Hello friends! I pray that you are doing well. My desire for writing this weekly newsletter is to help you navigate your journey of faith, to overcome your challenges and make fewer mistakes in life. I want you to live an abundant life in Jesus Christ because it’ll glorify Him to the world! There is a new generation of believers coming into the kingdom of God as I hear of more revivals happening in colleges and throughout the world. They will be needing mentors and much guidance when they come in. I pray that we can be that light, and be good baby nurses for the newborns. 🙏
I think many of them will be like me when I started out my faith journey. They will have a lot of wrong beliefs and distrust in God. It is the testimonies and lives of the older believers like us that will help them to trust God, abide in Jesus Christ and to be assembled in a local church for their protection and growth.
One thing that I have witnessed is too many Christians who should know better by now, are not assembled into a local church. It’s impossible to live an abundant and victorious life without being assembled into a local church. When you say “yes” to Jesus Christ, you joined a military family. One of our greatest assets on earth is the body of Jesus Christ, the church. The local church will give you spiritual support and protection, and also teach you how to get along with others. These skills will benefit you in your career and in all your relationships. Having a good, strong marriage is really tough work. Work on your emotional intelligence before you get married by practicing these skills in the church. Make mistakes and learn from your mistakes in your church relationships so that when you get married you’ll already have practice in what to do in relational conflicts. Don’t run away from your tests by hopping onto the next church. You’ll only have to retake the tests anyway. I’ve been at my church for fifteen years now. I’ve learned so much from being a community group leader in my church for a decade without any breaks. The training is free in cost too.
In our modern and mobile culture, sometimes when we move we neglect to look for the next home church. That is what happened to me when I left my college church after graduation. I’ll never make that mistake again!
Please read this good devotional about us being a sheep and Jesus Christ being our Good Shepherd. Once I accepted that I am a sheep, it was no brainer to stay close to the Good Shepherd and in the company of my fellow sheep friends. Our enemy, the predator, goes after the easy prey – the isolated sheep.
https://260journey.com/sheep-need-a-shepherd/
In my college years, I relied heavily upon people to keep me in the church. I was surrounded by Christians who cared for me. It was a small country church that had a heart for college students and came to minister weekly on campus. If it wasn’t for this church breaking up, I would have remained in the church community. However, I realized that this foundation wasn’t sustainable since humans will fail us. I think that’s why God allowed it to happen. Even the best of Christians will fail us because they will die. I realize now that my cornerstone foundation has to be on Jesus Christ and in the word of God, the Bible; not on humans even if they are great Christians.
I just heard a great sermon by the late Pastor Tim Keller on our vocation as a lay minister. Please hear this good sermon and evaluate your life as a Christian in your obedience to God’s word. The more we conform our beliefs and lives to the word of God, the more abundant our lives will be. Jesus wants us to be the light on top of the hill for nonbelievers and seekers to see and be drawn to. It’s not to have followers for ourselves, but to point them all towards Jesus Christ.
“To live a Christian life is much more transformative than just trying to live better.
If you’re a Christian, you are a living stone in the temple of the Holy Spirit, and you are a holy priesthood called to do sacrifices to the Lord, because you’re related to the cornerstone, Jesus Christ. Now that’s quite an image. What does it all mean?
Let’s unpack that under three headings: 1) what we are called to be, 2) what we’re called to do, and 3) how we can be enabled and empowered to do it.”
Another key lesson that everyone has to learn in the church is that humans will disappoint and fail us. I chuckled at this wise quote by Ruth Bell Graham on marriage. You can replace “husband” with another person like a pastor, parent, child, teacher, friend, therapist, etc.
“It is a foolish woman who expects her husband to be to her that which only Jesus Christ Himself can be: ready to forgive, totally understanding, unendingly patient, invariably tender and loving, unfailing in every area, anticipating every need, and making more than adequate provision. Such expectations put a man under an impossible strain. The same goes for the man who expects too much from his wife.” – Ruth Bell Graham
Here are other quotes by her about marriage. https://quotecloset.wordpress.com/2013/02/04/quotes-on-marriage-from-billy-and-ruth-bell-graham/
Being a leader of two prayer and intercession groups for a decade, prayer requests for physical healing come up A LOT. I’ve prayed, pondered, researched and heard/read many supernatural testimonies on healing in the last ten years. I still don’t understand why some people are healed and others are not. But after seeing so many cases close up, like a nurse I have a general idea of how to increase your chances of being healed. I thought this evangelist who specializes in healing and miracles did a great in-depth Bible study on this topic. I’ve been following and listening to David Hernandez for about five years and I find him to be very methodical in his bible teachings and non-sensational (a plus in my opinion). Even if you have tried all avenues for your healing, please give him a listen. It doesn’t hurt to listen and learn from his ministry experiences.
“In this in-depth Bible study on divine healing, David Diga Hernandez offers insightful teaching on healing, covering questions/topics like why doesn’t God heal everyone, is sickness from God, and how to pray for the sick.”
When my mom was diagnosed with blood cancer in November 2024, I put all my learnings into practice for her. Throughout 2025 as she received good medical treatment, I received prayers for her constantly in my home church, and from other ministries that I support and follow. Leading two prayer groups also gave more opportunities for my mom to receive prayers. She doesn’t belong to a church and so I had to be the conduit for God’s blessing and power for her healing. Today she is in remission. Praise God!
If you are the first person in your family to be an obedient follower of Jesus Christ, then you are the conduit for your family members to be blessed, protected and to receive godly counsel in crisis. Do not ever forget that and never, ever abandon your post. I’ve heard that if Satan cannot get a Christian to sin, then he will get them very busy. I always pray before saying yes to a request for my services and time. I want to make sure it is a God-thing and not just a good-thing to keep me busy for nothing.
As I end this week’s newsletter, here are a few reports on what’s happening in colleges that I read last week:
– Here are some photos from the “Night with the Son” event at Indiana University in Bloomington. Over 4,000 people attended and it’s on a school night too! My daughter just graduated from IU and our college prayer group has poured in four years of prayer for that university. I am expecting much outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon IU campus and students.
https://www.idsnews.com/article/2026/04/photos-bloomington-community-celebrates-night-with-the-son
– Princeton University is nearby for my church. Here are two reports from their college ministry about what’s been happening there. Wow! Praise the Lord Jesus!
https://christianunion.org/the-magazine/8144-march-2025/
https://christianunion.org/the-magazine/8145-april-2025/
I don’t have much exposure with Gen Alpha. If you are interested in learning about Gen Alpha, please read this Christian research report. They also briefly share about all the different generational groups in the USA. It was very informative and interesting.
https://axis.org/resource/a-parent-guide-to-gen-alpha/
Here’s a good visual summary of each gen group in the USA.
That’s about it for this week’s newsletter! With much prayer and in the love of Jesus Christ 🙏❤️
Journal of Faith 