Jesus is our IMPETUS

Hi everyone!

Today we just got back from Narrowstreet Camp 2009 - Impetus. After a relaxing camp last year with plenty of free time, Narrowstreet camp reverted to a military style. Think plenty of physical exercise and push-ups. The theme, appropriately, was soldiers. And to fight battles and wars, all soldiers need a strong, continuous impetus.

For those who don't know, impetus=stimulus=driving force.

Lots of things happened over the past few days. Every night, there was an altar call, and every time 30-40% of all the campers went up. Some were genuinely touched by the Holy Spirit. But did some go up out of fear? May God correct it if it is so.

Worship was energetic - at least outwardly. Almost everyone was jumping and screaming the name of Jesus in praise, and that is all very well. But the danger lies in the possibility that some of us were relying on our hyped-up emotions to worship God rather than a prayerful and reverent spirit. If all the leaping and joyful shouting we did during worship was truly out of the spirit, then let us worship likewise 365 days of the year. But if not, let us watch our hearts, minds and souls lest we rely on ever-changing emotions to worship our Lord. Emotions change, but the Spirit of God within us never changes. So let us rely on Him to worship.

During this camp, God gave us the opportunity to make new friends and to fellowship with the community of believers. We all need each other in order to function as believers. He taught us teamwork, and how to forgive our teammates when they make mistakes. In short, how to be like Jesus. I also believe that all those of us who were appointed tactical leaders were all chosen by God so that we could learn leadership.

God also worked miracles there! On day 3, games were almost transferred from the field to the hall because of rain. I prayed, "Lord Jesus, please stop the rain. As the Lord lives, the rain shall stop as soon as we reach the field!" Then we were asked to halt our journey to the field, turn around and head back to the hall because the rain was getting heavier. Inside, Keith asked us if we were willing to brave the rain, or stay in the hall. We voted to brave the rain. So he said, "Okay, let's move out again." As soon as we stepped out of the hall, guess what? It had stopped raining! Isn't God good? And as soon as the games ended and we were ready to return to the hall, it started raining again! It must be God!

Pastor Sam Phun packed a punch, as usual. Through him, the Holy Spirit managed to get a lot of people uncomfortable, prompting the large altar calls. His ukulele (OO-koo-LAY-lay) performance was thoroughly enjoyable, and his imitation of a 1980's era pastor (complete with neat hair and spectacles) was hilarious! "Ladies and gentlemen..." ahahahahaha....

Pastor Andy spoke out against addiction to stuff like video games, pornography, masturbation, and so on. It's true - we must break these bondages in our lives, otherwise we cannot fully enjoy the freedom in Christ that God always intended us to have. Remember, we are no longer slaves to sin...

Then Pastor Daniel followed up with a discussion concerning 4 much-disputed practices: smoking, drinking, tattooing and piercing. The results:

Smoking - destroys God's temple (your body) and makes God a smoker. It is a SIN.

Drinking - SIN.

Tattooing - blood is shed, covenants with malevolent spirits made, often a sign of rebellion and disobedience to parents. It is a SIN.

Piercing - If done in defiance against parents, SIN.

It was very good. Strong, firm answers were given, now all that is left for us to do is to obey. Obey. We must obey. For when we do so, God is exceedingly pleased with us that we love Him enough to do so.

And what if we should fall? In that case, the blood of Jesus and the amazing grace of God allow us to stand up again. God will never be angry with us. If we repent, confess our sins to God and get
up again in His grace, God will still be happy with us. Never give up.

So what about the Impetus? It's not a list of rules, it's not how many steps, it's not a program. It's a Person, and His Name is Jesus Christ. Let us even now fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, casting aside every distraction and the sin which so easily entangles us.

Let us remember Jesus and His grace, always.

Amen.

By: Agent Josh Leow