Come one, come all! It is time for senior high teen camp! This year’s theme: Monster Hunter! These brave campers are giving gentle pats to Scruffy and Boo Boo’s Newfoundland puppy, Nessie Karu–the puddle monster. While she is of course adorable, Nessie has very sharp teeth and seems to grow bigger every day. But there are monsters even more formidable than Nessie with her puppy teeth and whirling destructo-tail!

The theme verse for this week of camp was 1 John 3:8b–“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”

Yes, my friends, monsters are real.

During Monday’s chapel, Van Helsing spoke about the deadly and dangerous monster of pride!

There are a whole lot of stories in the Bible about pride. A plethora of cautionary tales. One that stands out for me comes from the reign of Hezekiah, one of Judah’s most godly kings.

 “In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the Lord, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; . . .” 2 Chronicles 32:24-25a

For almost his entire life, Hezikiah served the Lord fearlessly. He stood up to the mighty king of Assyria, even when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies. He repaired the temple, destroyed idols that had been set up to other gods, and celebrated Passover for the first time in many many years. He watched God do the impossible to save Jerusalem from Sennacherib’s invading army. And yet . . . pride was the monster that put a stain on his bright and shiny reign as King.

When God informed Hezekiah that he was about to die, he wept bitterly and asked for a miracle. God relented and the king was healed. In Isaiah 38 Hezekiah even writes a praise song to the Lord about how “Now I will walk humbly throughout my years because of this anguish I have felt.” Well, Hezikiah’s healing caught the interest of the Babylonian king who sent an envoy to Hezikiah with “best wishes and a gift.”

Then the King who had followed God all his days, who saw miracles, who had just written in poetic form that he would now be extra humble . . . didn’t notice when the monster of pride raised its ugly head.

As part of the Babylonian envoy’s grand visit to Jerusalem, Hezekiah showed them every single one of his treasures.

When the prophet Isaiah asked about the visitors traipsing about the palace and exactly what Hezekiah had shown them, he answered honestly enough.

“They saw everything,” Hezekiah replied. “I showed them everything I own—all my royal treasuries.” Isaiah 39:4b

“Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies: ‘The time is coming when everything in your palace—all the treasures stored up by your ancestors until now—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left,’ says the Lord. ‘Some of your very own sons will be taken away into exile. They will become eunuchs who will serve in the palace of Babylon’s king.’” Isaiah 39:5-7

After a lifetime of victory, one moment of pride tainted this mighty king’s legacy.

This is why in Psalm 141 David considers the rebuke of a friend so valuable. Even as he prays against the deeds of evildoers, David acknowledges that just a moment of pride can send him on a path to doing evil himself.

“Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Do not let my heart be drawn to what is evil so that I take part in wicked deeds along with those who are evildoers; do not let me eat their delicacies. Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness; let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it, for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.” Psalm 141:3-5

During Tuesday’s chapel, Van Helsing spoke about the quiet and sinister monster of depression!

Tuesday’s memory verse: “Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.” Romans 12:21

It is so very easy to lose sight of who God is and who we are in Christ.

It is easy to let evil conquer you. It is hard to do good amidst the darkness. But there is One who gives us strength for every good thing and amazingly, He also knows that even as we witness His mighty works, we can still feel incredibly alone. Our God is indeed “A God who sees me” as Hagar put it.

One of the clearest depictions in scripture of how the monster of depression can darken our eyes to God’s love and power and make us forget who we truly are is in 1 Kings chapter 19.

 “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” I Kings 19:3-5

Of course, this dark time of depression came immediately after the incredible victory at Mt. Carmel where Elijah, standing alone as the single public follower of God, defeated the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah that were regular guests at the queen of Israel’s table.

Just like with the monster of pride, seeing God at work doesn’t make us immune to the monster of depression. I am so very glad that God chose to have Elijah’s struggle recorded in Scripture as well as his encounter with God on the mountain of the Lord afterwards.

“Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?'” 1 Kings 19: 11b-13

“He replied, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.'” I Kings 19:14

“The Lord said to him, ‘Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.’”

As a time of truly horrifying warfare approached, God sent Elijah the names of others who were called. Elijah did not have to make the decisions of a king, his job, to annoint two kings. Elijah was not the only prophet of God, but was given an apprentice. Then God answered Elijah’s heart cry with the final sentence.

“Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Elijah was not alone.

During Wednesday’s chapel, Van Helsing spoke about the love-quenching monster of lust.

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5

In John 8:1-11 Jesus is teaching in the temple courts and the Pharisees and teachers of the law drag a woman before Him.

“Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?”

Not only did the teachers fail to bring the man she was committing adultery with, they decided to parade her through the temple in her time of shame in order to trap Jesus. But the passage below shows that God Himself doesn’t just see our sin, He also sees our pain as we are trapped in our sin and offers us the sweet freedom of a new life in Him.

“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.’

Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.”

“Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’

‘No one, sir,’ she said. 

‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.’”

On Thursday, the chapel session was about the crafty and consuming monster of addiction.

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7

God asks a lot of His children, we are supposed to be growing more and more like Him, after all. However, He has never expected us to do so in our own strength. His spirit within is powerful and gives the strength to make good and godly choices.

Friday’s chapel was about The Ultimate Monster.

The Ultimate Monster . . . is you!

The God who can help His people battle the monsters of Pride, Depression, Lust, Addiction, and every monster in between is not frightened by all that we have done and who we have become, even at our very worst.

“’Come now, let us settle the matter,’ says the LORD. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.'” Isaiah 1:18

For God does not fight monsters in the way of book heroes, movie stars, and conquering military powers. God is not a vampire hunter, zombie wrangler, or a battleship facing off against the might of Godzilla.

“For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.'” Ezekiel 34:11-12

The world can do its worst to us and we can become someone we don’t even recognize anymore. As broken as humans can become, we bear the image of God. The Ultimate Monster Hunter looks upon us and He doesn’t pull out a wooden stake, baseball bat, and a nuclear warhead. No, the God of the universe sees us just as we are and even so, He opens up His arms.

Even when those around us are acting in monstrous ways, with our Lord Jesus’s help, we can fight monsters just like He does!

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Boo Boo