“If you preach the gospel in all aspects with the exception of the issues which deal specifically with your time, you are not preaching the gospel at all.” Martin Luther King Jr.

With this as my opener, I had the huge privilege this week of speaking to a group of 100+ camping professionals this week at the Michigan CCCA Sectional. The topic was Gender and Sexuality and the unique position Christian camps are in to impact this generation with God’s truth in these areas. For 2-½ hours I shared truth, allowed for group processing time, and challenged participants to think through ways that their camps could move forward to love better. I was so grateful that the leadership of the sectional thought that this topic was worth such a long time allotment.

If you read my blog at all, you know my heart is to see our churches adopt a more gracious and loving posture towards the LGBTQ community within and without our walls. I want to see this change in my lifetime.

It was so encouraging to see the number of people that came as well as the variety in ages. From seasoned veteran camp directors, to young interns, all dialoguing around how we can provide a space for campers and staff to be challenged to walk in holiness.

In both areas: gender and sexuality, we looked at four practical ways we can affect change in our camps:

Knowing and Understanding Doctrine as well as Knowing and Understanding People
Being able to Communicate Doctrine Winsomely to both Staff and Campers
Peppering our entire Camp Program with Truth
Peppering our entire Camp Program with Love

I was greatly encouraged with many conversations following this 2-½ hour session. It was sobering to watch the faces in the audience be visibly moved as I shared statistic after statistic regarding gender questions for teenagers.

It was good for us all to sit together, reason together, and purpose together to meet this challenge of our generation using the ministries we are apart of.

If you are interested in seeing the slides or conversing more about this, hit the email button below. I would love to chat.

yes, this happened ...