What I Taught at the Summer Camp (1999)
Tom Shrader returns from East Valley Bible Church's X Games summer camp and walks through the six teaching sessions he delivered, each drawn from one chapter of Daniel 1–6 under the theme 'Integrity Under Fire.' Key lessons include resisting cultural assimilation, acknowledging dependence on God, obeying Him regardless of consequences, and recognizing His sovereignty over all human authority. Shrader closes by challenging parents, especially fathers on Father's Day, to lead their families as the primary spiritual influence in their children's lives, rather than delegating that role to the church.
“Your beliefs are very important. They're very personal, but they aren't private. They should infiltrate every area of our life.”
— Tom Shrader
Series: X Games (1999)
Recorded: 1999 at East Valley Bible Church
Duration: 38 min
Themes: integrity, cultural pressure, obedience, sovereignty of God, spiritual leadership, fatherhood, standing firm, dependence on God, father, parent, teenager, youth worker, feeling pressured to conform, raising children in faith, leading family spiritually, young believer
Scripture: Daniel 1, Daniel 2, Daniel 3, Daniel 3:17, Daniel 3:18, Daniel 4, Daniel 5, Daniel 6, Romans 12:1-2
Theological Themes: Daniel, divine sovereignty, sanctification, biblical obedience, cultural assimilation, God's authority, spiritual formation, family discipleship
Full Transcript
Welcome Back from Camp
This was our second summer camp, and we set a precedent last year that when we came back we would talk about camp and what happened. By far the most effective way to do that is to show you what happened, so we had an opportunity for you to take a look at what goes on.
Let me explain a couple of things about the video you saw. There are two guys you need to know: the Dare Brothers. They have been part of Student Ministries since we started promoting camp. They are the ones who dare the kids to go to camp, dare them to stand quietly in line — you can spot them easily because they wear white helmets and jumpsuits.
The other thing — my daughter Haley asked if we were going to show the video, and I said we were. She said, "Every time you do that you wimp out on the music." I asked what she meant, and she said, "You always play the music all you old people like." I said, "Like Mr. Smith?" And she said, "Yeah, old like Mr. Smith." So we played it at a reasonable volume, but you got a sense of the music as well.
Changed Lives Change Lives
You get a sense of just how much work goes into that. We shoot all of our own video, and it is all driven by the students and the student leadership team under Jamie's direction. It is just terrific — you have a great group of kids, and you probably don't always see it or realize it.
There is a lot of fun that goes on while we are there, but we are not there for fun. We are glad there is fun and all of that, but I can have a lot more fun sitting home watching television. We are there for exactly what that last slide said, because changed lives change lives. There is a group of senior staff, a group of adults whose lives have been changed, and now they literally pour themselves into the next generation. That is what this thing is all about.
I want to acknowledge the staff. Jamie and Andre oversee junior high and high school — Jamie serves not just as chief Dare Brother but coordinates and edits all the video production. Tim and Suzanne Maughan provide leadership in high school. Walter and Carol provide leadership not just for junior high and high school but for everything from birth through college. These three couples work fifty, sixty, seventy hours a week getting ready for camp, and literally twenty-four hours a day while they were there. Even though they are not in the room, I think they will sense it — please help me thank them.
What I Taught This Year
When I came back from camp last year, I learned a lot, and that is what I shared then — what I learned at the X Games. But I am going to turn it around a little today and talk about what I taught this year, what we looked at together.
We had six teaching sessions. That is pretty intense — each time I had a chance to speak for about forty-five minutes, fifty or so on the last night, for roughly four and a half hours of teaching total. I wanted to bring the students something I thought was genuinely important, so we worked through a series called Integrity Under Fire: Principles for Living in a Hostile Environment. It comes out of the first six chapters of Daniel.
Watch Out for Subtle Assimilation
We took each one of six sessions and covered one of the first six chapters of the Book of Daniel. I love the Book of Daniel, especially the first six chapters. After that, he starts to see these four-headed beasts and all that, and I had enough of that in the 60s and 70s, so I usually stop right about there.
What I want to do today — and imagine how difficult this is — is to take four and a half hours of teaching and bring it down to about 20 or 25 minutes. There were about 30 specific points that I made to the students. I thought the best way to do this was to take one point and adapt it to each of the six chapters of Daniel. So these are the six points for this morning: lessons we can learn from Daniel.
I want you to see, because I know that video and I know you might say there was a lot of fun going on, that there was also a lot of learning going on, and there were a lot of lives that were changed. The shared time at the end of the last evening and at communion — the third night, not the last night, the third night — we stop when we're done and send all the students out, and then we come back in for our time at communion. Someone came and got me and said, "Tom, you need to come out and look at this." That mall area was filled with our kids, all by themselves, each student individually, some weeping as God was changing and touching their lives. A lot of good things happen.
Here was my first point to them: watch out for subtle assimilation. In Daniel chapter one, Nebuchadnezzar has conquered Israel and takes Daniel and his three friends — the ones you know well. They were some of the best and the brightest. Nebuchadnezzar, the conquering king, orders the chief of his officials to select the best and the brightest. Verse three tells us they were from royal families, bred for leadership positions. Verse four tells us they were "youths in whom there was no physical defect," good-looking, showing intelligence in every branch of wisdom.
At this point the students said, "Just like you, Mr. Schrader." They needed to be coaxed, but once they were coaxed, they knew it. These young men were also "endowed with understanding and with discerning knowledge." That phrase literally means they had common sense — they could build you a car and still remember where the keys were. Scholars believe they were 14, 15, or 16 years old. The point made to the students was this: here they are, your age, standing toe-to-toe in a respectful and honorable way before the king of the world.
Here is what the king was going to do. He wanted to take these young Jewish men, bring them into the Babylonian civilization, and make them leaders within it. And here is how he did it: he said, "Just teach them our literature and our language." Watch out for this subtle assimilation. Rarely do you see a frontal attack on what you believe. What the world says is: go ahead and keep your beliefs, just don't let them affect how you think. Read our books, absorb our literature, hold a worldview as pagan as can be — but no, no, no, you go right ahead and keep your religion.
Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2 speaks directly to this: "Do not be conformed to this world." The Living Bible says, "Do not copy the behavior of this world." I like the Phillips translation best: "Do not let the world squeeze you into its mold." The message to the students — and to you — is that there is a proactive process at work trying to tell us that our Christian beliefs are fine and dandy, but that they should be private. Here is what I say to that: your beliefs are very important and very personal, but they are not private. They should infiltrate every area of your life. Watch out for the way the world squeezes you into its mold, because before long you are acting and thinking just like it.
Acknowledge Your Dependency
Here is the second point we made to the students: acknowledge your dependency. Daniel chapter two gives us a great scene. Nebuchadnezzar has had a dream, and he does something different this time. His magicians and enchanters were his divine connection, his spiritual advisors. He says to them: "I am not going to tell you what the dream is. This time, you tell me. I keep telling you what the dream is and then you tell me what it means, but I am not sure you really know. So this time, you tell me what the dream is, and then I will be far more inclined to believe your interpretation." And he adds this incentive: if they cannot tell him, they will be killed.
Daniel is part of this leadership team but apparently not present at this meeting. He finds out a little later what the charge is, and that if he cannot interpret the dream, he will be killed. So Daniel goes back to where he is staying. He does not put together a special leadership team for this emergency. He already has his friends in place. They stop and they pray.
One of the magicians had already said to Nebuchadnezzar, "What you are asking of us is not fair. No man can do this. Only the gods can do this, and they do not live among men." Daniel gathers his friends and they pray, essentially agreeing: men cannot do this. Only God can do it. So they ask God to do it — and then they do something I find extraordinary. Then they go to sleep.
Can you imagine that? Knowing you could be killed as early as the next morning if you cannot interpret the dream, and yet Daniel says: I cannot do this. There is nothing I can do. It would be silly to lose a good night's sleep over it.
Acknowledging Dependency
Unless God does it, I can't possibly do it. During the night, a vision comes to Daniel — a dream — and the dream reveals what the king's dream was all about. Here is the point: acknowledge dependency. Look at what Daniel does. He wakes up, and the first thing he does is thank God and praise Him. I don't think that is our natural tendency. I think for most of us, if we were in that setting and we woke up in the morning and realized we had that dream, we'd be going down the hall saying, "Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego — I got the dream. I got the dream. We're going to live."
When Haley was five or so, she lost her first tooth, and to Haley, everything is kind of gross. She has this tooth, and she comes in and says, "Dad, tell me about this tooth fairy." I said, "Well, what do you want to know?" She said, "Tell me about the money." I said, "Okay, well, in theory, you take the tooth, put it on your pillow, and you get money for it." She said, "Does it work?" And I said, "I don't know anything about this stuff." She said, "Well, how much money do you get?" And I said, "I don't know, like a quarter or something." She said, "Well, does it work?" And I said, "I don't know, Haley, do whatever you want with it."
So Haley gets half a dozen, eight Kleenexes and puts the tooth in the middle, then takes those Kleenexes and puts them in a baggie, squeezes all the air out — because it's gross — and seals that baggie, then wraps the baggie in a washcloth. Well, I had forgotten all about it. The next morning I hear this scream, and it's not a scream of fright, it's a scream of joy. I hear these feet coming, and she says, "Dad, look at this, look at this, look at this!" I said, "What is it?" She said, "I got money!" I said, "How much did you get?" She said, "I got a dollar and a quarter."
I said, "Haley, that's terrific." She said, "Dad, when will I lose all my teeth?" I said, "Well, I don't know." She said, "Think about this — if you lost all your teeth and Mom lost all her teeth and Sarah lost all her teeth and I lost all my teeth, we would be rich." Which, by the way, I thought for a long time was the Clinton Economic Recovery Program, but I didn't use that line with the students because it would have been wasted. I couldn't wait to use it with you.
My point is, I think Haley did exactly what a typical person would do in Daniel's setting. I'm up in the morning, I got the dream — but here's what Daniel teaches us: no, Father, thank you. In the midst of the blessings that we receive, we acknowledge our dependence upon Him. Throughout this story there is a tendency to look at Daniel and his friends, but the main character is God. In fact, Daniel goes right before Nebuchadnezzar, and when Nebuchadnezzar says, "That's really something," Daniel says, "No — wait. I didn't get this dream because I'm special. I got this dream because of God."
Obeying God No Matter What
In the third chapter, here is what we taught: you obey God no matter what. Daniel disappears in Daniel chapter three — he is not mentioned. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — you know the story. They are about to be thrown into the fire. In Daniel chapter three, verse 17, they say, "That's fine. If you're going to put us in the fire, that's okay. Our God is able to save us." One of my favorite verses in all of Scripture is Daniel chapter three, verse 18: "But even if he doesn't." I don't care whether He saves us or not. We are not going to serve your god. We are not going to worship your god. Our job is to trust and to obey, and that is why we are here. That is great maturity.
You and I look at our lives — and again, we are talking about students — why would God let bad things happen to you? Why would He throw roadblocks out there? Why wouldn't He make it smooth and easy? Because He wants to teach you. Here is what happens in suffering and trials. Number one, you begin to grow. You grow in the midst of suffering. You begin to encourage one another. One of the most encouraging things there is, is to watch a Christian person in situations we can't even imagine ourselves going through, and to see them triumph in the middle of it. All of a sudden it allows us to serve one another.
When you suffer, you develop compassion. When everything is going smoothly, you think you are something special. But wait until you get benched, or wait until you are not in the top ten in the class, or wait until those looks fade a little bit. It humbles you. And here is a huge thing — I don't know if you have ever thought about it this way. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. I cannot see the fruit of the Spirit without suffering. How do I know if I have patience until I am in trying situations? I cannot possibly know. How do I know I love until I come up against something that is unlovable?
So we learn that what God is doing in our lives is saying, "You obey Me." Even if He doesn't do what we think He ought to do, that is no excuse for us to do anything but follow Him.
God Rules
Nebuchadnezzar is the central character in Daniel chapter four. At the end of a day, Nebuchadnezzar shares his testimony. As you read Daniel chapter four, it is Nebuchadnezzar who speaks. He is telling the story of Daniel coming to him and saying, "Don't you honor and worship the holy, the one true God?" Twelve months passed since that encounter, and Nebuchadnezzar has pushed God away and pushed God away, so much so that he is now standing on top of his palace — one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
As you read through the beginning of Daniel chapter four, Nebuchadnezzar is talking about, "I did this, and I built this, and I did this" — and then, in Nebuchadnezzar's own words, while —
God Is Sovereign
"These words were still on his lips, a voice came from heaven and said, 'This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar. Your authority has been taken away from you.'" Who took it away? God. Nebuchadnezzar — if you are not familiar with the story — then spends seven years living like a cow, literally out eating grass. He would wake up in the morning with the dew upon him. After seven years, in Nebuchadnezzar's own words, he comes to his senses, praises the God of heaven, and is restored to his position of authority.
Here is the point: God rules, God reigns. He raises up, He places down. He is in control. He says to Nebuchadnezzar, "You are king because I allowed you to be king." It is so important for us to see this. Why was there a Hitler? Because God allowed it. How did George Washington come to power? God put him there. God is in absolute control, absolute authority. God is sovereign.
To the most powerful man in the world, He says, "That's enough." He pops his little head and sends him out to eat grass for seven years. What a great picture of the stubbornness of man. How much grass would you have to eat — how many days would you have to eat grass — before you thought, "I think I liked it better in the palace"? For seven years he fights God, and then he comes to his senses. And he came to his senses only because God gave him the sense to come to. This is all about God.
If there was anything that those students should have taken away from that weekend, it was this: God is sovereign, God is in control. And even if you get this, it is because God lets you get it. God rules.
Belshazzar and the Writing on the Wall
Nebuchadnezzar then dies, and in Daniel chapter 5 there is a new king — Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. God does not extend the same grace and mercy to Belshazzar that He did to Nebuchadnezzar. Belshazzar had all the privileges — the point I made to the students — just as they had all the privileges of being at camp that week. His grandfather had told him the truth. He had heard the truth. He knew, or should have known, about Daniel.
Belshazzar is king, and the empire is in disarray. Maybe you have been part of a company — an old company — where every time you get together you celebrate the past, because it is clear to everyone on board that the ship is sinking. That is what Belshazzar is doing. He is overseeing a gigantic orgy. The date on Daniel chapter 5 is October 12th, 539 B.C. I love being able to tell you that, because this is not a fictitious, mythical event. This is an actual event in history.
What happens is extraordinary. Archaeologists believe they have discovered the room in which this event took place. About ten feet up on the wall is a gigantic ledge where the king and anyone he chose would preside — in this case, over a drunken orgy below. How drunk were they? They were drinking to the god of wood. You are pretty well lit up when you are toasting the god of wood. It is one thing to drink to the god of stone, but when you are drinking to the god of wood, you have gone over the edge.
In the midst of all this, a wet blanket is thrown on everything as a hand appears and begins to write on the wall. Belshazzar the king is terrified. He knows he is guilty. He does not understand what the writing means, so he calls in the magicians. Again, they end up with Daniel. Daniel comes in and says, "This is what it means — Mene, mene, tekel, parsim. God has numbered your kingdom and numbered your days. You have been measured and found deficient, and your kingdom will be divided yet tonight." He says, in effect, "Belshazzar, I have had enough."
The Finiteness of Life and the Consequences of Sin
It seems to me that one of the hardest things to speak to students about is the finiteness of life and the inevitable consequences of behavior. But a kid stood up during share time, and it was a great moment. He was a small kid — one of those young ones we had up there. He stood up and said, "I realized while I was here that I do not have forever to live, and I realized that I need to be serious about this now." He got it.
There are consequences to your behavior. When you sin, students, your parents are affected. Parents, when you sin, your kids are affected. That message could not have been clearer than it was in the story of Belshazzar.
Daniel in the Lion's Den: Trustworthy
The last point we made came from Daniel chapter 6, and it is this: be trustworthy. This is Daniel in the lion's den. Those who wanted to trap Daniel concluded that the only way to do it was through what they already knew about him — he always does what God says. So they circumvent the authority of the king. There is a new king, Darius, and they have him write a declaration that for thirty days, when the music sounds, everyone must pray to a statue. They know Daniel will not do that. They spy on him. Daniel is caught.
The consequence for disobeying the king was death. Darius, even though he does not want to, is forced to throw Daniel into the lion's den. Something really interesting then takes place. Daniel goes into the lion's den, and Darius goes home — and he cannot eat, and he cannot sleep. Remember, just a couple of chapters earlier Daniel was sleeping like a log knowing he was going to die in the morning. But Darius cannot sleep.
At daylight, Darius rushes to the lion's den, as though he expected that God would do something. And he calls out: "May the God that you serve — may He have saved you in the night." Daniel answers: "My God rescues, and my God saves." This is an extraordinary event. We know this story well, and it carries all the way through the New Testament, even into our study in the book of Acts.
The Signs and Wonders of God's Rescue
These signs and wonders are pictures of the way God works so that we can see it in a physical way, to understand that He takes care of us spiritually. God rescues and saves us from our own sin. This room right now, this morning, is filled with men and women who have been rescued and saved from their own sin and their own sinful desires, who can stand before you today and say, "I know that when I die, I'll spend eternity with God in heaven based on who He is and what He's done. He's rescued me." That is why there should be a joy and a passion and evangelism to go and to tell the world: you have the cure for sin — come to Christ in repentance and faith.
You can imagine if you take that and multiply it over and over again — that is what we had for four and a half hours. We had the privilege to talk about these and thirty other points of how God is working in their lives and to challenge them.
Honoring Mom and Dad
At the end of the last session, I had this privilege: to tell them that Daniel is a cool guy, and Daniel can be a hero for you — but if you want a real role model, you go home and look to your mom and dad.
It is really important for you to get this. The largest budget item we have with regard to ministry is birth through college. We spend more money there — significantly more money there, many times more than any other ministry at the church. But here is what you need to understand: we are not their parents. I am not their dad. Susan is not their mom. They are your kids.
We are here to supplement what you do. We are here to encourage them. As a board of elders and a leadership team, we have said we will put our money where our mouth is to support and strengthen the family. These kids are important, but we cannot replace you.
The Call to Lead as Parents
We told them that directly. I told them: when you get home, it is your mom and dad who made this possible. It is your mom and dad who took care of this. It is your mom and dad that you look up to. It is your mom and dad that you obey. Go ahead and read about Daniel, but you ought to be getting your lessons of life from your mom and your dad.
That is an awesome responsibility when you hear it that way. It is amazing how many parents want to say, "Go away, go away — teach him about Daniel." I cannot teach him about Daniel and have him listen to Daniel if you are not leading. You need to lead. You need to step forward. You are the parents — the leadership team that God has put in place for this.
A Prayer for Fathers
That is our prayer as we close, and it is perfect for Father's Day. Our prayer is that as fathers, as parents, we would be more like Christ, so that when they look at us, they would see Him.
God has been so good to us at this body. What a joy it is to look here in the middle of June and see this room filled with people — to see those kids over there, some 600 of them, plus what is going on in junior high and high school with another couple hundred, plus what God is doing in the college department, which is just starting. How great is this.
Father, that is our prayer. We praise You and we thank You. We want to be like Daniel in that we see the great work You are doing here. We do not want to take any credit for it — it is all You. You are the One who began it. You are the One who will continue it. God, we pray that today we would pause and reflect on our own lives. Help us understand the awesome responsibility and privilege we have to lead. God, we pray that as fathers and as parents — but today especially as fathers — that we would lead and we would be the men that You would have us to be. We pray it to You. In Jesus' name, amen.