Danielle “Dee” Cekanor, Crawford Loritts and Jason Cook focused on the importance of finding identity in Christ during the Oct. 16 and Oct. 18 Convocations.
Wednesday’s Convocation featured Cekanor, a now-retired Canadian swimmer who competed for 15 years, 13 of which were at the national level. She competed in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics and now lives happily retired with her husband, still building her personal brand through public speaking and social media.
Cekanor was born with achondroplasia dwarfism, and she began her message by acknowledging this condition. Cekanor described how she has wrestled with the fact that she does not look like everyone else for her entire life.
“One day, all my friends started getting taller than me and faster than me, and I got left behind,” Cekanor said. “And I was really frustrated because I felt like God had given me this competitive desire that I could do nothing about.”
Cekanor referenced Matthew 5:14, which calls believers to be the light of the world. In her everyday life, she could not just put on a costume every day, yet many people work to craft disguises for the parts of their identities that they are ashamed of.
“Our God given purpose is to shine the light of Jesus into the world through the unique ways God has made us,” Cekanor said.
Later in her speech, Cekanor told a story of how she was vulgarly yelled at by a homeless man on the streets one night as she was walking home. At first, she chose to run away and hide in her apartment, but she felt like God wanted her to buy a meal for the man.
“I didn’t know if I could walk out of my apartment door if I’m being honest,” Cekanor said. “And I remember sitting there, and I was hoping that God would just give me peace and that I would go to bed. But instead, all of a sudden, I felt the Lord tell me, ‘Go out there and buy him dinner.’”
When Cekanor approached the man again, he was still yelling hurtful words at her. But when Cekanor offered him a meal, he apologized for how he had treated her and asked for forgiveness, and this led to a heartfelt conversation, which ultimately brought them together in friendship.
Five years later, Cekanor crossed paths with the man once again after preparing to speak at a church two thousand miles away from where she last saw him.
“And the craziest thing was that I felt so close to him that I could have given him a hug,” Cekanor said. “Thirty minutes earlier, I was scared to walk down my street, and then God said, ‘Hey, it’s not all about you. I know that that hurt, but I need you to do something through this and go be the light of the world for me because I promise you it’s not just going to light up the rest of your life, but it might just light up his.”
Junior Audrey Mutscheller felt inspired by Cekanor’s message.
“I liked when she said not to place your identity in things that change,” Mutscheller said. “Because placing your identity in things will shift over the years, but placing your identity in God means it will never change because he never changes.”
During Friday’s Convocation service, Loritts and Cook discussed the methods, struggles and merits of leading this new generation through the local church with Chancellor Jonathan Falwell. Loritts and Cook are connected by their leadership of Fellowship Bible Church in Roswell, Georgia. Loritts was the senior pastor at Fellowship Bible Church for 15 years, but he stepped down in 2021, and Cook became his successor.
Loritts and Cook said that attending church and finding community in that church is vital to a Christian’s faith walk. Loritts said the church provides a place to bear the burdens of the congregation, and that can’t be done through a podcast or TV. Christians can “get information and good theological framework,” but they are not able to experience the “incarnational nature of the church” without being present.
“Our needs are met through community with each other, and … is the purpose and beauty of his bride, the church,” Loritts said.
Cook echoed this with the story of one of the women of his congregation, Grandma Thelma. Thelma, on account of her age, no longer serves in the capacity she once did. Now she now serves Cook’s family directly by making them cinnamon rolls every three weeks. He said his children’s enjoyment of the treat is an example of relational love unique to the local church.
“Life is so much more rich and fulfilling when you are receiving the gifts of someone in an incarnational way,” Cook said.
The conversation concluded with Loritts addressing the audience directly. He stressed the importance of a long-range view, trusting God, not just with six months or a year but with 10 years. He implored students to practice daily prayer and to fervently study the Bible in order to grow closer with God.
“God’s smile on your life will (be) because you embrace faithfulness and humility,” Loritts said. “… Your ambition should always be that my godliness is going to be greater than any platform that I ever stand on.”
Senior Katrina Buchanan enjoyed listening to Loritts and Cook describe the generations represented in the local church.
“They recognized that older generations were responsible, in way, for the younger because they raised them, so seeing that acknowledged was nice. Not in a way to shuck responsibility, but in a way to say no one is perfect,” Buchanan said.
Hughes is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion. Sturek is the campus news editor.