As a ministry of the Garden Christian Fellowship, whose vision is to “grow a passionate community of fully-dedicated disciples who will influence their world for Jesus Christ,” we desire to see the same thing come out of today’s college campuses.  College is a unique period in a person’s life.  Especially if one has the privilege of attending an institution of higher education, for the first time in their life, they are exposed to freedom and knowledge like never before, eager to try new things, and create memories to last for a lifetime.  Students are also trying to define who they are, apart from their parents, and hungry for community, and love.  Therefore, it’s precisely during this time that people are open to discovering who this God, as revealed through Jesus Christ, really is.

That’s why FLOW exists.

We want not only to tell college students about Jesus, but to show them who He is through our very lives, and to have them join in on the adventure.

What we want to see can be summed up by the following three words:  LEARN.LIVE.LOVE.

LEARN.  One of the biggest short-comings of higher education is the divorce of moral education from academia.  Character must be learned.  Character must be taught.  And if schools are not teaching students how to be people of character, they will learn it from the world.  And if history is any indication, the world doesn’t do a good job at teaching character.  Character is what we teach.  Specifically Christ’s.  You can’t live like Him if you don’t know who or how He is.

LIVE.  Knowledge is not enough; we must live out our belief.  We must live like Christ.  Nevertheless, Christ showed us how to live, not alone, but in community.  The Church is us–living as Jesus showed us how to live, in the Kingdom that is here today.  Church is therefore where the things we learn should take root first.  We need each other because our faith makes no sense apart from community.  That’s why community is so important to us.  For in community, we serve, interpret, and ultimately grow.

LOVE.  Once we learn what it means to love within, we can then love without i.e. we can love those who need love.  Those on the fringes.  Those deemed unworthy.  Those undeserving.  Our enemies.  Here compassion is key.  Compassion for not only the poor, the needy, the hurting, the mourning, but also for the lost–those who need Christ to save them, and to show them the Way.  This can include our neighbors that live with and all around us, or sit next to us in class.  Love doesn’t discriminate; definitely not the Christ kind.

So that’s it: learn.live.love.  Got it?  Awesome.

FLOW, now.  Ask questions, later.