PYV West Camp 2017 - Day 1

It was a warm drive up from Melbourne for those travelling west, and it was an equally warm drive for those travelling east to Halls Gap for the start of West Camp 2017. Even at the start of this blog post I want to thank those who drove campers here and then drove home again. We hope you had a peaceful and a safe journey home.

Our first activity was to divide into groups and play some simple games to get to know people within the group. One of these activities was to build something that would protect an egg which was thrown by one of the leaders. Not everyone was successful.

Dinner was fantastic. If this is a sign of the standard of meals for the rest of camp, we will be a bunch of very happy campers. We have always had good cooks serving us at West Camp, and we are grateful for those who give up their time to serve people in this way.

After dinner we had our first session together. The leadership team were introduced along with the pastoral and the first aid teams. What a blessing it is to have people on the camp who are there to look after the camper – Camp parents Stuart & Belle McKerrow – and other who are chaplains to our leaders – Brad Haughey and Lori Pereria.

The Bible was opened and Romans 1:1-17 was read, then it was time for our first talk. As I am the one preaching at this camp I’d like to tell you how amazing the talk was, and to give you examples of the way God used my message for his glory. While I hope He does use it for His glory, perhaps I’ll just summarise.

Preaching from the first five chapters of Romans led me to seeing Romans 3:23-24 as a key statement to this section.

“All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” 

I pointed out from Romans 1:18-3:23 who has sinned and fallen short, and from Romans 3:24-5:21 how we are and can be justified. My main theme for this camp is “The Gospel is the basis for our freedom” The next talks will build on this theme.

Please keep praying for our camp. There are any people here at the camp who don’t know each other well yet. I hope that by the end of camp they will feel that they know each other very well.

Some key women in my life

Today is International Women's Day. As such it seems a good time to consider who have been some of the key women in my life and the impact they have made.

Like most people, I need to start with my mum. She is a woman who has often done more than a mother should do for her son. A fair chunk of my homework in primary school comes to mind. She cooked for us, and bought our clothes. She often had to clean my room if anyone was going to ever see the carpet, and if I could go back in time, I think I would do better on that front. She has been, all in all, a great and wonderful mum, and I love her dearly.

Importantly, she has also been a key influence on my understanding of what it means to be a follower of Jesus. She was the one who helped us to pray at the dinner table (step up, Dad!), who taught in Sunday School and later with the teenage crew. When I was young, she was deeply involved in life within our church at Hawthorn and I learned what it meant to be committed to the church. (Dad did a good job with that too.)

But here's something else. I remember that the teenagers from our church would often meet at our place after church on Sunday night, and while Mum was cooking pikelets she would often be talking to some of the young women of the church. This was informal discipleship taking place.

I love my mum deeply.

My two grandmothers would also stand out in my mind. My maternal grandmother, Grandma, suffered a heart attack (I think) while I was young and came to stay with us for a while. It was kind of cool having that older generation in the house for a while. Sadly, a massive stroke changed her life and took away her ability to speak clearly. This meant she couldn't talk with us and the frustration on her face was easy to see. But I still remember her smile. And I remember her love. And I remember her serving Jesus faithfully.

My paternal grandmother, Nanna, was the longest living of my grandparents. My Pa died when I was 10, (I have some happy memories of him and his wheelbarrow) and this naturally meant life changed dramatically for Nanna. But she became a powerful witness in our church. This church moved from Hawthorn to Waverley in 1987, and I can still see my Nanna, no matter how frail she became, determined to make sure that she would welcome any visitor that came to our church. And it was a reasonably large church, so it would often mean there were a number of people to meet.

She didn't let her frailty stop her. She served Jesus faithfully.

There are other women who I could name, but it would make this too long. Two women need to be mentioned, and then a final name.


Carolyn Everett was our Sunday School leader when I was a child. One Sunday, while she was leading our Sunday School, she invited any of us who wanted to ask Jesus to be their special friend, (language which made perfect sense in the 70's) to come and kneel at the mercy seat. I did. Carolyn and her family were a huge part of my life as a boy, and as a teenager. Carolyn showed her love for Jesus in her love for the people, and especially for the children.

Muriel Davies was a quiet follower of Jesus. Her husband, Howard, was a huge influence on my understanding of ministry, of preaching, and of theology. While Howard and Muriel were our Corps Officers (ministers) a group of youth leaders would meet at their home once a week for a meal and a discussion. In opening her home to us, she modelled hospitality and a gentle witness. It may not have seemed much, but it stands in my mind.

Finally, and in many ways most importantly, is my beautiful and wonderful wife Anne. This year we celebrate 25 years of marriage. We don't have a house, but we have a home, and Anne is greatly responsible for this. We have had times in our life when we have been broke - truly. But Anne was able to take a few ingredients and make it something that was not only edible, but also tasty. She has been a great mum to our sons as they have grown into young men. She has served Jesus with me in many places. She has helped to move house too many times, and has done this cheerfully. (which continually amazes me.)

And in my darkest times, she is there. Smiling, giving space, encouraging, loving and all those good things. But most important, she is there.

I have been blessed to have great women involved in my life. I thank God for them all, too many of whom are unnamed in this blog.

Who has influenced you?

Can I preach like a train driver?

I preach. And I often enjoy that task, although the work of preparing is something I still find difficult and taxing. But like others who have this task, I don't always know what impact - if any - my preaching does have.

Last Sunday I preached at a church with people I know and love dearly, and my wonderful wife was amongst them. So, as we drove home from that church, I asked for some feedback. It was good feedback that highlighted some strengths, and some weaknesses in the sermon that morning. She picked up that it sounded like I was going in circles - and with some embarrassment I concede that I was feeling a bit that way even while I was preaching! (How does that happen?!?!?)

I have a number of preaching opportunities coming up in the next couple of months, including two camps directed at teenagers, and I want every sermon to have its greatest impact. So I reached into the bookshelf and pulled off this book by Tim Hawkins, Preach like a train driver. And I'm glad I did. In reading this I have been challenged that while I may not be a boring preacher, I might be giving people information and keeping them interested without actually taking them anywhere. If people are allowing me into their churches and into their ears, I want to be doing more than that.

Why a train driver?

A train driver knows where he is going, takes passengers with him, and gets to the destination. I've heard and preached enough sermons where it is more like a pilot circling around the airport until the plane runs out of fuel. So the train driver image can be a helpful one. (I confess that a motorbike is my preferred mode of transport though.)

There is a lot in the book that is very helpful, but as I have been preaching for many years it was more a reminder than a new insight. The section on 'The Book' - the place of the Bible etc - is something I am well familiar with and wholly in agreement with Tim. And it doesn't hurt to be reminded of these things.

The Hook

But it was his section on 'The Hook' that has stuck out for me. With chapters like "What's it like to live in your listener's world?" and "Why would they want to engage with you?" readers are challenged to not only consider the Bible they preach from, but also the people they are preaching too. Now, I know that Hawkins isn't the first to write on these issues. I've read other writers and heard other teachers on the same topic, and maybe that's why I found it so helpful - I keep forgetting this important lesson. I assume that because I'm excited about propitiation, then that's exactly what everyone will be excited about.

But I could be wrong.

On page 102, Hawkins uses the example from a friend of his preaching from Acts 17. As I read what his friend had done, I thought it was very good. So when Hawkins writes, "a great message. But the bit he missed out was the emotional connection" I have to stop and wonder what he means. When he then gives his own example of taking a good introduction and making an emotional connection, I see exactly what he means. Even as a reader I feel connected because I understand what he is raising. (That will all make a lot more sense if you read pages 102,103 of this book.)

What this book is not.

If you are wanting a book that will help you understand the biblical text in a way that will help you to preach it better, don't rely on this book. That is not its aim. If you are wanting to learn more about understanding the Bible, join me at the annual Engage conference in Melbourne in January.

What this book is.

If you are already doing some preaching, and have the sense that people are praying for the rapture to come when you get to the 40 minute mark of your sermon, (ie. that people are bored listening to you drone on and on) then this will be a help to you.

If, like me, you do preach a fair bit and want your messages to have a better impact, then what you read in this book could greatly help you.

I'm glad I read this. I think I'll be reading some sections of this again. 

Musing on a secular age

Today (Jan 13 2017) I have read through some weighty articles relevant to ministry with youth. I write this blog post not with a definite response in mind, rather I'm working out my thoughts and writing this is helpful. The first is written by Dr Andrew Root on the creation of a secular age of unbelief. You can find it here. He takes some time to discuss two books, which is interesting and sets the foundation for his later comments, but you don't need to have read these books to pick up what he is saying. (I add here that I found Kirgiss' book to be very helpful. I have reviewed that book in a previous post.)

What I do find confronting is the thought - or realisation - that the normal world that teenagers live in today is so fundamentally different to the one in which most world history has taken place. It sounds like a blindingly obvious comment, but the more I think about it, the more I am overwhelmed with it.

I'm not talking about the fact that we now have a generation who do not know what life was like before the internet. That is just a shift in how we work and react with people and things. What I'm referring to is the change that has taken place over centuries which leads us from a society that has religion as it's normality, to a society that has secularism as it's normality.

Imagine for a moment living in a world where thunder storms and natural disasters are considered to be an act of God. Or where someone going troppo is seen as a demonic action. There was a time when this would have been the 'normal' point of view. Over time humanity has studied, tested, considered, and learned that many of these cases don't strictly have a supernatural cause to them. So - in my mind at least - there was possibly a period of history where people balanced these two, and perhaps both would be seen as 'normal'. i.e. a time when people could still see a supernatural element to life while also understanding the secular and its positive contribution to society.

But now the pendulum has kept swinging. Now our youth are growing in an age where the normal perspective is the secular one. For example, at a recent conference I attended I sat in on a presentation regarding faith and science for youth. The presenter, Rev Tony Jones from Science for Youth Ministry, made the point that for the average 22 year old in America, they have grown up with the belief that science and faith are in conflict. This is not a conclusion they have come to after careful thought and consideration. Rather, this is 'normal' for that age.

This attitude to science is just one area where this change in attitude is seen. In fact, this view is just a sign of a far deeper change - an abandoning of supernatural or religious for the secular.


For people involved in ministry to youth, we must recognise this climate and respond to it appropriately. And just because these children belong to families that come to church, we should not assume they are immune to such a worldview. School, media, other family members will all have their influence on these children and so we should perhaps accept that the default view of our young people is a secular one.

How do we challenge such a view? That leads to the second article, this time by Kevin Alton. Here he responds to Root's article by asking "So What?". You can read it here. It is much shorter, and well worth reading.

Even though you would need to read the whole article to get the full context, the paragraph I quote is one I find has grabbed my attention:

The problem with information-dump-as-discipleship is that it essentially attempts to hand to youth a very large suitcase full of answers to questions they haven’t asked yet. Worse, it hands incredibly complicated abstract things to very concrete thinkers, who are ultimately asked, “Do you hold these things to be true?” They’re forced to process it all as one solid block of yes or no, not as the amazing, intricate web of years of experience and thought that we’re given the rest of our lives to sort through. For many youth, it’s probably a relief to let go of it when they get to college.

Is this what I'm doing? Am I confronting young people with a black or white option when there are 16 million colours along that spectrum? Am I treating young people who decide to follow Jesus as wholly formed disciples, or am I seeing them as pilgrims beginning a journey that will be theirs for the rest of their lives? And then am I presenting it as a long, hard slog or am I presenting it as a journey of wonder and amazement with many astonishing discoveries to be made along the way?

My fear is that I think I'm doing the latter while youth think I'm doing the former. God, help me to be clear.

That our young people in Australia are growing up in a secular age is no surprise. Christian schools, home-schooling, youth ministry, or anything like that won't change the reality of what our society has become. What I cannot do is despair.

I am alive at this point in history and I am full of wonder and amazement at what I am seeing.

I still have much to learn and reflecting on articles like this will help with that.

PYV Summer Camp 2016 (2017) - Day 6

It's getting harder to get started. But the leaders still gathered early in the day to pray together, be informed of the activities of the day, and to encourage each other to finish the camp well. Our assistant convener, Scott, led our devotions today. Thanks Scott for helping us come to this busy day with a reminder of God's goodness to us.

Some of the campers were able to get up early, pack their bags, and still be ready for the pre-breakfast prayer meeting. May their prayers continue to be heard and voiced for many years to come.

After breakfast - pancakes!! - the rest of us quickly packed our bags and then made our way into the sessions room for our morning worship session. It was good today to hear a testimony from someone much younger. Mitch is part of the team doing YouthMETRO and while he is a young man (at least from the perspective of my age) he knows and trusts Jesus.

The sermon from Jared today pointed us to the Passover. While this would have been a truly horrific event for the Egyptians, Jared helped us to see that it was not the fact that some people were Israelites that protected them, but rather that it was those who acted in faith who found themselves safe. In faith they sacrificed a lamb and put the blood on the doorframe. God has redeemed his faithful people.

Through the sermons Jared has helped us all to see that Exodus shows God to be a God:

• who is faithful
• who is holy
• who sends
• who makes himself known
• who is Lord overall
• who redeems. 

Breaking into our study groups gave us the opportunity to discuss again what we had just heard and to see how it applies to our lives.Just as the Israelites put themselves under the blood of the lamb, as God had instructed them to do, we now put ourselves under the blood of Jesus.

The final page of our study group questions made us look back at all we had been discussing over the week and see what the implications are for our own lives:

• If God is faithful, then I will . . .
• If God is holy, then I will . . .
• If God sends, then I will . . .
• If God makes himself known, then I will . . .
• If God is Lord overall, then I will . . .
• And if God redeems, then I will . . .

Good questions to reflect on.

After lunch we had our final session together. This was a chance for us to say 'thanks' to all those who had worked so hard in many roles on camp. There are study leaders, dorm leaders, activity group leaders, (and a large group doing all three!), camp parents, leaders' chaplains, first aid, tech team, musicians, and the executive team. All these people did an amazing job to get everything done, and get it done safely.

Good job Kirsten. (Is she singing?)

I want to give a huge 'THANK YOU' to our convener for Summer Camp, Kirsten Bryant. Kirsten has had a busy year, but she is well organised and was able to lead a great team. This is the second camp she has been convener for, and both of them have been terrific.

Kirsten has a great desire to serve Jesus. If you would like to read more about that, you can follow her blog at Surrendered Dreamer.


Parents came, picked up their tired and excited children, and went home. Leaders worked to finish packing and cleaning while others talked with parents.

And then it was over.

I (eventually) jumped onto my motorbike to begin my ride to Sydney for a conference. But that's another story.

PYV Summer Camp 2016 - Day 5

Today has been full. Beyond full. I haven't been able to find time to write my blog. But I will when I can.

I know that by then everyone will be home and you can just ask your children what happened. But maybe reading it in a few days' time will be an encouragement to get them talking anyway.

(Nearly one week later)

Day five has been a full and a fun day. We started as usual with our leaders meeting which had the opening devotion from Sarah Weber. We have been greatly blessed with the pastoral care team we have on this camp. They have great experience and compassion and are able to talk to our campers and leaders with wisdom and grace. 

Prayer meeting was a little small today, but still a good number attended. 

In our worship session today, the campers heard a testimony from the oldest bloke in the room (when did I suddenly become the oldest bloke in the room?!?!?!!) Rather than recite it now, if you had children at the camp ask them what they remember. I also got conned into doing a 'dab'. I still don't know what that is!

More importantly, we heard a great sermon from Jared about the plagues that came to Egypt. There is so much to learn about these plagues and why they are relevant for the people of Egypt at that time. Three things stood out for me. First, these plagues were natural events of biblical proportions. Some have suggested that this means they really are a run of bad luck with natural events, but that cannot explain the final plague. Second, these plagues directly challenged the gods of Egypt, even pharoah himself. Third, when Pharoah said, "Who is the Lord?", the plagues answered that question in a powerful way. 

Our study groups had a good chance to talk through these issues and see how the Pharoah responded to each of these plagues. How sad that the more he hardened his heart, the more he found his heart being hardened. There's a good lesson there for all of us. 

We had planned to take a large group of campers to the local pool for a swim, but a breakdown in communications somewhere meant there was only one guard on duty and we had to limit the numbers Once again the activities team were able to make some changes and divided the group into three so they could all have about an hour each at the pool. I was one of the leaders who spent the afternoon at the pool with these groups. 

When we returned, it was time to get into our New Year's Eve costumes. The theme for the camp was 'Cartoons' so people had all kinds of cartoon characters costumes. We had at least two Pikachus, but I think one of them was too tall. The team who made up 'Winnie the Pooh' characters looked great -  except for the dragon. Why was there a dragon in this group?

I always enjoy the colour and spectacle of this part of the camp. Well done everyone for making the effort. And thanks once again to David Johnstone for taking some great photos.

Dinner was magnificent, and then we began the New Years Eve activities. It started with a Trivia Quiz. A shout out to the YouthMETRO team for joining in here tonight. This was a good and simple way to start the evening. One the sun was setting, it was out to the oval for an outdoor cinema experience. Now, I'm not a big fan of youth group movie nights. It makes little sense to get a group of teenagers together and tell them not to talk to each other for two hours. But tonight was great. Perhaps that had something to do with it being an outdoors cinema, or because it was near the end of a long camp, or because it was a lovely night, or because it was The Lion King. I don't know what made it work, but it did. (The popcorn and zooper doopers probably helped too.)

After the movie some people enjoyed the dance floor, some enjoyed board games, and others played table tennis or just talked. Whatever they were doing before midnight, at midnight we were together to welcome in the New Year. After a few cheers and handshakes, we sang. We sang to God's glory as one year ended and another began. Then we broke into our study groups and we prayed. What a privilege was mine to sit with this group and pray for those who are beginning at university in 2017.

What a great way to finish one year and to start a new one. 

It was a full day. 

PYV Summer Camp 2016 - day 4

It was a bit foggy this morning

The rain came yesterday, but the cabins were still warm, even a little uncomfortable. Or perhaps it was just me who didn't have a great night's sleep. Either way, I was up early to get ready for our leader's meeting. Today it was Clinton's turn to lead our devotion and he did so by reading from a children's book that helps children see the big picture of the Bible. We do well to start helping our children to see the Old Testament as much more than a collection of moral stories. 

Our prayer meeting was smaller today, which might reflect the fact that people are feeling more tired as the camp goes on. Nonetheless it was a good gathering of people to pray. 

After another great breakfast our study groups meet again to discuss what we heard from the sermon the night before. As we answered some questions about Moses and his encounter with God at the burning bush, we saw not only that God was able to answer the objections Moses had, but we also saw the connection between Moses' experience and our own. Moses was reluctant to be God's spokesman to Pharaoh and most of us feel the same. "Send someone else." 

But as we compare what Moses was told in Exodus 3&4, with the instruction and promise we have for the disciples of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 we found the same promises - we go in the authority of Jesus and we go with the assurance of his presence with us. This should be a great encouragement for us all. 

The morning activities had groups running around the campsite looking for princesses and other cartoon based prizes. The weather was closing in but we were able to get through the activities without being disrupted. 

Today's timetable is different to other days and we had our worship session in the afternoon. During the session we heard a great testimony from our camp convener. God is at work in our lives. 

Part of theYouthMETRO Crew

I missed the sermon today as I went to sit in with the YouthMETRO crew. This group of young people are learning what it is to have a ministry mindset and how to put it into action. This afternoon they were doing some evangelism training and I was witnessed to by a team of them. It's encouraging to hear this group taking some solid steps in sharing their faith. Please pray that what they share with their friends will reap a harvest. 

Tonight we had another session with our study groups. This time our focus was what happened to the Israelites when Moses began to speak with Moses. Basically, it doesn't go well for them. But really this doesn't last for ever. Again, we were able to see the relevance of this for our own lives. We were able to also see the fulfilment of those promises in Jesus. (Romans 8:28)

"You can do it!"

Then with the weather cooling and dry, our evening activities could go ahead without any need to worry about changing our plans. I'd like to explain what was happening with this event but I missed the explanation of the rules and when I went out to watch, it looked like a big game of capture the flag and rugby union (without the tackling). The boys in my dorm certainly enjoyed it. 

My dorm is made up of some of  the young men who are heading into year 11/12 next year. I have greatly enjoyed the conversations that have happened in this room and the encouragement that has been shared. There's been a whole lot of laughter as well. 

Now we prepare for New Year's Eve. It should be fun.