Ella and Jesus

This won't be a post that everyone will like. If you're not inclined towards things of a religious nature - particularly a Christian religious nature, this might not be for you. And if it's not, that's fine. All I ask is that you be respectful if you choose to leave a comment.

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I can officially tell this story now. It's been killing me for a couple of weeks, but I wanted to respect my daughter and only tell it once she'd had the chance to do so herself. Yesterday, at the close of our church service, during the invitation time, my daughter walked forward and told the church that she had given her life to Jesus Christ, her Lord and Savior. The church then got a good laugh out of her when the senior pastor asked whom she wanted to baptize her: me or the senior pastor.

"You," she said, swinging a thumb in the senior pastor's direction. It was a totally unscripted moment.

Which really, if you know my daughter, is absolutely perfect. But to be clear, she didn't accept Christ yesterday; she did it a couple of weeks ago, during the big Discipleship Now weekend that my students participated in. Every year, around 20 some-odd churches in Gwinnett County and beyond pull together for one massive DNOW event. The past couple of years it's been graciously hosted by Cross Pointe Community Church (senior pastor James Merritt) and over 800 students have come for a weekend of music, the Gospel and fellowship. This was my students' third year participating.

Thus, it was my daughter's third year participating. That's what happens when you're the preacher's kid - you get to go to every event, regardless of whether or not you actually want to. We try and do our best (Rachel and I) to make it fun for Ella, and she genuinely enjoys the music and the freedom she has to run to the front of the stage and dance or hop around while the music plays. It's part child's play, part unfettered worship, and she only gets that chance during youth events like DNOW. So we let her go for the gusto.

Now, the past two years, she's brought along books or a notepad for the sermon time. She would look up every once and while during the messages, but for the most part, she was more interested in the world of her own imagination than in the world of the Bible. And Rachel and I were okay with that.

See we're weird - we've prayed for Ella's salvation since before she was born (Jon's too), and while we've always prayed that she would come to Christ while she was young, we've never felt the need to push her. Several of her friends have made confessions of faith long before Ella, and while she was always curious and asked plenty of questions (which we answered thoroughly without trying to push her one way or the other) she never seemed all that interested in making a decision herself.

In her mind there were three things she knew: Jesus was God, Jesus was Lord, and saying you believed that meant you had to get baptized, which meant getting wet in public in a very strange pool. Which meant, in her mind: no thank you.

But this recent DNOW changed things for her. She actually paid attention to our speaker for the weekend, the wonderful Clayton King. Clayton is a gifted speaker and an anointed preacher, and something about him - specifically, his humor - grabbed Ella's imagination. On Friday night, she had her notebook and was doodling, but she would laugh right along with the audience, sometimes just before. Never took her eyes off her notebook, but was still engaged.

She was listening. Clayton had her attention.

So it was that on Saturday night, as we waited for the doors to the sanctuary to open, Ella walked over to me and said, "Daddy, will there be music tonight?"

"Yes, Ella," I said.

"Well how long til that funny preacher man starts talking? I want to hear him because he's funny."

In retrospect, I know why that line struck me so hard, but in the moment it didn't register. I just thought it was funny that my little girl wanted to actually hear the preacher preach. After years of being dragged to events like this on, she'd finally found a speaker who could hold her focus. It struck me as so funny that, when I realized Clayton King was seated on the row behind us, I made it a point to relate the story to him and introduce Ella. She smiled and waved coyly. Clayton waved back.

The music was great, but when Clayton started preaching, it just felt different. Ella was doodling, but she was sitting next to me, all snuggled up. Usually, that's reserved for her mother, not me. As Clayton went through his message on the significance of Christ being Lord, I began to feel a familiar sensation. My heart began beating rather quickly. As Clayton neared the end of his message and began his invitation, I suddenly realized something.

I had the same sensation I'd had years ago when I gave my life to Christ. As Clayton continued talking about how Christ must be Lord of our lives if we're going to be Christians, I began to pray: God, are you telling me I'm not saved?

I mean, I was sure of my salvation, but I'm nothing if not wiling to question things.

That's when it became clear: it wasn't me God was working on. It was Ella. And when Clayton gave the invitation to stand up and say "JESUS IS LORD!" if you had accepted Christ as your Savior, Ella turned to me, eyes full of confidence, and I nodded.

And she stood up and said, "JESUS IS LORD!"

I've been in ministry now for over 15 years, 12 of them as a youth pastor. In all of those years, that was the single-most precious moment. As someone prone to question whether or not the church still has what it takes to win the world to Christ, God reminded me very powerfully and personally on Saturday March 2 that the Gospel still changes lives, and always will. The church may sometimes limp forward, but the Gospel forever marches on, strong, bold, calling people to realize their sinfulness and Christ's power to save them.

Ella went down front that night by herself. She didn't ask me to come with her. And when she went down yesterday morning, it was completely on her own as well. Seven years of prayer for our daughter's salvation came to fruition in a little girl who chose Jesus all on her own - and was so sure of it that the needed no one to guide her on the journey. She'll be baptized soon, probably by the senior pastor, and I'll be sure to post pictures.

Jesus saves. Never forget.