Monday, October 20, 2008



This year's retreat was truly an unforgettable experience. My wish is that more people can go to the next one. This was my first retreat but certainly not my last. To all my brothers and sisters in Christ, I would like to thank you for participating and feeding me spiritually. God is so amazing that we could share so much personal pain and become as close as we all became in such a short time. We would do a great disservice to God if we do not take all the power and emotion back to North Hialeah Baptist and share it with the rest of our church family.

I think my Jonah said it best when after service on Sunday he said " I don't want to go". I understand how he felt. There was such a great positive atmosphere, everyone was smiling and not one negative vibe could be felt. The world is still the same and troubles affect everyone but, for that weekend it seemed everyone left them behind and focused on Jesus and let God take care of everything else. Funny how it should take a retreat for us to be able to do what God has asked us to do all along.

For my brothers and sisters; nothing positive comes from negative thinking. Lets have a year-round retreat in our homes, in our work, at school and in church. Pack your suitcases with negativity and poisoning thoughts and leave them behind. The world has enough problems, do not contribute to them, be a solution and a light for others.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was our first Family retreat spent on the weekend of 10/19/2008 at the Christian Retreat Center. It is amazing how God used the center to mend broken hearts, healed marriages and brought Children back in tune with their parents. It was an amazing work of God! Well said “Lets have a year-round retreat in our homes, in our work, at school and in church.” This is also our heart desire that the next retreat we bring all our Church Family. It will be a great blessing! I’ll close with this...
“ if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?" So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” 1Peter 4:16-19
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. James 5:16
May God continue to move us in His ways. Amen!

Anonymous said...

I this is Betty not Jenny (inside joke):
I don’t have enough words to express the feeling of what happened this weekend, I was touched by the hand of God just like every person in this retreat was, I know we were all moved. God spoke to us through all of us. After this weekend I feel different I still don’t know exactly what happened but I asked myself, God was I saved? And God said yes you were but he also said to me that we needed an encounter, a revival the truth is I don’t know because the feeling is too great to explain. That was several times where I lost knowledge of where I was and cried so hard that I felt chest pain, palpitations and my knees curled and the feeling that I had left somewhere and I did. I said to myself if this is where I have to meet God than this is where I want to be. My daughter Gabby said mom I don’t want to leave, how can we get the attention of 10 youth in a service that lasted more than 4 hours, well I will tell you it was the hand of God himself.
Thank you for being the family that God wants us to be, like Ron said not visual, we want to be together more often and know your problems and your dreams. I love you all and let’s not forget what the spirit of God did and keep the fire burning , if you feel like your candle is going off than ask someone to help you keep it lit.
May God use all to bring more lost souls into our church.
God bless you Angel for this webpage my brother, you and your family are a blessing in this church.

Love Betty.

Anonymous said...

this was the first retreat at the chistian retreat center but it was the best of all

Anonymous said...

T

Anonymous said...

Surely the presence of the Lord was in the retreat this weekend. Praise God for changed lives and for the presence of the Holy Spirit, which was so strongly felt. Words cannot describe what was experienced and felt this weekend. TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

Anonymous said...

This retreat was the greatest spiritual experience I've had short of the day I accepted the Lord!!!! Truly the Lord was present and lives were changed. If you left the retreat the same as you arrived you could not have been listening!!!! We grew closer as a church family & my biggest prayer is that we continue now that we are home. That we make it a habit to pray for eachother, that we keep in contact during the week, not just when we see eachother at church. That we're aware of the needs of our families so that we can be there for them in time of need. I was so blessed by everyone especially the youth!! I love our youth & believe that if they let themselves be used by the Lord He's going to do great & mighty things & really grow our youth group for HIS glory. I also pray that next retreat(hopefully in 6 months) all our church family can go so that they can experience what we did!! NHBC family needs to be one. I ask that we all keep a positive attitude & that if we see or hear negativity that we, in God's love, confront it & stop it. We need to be worshiping
'Vertically', not 'Horizontally' because we may let ourselves down, because we're human, but HE will NEVER let us down therefore always look up!!!

In His Love
Liz V.

Anonymous said...

The retreat was Awesome; God touched so many lives. The presence of the Holy Spirit was evident and was felt very strongly. To keep 10 youths sitting down for 4 + hours and not get bored and be touched by God, was the first thing that was amazing. The Lord touched my husband like you would not believe; he is a new person for the Glory of God. We were all touched by the Holy Spirit this past weekend. Pray that all those who went to the retreat continue to walk with God and that the joy and anointing we all received may be shared and spread to all our brothers and sisters at NHBC and everyone we come in contact with.

Love you

Anonymous said...

Praise the Lord!

All I can say is that I was blessed to have been part of at least one day at the NHBC Retreat.

I experienced only a glimpse of what Heaven will be like experiencing the love of Christ through all my NHBC family. It was such a joy to be together in one accord and enjoying HIS presence.

I look forward to the next Retreat and to all the gatherings at NHBC.

Do not forget to pray for our Pastor and one another faithfully.

With much love from Your Eternal

Sis-in-Christ

Anonymous said...

this is debi <3
this was my first retreat with NHBC. it was amazing. i was truly blessed by all of my brothers and sisters, and especially by our youth. the best thing of all is that i see it is still with us. it's is REVIVAL happening in our midst. this is what God's word speaks about and it is ALIVE in US now:
"And let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to watching over one another, studying how we may stir up (stimulate and incite) to love and helpful deeds and noble activities; not forsaking or neglecting to assemble together [as believers], as is the habit of some people, but admonishing - warning, urging and encouraging - one another, and all the more faithfully as you see the day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25
i thank God for our church, our leadership and the work that HE promises to complete in all of us!!

Anonymous said...

I want to Thank God of giving me an extend family who I want to know more about, I want to be able to talk, walk and laugh with them without being judged I want them to treat me like one of their own as my biological family do. You see, I come from a family of eight 3 Brothers (me being 4) and 4Sisters and I love them all, I want is for my church family to become like my biological family. When any of us are in trouble or struggling we all help each other out, the big difference from the church family is the bond we have through the spiritual blood of our savoir Jesus Christ… Let’s reflect on God’s truth, the family I’m talking about is Christ's chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't. If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face. Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody. Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it." Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good. Amen

Much Love
Ron Cruz and Family

Angel said...

Thank you all for participating and sharing your comments. That is what this blog was intended to do. Be a source for anyone to voice feelings and lift up others with encouragement.

Anonymous said...

Praise be to GOD for he is our strength and breath , the FIRE was started lets pray to keep it stoked and if it should even flicker. Come together as the family in CHRIST we are and build our FIRE for HIM even larger.
In HIS service for ever