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Revival Ready | Dayton Dodge '01 · The UNWavering Podcast

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Join as we highlight the people, the purpose, and the pulse of Northwestern.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Unwavering Podcast.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_02: Hey everybody, this is Monty and Cassie.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: And welcome to a pulse episode of the Unwavering Podcast.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_02: And our guest today is Dayton Dodge, the Dayton Dodge.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: Dayton currently serves as the assistant director of worship arts and spiritual formation programs at the University of Northwestern St.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: Paul.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: He has 20 plus years of worship leading experience, most recently serving as a worship pastor at New Hope Church.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Dayton is a 2001 Northwestern grad in music education, and he has a master's degree from Bethel Seminary.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: His mission is to raise up the next generation of worship leaders by providing opportunities to hone their musical and leadership talent into skill that will expand God's kingdom here at University of Northwestern and beyond.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: And uh Dayton, welcome to the Unwavering Podcast.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm glad to be here.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: We're glad to have you.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, let's dive right in.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: What is something the Lord's teaching you these days?
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_03: That's a good question.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_03: Lots of things.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_03: But specifically, I was uh we just recently we our team went to a conference for Christians in student development.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_03: And uh the one of the keynote uh speakers was talking about the power of unplugging and something that has been a goal or on my heart for a while, but this it hit different this year and just talking about there's we're not built for all the input that we get every day.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_03: And and so uh taking a step away from that to really uh live out and embody Psalm 45, 10, uh be still and know that I am God.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_03: And I think when I when I get stressed or I wake up in the night, it's because I'm feeling the pressure of all of the expectations on me and I'm trying to be sovereign, and we're not built for that.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_03: And so uh unplugging is just a chance to remember your limits and let the Lord do what uh only he can do.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good word that he's given you.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: What is that looking like right now, practically in your life?
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: Like as as he's been showing you that, well, how is that showing up in your day-to-day life?
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, varying degrees of success with that, but totally I think I think the goal is to have stretches of time where phone is off and away and not not constantly being either at back and call or checking every time you walk by so that you can be fully present in whatever whatever it is.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_03: So um yesterday that looked like taking the dog for a walk by myself and an extra block or two uh without listening to anything, not you know, uh not listening to music, not listening to a podcast, um, not listening to audiobook, just uh just being quiet.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: And this is a good chance for a throwback lyric for some people.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_02: If listening to this podcast is adding to the noise, turn off this song.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_05: That's good, it's good.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: Switch foot, switch foot.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: That was my nickname in high school.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's crazy.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's fantastic.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Classic.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, speaking of lyrics.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_05: That is so good, Cassie.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_05: It's fantastic.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_05: Thank you so much.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so speaking of lyrics, I know some worship leaders care about the melody most, some care about the lyrics most.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a lyric girl myself, not a worship leader, but don't put me in charge.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: But lyrics are important.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have a favorite lyric, worship lyric, and why?
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Why is it your favorite?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_03: I do.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_03: And that was a that's a tough one because I mean there's thousands of songs in there.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_03: It's that's it's kind of scary.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_03: I've had to uh every every new context I've been in, I'd had to like learn a new catalog.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_03: And so there's there's so many, there's so many to choose from, but with that, I I kind of have to go really, really classic and like back to a younger version of myself.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: So I like I like all kinds of different genres of music, but uh greatest by faithfulness is is my favorite hymn of all time.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_03: I and that's like saying the Mona Lisa is your favorite painting.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_03: But uh, you know, it's sometimes classics are classic for a reason.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_03: And that just has a lot of significance for me.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_03: It was my grandma's favorite hymn, and it was one she always wanted us to, you know, me to sing when when we were together.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_03: And uh my but the particular lyric is verse three pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_03: Blessings all mine and ten thousand besides.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_03: So the the faithfulness of God, I think that's a trend throughout scripture of looking back, especially in the Psalms, you're looking back at you know, here's how I feel right now in this moment.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_03: But I'm gonna look back at what God has done, and I'm going to take solace in the current moment, even though that's not where I'm seeing him show up right now, that that will not be always be the case for the future.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: So most good.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_02: It connects with what the Lord is working on your heart on right now, too.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_02: I don't do your presence, the cheering to guide.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_02: Like that that doesn't happen unless really we unplug a lot of times.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: 100% spend time with him.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_05: Yep.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thanks for sharing that.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: I know there's a lot of lyrics to choose from.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: Well, for those who don't know you or may not know you, can you give us the short version of your Northwestern story and like start from the beginning?
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: Like, how'd you get here?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: What happened, and go?
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_03: The short version is complicated because another song lyric that would describe my Northwestern journey is it's a long and winding road.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I guess at the the very, very beginning would be me as a senior in high school trying to figure out where to go to school.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Northwestern, uh it was Northwestern College back in a different century.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_03: That this was the only place that I visited.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_03: It's the only place I applied, it's the only place I was interested in, and I couldn't even necessarily tell you why.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I was undeclared my freshman year.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_03: I had no, I really had no idea.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't really have other than music, I didn't have any other passions, but I didn't think that being a music major was an option for me, based on probably like one conversation that I'd had with my folks about like not being a starving artist.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, well, it can't be a music major, you know.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_03: And so I was here freshman year, undeclared, kind of frustrated, kind of uh directionless, and finally uh got to a point where I had a conversation actually with my my vocal teacher at the time, and she's like, Well, why can't you be a music major?
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I'm like, Yeah, why can't I?
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_03: And that was kind of a pivot point.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: And so um, like you said, I declared uh music ed and graduated in that.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like gonna be the the next, you know, music educator that's gonna change the world through through music.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_03: And that also did not uh go as planned, kind of subbed uh for a couple years, and the the jobs, job market really dried up.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: And so started working for a remodeling company as a codings specialist, painting houses, and did that for three, three years, and then got into vocational ministry as a as a worship pastor.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_03: And in that time, that kind of wilderness space where I'm like, what am I doing with my life?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_03: You know, I don't know what I want to be when I grow up.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, the Lord was giving me a lot of uh opportunities to home skill in uh a lot of different music venues and and um relationships and networking that all came back to bear in uh my role as a as a worship pastor.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_03: And so did that at uh a couple of different churches.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: You mentioned most recently New Hope Church and kind of came through.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_03: I I did a sabbatical in 2022 and kind of came through that with some questions about like, okay, what's what's kind of next, Laura?
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_03: That's kind of a chance to have some space and kind of reevaluate things and didn't come back with any answers.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: And then uh this this job opportunity, in a in actually in a very, very different form at the time, uh, came up.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_03: And I was like, man, that sounds really interesting.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_03: It sounds like an interesting combination of the different things that I've had experience in and that I'm passionate about.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_03: And one thing that I was kind of missing in my role was uh that mentorship piece of like having a a built-in way to pour into the next generation.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's what was really appealing about this role to me.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_03: And um so stepped into the interview process.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_03: It was part-time when I applied.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_03: Uh that expanded as we walked through, and and so you know, we'll we'll talk about how things have even shifted since since then, but really felt like uh the Lord was was calling, yeah, calling me to to come back to Northwestern.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_03: And it's it's kind of wild the way that things come full circle.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_02: That is, everybody has their own journey, right, through this.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: I know we we hear from a lot of alums that Northwestern was formative and helping them find their lane of maybe where they should be, which sounds like it was kind of partially your story too, of finding the lane and going for it.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: But then what happens after that and how the Lord plays it out and how the journey and the road goes.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for sharing that.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: And we're glad you're here.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know, thank you.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_02: And it's I'm gonna definitely remember that you attended last century.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna talk with you about that here at Northwestern.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: Do you write music too?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_03: Like a little bit.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_03: That's that's always been um something kind of in the periphery and and something I've wanted to move towards more and have in different in different uh seasons, but it's not like an active practice.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_03: Sure.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_03: But I'd love to I'd love to do more of that.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_02: Perfect.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_02: So you serve, as you mentioned, now as the assistant director of worship arts and spiritual formation.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_02: So what does that role actually look like on a day-to-day basis?
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_02: In other words, what is it you do here?
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_02: What is it you do here?
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um I told you I'm a people person.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_03: Um I so that title is so funny because it doesn't even fit like on a like my name card.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's like it's like two lines and it and it's uh a a little bit left over from a a different era of how things were arranged.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_03: But what it what it means, have you tried abbreviating it?
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like if it's the worship arts and spiritual formation, it's the W-A-S-F, like I'm the assistant director of WhatsApp.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean either way, it's close to wasps, which I don't like at all.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_03: Either way, it's gonna take some explanation.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_03: So what I tell people, uh like when I do a new student visit day, what I say is all of that means that I oversee our chapel experience and our worship arts collective.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_03: That's great.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: All of the things that we have.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_03: So what what is that what so what do you do?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um so I I am in charge of the chapel schedule.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: So making sure that we know uh when, like how the entire year plays out.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_03: I've been instrumental in uh kind of bringing a different theme or focus point to each different chapel offering that we have.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_03: And so actually credit to you, Monty, for My Story Monday.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_03: Like I think that you actually coined that because I was describing to you like how that went.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_03: And you're like, oh yeah, you could be My Story Monday.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm gonna give you trademark appreciate that authorship credit on that.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_03: You can raise I think we were at Chipotle.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think we were.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: They're all great ideas.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_03: So many.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um so you know, My Story Monday, uh, Wednesday in the word, like we're just a different, a different facet of formation and and bringing focus to each of those.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_03: I also just like boots on the ground day of, I run just the the plan for each day.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_03: Uh so it's kind of like doing we say chapel isn't church, but we use planning center and and we, you know, it's it's kind of like a a little 40-minute service.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_03: There's logistics, there's people involved totally.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_03: There's teams, um there's a lot of yeah, a lot of different moving parts.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_03: You have the tech team, you have the worship team, you have whoever's speaking, you have visual elements.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_03: So there's a lot of there's lyrics, there's a lot of different elements to it that just need a good a good plan and good communication.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_03: And so And talk to me about the collective.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_02: So what who makes up the collective?
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_02: How many students are involved in this?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_03: So Worship Arts Collective is basically our yeah, a group of students who want to be involved in worship leading opportunities on campus, primarily in the chapel venue, but it it extends beyond that as well.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um it's uh it's something that you apply and audition for, and um we put together teams, and then I have student leaders who I uh who you know apply, interview our selected and then stipend in for uh their time as part of our as part of the larger student experience team, and they're they're so I I invest in them and then they're an extension of of my leadership to the rest of the team.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_03: But I'd say all told, we probably have over 50 students involved.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: So there's three fry there's three teams.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: Uh each each team is composed of a Friday team and then two Monday Wednesday teams, and we just kind of alternate, alternate through.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's awesome.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Just jumping back to something you said just a couple minutes ago, too.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: And for you listening, like if you're an alum listening to this, chapel has looked different over the years.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh it's been in a bunch of different forms.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_02: And the current form of My Story Monday, Wednesday in the Word, or Word Wednesday, and Praise Chapel on Friday, it's awesome.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_02: And the the rhythm of it is really working and powerful right now.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: And students are actively like hungry for that time in the Word and hearing the testimony from somebody on Monday and what it looks like to live for Christ, pursue your calling, and of course, worshiping together.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_02: It's really cool.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: And there are opportunities throughout the week that are provided for alternative chapels or breakout chapels as well to do them in smaller communities.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: So um, it's really cool to see what you and the team have been building here, and it's exciting.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_02: You also talked about way back about when you came to Northwestern to work now, the opportunity for mentorship.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm sure you have the chance to do that with the Worship Arts Collective and other students that are involved.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: But what has surprised you most about leading the worship and spiritual formation team in this generation of college students?
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_03: Well, first of all, like, you know how you think that your shoes are good until you go into like a shoe store and then you're like, oh man, these are super dingy compared to these new shoes.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_03: That's how I feel coming in to work with college students.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, man, I didn't think I was old, but everyone here has hair and you know, uh lots of energy.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_03: And but I I love that actually.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_03: And inspiring.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, it is.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_03: It is.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_03: It's good to have goals, even if they're not attainable.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_03: No, I I think um I think that every generation, every upcoming generation gets a bad rap from the one that is coming before and like, oh, this is the end of the world.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_03: This generation is, you know, terrible, and like, you know, and just seeing seeing the just the hearts of these students, their passion for Jesus, their uh their love for the word, their investment, like they're like the the students that I get to work with are all in.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_03: And they're teachable, they're coachable, they want, they want the feedback.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_03: They're not collapsing in on themselves like a dying star when I, you know, make make a suggestion.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_03: Like honestly, like I would have at their age.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_03: And so the there's just uh we all have we're all learning and growing, we all have our growth edges, but there is a there is a maturity here that I I think was uh surprising to me.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_03: And it's been, you know, the the students that I've gotten to work with, my team has been it's been so great.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_03: And it's the best part of what I get to do is just being able to pour into them on a on a regular basis.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_03: And the fact that they're they're uh hungry and receptive to that.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_03: It's not like, oh man, like can we get this over with?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_03: Because I got I got other things to do.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, no, no, no, we're we're fully present, we're all in on this.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_03: We want to be here and we wanna hear, uh, we want to learn.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_03: We wanna we wanna we want to receive that, you know, what what little wisdom that I might have to share from you know my story and my experience.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_03: So that's been that's been really fun and really encouraging.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_03: Man, I feel like I could learn from that.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I feel like I can learn from the students in being hungry and receptive and learning and I wish you would.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: We'll work on it.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_02: I'll Cassie, I'll stop being a dying star.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: Just tell me you're being a dying star.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, every year there's a theme at Chapel to help with the spiritual life on our campus community.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: What is the theme this year?
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_03: The theme this year is revival ready.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_03: And that's uh there's a there's an action point to that.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_03: There's uh an aspirational element to it of, you know, we want to be revival ready.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_03: And I I think there's a lot of connotations that come with the word revival.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_03: We have, you know, historically, you have uh, you know, you like, okay, it's a big tent revival, or you have uh the you know things that have gone on on other college campuses in, you know, recent years, Asbury, like that kind of thing.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_03: And it certainly does mean that, but I think the the desire for this theme is that it would be uh more than just uh trying to recreate something that we've seen somewhere else as an event and more of a heart posture and a culture uh where we are actively looking to the word and asking every every every week there's a specific prayer for the Lord to revive something that has um that's that's dead or broken in me.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_03: And I think just life and pain and trauma, little T or big T trauma creates fracture.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_03: And you know, if you've ever like snapped a uh a twig or a branch off of a plant, like eventually that that broken uh branch or leaf or or twig dies, it withers.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_03: And so fracture creates those dead points in our hearts and in our souls, and so asking the Lord to bring those things back to life, and as we do that collectively, that creates that creates a a culture that is available, that is surrendered, that is open to a fresh movement of the Holy Spirit.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_03: And so if if the Lord wants to make Northwestern uh ground zero for the next great awakening, we're we're here for that.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_03: But that starts individually.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_03: And I think another thing that we've been talking about is uh our theme last year was beholding or uh becoming by beholding, um with the the understanding that as we behold Jesus, we become more like him because we we become what we behold.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_03: We uh my pastor says, uh a person becomes what they think about all day long.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_03: And so there's there's that that's just generally true.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_03: Whatever we're giving our focus to, we be that's formational to us.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_03: So if we're giving our focus to Jesus and strength is built in reps, then we're becoming more like him.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_03: And so themes are themes are great, I think uh are helpful as a metaphor to understand maybe some more abstract concepts, but they can also be disposable in that it's like, okay, that was the theme last year, and like we're done with that, and we're we're just gonna leave that behind and we don't think about it anymore.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_03: And I didn't want that to be true uh this year.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_03: And so as we've as we've talked about it, we're seeing this as revival ready is really not leaving last year's theme behind, it's honing in even further on what does that process of transformation look like?
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, what does that entail on a even more granular level?
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_03: Um so how do we how are we becoming shaped in the image of Christ?
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that that process looks like the Lord bringing these different elements and facets of our of our broken hearts back to Him.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's super cool.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: I'm excited to attend Chapel more this year and see what the Lord does through it.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think it's cool.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: You were getting at there with reviving.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: In my head, I was I was thinking about like tilling soil and getting it ready to be good soil for the Lord to do something, but like the reviving involves that there's like a part of me that's Broken or dead.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just like a fresh start where you just get the soil ready.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_02: There's there's something also dead there that needs healing, or you need to like intentionally push in.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: So as you're becoming more like Christ, he's gonna show you these areas that maybe you've hidden off or you need to surrender to him or are there are hurts and to offer him those areas to let him do his work there and then see what happens.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think, and I don't know if this connects with what the the theme is, but some of the most powerful testimonies are people who have had that revival moment where they had the deepest brokenness, and it's in that that the Lord shows up and just flips it 180.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: And I know no matter what your testimony is, we've all been flipped from spiritually dead to spiritually alive.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_02: And we should all have that moment, but it seems like you're really pushing into that.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: Is that true?
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_03: Yes.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_03: I think um John 1010 is another that's not the theme of the year, that's not the theme verse of the year, but it is a that's a facet of the the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I've come to give you life and life abundantly, you know.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_03: So like what does it look like?
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_03: That's not just adding, that's not just piling more blessings.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_03: If if you are holding on to hurts, uh if we're if we're, you know, if we're harboring whatever that looks like, we can't be open-handed for what those what that abundant life uh looks like.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_03: And so kind of honing in on to have that that full life we to step into that, um, those those broken and dead pieces have to be revived.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_02: Aaron Powell Do you feel like Pastor Chris is willing to talk about anything hard or real or brokenness or anything?
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_02: I know for those of you listening have never heard him, maybe I'm be a little sarcastic.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_03: I'm fairly certain that that's uh yeah, like I mean, maybe even on a weekly basis.
• 24:28
  SPEAKER_03: It's amazing.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, his his transparency is is gonna be and and vulnerability is gonna be really a powerful, like leverage even more this year because he's not asking anyone to do something that he is not authentically exemplifying, you know, in that moment.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's a that's another piece where the I think the the My Story Mondays are going to be a good support and a good example of like what this looks like lived out people sharing their their testimony and where the Lord has brought something to life, back to life in them.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: So I'm looking forward to how that all kind of will coalesces.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: For sure.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: Well, so you were saying that um when we were talking about the chapel theme, it sounds like there's maybe a team of people, a couple of people.
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_01: What does that process look like when you're picking the theme?
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_01: Like, do you have a chapel workshop?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Do you all go into the woods?
• 25:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I I wish.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: That that actually sounds great.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um, like a little a little chapel theme retreat.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_03: That would be amazing.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_03: Because you mentioned Pastor Chris, for those that don't know, we have a preaching pastor in residence, Pastor Chris Asph, who's here most Wednesdays uh for Wednesday in the Word and um walking through the theme together.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um what that usually looks like because he has a real job and um is uh he's a you know he's a busy guy and with a lot on his plate.
• 25:58
  SPEAKER_03: And so the fact that we've got him back for year three uh this year is is such a win and such a blessing.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: And but what that usually looks like uh is us uh meeting him down at Yum Bakery, you know, in St.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: Paul, and uh, you know, grabbing coffee or a salad.
• 26:17
  SPEAKER_03: And uh that's that's that's the you know the process.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_03: That's the process.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_03: Yep.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_03: The yum salad.
• 26:24
  SPEAKER_01: Salads are involved.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_03: Um they also have a really good uh GF peanut butter cookie there that's like the size of your face.
• 26:33
  SPEAKER_01: Not sponsored.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, not sponsored.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_01: It depends on your face size, I suppose.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Um by the way, if if you if you we had a chance to have a conversation with Chris Osmus last season.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: So if you go back to season two and you've never heard him, go back and listen to that episode.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_02: You get a feel for kind of the intentionality that Chris brings.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_02: So when you come to the meal at Yum Bakery, there is a uh there's been a percolating process already happening.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: And you've already heard this as you get to know Dayton here, but he's very intentional thinking about these things.
• 27:05
  SPEAKER_02: You've been stewing on a lot, Chris has been stewing on a lot, and a lot comes to that table more than just a salad.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: 100 percent.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, 100%.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_03: So it's it's me and Chris, it's uh Brett Haider, our VP of Student Experience, and and Brett is great because he is he doesn't have to be the guy with all the ideas, but he wants to create an environment where those ideas are encouraged and explored, and he wants to pour into and resource uh that as much as possible.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_03: And so yeah, we just we just kind of start in prayer and conversation and just kind of talk about maybe start kind of higher altitude of like you know, reflecting on what has been and what has worked and maybe what was a struggle.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_03: So even the change from year one to year two was we, you know, we did Galatians the first year that Chris was here, and that was awesome.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_03: Unwavering grace studying Galatians.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_03: That was phenomenal.
• 28:05
  SPEAKER_03: The struggle was because it was verse by verse, and just circumstantially, like there was a week when we had that big snowstorm, and Chris barely made it here.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_03: Profs canceled classes in the morning.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_03: Chapel was a ghost town that day.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_03: We probably should have just shut it down.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_03: He almost ended up in the Chris almost ended up in the ditch just trying to get in.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_03: It was super, super stressful, and there was no one here.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_03: Well, it was Galatians 5 1.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_03: Like it was the for freedom you have been set free.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_03: So walk there in like a couple home run verse of the that we've been leading up to like the in the entire year, and you know, 80% of the student body missed it.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so we're like, okay, so let's learn from that, and maybe we can go just as deep, but maybe we fly at a little bit of a higher altitude and have things that are maybe a little bit more episodic and a little bit more encapsulated so that it's not quite so concrete sequential.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_03: And that's just good, those are good things that we've been able to, we we reflect on.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_03: And so, like this last year when we had that meeting, we're like, man, this format works.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_03: How can we do that again without it just feeling like the same thing?
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_03: And that's where and then we started discussing some ideas.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_03: We could go this direction, we could go this direction, we could go this direction.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_03: And I obviously like Chris is the one that has to do, like, he's the one that's preaching most weeks, and so he's gotta have a fire and you know, for whatever it is, he's gotta have a vision for what that could look like.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_03: And so we've really leaned and deferred to that, and but then there's resonance in community of like, yeah, that sounds that that feels like uh what the Lord wants us to do, or like, hmm, I'm not sure about that, or you know, and so it's it's really a process.
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's it's an ongoing conversation, and as we just continue to talk about it, pray about it, sit with it, things just kind of continue to like ratchet into focus.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so even just last week, I, you know, I texted him like, hey, I'd love to have like another conversation just to get like another degree of clarity around this.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_03: And we talked for probably almost an hour, and I'm like scribbling notes and I'm asking questions.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_03: And he's like, Thank you for saying that.
• 30:36
  SPEAKER_03: That's like, you know, and and so even by the end of that, I was like, okay, now we have even more, just just from us kind of like hanging out, having a having a conversation about it, we have even more clarity than we did, and that gets that gets me really excited.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you're getting in sync so that I mean he's not manufacturing a theme that he's not pumped about.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_02: He's he's already sharing from what the Lord's doing in his heart, and you all as as a team are prepared so that you're ready to build that into RAs and Res Life staff and all the leaders when they show up in August, so they're ready to rock and roll too.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so our hope and prayer is that students can fully embrace the theme and make it personal for them.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: But what would what do you think?
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: How will their life be different in the spring if they've embraced that theme throughout the year?
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I I think overall, like maybe even just a little bit like pulled back from that.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_03: One thing that I think is exciting as we talk about or is the unwavering podcast, right?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_03: Unwavering God of love for God's Word and Unwavering Love for God's world.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_03: The love for God's Word, the reason that we love God's Word is that it points us to Jesus.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_03: And so I'm excited for students, because this is something that's happened for me, to have a an expanded vision of how to open their Bible, of how to read the scripture, of how to to fight against the the practice of separating the Old Testament and New Testament out like it's two different, two different gods, two different stories, and and seeing Jesus throughout the totality of Scripture and getting to spin if if we talk about this metaphor, is if the if scripture is a gem, each week we're spinning the gem and looking at a different facet.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_03: And it's and it's just being able to appreciate that beauty in a in a more expansive way.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_03: That's not just like, well, now I know more things, but again, as we expand our vision, then that has heart transformation.
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_03: And so that's that's one thing that I would hope that students would come through is just an expanded way to approach the word of God in a way that allows them to see Jesus.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_03: As uh as Chris says, the gospel is a window through which we look, you know, we get to look through uh to see him uh more clearly.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_03: So that's one thing.
• 33:04
  SPEAKER_03: Second of all, is is is the what the the theme says that it that we want to be is we want to be ready for that revival to happen.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_03: And so there's there's personal applications and there's corporate applications.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_03: And on both of those levels, there's 10,000 things uh that are dead inside of us that are, like I said, that are fractured by by sin or pain or trauma or uh family of origin or you know, whatever it is.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_03: And so just the regular, the regular focus of coming back week in, week out, and opening the word and and having that prayer be Lord, revive my fill in the blank this week.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_03: Aggregate of that.
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_03: The change happens in in those in those tiny little regular reps.
• 33:59
  SPEAKER_03: And that's why we have chapel on a regular basis, because otherwise that process is just kind of an aspirational thing that we just, you know, it's out in the future, and like, oh, someday, someday I'll get around to that.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: It's like, no, we're gonna, we're gonna start, we're gonna create a a system and a structure where we're having those regular reps and that regular regular focus points.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_03: And so I would want all of those reps of of of sitting in that space together and and being in the word together and being invested in um with you know, all these different things to to add up to heart change that that looks like that more capacity for that abundant life than Jesus promises.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_02: Well, the theme in itself, revival ready, trying to forecast what what's gonna happen by the end of spring, like impossible task, right?
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yep.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_02: But the the potential or the opportunity to even just start to imagine and wonder what the Lord would do and could do and will do if we come before him and surrender those areas for him to revive and just what that could do in a college student's life with their relationships, with their calling, um, with their testimony, with their just unlocking their hope and their peace and their joy and uh how they could go change the world as a result of what the Lord does through that.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_02: We might not know the impact of this year's chapel series for a very long time, for decades, just to see what manifests.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe somebody, Lord willing, by by his goodness and his grace, will point back to this year and say, you know what, the Lord got a hold of me and he healed me in incredible ways or led me to this.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: That's exciting to ponder.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: And Dayton, as we wrap up this episode, I want to ask you this as kind of a closing question.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_02: What word would you give or encouragement would you give to the person listening right now as it relates to being revival ready, not knowing where everybody is at who's listening to this episode?
• 36:05
  SPEAKER_03: I would say I think surrender.
• 36:10
  SPEAKER_03: And I know that that maybe that gets kicked around a lot or that's something that we've heard before, whatever, but there's a lot of things that we cling on to where we we say, like it's easy for me to say, like, yes, I believe in Jesus, I believe in the gospel, like, but it it's it kind of stays in that like headspace, like this is a uh a theological, intellectual thing that I'm giving affirmation to, but it it has not permeated the rest of my being or the way that I think or the way that I show up in the world.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_03: And so whether that's you know, whatever it is that we're clinging we're actually clinging on to, that there would be alignment between what we say we believe and what we actually believe, the stories that we're actually telling ourselves are that are true.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_03: And that involves, I think for everyone, whether you're a student or an alumni, that involves uh letting go of unclenching our hands around the things that we think that we need in order to be okay, and actually allowing Jesus to be the truest form of whatever that is.
• 37:25
  SPEAKER_03: And that's something that Chris talked about a l a lot last year.
• 37:28
  SPEAKER_03: Like whatever it pick your sin, pick your temptation, pick your thing, like whatever that is, Jesus is the truest fulfillment of that thing, of that desire.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_03: So what you're actually looking for when you're when you're clinging onto this, you're actually looking for Jesus.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_03: You're actually looking for what can only be found in his presence.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_03: And that takes that takes letting go and surrender.
• 37:52
  SPEAKER_02: That's good.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for sharing that.
• 37:54
  SPEAKER_02: So, yeah, whatever your connection is, whether you're listening to this and you're a student or a prospective parent or an alum or you work here at Northwestern, or you're a friend of Northwestern, or you're a relative of Dayton and you're listening, or whatever, however, you got to this podcast, today's a chance to surrender.
• 38:12
  SPEAKER_02: What is the thing that the Lord is putting on your mind right now that you should allow him to revive?
• 38:18
  SPEAKER_02: That should be revival ready.
• 38:21
  SPEAKER_02: What is that thing?
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, let him push into that.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_02: May Christ just come and bring his life into that area of your life.
• 38:28
  SPEAKER_02: I feel like I just want to wrap up just by praying.
• 38:31
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we'll call this a call this an episode.
• 38:33
  SPEAKER_02: But Lord, thank you so much for this conversation.
• 38:35
  SPEAKER_02: Lord, I thank you for what you're doing here on campus.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: I thank you for Pastor Chris.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_02: I thank you for Dayton and Brett and the whole team that is investing into the lives of students, even just from the student experience side.
• 38:46
  SPEAKER_02: And I think about the faculty and the staff and the coaches and employees.
• 38:50
  SPEAKER_02: Lord, would you be with them, give them encouragement and wisdom?
• 38:53
  SPEAKER_02: And Lord, be with the students.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_02: May their hearts be open and receptive and ready to push into this revival-ready theme.
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_02: Lord, may it uh just impact every aspect of their heart and their life to the point where it reverberates into their family members and their friendships and their calling.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_02: Lord, it's exciting to think um what you're doing already.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_02: We can't wait to hear the stories told.
• 39:16
  SPEAKER_02: So, and for the person who's listening to this episode, Lord, would you give them the courage to come to you with their vulnerability, ready to surrender and see what you've got going on?
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_02: So, Lord, we love you and we thank you for this time, and it's in your name that we pray.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: Amen.
• 39:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Dayton, thanks for joining us.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_02: We're excited to see how this theme comes through, and we appreciate having you at Northwestern.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's my pleasure.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_04: Hold it up to your premises.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_04: Hold it up to your prices.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for listening.
• 39:45
  SPEAKER_00: To hear more, subscribe and leave a rating wherever you listen.
• 39:48
  SPEAKER_00: And if you know an alum, faculty member, staff, or student of Northwestern doing amazing things out in the world, let us know at alumni at unwsp.edu, the unwavering podcast, highlighting the people, the purpose, and the pulse of Northwestern.