Pastor Alan's Notes

When the Spirit moves, there just isn't any stopping it. That holds for both the moving of the Holy Spirit that breathes refreshment and new life into sleepy Christian people; and for the "other" spirit that sucks life out of people rather than breathing life in.

When I tell my "non-church friends" that I spent a week with ninety elementary and middle school students at camp, they shake their heads in disbelief.   Oh, but there just isn't any stopping the Spirit of God from working its wonders!

     You see, at camp we schedule nearly ten hours in Bible study; and a little more than ten hours singing songs of praise. There are eight hours of whole camp activities, and a solid five hours seated at the campfire hearing the "faith stories" of teen-aged cabin leaders. And in those stories the Holy Spirit broods, then rumbles, then rattles, and then shakes the foundations of faith!   Tears flow readily at campfires, as the Spirit of God leads the community to hear of God's amazing love, and to hear of God's amazing expectations of us.   When the Spirit moves, there just isn't any stopping it.

     And I believe that is why I love summer Bible Camp so much! I get to be an intimate part in the faith-development of a group of campers who don't know what it is to believe in God, at least not yet! As they listen, and as they feel the Spirit's moving in them, there comes the moment of truth: will I resist the Spirit and simply "do church by the numbers", or will I let God's Spirit rattle my insides with dynamic new understanding?

     As your pastor I celebrate within when the Spirit has shaken your comfort. I long for that same experience for those who have yet to experience it! I wait with anticipation for the Spirit of God to do its amazing work within each of you, and among you. For when that happens, eyes will open and you will "see" like you've never seen before. Ears will "hear" the story of God's grace again for the first time! I wait with anticipation for the Spirit of God to light a fire in your bellies to hunger for the Word of the Lord. I wait - and you need to know - I am very patient. But, I do trust that where the Spirit of God does move, there just isn't any stopping it.

     Friday nights at camp are amazing. Campers by the dozen say the same words, "Pastor Alan, I don't want this to end. I don't want to go home tomorrow!" In that community, as unique as it is, isolated in the Chiricahua mountains, the Spirit has woven that group of young people into the Body of Christ. In that community, with all of its drama of relationships   budding and breaking, the campers experience the wonder of mercy for our sin; they experience the   connecting with other campers in new challenges that can easily be accomplished by sharing in the effort. In that cooperation, the Spirit rattles and erupts in amazing accomplishments.

     I often wonder - if the Spirit of God was given that much of our energy and our time, would we experience the amazing power of being woven into the Body of Christ too. I have to say that I have seen it often enough to know that God's Spirit can redefine any relationship, any group, any congregation. I know it can, because when the Spirit moves, there just isn't any stopping it.

     New Spirit will have that very opportunity this Fall. We are asking every member of New Spirit to make a conscious commitment to attend every step of the Strategic Planning Process, beginning in October. I am confident that when the entire congregation, with our own unique habits and expectations, come together seeking the Spirit's presence and power, that we will come out of the process much differently from when we begin it. That's because where the Spirit moves, there just isn't any stopping it!

     Every year the SALCA core-staff says that "we couldn't do as well as last summer." Every summer, by the time we gather around the campfire ring Saturday morning at the camp's closing, we are amazed: this was the best camp ever!   Where the Spirit moves, there just isn't any stopping it! This I believe. This I know.

With joy,

Pastor Alan