Revival Relaunch (Campfire Style)

Mr. Morrison looked around and saw that some may have not known the words, but he knew they were listening. The sweet echoes of the heavenly music echoed through the night sky. As the last song was played, even Rick stopped eating and sat quietly by the fire.

"I will try not to keep all of you long, because I know y'all are eager for the lock in games, and plus my phone died, so what I quote is from memory." Everyone laughed.

"So here it is. Take it or leave it. This is from Matthew 5.

When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him. He opened His mouth and began to teach them, saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. "Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
(Matthew 5:1‭-‬12 NASB)

Mr. Morrison paused after the scriptures looking around. "Colby, the game boy." Mr. Morrison said. Casey opened her mouth in anger towards Sherwin, who sort of shrunk as Colby handed it to him. Then he continued.

"The word blessed shows up nine times in these twelve verses. That means it is an important idea. Matthew 5:1-12 is known as the Beatitudes. Beatitudes is an old, fancy word that means blessed. The Beatitudes start off a section in Matthew called the Sermon on the Mount. Chapters 5-7 of Matthew record many teachings, or words of Jesus. Chapters 8 and 9 of Matthew record many of his miracles, or the works of Jesus. This whole section, Matthew 5-9 paint a pretty good picture of who Jesus is, what he did, and how we can be more like him. The Beatitudes, or Blessings, are like an introduction to these chapters.

"Here is what I want you to think about."

I want you to listen, because this is very, very important. We can be homeless, family-less, and in the hospital, and still be very, very blessed.“The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.” When we follow Jesus, God strengthens us and gives us peace. We don’t have to have nice things or even be healthy to be blessed. We are blessed when God is with us, and God is with us, in our hearts, when we choose to love him and follow his commandments. Jeremiah 17:7 says, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”

--Sherwin remembered feeling God near him even in in hardest and loneliest times. Even in abuse and hunger, he may have not felt very blessed, but knew only with God could he have made it through those times. He wondered if his saved homeless friends felt the same.---

https://www.google.com/amp/s/ministry-to-children.com/beatitudes-lesson-one/amp/

"We may know family members and friends that have passed...knowing believers go to Heaven and non believers don't."

Hope started crying softly near the fire, hoping no one could see in the dark.

"But one day those who we love who believed in Christ...I believe we will see them again in Heaven. A place the Bible talks about where God will wipe every tear from our eye. And this is after living a life of blessing."

"And who don't?" Hope said.

Mr. Morrison sighed. "It is hard to think of a friend or loved one having gone to hell. But, we do not know what happens inside a person before they die. We don’t know whether the Holy Spirit of God has done a work of grace in someone’s heart and life at the last moment. They may have been aware of the hours, minutes, even just seconds leading up to their death and cried out to God for deliverance.

https://www.epm.org/blog/2010/Oct/25/how-do-i-minister-unsaved-friend-whose-loved-one-d

"But we cannot help the dead. They have made their choices. We can only witness to the lost now...and each of us will have to stand alone in front of God...this is when it is important to know whether you will be blessed or condemned.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

God loves us. He does not want us to perish. This is why He sent His son to die an excruciating death on the cross for our sins. We can not let anything or anyone keep us from making this decision to accept Jesus Christ and receive His gift of Eternal life. Because one path leads to destruction. But we were created to be on a blessed road leading to Eternal Life.

So we will pray out...and if anyone wants to pray after or has any questions for me or our teen lock in camp counselors- He pointed to Jacob, Ellie, and Casey, please feel free to talk to any one of us. But especially for anyone who questions if they are going to Heaven when they die, please don't waste another moment."

Grace peeked out from the tree edge. She was there during the sermon, but 5 years old, alone with bare feet and and a hungry stomach was the only thing she was focusing on.

"Psssst.... Sherwin...." She said.

Sherwin looked around with wide eyes and grabbed a hot dog before darting to the trees

"Grace, what are you doing here?" He whispered.

"I am hungry." She said. "And there were flashing lights at the theater. Mommy told me not to go in if there were flashing lights."

Sherwin's heart dropped as he handed her a hotdog. He was unsure what to do except tell Mr. Morrison what happened and hope he wasn't angry. He wasn't sure what to do.

Casey came over.

"Why was my game boy..." She saw Grace and stopped midsentence.

-------

Hope looked into the fire thinking about what Mr. Morrison had talked about. She wish she knew where her dead friend was. But she realized she had been blaming God.

@Uisdean if you have time, want to write with me here? Everyone sort of dropped out and it means a good deal to me.

Uisdean said:

@Mayflower
Well, I'm still working on my blog piece about "Good and Evil" but I have asked a friend with a seminary degree to read what I've written. Hope to post it soon.

I also understand why some people may not want to do the writing game. It's hard. The story about the lottery ticket, for example, I thought of in a certain way. You are taking it in a much different direction. Yeah, that's part of the game...but...it takes a bit to figure out what you might be doing. I suspect most people posting want something simple and easy. I am going to guess that you are setting up people with real needs to receive the lottery winnings. But I'm thinking in a much different plot line. So...it becomes a contest between us as to who 'controls' the plot. That can be fun, I suppose. It may be that I don't understand the game.

And I know that I have not answered your question. I guess I think this is sort of like two people playing bridge, you're better off playing gin rummy.

On the other hand, if you want to collaborate on a story, not a game, but to actually coauthor a story...I'll give that some serious consideration. Except that I doubt it would fit into the Forum Rules.

Click to expand...

I understand. There needs to be like an out of character thread (ooc), so that you can explain your plot line for the story. Otherwise, I have no idea what you plan. If you have made a summary or something, maybe you could tag me. I actually do have an OOC for this story, but I don't really have a certain direction for it to go. Just a story about people coming to Christ and figuring out their faith. Tongues was being used in a bad light though, and became a discussion moved to theology, so that is why salvation and general Christian beliefs are best to focus on...

I do tend to write drama, and this is the first one I was hoping could be finished. Stories always tend to stop and never go anywhere with me. So I am weak in some areas of writing and very interested in learning how to plot storylines out and the plot for your story. Plus learning how to get others interested too. You seem to have a lot of experience!!! I love to write. I just went on hiatus for almost a year, because my anxiety starts getting out of control when I write fantasy things. And I do tend to be a plot taker. I don't mean to!!!! If I don't really try to understand the author's plan, I make it up as I go along.

I think I have played rummy if that is that game with the alternating black and red cards. But have no idea what bridge is. And I think that is what it is. I have written poems and played writing games, but guess I never really written a real story with anyone. I am a bit unsure how to do that and think this is what I really want to do. But not in a publish a story sort of sense. A story that can touch and teach people on a deep level. Lead them into life in Christ.

Id like to continue here if I can find like 3 more who like to write stories....if not I might transfer this to a new thread since this is old and just write it as a story myself. There were tender moments I was sad was ruined by theological disagreements. But now I would not be ashamed to add people praying in tongues in this story. Not how someone trolled it...

It is just hard to finish stories.why I like to write with

farouk said:

Kind of, 'stream of consciousness' approach, I guess, right?

Click to expand...

Yeh.