Jesus Paid The Price

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t get it right; he just kept messing up. Each day he told himself that he wouldn’t let it happen again, but it always did. No matter how hard he tried, he just kept falling into the same trap. It was like he was snared by it. He tried each day not to let it get him, but he felt like it was crouching at the door for him, just waiting. He felt like he was . . . cursed. Was there any way out?

Read Galatians 3:10-14. Take an extra look at verse 13.

What does it mean to be cursed?

Who do you think of when you think of someone who is cursed?

When this passage talks about a curse, to what is it referring?

What is the effect of this curse?

The curse refers to our sinfulness and inability to be perfect. How have you seen that play out in your real life?

How can you get rid of your sinfulness? Can you do it on your own? Explain.

What does this passage teach you about the price Jesus paid to free you from the bondage of sin? How will that change how you live your life today?

Aren’t you thankful that we are saved by grace? The other option is to keep every part of the law our entire lives. That means living life and never messing up, being perfect. Jesus did that for us. He was perfect. Only Jesus, the perfect, sinless Savior, can save us from our sins by offering us forgiveness and grace. We get out of the curse because He became the curse for us. He took everything we have ever done that was against God’s law, took the blame for it, and set us free. Without Jesus, sin would control our lives, but we have freedom from that curse. We can’t even manage sin, much less eradicate it from our own lives. If you’re a believer, sin no longer has a hold on you. Live like it!

Posted in Devotions, Girls | Tagged Camp Crestridge, Galatians 3, Reprinted from ec magazine. © 2011 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission. | Leave a reply

1st Annual Camp Crestridge Day

We are declaring December 1st as the 1st Annual Camp Crestridge Day! Why? Well, it’s about half way into the year and we all need a little taste of camp, don’t you think? From this point on, every December 1st will be a day to celebrate Camp! Each year we might do a little something special. This year, we want to give you a few ways you can remember camp, even in the month of December. Here are a few ideas…

1. Before Dec. 1st, download the recording of the Crestridge Wake Up Bell and Marva’s Good Morning and be ready to wake up to this familiar sound on Dec. 1st.
2. Sing the Good Morning song at Breakfast before you head off to school.
3. Make sure you are wearing your favorite Camp Crestridge shirt to school that day!
4. Ask your parents to honk 2 times before backing up. Make sure all the other campers know you are there!
5. Dress up like a staff person of your choice.
6. Do your favorite Village Cheer at dinner! Capture it on video!
7. Have a group of your friends over and watch the new Ridgecrest Summer Camps video and even your Session Videos from this summer, or earlier summers.
8. Build a campfire with your parents in the back yard, and invite Ron over to lead you in some campfire songs.
9. Make a packet meal for dinner in your campfire or your oven and enjoy it with your family!
10. Do a Quiet Time on your own, or have cabin devotions with your family before you head off to bed.

For each thing you do, take a picture or video and send it to us.  We will enter your name in a drawing for $50 to the Clothing Store! Be sure to check out our Blog for a recording of the Crestridge Wake Up Bell and Marva’s Good Morning! Enjoy Camp Crestridge Day and we can’t wait to see you next summer!

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged 1st Annual Camp Crestridge Day, Camp Crestridge, Crestridge, Ridgecrest Summer Camps | Leave a reply

1st Annual Turkey Bowl

We are getting into a great time of year…Thanksgiving, turkeys, cold weather and snow (for some of us), Christmas, Christmas trees and lights, giving, great food, special time with friends and family and more.  Have you ever thought about the traditions you have during the Holiday Season?  What about the traditions of others?  Well, a tradition that we are starting here at camp is the Turkey Bowl.  Check out this special news report straight from Ridgecrest Summer Camps…

Thank you to all of the parents, campers and staff who make Ridgecrest Summer Camps such a special place!  We are so thankful that God has given us the opportunity to impact lives for His Glory!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged Camp Crestridge, Crestridge, Crestridge Thanksgiving, Ridgecrest Summer Camps, Thanksgiving, Turkey, Turkey Bowl | Leave a reply

Good Morning Camp Crestridge

One of the most memorable things from Camp Crestridge is the Wake Up Bell each morning followed by Marva singing beautifully over the PA system waking up campers and staff alike. It’s classic, it’s startling, and it’s comforting all at once. Although we like to sleep in once we head back home to our beds, there are times when we would love to remember what it’s like to wake up on a cool Camp Crestridge morning. For that reason, we have recreated the Good Morning Camp Crestridge Wake Up Bell!

Below you will find a link to the Good Morning sounds from Camp Crestridge, complete with the Bell, Marva’s voice and Sonny’s howl! Please read the directions carefully to get this “ringtone” uploaded properly to your phone. The process takes less than 5 minutes.

Don’t have a Smart Phone?

Take your Laptop/iPad/Tablet/iPod into your child’s room when you want to wake them up.  Click on this link – Good Morning Camp Crestridge – then make sure “Open With (iTunes or Windows Media Player)” is selected and click okay.  The file should automatically open and start playing.

iPhone:

1.  Download the following link to your computer – Good Morning Camp Crestridge. Save the file.  When the Downloads box appears and confirms the file has been downloaded, drag the file to your desktop.

2.  Right Click on the file and click on “Rename”.  Rename the file to “Good Morning Camp Crestridge.m4r”.  (Note the only thing that changes is the “m4r” at the end).  A box will appear and warn you that the file may become unusable if you change the name.  Click “Yes” to confirm that you want to change the file name.

3.  Open iTunes and drag this file into your library.  You can also copy the file and paste it into your Library.  You should then be able to find it in the “Tones” file in your Library.

4.  Plug your phone into your computer.  After it syncs, drag this file from your Tones Library to your iPhone.  Then sync your phone again.

5.  Safely eject your phone and unplug it.

6.  Now on your iPhone, open your Alarm Clock and change the sound to “Good Morning Camp Crestridge”.

7.  Enjoy waking up to the Bell and Marva’s voice every morning!

*If you would also like just the Wake Up Bell, you can download this link and follow the same instructions – Crestridge Wake Up Bell

*There is also a free App called “Ringtones” that will help you through the process.

Android:

1.  Download the following link to your computer – Good Morning Camp Crestridge.  Save the file.  When the Downloads box appears and confirms the file has been downloaded, drag the file to your desktop.

2.  Plug your phone into your computer.   On your phone under notifications click on the USB notification and choose “Mount”.

3.  Open your “My Computer” file.  Open the drive (your phone under “My Computer”) and make a new folder called “ringtones” (all lower case).

4.  Copy the “Good Morning Camp Crestridge” file into this ringtones folder you just made.

5.  Safely eject the drive from your computer and unplug your phone.

6.  On your phone, open your Alarm Clock and change the sound to “Good Morning Camp Crestridge”.

7.  Enjoy waking up to the Bell and Marva’s voice every morning!

If you have any questions, we would love to help you out!  We hope you will take advantage of this to have a little taste of Crestridge each day!  Don’t forget to use this on December 1st to celebrate the 1st Annual Camp Crestridge Day!

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged Camp Crestridge, Good Morning, Good Morning Camp Crestridge, Marva, Ridgecrest Summer Camps, Wake Up Bell | Leave a reply

Salvation Is A Gift

Ever tried to use an expired coupon? How about play money when shopping at a store? If you have, it probably didn’t work so well. Most stores will only take the real deal—money that has value assigned to it.

In the same way, just being good doesn’t work with God. So how do we pay the debt we owe? How can we make things right with God when we don’t have anything of value to offer Him?

Read Galatians 3:4-9, and pay close attention to verses 8 and 9.

What does it mean that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness?

What was the value of Abraham’s faith?

What is the value of your faith?

According to these verses, is it good works or faith that makes you right with God? Explain.

Are you depending on your good works or your faith in Jesus for salvation? Explain.

Working hard and doing the right things is great, but these don’t restore a relationship with God that’s been destroyed by sin. Good works are important, but without faith, they are empty and worthless. We begin a relationship with God by trusting Jesus through faith. When we believe God’s Word and trust Jesus to bring us into a right relationship with the Father, we are restored and declared righteous, just like Abraham in today’s passage. The truth is, only Jesus can pay the debt of sin that we owe. Our sin has already been paid for. When we accept Jesus’ gift of grace, we are free to do good works for God and enjoy being in right relationship with Him.

Posted in Devotions, Girls | Tagged Camp Crestridge, Galatians 3, Reprinted from ec magazine. © 2011 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission. | Leave a reply

Retro Friday: Roller Skating

Did you know that roller skating in the gym was a camp activity for a long time?  They didn’t use the roller skates we have now.  They had skates that attached to the bottom of their shoes with straps.  Apparently they were pretty tough to put on and adjust.  Roller Skating can be a good work out.  What a fun activity!

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged Camp Activity, Camp Crestridge, Crestridge, Gym, Ridgecrest Summer Camps, Roller Skating | Leave a reply

Retro Friday: Village Ranks

Did you know that the 5 Villages we have now did not exist until the summer of 1962?  Up until then we had 3 Villages-Junior, Intermediate, and Senior.  Since there were only three Villages, the ranks for Council of Progress were different than what they are now.  In addition to honor bands, they also used Emblems.  The Emblems were a Tomahawk, Coonskin Camp, Staff, and White band of Purity.  The Emblems and Ranks have changed a few times through the years.  The picture on the left shows the Villages, Ranks, and Emblems used in the beginning.  The picture in the middle shows what the they were changed to in 1962.  The picture on the right shows the next change in 1967.

 
I’m not sure when the Ranks and Emblems changed to their current state and when we stopped using the Emblems, but I do know it was before 1981.

The current ranks are as follows:

Chippewa – Explorer

Chickasaw -Champion

Cheyenne -Defender

Choctaw -Seeker

Cherokee – Achiever

When you come this summer, be sure to look for the old Emblems in the Museum!

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged Camp Crestridge, Council of Progress, Crestridge, Crestridge Villages, Emblems, Ranks, Ridgecrest Summer Camps, Village Ranks | Leave a reply

It Sounds Good.

Read Galatians 3:1-3.

Commercials do it all the time. The description sounds so good, so plausible, yet when you dig a little deeper (and buy the product), you discover there’s little truth to the claims. They sounded good, but the claims were far from the truth.

That’s the idea behind today’s key verse. Paul wrote those words to the members of the church in Galatia. He had preached the gospel to them, and they had accepted Jesus as their Savior. But now it seemed they had been lured away by a message that sounded good and had elements of truth, but flew in the face of the gospel. They knew that salvation wasn’t anything they could earn through good works or behavior, yet they’d fallen back into that idea. They were making the new believers try to live according to all the Jewish rules and regulations. They were trying to earn grace by doing good things.

The problem with earning salvation is that we have already blown it. By the time we decide to be perfect, we have already sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. That’s why Paul reminded the Galatians where their salvation came from. They had received grace through faith, not because of the good things they had done.

In today’s world, there are many voices sounding off about God, faith, religion, and salvation. Some of those messages sound good, but have little depth or truth to them. Don’t fall victim to them! As we walk together through Galatians 3 this week, cling to the solid truth of the gospel and don’t let go!

Posted in Devotions, Girls | Tagged Camp Crestridge, Galatians 3, Reprinted from ec magazine. © 2011 LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Used by permission., Ridgecrest Summer Camps, Weekly Devotions | Leave a reply

Retro Friday: Cherokee 1

The cabin that is now Cherokee 25 has gone through a few changes in it’s time.  In our post last week, the aerial view showed that there was only one cabin built on Cherokee Hill at the beginning.  Technically, it wasn’t called Cherokee Hill then.  That cabin started out as Arvine Bell’s living quarters and the Staff Lounge.  The original cabin had a wall separating where Arvine lived from the Staff Lounge.  It also had a fireplace.  When they decided to build the Cherokee cabins, that cabin became Cherokee 1.  Arvine had to move down to the cabin that is now where the SALT girls live.  The Staff Lounge was moved to what was most recently the store.

In this picture, it looks like they are having cabin devotions just before bed and they have a fire in the fireplace.  How great would that be to have a fireplace in your cabin!  Although it would be great, it probably is not too safe.  They decided to take the fireplace out.  In 2009, Cherokee 1 was changed to Cherokee 25 since we added 5 new cabins.  By 2010, we were able to renovate all of our cabins.  Cherokee 25 is now all open with 2 bathrooms and 2 showers.

Our new store will have the Museum on the top floor.  You will be able to find lots of great information about camp and its history!

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged Arvine Bell, Camp Crestridge, Camp Crestridge for Girls, Cherokee 1, Cherokee 25, Crestridge, Retro Friday, Ridgecrest Summer Camps, Staff Lounge | Leave a reply

2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest Winner

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for…time to announce the winner for the 2nd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest!  We had some great submissions which made this a tough decision.  Thanks to all who participated and showed their creativity!  Without further adieu,  I’d like to introduce the winner…Lisa Saari!

Congratulations Lisa and get ready for a free store!  Our Honorable Mention is Mary Massey for her Hammock carving.

*Please consider donating your Halloween Costume to camp!  We are always looking to expand our costume closet!  You can send your donations to 290 Yates Ave. Ridgecrest, NC 28770.

Happy November!

Posted in Girls, News | Tagged Camp Crestridge, Crestridge, Crestridge Pumpkin Carving Contest, November, Pumpkins, Ridgecrest Summer Camps | Leave a reply