Thanks for checking in. I'd like to give you a really bold and inspirational answer, but the bottom line is that I have no idea. That is why I spent the morning, and will again spend this morning, in prayer. In addition, I've contacted a respected campus missionary to give me advice. He'll be walking the campus with me at the end of the month. He has recommended a book, and given me leads on several other campus missionarys.
I'm challenged by what I heard recently that students are looking for Relationship, Authenticity, and Substance. So that's what I'm going on campus to try and provide.
I don't think you and I have ever met, and I don't know how much of my story you've picked up. But I'm a church planter with a church open for 19 months. We meet on a college campus, and have seen zero (0) come to Christ from the campus. Off campus yes, but not on campus. Jesus didn't give us his Spirit to have those kinds of results.
So I'm trying to figure it out. Break away from the perspective that I pastor a church in the community, and get to a perspective of an apostle in the city. That's why for me the language is changing. In the gospels Jesus and in Acts Paul and his entourage would head into cities and go to specific places. Jesus hung out at wells. Paul went to the synagogue, centers of thought, markets, and rivers. I'm trying to identify those in the "city" that is AACC.
At this point I'm desperate for God to do something. So I'm working like it all depends on me, and praying like it all depends on Him. And getting ready for the stoning. :-)
--Ben
Monday, May 12, 2008
Response to a comment
I had a commentor ask a questions so I wrote a response. It turned out so long that I thought there might be information you'd like to read as well. The question was what I was doing to reach AACC more effectively for Christ. The long and short of it is that anything would be an improvement.
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2 comments:
Ben, this is by no means an effort to address the complex issue of campus ministry, however, we just ran a workshop on Saturday, entitled "Share Jesus Without Fear" and it ocurred to me while I was thinking about it that since you're meeting on the campus and you're people are there a lot, the information in this workshop might be helpful. You can check it out at www.sharejesuswithoutfear.com
Time well spent. In the meantime I will share two things with you:(1)We'll be praying for you - not that you would not be stoned, but that you're faith and determination would be strengthened by it. Sometimes a good stoning is just what the doctor ordered to get the church off dead center and (2) 80% of all people who come to faith in Christ say that it was the result of a long term relationship with a friend or relative. Gimmicks don't work and mass evangelism is anemic - the only thing that is consistently is "You go into your world."
Right on, Mike!
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