Focused On Christ

So here at NBBI we just had two weekends of Teen Retreats. In short almost 300 teens invaded our campus and lives for Friday Saturday and Sunday of the last two weeks. It's been a wild ride of fantastic fun, junk food, screams, lost voices, ice cold water, and amazing Bible teaching. We had the teens play some of the craziest games and do some of the craziest things just to win the weekend for their team and it was loads of fun. However these times during the weekends can be pretty tough and trying for the students. Take what used to be our sleep and day and time off and replace it with extra responibilities, late nights, and craziness and you get a big chance of having discouraged, tired, and sick students. One of the things we have to do here at NBBI is never lose our focus. It's not the same as other campus', we are not all about the grades or the sports or the firends we can make...our focus is on Jesus Christ. Teen retreats has been an amazing opportunity for us to share with others what Christ has done in our lives and it gives us an opportunity to test our focus and dependence upon God. When your running on little sleep and exams are coming your either thriving with the peace and joy that comes from relying on Christ or your in a state of exauhstion and depression from trying to do it in your own strength. It's the perfect practise for real life. When your working full time with people or trying to be a witness for God after a week of hard work you will either stand or fall on this one principle...where is your focus. Is it on Christ or is it on something else. Take Peter for example...when he was focused on Christ he could do extraordinary things yet when he began to focus on the wind and the waves he began to sink...so where is your focus today? Is it on Christ or is it on something else...fellow students if you don't have joy and peace than I encourage you to check your focus...when we keep our eyes on Christ He will supply us with the strength, peace, and joy that we need...only when we keep our focus on Christ will we be able to say at the end of our life, "I have fought the good fight, and I have finished the race"

Cast Your Cares Upon Him

This week has been a big grwoing week fo me and some friends here at NBBI. It's one of those times when work strts to pile up and colds went around and many of my friends went through some trials and challenges this week. I myself wrestled with some big questions. It is in these times that I love the words in 1 Peter 5:7...Cast your cares upon Him for he cares for you. Life at times just seems to pull out all the stops and just hits us with all it's got. Wether it's a question God doesn't seem to answer, the pain from a situation, or the loss of a loved one life can really hurt some days. As Christians God doesn't promise to make our life always good and happy...in fact He warns us that trials and hard times are part of the cost for following Him. But He does promise to e with us and to support us through the hard times in life. It reminds me of a skit me and others on a team called SEM is doing...it's performed to the song called "Everything Falls Apart" by Fee. It has an amazingly powerful message that God will hold us together even when our life seems to fall apart. When God says to cast our cares upon Him I believe it is beacuse some worries and cares that we try to bear were never meant for us. When a loved one dies or when life just doesn;t make sense we are crushed under the extreme weight of sorrow and injustice. It is then that God calls out to us and tells us to cast our cares upon Him. Wecan rest in the knowledge that God is always wih us, always supporting us, and always working to give us what is best. So what are your worried about today or is their a greif or sorrow laid upon your heart...lay it at the feet of Jesus and know that He cares for you!