Pastor AJ Hupp: Transformative Faith

SPEAKER 02 : 0:03

Welcome to Restoring Education in America with Priscilla Rahn. She’s a master educator and author leading the conversation to restore the American mind through wisdom, virtue, and truth.

SPEAKER 01 : 0:17

well hello everybody welcome to restoring education in america i’m your host priscilla rahn and i am so excited that you’ve decided to join the conversation today we are winding down the school year but i know parents are already thinking about next school year and something i want to tell you about is there’s a new private classical school that’s opening this fall it’s excalibur classical academy And their mission and vision is restoring America’s heritage by developing servant leaders who are keepers and defenders of the principles of freedom for which our founding fathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor. So if you have a young child that’s starting kindergarten through third grade this fall, please go to their website to learn more, ExcaliburClassicalAcademy.org. Actually, if you have a gifted kinder, We’ll take you if they’re four years old and they’re really, really smart, which we know all of your children are really, really smart and bright and have a wonderful future. And I love kids. And that’s why my next guest is so amazing is because he has a volleyball team of kids. Welcome to the show, Pastor AJ Hupp. How’s it going?

SPEAKER 03 : 1:41

It’s going great. Thanks for having me on the show.

SPEAKER 01 : 1:43

Well, listen, you are always so positive and I need to share a little bit of your bio with my listeners because you are one of my pastors, but you are now currently the next gen pastor at Brave Church in Denver, Colorado. And you’ve spent the last 17 years in full-time vocational ministry, working mostly with teenagers and elementary age children, but your number one job is husband to Adriel, and you’ve been married for 18 years and dad to six. Amazing. You’re a brood of children. Anytime there’s a holiday and you guys have your family picture, it’s like, oh my goodness.

SPEAKER 03 : 2:28

Yeah. That’s their mother. You know, I love, I love my kids, but when it’s like me getting them all ready, they look pretty feral. They look so great. And so people are like, what a beautiful family. And it’s like, she’s amazing.

SPEAKER 01 : 2:46

Well, you know, Pastor AJ with that title of pastor comes a lot. And dude, you have been through your Job experience.

SPEAKER 03 : 2:55

moment do you feel like that has been kind of your path yeah the past like 18 months has been pretty crazy and pretty uncommon for my life um so it’s been a crazy season of um some big lows and and but god’s been so good and i i think i’m probably more joyful now and more thankful and um i man i’m just really blessed and so yeah uh it has been it has been a little bit of that but i’m like i don’t know if i’d compare myself to joe it’s it’s i’ve been so blessed the entire time even in moments it’s like now god has been so good to us

SPEAKER 01 : 3:35

So for my listeners, you know, they need to have a little bit of context to really appreciate your affect right now and even your journey through. So you guys were preparing for your seventh baby, right?

SPEAKER 03 : 3:52

so close yeah yeah we went to go deliver in uh september 30th 2024 and we were and we had just caught this thing of for family and we’d always like knew ministry was going to be um our family was going to be our ministry like that that was something very early on we knew but at some point we were like why don’t we have more kids we should just be having more kids and really were like the last seven years had three kids in seven years we had um you know we had our other ones more spaced out and um our our children were very excited and you know we go to deliver this baby her name was azusa and the cord wrapped around her neck and she died And that was the most painful day of my life and a painful day of our family life and has really had a huge effect on us. And I’m a big faith guy, big on healing. I believe that if God wills it, he’ll raise the dead for people that are uh, you know, die prematurely. So I’m like, I have great faith for, for anything like that. And in those moments, a lot of stuff has been shaken. And, um, I would say I’m probably more resolute and all that now. I’m like, no, God, we, we serve a good God. He loves to heal. He’s in, he, uh, he still does that today. But it has definitely given me a lot more to think about and a lot more of just like, yeah, I think I’m more resolved to know that I’m not God. Like I serve God and I’m not him at all. And so I can’t heal anybody. I can’t bring anybody back from the dead. But I work for the guy who does. And I work for the guy who does. And so it’s, yeah, that was a really terrible thing that happened when Azusa died. And I was the campus pastor for Brave Westminster. And I continued to really serve the Lord with all my heart and love that church. And I think, I don’t know what made all this happen, but part of me knows that I think my heart broke from losing a daughter. And in August of 2025, last summer, I started feeling really sick and couldn’t breathe and didn’t know what was going on and what had happened. And I went to the doctor like seven different times. I couldn’t figure it out. And finally, when they did, they did a scan and they found a mass on my vocal cord. And so I’ve got a really, really gnarly scar here. I had a trach in my throat for about three months to help me breathe. And this big mass was there. And it was like, I don’t know if I’m ever going to be able to talk again. Like, I don’t know what’s going to happen to me. And after they did a bunch of tests, it was this mass that was there was because I was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and it almost like this thing wasn’t cancerous. And but the stuff in my bone marrow was and this caused the mass to grow in my neck. So it was just one thing after another. It just felt like one punch after another and just was really scary for my children. So scary for my wife. And we really had to stand in faith. It was really a beautiful time for our kids, for us to be together and worship and pray and really say, we’re going to put all of our trust in the Lord. And not perfectly at all, very, very scary. And as we did it, and it’s like what we say with our mouth matters, we’re going to speak out the word of God, speak out the scripture. And I think my kids have gone through a masterclass in the realm of faith. And my wife is just, she’s always been such a lovely, just amazing, like warrior for the Lord. And now I’m like, I fear God inside of her. She has gotten just so, man, it’s just been cool what God’s done in her life. And we really spur each other on in the Lord. And so i i uh you know as i walked through this the mass melted from the first round of chemo i don’t they were kind of surprised that that happened and all this different medicine all the things i don’t understand when the doctor talks i’m not paying i’m really paying attention i have no idea what’s going on but As things are going on, I’m in like this total state of total remission right now, still doing and did chemo today. And we’ll probably still do it for a while. And that’s part of my life right now until until the Lord makes that that stop. And I believe that there will be a day where I’m not doing chemo. chemo taking pills or taking chemo um shots but for six months i was out of work at brave i had to leave my campus and let somebody else run it and when i was cleared to finally come back because i didn’t have to do real nasty type chemo and i could come back and not have to take a month off here and there uh they asked me to come and run next generation ministries at brave which was something i had begged for for the past few years i’m just so passionate about it and i didn’t want to see it fail at our church and um i just believe god’s given my wife and i a lot of vision for family ministry and i’m very very very passionate for it so after going through all this stuff i i just believe that god is i know he’s a good god he loves to see dreams come true and he but he doesn’t put dreams in our heart And is, is withholding. He’s such a good, such a good father. And it’s his good pleasure to be like, to put dreams in his children’s hearts and be like, I’m going to see these things. You will see these things come to pass. Don’t lose heart. Don’t grow weary in doing good. Just so it’s a very fun season right now.

SPEAKER 01 : 9:31

You know, Pastor AJ, it’s been remarkable to watch your journey. And it’s so funny because everybody knows who you are, but there’s like thousands of people who go to Brave on all these different campuses. And I just remember we were somewhere and you’re like, hey, Priscilla. And I’m like, wait, he knows my name? He knows who I am. It’s like, how is that even possible? Yeah. But to watch you go through this journey. And I just remember when we were, Darren and I were like praying for you every time like you popped up on social media or we were talking at church, like let’s pray for Pastor AJ. I just distinctly remember thinking, God must really have something amazing for Pastor AJ. Because honestly, when you think about these types of trials.

SPEAKER 03 : 10:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER 01 : 10:19

so severe, like God is preparing something really mighty. Cause you, you have to like going to the gym, right? You have to get your faith strengthened. I feel like you’re like a bodybuilder in the spiritual realm going through this, that God will prepare you. And you’re so young. And I’m thinking he’s so young and look what God is doing in his life to prepare him for something like absolutely great. Because why would a, we know God is loving, but we, we also know that he prepares us in ways that we don’t always understand, right? It was like, we don’t understand what he’s doing. It’s not like why God, but why now? And what is it that you have to, what is it you want me to learn from this at this moment? And to watch you go through in grace. And I need the listeners to know you have always been smiles. It’s like you showed up, you know, to go bowling and you’re like, so happy to play. be there and do laser tag and do all the things. And I’m just like, are you like made out of Teflon? Like what? So pastor AJ demystify this because a lot of people would crumble under this pressure.

SPEAKER 03 : 11:31

I, you know, I never, I never thought I could go through anything that I went through. And I think I’m actually the poster child of, for these things of being afraid or not being strong. And I would say, just put all of your love and your affection on the Lord Jesus. And when you start to do that, in Philippians 4.13, when it says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, And before that, he’s like, I know what it’s like to have a lot. I know what it’s like to have nothing. And, you know, Paul has been through all this stuff. And he’s like, I’ve learned the secret. I can do all things through Christ. And I would say that to anybody else if they’re like, oh, man, I hope that doesn’t happen to me. And it’s like, I hope it doesn’t either. But don’t think about what tragic things could happen. Put all your love and your affection and your heart towards the Lord. Just give him everything and be like, and just tell him every day, I trust you. Every, you know, every moment you think of it and when you get afraid. turn it into worship and say i trust you i trust you and as as we do that we’re able to endure and god knows what we’re going to go through you know after azusa died i remember i was in a conversation with with a pastor and i said this out loud and i was like i think that must be what the lord wants to say to me i’m just like i’m writing a beautiful story over your life I’m just, I’m a good writer and I’m writing a beautiful story. And I’m like, so when we think about it, like it’s not going to end here, you know, the story doesn’t end here. He’s doing something good. And, you know, we, we watch movies like the lion King and Cinderella and we don’t take them out and, you know, take them out of the VCR as it were and smash them and be like, what a terrible movie. Cinderella’s dress gets ripped. What a terrible movie. And it’s like, just keep watching. keep watching, you know, watching. It’s like, there’s a glorious outcome. And you know, you watch the lion King and it’s like, what a terrible tragedy. It’s like, hold on because the glory of that story is going to come to pass. And I just think, you know, for, for those who love God, when you’re going through it, it’s just like, don’t, don’t give into despair, just like put your trust in him. And it’s like, it does hurt. It is not fun, but you can still rejoice and you can still find joy. And that’s what I think when people are seeing that, it’s like, this is what real joy is. Instead of it like, is it a show? Are you trying to be strong for other people? It’s like, I don’t have enough strength for everybody else. I have what God gave me and we’re going to laugh and we’re going to just be joyful. And it’s just… I don’t know, like if anything, it’s a gift from God, all of it. And I think he’ll do it for anybody. If he’ll do it for me, really, like I said, and not trying to talk down about myself, but I just think I know who I am. I’m just a silly little boy. And he has loved me and given me all the strength I needed. So if people are like, wow, that’s crazy. It’s like, if he did it for me, he’ll certainly do it for you. He’s too good.

SPEAKER 01 : 14:25

Amen. Well, I hope you’re writing a diary and that you’ll write a book soon too.

SPEAKER 03 : 14:29

Thank you. You’ll read it.

SPEAKER 01 : 14:33

Pastor AJ, you have this heart for next gen and we really need to reach this next generation. This is the generation that went through COVID and you know they’re very much engrossed in technology so they grew up very different from the way i grew up and so what do you think this current generation of young people need and what what is god telling you as far as how to reach this next generation yeah there’s a lot of strategy that’ll go into it that i don’t know and god will have to give us a strategy i know some strategies and i know some things that work

SPEAKER 03 : 15:13

but they don’t always work every time and every place and every season. And so I think I have some talent and I think I have things God’s given me and I’ve worked hard on them to do that. But like, it doesn’t pay the bill. It won’t pay the bill. In fact, if we get every good talented guy on our side and people fund the mission, it doesn’t pay the bill. and we need a move of god we have to have to have a move of god when i got this like radical call in the ministry some 20 years ago uh i i wanted to be a comedian when i was growing up i really felt like i was supposed that was what god was had created me for and i was supposed to do and my whole life was that and when my wife and i were dating and she was like i don’t that’s not what i want for my life and i knew I had this desire in my heart to marry this girl. I was like, well, now I’m at a crossroads. I don’t know what to do. Like, she’s not going to follow me out to New York to go do the improv or something. I didn’t really have a plan. I just knew I wanted to do that. And so I had to really rethink what I was going to do with my life. We were at a youth camp. We were leaders at a youth camp and I just got hammered by God. And the things that happened in those moments, I don’t know if it was an hour, three hours or whatever, but I was just on my face on the carpet of this room. And when I got up, I was just a changed man. And the things I know the Lord ministered to my heart is there’s a scoffing spirit in this age that’s saying he’s not real. and that he’s like i’m real and i want the i want them to know me i want them to know me and so it was just like we owe the world an encounter with god and that’s not anything you can manufacture you can’t have the best good enough teaching to teach that or even like like i love i love teaching and i love worship and i’m like we need to have those things but even having the most talented band and like playing emotive songs or emotive like sounds you know you can do stuff like that manipulate and try to make people feel things but it’s just like that’s not what it’s about it’s about waiting on the lord and waiting for for the anointing to come and if if holy spirit would come and fall on kids like he did on me that night like some 20 years ago they would be like he’s real and when when god becomes real the love of god becomes real and then the fear of god becomes real so anybody anybody that’s living like half-hearted towards the lord all of a sudden they’re just like we got to serve the lord and every every great move of god and i’m a study i you know i love to study the history of revival i read a lot of books about revival And it’s a common theme in all these revivals where it’s like repentance is a big part of it. And you can try to manufacture that, tell everybody to like just start feeling bad about themselves or try to do that. But when the fear of the Lord comes, when he’s like, he’s real and people that have had this experience, they know what I’m talking about. People that don’t, they’re just like, well, I don’t get it. And it’s like, if you came face to face with God, you wouldn’t be like, he’s my buddy. He would be like, I will get everything out of my life. I will do whatever I can to be right with you. And they’re ready to serve the Lord. I will do everything to make my life right before you. And that’s wonderful. And for his children that are just like, we want to know you. We want to do this. We want you to heal our hearts. When he starts to do that and become real, it’s just the most wonderful thing. And that’s what a revival would be is like a waking up of God’s people. They might know him in some fashion, but all of a sudden they’re awake to heaven. And then it’s just like, this is everything. His love is the superior reality and everything else. You know, I’m studying to go to college and I’m trying to figure out my life. Those things become secondary or become things that are like, I don’t even want that. I just want Jesus. And I believe that those days are coming soon where we see it and we see it in church meetings. We see these things happen. But when it sweeps and it comes to every city in the United States, and I believe my daughter Azusa, it was A to Z in the USA. I believe the Lord gave me that because what he did at Azusa street in 1906, I believe he’s getting ready to do again, but I believe it’s going to be from A to Z in the USA, every city in the USA. And, uh, know months later after she died and then the lord ministered this to my heart and again this is just what i feel like the lord tells me it’s not scripture so if someone’s like i don’t know about that it’s like you don’t have to i’m it’s what i that’s what i believe god’s saying you can pray about it test it weigh it i believe that god is intending to do a mighty work in two generations in generation z gen z and generation alpha and i have kids that represent both and i just believe that’s part of this whole thing and and know azusa is with jesus now i i just i totally believe it was significant that she was conceived and grew and was born and was and died at the right this this exact time i believe the lord wants to say something what and he’s put me here and so it’s just like aj you’d be the loudest most boisterous person in your in your city in denver and you get out there and you go proclaim the word of God and tell him he’s coming and he’s going to move on planet earth and tell people because he’s, it’s what he’s like. He told me to say it. I’m going to get out there and say it, you know, I’ll die someday and I’ll face him. And I’ll, I’ll have to answer for AJ. Did you do what I told you to do? Did the best of my ability, Lord. And, and,

SPEAKER 01 : 20:42

Well, but Pastor AJ, but that’s the good news, right? That is the gospel, is to tell these young people that there’s something greater. And what a great gift to teach young people about the Holy Spirit, how the Holy Spirit can be our comforter for such a time as this, right? And I’ve spent the last 32 years as a public school educator and administrator teaching And so I’ve seen, you know, three decades of children grow up and how they’re wandering there. You know, obviously their frontal lobe is still developing. So they’re making all kinds of crazy decisions, but yeah, to help them maneuver through life and then come out on the other side as less scathed as possible. You’ve got to tell them that there’s a heavenly father that is there for them through, you know, all their hormonal changes and all their breakups and all their little things that they deal with as they’re teens. And then they grow up to be young adults and then they have the language and the ability to understand what the scripture says. I think, um, That is such an important and integral part of ministry. Yes, we have all these different ministries and all these different hats that different pastors wear. But I think this young generation is so critical. Talk a little bit about some of the fun programs that the church has to offer. I know summer’s coming. There’s like different summer things. There’s camps up in the mountain. Can you talk a little bit about some of these options?

SPEAKER 03 : 22:11

Yeah, yeah, we’re excited about our student ministry. We’re going to have a summer camp. They’re taking kids to New Mexico. That’s going to be over the 4th of July weekend. We got that for our elementary age. And actually, this is probably our church’s biggest outreach that we do. It’s called High Five. And it’s on both campuses. And it’s so many different ages. In fact, they added, I just found this out today because I was in a meeting for it. There’s a new class for three to four year olds that they didn’t previously offer. And they’re gonna have programming for them. But for our elementary age kids, it’s probably the best church day camp I’ve ever heard of and ever been a part of for sure. But honestly, I haven’t even heard of anything as cool as what we’re doing. because we’re not taking the kids overnight. Sometimes they look at programs and it’s like, who could afford that? But I think it’s something that’s like, okay, this is affordable. And if anyone’s listening and they’re like, I would love to do that, but I really can’t afford anything. If you want to go, I will pay it myself. I believe in it that much. It’s like, I will do it. But we’ll get you in there. High five is something where they have electives during the day and kids pick out two different electives and these really, really fun hour and a half like, They’re not classes, but they’re things like, you know, kids are setting off rockets. They’re doing rocket launching. They’re doing a military thing. They’re doing, you know, there’s really girly ones where they’re princesses. And they, you know, the ones that they do dance. My wife taught dance a couple of years ago. And they have one called Dance for Him. It was so precious to see little girls out there being girly. And then you have the guys doing Man vs. Wild, which is like dudes.

SPEAKER 01 : 23:48

Weren’t they like throwing axes or something?

SPEAKER 03 : 23:51

They throw axes at people. In Westminster, we had this pond and they would stock it with fish and it would stink to high heaven. But I was like, keep doing it, keep doing it. Because kids would catch fish and gut the fish. And it’s just like, you go out there and it’s like Lord of the Flies, but no one’s dying. Yeah. It’s what Lord of the Flies could have been if there were some adults there to love on them. And it’s like, oh my goodness, this is so great. So there’s all these great programs during the day. But we, at the beginning of the day, we do praise and worship and we do messages and we teach and I’m really excited. I got to write it last year. I’m like kind of rush writing what we’re doing this year because I couldn’t do any work for months. And they asked me when I came back last week, hey, could you write that? And I was like, I would love to do that. but to preach the gospel to kids and hundreds, like 250 kids on both campuses raise their hands for salvation. And then they’re with these teachers all day that are asking them, tell me what’s going on. Like speaking into their life, pouring into them spiritually. Kids’ lives get changed at this thing. And it’s like, that’s wonderful. And that’s just one summer, you know, one thing we do in the summer. But, you know, we have programs that we’re, you know, and we’re building our programs right now. There’s some really good things happening. There’s some things I’m very, very excited about implementing in the next year. And both our kids and our students, things I want to have for our young adults, because we haven’t had great young adults ministry at Brave. But, you know, I’m like, I think I see so much potential for what we have. And there’s people that are really, wanting to reach like our our young adults and we don’t have a college campus on either one of you know england or in westminster but there’s there are young adults there that are very hungry for for the word of god and so it’s like we’re gonna we’re gonna get there to where we can minister to them and have a very thriving next gen ministry just all those ministries are going to be i think brave is one of those powerful it’s the most powerful church i’ve ever been a part of and i want the those ministries to reflect that that people are going to come out and just be like rabid for the gospel

SPEAKER 01 : 25:53

Well, I can see that passion in you. And we have to shout out Brave Academy because that’s another full-time option. It’s not just a summer thing. It’s where kids can go to school. And that’s such a beautiful vision, too, for the church. And I just want to tell you thank you so much for your heart, your wife. She’s also always smiling and joyful. And it’s like she makes it look easy to have six children. She’s always so put together all the time. Yeah. Oh, my goodness.

SPEAKER 03 : 26:24

I tell you, she is superwoman. Like, there’s some things that it’s just like, come on, if I can do it, you can do it. For her, it’s like, no, I think you got to be a superwoman to do some of the stuff she does.

SPEAKER 01 : 26:34

Well, listen, I want my listeners to be praying for you that your healing will be complete. Um, can people follow you on social media if they want to just, where can they follow you?

SPEAKER 03 : 26:46

So I’m on Instagram at the bear plane. It’s a T H E the bear B E A R plane, like airplane, but bear plane. And why is that? I don’t have to explain it. Yeah.

SPEAKER 01 : 27:00

it’s just, even though you might be a pastor, there’s still that comedy in you.

SPEAKER 03 : 27:05

Very much. So like, and, and all the years of doing student ministry, people think we’re just goofing around anyway. And it’s just like, what looks like goofing, what looks like, like shenanigans, we’re changing lives. And so even stuff like that, the bear plane, why are you got to be more serious? Like AJ hupp ministries. It’s like, give me a break. No, we’re, we’re going to laugh in the face of the devil. So that’s the Instagram AJ hupp at Facebook, you know, follow, follow me. And, um, I, I write a blog called the bear plane. Um, and that’s the bear plane.com. And so readers are, you know, anybody that’s listening and are watching, like, please read, read my blog. It’s something I’m really passionate about and I’d love for more people to read it. And, uh, yeah, that’s, um, those are the places you could find me.

SPEAKER 01 : 27:51

Well, thank you, Pastor AJ. We’re out of time. We’ve got to land our plane. But to my listeners, thanks for tuning in and catch me next time. And remember, educating the mind without the heart is no education. So seek wisdom, cultivate virtue, and speak truth.

SPEAKER 02 : 28:08

Thanks for tuning in to Restoring Education in America with Priscilla Rahn. Visit PriscillaRahn.com to connect or learn how you can sponsor future episodes to keep this message of faith, freedom, and education on the air.