If you think church is dull, you probably haven’t been out to visit Covenant Generations Church.

Youth from across Forney and from surrounding communities found out just how much fun church can be Wednesday evening, April 8 when they were given the chance to enter a hamburger-eating contest—and to win a car—just for attending a youth service at the Forney church, which is pastored by Richie Mullis.

Yes, the evening  really did begin with a service. Attending youth and adults got a good dose of the Gospel as “Pastor Richie” offered a stirring invocation dedicating the night—hamburger eating contest and all—to Jesus Christ.

In his message, Mullis used the parable of the Prodigal Son to urge those in the congregation, especially the those who were not yet believers and those who had wandered away from the church—to call upon Christ for salvation or renewal.

“You may not believe in God,” Mullis said, “but that doesn’t keep Him from believing in you.” He assured his audience that when someone calls upon God, God runs to them—He doesn’t walk. But Mullis cautioned that although God is more than willing to greet the new believer or the repentant Christian, He will do so on His own terms—and He may not make the connection just when one wants or expects it to happen.

Richie also pointed out that Christ is genuine and credible. The pastor said Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled 100 per cent of the 334 Old Testament prophecies concerning Himself and His mission—a series of prophecies that concluded 400 years before His birth.

At the close of his sermon, Mullis called on all youth who were not yet believers to literally stand up for Jesus Christ, and a large number of youth in the crowd did just that. A few minutes later, everyone in the audience who already professes a belief in Jesus as Savior joined the new believers in taking their symbolic stand.

There was a two- to three-minute break after the service, and then the serious mood changed to happy expectation as 200 hamburgers were brought into the Covenant Generations Church sanctuary. Soon the hamburger-eating contest was underway.

The contest was simple. Contestants took their turns by age group, beginning with those who were 13. The contest was to have ended with 18-year-olds, but at the last minute it was extended to those age 19 to 21. Boys and girls competed together. Those in each age group who ate the most hamburgers were  declared the winners for that age group. Those who stopped eating, or who disgorged what they had consumed (several trash buckets were provided for this eventuality) were automatically eliminated. Pastor Richie Mullis served as the timer, with members of the Convenant Generations Church staff serving as spotters.

The winners of each age group became eligible for a championship round and were entitled to draw for the car. The drawing took place just before the championship round. The winner of the car was a girl, Adrianna Becerra.

The rest of the participants in the hamburger-eating championship round were eligible to draw for a cash prize of $50.00. The winner of this drawing was Stanley Thomas. The rest of the overall champs received cash prizes of $20.00 each.

*See the April 16, 2009 issue of the Forney Messenger for more photos.