Singing Oaks Church of Christ | Brandon Bell

“On The Shores of Babylon” A Message From My Favorite Band

By Brandon Bell, Campus Missionary | July 13, 2018

I have a favorite band. That has always been difficult for me to say. I have always loved such a wide variety of music that I could never pick a favorite. Now I can say this with confidence, Switchfoot is my favorite band. Switchfoot is an alternative Christian rock band from San Diego.

“Christian by faith, not by genre” has been their motto. What I love about these guys is that they couple solid, deep, and positive lyrics, with top notch alternative rock/folk/metal sound. Their music is played on both mainstream rock stations and Christian radio stations as well. At first, they would not play at Christian conferences or churches, because they wanted to take their message to the world.

“All Things to All People”

By Brandon Bell, Campus Missionary | May 22, 2018

I just started reading “Everybody Always”, Bob Goff’s follow-up to “Love Does”. Bob Goff’s larger than life personality, crazy adventures, and unbridled love for literally “everybody” inspires me to live life to the fullest. I’m only 3 chapters in, but just the title alone reminds me of the Apostle Paul and one of his personal mission statements:

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 “Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

I love this verse and I feel it’s my own personal mission statement. I’ve always had that type of personality that is drawn to a wide variety of people. I love having interesting & diverse friends and I’ve always been able to make friends with just about anybody. I’m so thankful to be an evangelist on a very diverse campus like UNT, because “becoming all things to all people” has certainly been amplified in me and in our students this past year!

Reflections from a Christian Retreat with Muslim Friends

By Brandon Bell, Campus Missionary | March 23, 2018

Last week for Spring Break we tried something different. We did a Christian Campus Community service retreat at Camp Eagle, but…. We took some Muslim students with us. The idea was to take a trip that would allow us to invite our international student friends that we have made this semester so they could have a “camp” experience with us.

God blessed this effort immensely!

We had a fairly large group of our own students and additionally 6 fun and energetic guys from Oman who are Muslim. (Don’t know your Mid-East geography? Oman is between Yemen & UAE, south of Saudi Arabia). We all had a blast!

What’s the Best Thing?

By Brandon Bell, Campus Missionary | January 26, 2018

I was recently on a videoconference with a seasoned college minister and he asked me, “what have you found to be the most difficult thing about college ministry?” I thought about it for a moment, and then replied “deciding which is the best thing to do”. What I mean is that there are hundreds of “good” things we can be doing, but it’s difficult to decide which ones are the “best”?

The spiritual need on our campus and around our community is so great. How do we decide who to pursue, who to invest time and effort into, where to serve, which ministries to partner with, how to best meet the various needs, especially spiritual needs of young adults? It can quickly feel daunting and overwhelming.

The Bible Today, an Astonishing Contrast

By Brandon Bell, Campus Missionary | October 27, 2017

Back in 2014 I took some teens and young adults to the Passion Conference in Houston. On stage there was a curator from a The American Bible Society who had with her a Bible that was translated by a colonial missionary and published in 1663. It was the 1st Bible to be printed in the Americas, in fact, the 1st to be printed outside of Europe. A Puritan named John Eliot who preached at a church near Boston for 57 years decided his call was also to the Algonquian Indians in the Massachusetts area. John spent 15 years learning their unwritten language. He then translated the entire Bible into their Natick dialect, which is now extinct by the way. At the same time, he began sending requests back to England for funds, paper, a printing press, and ink to be shipped to the colonies. And of course, he also started schools for the Algonquian Indians so they could learn how to read their own language! On a side note, his requests for support of this mission also resulted in the 1st Missionary Society in England.