Download and listen:

Glory Forever by Deb Heefner – Monday evening January 4, 2010

Want to share some of the “glory” from this year’s conference with folks at church?

Download the BWC 2010 Newsletter

Over the course of the afternoon over 75% of the students were privileged to engage someone in a conversation about the Gospel. All told, over 471 such conversations took place (as is our custom, the students went out in pairs). Probably twice as many more “spiritual conversations” took place which did not include a Gospel presentation.

Between 10-15 people indicated they entrusted their lives to Jesus Christ. Over 350 10lb boxes of food were distributed in conjunction with 4 of the churches and 2 of the organizations. One team of students shoveled snow in driveways on 11 streets in Dorchester (in the neighborhood of the Boston Project). Another group of 40 distributed granola bars, gum and church brochures to 5000 people above T stations in Cambridge. An estimated 1/10 of those people were personally invited to the church.

Download and listen:

The Standard of Glory by Darryl Smith – Saturday evening January 2, 2010

For those struggling with porn:

http://xxxchurch.com/

http://www1.k9webprotection.com/

http://www.covenanteyes.com/

For those struggling with same sex attraction:

http://www.reachtruth.com/

Two great books on men’s and women’s issues:

For women: http://www.campuscrusade.com/WSN/fantasy.htm

For men: http://www.campuscrusade.com/Books/fleshm.htm

As I girl, I can highly recommend “Fantasy”. What I love most is that it’s written more like a magazine than a book. It contains a series of short articles on important issues, along with guides for Bible studies and personal quiet times. You can skip around to read first the articles you like most, and it gives you great ideas to start discussions with other women. I’m sure “Flesh”, the men’s version, is equally as good.

Then after an hour, we switched.

It was scary.

The Men's Panel

What made it so terrifying was the pain and confusion embedded in the questions. It was clear that many students had been badly burned by poor sexual choices. It was clear that many students were confused about how to understand their desires, there experiences (some of tragic abuse) or their relationships with others. Looking into the face of this pain and confusion, and trying to answer it, was very difficult.

However, the hardest part of being on the panel was having such a short time to address questions of enormous significance. The best part of the panel was the honesty and transparency of the questions and the answers. At the very least we had the opportunity to recognize that deep issues of sexuality and life are appropriate to bring into the light of healthy community. Healthy Christians talk transparently about the deepest issues of life.

We tend to believe three lies:

1. I’m the only one who is dealing with this.
2. I can never change.
3. Not even God can forgive me.

All three of these lies were exposed and refuted by Ben’s talk and the panels. I have been praying ever since for the students here at BWC and on campuses everywhere, that they would experience the grace and truth of Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, in the deepest areas of their lives.

Saturday afternoon, 342 college students checked into the hotel for the five-day conference. To end the first night Shane & Shane took the stage for a public concert.

They have worked with Campus Crusade in the past, and often play shows on the college circuit.

“I guess that’s just who listens to our music,” Barnard said. “We love to play on campus and have the opportunity to be involved with them. That age group is so cool.

Esther Brown, a student at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, won the best seats in the house during the evening’s main conference session, which included the honor of sitting on a couch with friends in front of all the other seats. She was impressed with Shane & Shane’s attitude and approach to worship.

“They were quick to give all praise to God, and that was really neat to see people so committed to God,” Brown said.

This is the type of memory Barnard hopes for when he takes the stage.

“Jesus is what we want people to remember when we leave,” he said. “We hope God shows off.”

In addition to songs from their newest album (released in Nov 2009) they played past songs and even a Christmas song from their recent Christmas tour.

They ended with a song that coincided with the conference theme, Glory. The song titled “Worthy of Affection” was inspired by a verse in Hebrews that says Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God (Hebrews 1:3).

Check out this video from the concert.