Questions to Spark Meaningful Conversation

I think that it can be difficult to get to a place of meaningful conversation with someone. Sometimes it’s just hard to talk about the deeper things in life, because that means more investment not only in the conversation, but also in the people we’re talking to. As a minister on campus, it’s important for me to be able to have meaningful conversations with students so that I can know how to best love them and help them grow. It’s also important to have deep conversations in my friendships and other relationships. I enjoy having fun and hanging out with my friends and family, but I feel that I can’t truly connect with them and love them if I don’t know what’s going on with them underneath the surface.  

While sparking the conversation can be tricky, there are some questions that I have found helpful in getting to a place of deep conversation with students and other people in my life. 

 Written by Becca Pugh

Facebook || Twitter

How are you doing? 

This seems cliché, but it’s surprising how such a common question can cause someone to open up and share when I ask it during a time and space designated to them, not as I’m rushing through campus on my way to my next meeting. It gives them the space to really share what’s going on and know that the listener on the other end cares enough to stick around to listen and respond.

What did you think of [insert pastor’s name here]’s message on [whichever day that person attended service] ?

This is something that will definitely spark a meaningful conversation, especially if it’s followed up with asking how the message specifically applies to someone: “What is God speaking to you personally through this message?”

What aspect of God’s character has been most apparent to you in this season?

This question can reveal a lot about what God is doing in someone’s life, how they are connecting with Him and how they are growing in their faith. It can also help me know how to pray for someone. Speaking of which…

How can I pray for you?

Even if a majority of my time with someone is not spent talking about deep things, this question will definitely create a space to share struggles, worries, and difficulties that I can pray for, and vice versa.

I try not to let all of the deep conversation be one-sided. Sometimes initiating deeper conversation happens when I begin to talk about something deeper, or share what’s going on with me.   

Thinking of Giving to Chi Alpha?

I’m the type of person that rarely buys something out of impulse. It usually takes a lot of thought for me to buy things that seem relatively important and things that are fairly cheap.
 
I think part of the problem is working through a comparative basis of what money could be used for. I always keep in mind where my money could be well invested and how many hours of work it takes to earn that much money. This makes shopping a tremendously difficult task and giving to ministry even more so.

Written by Katie Zimmerman (Facebook)

This perspective needs to shift from a self-focused opportunity cost scenario to handing over financial control to one who controls all of our finances anyway. What we can do with our money is so insignificant compared to what God can do with it. Even though things come up it is important to remember the need to support the Lord’s work and to trust that God can use our money much better than we can.
 
Giving to Chi Alpha is more than a donation. It is an investment in the work of God on our campus and on campuses across DC.
 
If we can declare that Jesus has our heart why is it so hard to give him our wallets?
 
Tuition is expensive and I’m pretty sure I’ll be in debt ‘til I’m 50, but thinking about all the other financial costs in my life and my longing to have complete control over my money reminds me I never really have control over anything. I can’t guarantee a job after college, or any sort of income. My financial situation may change but God WON”T.
 
If we have faith to move mountains, I’m pretty sure we should trust that God will provide for us to.

When I read the story of the young man who refused to give up his wealth for Jesus I think of how unimportant money is. I mean really, it’s just green paper with pictures of dead people on it. It’s not more important than living a life for Jesus!  But so often I find myself in the same situation where finances are such a delicate topic that I never want to bring it before God. The value we place on money doesn't mean anything compared to the value of the cross. When we keep in mind the value of the cross and it guides our financial decisions, I am certain you will see God use your money in ways you never thought possible.
 
So how many cups of Starbucks coffee would you be willing to spare? How many fancy new gizmos and gadgets could you do without? What would you be willing to do to invest in something so much more important than yourself?

This Thing Called the Fun Team

The inspiration came on an NCC missions trip to Eastern Congo. Our team had divided up into groups, each focusing on a different task: there was the media team, the education team, the prayer team, and among others — the Fun Team.

Written by Bonnie Duncan

Facebook || Twitter 

At first, I was fairly certain the Fun Team was a joke, a creative way to get out of having any concrete tasks. The two men on the Fun team were just that—jokesters who were rarely prepared for their updates at team meetings, but still managed to make others laugh anyway. It wasn’t until we arrived on the ground in Congo that I fully realized the importance of their contributions.

Despite the long days and emotional toll that comes with witnessing so much material poverty, the Fun Team was intentional about making sure the team members stayed in good spirits and were constantly encouraged.

From them, I learned an invaluable lesson: fun and encouragement don’t just happen naturally, but rather are cultivated through intentionality.

Our team wasn’t being led by two guys who happened to be funny, but rather by two people who made encouraging others a priority.

Though this experience, the Chi Alpha Fun Team was born. We have a Fun Colonel who is in charge of the team, and Fun Captains who help make it all happen.

Our goals are simple: to embrace whimsy and fun in an academic environment that often provokes the opposite.  We wanted to create an atmosphere of encouragement when we are often taught in class to criticize.

I think we forget that in the fast-paced reality of life, we have an opportunity to give the only encouragement some people may get that day. What a privilege. 

5 Lessons 90s Christian Music Taught Us

Music is something that can define a decade.  Who could forget 70s disco or the 80s hair bands?!  Even if you weren’t born during that time, most still can identify the music of that day. 

But what about the 90s?! 

Written by Allyson Sarring

Facebook || Twitter

Besides Beanie Babies, hair scrunchies, and the ever so popular, yet totally creepy, Furby, 90s music is one of my favorite things from that decade.   Wait, it’s gets even better…. 90s CHRISTIAN music was one of my favorite things from that decade.  There was nothing quite like popping a cd into a discman player (remember those?!)  and jamming out to your favorite Christian tunes. 

Until this day, I still listen to those artists and songs that made it big back then.  And, yes, sometimes I even watch the music videos #thesearemycoffessions.

Today, Christian music has come a long way.  It might have a different sound, but the music still preaches the same message of the gospel of Jesus Christ just as those songs in the 90s did. 

The 90s taught me a lot of different things.  That Silly Putty wasn’t actually silly.  Not all light-up sneakers were cool.  Furbies will come alive even after you have taken the batteries out.  Very valuable lessons, I tell you. 

What did 90s Christian music teach us you ask?  Well…

One

What will people think when they hear that I’m a Jesus Freak?  What will people do when they find out it’s true?  I don’t care if they label me a Jesus Freak .  There ain’t no disguising the truth.”

 Jesus Freak by DC Talk

The famous band featuring Toby McKeehan (now known as TobyMac), Michael Tait, and Kevin Max Smith pretty much created the #TeamJesus anthem of the decade.

Lesson Learned:  Being called a Jesus Freak was more of a complement than an insult and was something that people should embrace and not be ashamed about.  People might think you’re strange for loving Jesus with all your heart, but that’s okay!  Love them anyways.  Maybe one day, they’ll be a Jesus Freak.  We can only hope.

Two 

“Shine.  Make them wonder what you’ve got.  Make them wish that they were not on the outside looking bored.  Shine.  Let it shine before all men.  Let them see good works and then let them glorify the Lord.”

Shine by Newsboys

Who could forget about the Newsboys?  They are one of those timeless bands that continue to produce fun and powerful music to this day. 

Lesson Learned:  Don’t hide your light for Jesus.  As Christians, we have something awesome, and it is meant to be shared with people!  Not hidden away, just for us.  Loving out loud will inspire those and make them wonder what you have that brings you so much joy and peace.   It will create a turnaround in people and even “make a bouncer take ballet.”    

Three 

"Come and go with me to my Father’s house.  It’s a big, big house with lots and lots of room.  A big, big table with lots and lots of food.  A big, big yard where we can play football.  A big, big house.  It’s my Father’s house.”

Big House by Audio Adrenaline

Audio Adrenaline was probably one of my favorite 90s bands.  #funfact 

Lesson Learned:  No matter where you came from, God’s house is for everyone.  He has room for all people!  We can dream about what heaven will really be like, but we won’t completely know until we get there.  All we really need to know is that our needs are going to be met.  Hey, if there was a table with lots of food and a yard where I could play football, I wouldn’t complain either!

Four

“I’m diving in, I’m going deep, in over my head I want to be.  Caught in the rush, tossed in the flow, in over my head I want to go.  The river’s deep, the river’s wide, the river’s water is alive.  So sink or swim, I’m diving in.”

Dive by Steven Curtis Chapman

This song is so catchy! Every time it came on my local Christian radio station, I could not keep still! 

Lesson Learned:  To experience all of Jesus, you are going to have to swim further out than ankle deep.  He wants us to go all in!  He just doesn’t want a small part of us, He wants all of our hearts, souls, and minds.  It might be scarier out in that deep water, but it’s worth it.

Five

"Show me, I’m looking for a reason roaming through the night to find my place in this world.  Not a lot to lean on.  I need your light to help me find my place in this world.”

 Place in the World by Michael W. Smith

Michael W. Smith is another one of those artists that have remained timeless throughout the years.  I would love to see him in concert! #hinthint   

Lesson Learned:  We can search high and low in this world to find something to complete us, to find something that can help define us, but the only way that we are going to find our place in this world, our identity, is through Christ, and Christ alone! 

---

Even though most of my 90s memories are packed up in a box somewhere, these songs will always stay near to my heart and my cd player.

My First Two Years in College

For the past two years of my college career, Chi Alpha at American University has definitely impacted my life. I have become bolder in my faith, self-confident and most importantly I have learned what community truly means. When I first came to American University (AU) I was planning on having the best four years of my life. I couldn’t wait to get my classes started, be involved in campus activities, including a Christian community, explore the DC nightlife, and most of all make the best of friends. Although these goals were all on my planner, my first semester didn’t go as I had planned. 

Written by Lucero Flores

(Facebook)

My classes were going all right, I didn’t find myself being involved or going out at night and I wasn’t making a lot of friends even at Chi Alpha.  I became a very timid person and I was caught between the cliché party life at college and my community in Chi Alpha. I found myself intentionally asking God to help me through this process. To get through this challenge of growing weaker in my faith, losing my self-confidence and opening up to what he had planned for the rest of college career and life.

Second semester of freshman year became a new beginning for me and God had a plan. I began by attending small group every Monday night, going to team meetings for my first mission trip with Chi Alpha after small group, which were a blast and more importantly investing my time in community. Our Chi Alpha at AU isn’t the biggest one in the country (or even our region) but it's unique. In the beginning I didn’t find friends that I initially clicked with, but I realized that God was helping me through this process by having me invest more time in His community; people He knew were going to bring joy to my life. And He did bring those people.

It was unexpected but He kept His promises and provided me with the best of friends my sophomore year. And it all began with prayer and attending my small group. I am incredibly blessed and God knew exactly what he was doing. He provided me with friends that brought joy to my life but most importantly led me to Him. 

I was always struggling freshman year on where I needed to be but He made me realize that I am exactly where I need to be, here, in Chi Alpha, where He knew and I know now that I am most happy. Through this process, I learned to recognize that God was so incredibly intentional in my life and always will be.