A God Encounter at Jr High Camp

"You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give you."

John 15:16

This is continuing the series I have been doing on God Encounters. My First Encounter had to do with God establishing a relationship with me. God used that encounter to lay a foundation of who He is in my life so that my faith in His existence and in His love for me would never be shaken. I believe this is where God always wants to start. 

This God encounter that I am writing about today had more to do with God's call on my life. When I was 12 years old I transitioned from the Children's Church to the Junior High in my church back in Portland, OR. I remember loving the praise and worship with the Junior High because we joined the rest of the youth for Praise and Worship and they had a full band. We then started talking about Youth Camp and I found out that the Junior High pastors had decided to have their own youth camp, separated from the Senior High and I remember being disappointed. Right from the start I had decided that the praise and worship would be boring because there were no instruments and it would be sung accapella. 

I don't remember a lot of details from that Junior High Camp but I do remember one worship service very clearly. We did the camp at my Junior High Pastor's house which was out in the country, outside of Oregon City, OR. We camped in tents on his back yard and we had our services in his shop and I remember the presence of God coming down in a way I had never experienced before in that shop. 

God shattered my lack of expectation and came down in a way that I never would have imagined, despite the accapella worship. 

It was also in that worship service that I first heard a very specific Word from God. This Word was very general and to this day I am still seeing more and more specifics being revealed but the Word has stuck with me to this day. 

At 12 years old, I heard God speak to me that I would be a preacher, a teacher, and a writer.  

Though the specifics of my calling are still being revealed to me, I can also attest that this has come true. I have had the opportunity to preach in several countries, teach in discipleship schools, and I have two published books on Amazon (not to mention this blog). I still believe there is more for me that God has prepared but as I keep searching I will continue to be faithful with the platforms He has given me. 

This second encounter was due to the faithfulness of my leadership. If they had not followed the leading that God had given them and had combined with the Senior High Youth Camp, which would have been easier, I may have been distracted by the band and the music, and not had the same experience with God. I definitely would have missed an important lesson that God can work through any situation.

My First God Encounter

"Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."
Deuteronomy 31:6

My last post, It's Time for a God Encounter, was a general discussion about how we need an encounter with Godcand how God desires us to have an encounter with Him. It was inspired by a sermon series that we are in the middle of at Move Church presented by Pastor Mark Mcleod. 

In the post I reference a list of God encounters that famous people in the Bible had. However, sometimes we hear those stories so often that they are no longer inspiring to us. For this reason, I thought I would take this discussion a bit more personal and share with you, my readers, some of the personal encounters with God that I have had and have changed the trajectory of my life forever. 

My first story of an encounter with God is one that my long-time readers may recognize. Back in 2011 I wrote a little bit about this story in my post A Light in the Darkness: A Personal Story. 

When I was very young my parents divorced and my mother remarried. My stepfather had his moments of being nice but he took the verse, "spare the rod, spoil the child" to a bit of an extreme. I don't remember the details or the timeline but I do remember being locked in our rooms a lot. Instead of just grounding us he would take everything out of the room and actually lock the door with a padlock. One time he caught us reading books we had snuck into the room, so he took it a step further by taking the light bulbs out of the room and putting black tarp on the windows and around the door so that we didn't get any light in the room. 

It's rare for us to experience true pitch-black darkness. In the city there are always lights on and even when we go out into the country there are generally stars and the moon shining out at night. This was complete darkness. It was in this setting that I experienced my first encounter with God. 

I had no one else to go to but God was there, literally in my darkest hour. 

Some God encounters come out of necessity like this one. I encountered God at such a young age because there was literally nothing else for me to do, nowhere else for me to go. It was God reaching out to me and preserving me despite my horrible situation. And it is because of this encounter that I have never left Him since that young age. I share this example as an encouragement to any reader who may feel like they are in a desperate situation with no where else to go. 

God is there reaching out in the darkness ready to shed your situation with His light and love!

I plan to continue sharing personal examples of God encounters. Not all of them were out of necessity like this one. Sometimes God expects us to push through to out encounter with Him. 

It's Time for a God Encounter

"God is not a God to be understood but a God to be experienced!"

Pastor Mark Mcleod - Move Church

"Taste and see the the Lord is good..."

Psalm 34:8

The Bible is full of God encounters. Knowledge about God is good, knowledge about the Bible is good, but the Christian life is meant to be a series of encounters with God Himself. 

Growing up I used to love the works of apologists. Hearing a Christian scientist explain how creation points to Christ is always an amazing, awe inspiring thing. Hearing the story about how an atheist interviewed several prominent Christian leaders and in the end was convinced and converted to Christianity is a great thing and I praise God for those stories being out there. 

Still, the vast majority of people will not be convinced by smart arguments. No matter how succintly someone shows how nature points to Christ, someone who doesn't know Christ can argue something different. For every person that is convinced by the logical arguments of prominent leaders there are numerous who won't even listen to them. I wrote about this in my post, Do You Believe?.

What we truly need is a real encounter with God Himself!

We need a solid foundation on the Word of God. We need to know His Word so that we can stand on it when trials and tribulations come against us, but that foundation needs to be made alive with experiences with God. 

Every person that has made a significant impact for the Kingdom can identify 

at least one God encounter that turned their life around.

Throughout the Bible we can see numerous examples of these encounters:

Abraham heard from God to move from his country and his family

Jacob wrestled with God at Bethel

Joseph had dreams from God

Moses met God in the burning bush

Samuel heard God call his name in the night

David had times of worship while watching the sheep

Numerous encounters are seen with Jesus throughout the Gospels

The Apostles had Pentecost (as well as many others)

Paul describes this same thought in the following verse to the Corinthians:

And I, brethern, when I came to you, did not come to you with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:1-5

When was your last encounter with God? How does He want to encounter you today? 

If you have never accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior then I encourage you to visit my page What is the Gospel?

Taking a Leap of Faith

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder for those who diligently seek him."

Hebrews 11:1, 6

"The just shall live by faith."

Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38

"Steppin' out on nothin' and findin' something there

Tellin' the doubt to wait, wait, wait

I'm takin' a step of faith."

Carman Licciardello

As Christians we have been called to a life of faith. In my own life I have seen little breakthrough without some level of faith preceding it. There have been a few times in which God has surprised me with something that I was not at all expecting but the vast majority of times He expected me to first take a step of faith. To move out and trust Him that He would take care of the unknowns. 

Four times throughout scripture the phrase is repeated, "The just [righteous] shall live by faith." This statement does not give an option. If you are looking to be just or righteous before God then you shall live by faith. It's not suggested, it's not requested, it is simply stated that this is how it is. 

Antoher thing that can be seen from the short statement is that we are to live by faith. It is not something that we just pull out for certain moments or difficult situations. It's not something that we use when we make a particularly difficult prayer, it is something that we live by. 

Faith should be a part of our day to day life. 

We should be putting out faith in Him each day and stepping out in trust at several opportunities. We should be making bold prayers each day. Prayers for healing, prayers for miracles, prayers for salvation. These prayers should be for others as much as they are for ourselves. We hould be willing to step out and offer to lay hand on those around us who are dealing with sickness or struggling in their marriage. 

Still there are times where God calls us to step out even more in faith. Instead of a step of faith sometimes these feel like leaps. I have had several of these moments throughout my life and I can attest that God has always come through. Below I have listed a few of my own, and my family's, leaps of faith to encourage you. This is not an extensive list but a few over the course of my life. Each of these were steps made following the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Personal Leaps of Faith:

2000 - Joined speech team despite being terrified of public speaking - Recieved miraculous deliverance from that fear
2002 - Left home for the first time to go to Bible School in Ohio - Had numerous encounters with God over the two years preparing me for future ministry
2005 - Chose to go to the Philippines despite having no money and only a month to prepare, then chose to go again later in the year despite still owing money for the first trip - God provided enough money to pay off the first trip, cover the second trip and have some extra in one night of giving at church.
2006 - Decided to stay on as a staff in the DTS despite not having built support or even having the money for a plane ticket to return to Germany - God provided all needed, led me to many experiences of ministering around the world and grew me tremendously as a leader and a preacher. I also met my wife due to this decision.
2009 - Followed my then fiance to Ethiopia from Germany, prepared our wedding, then moved to Oregon with no income or job lined up - God provided for everything and connected us with old friends who helped us settle in Oregon. He also provided an opportunity to minister to the youth at Connection Church.
2017 - My wife and I followed God's prompting to move our family across the US from Oregon to Virginia. - God gave us both jobs right away and used the experience to give me further direction in my education and calling - more to come!

What is the step of faith God is leading you to take today? What is holding you back from taking it?

For further encouragement on taking a step of faith you can read these older posts from my blog:

Risk, Fear and Faith

Becoming a Faith Giant