The Horizontal Hour

The Horizontal Hour

by Norman Renshaw

Transcribed from the original recording; may contain errors.

Well, it’s much warmer tonight than it was two years ago. Was it three years ago? Two years ago. We hadn’t been told that everything was done out of doors and that you could have any cold weather in California. So that first night, Elsie and I were turned into blocks of ice. And we were only thawed out because we were the CFO. If we’d been in any other kind of situation, we’d still be a block of ice. But you can’t stay like that, can you, in a CFO? And it’s wonderful to be back here. And to recognize so many of you. Not to be able to call you all immediately by name. Though I take a quick look at these glorious labels, so large, aren’t they? Even an old man like me can read them. But I remember the faces and we are so thrilled to be here. But who is here tonight in a CFO camp for the first time? Don’t stand up, but just put your hand up.

Well, that’s great. We are so thrilled to have you. You helped to make the camp all that it’s going to become. Because I know from experience that this camp is going to be the greatest camp, the greatest CFO camp you’ve ever been to.

Because, of course, it’s your first. But also, it will remain one of the greatest. The other greatest will be whatever other one you’re at. And if you think that I’m kidding you, I’m not. I’m just speaking out of my own experience. And out of the experience of very, very many people. In fact, all the old campers would agree with me. And if you don’t agree with me, don’t nod your head.

But it’s fantastic. I remember so well my first camp. It was magnificent. Everybody there was a new camper. Can you imagine that? Every camper was a new camper. No one had ever been to a CFO before except the three leaders. You know, I look back upon that and think, how crazy can you get? But, of course, that was in England. And there are a crazy lot over there.

We did have three leaders. Now, who were they? Oh, yes. A fellow called Glenn Clark. And he was aided and abetted by Roland Brown and Marcia Brown. Well, that’s not bad for leadership, is it? But every one of us was new, but I’ve never forgotten the experience.

But I know by the end of this week, alongside that camp, this will be the greatest I’ve ever been at. And that’s not really because of you or me. Although we have a part to play in it. All of us have a part to play in it. But it is because part of the genius of CFO is that it is an instrument that God always is able to use. Always. Never, in my experience since 1954, is a CFO camp a flop, a washout, a failure. Never. God always does it. Whatever He wants to do. And so I know that, for me, this is going to be the most marvellous CFO experience I’ve ever had. And I’m on tiptoe about it. Not only because I’ve been here before. And it is a beautiful place. But if I’d never been to this camp before, provided it was a CFO camp, then I would know that it was going to be a higher and richer and fuller experience than I had ever had in my life. Because God will be at work among us. So have great expectation, won’t you? I suppose He is able to work supremely because we say it’s all really on our brochure that we take as our source and centre the leadership of Jesus Christ.

He is in charge here, in this camp. All the rest of us, whether we be chairman or council ring members or speakers or leaders or whatever we are, or what we call, I don’t know why we call them this, ordinary campers. All of us are under the authority and the direction of Jesus Christ. That means we are under the authority and the direction of love. God’s love. God’s love. And that happens to be the most powerful thing in the world. That is what the world is all about. That is where you find truth and life.

So if we are asking and expecting that Jesus Christ is going to be in charge here, then we are in a situation where God will be able to work. And as a result of that work, He will achieve the things that He wants to achieve in each one of us. And because all of us need further things to be achieved, because there is more growth, because however much you have already learned, and I’ve learned a lot through the years through CFO, there is still so much more to learn. So, this is an exciting time.

You know, I think these trees have grown since Elsie and I were last here, and I’m beginning to think that maybe they are in a very special place for growth. How they must rejoice in the gathering of people here for worship, in the singing that we have. They are very special trees because they are grown in a special place. They are in a heavenly situation. And if you think I’m kidding, well, you talk to the trees about it, and I guess they’ll tell you that what I’m saying is true. But we can certainly respond to the love and the blessing that we will experience here in this camp. We’ve come here, it says on our leaflet, to be trained as athletes of the Spirit. It’s a lovely phrase which comes from Glenn Clark. Athletes of the Spirit. It’s a training course. It’s a time when all of us will grow more fully into the things of the Kingdom of God. And this world desperately needs more trained Kingdom people. When I say this world, I speak as someone who has seen a lot of it now. I speak as a lot of it now. Already in this year, and it’s only June, I have been in five continents. Continents, not countries. Continents.

Continents. This is the fifth one. This year. And I know the world desperately needs God. And I know that God only breaks in on His world amongst people, through people. That’s the limitation He’s put upon Himself. That means He is always looking for people He can use so that He can break through into His world. And this world desperately needs our God to break through in new and powerful ways. I’ll probably be sharing some of that with you as I take you to some of these countries that Elsie and I have been in this year. But you’ve got to be sufficiently usable. You’ve got to be trained. I’ve got to be trained so that God can use us for His purposes. And that’s part of the splendor and the experience of a CFO. I’ve got the New Testament open at the first letter of John. Lovely words that John, the beloved disciple, or if any of you think it wasn’t him, then the best thing for me to say is what my old college principal used to say. If it wasn’t John who wrote it, it was another fellow with the same name.

But I like to think that it was John, the beloved disciple, who knew Jesus so well and had lived with Him, and then had this long, long life of service. His brother, incidentally, didn’t have a long life of service, did he? James. James only had a handful of weeks in the kingdom. And then Herod, wasn’t it, chopped his head off. See, you’ll either have a short life or a long life in the kingdom. But either way, you’re here to serve. You’re not here to serve yourself, you’re here to serve others. And this is part of what this old man now wrote. It was there from the beginning, he said. We’ve heard it. We’ve heard it. He wasn’t talking about something he hadn’t heard. We’ve heard it. We’ve seen it with our own eyes. We’ve heard it with our own eyes. And it is of this that we tell. Our theme is the word of life. This life was made visible. We’ve seen it and bear our testimony. We here declare to you the eternal life, which dwelt with the Abba, and was made visible to us. What we have seen and heard, Lord, we declare to you, so that you and we together may share in a common life. That life which we share with the Abba, and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

And we write this in order that the joy of us all may be complete. Now, isn’t that a marvelous description of a CFO camp? It really is. Well, we’re going to talk about the things that some of us have seen, and experienced, and heard, and touched.

We’re going to talk not theory, but we’re going to talk practice. We’re going to talk out of the experience of our own lives. And we’re going to talk within the fellowship that we have in Jesus, and through Jesus with His Abba. That we actually have a share in that divine life. And therefore, we have a fellowship one with the other. All in all, that we might have joy. Because that is the great gift that the Father brings to us.

This is a wonderful word, this word fellowship. Koinonia, or koinonia, whichever way you like to pronounce it, in English or in American. But it’s Greek, of course, anyhow. Koinonia, this wonderful word, which doesn’t only mean fellowship, but means sharing. And it means participation.

So all of us are going to participate. Now, the chairman has graciously said that if you don’t want to get up till midday, he didn’t put it as bluntly as this, but he said if you didn’t want to get up till midday, well, don’t get up till midday. But look what you’ll be missing. I strongly advise you not to lie in bed till midday. You’ll miss so much. Why, do you know, I have known in some camps, particularly if I may dare to say so in America, where some people never go to the meditation. Miss it all. Why, at the end of the morning meditation, I sometimes feel I’ve had so much. If I had nothing more, I’d have had everything I need for the day, though I don’t contract out of the rest because of that. But fancy missing the morning meditation. Indeed, when you begin to think about it, fancy missing any of it. I never miss anything in a camp. I’m a glutton for that which is good. I want to take it all because I want to share in it. I want to give and receive in it. That’s why I always talk up, turn up at the talks, especially when I’m speaking. I want to share in it. I want to see what the good Lord is going to say to us tonight.

And you know, I’m just longing for the privilege of being here and being present when Rodney Romney is speaking. You know, he’s here partly because of a soul’s sincere desire of mine. About a year or two ago I said to someone, I just hope that one day the good Lord will ask Rodney Romney and myself to be together in a camp. Now that was a soul’s sincere desire. That is, it was a desire. I really wanted it. I wasn’t just saying it for fun or, you know, to make it look good. I really wanted it. I really wanted to have the opportunity of listening to the message that God would bring to me through that man. Of course, that’s one of the joys of being a CFO speaker. You can sit down for half of it. And listen to the other speaker. You know, I’ve been a preacher in my own church for years and I’ve all dared to listen to myself. But in a CFO camp you can listen to the other one. And I said, oh, I’d just love to have Rodney as the other one. That was a desire. It was a sincere desire too, because it was of the truth about myself and of the truth about him. He is a CFO speaker.

So there was a chance that it could happen. And it was of the soul, because God said amen to it. And He arranged it. So I’m just looking forward to that. I should be here every time he speaks. And I should be here every time I speak. And I should be here every time we have the singing. And I should be here every time we have the meditation. And all the time we have all the other thrilling things. Because the whole bang shooting match together, it’s what makes it tick. Isn’t the speakers? Good as they are.

Isn’t the singing? Great as it is. It isn’t any one bit of it. It isn’t even the prayer groups. Though I’ve heard people say that that’s where it all happens. It isn’t. It’s all together made as an offering to God. And God takes a whole lot and uses it. Now, you never know at what particular bit He’s going to stretch out His hand and touch you. He may not touch you through the speaker at all.

Some of you may say, “Well, goodness me, I thought… What did it say about him?” “Oh, well, you see.” Well, that’s going to be your problem, isn’t it? Certainly won’t be mine, because I’m just me and I’ve got to go on being me and God uses me or He doesn’t use me.

It may not be to the speaker. A year ago, last January, about 28 German people invited me to go over there for a weekend to tell them how to run the camps in Germany. They were just going to begin them. And when I arrived and asked them what the program for this weekend was, they said, “Well, we’re going to squeeze you like a lemon. Going to get everything out of you we can about CFO.” And so we went through the weekend, and at one point, they asked me to lead them in Devotion in Motion, which I greatly enjoy doing, whether I’m leading it or participating in it as a follower. But I often lead it, and so I led them in it. And just before I began, I noticed that a new arrival was upon the scene. And he was a fine German man, but about three times as wide as I am. And with about four chins. And I looked at this fellow, and I thought, “Poor chap. Fancy asking him even to move, let alone to express the creative power of God through physical activity.” I winced for him. But then I thought, “Well, it’s not my job to be falling down on this. He’s got to respond to that his way. I must get on with it.”

So I got on with it, and I led the group in this time of about half an hour. But you know, after that, this man went to the secretary, and he said to her, “That was the greatest experience I’ve ever had in my life.”

Now, I would never have picked that bit up for him, you see. If he’d come to me and said, “I’m not too keen on this movement and activity thing, it’s all right for you, you’re nice and slim and light and all the rest of it, but I’m not very good at it, I don’t want to do it,” I would have been inclined to say, “Well, you sit it out.” But boy, you see, it was the very thing that ministered to him. I discovered afterwards he was a minister. A pastor of the German, in one of the German churches. And it was that thing that he had never done in his life before, where God reached to him and gave him a great new experience. So, you see, what a pity it would have been if he’d missed out on it. Don’t miss out on anything, because you don’t know at what point God will say, “My beloved one, this is the moment where I can speak to you. This is the moment that I can touch you. This is the moment that I can release you. This is the moment that I can help you to grow. This is the moment that I can bless you. This is the moment that I can make you realise that this particular experience is holy.”

You know what a holy experience is, don’t you? It’s not an experience where you go all pious and, you know, put your hands together and say your prayers. That’s not being holy. It could be, but it isn’t necessarily. It’s being aware of God.

Because anything that is holy is related to God. Do you know, London Airport was turned for me last Friday morning. It’s Sunday today, isn’t it? That’s right. Just last Friday. This last Friday. London Airport was turned for me into holy ground. I was awed. Now, if any of you have been to London Heathrow, you don’t immediately think of it, do you, as being holy ground. There is a chapel there somewhere, but hardly anybody knows it’s there and hardly anybody visits it. But do you know why it became holy ground to me? Well, it was partly because I’ve had a lot of training now in the things of the kingdom. And I’m not foolish enough to say that I haven’t learned anything. I have. Nor would I reject what God has done in my life. Well, I know He’s got much more to do, but He’s already done a lot, for which I am thankful. And if you knew me, you’d be thankful too. Because there was a lot that needed doing. But I woke up early on Friday morning because we were going to fly from London directly to San Francisco. And you know, we’ve been flying now, Oysenae for five years.

Up to this year, excluding this year, and I tell you, we’ve been in five continents this year, but excluding this year, we have flown 177,000 miles in five years. And that’s a lot of airports and a lot of flights, I can tell you. And every one of them has been perfect. Every one. We’ve put every one of these journeys into the hands of the Heavenly Father.

We begin to prepare for them two or three days beforehand because, you know, airplanes don’t drop out of the sky. They’ve got to be prepared. So when I’m thinking about a flight, I talk to the Heavenly Father about it and I say, “Now, You know where that airplane is. You make sure it gets properly serviced. I don’t want it turning up to take me. I’m serviced.” And you begin to get your eye on the flight crew. “I don’t want them out on a binge the night before. You just make sure they’re all sober.” And the cabin crew. And you get all the passengers and myself in the right attitude. And you find the seat that you want and all the rest of it. And I prepare and give it into His hands. This may be why their flights are so good. But last Friday morning when I woke up, turned on the radio, they told me in the news that the air traffic controllers at London Heathrow were going on strike that day.

But you see, I have been trained in the things of the kingdom. And I know that it is not a kingdom reaction to judge that situation negatively. I know that it is not a kingdom reaction to begin to curse and curse about the air traffic controllers. I know that it is a kingdom reaction to say, “This is the day that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” Jesus, you know, Jesus actually recited that in the upper room in the night in which He was betrayed. It comes from the 118th Psalm and that was one of the Psalms that He and His disciples recited in the upper room in the night in which He was betrayed because it is one of the Psalms that come in the Hallel group, which are the Passover Psalms. Don’t you think it is magnificent that in the night in which He knew He was going to be betrayed, the night before He knew He was going to be crucified, He said, “This is the day that the Lord has made,” and the Hebrew actually is, “This is the day that the Lord has contrived, has arranged, and I will rejoice and be glad in it.” And if He could do that on the night in which He was betrayed and the night before He was crucified, couldn’t I do that on the day that I was going to fly and these air traffic controllers were going on the blink? Yes, if I kept in the kingdom. Yes, if by the grace of God I would face it that way. And then Jesus said another amazing thing, didn’t He, on the cross: “Father, Father, Abba, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.”

And if He could say that about people who crucified Him, surely I could say it about the air traffic controllers. If you begin to get things in perspective, you see, you bring a mountain of hurt and worry and annoyance down to a molehill. He said this is the way you can remove mountains. And you recognize that it is only a little thing anyhow. And you remember too, that though He asked for their forgiveness, and though He forgave them, and though He let them off the hook by saying they didn’t know what they were doing, they still killed Him. You see, so if you’re going to live in the kingdom, you’re not going to say all this because you think, “That’ll make sure that nothing bad happens.” That’s not kingdom living. Kingdom living is living in the kingdom whatever happens. Whatever they do to you. Even if the air traffic controllers produce chaos in London Heathrow, you still live in the kingdom. And so when my travel agent from London telephoned me later, about half an hour later, I answered the phone and I said, “Norman Renshaw here,” and the voice the other end said, “Bad morning.”

Oh, people usually say good morning, don’t they? He said, “Bad morning.” I said, “Hello, John.” I knew it was all right. He said, “Have you heard the news?” I said, “Yes. But,” I said, “this is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” Now, he’s not a Christian yet.

He’s getting more and more bemused by what happens to us. He’s planned all our flights. He’s a marvelous worker. He knows how to read a timetable. He’s God’s gift to us. But he still can’t understand what happens. He said, “Well, I phoned Pan Am,” he said, “but they can’t give me any news.” See, he does his stuff for me. I said, “Well, all right.” He said, “You don’t have to get there on time, but probably there’ll be a five-hour delay.” I said, “Well, this is still the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it.” He said, “I hope you’ll be saying that five hours after your plane is due to leave.” And I said, “I hope so too.”

And I know I’ll only be saying it by the grace of God because I’m an impatient sort of fellow. Aren’t you? We’re naturally impatient, aren’t we? Anyhow, we went to London and I was fully prepared for this five-hour delay. And we put our luggage in and the charming clerk said, “Well, your plane is due to leave at ten to four. At three o’clock, you’ll know your fate.” And I said, “A possible delay?” She said, “Yes, most likely five hours.” I said, “Well, thank you.” And inwardly, I said, “This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” And I was thankful for the training that I’d had in CFO camps because this is where I learned this, kingdom living. And we settled down to write about six letters that we should have written before that. And we did that because we thought we got plenty of time. And then, because we thought we were going to have to wait five hours, we went and had a snack. And then we went through the immigration and all the other things you have to do, you know, to make sure you’re not carrying a bomb or whatever it is. And when we looked up at the board, it said that this flight had been rescheduled.

I mean, rescheduled. And instead of leaving at ten to four, it was going to leave at half past three. And you know, I so couldn’t believe it that I went up to the Pan Am desk and I said, “I see that flight one, five has been rescheduled.” And the girl said, “Yes.” I said, “What does that mean?” And she said, “It means it’s been rescheduled.”

And I thought to myself, well, if you ask a silly question, you’ll get a silly answer, won’t you? I said, “Yes, but it’s 20 minutes earlier than it was.” She said, “Yes, it’s been rescheduled.” I said, “That doesn’t mean it’s going to be late.” She said, “No, it’s going to be late.” I said, “Do you know that plane left at half past three?”

And it arrived here in San Francisco, five minutes before it was due. I said to one of the stewards, one of the fellows on the trip, I said, “You know, I’m absolutely thrilled that you got away like that.” He said, “If we hadn’t, or they, it wasn’t him, of course, but if it hadn’t been decided to advance the time of that flight by 20 minutes,” he said, “you’d have had to wait five hours. We just slipped in at a time when, you see, the air traffic controllers were doing a sort of, now we’re work, and now we’re going to have a coffee thing, you see, sort of go slow. They weren’t really off duty, but they weren’t really on duty. But they were on duty at that particular time, and three 747s got off. Amongst them were ours because we decided to go at half past three rather than ten to four.” Now, this is the day that the Lord has made and we will rejoice and be glad in it. Even if we’d had to wait five hours, it is still right to take that attitude toward life. But if you do take that attitude, it gives God what I call elbow room to work in your world. He doesn’t actually want you to hang around for five hours.

He’d much rather that your flight went on than that the people at the other end can meet you and you can get to bed within 24 hours of having got up in the morning rather than 36 hours and begin to get fit again and ready for your next job. He’d much rather that work that way. He doesn’t believe, really, in this go slow business. And if you will respond and give Him plenty of elbow room, then, I believe, more and more, there are marvelous things that He can do.

I can’t prove it, of course, but you see, it begins to happen so often. And when I write to my agent, as I shall do, I’m going to, first of all, give him the facts. The facts were that the plane left 20 minutes early and got in on time and we were not delayed because he had said on the phone that morning, “You might have to wait five hours.” And then he said, “But of course, your plane will probably be the only plane that gets off on time.”

So, I’m going to turn in the facts and then I’m going to write and question the theology. Why do these things happen? Why is it that he says to me, “If you go into a certain office in the head office of Thomas Cook and they hear your name, they’ll all get down on their knees.” I said, “What on earth do you mean?” He said, “You are already, you and your wife are already a legend in that particular office. That your planes always get through on time.” Now, I’m so aware that there may come a time when I have to wait five hours and that when it comes, I must rejoice in it and be glad and be forgiving.

But why not be forgiving and rejoicing in any situation and leave it then in God’s hands. If you have to wait the five hours, well, you’ll wait it with patience and with joy. You can probably do a lot of letter writing or write a new book or anything, you know. Do all sorts of things. Elton Trueblood said to me, “Always have some paper ready because you write a lot of books sitting in airports,” see. Look at a lot of books he wrote. I’ve only written one. I don’t know, is it on the book store? Well, anyhow. But I might have started another, but my plane got off on time. And if you are willing to forgive people, even if they crucify you, then you know the glory of what the kingdom of God is all about. And that’s what we’re going to learn this week. And learn it again. And practice it again. And again. Until we get it so deep down inside us that when the test comes, we’re ready for it. And that’s why I appeal to you to participate, because the total program is what produces the new life. Now, there may be some parts of the program that you really like. It may be the singing. It may even be the talks.

Or it may be the creative writing or the creative art. Well, that’s great. Go to what you like. But you old campers, if there’s any bit of it you don’t like, you make sure you go to that bit, won’t you, this time. Because that’s the part where you can be most greatly helped. If you have removed yourself from any particular path, then that’s because you have some particular fear about it, isn’t it? And God wants to remove your fear because perfect love is what He wants to give. And you are not made whole if you have any area where you are afraid. My favourite story about that is speaking to a camper some years ago in the USA when I made an appeal after, in my morning talk, I said to the people, “If there’s anything you old campers have never been to, any part of the program you have left out, then I ask you in the name of Jesus and in the love of Jesus to go to that part today. Because that’s the area where you most can be helped by the goodness of God.” And while I was sitting down at lunch that day, the chairman of the camp came and sat beside me and she said, “I did it.” And I was eating my meal and I said, “You did what?”

She said, “I did what you said.” And I said, “What did I say?” She said, “Well, you said go to something you’ve never been to.” And I said, “Was there something you’d never been to?” She said, “Yes.” I’ve been going to camps I think it was for 12 years. She’d started as an ordinary camper. She was eventually elected to the council ring and now she was the chairman. And there was still something that she had always avoided until that day. And as a result of the challenge that Christ gave to her through my word she went to it. And she said, “How right you were, because I have now by the Spirit of Christ overcome the fear that I had.” And you see, to you new campers let me say this. There’s no need for you to be afraid of anything because everything in this camp is going to be done in love. Everything. That means that you will not be made foolish. You will not be put on the spot. Take the prayer groups for example. There’s an hour for prayer. Have you been to a prayer group that lasts an hour before? Maybe you haven’t. Maybe you think, “Oh my goodness me, how am I going to last an hour?” Or maybe you’re already saying if you’re a new camper, “I wonder if I’ve got to pray.”

Which usually means that people say, “Have I got to pray in public?” I love that phrase, pray in public. You know, sounds as if you’ve got about three million people there, doesn’t it? Have I got to pray aloud?

You haven’t got to do anything because it’s a love experience. No one will tell you what you’ve got to do. The Spirit may gently tell you what to do, but that will only be in love. If Jesus tells you what to do, then for goodness they do it because that’s the greatest thing in the world. Sometimes it’s a bit awkward, isn’t it? At the time He asked me to pray out loud in a CFO camp. My confession, my attitude toward the Catholics. I said, “Lord, I don’t have to say it aloud, do I? I’m a Baptist, I don’t say those things aloud.” He said, “Go on, go on, you do it.” I said, “Well, I don’t want to do it.” He said, “No, I know that, but do it.” “But why should I do it?” “Well, that fellow who got up a little while ago and asked for forgiveness for his attitude toward Luther and Calvin, he said it out loud, didn’t he? And that’s what brought you to a position of forgiveness, where you’ve confessed your attitude toward the Pope. So you’ve got it straight that way. Why don’t you say that? Go on, go on.” And lovingly, you see, He persuaded me to do it. If Jesus asks you to do anything, do it.

Because He only asks you in love. But if somebody else asks you, and if you’re not clearly confident that it’s Jesus asking, if you’re not confident that He’s in love, then just say, “Pass,” or “No, thank you.” Be your own self. Do not be overawed by anybody else here. Let love be in charge. So if you want to do a drawing and you don’t want to show it to anybody, you don’t have to show it to anybody.

If you write something, you know, Elsie was leading a writing group somewhere in the world recently, and when she was giving out the paper, one woman said, “Oh no, I don’t want any paper, I just want to be quiet.” So Elsie said, “That’s all right. But here’s a piece of paper anyhow.”

But that woman wrote a lot. And she wrote it out too. But she was released from being made to do it, you see. That’s kingdom stuff. So I beg of you, participate. Because that’s what this word is all about. The word koinonia, the word for fellowship, is also the word for participation. It’s the word for sharing. It’s the word for taking your part in it. And our part, says John, is in the Father and in Jesus. It’s in the Father because of Jesus. “We’ve actually seen Jesus,” he said. “We’ve shaken hands with Him. We’ve touched Him. We’ve sat at food with Him. And He’s brought us to the Father.” So we are participating. Participating in the Godhead. Isn’t that tremendous? That ordinary sinful people like that bunch of disciples, or like any one of us, could actually participate in the life of God. Wonderful! Share in it. And he said, if you do that, then you’ll have participation and life with others. So we’re going to have real participation and fellowship one with the other. Not a hearty sort of thing. But a deep love experience where we really accept one another. Where we really listen to one another. Where we really look at one another. And where we really love one another. By the power of the Spirit that’s given to us.

Because if God is participating in me, and I am participating in Him, then I am participating in a situation where there is no one that He doesn’t love. Isn’t that fantastic? There’s no one in this place, on these grounds, that God does not love. Infinitely. And as He draws me into His life, I am drawn into that loving. What a fellowship. And they are drawn into that loving toward me.

Then, says John, when you get into that sort of groove, you have joy. Joy. That’s deeper than happiness. That’s something that wells up within you. It’s something that makes you glow inside. It’s something that you are both aware of and unaware of. It’s something that other people say. It’s something you catch from other people. It’s something that makes your life vital. The other day I had a distressing experience. I wallowed in the depression for half a day and went to bed on it. And in the morning when I got up I said to the Lord, “For goodness sake, hold me back into Your kingdom.” And He did, and flooded me with joy. And that’s life. That’s power. Because you cannot spend time with Jesus or with the Father and not have joy. For our Christ is a man of joy and His Father is a God of joy. So, we write this in order that the joy of us all may be complete. We live this here this week so that the joy of us all can be complete. Made whole. Made whole. And out of the joy that we have in our souls, it will flow over into the joy of our conscious mind. And from our conscious mind into our subconscious mind. And from our subconscious mind into our bodies.

So, it’s going to be a full treatment. The whole person. Made completely whole. Kingdom living. Kingdom experience. Kingdom stuff. What a week it’s going to be. Aren’t you thankful you’re here? Don’t you rejoice that God has led you here? Aren’t you excited about what He’s going to do with you while you’re here? Look back, you old campers, and see what He has done before. Some of you, like me, can rejoice in great experiences in the past. And you new campers will always look back on this camp and say, “Mount Lassen, 1981, was when something great happened in my life.” Wonderful. Because you participate. So, in love I say to you, really look at the program and say, “Wow! Isn’t that going to be wonderful?” I hope. And if you’re a little fearful, offer up the fear to the God who is the God of love. Let Him cast out the fear and let Him introduce His perfect love to you. And follow through in the love for all of it. So, pace yourself. If you’re going to be up in the morning early before the meditation, it means you’ve got to go to bed early at night. Unless you’re like people who only need five hours sleep. But most normal people need longer than that.

Don’t let yourself be carried away so late at night that eventually you miss the best parts of the early part of the day. Pace yourself. I have to pace myself. I’ve already been to umpteen camps this year. And if I came here saying, “Oh, I’m so tired and weary because I’ve been to so many camps.” What would you say about that? But I have to pace myself in them. So I’m going to get adequate rest. I’m certainly going to make sure that I have the horizontal hour. Wonderful. What a bliss that is. No talking. Even Elsie doesn’t talk. And she’s the talkative one in our family, you know.

Don’t miss the horizontal hour, whatever you do. It’s so important. If you don’t want to sleep, that doesn’t matter. I do. But if you don’t want to, it’s also for reflection. Reflecting on what you’ve heard in the morning meditation. Reflecting on what you’ve gained from the singing and the worship. Reflecting on the talks, on the creatives. Reflecting. Reflecting. So if you’re just quiet all the time, use it for that. But it’s part of the refurbishing of your being. It’s part of enabling you to participate fully in the day. So participate in the horizontal hour. And that means that other people can participate in it. Oh, I could, but I won’t. Go on for hours and hours about what a sea of oak camp is. But I just rejoice that I’m here tonight. And I rejoice that you’re here. And we’re going to offer it all to God who rejoices that we are present. And is longing to make us more fit for the service of His great kingdom in our world. And as I share with you this week, some of the tremendous things that we have seen Him doing. And the needs of praying people who have such a relationship with our God. That God can do more for the dangerous, difficult places in the world.

Then you will see how important it is that all of us accept the opportunity to become better athletes of the Spirit than we’ve ever been before. Let’s pray. Oh, Heavenly Father, our beloved Abba. Coming to You as we do in and through Jesus. We surrender ourselves to Your gracious Spirit.

We echo Your words, Lord Jesus, when we say, we want it to be our meat and drink to do Abba’s will this week. Abba. Your will. What do You want in us? What do You want to do through us? What do You want to do for us? How do You want to train us?

Father, we adore You. Lay our lives before You. How we love You. Jesus, we adore You. Lay our lives before You. Oh, how we love You. Holy Spirit, we adore You. We adore You. Oh, how we love You.

Blessed Trinity, we worship You. Glory, glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning. It’s here, this week, in Mount Lassen. And ever shall be beyond the end of the world.

Amen.