By Stan Friedman<\/p>\n
KNOXVILLE, TN (July 21, 2006) – Abraham would have gazed in wonder.<\/p>\n
In the blackened Thompson-Boling Arena Thursday night, thousands of his children, like stars across the sky, flashed lights declaring their commitment to serve God.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt might be dark in the world, but there\u2019s an arena of lit up young Christians ready to be light,\u201d declared speaker Efrem Smith. Thousands of standing students who could not be seen, but for the raised small flashlights, cheered in affirmation.<\/p>\n
![\"Efrem](\"http:\/\/old.covchurch.org\/uploads\/7Z\/LX\/7ZLXp9wg1kvwuVTLAs4blA\/Thursday-T.jpg\")
During the final worship service of CHIC 2006 on the University of Tennessee campus, Smith and Judy Howard Peterson exhorted the teenagers to live No Ordinary Life, which was the overall theme of the CHIC event. During the week, the students had taken steps to experience Jesus\u2019 healing and salvation. On Friday, it would be time to walk back into the world and make a difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a destiny that must be fulfilled,\u201d Smith proclaimed. \u201cYou are not too young to do justice. You are not too young to turn this world upside down for God. You are not too young! You are not too young! You are not too young! You are not too young for God!\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith recounted his days as a basketball coach at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis, where violence took the lives of young people and graduation rates were low.<\/p>\n
Two students began praying in the gymnasium lobby, and the number soon grew to 200. Two years later the school was being touted in USA Today<\/em> and other publications for its high graduation rates and being listed as one of the Top 100 high schools in the country.<\/p>\n Some analysts would credit a new principal, others new teachers, Smith said. \u201cI will say it was because 200 people decided to pray for their classrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n With the audience shouting its approval, Smith continued. \u201cI believe the Covenant church is ready for a revolution. Your generation will do something about poverty, racism and sexism.\u201d<\/p>\n The young men, he said, need to recover the \u201ctrue roots of biblical masculinity.\u201d<\/p>\n Peterson emphasized the continued role of the Holy Spirit in the students\u2019 lives. \u201cThe Holy Spirit is not here to baby-sit or pamper us,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cThe Holy Spirit is here to empower us to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n Referencing Galatians 2:20, Peterson said, \u201cI long for the day I can say I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.\u201d The joy of what Christ has done, is doing, and desires to do led students to dance with exuberance throughout the worship service. If, as Tony Campolo once wrote, \u201cThe kingdom of God is a party,\u201d then the multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-generational gathering threw quite a bash.<\/p>\n The conclusion to the weeklong events and the worship service came with the familiar benediction used throughout the week:<\/p>\n![\"Youth](\"http:\/\/old.covchurch.org\/uploads\/19\/Cu\/19CuvsXbOIJlgOhDW3F1og\/Thursday-B.jpg\")
The fight against sexism also will take place in the church, he predicts. \u201cYoung ladies, there is nothing you can\u2019t do through the power of the Spirit,\u201d he proclaimed. \u201cWe need to make room for (women) in our local churches. If our local churches don\u2019t make room for these young leaders, God will send them someplace where they will use them.\u201d<\/p>\n