Men's Camp

(Pastor Craig & Major Hailes)

Well, I'm currently still at Men's Camp, which is being held at Camp Arnold (www.tsacamparnold.org) in Puyallup. A special "Thank You" to Major Ross Hailes and his team at DHQ for arranging this wonderful retreat and for Mark Nottle and his camp crew for hosting us!

This event has proven to be a good experience for me and Thomas Bryant. Just today in the morning session, Thomas gave his testimony in front of approximately a hundred men. What a joy to hear what God had done in and is still doing in Thomas' life.

Craig Bowler, the son of Major Dave Bowler from our church, is our speaker for this weekend. He reminded us last night that we are just like the prodigal son in Luke 15, in that, we have all gone astray from the Lord, but the Lord is always gracious to bring us back home. We also learned from this story that we are also like 'the older brother' in our self-righteousness, supressed anger, and private sins.

Craig spoke on two heart-penetrating topics: willful disobedience and anger. Using the story of Jonah, Craig showed us that we are like Jonah when it comes to our basic human tendencies of willful disobedience. As the story goes, Jonah's story ended abruptly. With this unusual ending, Craig challenged each of us to complete 'our own stories' victoriously.

During the last session, Craig explored the realities and dangers of anger. He stated that anger must not be managed, rather, it must be dealt with and be destroyed by the power of the gospel. Anger can come out in so many ways, even on a subconsious level, resulting in its contagious effects that can ruin the individual, the family unit, and even society.

As always, the afternoon hours were filled with golfing, swimming, baseball, basketball, and canoe building challenge. The highlight was the canoe challenge, where the ARC team--Pirates, won the event.

The evening session was a relaxed one, in which Rob Azmiez and Capt. Matthew Madsen shared their heart-felt music with us. Captain Rob Birks hosted a 'truth or lie' game, where three contestants tried to fool the audience. This interactive game was followed by a Q & A session, where all the questions asked dealt with one's relationship with God--very applicable.

Another highlight for me was that I got to see the Seattle White Center crew--a crew that I was a part of last year. They are the only crew that always set up a 'tent city' and barbecue good ol' yummy hot dogs:) Major Maynard Sargent is always the grill master-chef!

Praise God for this time! May He continue to change all of our lives "to be more like Jesus!"