Lisa J. Camp

Why are you here?  Horatio Spafford's biography is one of multiple tragedies, heartache upon heartache.  A prominent lawyer and real estate investor in Chicago in the early 1800s Spafford lost it all in the great Chicago fire.  Among the losses, the son born to him and his wife Anna.   He and his wife began rebuilding their lives and their wealth and family bloomed.  But the pressures of the rebuilding drove him to the edge.  The family needed a vacation to get away from it all and planned a trip to Europe aboard the SS Ville du Havre. At the last minute, Horatio was detained by business, so his wife and four daughters went without him anticipating he would join them as soon as he could.   But the Ville de Havre was struck by another vessel on its voyage killing 226 people on board including all four of their daughters - Annie, Maggie, Bessie and Tanetta. When the remaining passengers finally reached Wales, Anna sent Horatio a simple two-word...

Where is your brother?  In the plethora of biblical stories that mirror our current culture, surely one seems more relevant than other.  If so, I'd like to nominate the story of Cain & Abel.  The story of two brothers in the same family, each unique and each in relationship with the Creator.  Both have a heart to please Him, and each chose different means for doing so.   Abel offered a sacrifice of the firstborn of his flock. Cain brought a sacrifice of his harvest here and there.  God accepted Abel's offering. Cain's He did not, and Cain didn't take that very well.    Some well-respected Bible scholars will tell you Abel's was accepted because it was a blood sacrifice where Cain's wasn't.  I believe the truer principle here is with regard to a first fruits offering. Abel gave God the firstborn, his first fruits offering, and Cain gave "in the course of time" - a little here and there.   We all know how the story goes - Cai...

 Where are you? The world was new, and the idyllic atmosphere can only be imagined as utopian.  There was life - every imaginable plant in its budding and blooming form, fragrant and beautiful, every creature in its wild diversity and docile demeanor.  But even more than the beauty we can only imagine and placidity we can only dream of, there was connection.  Man and woman in perfect regular fellowship with their Creator.  Creation enjoyed Creator, and Creator delighted in His Creation.   Every evening after the day's tasks, they walked together, shared with one another on a deep level, maybe even laughed.  I imagine it to be like those hushed tones that used to come from the kitchen as mom and dad began the day while the rest of use slept a little longer - peaceful, purposeful, wedded, one.   Perfection.  Then imperfection - namely sin, namely Creation finding its satisfaction in self-promoting, self-directed actions that led away ...

The morning and most of the day was the kind that made Rudolph famous, as my co-worker quipped.  Fog so thick the driving conditions were treacherous, and that was before factoring in Wichita drivers who always still surprise me with their ineptitude and aggression. (Lights, people! In fog, you turn on your headlights!)  For three days the Wichita area was covered in a blanket of fog.  Not the white Christmas we were dreaming of, as another co-worker pointed out. (I have funny co-workers.) The holidays would end up being lackluster at best - lots of events that I attended alone, lots of second guessing the gifts I bought, lots of "it is what it is" realizations.  I suppose all of that was part and parcel of the year we were about to put behind us.  The year had been one of unexpected turns - my family had navigated a heart attack, a stroke, breast cancer, emergency room trips, and the ever-underlying sadness of those who are gone.  None of these had been on...

Honestly, I've been told that before.  When I complained about something or someone, my friend would retort, "That sounds like a YOU problem."  Her not so gentle way of telling me the situation was only a problem because I had interpreted it that way.  Had someone else been the source of my complaint or if it had happened to another person, it would not be a big deal.  It was only a big deal to me.   I hope you have honest friends like that who tell you when you're being unreasonable or petty or just plain wrong.  I have several... probably more than my share. I find great comfort in knowing they are not saying anything to anyone else that they haven't said to my face.  They act as if I'm not always right or not always dragging baggage into my relationships and interactions.  Weird, right?  The truth is that I'm NOT always right and often have more baggage than LaGuardia. True friends see through it all and love me anyway.  And tell...

This is about so much more than a protective wall around the Church.  This is so much more than about serving in the ministry of prayer.  The wall is the physical benefit of the work, but the rewards are other than that.  Let's talk about what happens when there's a wall of prayer around your church family.   The first reward (and what might be my favorite reward) is this - outsiders recognize God's hand on us.  Nehemiah 6:16 talks about what transpired after the work to rebuild was done, and it says, "when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and feel greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God." I mean, come on!  Could there be any greater reward for our role in the ministry of the church than for the reputation of God to be made known and for all those who oppose Him or His church, even those who criticize "organized religion" to have to admit that God st...