Birthday Blitz!

My birthday arrived here in a Czech about an hour ago and I’m about to get some rest for the second day of training. Usually I don’t think of it as arriving but it won’t hit America for a few more hours. Our traveling was not so much complicated, but more long than anything. We were in “travel mode” for roughly 30 hours as we enjoyed a six hour layover in New York and spent the first night on the airplane then waiting for three hours in Prague. We have had one day of training and are looking forward to how God will continue to grow our team in tomorrow’s training. Today, during a couple hour break some of us went to a stream that was near the hotel, we enjoyed getting wet and Andy brought his professional camera and got some sweet shots. It was relaxing after the strenuous travel and a few hours of training.

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”

~ Romans 8:1-2

This section of scripture has been hitting me hard for the last week and I’m still thinking about how I can make it real in my life. First thing that caught my eye was the bit “in Christ Jesus,” which is the real twist in this verse. The verse shows that it is conditional in which the preceding is only true if you are In Christ Jesus. Now what does it mean to be “in Christ Jesus?” From my understanding it is a reflection of where you draw your life from, if you have died to self and it is Christ living in you. This is one of the most popular phrases in the New Testament which shows how powerful it really is. Also it leads directly into verse two which presents the gospel in a way that I haven’t seen it in where it is a matter of laws. Before Jesus there was the law of sin and death which ruled but how is a law broken? Well, by a greater law. Verse two gets to it and says that “In Christ Jesus” is that law that overpowers the lesser law bringing salvation. This law gives those in Christ power over the darkness, Death was the most powerful weapon that Satan had and now there is no evil that can keep us from God if we are in Christ Jesus. Praise Jesus.

As far as camp goes there are a few things that we aren’t sure about. It looks like there is a larger group than usual of students who have never attended the Letovice camp before. We have been in prayer a lot as a team and I have really enjoyed how much we are dedicated to God leading this trip. We have our second day of training tomorrow and I pray that the lord will fill us and encourage us. Same as every other year we are going to be at a new camp but we have heard good things about this one. Please pray for energy for our team focus on God over the next few days. Pray James Three over our team that we will be taming our tongue and use them to praise the Lord instead of tear us down.