1 QUOTE

““If you place people in an atmosphere where they feel close to God, and then challenge them with his Word, then they will make decisions.”

- Henrietta Mears

1 NOTE

This past weekend Holy Faith Fellowship went to the mountains to meet God. Our church family did not pitch tents in the wilderness. I never camped as a child. After my first camping experience at age 23, I asked my Mom, a first-generation immigrant from Korea, why we never went camping. She answered, “I did not come to this country to sleep on rocks.” Mom was super practical. But I think she missed out on that one.

Holy Faith Fellowship enjoyed Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and each other, in absolutely stunning creation. Our retreat was at the Forest Home Christian Center, an elegant campground nestled in the Los Angeles mountains. Forest Home was founded by the great teacher and leader, Henrietta Mears. There is more to come on Ms. Mears and her ministry in the weeks ahead. For all of us, it was renewal event. Check out the definition of a renewal event from Dr. J. Robert Clinton:

A renewal event is a meaningful encounter with God in which He communicates with freshness various things a leader needs: His personal presence and power, insights about Himself, affirmation (personal and ministry), inspiration to continue, ministry breakthrough concepts to consider, which inspire one to try them in ministry, a sense of an unusual sense of intimacy (often tied to some symbolic thing like a place, physical object, etc), perspective on time, so that ones faith is increased to see God in what is happening and will happen. The leader is renewed to start afresh, desire to continue, rededicate and continue on in following God.

Rev. Dr. David Washington, one of the pastors I have mentored since 2017, was our camp Bible teacher. When I call and ask him what he is doing, the answer will probably be “just digging in my Word.” David is a true Berean. His Bible teaching was excellent. I left the camp with five convicting insights about life in the Kingdom. His new book Don’t Despise Our Youth is a must read for anyone with youth or connected to youth ministry. You can buy a copy here. I could not be more proud of Pastor David.

The retreat was full of common grace. Jesus teaches ‘The Father makes the sun rise for good and evil, and the rain fall for just and unjust ’ (Matthew 5:45). Sports is a common grace I enjoy. There are lots of Los Angeles Dodgers fans in our church. The Father orchestrated it for our Saturday night session to end in the 9th inning of the World Series. God gave us an 80 person watch party as the Dodgers came back to win Game 7. This is a common grace none of us will soon forget. Go, Dodgers!

1 QUESTION

Our souls are leaky. To press on, we need fresh filling, inspiration and most of all, intimacy with God. When was your last renewal event? When is your next renewal event?

Until Next Tuesday,

John