The Wilkes Team

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And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while… (Mr 6:31).

And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed (Rom. 13:11).

While putting together the schedule for this year’s Family Camp Out and Revival, the Lord brought to mind these two verses as a focus for the weekend. We have a need, as the  Body of Christ, for revival. Living in an age, as described by John of the Laodicean church, where many are satisfied with lukewarm Christianity not knowing that they are actually poor, lame, blind, and naked, it is time to buy the Gold that has been tried in the fire (Rev. 3:15-19).

And so in the spirit of the old camp meetings of yesteryear, we gathered in a field around a glowing campfire under the starry skies of Culpeper for three evenings of Revival Meetings.

Thursday centered on the call God has given to each and every Christian. Friday centered around exhorting the Christian to unabashedly confront our culture with the life changing love of Jesus – this is worship. Saturday’s focus was twofold: First on being a doer, not just a hearer of the Word. Second: understanding the importance of convictions and standards in our lives and how imperative it is that we never live our lives in such a way so as to offend the weaker brother. These were timely messages, laid on the hearts of Dad, Joshua, and Mr. Bolster (dear friends of the Butler family).

…Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, & rest a while…

The weekend was restful. Free from many of the world’s distractions, we found ourselves rejuvenated through this time apart in a deserted place. Refreshing mornings around the campfire centered  around the Word, scrumptious family style meals from our first class team of camp chefs, relaxing walks with one another, afternoon naps, team building projects, melodious singing, and uplifting conversation.

Salt was savored, lights refueled, and the Body of Christ revived and drawn closer one to another. Living as Christians in our present world, we have a call to live in the world, but this call must never drive us to isolating ourselves from the Body of Christ. It is becoming increasingly imperative that we exhort one another daily lest an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the Word of God develop in anyone of us.

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 9:23 pm and is filed under Family News, Outdoor Adventures. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.