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How the world has changed in the last 10 years. I’ve doubled the number of my children from 2 to 4. So much has happened. Some have called the past 10 years, the decade from hell. Why not call it the decade of refinement? Click Here for Bateman family letterHappy New Year! God is quite creative in flashing His lights into my own heart. Take for instance the Tiger Woods car accident. I found myself kind of glad that he wrecked his SUV. It was nice to see that Eldrick Tont Woods is a regular guy after all. When the sordid rumors began, I was sort of hoping that they were true. Scandal, sex, secrecy…how exciting! I was enjoying looking down my nose wondering what he was doing at 2:25 a.m. anyway?!
So I see an ugly place in my heart where the lure of fame and fortune call and where I justify my envy and coveting. I now sit at the foot of the cross. Now I’ll be praying that Tiger, Elin, and their two little kids, baby Charlie and Sam Alexis, will encounter the transforming love of Jesus. It seems The Gentle Lion may be hunting the Tiger even more than the paparazzi. As we gather with family and friends, we have a lot to be thankful for, don’t we? We may say a prayer of thanks for the great food, but lets push ourselves to reflect deeply. We have a lot to be thankful for.
Fire swept through Southern California awhile back and 2000 homes were destroyed in the blaze. In Rancho Bernardo, in a church in which 60 families lost their homes, worshippers met to give thanks. One reporter noted, “They gave thanks for the big things: for lives saved, families, friendships. They also gave thanks for the small things: a hug, a shoulder to cry on.” We have a lot to be thankful for. As followers of Jesus, we can be thankful for things that cannot change:
We have a lot to be thankful for! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever! (Psalm 106.1) I found my way into a new culture this week: the hunting culture. When dad and I arrived onsite, all the other hunters seemed to know what was going on. They all looked the same, talked the same, and walked the same. I was definitely “new.” After we registered, we were told to go grab a bunk in the house. I thought we’d have our own private bath…well it was private if I shut the door, (but don’t take too long.) At the orientation, I sat in the back. The speaker gave us the run down on the wildlife center and 5800 acres blah blah…but his tone became firm, “Only shoot legal bucks! They need to have a minimum 12′’ spread and at least 4 points on one side…” I was not ready for all this. I looked around frantically wondering if this was going to be on the test! Everyone else sat there dozing…I guess they knew the drill. Finally the times came to hunt. I got in the back of a pickup truck. I asked dad to remind me of my gun type since I knew that would come up sooner or later. Everyone else was dressed in “G.I. Joe” camo with long boots on. I’m dressed in my army jacket from Goodwill and a funny orange hat. Everyone else has cool backpacks; I’m carrying my bottled water in a Walmart bag. My dad gave me a vial of buck urine and I just didn’t know what to say. I got sprayed with some scented stuff that was to make sure I didn’t have any scent. Yeah right. Boredom set in pretty quickly once I got on my deer stand. I couldn’t believe I had phone service! Is it bad for a new hunter to be texting his wife and kids from the deer stand? I felt guilty. Unbelievably with my Walmart bag, cell phone, Goodwill jacket, and trusty vial of deer pee, a buck came by. He was flirting with a doe. My hands started shaking. I looked at the antlers trying to discern if he was “legal.” I went back and forth if I should shoot or not. I had a shot and squeezed the trigger and…nothing happened. The bolt action wasn’t closed all the way. My heart was racing, the flirting continued and Buck walked away. There went my deer! He walked about 50 yards away, turned and stood still. This was my chance! Boom! I thought I hit him, but I wasn’t sure!? I searched for buck and he was nowhere to be found. Maybe I missed? Darkness set in quickly, the rain was sporadic. I looked all over the place. I prayed, “Lord if I hit buck, let me find him.” Finally the pickup truck came around the bend with all the guys on the back. Everyone was hungry for the fried chicken waiting at the bunk house. I told the driver that I may have shot a buck but I couldn’t find him. I could almost feel the glares from the hungry hunters in the back. I wonder if anyone ever got shot by a hungry hunter because some guy couldn’t find his deer? The DNR (Dept of Natural Resources) guys got out and started looking around. They asked me questions that I didn’t know the answers to. They were accepting and helpful while I felt like such an idiot. After 15 minutes one of the guys found one drop of blood. Thank the Lord!! We started looking for a blood trail. Forty yards away, he found buck. The DNR guys announced, “hey you got yourself a pretty good looking deer!” I was so relieved! I got on the truck with my 7 point, 150 lb. buck at my feet. The guys with all the fancy guns and gear congratulated me….my very first deer. When I had some time to reflect, I gained a new respect for people who are not part of the Christian culture, but who come and check out the Christian faith. They may not talk or dress like Christian folk. They may sit in the back and wonder if something is legal or not and they probably text during the sermon. For too long the faith community has extended an invitation, “you are certainly welcome to become just like us!” Instead I need to be more like the DNR guy who accepted a newbie just as he was and helped him find the blood. That is the true calling of Jesus-followers! Three years ago today we bought our first home. We are thankful that the banks were lending money like crazy back then because I didn’t have a job. We were just starting to put a team together to plant the Vineyard and I was looking for some painting jobs. We borrowed 100% and wondered how’d we make our mortgage payments. We did a no-doc loan. We stated that we’d be making x dollars, but we didn’t tell them we didn’t know if the next dollar was coming . As August 28, 2006 approached, I started to have doubts. “What was I doing? What am I thinking?” It hit me one day that August 28 can be written at 8/28. The Lord reminded me that Romans 8/28 says that God causes all things to work together for good to them that love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. I sensed God’s peace that He was behind all of this and it was going to be o.k. 36 months later, we’ve never missed a payment.
Recently, I talked about God blessing and inviting us to partner with Him in setting things aright (see podcast for 8/2). With so much brokenness, it can feel overwhelming. We noticed, however, that one individual can partner with God in setting things aright one person at a time. Tim Tebow plays college football. He is considered the best college player in the country. I saw him live lead Florida to a route of the SC Gamecocks last year…ouch. Tim is a follower of Jesus and is partnering with God in setting things aright…simply through his story and example. At 21 years of age and graced with boyish good looks, Tebow is one of the most talked about rising stars of the NCAA; but the football superstar literally left reporters speechless last week when he answered a question during a press conference about whether or not he is saving himself for marriage.
“Yes I am,” said Tebow briefly, who then indicated he was ready for the next question. However, in the video of the press conference, a reporter is heard stumbling over his words in the background as he tries to ask a follow-up question. Tebow then laughs, obviously reacting to the reactions of the reporters in the room. “I think y’all were stunned by that,” he says. “Y’all can’t even ask a question. Wow. I mean, I was ready for that question. I don’t think y’all were.” It wasn’t the only controversial remark that Tebow made that day. In response to another question about whether or not people may be tired of the volume of coverage devoted to the young football star, Tebow, a devout Christian, said that the level of exposure he receives is a mixed blessing. However, he said, he looks at the positive side that, thanks to his fame, he has been able to share his Christian faith with so many people. In addition, the football star told the reporters that he believes that the publicity given to his mother’s story has helped other women choose not to abort their unborn children. Tebow’s mother, who serves as a Christian missionary together with her husband, was pressured to abort Tebow following a life-threatening infection she suffered while pregnant with him. Doctors pressured her to abort her son to save her own life, but she ultimately resisted the pressure and both mother and child survived the birth. “There has been a lot of people that have been encouraged not to have an abortion because they heard the story of my mom, or they have been encouraged because they have heard me give my faith on TV or in a report or something,” said Tebow. “You know what, although there has been a backlash, oh, well. You know what, I’ll deal with it if I have to. It’s not a big deal to me because of the kids and people that have been encouraged by the stories we have tried to tell and by the life that I’ve tried to live.” Most ideas of heaven sound pretty boring. Who really wants to sit on a cloud and strum a harp? Maybe that would be okay for a week, but for all of eternity? Some wonder if we’ll do the cloud thing until we get called to the daily church service that feels never ending. Just one more song…
I really don’t like the alternative so I guess cloud sitting is better than raising hell. We usually think about all we’re going to miss: no more football? No more parties? No more fun? We have really missed it! Fortunately, when we take a thorough look at what God says about heaven, we will be pleasantly surprised. It is way cooler than I ever thought! Since heaven is HIS creation and is HIS home, he knows a lot more about it than everyone else. For the next couple of Sundays, we’re going to take heaven out of the clouds. On Sunday we’ll see what Scripture actually teaches. July 19, we’ll wrestle with some of your heaven questions that you text or email to me. We’ll conclude with a focus on “so what- what does it matter?” Hope to see you soon. Have a blessed day! On July 4th this year I decided to read the Declaration of Independence. It has been a long time. I decided to write my own cliff notes version of what I see it say (with apologies to President Thomas Jefferson.) I did this for me and my kids, but thought we could all use the reminder of what a great gift we have in a free country.
We hold these truths to be self-evident presuppositions: all people are created equal and have been blessed by their Creator with certain absolute rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Government is instituted and empowered by the people to help secure these God-given rights.
Whenever a form of government is not making that happen, it is the right of the people to alter the government or abolish it, and to organize a new government that will that will lead to a safe and happy community. It is smart to not react on a whim; sometimes people have to put up with a lot, but when a long train of abuses and getting jerked around reduces the people to scum-like status, it is the right and duty of the people to throw off that government and to provide new guards for future security.
The Colonies have been pretty patient, but it is necessary to alter the present system of government because the present King of Great Britain has repeatedly been a tyrant jerk over the states. For example:
He doesn’t recognize laws that are good for us When laws are made, he has to assent to them, but he blows them off and leave them hanging He doesn’t allow laws for large groups of people unless they give up their right to representation which is crazy tyrant-like leadership He calls government to meetings with lots of hoops and red tape, just to wear people out He dissolved government offices for opposing him. He doesn’t allow others to be elected, so things get crazy with no leadership He tries to keep the colonies small, hurting immigration He obstructs establishing new courts/judges He makes judges/courts dependent on the King’s wishes. He holds their paychecks He creates new offices that harass people He keeps armies around to intimidate; the military becomes superior to civil power On the international scale, he seeks to subject us to foreigners He keeps large bodies of armed troops among us. If soldiers are accused of wrong doing, the King protects them. He cuts off our trade with all parts of the world He imposes taxes without our consent A lot of time, he deprives us of trial by jury He transports us to Britain for stupid offenses He abolishes laws we set up and government we establish He suspends colonial legislatures and legislates “for us” He does not protect us, but wages war against us He has messed with our land, boats, town…and the lives of people He is hiring mercenaries to keep attacking and intimidating us He has forced colonists taken captive to kill their own He has got the Indians to attack us too
In every stage of these oppressions, we have humbly asked for redress, but we are constantly blown off and things have gotten worse. A tyrant is unfit to rule a free people. We’ve warned the British legislature of taking unwarranted jurisdiction over us. We reminded them of our history of coming to America. We’ve sought common ground with our brothers, but it has fallen on deaf ears. So they are choosing to be enemies in war while we’d prefer to be friends in peace.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the United States of America, appealing to God, the Supreme Judge of the world, do, in the name and authority of the good people of the colonies, publish and declare, that these united colonies are, and ought to be, free and independent states. We no longer have allegiance to the British crown. All political connection between the colonies and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved.
We, as free and independent states, have the power to levy war, conclude peace, make alliances, establish commerce, and do all all the kinds of things that free states do. And for the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of Divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.
John Hancock, President and 54 others… Something happened to the Vineyard softball team last night. It started out that the other team scored only 2 runs. Our thinking: “ok, not bad; it is only 2-0.” Then we scored 2! Our thinking: “well this is different; we tied the score.” Jay caught a couple of line drives & later on we went up 6-4. You could see the minds churning behind the surprised eyes: “we’re actually winning.” In one critical inning, there were players on base; you could almost hear the thoughts, “here we go again.” A key milestone in our journey with Jesus is to begin to believe that we can win…we can, through His strength, overcome (remember Sunday’s message- Philippians 4:13&19!) The “opposition” points out every time that we have made an error, struck out, or lost. Jesus asks, “do you believe?” One man answered, “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” As we come to freedom Sunday, asking God to release us and bring generational healing, we believe that “whom the Son sets free is free indeed!” (John 8.36) |
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Even though Tiger isn’t out of the woods yet, it was as if God’s Spirit whispered, “David, why are you enjoying all of this? Do you think that Jesus is enjoying watching Tiger squirm? His billionaire status does not trump the call for you to love, does it?”
The other day I saw something I’d never seen before. A double decker rainbow. If you look in the photo, you can see a second rainbow faintly over top the first one (it was better live). God sent the first rainbow as a promise to Noah of His enduring faithfulness. When you see a double decker rainbow, it is almost like God is saying, “I’m really, really, really faithful.” He has been and I’m glad He continues to be!
Sometimes it becomes necessary for people to dissolve the political bands which connect them with one another, because the Laws of Nature and God have given the people a sense that they are losing what is theirs. Decent people will give reasons for the separation so here they are:
The batter hit a screaming line drive to right center field that was arching away from Billy Murray. Billy took a lunging stab and caught the ball! The team turned a corner: “we began to believe that we could win the game.” Even though our score fell short at the end (10-13), we won a huge victory in our hearts. There were cheers, optimism, fun, hustle, and unity. We believe we can win together.