a2f newsletter.

happy wednesday.

it’s passion week and i am so excited to be able to celebrate the highlight of the christian calendar together with you through both good friday + easter.

it was both an exciting but sad march madness week for purdue. we were collectively rooting for tennessee now (as the lesser of all evils) but they got the smack down by michigan (boo). at least duke (big boo) lost to uconn (boo) but i do have to say… what an epic shot.

it was also a packed weekend filled with some completely student-led events. from the kbbq + big questions to the lumpia making party and testimony potluck with pfa.

here are some pics from this past week.

thankful for all that the students who attended + the students who led it got to experience. from cooking + prepping content + games and doing it together with friends. giving up time + money to do so - it doesn’t make sense in the eyes of the world but what the world can’t explain is the joy they got to experience. i think it points to how we were made for something different than what our world says our lives should be about. meaning + purpose + community found in our faith.

good friday + easter is coming up! please come join us for both (info below).

for easter, we will be having bbq but with it an appetizer + dessert potluck as well as an easter choir. so please do sign up for both. special request - we do need more sisters for the choir (currently very bass heavy..)

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

an 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.

deadline - 3/31.

deadline has passed. but if you are still interested in becoming a student leader for fall 2026 - spring 2027, please fill out this application form here: student leadership application form link (just to note - this form is different from the interest form many of you filled out earlier :] )

friday. 4/3. 7p. class of 1950 lecture hall.

good friday service. please note the change in time (7p) and change in location (classroom 1950). reason - iu + uiuc church plants will be joining us and so it’ll be a larger group so we needed a bigger room. worship. special video. message on luke 23. time to partake in the lord’s supper. then ending the night by heading to our church building, cumberland, to have a meal together. please come join us.

sunday. 4/5. 430p. walc 1018.

come celebrate easter sunday with a2f. he is risen. please note the change - we will be meeting at 430p at campus house (1000 Mitch Daniels Blvd). worship. sermon. choir. afterwards, we’ll celebrate easter by having a big bbq dinner celebration + appetizer and dessert potluck. come join us.

i’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on pilate. both in preparation for the sunday message this past week but also as we study him some more through our devotions this week and i thought about this word. regret.

like we talked about - practical considerations + pressure of keeping his job, his livelihood, his position, maybe even his life was what caused him to disregard truth. disregard jesus. not take an active stance in a situation where he knew what truth was.

maybe he thought he would regret it? if i make this decision about jesus. about truth. what if i lose my job that i worked so hard for. what if i… fill in the blank.

but what ends up happening? he flogs an innocent man. he sends that same innocent man to his death via crucifixion.

i wonder if he regretted this decision more.

if you’re anything like me, i would often think to myself if i would regret making these decisions about truth + faith + jesus. would i regret giving up my time to invite these freshmen over vs. spending more time studying? would i regret serving as a student leader? would i regret taking this job so that i can be closer + more available to serve?

but, often, what i’ve come to discover is that the decisions i end up regretting are not these decisions but the decisions i don’t make to honor truth, to grow in my faith, to respond to jesus. i’ve seen people lament how their lives turned out as they look back on their college years nostalgically, as their best years when it came to their faith.

and it’s not like regret at the level of murdering an innocent man. but regret. in terms of the compromises, the life decisions. all of which have led to an insular + small life focused just on career + family. and an ache. a restlessness. for more than just that. and they see that in my life and yearn for it but feel like its too late because… they’ve invested too much already… and it would be too hard to change now. the sunken cost fallacy but at a deeper + existential level.

but, on the flip side, when i’ve pushed through the “possible regret” that often leads to passivity + delaying decisions about jesus + faith + truth and made a decision, a choice, or a commitment, i’ve never regretted it. sure it was painful at the moment and i would wonder “what am i doing…”

but years down the line? as i reap a fruitful life filled with people + purpose + peace. i don’t regret it at all.

and so i want to encourage you - don’t let fear of regret cause you to miss out on making these kinds of decisions now. to love. to serve. to respond to truth.

trust me. years down the line. you won’t regret it.

until next time.

dj.