Comments on: A Glimpse of Main Stage – Wednesday Night

By: Lisa H.

Lisa H. — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:03:48 +0000

My son went up on Wednesday night to ask Jesus into his heart. He had done this at the age of 9 but said he never fully understood the importance until CHIC. It still brings tears to my eyes when he explains the story of this experience. I am so thankful for God to give him and so many others this experience and to help all of these kids grow in the love of our heavenly Father. I had seen the pictures tonight of my son and others before the cross and it just takes my breath away. Thank you so very much for sharing the love of Christ with these kids. God bless everyone that participated in this.

By: Jake

Jake — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:44:05 +0000

Wednesday was the most spiritually powerful day of my life so far. I was reading my Bible (I had started at the beginning and was halfway through Exodus) I was tortured on the inside because I had kept secret my sins from my friends and family, but was unable to overcome it by myself. I had known for the month prior to CHIC that I had to tell someone about it and I had decided to tell my friend, who is also named Jake, but I was unable to find him when he was not busy. I prayed to God that if he was standing outside my dorm room at that time, I would invite him in. I looked out into the hallway and Jake was standing there, he didn’t have his dorm key with him. I talked to him and we discussed our struggles. He recommended that I start reading the New Testament first, so I did. That was a great first step, and I knew God wanted me to keep going. Later that night at mainstage, we watched a video of some troubled kids who all said things that would sound like they are happy and have life figured out, but there were subtitles on the bottom of the screen showing what they were hiding. One was someone who said he was really popular and had like 500 friends on Facebook but the subtitles said he felt lonely (there were other ones but I can’t remember them now). Judy spoke mostly about her insecurities of her flaws and how she would always try her best to hid them, but she had the courage to wipe off her make-up in front of 5200 teens and expose her true self. When we broke into our small groups and they prepared the middle of the arena with the cross and the lights and stuff, I felt God calling me to admit my sin to my small group, (all of them were guys from my church, our small group leader was the dad of one of the guys). I was afraid and ashamed to expose myself to them, because I feared judgment. I looked at the screen and all it said was “be still and know that I am God.” God gave me courage and I told my small group of my sin. To my amazement, they were very understanding and comforted me. We prayed about that as well as confessions of the other guys. After the prayer I looked at the screen again, and it was a picture of one of the kids from the video and the text “I have been set free.” I knew the Lord intervening and changing my life that day. The next morning at my base camp, which was in the Knoxville Convention Center, we split up by gender. After some messing around (playing tug-of-war in 52″ waistband underwear) we were lectured by some guys from Lust Free Living. It fit perfectly because they spoke about what I had just admitted to my small group the night before, lust and my constant struggle with inappropriate images and videos on the internet. They asked everyone to stand up, then they asked for everyone who had ever looked at pornography to sit down. I was shocked when almost everyone (myself included) sat down. I had no idea how prevalent it was, especially in Christians! One of the big points they spoke about was the importance of admitting to a close friend or adult you trust of your lustful behavior, so they would hold you accountable. I knew God was calling me to tell my Dad. Later, as I was reading Matthew in the Bible as Jake suggested, two things stuck out to me. Matthew 11:27 “… No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one Knows the Father except the Son…” and Matthew 18:19-20 “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” God was comforting me, telling me my father would understand, and the second part established the importance of accountability that was mentioned (accountability was also an important point during the night we talked about lust in our youth group). When we got back home, after the 23 hour bus ride, I prayed that I wouldn’t just forget all that I learned, and I wanted to stay committed to the Lord and to keep my ‘fire’ going for Jesus, like Efrem Smith talked about on mainstage Thursday night. On Saturday night, God gave me an opportunity to reveal myself to my dad. I told him, he was surprised and had no idea this was going on. He was very understanding and he had his own story to tell about his encounters as a kid. My dad was happy that I admitted it to him, as was I because I knew what was right and what I needed to do but I had neglected to say anything, as Jesus said “the spirit is willing but the body is weak.” I’m thankful that our Lord is a forgiving and merciful Lord, and that I no longer have to live a life hiding my sin, like Judy hiding her insecurities, or the Pharisees hiding their corrupt selves pretending to be righteous people (I’m pretty sure it was either Eugene from one of the base camps or Irwin McManus who talked about them). I pray to God that He will lead me away from temptation so I can live a pure life. I’m so glad that I went to CHIC! I know a lot of people were impacted by CHIC. My sister’s boyfriend came to Christ and I’m so happy for him. As I’m finishing this right now, I’m listening to my local Christian radio station and they’re playing the Untitled Hymn by Chris Rice. “Fly to Jesus, fly to Jesus, fly to Jesus and live!”

By: Seairra G

Seairra G — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:13:12 +0000

This night was the best of them all. It taught me that I didn’t have to hide things that are going on. I was able to let go of a lot of past things that I had did. It renewed my faith in god. Thanks so much Judy!!!

By: Bec

Bec — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 03:54:54 +0000

I was blessed with the opportunity to go to chic with my youth group. This night was by far the most memorable and mind boggling night in my entire life. When we were asked if we wanted to make a decision to follow god and come down to pray at the foot of the cross,what seemed like the entire arena started trickeling down towards the floor to make that decision. This Moment for me was the one where I actually felt the holy spirit moving around me like never before. And me being only 16 it was an experience that I have never felt before.I would love to thank all the speakers and everyone involved that night because now I have an understanding and a thirst for god that I thought I wasn’t capable of before. Thanks!

By: Jeff Hall

Jeff Hall — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 02:07:05 +0000

This night completely changed my life as God made my soul completely undone. I found and dealt with some emotions that I never knew existed. I was uncomprehendingly engulfed in the Holy Spirit in all of His imaginable beauty. Thank you CHIC, and thank you God!

By: Nathan

Nathan — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 01:08:53 +0000

I was there and this was truly amazing. 5200 teens worshiping God all in one place doesn’t happen very often. (Probably every 3 years :). And by the way good job Becca.

By: Brian Aronson

Brian Aronson — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 00:47:21 +0000

Wow Ellen, Great job. Congratulations to the other finalists too!

Brian and Family <

By: Karen Peterson

Karen Peterson — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 14:57:05 +0000

Amen!! My daughter texted me from CHIC that this was the most amazing night in her life; I love seeing Jesus move amongst these beautiful children!!

By: The Becks

The Becks — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:50:23 +0000

this sounds amazing. I bet you loved it as did the kids.

By: Suzi

Suzi — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 02:40:39 +0000

I’m reading this account of Wednesday night and I can’t hold the tears back, just imagining the power of the Spirit that was there and the lives that were surely touched or changed. Thank you so much for all the very hard work that has gone into this event. You are all precious in His Sight.