As I drove home, I thought about the power of the faith community, the church, the followers of Jesus. When a few, joined together in common purpose, intentionally display love, kindness, and sacrifice, then families, apartment complexes, and neighborhoods are impacted.

As we seek God for creative ways to engage our world, we are leaving behind the old adage, “20% of the people do 80% of the work” or “20% of the people invest 80% of the giving.” We are saying together, we can leverage our 20 minutes with others and accomplish 4 hours of work. We can leverage our giving with others and touch our community deeply.

Jesus leveraged the lives of 12 to touch the world, what will happen when we let Jesus leverage 40 of us?

Ask yourself, “if everyone were following my example of love, generosity, and sacrifice, would Jesus and His kingdom be honored? Would lives be touched? Would the Vineyard flourish?”  I hope so!

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.”　-Ephesians 4:15f

“As the Father sent me, I’m sending you.”  “Don’t worry about how much time is left in the game, just play!  No prevent defense, make disciples.  Wait for the Holy Spirit to come on you and then be witnesses of the good news all over the place.”

Two thousand years before Jesus, God called Abraham to a mission as His go-betweener.  God blessed him in order to bless the world (Gen 12).  As Abraham’s family grew, God reminded them that their go-betweener status remained.  God gave them royal status, as children of the King, to show what people connected to God really look like (Exodus 19) then God gave them the 10 commandments (Exodus 20) to provide a paradigm to live by.

History shows that Abraham’s family, Israel, went from the guard rail of rebellion (we do what we want!) to the guard rail of arrogance (we are the chosen elite!)  Finally, One from Abraham’s family, Jesus, came as the ultimate go-betweener.  Perfect God in flesh, yet a humble servant to a messed up world, He began to turn upright all that is upside down.  He lived as exhibit `A’ on how go-betweeners function.  He told the good news and He did the good news.  He talked about freedom and forgiveness and He did freedom and forgiveness.  He was on a mission from God.

It makes perfect sense then that the Perfect Go-betweener would tell his followers to continue with what He began.  The Church is made to live for more than herself, just like Jesus did.  In her book, Kingdom without Borders, Miriam Adeney tells how how university graduates in the Philippines take jobs as maids, nannies, and construction workers in order to enter restricted-access nations in the Muslim world. Practicing downward mobility and embracing suffering, these under-the-radar missionaries are making an impact in some of the most difficult regions in which to introduce the gospel. [From Christianity Today]  Kind of reminds me of Jesus.

Seems like getting back to Jesus’ clear teaching and example really brings purpose to life.  His followers are called to pick up the baton and run the race as go-betweeners.  We have a great message from the King!  He is making things right!

I love St. Patrick. I didn’t know squat about him except the river in Chicago being dyed green. I knew lots of beer is consumed along with corn beef and cabbage, but when I taught church history, I came to learn the story of a humble yet inspiring man.

Patrick was born in Britain about 400 AD and seems to have lived a nominally religious life. In his mid teens, a band of raiders kidnaped him and took him to Ireland and sold him to Milchu, an Irish chieftain and Druid High Priest. He was forced to tend sheep in all kinds of weather, but in the midst of his solitude, Patrick’s heart was wooed by the One True God. He recounts prayers, visions and experiences that drew up to the Savior, Jesus Christ.

“and His fear increased in me more and more, and the faith grew in me, and the spirit was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers, and in the night nearly the same, so that whilst in the woods and on the mountain, even before the dawn, I was roused to prayer and felt no hurt from it, whether there was snow or ice or rain; nor was there any slothfulness in me, such as I see now, because the spirit was then fervent within me.”       

-Confessions of St. Patrick

After about six years of harsh conditions, Patrick had a dream that told him to flee his slavery. He trekked 200 miles toward the coast and took a boat back to his family in Britain. He devoted himself to years of training to become a priest, but his heart was pulled back to his former captors. He had another dream of an Irishman calling him to come back. So he was sent to pastor the few Christians in Ireland and to bring the love and truth of Jesus to those far from God.

Ireland was wracked by paganism led by the Druids. Amazingly, God redeemed Patrick’s slavery by using it as a training time for understanding the language, religion, and culture of the Irish. Many traditions come to us of Patrick’s ministry. We see a humble man standing in the authority of the Lord Jesus with the Word of God and the power of the Spirit against the occult activity and demonic manifestations of the Druids. God was breaking the power of darkness. Through Patrick’s prayers and pastoral heart, many in Ireland experienced the freedom and forgiveness that the death and resurrection of Christ procured.

So Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Honor a great man, a great missionary, who sacrificed all to gain and glory in Christ. “Christ beside me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me.”

Click Here for Bateman family letter

Happy New Year!

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?”

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.

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’ve been bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6.19f)
• He rejoices over us with singing (Zephaniah 3.17)
• As a groom rejoices over his bride, so God rejoices over you (Isaiah 62:5
• When we return from our straying, He comes running to embrace us (Luke 15)
• He has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom (Colossians 1:12)

We have a lot to be thankful for!  Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; his love endures forever! (Psalm 106.1)

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.

One guy, with a sharp southern accent asked me what kind of gun I was using and I was so glad that dad had reminded me (it was a 6.5×55 Swedish Mauser if you care.)  I could hardly wait to text my family and let them know that I got one.

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!

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!

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.”