TDF Right: West Coast Honor Camp Tuesday through Wednesday

The West Coast Honor Camp's speaker for this year is Pastor Shawn Thornton. Pastor Shawn, as he is affectionately known, has a 20-year history as a pastor, and he, his wife of 21 years and his three children currently hail from Westlake Village, Calif, where he serves as the Senior Pastor at Calvary Community Church. His history with Awana Clubs International spans even longer, as he started with the program before the creation of Sparks or Cubbies, and he currently serves on the Awana Clubs International board of directors and the Awana International board.

Pastor Shawn waits to teach "The
Three Things about Standing Out."
Photo provided by Laura Carpenter.

On Monday, Pastor Shawn began his theme for the week,"Think Right, Do Right, Feel Right," began with  Philippians 4:8-9 and a life-experience-turned-allegory story of a cat, a dog, and Gary the Goldfish. Every day, the cat and dog would chase each other around the house at breakneck speeds, frequently passing by Gary's bowl. Only at night did the chasing stop, because the pair was confined to the bedroom. But one day, Pastor Shawn came out after a night's rest to discover that even though the cat and dog were away from the fish bowl, Gary was on the floor, dead.

"I got to thinking," said Pastor Shawn, "that maybe, possibly, what could of potentially happened, was this..."

Gary saw what fun the cat and dog were having, chasing each other around the house day after day, and he decided he really wanted to join in. So, he started practicing every day, swimming as fast as he could around the bowl, trying a few jumps, getting better and faster, preparing to run with the cat and dog. Finally, one night, Gary was ready. He leaped out of the bowl and hit the floor — where he was found that tragic morning.

"God did not design Gary to run with the cat and dog," Pastor Shawn said. "Unfortunately, the sad truth is many people think like Gary. So this week, we're looking at living the way God designed you to live."

Gary's tragedy began when he started thinking about things outside of God's design. He wanted to be something other than what God had planned — he thought wrong. Those thoughts lead him to practice for the role God did not design him to fill — he did wrong. Ultimately, his wrong actions lead him from the safety and joy found in the place God designed him for, and it didn't feel too good.

In Philippians 4:8, God provides us with the blueprint for thinking right:

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things" (NKJV).

The first half of verse 9 shows how to do right, and the second half explains how they feel right:

"The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you." More rewards for thinking and doing right can be found in Romans 5:1

The theme of "Think Right, Do Right, Feel Right" continued into Tuesday with three things about standing out — because when you think, do and feel right, you will feel like you're not part of a group. We considered Elijah and the sacrifice on Mount Carmel, as written in 1 Kings 18:18-39.

1) It's not how many you follow, but it''s WHO you follow that matters. Nearly 450 prophets followed Baal, yet only Elijah, as far as he knew, followed the LORD.

2) It's not how much you trust, but WHO you trust that matters. The prophets of Baal screamed, hollered, sacrificed a bull and cut themselves to show their devotion, Elijah only prayed a single statement.

3) It's not what you have to offer, but TO WHOM you offer it that matters. The prophets of Baal sacrificed the better bull on the solidly established alter. Elijah build an alter of wood and some rocks and water, upon which he sacrificed the poorer offering.

Baal remained silent. God consumed the wood, the rock, the water, and the sand in fire, leaving nothing but a cater of scorched earth.

Today, the 114 high school campers put the process of "Think, Do, Feel Right" into action as they served the Redding, Calif. area in five different ministries. Stay tuned tomorrow for some of their stories.

Tuesday's Chapel Lesson: Three Things about Standing Out
Tonight's Verse Card Count: TBA
Junior High Armor: Shield of Faith
Halfway mark! Please keep praying as we continue to "train them to serve Him."

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