Wednesday morning worship definitely took us all to a new level at dance camp this summer. We started off by just singing to Jesus whatever was on our hearts. It was so beautiful to see 120-some voices set free from any fear or insecurity that may have held them down before. That set the atmosphere for worship that day.
We'd been talking about love all week, and up to this point specifically hitting the issue of identity.
Now, full of fresh revelation of God's love for us, an anthem arose.
I remember singing it in London last summer, for 30 minutes straight as its truth sank deep into my spirit, like a hot seal that would never be torn away. Now I led a room full of hungry Jesus-lovers in the song:
Jesus, You are worth it all--every nation, every soul...
What a wild statement! That every thing he asks us to do, every possession he asks us to give up, every place he asks us to go, is worth it. Because HE IS WORTHY. He is worthy of every single soul, every sigle person's heart and adoration.
It's an anthem that says, "We will not give up--we will not quit--until every knee bows and every tongue confesses that our Jesus is Lord!"
The camp director came up on stage, calling everyone in the room to a life of surrender, of radical faith, of total obedience. That life of saying yes to God no matter the cost.
I opened my eyes and saw a multitude of hands raised high, young people laying down everything, crying out for the nations to know Jesus! And agreeing to go, no matter what, to share His love no matter how difficult.
There was even a group of students who had come up to the front of the stage and were kneeling together like an altar call. We hadn't even told them to do that! They came to the front because they were saying yes to Jesus!! Some of them wept, praying over each other and embracing each other.
It was such a beautiful, pure-hearted surrender to the Lord.
I was moved to tears as I looked out over that room. I've seen hundreds of young people sing that song and say yes to God's call on their lives. But this was something different. This was a frightening realization that the call to GO to all the earth, the call to radical faith, to laid-down lives, to wild love, has broken forth into every area of society. It is a sweeping movement like a tsunami. It can't be stopped! Even children raise their hands and cry out, "Lord, send me! I will go!" Teenagers climb out of depression and self-hatred in order to grab onto God's life-altering call.
The movement's started. No longer is the church sitting in complacency, watching the world die a slow and miserable death. Suddenly, and anthem arises. It is here, and growing louder each day.
"Jesus, You are worth it all--every nation, every soul..."
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