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Implosion: Mission Accomplished
By Jennifer Joy Carter, Class of 2005
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Implosion, the brainchild of Davis and Farina, served as a prequel to the upcoming "Ignite" event. Ignite, a weekend leadership conference for ORU students that was first held last January, was the original vision of Davis' sister, Selah (03), and Sara Grace Turner (03). Selah was able to attend "Implosion" and according to her brother, "She said it was better than she could have imagined."
One of the purposes of Implosion, Davis said, was to introduce a sign-up for mentoring groups and for those students to become group leaders of the upcoming Ignite mentoring groups. This day-to-day, week-to-week accountability, within the hearts of the student's passion for leadership, is the very essence of Davis' "life-altering" purpose statement and challenge. Fifty-five students responded to the call and signed up for the mentoring groups after the Implosion service.
"It was estimated between 500 and 600 students showed up for Implosion," said Davis. This is close to the more than 550 students that registered for the actual two-day Ignite event last January. "[We were] definitely excited about the number of students that showed up," he added. "Implosion was breaking new ground so we weren't really sure what to expect. But God had the right people there at the right time, and He was working everything out."
After Davis finished the opening prayer, Jeff Deyo, former lead singer for Sonic Flood, and his new band jump-started the worship. Students swarmed to the front as the worship increased and hands were lifted high all over the chapel. "Worship was incredible, Jeff Deyo and the band were just amazing. I felt they really connected with the students well...I loved it," said Davis.
When the keynote speaker, Earl McClellan (98), came up to speak, student anticipation and expectations were high. According to freshman international business major Marisa Goodwin, all expectations were met. "Earl McClellan was definitely one of the best speakers that I have ever heard," said Goodwin. "He's definitely very real--and that was actually what he talked about." McClellan is associate pastor of singles ministries at Shoreline Christian Center in Austin, Tex.
"Real" undeniably proved to be the topic and key characteristic of this former ORU men's chaplain's teaching. "What I want to know is, when everyone is compromising around you, will you have the character to stand? We need some authentic leaders," said McClellan. "Potential without follow-through is useless."
According to Davis, "The band and the speaker were just so great--God brought the two together. They transitioned well, they had never met before--they flowed in perfect harmony. God was there, and I think the whole set-up just went great."
Overall, it could be said that Implosion was a "mission accomplished." With the word of knowledge and "amazing" worship, it would have been difficult to leave Christ's Chapel without being impacted from within. "A lot of people I had never met before came up to me afterwards and said how God had moved on them that night and how they had learned so much that night as well," said Micah Davis. "[They learned] in the teaching and the worship--it really impacted the student's lives more than just hype."
The format for the upcoming Ignite conference is "tentatively the same," according to Davis. It is to be held on Feb. 6 and 7. As far as speakers or returning speakers, such as Dr. Tim Elmore (83), the vice president of leadership development at EQUIP who spoke last January, and performers are concerned, Davis said, "It could be a possibility for Earl McClellan or Jeff Deyo to come back for Ignite. We talked about it some. It's in the works right now, so we'll see."
Whichever way God does lead Farina and Davis with Ignite, they "...are expecting big things for this year, that God is going to take [Ignite] to another level as well," said Davis. "He is just preparing the students--preparing the campus with this Implosion event--and it's only the beginning for the 2003-04 Ignite conference. Tell everyone to get ready--'cause it's coming."
As students now remember Implosion, looking forward to Ignite, it's unlikely that they'll ever forget the challenging words of the Implosion speaker: "[ORU] is your training ground, this is your boot camp," McClellan said. "Live right now, get the training right now, and then go where God wants you to be. If you don't get it right on the training ground, what makes you think [He will] put you in the game?"
