Ignite 2010 Day 1

The first night of Ignite 2010 Asheville was amazing and the spirit of God was working in the Asheville Civic Center.  Our church bus arrived around 6:00 and we made our way along with hundreds of others to our seats.  The stage set-up looked incredible, with 5 large screens, tons of lights and speakers taller than I am.  Our church, First Baptist of Maggie Valley brought around 60 adults, teens and kids.  We were just one of many churches bringing bus loads of kids for the event.  I could tell early on the attendance was going to be big.

I was fortunate enough to be able to go back stage and meet some of the performers and staff.  The highlight of that was being able to pray with Clayton King, Carl Cartee, Leap of Faith, 3D and many others that helped make the night such a wonderful event.  It was truly a blessing to see such talented and frankly well known people be so humble and pray so earnestly for God’s will to be done and for people to come to know Christ.  The awesome presence of God was felt by all in the stillness prior to Ignite 2010 kicking off.

About 6:45pm Leap of Faith came roaring on stage to the excitement and screams of the thousands of teens and children now in the Asheville Civic Center.  Leap of Faith brought everyone to their feet.  Hands were raised, people were dancing, singing, and praising the Lord.  The air crackled with excitement.   Clearly, it was going to be a very very special evening.  As they sang, more and more people poured into Civic center.

Clayton King came on stage at 7:00pm to get things going.  Clayton started off by welcoming everyone and announced that they would be delaying for just a few minutes.  It would seem there was a problem: Traffic was backed up all the way to I-40 with people trying to get into the Civic Center!  What a wonderful problem to have!  Clayton asked everyone to introduce themselves to 3 others from a different church.  Everyone was laughing, talking and having a great time together.

Clayton then introduced the Mayor of Asheville, Terry Bellamy.  I’ll be honest, Terry surprised me.  She was very open about her faith and shared how important her Faith and the Lord almighty was in her life.  She was not ashamed and it was wonderful to hear.  She shared with us how difficult it was to be a politician and how they aren’t all corrupt or without integrity.  She asked everyone to pray for her.  She is a powerful speaker and I felt did a wonderful job kicking off the evening!

Carl Cartee was next and they opened up with bang.  The music was powerful and the sound system amazing.  I can still feel the bass from the drums vibrating my chest!  3D followed them.  This was the first time I had seen 3D perform, and it was truly a blessing.  Their selected music was beautiful and dramatizations were powerful.  They moved the crowd and everyone enjoyed their performance.

Clayton came next.  His message was about sin and the power it has over the unsaved.  He started off by telling a story of him at 10 trying to water ski.  He managed to get himself pulled along under water by the boat, almost to the point of drowning.  His initial mistake?  He didn’t let go of the rope.  Fortunately he finally did and floated to the top of the water where he could breath.  Clayton then looked at the crowed and said if we would just let go of our sin like the rope, we could be saved.  Wow. His message was pointed, powerful, and full of genuine concern and love.  During the invitation literally hundreds of adults, teens and children walked to the stage to accept Christ.  Seeing that many young people dedicate their lives to Jesus was a moment I’ll never forgot.  You could literally feel the spirit of God moving through the air in the Civic Center.

Ignite 2010 wrapped up with more performances by 3D and Carl Cartee as the hundreds of saved worked with counselors downstairs.  At the end of the evening, everyone reluctantly got up from their seats to head home.  We weren’t ready for it to end.

If you missed the first night of Ignite 2010 in Asheville, don’t make the mistake of missing night #2!   I promise, it will be a night you won’t forgot.  Doors open at 6:00pm and Ignite begins at 7pm.  Get there early!  The earlier you arrive the better chance you’ll have of finding a parking place!

Praise God for the hundreds of volunteers and praise God for his work last night.  How great is our God!