10 years ago... I signed a rock. I wrote my name on a rock. It was joined with about 100 other names of 12, 13, 14, 15-year-olds who were committing to SERVE God with their lives.
I don't know who all wrote their names on the rock, but I can remember a few people.
There are very few memories that I have in my head that I can remember clearly, but this Saturday night sticks in my memory very clearly. I can remember the line of kids, praying and crying, waiting to sign the rock. I can remember going back to my cabin and just begging God to make this real.
I can remember hearing the same messages just 6 months earlier at winter camp and going forward just because everyone else was. But at Barakel, this was different.
I didn't go forward because it was cool and everyone was doing it. I went forward because I wanted to make this real.
I can remember PD's challenge to us. Then, the whole room standing up and PD doing something I respect more than anything in the world.
He told us all to sit back down. He said "no... you can't do this." Then, he challenged us again. And said "do something about it." He said write it out and show me in the morning what you are going to do differently.
I don't know how many people wrote it out and showed him. I did. It was real for me.
So... I went forward and wrote my name on the rock. And that rock still today sits outside the front right door of the East Side Chapel. That rock no longer says my name but it is a reminder of my commitment to Christ.
A few years later, I read Joshua and found out that PD was just doing exactly what Joshua did in his final speech. Joshua had an altar call. And Israel set up a rock.
And I love the words of Joshua 24:31 Israel served the LORD throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him and who had experienced everything the LORD had done for Israel.
The second generation out of Egypt... they learned from their parents' mistakes. They followed whole-heartedly. They never fell away. They trusted God and followed God.
They lived according to the Covenant. They had a rock bearing witness to their commitment to serving God.
I have a rock bearing witness to my desire to serve God. I'm not about to let that rock call me a liar. I'm all-in.
Tomorrow is Judges 1-12
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I remember that Chapel... I sat in my seat because I wasn't going to go forward just because everybody else was... I had gone forward at Winter Camp and meant it, so I didn't need to do it again...
ReplyDeleteI liked the concept of "doing something about it". We can (and do) say a lot of things about changes we're going to make for God in our lives, but how often do we actually follow through on them? Accountability is key!
Brent,
ReplyDeleteInteresting.
Larry
wow, was that really 10 years ago? makes me feel old!
ReplyDeletei signed the rock. heard the sermon both times. and it was real for me both times. (maybe that's WHY it was so real... maybe we should hear more sermons for a 2nd time 6 months later :) good way to drive the point home!) we also signed commitment sheets, which i put on the back of my bedroom door... in fact it might still be there in my room in MI, or if it got taken down it was only in the last year.
i don't know if i wrote down anything specific to change... at least I don't remember doing so or don't know where it is if i did... but i have all 5 points of that sermon memorized to this day and still try to live my life in light of them!
Surrender to God; Enter His Presence; Reorder my Priorities; Vow to Endure; Enter the Harvest Field. Take up my cross and daily SERVE God.
And you're right, the names washed off the rock but the rock is still there, as a witness against us if/when we don't serve God. I look for it pretty much every time I go to Barakel.
funny thing was, when PD spoke at Barakel a couple years ago he told the story of the rock to the kids that were there that year. but he made it sound like all of us signed the rock, and then all went our own way and did our own thing and forgot our commitment... like it was all in vain that he even preached the sermon. but i happened to be there and hear him say that, 'cause i was playing the piano... and i almost didn't recognize it as being our rock, the story was so different and so sad. i thought it was some other group of teenagers, but when i did the math i realized it wasn't! i guess it probably did happen the way he said for a lot of the teens. but i was like, no, PD, it's NOT in vain. it was real and I remember... there were at least some of us that signed the rock that still remember and are still living for the Lord! so i listed him a couple people who were still SERVEing God and quoted him the points of his sermon and I think he was encouraged. you ought to tell him your story, (or maybe link to your blog on his fb?) i think he would be glad to know you remember too.
I am glad you brought it up, because I thought of it today too... I still think of that rock every time i read about Joshua's rock!