Blog

God had a clear plan for making us physical beings—there’s something more to gathering together than just breathing the same oxygen. 

Six days. 200,000 Instagram followers. Meet Joie Parma, a sophomore in The University of Texas at Austin’s Asian American InterVarsity chapter—also known as the Internet’s Frog Queen.

It feels like the world around us has been swept up in a narrative of life to death. But this is not the narrative of the gospel.

School just started and it’s not what you’ve ever imagined college to be like. Instead of moving into the dorms, you’re stuck at home. Instead of all the welcome events with free food at the beginning of the year, you’re attending one Zoom call after another. It’s easy to focus on all the things we’re missing out on this season.

If you’re like me, you may be struggling with FOMO, worry, and complaints.

While it's important to acknowledge what's hard and mourn what we've lost, it's equally if not more important to recognize the gift of the pandemic as the new school year begins. Perhaps there are unprecedented opportunities God has for us during this unique season.

We need to remind ourselves that we do evangelism in a time of crisis not to fill some “good-Christian quota” but because it’s good for our souls.

With sheltering in place and so many world-altering events happening right now, intense, loaded conversations are becoming increasingly common. Yet doing anything else may sound better than talking about something so potentially divisive (any Enneagram 7s or 9s here?). But how will these issues ever be resolved if they aren’t first acknowledged?

Christine never could have guessed how God would reward her faithful years in ministry by blessing her daughter in the most unexpected way.

For me, what’s often most unexpected—and rewarding—is that moment when I’m just passively watching a movie when BOOM! God enters the picture.

“When was the last time you prayed for your community? For your church? For your city? Are the only prayers you offer up to the Lord ones where you ask him to work in your own life?”

I have been thinking a lot about how the pandemic and sheltering in place with families and friends—some healthy and some not so healthy—affects us. Why are some people more resilient while others are struggling so much? What factors are at play here, and how can we all move toward holistic health?