Evotional.com - Mark Batterson

Hard to put today into words. I preached a couple services at Union Station. And we still had our normal service schedule. But we added a fifth location--RFK stadium. We ended up having more 10,000+ guests. Blessed a lot of people today. So proud of our volunteers. I think we had about 1200 volunteers from lots of churches. So cool to see that many churches come together!

Lots of smiles. Lots of love. Lots of burgers.

I'll try to post some pictures as soon as I get them.

What a day!

I woke up with Psalm 118:24 in my spirit today: "This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." It is absolutely gorgeous out today. Not a cloud in the sky! Which you really appreciate the day after a tropical storm hits you! Perfect day for the Convoy!

Went over for the volunteer orientation @ 7:30 AM and we had about 800 volunteers. Thrilled about that. Wasn't sure how the bump from Saturday to Sunday would affect the involvement of some other churches. Totally understand if they need to do their regularly scheduled services. We are. But we're really encouraging people not to come to church. That's a first. We're encouraging people to head out to Convoy of Hope at RFK stadium! So basically, the smaller our attendance today, the better we'll feel about it.

We have a core value at NCC: expect the unexpected. We're living it right now! Who could have guessed that Hurricane Hanna would blow into town right when we scheduled the Convoy of Hope. Craziness! We planned on doing the event rain or shine. But tropical storm? Long story short, we've been in contact with FEMA and HOMELAND SECURITY and they were very concerned about putting thousands of people in harm's way once the wind starts really blowing. And it sounds like every other event has canceled. So here's the scoop. We're moving the Convoy of Hope to Sunday @ 10 AM.

I think we've gotten 973 messages on our phone line. It's mass confusion. But all you can do is smile and embrace the chaos. So proud of our leadership team led by Joel Schmidgall. Making some incredibly difficult decisions!

We want to encourage NCCers to come to our 6:30 service @ Ebz on Saturday night so they can serve! And if you have to choose between "church" and Convoy it's a no brainer! Serve at Convoy! It's ironic that we call our "services" services. But the real "service" will be at RFK stadium. Let's be the church!

Praying the Storm passes through quickly so we can bless the socks off of our community tomorrow. And maybe tomorrow is when the greatest need will be? Trusting that God's timing is perfect.

Tomorrow is the big day.

We host the Convoy of Hope at the RFK Stadium. Our team has been preparing for this event for about a year. Huge undertaking. Lots of people investing lots of time. And we're believing that God is going to use it to touch lots of lives.

There are a couple things I love about Convoy. First of all, it's all about blessing our community with no strings attached. We certainly want to present the gospel. But something powerful happens when you don't just do that with words. You also do it with deeds. I also believe that churches need to occasionally do something that is bigger than they are. Convoy definitely falls in that category. We're expecting 10,000 guests. And we need more 1200+ volunteers to pull it off. That is out of our league. And that is precisely why we need to do it.

Would you pray for us?

Obviously concerned about Hurricane Hanna coming through DC on Saturday. And really praying for divine appointments.

Been anticipating the NFL kickoff since training camp started.

If you want to see my picks check out my 2009 predictions. These aren't my sentimental choices. They are my left-brain picks. Here are my right-brain picks...

Since I had a chance to connect with the Jags last week I'd love to see them do well in the AFC. And I'm a huge Favre fan which means I'm now a pseudo Jets fan. Love to see them make the playoffs. And an MVP for Favre would be poetic justice.

I'm really hoping the Vikings and Redskins--two of my three teams--do well this year. I think the Vikings will make some waves. But I have no clue about the Redskins. And then there are the Packers. I'm a die-hard fan. Been a cheesehead since I was seven years-old. But I'm still reeling from the bitter divorce. I feel a little like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. I love them, but I'm still mad at the way management handled the Favre situation. I think Favre could have taken them to the Super Bowl this year. But now we'll never know.

Are you ready for some football?

Let me beat a drum that I've been pretty passionate about for a couple years. I think we need to do a better job of sharing our creativity within the Kingdom. There is way too much "competition" and not enough synergy. I better preface what I'm about to blog by repeating what I blogged about last week: imitation is suicide. But we need to learn from each other and share with each other. In a sense, I've always viewed creativity as a game of leap frog. Get an idea from someone. Put your own fingerprint on it. And try to do it better than they did it.

I'm a non-tech guy, but I like the open-source concept. Instead of a controlled closed-system, open-source allows a variety of programmers and designers to shape the source code. That's a layman's definition. But it's all about collaboration. Or in the words of an 80's classic: stop, collaborate, and listen. And the end product is better because of the synergy. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

It was about a year ago that we made a decision that we'd open-source all of our sermon series. The driving desire is that other churches would take our ideas, add their creative touch, and do them better than we did them.

Approximately 400 churches have done a Chase the Lion sermon series based on In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. All of the graphics and videos and transcripts are absolutely free and customizable. Check out www.chasethelion.com. We're doing the same exact thing with our Wild Goose Chase series. We'll make all the resources free @ www.chasethegoose.com. And while you're at it, check out www.TheElephantInTheChurch.com. It's another series we'd love to see hundreds of churches do.

Let me share a couple open source examples. There are tons of examples, but here are some graphics from churches that are doing a Chase the Lion series and Wild Goose Chase series. But they are putting their own creative fingerprint on it. What's inspiring to me is that other churches are doing trailers and invite cards and creative elements that are better than we did it.

Let's play leap frog!

Can I share a win?

My publisher tracks bestseller lists for a number of publications. Just found out that Wild Goose Chase hit #5 on the Washington Post Bestseller list for nonfiction paperback. It's not the New York Times, but I'll take it. And it's cool to know that the book is doing well in my local market.

We have a core value at NCC: work like it depends on you and pray like it depends on God. I feel like we've done that with Wild Goose Chase. We did a lot of groundwork in preparation. And lots of people were praying.

By the way, #6 this week was The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama. Gotta love that. Granted, his book has been on the list for 36 weeks!

Just heard from my publisher, Multnomah Waterbrook, that there have been 332 blog reviews for Wild Goose Chase to date. Just wanted to say a huge thanks to all the bloggers who did one. So grateful. Feel like you're a shareholder in the way God uses the book.

I'm starting to get emails from readers and divine appointments are happening. My overriding prayer is: Lord, put the book into the right hands at the right time. He's answering those prayers. Thanks!

God loves the smell of our sweat. I know that's a strange thought. And please keep using deodorant. But I think it's true. We have a core value at NCC: work like it depends on you and pray like it depends on God. God loves the sound of our voices when we are singing praises to Him. But I also think he loves the smell of our sweat when we are serving Him. Service is how we love God with all of our strength.

Our team has been working like dogs for months. And that's what 1000+ volunteers will do at the Convoy of Hope on Saturday, September 6. We are going to roll up our sleeves and bless the socks off our community. I honestly think, quantitatively, it'll be the biggest outreach event we've ever done. We're expecting 10,000+ guests.

If you're a local, and you want to serve, here is some 411.

Can't believe it's September. The bad news? Summer is gone. The good news? Are you ready for some football? I anticipate the NFL kickoff almost as much as Christmas :)

Our kids had their first day of school. And Josiah is now old enough now to wear a school uniform. He looked so cute and he was so proud. He tried to hold back the smile, but he couldn't do it. These are the moments you want to freeze frame as a parent. You want to stop time. Give your kids a huge hug. And never let go.

I made some caramel rolls for the occasion. Hmmmmm good. Good way to start the day!

Had a relaxing Labor Day weekend. Hung out with the inlaws, Robb and Carrie, out in Bristow, VA. Nice to get out of the city for 24 hours. Played six hours of corn hole! Crazy, but my calves and hamstrings are killing me.

Hit IHOP for breakfast this morning. And then chilled out most of the day. Topped it off with some grilled burgers!

School starts tomorrow.

In my message this weekend I'm talking about a concept from Wild Goose Chase. The Celtic Christians had a name for places where heaven and earth seem to touch. They called them "thin places." The burning bush was one of those "thin places" for Moses.

Now I better qualify this theologically. God is omnipresent. He is all around us all the time. He is never absent. What's absent is our awareness. But I also believe there are times and places where God reveals Himself in a unique way and we're never the same. We experience an epiphany. And those holy moments are "thin places."

I'm sharing a few of my "holy moments" or "thin places" this weekend. They range from a cow pasture in Alexandria, Minnesota to a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. But here is a picture I took while driving on a bus through the Andes Mountains. It's the closest I've ever come to feeling like I was on top of the world. We drove through the cloud cover and this was the view from 12,000 feet.

Just wanted to post a link to the Wild Goose Chase book trailer. We shot the video when we were in Scotland. Love the bagpipes in the background.

Check it out.

Summer and I went to the Redskins final preseason game at FedEx Field last night. It was her first NFL game. After walking about two miles to get to the stadium we took the escalator to the upper level. It was so high up that my ears popped. We were two rows from the top of the stadium, but I think it made it all the more impressive for Summer. So fun to hang out with my little girl. And I love that she loves football.

Can't wait for the regular season. Bring it on!

I love facebook for lots of reasons. At the top of the list is the amazing connections. It's like two degrees of separation. Got friended by my freshman locker partner from High School not long ago. Reconnected with so many "long lost" friends from high school and college. But I got a message today that was over the top.

Someone messaged me and asked if I was the son of Don and Bonnie Batterson. I replied in the affirmative. And they told me that in 1959, my grandparents led her parents to the Lord! My grandparents, who were amazing people, made such an impact that one of their daughter's has my grandma's name as a middle name. So grateful for the spiritual legacy that my grandparents left. But to hear a story about how their lives influenced not just a family, but generations, was a profound reminder of that old saying: only one life will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

I just read the latest issue of Outreach magazine and the feature was an interview with Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic in LA. He said something that was so profound. Really made me think. "I think a lot of pastors have a dream that matches the life of the pastor who is the living the dream they want." Man, that stopped me in my tracks.

I think there is a such a temptation to copy when it comes to ministry. I wrestle with it as much as anyone else. I think we need models. I've got my fair share, including Erwin McManus. But I remember reading something Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in Self-Reliance: "There is a time in every man's education that he arrives at the conviction that imitation is suicide. He must take himself for better or for worse."

I think there are two simple principles that ought to guide us:

1) Keep Learning.
2) Be Yourself.

At some point, most of us stop learning and start copying. It's so much easier. We stop living out of right-brain imagination and start living out of left-brain memory. And that is when we stop creating the future and start repeating the past.

Just a simple reminder. There never has been and never will be anyone like you. And that isn't a testament to you. It's a testament to the God who created you.

Did a chapel for the Jacksonville Jaguars tonight. What a cool experience. They are in town playing the Redskins. A friend of mine, Asif Shaikh, gave their chaplain, Anthony Johnson, a copy of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and some of the guys have read the book. So he invited me to come and speak.

Man, some of those guys are huge. Physical specimens. But I also perceived tremendous spiritual hunger. Neat opportunity to speak a word of encouragement. And it'll be fun watching them play after praying for them.

Also gave each of them a copy of Wild Goose Chase.

I'm going to start sending out transcripts of my messages via email. Actually, I'm resurrecting something I did for several years. If you want to subscribe you can do it here.

For those of you who want the backstory, here is a little bit about the evolution of evotional. I originally came up with the name, with some inspiration from our team, as a description of an email devotional. So you drop the "d" and get evotional. Sort of a double entendre.

Then I launched my blog by the same name. But evotional was originally an email version of my weekend message. In the past year, I've taken a little hiatus because I don't have time to write the message out. But we've decided to resurrect it with one caveat: it's an audio transcript.

By the way, I originally did it to work on my writing skills.

Here's the bottom line: I want to resource other pastors. So all of our messages are available for free in lots of formats. You can watch the webcast or download the podcast. So we're adding a transcript to the mix.

The purpose behind it is this. Give NCCers a double dose. Or for those who miss a weekend, it keeps them in the loop. And it's a resource for pastors around the country.

There you have it. The evolution of evotional.

Sign up for a free subscription.

Just posted our Wild Goose Chase trailer if you want to check it out. We play this at the beginning of our messages as a "bumper" before I get up to preach. Six weeks. Six cages.

Props to our media team and Jeremy Sexton. Love the vibe.

A pastor from the Eastern Shore visited NCC last week and left a Grotto's gift certificate for me. But he did by hiding it in our performance space and emailing me a clue. Just went down there and retrieved it from behind a picture. That's a first.

If anybody else wants to play hide-and-seek let me know. I really like Malnati's and Ruth's Chris hide-and-seek. Oh yeah, also like Fogo De Chao and Cheesecake Factory hide-and-seek.

Well, Wild Goose Chase has been out for one week. Still feels surreal but it's fun getting emails from people who are seeing it in bookstores. Even my little girl, Summer, was visiting grandpa and grandma Batterson in Florida and the book was front-and-center at their church bookstore. Pretty cool. It's now out of my hands and in God's hands.

I'm getting this question quite a bit: who is the book written for? So I thought I'd take a stab at it. Honestly, I think every author writes with a subconscious audience in mind. But you never know who it will resonate with. That's where the sovereignty of God comes into play!

I think it's a great read for anyone who is bored with their faith or lost the spiritual sense of adventure. In that sense, it is written for a general audience. But here are the people I think it will really resonate with. Because I pastor twenty-somethings, I think I naturally write for twenty-somethings as well. It'll be a great read for anyone navigating the quarterlife crisis. I also think it'll help college freshman and seniors who are entering new life stages. Of course, sophomores and Juniors can read it too.

I think it's a great read for people who going through life transitions.

And, finally, I'm hoping it'll resonate with readers who are spiritual seekers or new believers. I think it frames a relationship with God in a fresh way.

Chase the Goose!

Getting excited about Catalyst 08. Every year we take our entire team. Who knows? Maybe someday we'll charter our own plane or rent a couple RVs.

Wanted to let blog readers know about a special discount on labs. FYI--I'll be doing a lab on the Wild Goose Chase. The special rate ends Thursday, August 28. And if you mention my blog, you can get an extra $10 off.

Love to connect @ Catalyst.

Just thought I'd give a heads up. In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day is now available on Kindle--Amazon's wireless reading device.

We're going to give NCCers some tattoos this weekend. That's a first. Thought it'd be a fun way to encourage people to chase the Goose. But I also think it's a unique twist on Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads . Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

The bottom line is this: we tend to remember what we should forget and forget what we should remember. So we need to find ways to keep things at the forefront of our consciousness. A temporary tattoo is one way of doing that.

Every summer I take a little preaching sabbatical. We have an amazing teaching team so it's much easier now than it was five years ago. But I think it's healthy for me. You can preach for two reasons: you have to or you have to. One "have to" is because you are on the schedule. The other "have to" is because you have fire shut up in your bones.

My litmus test every summer is how I feel coming off of my preaching sabbatical. Am I excited about getting back into the saddle? If I'm not, it's probably time for me to hang it up. But every year I have this renewed excitement about what God is doing at NCC.

I definitely need the break. But it's great to get back into the flow. Excited about what God has in store over the next few months. I think it's going to be an amazing season at NCC.

Today was a long day!

Got up at 1 AM EST. Headed to Heathrow airport. We got on the plane and had to sit on the plane for three hours because of a valve malfunction. No fun. Then we had an eight hour flight that got us back to Washington Dulles around 2 PM. Went home. Showered and shaved. And then preached at the 5 PM service @ Ebenezers.

Not sure what time zone I'm in. But it was so good to get back in the pulpit. I preached a little too long which I should have anticipated for two reason. I feel pretty passionate about the topic--Wild Goose Chase. And I haven't preached in a few weeks. That is a dangerous combination!

Gonna watch a little pre-season football and crash!

What a great week in Scotland. Wrapped up Unplugged Europe. I have a feeling we'll be doing another Unplugged Europe. Probably do it in a different country. But it was so great to build relationship and make connections with some amazing leaders on the European front.

Hop a flight to London tonight. Then back to DC on Saturday. I'm actually preaching on Saturday night so hopefully we won't have any delays. Can't wait to see the fam! And I'm looking forward to five weeks without any travel.

I posted some pictures on facebook if you want to check them out.

Great day at Unplugged Europe. We met in a really cool venue called The Jazz Bar. Great group of leaders from six countries.

We have a core value: everything is an experiment. And this is no exception. I think the experiment went well. It was a tag-team effort with Tony Foley, pastor of Eikon Church in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Andrew McCourt, pastor of Cornerstone City Fellowship in Derry, Ireland.

Me and my blokes climbed up to the crags outside Edinburgh to shoot a little video for Wild Goose Chase. There are some ancient ruins--one of the oldest chapels in Scotland built in the 7th century AD. Pretty sweet symbolism. The door is like a portal in time. Like walking through fourteen centuries of history when you walk through the door.

I'll post some more pictures to facebook.

Loving the vibe of Edinburgh. It's a city of half a million people, but I guess the population doubles during the Fringe Festival. Had a blast walking the streets last night. Ate some deep fried food at a little dive called The Clam Shell. Saw the military tattoo march out of the Castle with their bagpipes. And did some people watching.

Went to sleep around 2 AM. Still adjusting to the time zone. And the city was still buzzing. The energy reminds me of Manhattan. Seems like the city never sleeps. But maybe that's because we're staying right on the Royal Mile.

The crazy thing to me is how cloudy and rainy it is. The only sunshine we've seen has been during our round of golf at St. Andrews. And it's crazy that 70's is hot!

Gearing up for our conference kick off tonight. Also going out to "the crags" to do a video shoot today for Wild Goose Chase.

Just added a Scotland photo album to facebook for anyone who is interested. Also created a Chase the Goose facebook group.

How do I describe my round of golf today? Here's a stab at it. I didn't play St. Andrews. St. Andrews played me. I actually had seven strokes in one sand trap. It was amazing! Or pathetic. Depending on which way you see. All I could do was laugh. I did bounce back to shoot a 47 on the back nine. Nothing to proud of. But I'm more of a duffer than a golfer.

We didn't win the lottery for the Old Course so we played the New Course. But we shot some pictures on the 18th hole at the Old Course. By the way, the honors go to Andrew Smith, Superintendent of the AOG in Scotland. Shot a very impressive 76.

Here are a few pictures: the eighteenth hole, me and my blokes, a sweet putt by Dave Schmidgall, and the sign says it all. By the way, feel free to laugh at my black socks and black shoes. What can I say? Rentals. But I got to keep the socks.

The day has finally arrived. Been circled on my calendar for quite some time. Wild Goose Chase hits bookstores today! Really have a sense of destiny because of the prayers that have been prayed. Can't wait to see the way God is going to use it. I feel like the book is now out of my hands and in God's hands.

I'm going to celebrate by playing a round of golf at St. Andrews. I'll definitely post some pictures. Not sure if I'll post my score :)

Chase the Goose!

Loving Scotland. Awfully rainy and I should have packed a few long-sleeve shirts. But loving the sights and sounds. Staying on the royal mile. Saw a little street theater. Toured Edinburgh Castle. Saw the stone of destiny.

I'll post some more pictures to facebook later this week.

Here's the final book byte. It's actually the opening paragraph of Wild Goose Chase. The book officially releases tomorrow. T-minus one day!

The Celtic Christians had a name for the Holy Spirit that has always intrigued me. They called him An Geadh-Glas or the Wild Goose. I love the imagery and implications. The name hints at the mysterious nature of the Holy Spirit. Much like a wild goose, the Spirit of God cannot be tracked or tamed. An element of danger and air of unpredictability surround Him. And while the name may sound a little sacrilegious at first earshot, I cannot think of a better description of what it's like to live a Spirit-led life than Wild Goose Chase. I think the Celtic Christians were on to something that institutionalized Christianity has missed out on. And I wonder if we have clipped the wings of the Wild Goose and settled for something less-much less-than God originally intended for us.

Chase the Goose!