1998 Miracle Yearbook

by Rebecca Ritzel Standing in the Gap O n October4,1997,hundreds of thousands of men met on the Mall in WashingtonD.C.toworship,pray,andcon- fesstheirsinsbeforetheLord.Severalmen fromCedarvillewereamongthemanyProm- iseKeepersgatheredatthecapitaltostandin theGapbetweenGod andtheirnation. jammed with vehiclesstreamingtoD.C. The stage sat in front of the Capitol, facing the Washington Monument. Men filledtheentire Mallpasttheobelisktothe ReflectingPool.Anestimated25,000men spilledoverontotheEllipseinfrontofthe White House.TwelveSony Jumbo-Trons and speakers were positioned in the crowdssothatthose standing blocks awaycould seeand hear whatwashap- peningonstage. Dr.David War- ren,wasoneofsev- eralfacultymembers whoattendedStand intheGap."Myini- tial reaction wasto be blown away by thevolumeofpeople. It wasan exhilarat- ingfeelingtobethere with all these men wholove the Lord. There wasaninstantsenseofcamaraderie, closeness,andfriendship,"hesaid. Thefirstsegmentbegan whenaspeaker askedthementoacknowledgeGod.From the start of the six-hour assembly,it was evident that God had brought these men together. Thespeakers'nameswereinten- tionallynotannounced.Allthosewhospoke to the crowd were dressed alike. Besides McCartney,themostrecognizablespeakers were veteransofCedarville Bible Confer- ences. Joe Stowell's message early in the conferencechallengedthosegatheredtocon- sidertheirpersonalsanctification. TonyEvanstooktheplatformlaterinthe day,duringasegmentthatfocusedonrecon- ciliation."TonyEvansspokeonmaleleader- shipin thefamily,"said seniorBible major JasonMalone."HesaidthatPromiseKeep- ers weren't a threat to all the women who wereupset,butthatthehusbandhadtobea Jon Basner,Tom Leightenheimer,and Mike Harsh"stand in the gap" at our nation's capitol. Thefoundations ofthe organization are"The Seven Promises ofaPromise Keeper."Thesestatementsaffirmaman's commitmenttoChrist,God'sWord,pu- rity,marriageandfamily,localchurches, racialanddenominationalreconciliation, andtheGreatCommission. Atthecon- ferences, most of which are two-day affairs,menfocusontheseconunitments throughsong,testimony,confession,and prayer.In 1997alone,the organization hosted eventsin 19differentcities. At each of the 1997 conferences, men werechallenged toconsidermak- ing a pilgrimage to the United States capital,notforthe purposeofmakinga politicalstatement,butratherto makea spiritual confession. These mencame from around the continent, and Ohio men were no exception.On Friday af- ternoon, Oct. 3rd, Interstate 70 was 162 campus life helpmatetohiswife."Malonesaidhes fewofthosewomenprotestingatthe butconsideredtheirpresenceinsignifi whencomparedtotheoverallexperien attendingStandingintheGap. Sophomore communications m MichaelDorseysaidthatStandinthe wasthefifthPromiseKeeperseventhe hisfatherhavebeenabletoattendtoge Eachconferencehastouchedontheth ofracialreconciliation."Ilookaround see you'vegotBlacks,Hispanics,Asi AmericanIndiansandthink,that'swhat kingdom of heaven is going to be li Dorseysaid.Themenwereaskedtoin actandpraytogether.Dorsey,whoisbl hasnothadaproblem withracialissues, knowsthatotherpeoplehave.Atther in D.C.,men came up to Dorsey and fatherintears,apologizingfortheirattitu towardspeopleofotherraces. Speakersalsodealtwithsectananism.F thestage,MaxLucadoaskedthementosh theirdenomination.Theresponsewasa cophony.Thenheaskedwhowastheir andSavior.Theyansweredin perfectu son,"JesusChristisLord." SeniorC tian education/youth major, Jonat Basnerwasimpressed withthissegme "ThebiggestthingItookawayfromit thateventhoughIdidn'tagreewitheve thingeverybodythereheldtodoctrinall cameaway...realizingthattheKingdo GodwasbiggerthanIeverthoughtitco be.,, Upondeparturefrom theconferen thespeakerschallengedthe mentom tain accountabilityamongChristianm in theirchurchesandcommunities. "We're going to take two years,a we're going to sweep this natio founder McCartney told the crowd Washington.Attheend ofthistime,( January 1 of the year 2000,men w gatheronthe stepsoftheirstatecapitc to reaffirm the Promises ofaPromi Keeper.