a2f newsletter.

happy wednesday.

hope all of you guys are hanging in there as midterm season is coming up.

we just had an eventful week and now we’re about to head into another one.

last week - kick started our weekly prayer meeting and prayed through the lord’s prayer. ended the night with the usual post-prayer meeting ritual - late night food run. famous franks. devastating.

new eve + noblemen launch trip. tabby told me new eve launch trip was magical. brian lin proceeded to follow that up by saying the noblemen launch trip was equally as magically in a completely different way. as the young ones say now. iykyk.

we had another week of a2f tgif. chosen watch party. followed by 20 second showdown and, of course, flip7. here’s vlog 03.

and of course a2f sunday. the virtues - faith. hebrews 11 study. abel. enoch. and a staff panel - sophie, amy, chris. a time to recommit to trusting god and taking small action steps.

exciting development - elise l. has kindly volunteered to do sketchnotes for our sunday messages. she did one for the secrets to happiness no one tells you about on the beatitudes. here it is. incredible.

this upcoming week, we have one of the highlights of our year. intersect winter camp. iu - uiuc - madison - purdue. jonah bible camp. it’s still not too late to sign up. the plan is to leave, friday (2/6) at 8p from krach and get back by sunday (2/8) at 3p. just in time to watch the super bowl.

deadline has passed. but if you are desperate and want to go, we’ll make it work and squeeze you in. sign up on this form - here.

another question about prayer this week from q / a with dj. does god have to answer our prayers? here’s the response.

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.

sunday. 2/8. 12p. walc 1018.

we’re continuing our “the virtues” series this sunday and we’re going to cover hope. what is hope? why is it important? how do we make sense of hope especially in the context of suffering? how does a christian deal with the problem of suffering? and what does romans 8 have to say about all of this?

and of course - lunch afterwards. come join us.

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.

we’re continuing our devotions in john and we’re at the feast of dedications as jesus dialogues with the jews + religious leaders.

it’s such an interesting conversation. sometimes, i can feel like “what is wrong with these religious leaders.” why is it so hard to believe jesus? but then, as i spent some time journalling today, i can see myself + people i’ve ministered to reflected in the pharisees.

the jews are saying - i just can’t believe what you are saying jesus. you are claiming to be god! a man becoming god? are you serious? that’s impossible. and think about it - it’s a monotheistic culture with high regard for god and sharp divide between the divine and man. one god. one creator. and now you’re seriously claiming to be god? the son of god? impossible…

i.e. it’s totally outside of our plausibility structure. outside of what i would consider to be possible and worthy of consideration as truth.

when i think about it through this lens - i find their response so relatable. things like - “god is real”, “jesus rose from the dead”, “virgin birth”, “eternal life through accepting (?) a person’s death on the cross” - huh? are you seriously claiming this? this all sounds so impossible.

that was my position coming into college as a unchurched kid. it was all completely outside my naturalistic plausibility structure and i couldn’t get myself to believe.

so then what changed?

i met people. i found a community. i built relationships with and heard the stories of person after person who not only tried to persuade me that all of this gospel stuff was true but that it completely changed + transformed their lives. an atheist who became christian. an introvert who became an evangelist. a selfish, driven ceo-type becoming a surrendered + sacrificial friend + minister.

i.e. i saw the impossible to disprove work that god was doing in people’s lives.

if you look at the basic intellectual claims of christianity - it can seem unbelievable and no amount of apologetics, evidence, historicity of the resurrection, scientific explanation (though there is much), will make you “feel” differently about it. if that’s you - i get it. i get you. because that was me.

well - instead of getting stuck there, i want to encourage you. look at the works. look at the work god is doing in people’s lives. ask the christians in your life how god changed + transformed them. hear their stories. listen to the stories being featured in our sundays. heck - come to our winter camp where a large part of the time will be listening to stories. consider his works.

what jesus offers here is surprisingly gentle. he’s not saying if you don’t understand, you don’t belong. no. he meets us exactly where our plausibility structures puts up walls. it’s an invitation not to shut off our minds but to open our eyes and pay attention to the undeniable work of god in real people. to the ways hearts soften + addictions loosened + bitterness healed.

and as you watch what jesus is doing in others - stay open to this possibility. maybe the same jesus who is at work in them is also reaching for you.

until next time.

dj.