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Student Ministry

Posted on December 14, 2006 ...

There?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s no place like home, there?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s no place like home!
The past month has been crazy! The Student Ministry here at North Cleveland has been rocking. We just finished our Middle School Retreat last weekend, attempted to offer free gift wrapping the day after Thanksgiving, had a very successful Rake and Run in November, and our student leadership recently led their first small groups!
In addition to the activities here at NCBC, I have been to Charleston, South Carolina to help with John Peter?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s DiscipleNow, and just two weekends ago Dawn Blackwell and I, with some friends from First Baptist, attended the National Youth Workers Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. I keep thinking?¢‚Ǩ¬¶ we?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re almost there, we?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re almost there! We have our High School Retreat Dec. 20-22 and then Passion for our College Students Jan. 1-4! Every year during November and December I feel like I am a drifter living out of a suitcase!

?¢‚Ǩ?ìDrifter?¢‚Ǩ¬ù is a popular song on the radio that talks about life away from Christ. The chorus says, ?¢‚Ǩ?ìI?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m a drifter out on a dead-end road, trying to find my way back home, to get to you, oh, to get to you. See, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve been gone for far too long, headed to places I don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t belong and I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve got to get back, yes, I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ve got to get back home to you.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Now, although the lyrics are talking about someone without Christ or someone who has wandered away from Christ, I can?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t help but think about my own self as a drifter. And I think about great men from the Bible, especially Paul who was a real ?¢‚Ǩ?ìdrifter?¢‚Ǩ¬ù in his day. You see, there are two kinds of drifters. The first kind is drifting out on ?¢‚Ǩ?ìthe dead-end road?¢‚Ǩ¬ù which leads to death. The second are those who are drifting out on ?¢‚Ǩ?ìthe road that leads to life.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Jesus Himself was a drifter and said, ?¢‚Ǩ?ì"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Matthew 8 & Luke 9)

We?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re so lucky to have homes to come back to after being away sometimes for what seems like ?¢‚Ǩ?ìso long.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù But I think we have to be very careful not to forget that as followers of Jesus Christ we are also just drifters. If you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re a drifter out on the dead-end road then there?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s good news. Jesus wants you to become a different kind of drifter, one who is on the road that leads to life. And if you?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re already a drifter of Jesus Christ, don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t get comfortable here on earth. Hold onto the hope that this world is not your home. Nathan