Edwin Dale, Jackson and I participated in the second week of the annual Statesville Bible Camp in Boone, North Carolina. We arrived on Wednesday mid-morning and left Friday after lunch. This camp is what its name claims: a Bible camp. The Word of God is taught to children and young people morning and evening. There are many evidences of the Lord God of heaven blessing this effort over its many years of existence. This week was no exception. The Unseen Hand moved powerfully but quietly to keep those in attendance safe from harm and its attendees free from strife that could have disrupted the proceedings.
Truth was proclaimed. Young and older alike heard eternal verities expounded with freshly provided vigor from God's servants. At the close of one of the sessions, Brother Dale Wallace, brought to the attention of the young listeners that the close-by Appalachian State University could provide their very best faculty to deliver what they would think to be the most important things for these young people to hear and none would be able to provide anything anywhere close to what they had heard in the past forty minutes. In that preceding forty minutes a week full of lessons on the transforming work of God in the lives of people was culminated in a study of this work in the life of Saul of Tarsus. Truths that transcend all realms of human thinking were presented in clarity rarely heard in our day.
The power of the Lord was present there. In the times of the preaching of the Word there were no outward signs nor wonders, there were no unintelligible tongues and there was no chaos. There was a stillness and quietness and God's voice was heard. One young boy after the preaching one night took his pastor aside and said, crying, something to the effect: "That man, I don't know what his name is, he was talking to me". He heard that night with ears spiritual of his lost condition and his need of a Saviour. The messenger was irrelevant, the message was vital. The Lord had been at work and the evidence was a quickened sinner.
Oh! for more of these seasons where there is no question that the Lord has visited and done His great work among people. I desire it in the little sphere where the Lord has placed me.
