Y.E.C...I was left wet!

This past week we took a group of youth down to the thriving metropolis of Macon, GA to attend Y.E.C. - The Youth Evangelism Conference hosted by the youth department of the Georgia Baptist Convention. I personally thought it was an awesome two days! I will try to give you a summary, but it really is something that has to be experienced to fully appreciate it.



We had a group of 21 people (14 students and 7 adults) hop on our church bus and make the trip down. I believe this was the first time we had gone to this conference since I was in the youth (which really was not all that long ago) so no one really knew what to expect. As we pulled into the parking lot of the Macon Coliseum I think the picture started to come into focus a little. There was a sea of white church buses and a mass of over 6,000 people standing at the front door waiting to run in under a huge banner with the conference theme "Immersed" written across it. After a few minutes of waiting at "will call" for tickets and then scrambling to find some seats near each other, things finally kicked off.



We got to participate in the standard "conference kick off games" before being lead in a great time of worship by Matt Papa. We then had the chance to hear from an awesome guy named Ben Glenn or more affectionately known as the Chalk Guy. Ben shared a brief message before he literally freaked out with a piece of chalk on a blue canvas. At one point he had chalk in both hands and the dust was flying all over the place. It only took a few minutes before this dust bowl began to clear and take shape and everyone realized he was producing an unbelievable piece of art that drew oohhhhs and aahhhs and camera flashes from all over the place. It ended up as a beautiful mountain landscape overlooking a lake and waterfall scene. He then did the untinkable. In an effort to demonstrate what sin does to our own lives and how it defiles God's beautiful creation, he took a black piece of chalk and made streaks down both sides of the piece and across the top. He then wrote sin across the top. Everyone thought the piece was ruined, but he explained that Christ can actually come in and take away our sins and turn those experinces into a new creation of beauty. To illustrate this point he was able to actually turn the black marks into an archway that added to the beauty of the piece.
After all of the pictures stopped flashing our conference speaker, David Platt, came out and shared an awesome message entitled "Immersed in the presence of God" from Isaiah 6:1-7. I personally thought this was one of the best speakers I have heard in a long time. He challenged the students with the straight thruth of scripture. His second message on day two was even better (I will share more about that...so keep reading).



As if this was not enough to make for a great day, we capped off the evening with a concert from the always great Third Day. I think this was the first time most of our students had ever seen them in concert. For some it was their first concert ever. They did a great show with a good mix of oldies and current songs and even a couple of their Christmas tunes.



We finally left and got back to the church at midnight which was tough since we had to be back there at 6:30 to leave the next morning. But everyone showed back up on time and even in surprisingly good spirits (although the bus ride that morning was almost silent). We arived and got some slightly better seats where we were all together and things kicked off again in much the same manner. Worship with Matt Papa, another chalk drawing, and a message again from David Platt. But I have to say that each one of these guys truly did step their game up the second day. I only thought they were good the first day. The second day they were all amazing.



The chalk guy actually shared his tesimony of being labeled a "special ed." kid with A.D.D and Dyslexia. He then did another drawing that ended up being of view of the hill of Calvary from in side Christ's tomb (complete with the stone rolled away). Once he had completed it there was a video shown on the canvas depicting Christ's walk to Calvary, His burial in the tomb, His resurrection from the tomb, and his ascension into heaven. It was announced that there would be a silent auction to win one of the two chalk drawings and that all proceeds would go towards a mission trip to Moldova that the GA Baptist Convention was sponsoring and promoting. My lovely wife secretly put in what we thought was a very modest bid that did not have a chance of wnning. BUT IT DID! We now have the drawing that was done the first night that we will be displaying at the church soon. Here is a sneak peek.



Then David Platt spoke again on what was truly the high light of the conference for myself. He shared a message titled "Immersed in the Word of God". I thouhgt this was one of the best messages I have ever heard on the significance and importance of the Word of God to our lives. He shared from Isaiah 66:1-2 which finishes with "...But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word." He also shared from Nehemiah chapter 8 which was an amazing passage to me (very convicting). In this chapter Ezra the priest comes before the people and begins to read from the "Book of the Law" or the Pentateuch as we know it. As he does so the people stand up and basically worship. Ezra did not have a big 3 point sermon. No aliteration. No videos. No music. Just simply the Word of God. David platt asked us why that is not enough for us. Why do we have to have all the rest of this stuff. Why is the perfect, inerrant Word of the all knowing Creator of the Universe not enough for us? What more could we possibly want? He then gave one of the most memorable illustrations of this point that i think I have ever seen. He asked us all to turn to Romans Chapter 1 where we could read along with him. He started and I was reading right with him. About hal way through the first chapter someone taped me on the shoulder, which at the time i thought was very rude as i was really enjoying this reading. They pointed up to the stage at the speaker. i looked up and immediately noticed that he did not even have his Bible opened. He had made it this far into the chapter by memory! He went on to finish the whole chapter from memory. I was really impressed and convicted by this. But he didn't stop! He went on to chapter 2. Now my jaw was hanging open and the conviction was really mounting. But he still did not stop. He went into chapter 3, Bible still closed, and I started to notice people standing up all across the auditorium much like what we had read in Nehemiah. I felt a lump in my throat as he continued into chapter 4. By chapter 5 tears were starting to flow with many "Amens". As he went on into chapter 6 I think people were beginning to be more touched by the words that were being spoken than by the fact that the man speaking them still had not opened his Bible. As he went into chapter 7 people were truly praising God. I realized that this was probably the most scripture that many of these students had ever heard in one sitting, and it was from someones memory. The speaker did not finish until he had gone through all of chapter 8! Unbelievable! But why? Why was this so amazing to me? Why was this not just something normal among the Christian community? He then shared some of the most challenging word I had ever heard. He refered to an islamic school he had seen somewhere in the Middle East. At this Islamic school the children spent hours a day memorizing the Koran. At this school there was an american that had come over to attend. He was trying to memorize the entire Koran over a few years time. He even memorized it in Arabic, a language he could not speak. It would be like us trying to memorize the Bible in Greek and Hebrew. David Platt then asked the question "If this young man is so passionate about the words of a flse god, why aare we not more passionate about the words of the one TRUE GOD?" Wow!!! I had to pick myself up off the floor. What an awesome, convicting question. Why do I not have that kind of passion and zeal for God's Word to me? My prayer for this year is that I do develop that kind of unquenchable thirst for God's Word! I must say that all in all, the IMMERSED Conference left me totally wet, and I hope I can do the same for others!