I (Scott) just returned from my first "Freedom Experience" event of the fall. FX is a three day event where we take Brock Gill (the illusionist that I work for), pair him up with a BMX bike team called Chaos on Wheels, throw in some music groups, and rock out with the purpose of telling others about Jesus Christ and His love for us. It's a ton of fun. Think "Billy Graham Crusade" on a MUCH smaller scale, with people sailing through the air on bikes and some crazy stunts. Got it? Good.
Our first event this fall was this past week in Palm Coast, FL. It was awesome to be a part of. We walked into a pretty scary situation--a hurricane sitting in the gulf headed straight for us--but we went to work and prayed that it would die down, go away, or something.
Each night was awesome. We had two music groups with us, Eleventyseven (who coincidentally are from Laurens, SC, and graduated from a high school that my high school played football against) and Group 1 Crew, a new hip-hop group on Word Records. They both put on an amazing show. We also had freestyle skateboarder Tim Byrne there, along with Brock and Chaos on Wheels. All the groups would perform for about 15 minutes, leading up to Brock. Brock would go last. He'd start with a series of illusions, and then end it with a big trick. One night he made a girl disappear. One night he was chained up and put in a coffin filled with water and he escaped. And then one night he caught a bullet in his mouth. Yeah, that's right. In his mouth.
That night was the most worrisome for me because I have to fire the gun. That always freaks me out and gets me all worked up. Luckily for me, he caught it (meaning, I get to keep my job AND I don't have to go to jail for murder. Yippee!).
Each night after doing a big illusion, Brock speaks about how he was changed after he began a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. He realized that up until that point he was living life for himself, and that he was believing a lie that he was "good enough" for heaven, when the Bible says that Jesus is the only way to God and heaven, and that being "good" actually has nothing to do about it, because we can't ever be "good enough." Brock's a great communicator...he does a great job of saying very clearly what awkward people like me will stutter around and not really know how to express. Hence why I like working for him so much.
Anyway, the event was incredible. Over 5300 people showed up over the 3 nights. We packed out the local high school gym. And God showed up in a big way--over 280 people (most of whom aren't the church-going types) decided to put Jesus in charge of their life. It was awesome. One of the coolest parts was that Ernesto "mysteriously" dissipated into nothingness, redirected itself away from where we were, and only began to regain strength after the event was completely over. It goes to show you that prayer is an oddly powerful and effective thing.
I'm sure at this point you're rearranging your schedule to attend one of our remaining FX's, right? We've got three left this year: Hattiesburg, MS (Sept 25-27), Williamston, NC (Oct 23-25) and Prattville, AL (Nov 6-8).
Since I'm sure you'd like a little taste of what FX is like, go ahead and double click on the big arrow in the middle of the video window below. You can watch a video of A.J., one of our BMX bikers, landing a double tailwhip...a stinking hard trick to do...and a backflip. And the crowd goes wild... (you probably need high speed internet for this to play well...)
