One Thursday Not Too Long Ago
While driving to the Oklahoma Baptist encampment called Falls Creek, I took an unusual turn. Not a turn in my car, but rather in my mind. It all began as I looked at the sign that told me it was time to get off the highway. There it was, in big white letters on a green background: Exit 51.
Later, I would do a little research and find out that Exit 51 opened in 1970. As a part of the United States Interstate Highway System, the exit lies south of OKC on I-35 near Davis, Oklahoma. It is the exit ramp that attaches to State Highway 77 which goes on into the Arbuckle Mountains. However, on that day, Exit 51 was taking me to Falls Creek.
Managed by the good people of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, Falls Creek is celebrating its Centennial Anniversary this year. It began when a little less than 300 students and their sponsors first gathered in 1917 for a meeting of the Baptist Young People’s Union. One hundred years later, over 55,000 campers have gathered throughout the summer for a unique experience of faith that is unlike any other.
As I drove along the winding access road that leads to the front gate of our campground, I thought of another ‘51.’ Not described as an Exit, but as an Area. Yes, Area 51.
Again, later research would show Area 51, located in southern Nevada, as a remote detachment of Edwards Air Force Base. It is a government facility used for highly classified projects, such as the development of U2 surveillance aircraft and the F117 stealth fighter. A great deal of mythology surrounds the site, with some believing it to have some sort of dealing with extra-terrestrial life forms and their spacecraft. Regardless of the theories and conjecture, the reality and location of the base is well documented. Area 51 exists.
Such was my unusual turn that day. Quirky though it may be, my mind started to consider these two. Area 51 and Exit 51. Though similar in designation, they are very different in their purpose.
Area 51 is about keeping things secret. Only recently has the government even acknowledged its existence. Not much is publicly known about the base, giving rise to significant speculation and elaborate theories. Without actual knowledge, people have filled in the gaps, sometimes in rather outlandish ways. Area 51 is designed to keep the rest of us in the dark.
Exit 51, on the other hand, leads to a place where the mystery is revealed. Generations of campers have walked onto the grounds of Falls Creek and have met the God who wants to be known! Knowing Him, they find the purpose and meaning of the life He has given. And they worship. They praise. They give thanks. Every night, music sung by a choir of thousands of voices give honor to the One who has shown Himself, who has revealed Himself. There is no secret, no mystery. In very significant ways, God makes Himself known at Falls Creek.
During my drive, I considered that Area 51 is also a place of confinement and restriction. Fences and armed guards all speak of the intent to subdue and inhibit whatever is on the inside from getting on the outside. Area 51 holds captive those unknown things that are kept behind those tall fences.
Over the years, my own experience and observation has shown that Exit 51 leads to a place that is quite the opposite. Students gather with the weight of the world upon their shoulders. Issues with friends and family are ever on their minds. Worries over school and vocation are constant sources of stress within their lives. Add to all of that the other things facing young men and women in their teenage years and it is easy to see the burden they each carry. And then they come to Falls Creek. A place where the Savior says to come to Him to find rest. They discover that He is bigger than any problem they face and that He is at work in their lives to bring about His good. During that week, they realize the Valley of the Shadow has no sway over them. They come to know the truth and they are set free. No longer chained by sin and deception, they are truly free.
Pulling up to the Falls Creek entrance, I’m struck with one more difference. Area 51 is not only about keeping things under lock and key, it also is about keeping everybody else out. Those fences work both ways. The guards hold guns that point in all directions. To even the casual observer, the signs make it clear. Keep out. Visitors are not welcome.
Driving through the Front Gate, it was an obvious comparison. Rather than keeping people out, Exit 51 takes the world to a place where they are welcome, accepted, and wanted. Untold sacrifices of money and time have gone into the structures of the campground we enjoy today, all that more might come. Oklahoma Baptists have shared the vision. Falls Creek is a place where all may enter and hear the Good News. God loves them and Falls Creek is open to them.
While I don't know much about Area 51, I do know that one Thursday afternoon not too long ago a pastor took Exit 51 and visited his youth group and their sponsors on an Oklahoma Baptist campground with a lightness in his step and gratitude in his heart. His mind had taken an unusual turn that day and he had seen the grace of God. During a drive on a winding road, he considered his Savior’s sacrifice and the humbling power of mercy. He arrived and saw around him a sea of teenagers finding out what it is to surrender their lives to Jesus and to follow Him. He looked at the ground upon which he stood and realized the exit off the interstate had taken him to a special place, maybe even a holy place. He was at Falls Creek, and it was good.
Measure Twice,
DLB
(Going to be in the area this coming Sunday night, September 3rd? Why not take Exit 51 and join the congregation who will gather to give thanks for 100 years of ministry? You can find all the information you need here.)
