McKinney Street is a busy east-west, four-lane thoroughfare just north of downtown Denton. It provides access to Denton’s City Hall and Civic Center and the County Courthouse and the Tax Office. Driving east on McKinney Street, it narrows to two lanes and passes mixed neighborhoods and small industrial sites. In a few miles, it leaves the City of Denton and continues as a county road. Indications of civilization give way to rural vistas. Suddenly, the road comes to a beautiful gate and the traveler enters an oasis called Camp Copass. Once inside the grounds, tall Italian cypress trees line the road and decorative concrete blocks with Bible verses etched in them greet the guests. The contrast is significant between this and the road left behind; perhaps a bit like Heaven and Earth.
Sitting on the northeast shores of Lake Lewisville, Camp Copass bustles with activity on the weekends and throughout the summer. It has accommodations ranging from bunk houses (dormitory) to a facility with meeting rooms and guest rooms that rival some four-star hotels. It has a dining hall that can serve buffet-style and seat six hundred people. Camp Copass is more serene after summer ends, especially during the work-week, so it was the site chosen for the first ever men’s retreat for the Robson Men’s Bible Study.
Twenty-seven men came to the retreat in mid-October to learn and discuss “Leaving a Legacy”. Arriving Wednesday afternoon to a rain-soaked campus, we were unable to enjoy any of the outdoor amenities like miniature golf and Frisbee golf, volleyball or basketball. Some really wanted to play human foosball on their specially made court. The preceding days of rain had filled Lake Lewisville to the max and waves lapped at the edges of the manicured grounds. So we stayed indoors, snacked and ate popcorn, sometimes overcooked in the microwave and nearly setting off the smoke detectors, while playing card games and Mexican train.
After a roast beef dinner, Mike Spencer, Senior-Life Pastor at Denton Bible Church, kicked-off the main purpose of the retreat. He asked, “What kind of legacy will you leave?” Telling many interesting stories, some of them personal and referencing several Bible verses, he gave compelling reasons for us to consider the legacy we will leave behind. The men broke into five small groups with a leader to discuss what Legacy meant to them. Thursday morning after breakfast, Pastor Spencer returned to finish his talk on the subject and we again broke into small groups. After a Mexican lunch with tacos, we returned to our regular activities with a clearer understanding of the kind of legacy we want to leave.
The Robson Ranch Men’s Bible Study groups meet in various homes each Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. We welcome any men at Robson Ranch. For more information, check their website at www.robsonmensbiblestudy.weebly.com.