by John Carpenter | Mar 18, 2019 | Devotional
“But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more – unto the perfect day.” “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord. His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain – as the latter and former rain unto the earth.” [Pr.4:18; 1Jn.1:9; Hos.6:3]
The first text above declares the sure and certain – even the predestined – path through this fallen world – that is being followed by all of those that God the Father has given to His eternal, beloved Son — for Him to be both, “just – and the justifier of him – which believeth in Jesus” [Ro.3:26] Every true – “born from above” child of God has been, by the sovereign grace of Christ, delivered from “all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish” and have genuinely received “the love of the truth, that they might be saved”[2Th.2:10]. The “path” of the just – is a path that is divinely illumined in “the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”! [2Co.4:6] The ongoing prayer of our hearts becomes that which is written in Ps.25:4-5: “Show me thy ways, O Lord, teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me. For thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.”
The second text above declares the announcement of a descriptive “if” clause that reveals a divinely induced and motivated pure gospel reception and reaction. This descriptive declaration is something that happens to us by virtue of a divine “cause and effect” reality.
The Word of God makes it clear that we all – without exception – come into being in this world being active lying transgressors from our mother’s womb! [see Is.48:8 and Ps.58:3] Nevertheless, by the gracious work of God the Holy Spirit – effectively using the holy Word of God – we are made to see the sinners that we truly are – and we are granted God’s grace of repentance – and our hearts become broken and contrite — due to the reality of our sins – and we, therefore, “confess our sins” (or, say the same thing that God does about our sins unto Him). God does all this to us — for us (for our good). Therefore, we – by His enabling grace – fulfill that which is spoken of from Phil.2:12-13: We“…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God that worketh in you – both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Then comes to pass the divinely initiated and instituted cause and effect reaction that this text describes: We confess our sins – and “…God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins – and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Praise His Name! We most definitely want to be regarded by God in this world as His faithful “confessors”.
Then we come to the third text – which actually describes, once again, the genuine leading of the Spirit of God as we live and walk through this sinful world [Ro.8:14]. We shall not be able – at this juncture — to sufficiently mine all the rich treasures that are being put forth in this particular verse in Hosea. So, we will reserve doing so with next month’s prayer letter. But, for now let us attempt to make just a couple of simple, sound observations. In keeping with the other two texts – along with what we have already said in conjunction with them: What may we therefore conclude? Right at the very outset, the answer to this question is obviously going to be in the same vein that we have been looking at in the last couple of month’s newsletters. Where are we right now as far as being led through this fallen-in-sin world? Are we being led astray by the error of the Wicked? Or, are we being led by God the Holy Spirit? [2Pe.3:17; Ro.8:14] Let’s examine this further in next month’s prayer letter… Amen
For Christ’s Glory Only!
John Carpenter
by John Carpenter | Feb 18, 2019 | Camp News
Well, dear friends and family-in-Christ, as we are putting this prayer letter together – there is once again an icey layer all over the limbs of the trees as well as the campgrounds and the roads. Both driving and just walking around in these kind of conditions is precarious – to say the least!
O Lord please keep us all safe and sound through this adverse weather!
We wish to give all praise and glory to our wonderful Lord for the fact that He has caused the final touches in the completion of our new kitchen to come to fruition! The men skilled in installing the granite counter tops have made it out to the camp and have done an exemplary job! We pray the Lord’s blessing upon Don and Mark for their fine workmanship. The new Del-Haven kitchen looks absolutely fabulous! Our God is indeed so great and so good!
Also, the response of love gifts to Del-Haven in memory of the passing of our dear brother, Steve Mason, have been extraordinary. We thank our Savior for all those who have lovingly remembered Steve in this manner. We still want to encourage everyone to continue to remember to pray for Sherry’s comfort and keeping and provision as well.
With the renovation that has been done on the Camp’s restroom facilities – and the new kitchen that we now have – it’s going to be interesting to see what our Lord God has in store for us in the up and coming 2019 season of camps. For this reason we really need your persistent prayers for all the boys and girls that the Lord is going to send to camp this year. We printed out our 2019 schedule of camps in last month’s newsletter, but you can always find it on our website at www.campdelhaven.org – check it out.
Please remember to seek the Lord with us for His choice in whomever we have serving on our staff. Don’t forget – we especially need good male helpers! Thank you for your faithful, loving prayers for us. They mean so very much to us…we love and pray for all of you as well.
2018 giving receipts were mailed out the last week in January 2019. If you notice any errors or you did not receive one, please contact us.
by John Carpenter | Feb 18, 2019 | Devotional
“Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. (13) For if ye live after the flesh – ye shall die; but, if ye – through the Spirit – do mortify the deeds of the body – ye shall live. (14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God – they are the sons of God. (15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear – but ye have received the Spirit of adoption – whereby we cry, Abba, Father. (16) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit – that we are the children of God…” [Ro.8:12-16]
We noted last month the two contrasting realities that in one way or the other describes each one of us – in that all people — are either “being led away with the error of the Wicked” [2Pe.3;17] or, they are among the “as many as are led by the Spirit of God” [Ro.8:14]. This gives us the “big picture”! And, I think we all know in which group we want to be found. Therefore, let’s concentrate on the Ro.8:12-16 portion of scripture which describes in more detail all of us who – by God’s sovereign grace – are being led by the Holy Spirit of God through the darkness of this law-cursed and fallen world — directly into an holy and heavenly eternity.
Vs.13 draws a conclusion from what has been presented from Ro.8:1-12. It says: “we are debtors”. But, to whom exactly are we indebted? And, more importantly, do we even possess the capability to remit ourselves from the debt that we owe? Well, as far as the first question is concerned, the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul identifies who it is that we are indebted to in two ways. First, by how he addresses us. He calls us, “brethren” – or, in other words, we are his fellow family members in Christ. And second, the Spirit through Paul dogmatically eliminates our being indebted to ourselves – or, to our own fallen fleshly nature of thinking and living! This is explicitly described in vs.5-11. We are not debtors to think and walk according to our fallen-in-sin flesh. For if we think and walk in accordance to the flesh – it is certain we shall die! [see vs.6] But – all praise and glory to God – if we, through thinking and walking in accordance to the influence and power of the Holy Spirit – and, by Him, do mortify [or, put to death] the sinful deeds of the body of our flesh – then we shall live! [see vs.6] This is precisely in conjunction with our being led through this passing-away-world by the Holy Spirit. It is thinking and living by the leading of the Spirit of God – that identifies us as truly being the children of God! This is exactly the message that’s declared from vs.14. And, this gives a dogmatic “No” answer to the second question above in regards to whether or not we even possess the capability – from ourselves and for ourselves – to remit ourselves from the debt that we owe. Beloved – therefore — behold the manifestation of whom it is that we are obviously forever indebted to – that One to whom we owe the eternal salvation of our very souls! We are forever indebted to the Spirit of Christ, our God!
Vs.15 descriptively declares that we have not received – from our loving and gracious Savior/God “the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of Adoption – whereby we cry, Abba, Father.”! This is a particularly significant blessing that signifies that one has been eternally and assuredly included in the eternally accomplished atonement. The atonement that has been perfectly performed by the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ! That which is presented here in Ro.8 up to this verse — and on through vs.16 – is the same theme as presented to us from Gal.4:4-7 (check it out).
How is it, then, that we come to know that we are among all those whom Christ has eternally redeemed? “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit – that we are the children of God…” The “Spirit of Adoption” tells us so! Praise His wonderful Name! Thank you, Lord! Amen.
For Christ’s Glory Only!
-John Carpenter
by John Carpenter | Jan 19, 2019 | Camp News
Praises and Prayer Requests for January
Dear ones, it is with bitter/sweet emotions that I report to you of the passing into glory of another of the Del-Haven family. Dr. Steve Mason went to be with the Lord on December 28, 2018. He was a loved and dear friend of mine (and of our whole family). Steve and his wife, Sherry, served on our Board of Directors — as well as always being faithful supporters of the ministry. Steve was first of all – a Christian – who happened to also be an excellent chiropractor – one of the best! We have many blessed memories of our dear brother in Christ. Please, dear family-in-Christ, remember especially — to pray for Sherry in this season of sadness and worldly adjustment — that only the comfort of the Holy Spirit can lead her gently and safely through. Thank you in advance for doing so.
As always, may we remind you to be in prayer for our staff helpers? Please pray for those we know are returning – and for those that we need for the Lord to lead unto us (especially male helpers). The number of our staff help directly determines the number of campers we can accommodate. These are the ones on the front line in the spiritual battle where the souls of the children are concerned. This is an ongoing need.
Special thanks to those of you who have specifically responded to the mattress cover expense. For this – we say – Praise the Lord!
Jeff and I discovered a couple of trees that we needed to trim and take down. The degree of difficulty in accomplishing this task was more than we could handle. So we prayed for the Lord to help us. A few days later I got a knock on the door and it was a young man who told me he was with a new tree service – and he was going from house to house seeing if there were any trees that people needed help with. I asked him if he could follow me and led him to the trees that were a threat to Jeff’s home. We had just received a gift that was the exact amount for what they announced would take care of our tree problem. Again, Praise the Lord! He always is eternally faithful and true!
If you, or someone you know, is interested in serving the Lord with us this summer, please have them call Sheri at 816-690-8465 or email sheri@campelhaven.org for more information.
2019 Summer Camp Schedule
| Session |
Dates |
| 1 |
6-8 Boys and Girls |
June 17-20 |
| 2 |
9-12 Girls |
June 24-27 |
| 3 |
9-12 Boys |
July 8-11 |
| 4 |
6-8 Boys and Girls |
July 15-18 |
| 5 |
9-12 Girls |
July 22-25 |
| 6 |
9-12 Boys |
July 29-Aug.1 |
2018 giving receipts will be mailed out before the end of January 2019. If you notice any errors or you do not receive one, please contact us.
by John Carpenter | Jan 19, 2019 | Devotional, Miscellaneous
“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before – beware lest ye also – being led away with the error of the wicked – fall from your own stedfastness.” [2Pe.3:17] “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. (13) For if ye live after the flesh – ye shall die; but, if ye – through the Spirit – do mortify the deeds of the body – ye shall live. (14) For as many as are led by the Spirit of God – they are the sons of God. (15) For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear – but ye have received the Spirit of adoption – whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” [Ro.8:12-15]
All who are alive on this earth – in this world – right now – are, one way, or another — being described in these two particular portions of God’s Word. We are either being led away with the error of the wicked, or we are being led by the Spirit of God. Therefore, there are two things we must never lose sight of – or, two things we must never forget: First, we must never forget where it is that we are; and Second, we must remember that we are all being led from here to eternity by one of two influential ways of thinking! In regards to the first premise of where we are – of which we should constantly be conscious — we are in this lost, dark, trial-and-sorrow-filled, sinful and cursed world. Yes, this world truly is (just as Ps.23:4 describes) — “the valley of the shadow of death” – and, we are all – one way or the other — being led through it. And, this world is not our friend.
The context of 2Pe.3:10 describes the firey destruction and end that this fallen-in-sin world is inevitably hastening toward. The Holy Spirit of God, through the apostle Peter, so graphically and explicitly tells us: “But the day of the Lord will come – as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with a fervent heat – the earth also – and the works that are therein – shall be burned up!” This event will take place the same day that the Spirit through John describes from Re.20:11: “And I saw a great white throne – and Him that sat on it – from whose face – the earth and heaven fled away – and there was found no place for them!” This present world has been, and right now is – literally passing away right before our eyes — unto its just and righteous perdition that will most certainly come to pass at the all-glorious and all holy return of the Almighty Lord Jesus Christ.
As true believers and followers of the Lord Jesus, we – by God’s grace – have an unbreakable, eternal relationship with Him. It is Christ – and Christ alone – that will get us safely through the dark and evil “death-valley” of this world! Praise His wonderful Name, what is descriptively declared from 1Jn.5:19 rings completely true for us: “And we know – that we are of God – (lit.) and the whole world – in the Wicked One lies.” It is no wonder why 1Jn.2:15-17 imperatively warns us to: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world – the love of the Father is not in him. (16) For all that is in the world – the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – is not of the Father, but is of the world! (17) And the world passeth away – and the lust thereof – but he that doeth the will of God – abideth forever.”
It is the way of this world to think of, and bring in, a New Year with a spirit of revelry and riotous activity. But, this is the common way of wantonness in which the Wicked One leads his captives! Nevertheless, let us, by the Holy Spirit of grace remember and heed His divine exhortation: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable – always abounding in the work of the Lord – forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain – in the Lord.” [1Co.15:58]
For Christ’s Glory Only! – John Carpenter
