The Alex McFarland Show-120-Summer Camp Conversations

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show.

In the New Testament book of Colossians, Colossians 2 verse 8, the Apostle Paul writes, beware, in other words, watch out, don't let your mind and your life be spoiled by the false philosophies of the world. Hi, Alex McFarland here, and I wish you could see where I am, because I'm at a camp. We're at the sixth of seven equip camps we're doing this summer with wonderful young people from all over the USA.

And we've been talking about Colossians 2-8 and the beliefs of the world and versus God's truth. And I've got with me in a circle here some of the teens, some of the adult leaders, and I want to talk about why this camp is so significant, why worldview matters. And we've just got some wonderful people that I wanted you, the listeners, to meet. Now the first is a gentleman named Eric. And, Eric, you've been coming to this camp and being an adult leader for how long? For nine years. Nine years.

Why? Now, are you with a church, or do you help lead a group? What's kind of your status with this camp? I'm with Hope Crossings. And where's that church?

In Jefferson, Georgia. Okay. Nine years. What would prompt you to come to a camp nine times? This camp is unlike a lot of many other camps that I've been to. I just love this camp because it not only just hits the kids in the hearts, but it also prepares their minds so that it teaches them how to just not know the Bible and know what their faith is, but it also preps them on how to defend it. And we go over some pretty deep material.

How have your youth responded to it? We have devotion times every night after the service before bedtime, and we have the best discussions at night. And I really haven't—I've been to many other camps, but a lot of times when we do evening discussions, the kids don't really talk that much, and I do a whole lot of talking. But here, with all of the different speakers, with Mr. Alex himself and Massey and Dave, and with all of the different speakers and their backgrounds and how they come about it, they just have—they leave here with so much knowledge. And so one of my biggest things is, like, when we talk about, they write stuff down.

Well, they really do. They take a lot of notes, and we believe kids are up for it, and we're going to hear from some in just a moment. Renee, what church are you with?

From Buford Street Methodist in Gaffney, South Carolina. Is this y'all's first year at the camp? This is our second year at the camp.

What do you like about these biblical worldview camps that we're doing? I like the fact that y'all talk about—the speakers talk about difficult, controversial subjects that are hard to navigate around, kind of as a youth minister. And you never know how the youth are going to be receptive of it, but they've been very receptive of it, and I'm proud of them for that. What do you think are some of the challenges that the teenagers of today are facing, Renee? Gender. Two of my youth did a little mini-session on social media, and, like, child pornography, pornography in general, I think they suffer with identity. They suffer with identity, they suffer with peer pressure.

Youth these days are under a whole lot more stress than we were when I was a teenager. That's for sure. That's for sure. And, you know, I want to say how much I give God the glory to everybody hearing this broadcast. Be encouraged. God is doing some amazing work in the lives of some amazing young people, one of whom is a young man I met named DJ. And DJ—often times, as a speaker, I'll throw out a lot of questions, and I'll say, who knows where this is in the Bible, or, you know, who could tell us an example, and just one of my go-to people at this camp is DJ, because he's always willing to contribute, and it's always very substantive. And, first of all, DJ, I just want to say thanks for what you bring to the camp this year, brother.

Yeah, it's no problem. It's just, well, it's a Christian camp. We're here to learn about God, and I think it would be better if everybody knew about God.

It's like, the more knowledge you share, the more knowledge you get. And what grade are you going to be in this fall, DJ? Eighth. What's your best subject?

English. Hey, do you know what you want to do career-wise someday, perhaps? No.

No, I always thought, like, for a job, I would just start off with the gas station, let the money pile up, and then figure out what I'm going to do when I'm, like, 17, because that's what my parents tell me to do. Wait till you get older to think about it. This kind of content that we've been going over, like, the evidence for the Bible, and what does it mean to really walk with Christ, and then, as Rene said, we do not shy away from the controversial topics. Do you think that these things, God, life, sin, are your peers thinking about these things, DJ?

I think some of them are, but as you were talking about content and context, you can't have content without context. You can't just think up of something and everybody's going to say, like, oh, we're going to work with this. Like, video game characters, like Sonic the Hedgehog, like, how did he become blue? Why is he super speed?

If hedgehogs can swim, why does he sink all the time? And it's like, you know what I'm saying? Well, you know, that's a great point. Do you know, I almost talked about that today, because there's essence and there's properties, and essence is what we are, and then the properties are like the characteristics of our life. And I know your generation has played a lot of video games, but what we're doing at this camp, we're talking about reality, who we are as people, our identity in Christ.

And hey, games are fine, but reality is even more important. And do you think that this kind of camp really speaks to your generation about real reality? Yeah, when I first got here, it like really, really hit me. I was, I had a really big pop in my faith. It was like, at first I was like, yeah, Jesus, let's go, and then I was like, yeah, Jesus, let's go! It was just like such a big spiritual impact for me.

That is awesome, and you're right. Hey, Jesus, let's go. And to everybody listening, when we come back, we've got some young ladies at the camp that we're going to hear from, but we're going to also hear from Marilyn Brooks, a listener to American Family Radio, who has graciously come.

Well, all of the adults that are investing. Now we've got to take a quick break, so don't go away. Let me just say, folks, you, if you're listening to this and you're an adult leader, 1 Corinthians 15, 58 says, Your labor in the Lord is not in vain. There are countless ways to be involved in church. I want to challenge everybody listening, get involved in the young people, ministry to children, ministry to teenagers, passing that baton to the next generation. That will count for eternity. Our wonderful volunteers are doing it at camp this summer.

You can do it where you are. Stay tuned, folks. We've got a brief break. Alex McFarland, live on the road at our summer camp in South Carolina, back after this. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Christian author and speaker Alex McFarland is an advocate for Christian apologetics. Teaching in more than 2200 churches around the world, schools and college campuses, Alex is driven by a desire to help people grow in relationship with God. He arms his audiences with the tools they need to defend their faith, while also empowering the unchurched to find out the truth for themselves. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex is a sound voice who speaks timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. With 18 published books to his name, it's no surprise that CNN, Fox, The Wall Street Journal, and other media outlets have described Alex as a religion and culture expert. To learn more about Alex and to book him as a speaker at your next event, visit AlexMcFarland.com, or you can contact us directly by emailing booking at AlexMcFarland.com.

He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here just praising God for moving in the lives of young people like you. You just heard DJ saying, let's go with Jesus.

By the way, my website, AlexMcFarland.com, my travel schedule is on there. We have curriculum, and maybe the best way to find out all the books, all the curriculum, if you go to Amazon.com or Christianbook.com, wherever you buy resources, one of the curriculum that we've created is called The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About God. And I give God the glory.

It won an award. But look, wherever you are in the Western hemisphere, let me challenge your church to be a church that teaches worldview, but especially to young people. So I want to change gears for a little bit and talk to a couple of the young ladies here at the camp. First of all, there is Angela, right?

Yes. And where are you from? I am from Buffalo, South Carolina.

And Joanna, where are you from? I'm from Gaffney, South Carolina. Gaffney. We're the big, from the highway, is that where the peach is? What's the back story on the Gaffney peach?

Do you know? Gaffney is a big peach town. We used to be really big on selling peaches, and so the peach is a water tower, and it just signifies what Gaffney was known for. Wow. Well, that's a pretty famous landmark.

I've seen it on some websites. But Joanna, what grade are you in? I'm going into 11th grade. Going into 11th. Angela, how about you? I'm going into 7th.

7th grade. Is this your first time, Angela, at the camp? Yes, sir, it is. Is it what you expected?

Not really. I've never really seen camps other than off of, like, TV shows and stuff, so I didn't really know what to expect. When this week is over, what are you going to remember? I'm most definitely going to remember the people and the things that was taught. Joanna, how about yourself? Has the Lord given you any kind of very significant word this week? What have you learned here at camp this week, Joanna? Well, I learned that I really can help the kids my age if we talk and we open, and there was a couple girls in my youth group who I sat down and talked with, and we talked about the Lord and the things that he has planned and how our plan isn't always his plan, and his plan is completely different.

And honestly, my life has been an up and down because of his plan, but I know it's worth it in the end. Angela, Joanna, DJ, either of you, what do you wish the adults knew about your generation of teenagers in terms of life, what you're thinking about the future, the role that Jesus Christ plays in your life? If you could help us grown-ups understand what your generation is feeling or experiencing, what would that be? Talk to your kids about controversial topics. It seems scary, I know, but as a teenager myself, it's hard when nobody teaches you.

It's hard when nobody tells you what you need to learn, so then you have to learn it yourself, and then you're teaching others. Talk to your kids, talk to your friends' kids, talk to anyone, talk to the kids that you want to help about, I mean, exposure, things they shouldn't be exposed to, sin, yeah. Do you think kids would come to Sunday school more if Sunday school dealt with, or small group, Bible study, youth group, whatever you call it, would more kids come if churches would really help your generation understand the tough issues?

Probably, because I'm one of those people who has to be aware of what environment you're in and where everything falls, because there are family curses, and I've had divorces for the past three generations, and my mom says, it's on you to stop the curse now, and then revivals happen every 50 years, and the last revival was in the 70s, it's the 2020s now, and it's all just going to fall on our generation, and I'm like, we're cooked because I'm part of this generation. But this is an opportunity, and you're right, major movements of God generally do come in 50-year cycles, so if that be the case, hey, buckle up, because your generation is probably going to see a major move of God. Angela, do a lot of your friends know the Lord? Yeah, in the school I go to, most kids and everybody grow up in Christian families, that's just kind of the way it is around where I live, so almost everybody knows the Lord, or at least has heard of him. I did have this one friend who did not in fact know the Lord. I tried to talk to him about it, but he was an atheist and didn't want to hear nothing about it. Why was he an atheist, did he say?

He didn't say. I just don't think he was raised up in the correct environment to know what that was, how it would affect him in life. Let me ask some of our adult leaders, like Eric, have you ministered to any kids that claim to be an atheist?

Yes, I have. I had this one student that, he had great parents, and he got mixed up with the wrong crowd, and then he just started to, he chose the broad path instead of the narrow path, and thankfully he has now accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, but it's a process, and you just have to not shy away from controversial topics like Joanna was talking about, and just talk about hard things and keep the conversations open and personal and relational. Renee, how have you in your youth ministry dealt, because you said it a moment ago and it's really true, I mean, I think probably the biggest challenge at my high school, when I graduated in the 80s, maybe somebody once brought a beer to the homecoming game, and that was like a scandal, but it's a different world now. How have you navigated some of the very rough waters with the kids of this generation?

Well, I have two high schoolers of my own. Both of my children are going to be seniors, so I know a lot about what they're going through through my own children at home, and so I try to focus my lessons and my youth lessons on things that I know that they need, because I know that my youth at church need those topics also. If you're just tuning in, Alex McFarland here. We're talking with some of our wonderful attendees, teens and adults, at our Biblical Worldview Camp in the summer, and in a moment, we do have a brief break. We're going to talk to a lady named Marilyn, who spoke last night, and hey, did you guys like Marilyn's talk last night? I thought that was pretty awesome, wasn't it? Yeah. What did you get from her talk?

Were there some takeaways? The fact that even when you step away from God, he does not move. He does not step away from you, no matter what. That's profound. You might step away from God, but he doesn't step away from you.

DJ? It's like when you're at the beach. I know my siblings. They love to play in the water at the beach, and they will be like half a mile down the coastline, and my mom will still just be right there, because they're the ones that are stepping away. My mom is just staying right there. It's like God. God is my mom, and we're my siblings.

We just go down the coast. When you step away from God, he doesn't move. He's right there.

You can always go back. We've said this on every broadcast for 24 years. Jesus is as close by as a prayer. Now stay tuned.

You don't want to miss the next segment. We're going to come back. We'll keep on talking about the Lord and the people of all ages, especially young people that need the truth of God's Word in this day and age. Don't go away.

We're back after this brief break. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Be aware of my book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. You know, we interviewed hundreds of children and parents and families to find out the questions that children and people of all ages are longing to find answers for. In the book, we've got practical, biblical, real-life answers that they have about how to be a Christian in this modern world.

My book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, you can find it wherever you buy books or at resources.afa.net. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Hey, welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. By the way, the website is alexmcfarland.com, and we're coming to you talking about the Biblical Worldview Camps. And by the time this airs, we'll probably be in the midst of our last camp of the summer in New Jersey.

But please pray, just like these young people that you're hearing from. And there are over a hundred here, brilliant, godly young people, eager to learn. And let me just remind you, on the website, there's a lot of content. There is my travel schedule. We've got a major event in the Richmond area in September. We've got a major event in Silverton, Texas, which is near Lubbock, Texas, in October. A couple of major events. We'll have a crusade in Alabama back in the spring.

And then finally, one last thing. If you go to alexmcfarland.com slash vote, alexmcfarland.com slash vote, there's some information about the upcoming elections. It's non-partisan. We're just encouraging people to pray and vote, especially first-time voters. But here's the thing. Traveling as we do, you meet a lot of people. And, you know, as might be expected, some make a very, very keen impression on you. And one of the people I've met this week is Marilyn Brooks. She's a listener. This is a Jesus woman, and she graciously came to help and volunteer. And I wanted just to talk with Marilyn a little bit. Last night she spoke, held the crowd in just rapt attention. And first of all, Marilyn, thank you for your stand for Jesus Christ. Thank you very much, Alex. What prompted you to come and give part of your summer to a week of youth camp?

Well, I think it was a God thing. I can only get AFR when I'm in my car. And periodically, about once a month, I travel from my home to Jacksonville, North Carolina, over to Camp Lejeune, Marine Corps base. And so on my way back this particular day, this was about three months ago, and I heard you talking, and you were talking about this camp. And at that point, I just almost started crying as I was driving because it was something that I so wanted my granddaughter to go to. And she's 12, and she lives up in Virginia. And so I was saying, Lord, please let me be able to get her into this camp.

She's saved, but there's so many influences out there for kids her age, and I just wanted her to be more solidified. And so I got home and tried to make contact, and eventually we did. And once I made that contact, I found out that I called and wanted to come. I was trying to find the nearest one, and it was about five and a half hours away. So I said, well, Lord, I don't want to leave her there five and a half hours away. This is her first time. She's only 12. Talked to her mom and made the decision that I would drive down and I would stay.

And I was going to stay out in town at a hotel while this was happening and was told, hey, you can stay here and work with us as a counselor as well. So that was such a blessing to be able to do that and to see her get teaching that's been reinforced in her life. You know, I was talking to your granddaughter. I didn't know it was your granddaughter. I was just very impressed. And to be a 12-year-old, she seemed very mature in the Lord. And I know that's in part due to your investment, so kudos for doing a great work.

Thank you so much. I saw the light bulbs go off for her in certain sections with the teachings, and I was like, you mean she's really been listening all these years? So that was very refreshing and encouraging for me as a grandparent. You know, in the New Testament it talks about the older women teaching the younger women, not that you're old.

I'm not saying that at all. But there is this principle about mentoring. And maybe some of those that have walked with the Lord a few years can come alongside those that are, you know, new in the faith.

You're doing that. And part of the reason I wanted you on is that you and all of the adult volunteers, they exemplify what I read in the New Testament about coming alongside and passing it on to the next generation. What would you say to the listeners about how they can impart their journey into the upcoming generations?

Well, as I said last night in jest, I've been on the planet since Moby Dick was a minnow probably. I'm 69. And for me, one of the challenges was at my own church.

We were in need of a Sunday school teacher. And I felt, even though I've worked youth ministry before, worked adult ministry and all of that, I felt so inadequate at my age. I felt I had nothing to offer because this generation is so far out from where I was when I was young. And I don't mean that in a negative way. It's just that there are so many technological advances.

I still have a flip phone and I use smoke signals. But one of the things I felt is that my mother always said, put your money where your mouth is. And so I felt at my church, hey, if there wasn't anyone to take on that role, then I needed to, maybe someone else would come along later. And so I started working with our youth about, probably about eight months ago, teaching Sunday school for them. And so we have a small congregation. So the kids' age range is third grade to sixth grade that I teach for Sunday school.

And then we have a children's church that's done by our children's church director. But I feel that there's so much that our kids don't know because they're not necessarily being taught in school a lot of the things that we were taught. And one of the things that concerns me is that if you forget history or you don't know your history, you're doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. And I see those things happening now, that mistakes that were made in the past, they're being repeated in the name of political correctness, in the name of social justice and all of those types of things. So that concerns me, and any time that I find a young person that wants something imparted into them, it gives me great joy to be able to do that because unless Jesus comes, I'm going to one day leave the planet.

And so I want to leave it better than, you know, when I came in. Amen. And you know, the thing about it, myself and some of the colleagues like Dave Glander, Massey, Compass, Carl Kirby, I mean, we talk about, you know, does God exist? Does truth exist? How do we know the Bible is really God's Word? Political correctness. I mean, there are no topics off limits.

And the kids, they love it. I say this, and folks, listen, as we talk about biblical worldview, and our ministry, myself and all of our staff, if you need help as a church learning how to impart biblical worldview, this has been our stock and trade for almost 25 years, reach out to us. Go to AlexMcFarland.com. We want to help you teach biblical worldview. And Marilyn, you're doing such a great job. Instantly, you were an asset here at the camp. I'm sure you're a great blessing to your church.

We're almost out of time, so folks, here's the thing. Pray, be equipped, influence others. A final word, let me ask the teenagers here, and we've got some great kids here, but we could have had 125 others as well. How can we grown-ups pray for your generation? Joanna, how may we be praying for your generation? Pray for clarity. Pray for clarity in schools, in life, in friendships. Just pray that the children can find the Lord and find friends that love the Lord.

DJ. Just pray that we can actually comprehend what you're telling us, because my parents would say, once you go through with this, you don't go back, and you're going to wish you could go back, but you can't. I didn't exactly understand that as an 11-year-old. But then when I turned 12, and I did some stuff, and I wanted to take it all back, and I wanted to just start all over again, and you can't.

And it's just what they were telling me about. Pray that we have the right influences in our life and can follow the Lord Jesus Christ without a shadow of a doubt. That's beautiful, Angela. That's beautiful. And do you know what?

We'll have much more content in the days ahead. Folks, remember this. The seed you sow, the word you share, the truth you proclaim. 1 Corinthians 15, 58.

Your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Folks, we've got to go. There's volleyball to play. There's nine square. There's just a lot to do at summer camp. Oh, and the water slide.

That's right. There's a video on Facebook from last summer about me doing the zip line. Maybe I'll get to do that again. But in the meantime, may God bless you. May God use you.

And remember, your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Alex McFarland Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at alexmcfarland.com. You may also reach us at Alex McFarland, P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. Or by calling 1-877-Yes-God-1. That's 1-877-Y-E-S-G-O-D-1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarland Show.