It was an amazing night. Our 8th annual Bapti-Q. What's a Bapti-Q? Well that's just a term we coined to communicate, well, a Bapti-Q. It's only the most important night of the year for our church. Not only is the food and fellowship in the beautiful outdoor setting fantastic but the main event is absolutely priceless. I had the honor of baptizing seventeen individuals this evening. That's seventeen real stories. I had met with each of them individually beforehand. Most of them very recently made a personal decision to receive Christ in my presence (About 3 had done so further back, but had not been baptized since). I can't even begin to put into words what it means to me to have had the privilege of leading most of these in prayers to receive Christ as Savior and then to be able to reenact the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ by baptizing them each (That's what baptism is, see Col. 2:12).
How many baptisms is it now since we started the church? Maybe something like 135. But tonight was special, because tonight was not about adding to a number. Tonight was about real people with names... children and adults... taking their stand with Christ and professing their personal faith in Him. Yes, it was an amazing night.
But the night wasn't over yet at that point. When I got home I jumped in the shower to wash off the lake water, and it hit me like a ton of bricks. What an awesome privilege to do what I get to do. It's just flat out astounding. I felt overwhelmed with thankfulness. And so I started to sing... I sang a hymn I haven't sung in years, "How Great Thou Art." It had been one of my favorites in the old days, but I was kind of surprised that I could completely remember 3 verses worth of words without even thinking about it.
As a singer, there are those rare times when something happens inside that is impossible to describe. It's not just that you really mean what you're singing or that you are putting your heart into it. That happens fairly regularly. This is something more, and it is rare. The only way I know to describe it is that it is like God starts singing through you.
As I belted it out, I raised each verse up a step or two and my voice rang like I'm not sure it ever has. All I can say is that it was a truly amazing moment that probably sounds stupid to people who have never experienced it. At the end of the hymn, something happened. I HEARD CLAPPING. I absolutely know that I heard clapping and, I thought, a bit of a cheer. I figured it was either my daughter or son being a little silly, cheering on dad for his extremely dramatic, shower-sung rendition of an old hymn.
After getting dressed, I asked both of my kids (my wife was out) if they liked my song. (I actually was thinking about how I'd like to make sure they have at least heard some of the best of the old hymns.) But the really strange thing is that my daughter was watching TV and said she couldn't really hear me and my son had been in the shower himself. He didn't even know I was singing. NEITHER OF THEM HAD CLAPPED OR CHEERED.
I was in disbelief. I kept asking if they were sure. And then my daughter said what I would have never thought of on my own. She said, "Daddy, maybe it was God clapping for you."
She was about half joking, but she was also half serious. She has always been very in tune with spiritual things. Being a logical person by nature, at first I kind of laughed it off, but a few seconds later it started sinking in. After a little more thought, I decided to let myself believe it.
I think I just heard God clap. How thrilling is that?
Thank you God. Thank you for moments like this. I love You.
