A couple of weeks ago a great friend and F2W Family member gave us some discounted baseball tickets (Obviously this is a Godly man!).  The tickets were for an upcoming Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field.  He told me he believed in what we were doing and wanted to do something special for F2W (As a side note, I would encourage more people to obey God and give us free event tickets!).

I decided to offer the free tickets to F2W Family members.  You know, to say thank you for all that they do. 

So last Sunday some F2W Family members and I headed to Atlanta for a day at the ballpark.  And it was a perfect day!  Great weather.  Great fellowship.  Great game (Yes, the Braves won.). 

As I was sitting there eating my $12.00 chicken fingers and drinking my $5.00 coke, a thought struck my mind.  Why aren’t more churches like this?  Why aren’t more Christians like this?

Think about it; at this game tens of thousands of people were gathered together in community.  No one cared about the guy over there drinking a beer (If you were against drinking you just ordered a coke).  No one cared that the girl beside them had tattoos and piercings (It didn’t matter what she dressed like; you were just glad she was there pulling for “your” team.).  No one cared about the person beside them singing Take me Out to the Ballgame a little off key (You were just excited they were singing with you.). 

Differences did not really matter.  There was a sense of community.  People cheered, yelled, and acted crazy; all because they were passionate about their team.  And you know what?  It was ok.  In fact, it was expected.  The focus was the team.  Jesus addressed this issue and had some pretty harsh words to say about people who were focused on the wrong things.

What if Christians were correctly focused?  What if we were so laser-focused on Jesus that we did not look around to see black or white, democrat or republican, wine or grape juice, tattoo or jacket and tie...  We were just excited to have someone beside us cheering for “our” team. 

My humble prayer is that one day, we as Christians will no longer be known by what we are against but by who we are for.

Chasing Him,

Ike

PS: Thanks to all our great F2W Family members.  You make this ministry happen.  Never forget, you are making a difference!  Thank you...