by John Carpenter | Jul 14, 2016 | Devotional
“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (13) Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son: (14) In whom we have redemption through his blood — the forgiveness of sins… [Col.1:12-14]
From Mt.11:27 we have it taught directly from Christ Jesus that no man knows the Son, but the Father — and “neither knoweth any man the Father, but the Son and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him”. Therefore, for us to be able to give thanks unto the Father, the Son of God must — first of all — reveal Him unto us! And, look at what this great text from Colossians 1 declares that this revelatory experience will give to us. It not only gives to us a knowledge of God the Father, but it also gives to us a knowledge of He who makes us (literally) qualified to be heirs along with all of the saints in light! This, dear ones, is but another way of saying, “For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves” (Eph.2:8).
Col.1:13 goes on to describe of God the Father as being the one “who has delivered (or, rescued) us from the power (or, the ruling authority) of darkness…”! Acts 26:18 tells us plainly that this ruling power of darkness is in truth the power of Satan! God the Father, Himself, intervenes on our behalf to reveal to us the saving, guiding “Light” of this world of darkness. We then are drawn by the Father (Jn.6:44) to come out of darkness to the Light — which is His Son — and from that time onward “we walk in the Light as He is in the Light” (1Jn.1:7) and we enter into a vibrant, living relationship of close fellowship with one another and “the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin”. Praise and glory to His great eternal Name!
In addition, Col.1:13 goes on to say of God the Father that He has (in Christ) delivered us from Satan’s darkness and ruling power over us — and “translated us into the Kingdom (literally) of the Son of His love”! We are transferred from the temporal kingdom of the devil and his darkness to the eternal Kingdom of Christ and His Light; out from being under the enslaving dominion of Satan, sin and death into the life transforming realization of Christ’s “wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1Co.1:30); from being under sin’s reigning influence to being under God the Son’s reign of love and grace.
Yes, we give our most heartfelt thanks unto God the Father for all of this because He has wrought it all for us through His beloved and eternal Son — our blessed and eternal Savior. And, praise to the Holy Spirit of God who personally bears witness unto us of all these wonderful things (Ro.8:16)! He it is that gives us the knowledge that in Jesus we do have “forgiveness of sins” (or, more lit., freedom from the penalty of our sins). Praise to the all glorious Savior!
For Christ’s Glory Only!
John Carpenter
by John Carpenter | Jun 25, 2016 | Ministry News
The Del-Haven 2016 camp season is right upon us! Praise the Lord, He has supplied through many of you all new mattresses for Cabin 1. Our God hears and answers prayer and fulfills His good pleasure in providing for us through His people. It’s truly a beautiful thing! Thank you all for being there. Please keep praying for us.
We were in great need of trimming several trees that had many dead limbs that were a real threat of breaking off and falling to the ground and possibly upon one of us, or a camper. These limbs were way up in the trees. So several men from different churches (Heritage Baptist and First Baptist of Oak Grove) rallied to the task and rented a bucket lift to get the job done as well as gave of their time and expertise to see it through to the end. Honorable mention goes to Jack Chaffee, Heath Lytle, Carl Brewer, Ron Hayes and our own Jeff Hall. We prayed through this whole day that our Lord would protect these men from harm and be successful in performing the dangerous job…and He did! This work day was yet one more wonderful testimony of our great God’s presence and protective power among us!
There are still some tasks that need to be tackled and completed, but that will always be the case when striving for Christ’s eternal kingdom in this temporary world. Our Lord continues to bear testimony unto us that He is, indeed, with us to guide us, provide for us, protect us and preserve us…as we continue to pray and seek Him in all that we do. Praise His all glorious Name!
We also had a wonderful Staff Training Week. There were 18 dedicated young men and women that attended. Please pray for their preparation to serve the Lord on the front lines with the children that will be attending camp this year. We know the enemy will do all that he can to disrupt and even destroy any opportunity to proclaim the gospel of the glory only of the Lord Jesus Christ. Pray that we be protected from all the attacks of the evil one. Thank you in advance for your prayerful response. We love you and do pray for you, too.
by John Carpenter | Jun 25, 2016 | Devotional
Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power: that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” 2Th.1: 11-12
There is a copulative and cumulative connection that this text has with 2Th.1:7-10 that is right before it. It is a connection of great significance in that in verses 7-10 is described the truth and certainty of the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ that is for certain going to take place on Judgment Day in eternity against all who do not truly know God, nor have genuinely obeyed the gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ.
It is in reaching the point of realizing this truth that the apostle declares from vs.11-12 that which has stirred him up into being so busy in always praying for those who have become the recipients of his pure truth gospel ministry. And, it is in this light that there are five specifics that are given for which he and his companions do pray will be accomplished by God on their behalf. They are:
1. That God would count them worthy — or, deem them entitled to and for — this, His effectual calling;
2. And next, that God would, in turn, then fulfill in them all the good pleasure of His goodness viz. His virtue and beneficence;
3. And, even more so, that He would fulfill in them His divine work of faith with power;
4. To the end that the Name — that is the very authority and the description of the character — of the Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in them; or, in their work.
5. And, they, in His transformation of them, in Him.
All of these grand things are accomplished in accordance with the bestowal, by God, of His grace upon us. This text plainly demonstrates how that the blessing of God’s grace is indeed an edifying and an empowering work that culminates in our bringing glory to the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ. According to Ro.8:28-29, all things work for our good because we are predestined to be conformed to His image.
But even more than this, this text tells us that we, being, by grace, His saved ones become the substance of the glory of God in Him! Dear ones, this is indeed a very incredible thing! It’s easy to see how that He as our Savior is obviously our glory, but the fact that we become His glory emphasizes the exceeding riches of His mercy and grace toward us. These are the things that make up being in the ministry!
For Christ’s Glory Only!
-John Carpenter
by John Carpenter | May 16, 2016 | Ministry News
Prayer Requests
We are continuing to meet on Saturday work days to tackle all the yet to done projects around the buildings and grounds in preparation for this year’s camp sessions. Please pray for us as we continue to fulfill this much needed activity for our Lord’s glory.
We have already been in receipt of many camper applications via the internet – so our various camp sessions have been getting filled up. It’s a beautiful thing to see this manifest itself. We urge you all to please remember these children in your prayers – that as we work to prepare the camp facilities and grounds to receive them, the Lord will do His work in preparing the hearts of these boys and girls to receive His Word of grace.
by John Carpenter | May 16, 2016 | Devotional
“It is the Spirit that quickeneth — the flesh profits nothing” “For we are the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh.” [Jn.6:63; Phil.3:3]
The first of these texts is a statement of eternal, immutable truth directly from Christ. The second is a Holy Spirit inspired truthful description of all who have been saved that comes from the writings of the apostle Paul. Both of these texts expose and have to do in some way or another with revealing to us the truth about the “flesh”.
First of all, the Lord Jesus declares concerning the “flesh” that it is completely and totally unprofitable; or, more literally, the “flesh” is without any use or benefit to us spiritually! In fact, the rest of vs.63 and 64 go on to say, “…the words that I say unto you, they are spirit and they are life; but there are some of you that believe not!” Then the Word tells us: “For Jesus knew, from the beginning, who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him.” Those who betray Christ in this life — do so by their reliance upon, and trust in, the “flesh” instead of Him.
Next, the holy Spirit of Christ through Paul, His apostle, teaches us that the true and genuine eternally loved and chosen child of God comes to realize that in this fallen and sinful world they cannot put any confidence at all in the “flesh”! This is so significant where our walk through life in this world is concerned. We cannot trust the “flesh” at all! This has to do with our feelings, our wills or the way that things in this world may seem to be. This teaches us that we need to be enabled and led by the Holy Spirit in order to rely only on the sovereignty of our Savior for everything that confronts us here circumstantially! This keeps us in a constant posture of humble prayer — waiting upon our great God and deliverer to manifest His saving presence in the midst of all of our trials. And, He will never leave us. He will ever be there for us to preserve, protect, provide and guide us. Praise His mighty Name!
Jesus told us from Jn.16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In this world, ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer – I have overcome the world!” This points us directly to the discourse that Jesus delivered right before He went to the cross. Here He tells us where it is that we have peace, even in this turbulent world of, oh so many, fleshly trials! We have peace “in Him”. In fact, He is our peace (Eph.2:14)!
Woe unto those that continually put their confidence and trust in the thinking and the deeds of the “flesh”. May our sovereign Lord, by His great grace, cause us to both will and do of, only, His good pleasure just as it says in Phil.2:13. This is that which constitutes for every true believer that which is described from Gal.5:16: “This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Let us pray for one another that this be the substance of our walk in this world.
For Christ’s Glory Only-
John Carpenter
