. the heart being Jesus and yet...

the world is where I am and live and yet...

I think back to "camp life", the life where NOTHING else seems to matter, but Jesus.

and then I am back in the world struggling to bring that love, that beauty of simplicity know as Camp Manatawny into my daily world and it never seems to work.

what is it about camp manatawny? what is it that makes it work?

isn't it God?

if we bring Him into the world

then the world is simply more beautiful

more loving

more giving

more understanding

more tolerable

i want to live forever, in a place such as this and therefor I will proclaim the name of Christ above all other names for without Him....I truly am the world. And with Him I am His.

and that makes it alright.

twists & turns

A bit perplexed today. I can't seem to find what I am looking for. I keep my stuff a bit like my mind....all over. I am looking for some wire cutters...pliers anything that will bend some wire for me. Without the right tool....the purpose becomes diluted. Sure I can make do, but I don't think the wire will bend the same using my fingers and since I need to strip the wire my handy dandy pocket knife will not really strip the wire correctly and burning the plastic off is just a bad idea....trust me I've had a lot of those...BAD IDEAS.

So as I attempt to find some purpose and get some things done...I realize the tool I need. There is nothing that refocuses me, my purpose, like the word of God. I mostly I need it every minute of every day.

That's where I am going to go now....to my bible...and somehow I think when I am done those pliers will turn up.

days upon days

Vision without action is a dream.

Action without vision is simply passing the time.

Action with vision is making a positive difference.
Joel Barker

Yesterday I was told of the death....the death of a kind & loving man. He became diagnosed with cancer of the liver about 3-4 weeks ago and it was a rapid decline from there. It is sad.

So today, again, I weigh out what it is I do here on earth with my time.....

Am I making a difference?

Am I instigating change?

Am I inspiring too others?

I can see people coming to know Jesus.
I can see people dedicating their lives to Him who gives life.

If I can see that difference....then I can be that difference.

been contemplative lately

It has been such a long, long time.

So very long.

I thank the saints everytime I think of all you fellow campers.

I do.

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10

But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today... Hebrews 3

where else is life so fulfilling?

where else is the day long & the night so short?

where else, on this earth have I ever seen the love of Christ so very powerful?

No where else, but

CAMP MANATAWNY

Prayer Works

Hi,
I know it's been a long time since I've posted and that this year has seen fewer posts then ever before and this post will be brief.

Last fall it was determined that we would pray for 1,000 campers for 2009 camp season and that the camp board would pray for 1,000 campers every time they brushed their teeth.
I am told that have been doing that.
2007~ 725 campers
2008~ 731 campers
and for 2009.....

810 campers!

if you decide to continue to pray for 1,000 campers as we will continue to do please also say a prayer of thanks for the 810 souls that heard the message of Christ this summer.

Tomorrow forward

tomorrow forward. for the next six solid days I will not be exposed to mass advertising, I will not hear any television, nor will I sit in any traffic or red lights.

i will wrestle for my life during boy's swim and i will eat three solid meals a day.

i will not carry keys and lock doors

within the 1st day or two i will learn to not text, email or use my phone at all....save twitter/facebook/blogger to communicate camp to the world ;)

every morning @ camp will be like christmas

most of all i will be thinking about God more

i will be loving God more

and i will again understand that it is not possible for God to love me any more then He already does and that He loves me for who I am and who I'm not.

Camp...I am packing....here I come.

FOREVER!

God is my shepherd I won't be wanting I won't be wanting He makes me rest In fields of green With quite streams Even though I walk Through the valley Of death and dying I will not fear 'Cause you are with me You are with me Your shepherd staff Comforts me You are my feast In the presence of enemy Surely goodness Follow me Follow me In the house of God, forever

PSALM 23 2B truly inspired go here... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoXWIK1lfyo

the path...

we all follow paths, it's the choice of which path we follow that shapes are lives

the paths we choose are not always fun

sometimes they are rocky

or muddy

and even icy

sometimes they flood

but no matter the path we choose

He knows the heart

and the heart is truth

so far over 500 campers have signed up

we can pray for their hearts

Warren Nelson

Life brings you all kinds of interesting twists & turns.

It has been a rough two weeks for me. Sometimes my job becomes more then a job to me and that's not good, for my job is not who I am.

I have had some alarming accusations made to me and I had to figure out how to address them, how to remain confident and how to do what is right.

1st-- I have prayed and will continue to pray and turn the other cheek for this person who is making these accusations
2nd- I will not lie even if it costs me my job...period.
3rd- Warren Nelson is "hungry"

Warren lives at 30th St Station in Philly he is one disgusting looking and living person, but he is a person nonetheless. I mean this guy truly lives right on the NE corner of Market and 30th right across from the Septa steps. Everything he owns which I would consider beyond trash usually lays right at the lamppost on the corner.
I see Warren pedaling for money quite often. Today he was inside 30th St Station, cup extended and we talked briefly. I then asked him his name and he didn't quite hear me...."hungry" was his response....I asked him again, "no, your name, what's your name", "hungry" again, was the reply and then I looked even deeper into his eyes, "no, your name sir", "oh" he replied, "Warren Nelson, Warren Nelson" came the reply. "Warren Nelson" I replied and extended my hand as he took mine and firmly gripped and shook it as our eyes never left each other.

sure I don't always do what is right in this world. I don't need your approval for what I write or for you to see me with the poor or the rich.

I just need to share my heart sometimes....not sure if this is always the place, but I know this for sure: PSALM 56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

the city trashpickers

I see them everyday, digging through the trashcans to get something, anything to eat and now we have these....the new & improved trash compactor which the people who eat out of the trash, can no longer access, and someone explain to me how a culture of people who can't even get trash into the old open circles of the former trash cans are going to find the time to even open this for their trash!

aahhhhh progress!

tiebreaker ends @ midnight

Hey all!

Voting for 2009's staff shirt ends at midnight tonight. We had a tie between Safety Green w/Black fotn and Black w/Pink font.

The only way to vote this time is to pop an email over to campmanatawny@yahoo.com

Once you've done that you have completed your civic duty for the day.

Thanks!

love sweet love

what the world needs now

is

love sweet love

it's the only thing that there's just to little of

(that's all i have today...nothing else)

the field

You can have lots of different fields.

Baseball fields, fields of corn or sunflowers and fields of people.

This is about fields of people.

& fields of dreams.

The field is wherever you work or go to school.

There is nevera better time to tell anyone about Jesus.

go into the fields....

work the fields

no name

Today someone asked me if, "I see dead people". a reference to the movie "The Sixth Sense". I sold shirts in one of our Philly stores that said .....I see dead people. The shirt did okay, but not good enough to reorder it for the masses.

I often have been known to say that everyone on the train appears to be dead to me. People riding public transportation just seem to have no life and then one day someone said to me....do you think they might see you as dead? Now I try to smile to everyone as I don't want to be mistaken for a lifeless person.

If the heart beats...are you alive, or are you just living? And if you are living....what are you living for?

I for one, am alive--my heart beats wildly, like a branch blowing in the wind.

Do you see the life? The life in me?

The life I have....a gift, a gift from the ONE who truly is the life giver.
You know WHO that is.....I need not speak HIS name.

Be alive, alive with purpose. Alive with a purpose to live for--REAL PURPOSE.