By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
LAFAYETTE – As the child of two deaf parents, essentially serving as their interpreter to the hearing world, Ed Newton spent his middle school years searching for something to satisfy his soul – from premarital sex to attempted grand theft auto.
TRANSFORMED
Then in in high school, he encountered Christ. “My life has been changed forever,” Newton told more than 5,700 students at Louisiana Baptists’ annual Youth Evangelism Celebration. “I would not be here if it were not for the divine intervention of Jesus interrupting my life’s story.”
He challenged students not to waste the time they have to make a difference now.
“You are the church right here, right now,” Newton said. “You are current leaders and it’s time to rise up and step up and change the world. But that only happens when you allow God to be a part of your story.”
The 40-year-old pastor of the 27,000-member Community Bible Church in San Antonio, Texas, Newton has served as a youth pastor, faculty member at Student Leadership University in Orlando, Fla., and executive director of the LIFT TOUR, an extension of Student Leadership University in partnership with LifeWay Students.
The largest gathering of Louisiana Baptists each year, YEC 2016, held in the Lafayette Cajundome, Nov. 20-21, featured worship, inspiring messages, fellowship, moments of laughter and much more.
The theme for this year’s gathering was “Stories,” based off 1 John 1:2-3 – The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
Newton cautioned students not to find their value in life by what they do or what they wear, but rather in something eternally satisfying – a relationship with Jesus Christ.
“You were not called to blend in,” Newton said. “You were called to stand out.”
Citing Colossians 3:1-4, Newton told students they should set their minds on things above, not striving to earn the applause of many, but living to please only one – Jesus Christ.
“The world continues to tear us down,” he said. “But you have an identity as being more than conquerors in Jesus Christ.”
Throughout the celebration, Louisiana Baptist teens were challenged to celebrate what Christ had done in their lives and to share their stories of how Christ had changed them.
Participants also enjoyed music by the Museum of Atlanta, Ga., as well as the talents of Pineville-based Kellie and Kristen, and were blessed by drama and comedy performed by Paul May of Springfield, Mo.
YEC 2016 concluded with a time of music led by the Newsboys, a band formed in 1985 which includes former DC Talk vocalist Michael Tait.
REBORN
By the end of the two-day spiritual encounter, 742 students had made some type of faith decision: 136 statements of belief, 347 responses to a call to ministry, 210 acts of repentance to restore fellowship with Christ and 49 other commitments.
Luis Herrera from Iglesia Bautista Trinidad, Lake Charles, said he was thankful he joined with a group of teens to be part of his church’s first visit to YEC. He repented and vowed to live for Jesus, and plans to be baptized as soon as possible.
“I was tired of playing games with God,” Herrera said. “I want to get serious.”
Olivia Ousley from Pine Hill Baptist Church, Leesville, was inspired by Newton’s messages of standing strong for Jesus.
“I learned it’s not all about friends and what they think,” Ousley said. “I need to live my story with Christ at the center of it.”
This year’s event was the fourth YEC attended by Cassidy Martin, a member of Bayou des Glaises Baptist Church, Big Bend.
“This time, I learned that I need a Christian family and that having one will help me grow closer to God,” Martin said. “I need to depend on mine more.”
CHARGED UP
Newton closed the celebration by making a charge to the crowd.
“You and I have filled this place with worship, and our hands have been lifted high,” Newton said. “Going forth from this place may what we do in here fill the streets out there.”
He reminded the students to stand strong, especially after they stumble.
“Perfection is not godliness,” Newton said. “Godliness is pursuing Jesus.
“It’s not if you fall,” he continued. “It’s when you fall and what you do when you fall.”
“All of us in this room are called to live a life that shines a light that makes a difference,” he said. “And one of the things that you have embraced is a message of Jesus.
“It’s going to be costly as we seek, up high, to lift His name, and many of you in here sense His call,” he said, prompting hundreds to respond, including many to commit to vocational ministry.
