Embrace your doubt? Are you sure?

I have listened to preachers who encourage you embrace your doubts about your faith. Frankly, the more I think about it, the more I disagree.  Perhaps you can help me understand; but first a few thoughts.

Webster's defines doubt as:
  1 archaic
    a: fear
    b: suspect
  2 to be in doubt about (he doubts everyones word)
  3 a: lack confidence in :Distrust (find myself doubting him even when I know he is honest)
     b: to consider unlikely

Now when it comes to my faith it is honest for me to admit there are things I don't understand. In fact, there are times when I suspect or lack confidence in certain things. So according to Webster, that would be doubt. I admit it.

Webster defines faith as:
  1 a: allegiance to duty or person
     b: (1) fidelity to one's promises (2) sincerity of intentions
  2 a (1) belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion
  3 something that is believed especially with strong conviction;  

Here is where I am confused: for me to embrace my doubt about my faith, would mean that I should intentionally:

1. lack trust or confidence in my allegiance to God,
2. consider unlikely my belief, trust and loyalty to God,
3. not have a strong conviction in my beliefs.

I don't think I could survive it that were my world view.  Not only that but I have a heart felt sorrow for people who do. I mean no disrespect to their point of view. I just do not understand how they could have any sense of hope.

James put it this way: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

To me this means that embracing your doubt would lead one be double minded and unstable. Please do not misunderstand my position though. I know that I doubt. I know that we all doubt.

Jesus being the son of God obviously had no doubt and perfect faith. For example: Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. "how did the fig tree wither so quickly?" they asked. Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, through yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

I have met people who have seen amazing answers to prayer, but I have never met a person who can tell a tree to die and watch it do so immediately. Or said another way, I've never met any person with the faith of Jesus. We all doubt. But why embrace it? Why not double our efforts for more faith?

What do you think?

Grateful

I am grateful to be part of a community dedicated to tell the world the way of Jesus in new and creative ways. I am also grateful for all of you who join us in this mission! As I look back at the past year, I am very keenly aware that none of it would have happened without your help!

So what happened?

• More than 1 million people have viewed Ed’s Story because people like you have given to Flannel or supported our ministry through the Flannel Store.  
• Our films are pointing people to Jesus Christ in 178 countries worldwide, thanks to you. 
• BASIC Follow Jesus was shown to 85 prison inmates in Florida, sparking a discussion that lasted more than 90 minutes. 
• At a Washington prison, a felon serving 35 years for murder saw Fear God, and that led to his chaplain showing the entire series to more inmates! 
• Ed’s Story was shown worldwide on CNN and on NBC’sToday Show. We look forward to it being aired on Ion Television (beginning May 12, 2013) as well as on channels in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. 
• Ed's Story is also being shown to veterans suffering from PTSD at Walter Reed Medical Center. 
• A U.S. Bishop recently delivered two sets of our DVDs to the Vatican in Rome!

And just read how God is using our BASIC series to bless a local pastor and his church:

As a pastor, I have seen a change in the people in my church from going through the BASIC Series. I believe all churches should watch these lessons, and if they did, we could literally change the world as we did in the early days of the church!

The list of people being impacted by films you helped make possible by supporting Flannel Films just goes on and on. Each film is a remarkable investment in spreading the Gospel and helping believers grow in their faith. Our research shows that every single DVD is viewed, on average, by more than 30 people!

You know that film is an engaging, powerful medium allowing us to impact people with sight, sound, color and motion like nothing else. You also know that Flannel Films allow people to feel the emotional impact of how God changes lives with his grace, love and power. Nothing has as much impact today as a film. Thank you for taking the time to read this post, and thank you in advance for praying about your continued support for Flannel Films this year.

 https://flannel.org/support/donate

Ed's Story our new series with Ed Dobson, a remarkable man who has changed my life in many ways. In this short film, Ed talks to us about purpose and identity. Do you know someone going through a huge life change? Perhaps you could pass this on to them. Ed is always filled with hope no matter what the circumstances. It's up lifting and contagious!

Bob

I'd like to tell you about the interview that changed my life. But first some background.  I grew up in a great home and I decided to be a "Christian" as a child.  My parents were Christians and their parents where Christians so it made perfect sense.  On top of that, I grew up in a great church.  It was a big part of my life.  Most of my friends were at that church.

I went on to college, grad school and a career.  My career had been successful.  I reached the point where I had made partner.  In that world, that was your only reason for living!  Achieving that took blood, sweat, and tears.  Thousands and thousands of hours of work.  It was success, however there was a price that came with it.  Lot's of time away from family and lots of time dedicated to things that quite honesty, did not mean much in the scope of eternity. That's when I met Bob.

Bob was president of a company about 10 minutes from where I sat. He was looking for someone to join the leadership team for a company he owned with some other partners. Bob had an incredibly successful career and invested in a start-up. It was company who's mission was big.  They were out to "change the moral fabric of our society" through art.  They made films that taught Judeo Christian values to kids. They did it really well. They spared no expense and did it right.  They made films that were well constructed; great story telling, beautifully made and cutting edge at the time.

I was intrigued, all though there was no way I could make the kind of money I would make if I just stayed where I was. From a financial point of view it didn't make a lot of sense.  I went to talk to Bob anyway.  I walked into to his office and we sat at a table.  He pulled out a pad of paper as he was saying: "I only have one thing to offer you."  He proceeded to draw 3 circles and put a letter in each.

He said 'Steve if you're like most men you are pretty good at compartmentalizing your life'. He then told me that what the 3 letters were.  They represent your Spiritual life, your Family life and your Career.  Many men (I suspect women too) have the capability of separating these 3 life areas.  Talking about your faith at work is intimidating, not to mention the fact that we are so busy that most of the time we just don't even think about it.  So it not unusual for your faith life to be separate from your career life.

Hopefully your spiritual life over laps with your family life.  But for many even that gets compartmentalized.  In fact many churches today separate the kids from the parents at the door.  You each have your own service tailored to your needs.  Church is not the same family experience it was a generation ago.

Family and career are sometimes diametrically opposed.  Both want more of your time. I lived in a high pressure world. "Important" people demanded my time. I worked for a great company. I loved it.  The company talked about the importance of  'work life balance', but honestly if you practiced that you would never make it to the top. It's probably a familiar story to some of you.

So there I was, staring at this piece of paper with 3 circles.  It had never occurred to me that I had been living more than one life, but Bob's simple diagram hit me hard.  Bob said "All I have to offer you is the chance to live one life. To make your Spiritual goals, your Career goals and your Family goals line up."

Bob's simple chart changed my life.  It is amazing how beautiful life becomes when you live one life.  When you have one set of goals for every area of your life. God did not design us to life compartmentalized lives. He designed us to live one life. This simple lesson led to my understanding that God's goal's, not mine should lead every area of my life.

Thanks Bob for teaching me one the most important lessons I have ever learned. I will always be grateful for your leadership, mentoring and friendship.

"If you don't go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don't deserve me.  If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll find both yourself and me." 

- Jesus,  Matthew 10:38-39

Blessed

I am blessed.  I get to work with an amazing group of people on a daily basis.  I also have the pleasure of serving under a fantastic board of directors, each of whom provide an example of what it means to follow Jesus.

Working at Flannel is not always easy.  It seems as every year we have a unique set of challenges.  Over the past ten years some incredibly talented people have moved on and new ones have joined us.  Through it all we attempt to keep a laser focus on our mission: Telling the way of Jesus in new and creative ways.

We have some exciting things coming up in the year to come, Check it out!

New Projects for 2012 In 2012, we will be releasing 2 new series True Beauty This is a film series we are creating with Lisa Chan that focuses on lies women have been taught and the freedom that results when you replace the lie with truth as told to us through Scripture. Our culture has placed expectations on women that are, quite frankly, impossible to meet. To understand what I am talking about, all you have to do is walk through the check-out line at your local grocery store. You can learn anything you need to know about improving your looks, your career, your love life, and more. The only problem is, most of what is projected from magazine stands is the exact opposite of what Scripture tells us. While this series is meant for women, it has a lot to say to all of us. Check out this short film from Dove that inspires us in our quest to reveal true beauty. Dove clip Once you hear from Lisa, we think you will agree with us that she is a gifted communicator. While you have probably never heard her, she has taught women in her church for years. She has a passion to share with other women what God has put on her heart. And quite simply, that is what we need in order to get serious about following Jesus. Many of the struggles in our lives stem from the fact that we are chasing after the wrong dream. Lisa also has one of the traits that have become very important in Flannel's search for new speakers, and that is her life reflects her words! Lisa learned from her grandmother that following Jesus is worth more than anything the world can ever offer. It's how she lives her life, every day. Lisa will be sharing practical lessons on what it means to follow Jesus. In addition, the series will introduce us to women who have applied these lessons to their lives. We can't wait to show it to you this coming spring! Outside with Mike Foster: Unlikely Stories about the Good News of Grace

Mike Foster has been a friend of Flannel for many years. Mike Foster is the co-founder of People of the Second Chance, a movement that advocates for radical grace every day, in every moment, for everyone. He is the author of Gracenomics: Unleash the Power of Second Chance Living and lives in Southern California with his wife and two children. Mike has a passion to demonstrate grace. As followers of Jesus, we have been given the beautiful gift of grace. Mike has noticed over the years that while we have this gift, we can be pretty stingy about sharing it. We can be pretty quick to judge. One wrong comment, moment of weakness, or other slip can instantly leave you on the outside looking in. What would our world look like if we were able to extend the radical grace that Jesus has shown us? Well that's what we will be exploring with Mike in this project. We will be showing real-life stories of amazing grace! We are very excited to tell you that creative direction on this project will come from our co-founder Tom Rinks! Tom played a huge role in the creation of NOOMA, and he led Flannel for many years. He has gone on to create a number of successful consumer brands, and we could not be happier that he is lending his incredible creative mind to this series.

The past few months have been amazing as we have watched Ed's Story touch people's lives. We joined up with Ed a couple of years ago now in a desire to be a catalyst for the hope he wants to share with the world. Last month, we saw the hope spread a couple of million times on the Today Show!  In the month of December, his story will continue to spread on hundreds of radio stations as they air an in-depth interview with Ed about his journey. If you have not seen the newest films in the series, here is your chance to do so! We are very eager to finish filming this series and we really need your help. We have two films left with a combined production cost of $100,000. Thanks to one generous donor, $50,000 of this cost has been pledged if we can raise matching funds! We need your help right now. Please help us complete Ed's Story! We recently completed post-production on the seventh and final BASIC film, Communion. We are grateful for your support and encouragement. This series was put together in a desire to be a catalyst to Francis Chan as he inspires us to BE the church. Today we have a generation of people interested in the teachings of Jesus, but not necessarily the church. In this series, Francis shows us that the two truly go together. If we want to be followers of Jesus, we are the church! This series explores what the church is for, according to Acts 2:42. In BASIC, Francis often compares the early church to our modern church in American culture. However, we have found that people from around the world are interested in the BASIC message. So far it has been downloaded from flannel.org in the following languages: Spanish, German, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Korean, Russian, and Dutch.

Fellowship

The fourth film the in BASIC Series is called Fellowship.  It gets to the heart of Francis Chan's teaching in the series.  It's a beautiful picture of what it means to follow Jesus...together.

What is church?

I am church.

You are church.

WE ARE CHURCH.

Check it out.  You can watch it right here.

The launch of BASIC with Francis Chan

Our BASIC series with Francis Chan was launched July 1, 2010. We had a little get together to tell the world why we were doing this new series.  You can watch the whole even on youtube, but here is the best part. Francis speaking from the heart.