a2f newsletter.

happy to see all of you this past weekend. west lafayette is definitely much happier and much livelier once the school is back in session. the weather has definitely taken a turn for the worse though. so stay warm out there especially with the cold front coming. in moments like this, i do miss california but then i remember everything else about california and i am reminded that west lafayette is the best.

this past week was packed. student leader bro’s discipleship group. new eve taste and see + launch trip. a2f friday hangout at brandon + lilly’s. a lot happened. a lot of good food. laughter. ridiculous moments. even “magical” moments. time also spent in god’s word. we also kicked off our semester with a new message series that we’ll be continuing this sunday with a dive into the beatitudes.

this is the point in the newsletter that i would start to comment on this previous week. but i thought. why do that when instead i can make a vlog.

and so starts the a2f weekly vlog.

my goal is to make one for every single week of this semester. nothing fancy. just simple. so if you see me roaming with a camera, don’t be weirded out.

also, wanted to start something new and restart something we did previously.

first the new thing. q + a with dj. i wanted to open up a channel for you guys to be able to ask any questions about the message, christian life, life, apologetics or anything in-between. use this form - q + a with dj form

goal is to answer it either personally, sometimes during service, or maybe the newsletter or even on our blog.

and now the restart. if ever you want to have a coffee chat with either me or tabby, we would love to do that. and so we created this standing google calendar link - schedule a coffee chat with dj or tabby

what is a coffee chat? it can be whatever you want. it can be office hours. a time to ask any questions. we’re also certified coaches as well and can offer personal coaching sessions. or we can just shoot the breeze.

we freed up wednesday and friday for coffee chats but, of course, if those times don’t work but you would like to have a coffee chat, please just reach out to us directly and we’ll work it out.

dj.

feb 6-8. camp tecumseh, in.

come join us for an incredible weekend. fun. meeting new friends from iu and uiuc and madison. time in god’s word. worship. bible reading through the book of jonah. and of course a lot of food and late night shenanigans.

sign up on this form - here.

fri, 1/23. 1205 hayes. 630p.

noblemen is kicking off this friday. taste + see. come check it out just to see what it’s like and what it’s about. i promise you there will be good food but more than that - an inspiring vision of the kind of man god wants all of us to be and how we can experience that and live into that together as a brotherhood.

we’re back in the book of john for our devotions.

and we got one of jesus’ incredible “i am” statements this past week. i am the light of the world.

it’s a phrase that i (and i’m sure many of you) are very familiar with but it hit me in a new and relevant way this week.

maybe it’s the myth and the promise of youth (yes i still think i am relatively young) - but there was a way i viewed my life and future with optimism and excitement for what could be. the potential and promise and possibilities. and so when a verse like this one would come, i assent to it in the most basic way. the same way i would assent to 2 + 2 being 4 but that was it. and why? well what is jesus saying? what is jesus offering?

he’s saying life without him is darkness. now there’s a lot of ways we can unpack that statement but the one angle that this text hits upon is in the sense of guidance. we’re all groping around in the dark trying to figure out where we’re going. we have a vague notion of where we want to end up - happy, content, satisfied. but what that looks like and how we get there? we have no idea.

when i was in college - that notion was thrilling. it felt like an adventure. it’s like that tagline you see on jeeps and rv’s, “not all who wander are lost” (which as an aside is from lord of the rings and is totally ripped out of context) so enjoy the adventure. enjoy life. enjoy the uncertainty. and i embraced that in my 20’s. it’s the promise that, at the end, there are many ways to land on this vague destination called “happiness” and part of the excitement was finding my own unique path and discoveries to get there.

the only problem is - that’s not life. as i’ve gotten older, embracing the uncertainties of life morphed from a thrill to fear because, as i got older, i’ve gotten to see and know and experience all the ways that, from the perspective of our culture and world, life can go wrong. wrong major at the wrong time (sorry cs friends). a recession. a hard marriage. a phone call. a hospital visit. a diagnosis. prolonged. sometimes sudden.

so much is out of our control. and, instead of many paths that can lead to one of many pots of gold on the other side, there are more ways that groping around and wandering can land you to a dead-end or worse some sort of pain + challenge + difficulty. let alone the startling, inevitable reality of death.

as i get older, i recognize more and more my need for guidance. my need to be led. my need for a light.

and who better than jesus? why? well our text says he knows our origin and he knows the destination i.e. he knows the way to that “pot of gold” and, in reality, there’s only one pot of gold and one way available and that’s him. jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. he is the light of the world who sees the entire map called life and, no matter where we are on that map, completely lost in some miry bog or pit, stuck at some dead-end or even on the opposite side of “x marks the spot” deep in addiction, sin, and shame, jesus is saying i can be your light and i can guide you back just like how god personally and daily and carefully led the israelites through the wilderness to the promised land as a pillar of fire i.e. a light.

thankful that jesus offers himself freely to all to be that light.

until next time.

dj.