Tuesday Rally Report


The only thing higher than the temperatures Tuesday was the energy the came from thousands of Camporama participants gathered in Stutsman Amphitheater for the evening rally.

After squeezing together for the annual group photo, the national Royal Rangers of the Year were introduced.  Those honored included:

Great Lakes Region Jason Varughese Illinois District
Gulf Region Johnathan Woods Arkansas District
North Central Region John Barth Wisconsin / Northern Michigan District
Northeast Region Chris Slimm New Jersey District
Northwest Region Daniel Brooks Northwest District
South Central Region Kiah Bennett North Texas District
Southeast Region Chris Hardesty North Carolina District
Southwest Region Kevin Douglass Southern California


Next, the crowd began to pump up the high-octane worship from Cruz Control, the Camporama 2006 worship band. The boys didn't let the soaring temperatures dampen their excitement as they jumped and danced while singing, "I am not forgotten, God knows my name!"  The encouraging worship inspired a Jericho Run from the crowd and resulted in hundreds of boys flooding the altar area to sing and dance in worship of thier Lord.

The boys stayed on their feet as Christian superhero extrordinaire Bibleman was introduced in his all-new Armor of God costume!  After an excited welcome from the campers, Bibleman took off his helmet for a face-to-face talk with the boys of Camporama.  With his helmet off, Pastor Robert T Schlipp talked very frankly about the importance of Royal Rangers, the dedicated volunteer leaders who are changing the lives of boys all over the world, and the power of God and what it can do in the life of a young man who is determined to live for God.

Evangelist Randy Ruiz took the stage to an excited crowd and began to share wisdom from the herat of God.  He spoke of how Ark of the Covenant contained three things:

He then explained that when we become a Christian, we become God's Covenental Ark, because His leadership, love of His law and provision are placed inside of each of us.  We are teh carriers of God's presence.

Unfortunately, he said, King David decided not to follow God's rules about how the Ark should be transported (by poles on the shoulders of holy men), and had a cart built to haul it.  In doing so, he no longer wanted God's presence to be "over" him, but wanted to pull God "behind" him.  As a result of his disobedience, he paid the price by seeing a man killed by the power of God for treating the Ark with disrespect.

When he came to realize what he had done, David burned his cart and took the Ark upon his shoulders, where it belonged.

Many of us are like King David, Randy said.  We don't do things God's way, but instead come up with our own versions of how things should be done without regard to what God wants.  Programs can certainly be blessed by God when we allow His presence to be over them, but they cannot be a substitute for His presence.

Today, America has many "gods" -- drugs, alcohol, celebrity worship -- but Randy challenged the Royal Rangers to keep God's presence over us, where He deserves to be in our lives.

What followed the powerful words was an altar service that was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.  Hundreds of boys prayed, received the filling of the Holy Spirit and prayed blessing and healing over their commanders and fellow Rangers.

Even well after the crowd had been dismissed many young men and leaders stayed at the altar area in the presence of God.

Royal Rangers