Alumni and Student: a John 17 Both/And
Welcome to all our recent John 17 Weekend alumni! The men’s weekend was June 19-22, and the women’s weekend was June 26-29. We had our largest number of applicants ever for both weekends, and multiple veterans commented that the Spiritual atmosphere felt next-level. It’s hard to imagine a mediocre John 17 weekend (I’ve never experienced one!)... so don’t hear this in a negative comparison way. When we’re talking about grace that is unending, undeserved, unfathomable, and unstoppable, we can experience it at higher and higher levels without ever getting closer to the “finish line.” The nature of Alpha and Omega, the infinite beginning and end, is that progress happens without a “percentage completed” mindset!
Sweet Fruit
Freedom in the Spirit, healing from decades-buried wounds, growth and maturity, marriage healing that felt impossible, addiction healing, “never-before-like-this” love of God, deep worship in the presence of God - all of those felt new in their magnitude. Greater diversity in ethnicity, denomination, generation, and more produced more satisfying harmony and unity. Excitement for what’s next seemed to accelerate. Commitments to keep growing and never stop all seemed a little bit deeper.
Kindergarten again
Do you think that Jesus would have chosen something to pray into, like our love for one another that He prayed in John 17, that at some point in the future would become irrelevant? A been-there, done-that, got-the-shirt prayer that we could check off as having been successfully accomplished? I doubt that God who created time itself would pick a prayer topic that could ever be seen as in-the-past. We call participants on John 17 Weekends alumni because if they want to return to another John 17 Weekend, they do so to serve, not to participate again. But if ever someone feels like they’ve “graduated,” we have failed miserably in what we sought to convey. We are now and always will be students and disciples, sitting at Jesus’ feet, having blind spots revealed, humbling ourselves in response to next-level revelation, growing broader and deeper into John 17 unity/harmony.
Orientation
So if you’re new to all this, here are some pages worth checking out on the website:
Past newsletter topics
How to pray Jesus’ John 17 prayer
Both/And Life video series
Unity partners locally and around the globe
Month off
I will be taking July off to recharge. I’m so excited about all that God is doing that it would be easy to just keep on charging ahead. Easy… but unwise! Our very capable staff can handle whatever you might need, and if something truly does need my input, they’ll save it for me for August.
Look below
Don’t overlook the Give 17 opportunity to encourage someone you know who’s making a difference!
Dave Drum, Founder
