a2f newsletter.

happy wednesday.

hope all of you are doing well. heard the midterm grind is about to get started. god speed. at the very least, it’s starting to warm up though many have told me not to be fooled - it’s a fake spring. oh well.

this past week was incredible. winter camp with iu + uiuc + madison + purdue. 54 students. ridiculous moments of spikeball, the mind, flip7, pool noodles and more. of course - reading through jonah + hearing testimonies and messages. by the end of the retreat - 8 people made decisions to make jesus lord + savior of their lives. praise the lord. we ended with a letter-writing activity sealed with a wax stamp.

here’s the vlog + recap for this past week with a special cameo by trace hamiter from the oaks collaborative.

for this week - we’re going to be continuing on in our “the virtue” series and wrapping up with the greatest virtue of all - love. timely especially in light of valentine’s day.

here’s the sketchnote from elise for faith.

also i’ve made a commitment. i am going to regularly post on my substack and i want to post engaging topics covering a broad range of christian life + theology that i never get the opportunity to get into too much on sundays but i feel like there’s a need for. and so, each week, i am going to post either an audio or an article on my substack and the first series i am going to tackle - working through the book of romans before moving on to christian living from 1 corinthians. so if you’re interested - here’s the link to the substack and you can subscribe. link here.

again, if you have any questions, go ahead and use this form - q + a with dj form

and if you would like a coffee chat with either me or tabby, we created this standing google calendar link - schedule a coffee chat with dj or tabby

dj.

every tuesday. 8p - 9p. lawson 1142.

we kick started our weekly prayer meeting this past tuesday. come join us. it’s that “sweet hour of prayer” - a time to worship + pray for things going on in our personal lives as well as interceding for friends, for our larger network and even globally for missions across the world.

saturday. 2/14. 130p - 430p. rides at krach.

we’re continuing our tradition to go to an elderly care convalescent home in order to show love to people who normally are not shown much love at all and are often forgotten. so instead of being too 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 or too 😭 - come join us to give gifts, share the gospel, sing songs, and, more importantly, give the gift of our presence and a listening ear.

sunday. 2/15. 12p. walc 1018.

we’re continuing our “the virtues” series this sunday and we’re going to cover love. in a world where “love” is defined in so many different ways, what is the biblical definition of love? how do we find love? how do we become loving people? and what does the most famous chapter on love in the bible tell us about this?

and of course - lunch afterwards. come join us.

i was thinking a lot about this verse from our devotions through the book of john.

context. jesus is about to raise lazarus from the grave. and lazarus. he’s been in the tomb for four days. this number is significant because, back in the days, jews believed, after death, that the soul would linger around the body for 3 days. but 4 days? that means lazarus is dead dead. not just dead. in other words, he’s too far gone. it’s a hopeless situation.

but jesus does the unthinkable + unimaginable. the miraculous. he raises this very dead lazarus from the grave. and a lesson here - no is ever “too far gone” for jesus to raise, save, and transform. we have a mighty god who can do mighty things.

but this work was done. people saw it. and what was one of the goals? that the people standing around may believe in jesus and where he comes from - from god.

this was timely. because i, personally, and we all collectively have experienced a mighty work of god this past weekend. 8 lives transformed from death to life. many people confessing sins + shame and experiencing forgiveness and recommitting their lives. not only this past weekend, but when we look back on our lives, i think we can point to moments both personally or in the lives of our friends + loved ones of god’s transformative + miraculous work. from introverted to evangelist. gaming to gaining. chasing romance to chasing god. healing from addictions. salvation from deep insecurities.

on one level - it struck me what a privilege + wonder it is to walk with jesus and do ministry (something that we’re all called to). we get front row seats to these kinds of miracles again and again and again.

on another level - i felt challenged to steward these moments well. what do i mean by that? by cherishing them. recollecting. thinking. reflecting. and allowing it to lead to greater belief + greater faith that manifests itself in active love + engagement with people and situations that, by gut, i might label as helpless but, in god’s eyes and the history of how he’s worked, is entirely within his realm of power + capability.

i.e. don’t let these moments fade into the ether of mere memory. allow them instead to fuel my faith + belief into greater steps. no situation. no person. no struggle… nothing is ever “hopeless” because we have a god of miracles on our side.

so continue to love. continue to struggle. continue to pray. and let all of that be fueled by remembering - god’s mighty work in your life, god’s mighty work in other people’s lives, god’s mighty work even this past weekend… knowing that god can do the same in those situations.

until next time.

dj.