dPod

A double release today! We're featuring Marie, the final BTS interviewee for the Gracepoint Chicago college staff team. We talk about her faith journey from, her experience at Davis and then in Chicago, and her love of cooking! In BTS (Behind the Staff) episodes, we interview different staff mentors to hear their faith journeys, and the stories that make them who they are today. Have suggestions f...

Here's the follow up to our most popular episode by far, the dating episode.  This episode features three of our sister staff (the real resident dating experts a.k.a. the ones who happened to be free during the daytime to record). The sisters do some fact checking of our first episode, we talk about the worst and best dating advice we've gotten, and hit upon the topic of long distance dating as we...

Today's episode was suggested by one of our staff: Why do people at Gracepoint ________?  Agape, Genji, and Tof came up with some questions they've had or heard about some of the practices at our church, and we talked through them! Some topics we cover include why so many people drive minivans and use Macs, why people date discreetly and don't seem to show PDA, and why there are so many softw...

In this episode of BTS, we interview our first non-UChicago guest, Emily Huang! Emily and her husband Kevin lead our church in Evanston. Cata talks with Emily  about her spiritual journey from completely unchurched to a Christian in a month, and the next steps of faith she took afterward. In BTS (Behind the Staff) episodes, we interview different staff mentors to hear their faith journeys, an...

Our most requested topic is finally here!  The first episode in our series of dating episodes features three of our brother staff (our resident dating experts, a.k.a. the ones who happened to be free the particular night we were recording). We cover everything from what it means to "date as a Christian," to how you know you're ready to date (as well as why you shouldn't take your date to a su...

In this episode of BTS, Cata and I talk to Vivian about her spiritual journey, how she went from a stressed, churched kid to someone who was impacted by the gospel. We talk about her journey to Chicago and some of the lessons she's learned through her time here. Hope you enjoy our conversation! In BTS (Behind the Staff) episodes, we interview different staff mentors to hear their faith journeys, a...

This episode contains the "definitive history of the 2015 bros and the planting of Gracepoint Chicago"... or at least our attempt at it! Featuring Stephen Sun, Agape Yu, and Ben Liu!

In this episode of BTS, I talk to Stephen about growing up at Gracepoint, his experience of ministry in the dorms his senior year of college, his two church planting experiences, as well as some books that have influenced him over the years.  Here are some of the books we discuss! - Calvary Road by Roy Hession - Shadow of the Almighty by Elisabeth Elliot - To the Golden Shore by Courtney Ande...

It's another episode of DP's Mind, where Tof picks DP's Mind on different topics. We discuss the winter retreat we just got back from and how people can continue to grow after these "mountaintop" experiences. We also discuss things we found "weird" about our church when we first started coming out, and other cultural distinctives of our church. Have suggestions for future episodes? Or have a quest...

Here's our second AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode! Questions covered on today's episode: What are your thoughts on Progressive Christianity? Tangentially, how do you balance or prioritize the command to love with obedience to God when those seem contradictory? What are some stories of how you "caught the vision" of Acts 2 Church and how you saw yourselves as ministers specifically in college ministr...

It's hard to believe we're on our 10th episode already! Here's a special Christmas episode made up of audio contributions from staff and students from Gracepoint Chicago. It was great hearing from all of you! I mention this at the beginning of the episode, but this will probably be the last episode until the middle of January (so that we can focus on preparing for the upcoming Winter Retreat (you...

In this episode of BTS, I talk to Genji about his experiences in Cambodia and Philadelphia.  In BTS (Behind the Staff) episodes, we interview different staff mentors to hear their faith journeys, and the stories that make them who they are today. Have suggestions for future episodes? Or have a question you want answered? Ask at bit.ly/dpod-ama

In today's episode, I have a conversation with Biatris and Jeanette about their faith journeys and how their primary identities have changed over the years. We also talk about how their friendship has formed.  In BTS (Behind the Staff) episodes, we interview different staff mentors to hear their faith journeys, and the stories that make them who they are today. Have suggestions for future epi...

This episode's guest is Tofunmi. In this "Behind the Staff" episode, we try something new! After talking about Tofunmi's spiritual journey, we talk about a couple of topics that Tofunmi is passionate about and how it pertains to Christian living: working out & money.  Have suggestions for future episodes? Or have a question you want answered? Ask at bit.ly/dpod-ama

In today's BTS we interview two of our staff mentors together. Amy and Hyuna were both "CPIs" (church plant interns) and they became friends through that. We talk about their spiritual journeys, their decision to become a CPI, and how their friendship developed even though they were in two different cities.  Have suggestions for future episodes? Or have a question you want answered? Ask at bi...

Here's our first AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode! Questions covered on today's:  How has your experience in Chicago church been different from what you expected? What were your expectations and worries moving out here?  What does life outside of explicit ministry look like? What are your hobbies, and how do you make time to partake in them? How has your view and relationship with hobbies c...

You get a second release this week! This episode's guest is Agape, who was part of the "Chicago 8," the eight bros who moved out together to start the church in Hyde Park, Chicago. In this conversation, we talk about his academic decathlon experience, his unlikely journey to UC Berkeley and faith, and what League of Legends had to do with all of that.  In BTS (Behind the Staff) episodes, we i...

Today's guest is Benjamin, who was part of the "Chicago 8," the eight bros who moved out together to start the church in Hyde Park, Chicago. Currently, he's doing ministry on the Illinois Tech campus! We talk about his faith journey, how he decided to join as a mentor after he graduated, and what keeps him going in ministry.  In BTS (Behind the Staff) episodes, we interview different staff me...

In BTS (Behind the Staff) episodes, we interview different staff mentors to hear their faith journey, the stories that make them who they are today! My first guest is Nicholas, who, with his wife, moved to Chicago this past summer to join the Chicago church and is currently doing ministry on the Illinois Tech campus! We talk about his spiritual background, his journey to faith, and his memories of...

Just for fun, a conversation I had with my daughter earlier this week!

In our first full-length episode, Tofunmi asks DP about his faith journey from a high schooler full of doubts to a full-time minister.  In "DP's Mind" episodes, DP gets interviewed... and he... shares what's on his mind ... (: Show Notes DP's selfies from the day he left Salesforce to join as a full-time minister at Gracepoint: https://bit.ly/dp-fulltime-selfies Have suggestions for future ep...

Here's the first (zero-th?) episode in our new podcast experiment. Tofunmi and DP catch up about what this podcast idea is, what their favorite podcasts are, why this episode is entitled "Project Defenestration," and what they're hoping these podcasts will do! Have a question you'd like answered on the podcast? Ask it here ! When we get enough questions, we'll work in some AMA episodes!