The Dip
If you have walked around our campus during the last few weeks, you have probably noticed that we have a lot of remodeling going on. A commercial kitchen is close to being finished; work has even been done in the Youth House. A larger workroom in Hildreth has been created, which can also be used as a Sunday School room. The stage in Hildreth has been turned into a new Conference Room. We are replacing the carpet upstairs in Taylor Hall. We have stuff scattered all over the place and office life has been quite chaotic! Our special kitchen crew has been trying to keep up with having to cook in multiple buildings during the transition. Despite all the transitions, mess, chaos, and confusion, it is truly exciting to see things coming together! When everything is done, we should be able to do a greater extent of ministry and do it even better. However, if you were just to look at the last few weeks, you might think we were taking a step backward.
I’m sure there is a better name for this phenomenon, but I’ve always heard it called 'The Dip'. Tiger Woods went through the dip when he changed his swing after winning the US Amateur at TPC Sawgrass. We see it in businesses all the time. We are seeing it in our church at the moment through this remodeling process. It seems like it is everywhere, yet we don’t think about it in our spiritual lives. You might have heard about the mountain-top experiences and the valleys and how your spiritual walk is more like a roller coaster than a straight line, but one of the things we don’t talk about a lot in the church is the waves of doubt and questions that you might experience.
James Fowler was a theology professor at Emory and wrote a book called “Stage of Faith” in 1981. In that book, he describes the seven stages of faith (he starts at zero) and how one transition from one stage to the next. When I first heard about the stages, I was surprised to learn about stage four, the Individual-Reflective stage. During this stage of faith, people ask the hard questions. They start to move away from believing in God just because their parents or friends do and they start to examine what they believe themselves. A lot of times this involves severe doubts, maybe even questioning if God is real. It is hard and full of struggles and insecurities.
Some people would think that this is losing the faith or taking a big backslide. In reality, this dip is a springboard for the biggest growth area of your spiritual walk. Stage five is described as “The individual resolves conflicts from previous stages by a complex understanding of a multidimensional, interdependent "truth" that cannot be explained by any particular statement.” The big take away is that just because you start to ask questions and wonder what it is you really believe and why isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually the next necessary step and means you are really growing in your faith, not taking step backwards.
If you haven’t been there yet, don’t judge others who are really starting to wrestle with the hard questions. Faith is never as easy as we think it is. And If you have already gone through this stage, seek out those people who are currently going through it and help them along. Be a support for them and encourage them. Point them to resources and people that helped you through the stage. And if you are currently going through this stage, know that you are still on the faith journey. You are not “losing your faith”, but rather gaining an even more beautiful complex faith. Don’t keep it all to yourself, and don’t be afraid to talk to those people you trust about your questions. You are loved by God and by so many people you don’t even realize, so you are not alone. You are not the first person to have questions and doubts, and you won’t be the last. This is a stage of faith, you can get through it and come out better than you started.
Understanding Worship
God takes great delight in you
The Bible says,” He is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you” (Exodus 34:13) It also says God “Rejoices over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17) We understand loving God and singing to God, but we don’t usually think about God loving us passionately, or about him singing over us. How does that reality make you feel? God wants us to respond in Worship.
In English the word “Worship” means to “greatly love, admire and respect somebody or something in acts of prayer and devotion; to declare the worth of someone or something” When we worship God, we declare his worth. What is God worth to you? The worth of God is both endless and endlessly rewarding.
God wants you to be a worshiper
Buddy Owens, a musician at Saddleback Church in California, describes it this way: Our acts of worship are responses to what God has already done. We praise him because he has revealed his glory to us. We give out of bounty he has given us. We repent, not to earn forgiveness, but because he has already offered forgiveness. God’s died for us while were sinners. God’s friendship is the reward for worship.
Jesus taught us to worship
He Prayed - Mark 1:35
He taught - Mark 1:39
He preached - Mark 1:38
He was baptized - Mark 1:9
He gave - Mark 12:17
He resisted temptation - Luke 4:1-2
He fasted - Matthew 4:2
He sang - Matthew 26:30
He praised the Father - Matthew 11:25
I try to make sure everyone feels welcome and comfortable at our worship services. At times I will invite anyone who would like to dance in the isles to do so, or dance in the pews, or sing, clap or just worship quietly. It doesn’t matter how you act or how you dress. God is interested in your heart.
Worship is more than just singing some songs
There is no “Christian” style of music. None. At first, that idea confused me. There is no Christian music, just Christian lyrics. Melodies are neutral; lyrics make it Christian. So the style of music that is used in worship is not relevant. Worship is what is important, not the style. While each of us certainly prefers one musical style to another, there is no “biblical” musical style. God loves music: he loves us more.
Finally, we begin our personal relationship with God through faith and grace. Through faith, we believe, and we trust God with our life, surrendering our will to his. At the very core of worship is surrender. Rick Warren states “Surrender is not the best way to live, It’s the only way." We make it our goal to please God. (2 Corinthians 5:9)
The next time you are in worship, be a worshipper. Come with humility and thankfulness. Express your worship boldly, raise your hands, sing joyfully, pray, read scripture, offer yourself to God so the reward of your worship will be God’s friendship. In heaven, we will all worship God forever. This is just the exhibition season. Start being a worshipper.
“That the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”
Mike Conrad serves as our Worship Director. When he's not preparing for worship or playing an instrument, he enjoys spending time with his wife boating and fishing. Learn more about Mike here.
Dinner Matters
Logistically it was one of the worst trips I’ve ever been on. A third of the students got sick, one of them even projectile vomited on other students, the wind broke tent poles, sand was everywhere, the boat ride took twice as long as expected, it was miserable half the weekend, and students can’t wait to go back. I’m serious about it being a miserable trip, you can ask just about anyone who went on our fall retreat last year, and they will tell you that the conditions weren’t wonderful and that just about anything that could go wrong did. However, you will likely find lots of joy and laughter from them when they talk about it. You’ll hear some of them talking about being the best fire makers, or about that time two girls moved an entire palm tree half a mile for firewood, or when they tried to teach people how to cast nets. And they might complain about the lack of a bathroom, but they are legitimately excited about going on this trip again in a few weeks.
A little over a year ago, a video started going around asking the question of parents and their kids “If you could invite anyone to dinner, who would it be?”. Here’s the video for you to watch yourself, it only takes about two minutes and is well worth the watch:
You might be just as surprised by the kid's answers as I was. In fact, I was pretty sure that this video was staged or they interviewed multiple families and only showed the few that fit the video’s theme. But even if they did (which I don’t think they did) studies are coming out that support the fact that kids want to eat meals with their family. I remember all the “eat more meals together at the family table” ads that were on TV a few years ago and thought they were just weird. But everything I see now says that kids want that experience, they want conversations (WHAT?!?), and they do cherish that time together (even if they act like they hate it).
It doesn’t matter how bad of a cook you are, or even if everything goes horribly wrong, kids want that shared experience with you. I remember as a kid ordering pizza once a week and watching TGIF on tv. Step by Step, Family Matters, and Boy Meets World are still intertwined in my memory with family time that if I ever see them come on tv, I instantly think of Friday nights with my family. I can still point out exactly when in the movie Aladdin my mom had to step away for a bit so we used this really fancy thing on the VCR that marked where we were so that we could continue to watch the movie and then rewind it to that specific spot for her to not miss anything.
Why do I remember that? I have no idea, just like I have no idea why I remember half the stuff I thought was really insignificant as a kid but have become the things that are stuck with me forever. Spend time together, even if it’s just watching tv. Be active in their lives and let them be active in your life. Eat dinner with your kids, because even though it seems like it doesn’t make a difference, it is one of the biggest things you can do.
What does that have to do with Algebra?
When I was a senior in college, I took a dual enrollment college algebra class. I had taken classes with the teacher before, and he was one of my favorites. It helped that I loved math to begin with and that he was a big kid himself. A few weeks into the semester he stopped mid-lesson and said “you guys already know all this stuff. We can spend the rest of the semester just going through the motions and getting done with the book, or I can teach you guys how to do the Rubix cube.” Of course, we all jumped at the chance to miss some book work (don’t worry we still had plenty of it) but over the next few months he incrementally taught us how to solve the Rubix cube, and it ended up being our final.
If you were to walk into my office, you might notice that I have a handful of different Rubix cubes on one of my shelves. I bought most of them after this class, and even ten years later I can only solve the original 3x3 cube. I’ve been staring at the 4x4 for ten years telling myself one day I’ll figure out how to solve it. I guess it’s not a big surprise that I still can’t. You see, I only really had to memorize three moves to solve the 3x3 cube. I have a stack of papers of moves I have to remember to solve the 4x4. I’m sure it can be simplified, and it’s probably not nearly as complicated as it seems at the moment, but it seems pretty daunting.
I think the same thing happens in our Christian life. We get comfortable with how one thing works, or with how we’ve done things. Then something a little more complicated or different comes along, and we either panic at the new complexities or say that’d be a great thing for further down the road. I’d like to say learning is always fun, but many times learning is difficult, heartbreaking, and just down right miserable. I think the bigger question revolved around our motives for learning or, as Lori Ferguson (our children's minister) would put it, making sure our “whys” align with our “whats.”
Learning about the Bible, God, and what it means to be a Christian is supposed to be an ongoing journey where we constantly learn new things. But too often we get comfortable and stop learning. So I want to encourage you to do something new. Maybe that means getting involved with a growth group, volunteering at our thrift store, or branching out and inviting someone to church. Find those areas of growth and new complexities that scare you and work it out. And I’ll make a deal with you. After ten years of saying I’ll figure it out eventually, I’ll learn how to solve the 4x4 Rubix cube. You have my permission to come to my office anytime and ask me to do it, but if you do, expect me to ask you what area you’ve been working on.
Nathan Persell serves as our Youth Director. When he's not leading devotions and playing basketball with teenagers, he enjoys disc golf and bike riding. Learn more about Nathan here.
Survivor Bias
Air planes played one of the central roles in World War II. They immediately surpassed the expectations of just strapping a machine gun onto a single engine plane and calling it a fighter plane that had been the standard in World War I. They became crucial strategic players and bombers were soon among the most important air craft. However, because they were bigger, slower, and harder to maneuver they were also easy targets. The UK alone lost nearly 12,000 bombers. Because these air crafts were so important to missions and the success of the war, a group called the Center for Naval Analyses started to study the planes that survived missions and noted where there were bullet holes. They concluded that they needed to add more armor and protection to those areas hoping that it would help them lose fewer planes.
Then a statistician named Abraham Wald got involved who came to the exact opposite conclusion. He threw out this term called survivorship bias and, at least in my mind, called them all idiots under his breath. You see, they were only studying the planes that had survived. So while all the planes they studied had multiple bullet holes in the wings and some other areas they were still able to make it home. However, bullet holes in the cockpit, engines, and fuel tanks were basically nonexistent in their research because those were the shots that destroyed the most planes. Wald suggested reinforcing those areas instead.
Survivor bias isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s been around since at least 323 BC with Diogenes. It is still a trap that we fall into all the time, especially in the church. Typically we like to do the same things we’ve done before because they are familiar, we know they work, and probably because it’s a good thing to begin with. We see all of our friends enjoying it, we enjoy it, so it must be a good thing, and so we do more of those types of things. In a sense, and I wish this was a different term, we cater to the survivors or the ones who are already home. We don’t always pay attention to the ones who are lost.
I believe it was my Intro to Ministry professor who gave me this poem, he also said that if he ever caught us with a copy in our Bible, he’d fail us… Or maybe it was flail us, I wasn’t paying attention. But even 13 years later I still have a copy of Sam Shoemaker’s poem “I Stand By The Door” in my Bible. I’d like to share it with you now, and even though it’s a bit longer than my usual blog post, encourage you to read it. After all, you’ve made it this far, and this poem has withstood the test of time whereas my words will fade away.
“I neither go to far in, nor stay to far out.
The door is the most important door in the world -
It is the door through which men walk when they find God.
There is no use my going way inside and staying there,
When so many are still outside and they, as much as I,
Crave to know where the door is.
And all that so many ever find
Is only the wall where the door ought to be.
They creep along the wall like blind men,
With outstretched, groping hands,
Feeling for a door, knowing there must be a door,
Yet they never find it.
So I stand by the door.
The most tremendous thing in the world
Is for men to find that door - the door to God.
The most important thing that any man can do
Is to take hold of one of those blind, groping hands
And put it on the latch - the latch that only clicks
And opens to the man’s own touch.
Men die outside the door, as starving beggars die
On cold nights in cruel cities in the dead of winter.
Die for want of what is within their grasp.
They live on the other side of it - live because they have not found it.
Nothing else matters compared to helping them find it,
And open it, and walk in, and find Him.
So I stand by the door.
Go in great saints; go all the way in -
Go way down into the cavernous cellars,
And way up into the spacious attics.
It is a vast, roomy house, this house where God is.
Go into the deepest of hidden casements,
Of withdrawal, of silence, of sainthood.
Some must inhabit those inner rooms
And know the depths and heights of God,
And call outside to the rest of us how wonderful it is.
Sometimes I take a deeper look in.
Sometimes venture in a little farther,
But my place seems closer to the opening.
So I stand by the door.
There is another reason why I stand there.
Some people get part way in and become afraid
Lest God and the zeal of His house devour them;
For God is so very great and asks all of us.
And these people feel a cosmic claustrophobia
And want to get out. ‘Let me out!’ they cry.
And the people way inside only terrify them more.
Somebody must be by the door to tell them that they are spoiled.
For the old life, they have seen too much:
One taste of God and nothing but God will do any more.
Somebody must be watching for the frightened
Who seek to sneak out just where they came in,
To tell them how much better it is inside.
The people too far in do not see how near these are
To leaving - preoccupied with the wonder of it all.
Somebody must watch for those who have entered the door
But would like to run away. So for them too,
I stand by the door.
I admire the people who go way in.
But I wish they would not forget how it was
Before they got in. Then they would be able to help
The people who have not yet even found the door.
Or the people who want to run away again from God.
You can go in too deeply and stay in too long
And forget the people outside the door.
As for me, I shall take my old accustomed place,
Near enough to God to hear Him and know He is there,
But not so far from men as not to hear them,
And remember they are there too.
Where? Outside the door -
Thousands of them. Millions of them.
But - more important for me -
One of them, two of them, ten of them.
Whose hands I am intended to put on the latch.
So I shall stand by the door and wait
For those who seek it.
’I had rather be a door-keeper
So I stand by the door.”
Nathan Persell serves as our Youth Director. When he's not leading devotions and playing basketball with teenagers, he enjoys disc golf and bike riding. Learn more about Nathan here.