Grass Roots Living Part II

The Process 

It all starts with the people.  No social, political, or economical entity that has withstood the tests of time started from an iron-fisted leadership.  No one person or group of persons dictated how things would be.  They sought the opinions of their constituents.  The people fashioned the entities into what they wanted.  When they deviate from the wants of the people, the people put them back on track.  It all starts with the people. 

One person has an idea.  Be it an idea for an activity, service, or product; someone conceives an idea.  That person shares the idea with others.  Those people jump on the bandwagon to make that idea actually happen.  The founders then invite others to join in implementing the idea.  Finally, the idea becomes a full-blown reality that is continuously gaining momentum and supporters.  That is the Grassroots Movement; the process by which synergistic movements gain their perpetual motion.

New location for Blog

Beginning Feb 15, there will be no new posts to this site.  Instead please visit bcmcheyenne.org.  This site will contain all new postings realting to Baptist Collegiate Ministry at LCCC.

Thank you,

Aaron Bell

Grass Roots Living Part I

You gotta build from the ground up

When one builds something – a building, home, bridge, etc. – they start with the foundation.  The land and the support structure are the first thing built, not the last.  Likewise, governments, social groups, political movements and Christianity have grown in such a grassroots way.  When “building” a church you don’t start by spending hunderds of thousands of dollars on a building to have a once a week Sunday service; you start by meeting with individuals.  You found a small group.  Members of the group invite friends, then they invite friends.  You then have one large group that is trimmed down to be several small groups.  The last thing built is the “building” we often call ‘the church.’

Tea & Talk

 My freshman year in college, my dorm RA was trying to come up with an activity for everyone on the floor to “just hang out and relax,” something that would promote community.  I rapidly suggested the title.  She loved it and we started promoting Tea & Talk every Thursday night; making hot tea and coco in the foyer for all who wished to partake.  The program gained momentum and was continued into the next year.  However, at the end of my sophomore year, everyone involved moved out of the dorms – including myself.  Everyone who attended Tea & Talk moved in with someone else who attended in one way or another (we were a really close knit dorm floor).  After one semester of being without each other’s company, I and another former attendee revived the weekly night of community.  There were many nights of just the two of us having tea and cakes at her place, but we soon grew to having old and new friends regularly attend.

I am now working on continuing the “community promoting” event as I work to minister to college students.  Every Thursday night at 8 PM in front of the LCCC library, I have hot water for tea, coffee and coco with cakes and other snacks on occasion.  So come and join us as we talk about life experiences, complex scientific theories, recipes, home projects, the latest in entertainment, and anything else you may have cross your mind.

Late Night Pancakes

Cooking Pancakes

As a welcome back event, BCM helped cook and serve pancakes to the returning ResHall Students at LCCC.  Over 100 students came and enjoyed the free food.

This is BCM’s third late night breakfast this school year.  It has been fun getting to know several students and then seeing them on campus.

Pictures of the night are uploaded at our flicker. com site.

Thanks to everyone who came and helped.

Year in Review

As we end another semester of ministry it is time to pause and reflect on all that has happened. From my brother joining me as an assistant to my wife, Melody, having hip replacement surgery, to amazingly successful Harvest Fest, these past five months have been busy.

This past fall, my brother, Matthew, began to serve as my assistant director. He has been extremely helpful. Carrying out various events and Bible Studies. The greatest help is to have someone on campus while I care for my wife and son. The biggest difficulty for him and his wife is finances. Matthew serves as a self funded missionary. Please pray for their finances.

Melody had surgery on her left hip in early November. Since then, she has been recovering well and is ahead of schedule. This is a great praise because in February she will be having surgery on her right hip. Both surgeries were caused by medication she was placed on during her pregnancy with our son, David.

My days have been filled with meeting both the demands of college ministry, assistant pastoring of the Warehouse, caring for Melody and David, and working as a substitute teacher. This last area has become very rewarding in the past weeks. Two elementary schools have placed me as a preferred sub and call me regularly to fill in for teachers. It is enjoyable working with students, yet those days I work are long for all of us. Please pray that God provides us all the strength we need to get everything done each day.

David has celebrated his first birthday in style. We went down to the aquarium in Denver with our extended family. David enjoyed watching the fish swim back and forth. He is very advanced is development. Already working on walking, talking, and eating solid foods. He has met all the typical twelve month milestones. Considering that he was ten weeks early this quite a praise. Melody and I are looking forward to seeing what he will do with his life.

As we look forward to the coming semester, many things are our minds. I have already mentioned Melody’s surgery. Another area is the spiritual and mental health of LCCC. In the last month of school three students committed suicide, each a week apart. There are many unanswered questions for students, staff, faculty, and parents. Please be praying that the spring semester will bring hope into the lives of students.

Another area of prayer is what I will be doing as a job after this semester. At the end of May, my time as a US/C 2 Missionary will end. Currently, I do not feel God leading us to a new town. Rather, that the past five years have lead up to a new opportunity that He has yet to reveal. As we pray as a family the path God is showing us to start a college church at LCCC. With less than 10% of Cheyenne attending any church on a Sunday, there are many who need to hear the message of hope that Jesus brings. Please be praying specifically for this opportunity, as we explore it.

That summarizes this past semester that is not covered in the blog we now maintain. It is at bcmcheyenne.wordpress.com. You can always view the most recent articles at bcmcheynne.org.

Thank you for you’re prayers and support this past year.

Sincerely,

Aaron Bell

BCM Director at Laramie County Community College

Late Night Breakfast

waffles are good

This past Sunday, Dec. 14, BCM helped the LCCC ResHall cook breakfast for students. This a chance for everyone to take a break from studying and to have fun. And we sure did.

The evening was full of problems. From no milk to tiny spoons to errors in reading the mix directions. Inspite of it everyone was happy to get a free meal and to hang out.

Pictures have been uploaded to our Flickr page. Take a look.

Post Modern Reality III

            Is there anything wrong with Christianity’s theology or doctrines?  Is there anything wrong with systematic theology, eschatology, soteriology, ecclesiology, missiology, exegesis, and hermeneutics?  Is there anything wrong with inductive Bible studies and expositional preaching?  Do the aforementioned actually provide turnoffs for postmoderns to Christianity?  Absolutely not!  In my experience, many churchgoers are turned off by these stuffy, elusive, pedantic elements of digging into the Holy Scriptures. The majority of my non-Christian peers are turned of by Christian dogmas, hypocrisy, and social snobbery.

 

Dogma, by definition, is any belief or teaching that is trusted without rational argument.  To use the Chritianese, they are the things simply accepted by faith.  The turnoff is that these do not make sense to non-Christians and many Christians are unable to offer any explanation to demystify these dogmas.  Postmodernism adheres to the belief that religious truth makes sense, as do truths about the natural world.  Everything requires a sensible and well-thought explanation for everything.  “Because that’s the way it is,” and “You have to take it on faith,” just don’t fly with most Postmodern individuals.

 

Hypocrisy is a problem for all generations.  When the predominate sentiment is “Do as I say, not as I do,” or high and lofty morality is preached from the pulpit and no one, including the preacher, lives according to them, people are turned off.  A stereotype of hypocrisy surrounds the modern church.  Child molesting priests, gossips, backstabbing rumors, and the whole myriad of other sins that infest our churches ruin everything.

 

There is hope, however.  My definition of hypocrisy is: the continuous, intentional behavior that is contrary to the set of morals and values that one professes to adhere to.  The key is repentance and forgiveness.  When you intentionally act against your morals, it is repentance that will prove you innocent of the label of hypocrite.  As Christians, we must redeem ourselves by actively seeking forgiveness when we mess up and falter in our daily lives.  Our walk with Christ isn’t private, it’s very much public.

 

Finally, our churches are full of expectations and traditions that have turned Christians into social snobs.  Social snobbery deals with that which is and isn’t acceptable at church.  The predominate notion is that one must wear their Sunday best to church.  This causes people who don’t have a suit and tie, a pair of pants without holes or an ankle length skirt to feel sheepish and hesitant about going to church.  Because of snobbery, subcultures like Goths, who pine for the word of God, are made unwanted when they go to church and are alienated and given sermons about “Christian dress codes.”  How would your church respond if the local homeless shelter were to attend the Sunday morning service and the shelter’s Chaplin, as the guest preacher, shares a sermon on James 2:1-13?  We preach a “come as you are” gospel to all peoples, but we turn a blind eye to their true needs and turn away the masses who do not meet our self image of a Christian.

 

We have a massive hurdle to jump as Christians.  We must learn what we believe as Christians and why we believe those things so we might be prepared to give a defense for the hope in us (1 Peter 3:15).  We must actively engage the lost and hurting souls who surround us, sharing our lives and the Gospel with them.  Be complacent no longer.  Be not ashamed of the Gospel (Rom. 1:16-17).  Go forth and proclaim the Gospel in action and words to all peoples the Gospel of Christ.

Post Modern Reality II

Given last time’s simplistic, brief, nutshell history of postmodernism, why is the modern church surprised that its evangelistic efforts yield so little?

 

Christianity adheres to absolutism.  Christ is the only way to salvation.  The Bible is the only authority on God and living.  God’s laws apply to all humanity all the time.  Postmodernism believes in relative truth: What’s right for you isn’t right for me.  They often believe that it doesn’t matter what religion you are as long as it isn’t contrary to the inalienable human rights – life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  To top it all off, the importance of relationships is an inhibiting factor.  The church’s evangelism and discipleship are institutionalized – learn and purge Bible instruction courses.  Postmodern society emphasizes an interpersonal learning model where the instructor actively demonstrates how he/she applies what they teach – a “don’t tell me, show me” mentality.  In brief, the church is an ideological bastion of everything that postmodernism is against.

 

So does this mean that Christianity is doomed to disappear into the underground until the next paradigm shift or spiritual revival?  For the love of all things holy, NO!  As previously quoted, “there is nothing new under the sun”.  That means that neither postmodernism nor traditional evangelism tactics are truly new or antiquated.  These two polar opposites have the same core essential value – relationships.

 

Christianity is and has always been all about relationships!  Christ spent time and developed close personal relationships with the twelve disciples.  He spent time with social outcasts – lepers, swindlers, and prostitutes.  The apostles labored over establishing relationships through out their ministries.  Throughout the centuries, humanity has sought out and formed communities.  Humans, with some exceptions, seek companionship, belonging and camaraderie.  Because of this, Christianity shall always have a “way in” to the lives and hearts of all generations.

 

There is, however, one pitfall and hurdle the church must avoid regarding relationships.  It lies in this anonymous quote:

            “Christianity with the Greatest Commandment and without the Great

Commission is Legalism.  Christianity with the Great Commission and with out the Greatest Commandment is a Social Club.”

 

            We must avoid being a social club and proclaiming a vain gospel.  If we proclaim the Gospel without a genuine concern for the people we are evangelizing to, we proclaim a vain gospel and present ourselves as hypocrites.  If we love our neighbor as ourselves but never take the Gospel beyond the four walls of the church building, we are committed to a social club and might as well post a sign on the sanctuary door that says, “Christians only, No sinners allowed.”

             We need to poke our heads out of our secluded “Christian counter culture” delusions and engage those who are condemned to eternity in Hell.  We need to stop the incessant bickering between evangelical protestant denominations over unessential theologies, dogmas, and doctrines and find out how we can work together for the glory of God.  We must get serious about the divine mission we have been given: to proclaim God’s redemption of His creation.

Post Modern Reality

            We are told that we have entered into a new era of Postmodernism where relationships are the keystone of everyday living, there is no truth except that which the individual has proven (either by experience or by convincing argument), and the prevailing moral is: do what you want as long as you don’t hurt anyone else.  We are sadly disillusioned.  Despite the truth and reality of the values of postmodernism, it is a movement that has been building and gaining speed for the past two centuries.

What we now term as the postmodern cultural climate of today, began with the Bohemians of the 1800s.  The Bohemian ideology was analyzed by the philosophers of the day.  Kierkegaard, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, and their contemporaries tilled the fertile fields of the human thought and planted the seeds of existentialism: God is dead; man is free of the need for deities.  By the end of the First World War, existentialism had germinated, sprouted and blossomed; and its fruits were harvested in the 1930s and 1940s.  However extreme the existentialists proved to be (Sartre, Dostoevsky, Kafka), there were more “down to earth” contemporaries (Hemingway, Joyce, and Faulkner) who simply explored the meanings of existence while painting pictures of everyday life.  The torch of questioning existence and truth was then passed on to the Beats – Ginsberg, Keruac, Burroughs – thinkers, writers and artists who were tired of war and civil strife.  In the end, our reality of postmodernism went from the Beats, to the Beatniks, to the Hippies, and finally to the children born in the wake of a society burned out on war and drugs.

When one looks at human history to see where we have been, it is evident that many things change, but many more things remain constant.  As Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done.  So there is nothing new under the sun (NASB).”  There is nothing new about postmodernism and the modern church should not be surprised by it.