My guiding commitments
A week at camp shaped the rest of my life
The quick story is this: My wife gave me The St. Bernard Breviary for my birthday. It’s a tool for praying and singing the daily office of prayer, containing the prayers from the Book of Common Prayer (2019 edition), along with the Psalter and the Morning and Evening Readings.
Whenever I’ve gotten a new Bible—or, in this case, something akin to a new Bible—I’ve taken the opportunity to rewrite the commitments Christine and I made at Camp of the Woods on August 16, 1991. These commitments were inspired by a series of messages preached at the camp by Ron Hutchcraft, based on 2 Corinthians 7:14.
I want to share these commitments with you because they reflect what makes me tick:
I will never settle for status quo Christianity again.
I will surrender the self-management of my life and choose dependency on God instead.
I will make prayer my major method of getting things done.
I will make my “knowing Jesus time” the highest priority of my personal schedule.
I will deal passionately and aggressively with the sinful attitudes and actions in my life.
I haven’t lived up to these commitments perfectly—not even close. But I am deeply thankful for them and for that ministry so many years ago. They’ve been a compass, something I’ve returned to over and over again when I’ve lost my way.
I’m grateful for the moments when God has broken through into my life, providing the direction and clarity I’ve needed to realign my heart and actions.