Fellowship

At 180, we gather to encounter God - through eclectic worship, transformational community, and relevant teaching for life at Tech. Whether you are growing as a follower of Jesus, a curious sojourner looking for truth, or skeptical about God but looking for quality friends, you are invited to be loved and respected here.

Ever wonder what Scripture sounds like to the culture in which it was written?

Dr. Kenneth Bailey has lived and taught for 40 years in the Middle East. He is the author of several InterVarsity Press books, including the one pictured.

He will be on campus speaking on “The Parable of the Compassionate Father: A Middle Eastern View”.

Monday, March 30th @ 7:00pm Pamplin 30

The next 180 will be March 20 in War Memorial Chapel @ 7:45pm

Lindsey Barts (IV Staff) will speak on Listening to the Spirit

If you had asked me a month ago to describe my faith, I probably would have detailed it as strong and thriving - but largely untested. At the end of last semester, my spirituality seemed to be approaching a definitive high stemming directly from the encouragement I received through Intervarsity, and I began to witness God’s work in most every aspect of my life. I was frequently overwhelmed by His grace, and each day I sought to deepen my relationship with Him, whether through prayer, bible study, or fellowship. But as my faith continued to intensify, I couldn’t help but wonder if and when God would test my strength. And if He did choose to test me, was my faith strong enough to withstand?

That test came on December 25th, 2008, as I was confronted with a simple but devastating Facebook notification. I logged onto my account Christmas morning to find that a dear friend of mine from elementary school, Nick, had committed suicide just one day prior, on Christmas Eve. I literally went numb, and for minutes I stared blankly at my computer, refreshing the screen over and over, hoping that by some miracle the notification would simply disappear…maybe I was reading it incorrectly, maybe it was a joke, maybe someone made a mistake…but it never disappeared. Without thinking, I put down my laptop, closed my eyes, and began to pray. All of my emotions – the grief, the confusion, the frustration – were released in that moment, and oddly enough, despite my anger and sadness, I had never felt closer to God.

Nick was an incredible person with a brilliant sense of humor and a genuinely kind and caring heart. But the summer prior to our entering sixth grade, his father died unexpectedly, and his life descended into a relentless battle with depression, drugs, and alcohol. We slowly drifted apart - it had been a few years since I had last seen him – but not a day went by that I did not pray for his wellbeing. I knew of his struggles, and in my newly revived faith, I trusted that God would take care of him. After the news of his passing sank in, I was overwhelmed with guilt and regret for having not worked harder to maintain our friendship, but I was mostly full of resentment towards God for seeming to ignore my prayers. My anger was furthered when I visited his mother days later. Through shared tears and laughter, we spent an evening looking at old pictures, telling stories, and reminiscing of the time Nick and I had spent together. As the night wore on, however, my thoughts shifted from Nick to his mom. Not only had this woman just lost her eldest son to an unthinkable tragedy, but she had also lost her husband, the love of her life, and a few years prior to that, she had lost her mother to an agonizing battle with cancer. How could God possibly inflict such pain on one woman’s life? I questioned how she found the strength to wake each morning, how she managed to not only care for herself but also care for her remaining son, Ben, Nick’s younger brother. And with this all, when I asked what I could do to help her, what I could provide, if anything, to make her struggle a little bit easier, she selflessly replied: “Pray for Ben”.

Upon Nick’s passing and my subsequent visit with his mother, I was reminded of a recent 180, where the speaker addressed relationships with God in times of sorrow. The speaker explained that it was okay to be angry with God, to be frustrated by the ambiguousness of His plan to our human minds, and to express that anger and frustration through prayer. I had come to appreciate God’s presence in times of joy, but it was not until experiencing sorrow that I truly began to recognize His unwavering love; despite our sinful nature and our lack of understanding, He will always provide comfort in our times of greatest doubt and uncertainty. I hesitate to wonder whether I would have had this sense of security a few years ago, prior to my involvement with Intervarsity and the renewal of faith I experienced as a result. But I thank God each day for blessing me with the support I now have through IVCF, knowing that in even the greatest times of sorrow, I will always have my faith and fellowship to carry me through.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.”

~*~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 ~*~

Thank you IV for the comfort you have provided me. Please keep Nick and his family in your prayers.

“God hard-wired us for relationships and built into us sexual desires, but we are imperfect people living in an imperfect world. Sometimes we need help figuring things out.”

Mindy Meier is an Associate Director for InterVarsity’s Greek Ministries and a member of Alpha Chi Omega. She has over twenty years of experience as a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and is the author of Sex and Dating (IVP, 2007). Mindy and her husband Bil

l live in Chicago and have four adult children.

The conference will feature
• teaching sessions with Mindy
• focused seminars exploring real issues
• small group discussion time
• community worship and prayer

Space will be limited and filled on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information and to register, ask your staff worker (Wes Barts) or a chapter leader for a brochure. The conference this year is from February 6-8. We generally leave mid-afternoon on Friday and will be back at VT by early

afternoon on Sunday. You can join the Facebook event here.