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Youth Group Holds Vice Burning

By DAN FELDNER, Staff Writer

A youth group at First Assembly of God church held a burning Wednesday night by burning anything they wanted to get out of their lives that they feel is hindering their relationship with the Lord.

Some of the items burned included CDs, DVDs, magazines, books and anything else they could think of. But unlike the negative connotations burnings are generally associated with, this burning was intended to be a positive event for everyone involved.

Mary Johnson, leader of the college and career group at the church, summed up what the burning is about: "Getting rid of junk in their lives that would hinder (their) relationship with the Lord."

The group has been studying the Bible, looking for ways to strengthen their relationship with God.

"We've been going through the Book of Acts looking at the early church," Johnson said. "(We've been) asking God 'would you do again today ... what you did in that early church."

The people participating in the burning included students and parents. Johnson said the burning wasn't the first burning that she has attended. She was at one several years ago in South Dakota and about two years ago was at another one here in Minot.

Johnson stated that a young man from the Air Force asked for the burning, and the church agreed.

The fire, which was contained in a wide metal bin, was on the outskirts of Minot on church-owned property. As more members of the church gathered around the fire, they started clapping and singing along to an acoustic guitar.

Chuck Holtzhower, one of the 20 or so participants of the burning, had a large stack of CDs and DVDs he was throwing into the fire.

"I'm getting rid of things that I do not need in my life for a Christian walk," Holtzhower said. "As ... somebody who wants the most out of his walk with Jesus Christ, they don't need to be in my collection."

Holtzhower wasn't concerned about the amount of money spent on the dozens of CDs and DVDs he was throwing away.

"I pretty much think it (the money) was wasted in the first place when I bought it."

He threw his DVDs into the fire with no hesitation or regrets, but accepted help with the dozens CDs from some of the small children.

Though he probably could have gotten quite a bit selling the collection, Holtzhower looked at the big picture when deciding how to deal with the items.

"If I don't feel that they're correct for my life, why would I give them to somebody else?" he said. "There's no other way around it, other than that fire right there."

After items were tossed into the fire, some offered testimony on their life and where they may have gone wrong in their life and how they were trying to correct those mistakes.