Tuesday, July 01, 2008
After a week of camp, Friday was supposed to be the "settling down" night. Short service. Baptisms in the pool. Brief sharing time. It was anything but. We had about 1.5 hours of young people sharing their talents. Some were serious, some were not. (I don't think I'll ever forget my boy Erik miming to "Me and God". One of the best things I've ever seen. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. Thanks for bringing the joy! ) After hearing all these kids share their talents, we settled in for a short 2 song worship time that turned into a half hour of real worship happening. It was awesome to see young folks passionate about Him! We heard a great message about God's mandate for this generation from my new found friend Keith Burch. We had a time of praying over the kids and it was a powerful time of seeing them connect to what God was speaking to them about their future and their role in His plan for the world.
As we wound down the service around 11:45PM, we had about 6 people that wanted to be baptized. Once we arrived at the pool Keith and I were to do the baptisms. There was a sweet sense of God's presence there. I remembered that the last time I was in this pool someone was baptizing me. God's faithfulness is incredible! As we baptized the 4th person one of our staff members took off his shoes and said he "had to get in". God was speaking to him about renewal and fresh direction and dedication. That started the flood gates coming. We had 25+ people out of the 100 that were there come in the water. It was amazing to see what God was doing in the hearts of individuals there.
Some came in because of salvation, some for renewed dedication, some for renewed commitment, some came in because they did not know how else to respond to what God was doing in that moment. More than once a word from the Lord came when people stepped into the water. The Lord spoke to one young man about his call of leadership, to another young lady her call to ministry, to another lady a new day of prayer and faith. One of the most special, to me, was a young lady who feels God is calling her to be a missionary. As she stepped in the pool I heard in my spirit that we are doing for her here what she will one day do for many others on the other side of the world.
It is such a privilege to be a part of His kingdom. I hope that in 12 years some of those kids will stand in that same pool again the baptizers instead of the baptized. God's goodness is faithful from generation to generation and His blessing is for us, our children and to all those who are a far off according to Acts 2:39. I want to send a big shout out to all my camp friends I made this week and those who joined me in worship. May God use you all to change the world for His glory and fame.
