Bill Blaney of Global Aid Network returned to the Drew Marshall Show on April 28^th for the second time to explain the situation in southern Ethiopia. While some matters have improved, the drought continues, and lack of water has caused many to be sick with dysentery.

“We committed to feeding for six months. When I went back, it looked quite a bit better; no more malnourished children, previously there were 160. Elderly were made healthy through fafa and it had rained a little bit.”

Drew was curious about the spiritual implications on the Borana. “Is there a God discussion with these people?”

Fortunately for GAiN, the Borana have been receptive. “We’ve had quite a few. We’re very honest and we’ve told them God cares for you and that we do too… They accept that quite openly.”

But for many people around the world, the “God discussion” is too difficult in light of the enormous pain they have experienced. In fact, many who have experienced trials similar to the Borana have cursed God for allowing the pain.

Cheryl Weber, producer and co-host of the new daily ‘Full Circle’ on CTS, was also on the show with Drew and asked Bill what many often wonder, “Where is God when bad things happen? How do you process pain?

Bill is not only qualified to answer those types of hard questions because he has seen the depths of pain, he has also wrestled with them himself. He described what he saw in Darfur, Sudan and said, “It was almost a showstopper for me.”

“As we looked around everywhere, most of the men were killed, most of the women had been raped, many women were pregnant… they were just staring, traumatized. You could walk in front of them you could move your hand in front of their eyes. I struggled very much with that.”

In his struggling, God met Bill and spoke to him.

“Let me tell you the solution that I believe God gave us, ‘Bill, if you want to serve me and make a difference in people’s lives, you must understand something about my character. Through you, if you will allow me, that character can work itself out.”’

What character? Drew, Cheryl, and listeners across Canada hung on Bill’s next words.

When Moses said, ‘Show me those weighty things that define who you are so that I can know you,’ God could have said many things, but he said, ‘I am a gracious God, a compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.’ I had to first understand that God does not desire the suffering. In most cases it is a man-generated event. God has great compassion on those people. And it is taking Christians and allowing us to touch others with His love, compassion and grace…

Drew interjected, “Almost like the honour of stepping in on His behalf…”

To which Bill was in full approval. “It is a privilege. I say this all the time and believe it to the tip of my toes. It is a privilege to step into a place where people are, a place they haven’t designed, a place they can’t get out of, and to let them know God cares for them.”

That’s why Global Aid exists: to love others with the love of Christ, to show them compassion, the outworking of which is grace, and meeting their needs.

Bill is right. When Christians truly and deeply love others, people stop and stand in awe of a powerful and mysterious love. Love in action is the greatest apologetics, the most compelling argument for Christianity, the most evident sign of the Spirit in people.

Bill fittingly finished with a quote from Mother Theresa: “There are no great acts of kindness or mercy, there are only small acts of great kindness and mercy.”

Feeding 2500 Borana may be a small act in the grand scheme of the drought, but it is a great love that compels such action.

It got me thinking about my own marriage to Debbie.  One memory in particular stood out.  Debbie and I were still young, living in Manitoba.  One day, Debbie and I were out for a walk when we spotted a note pinned to the railing of the bridge ahead.  Curious, we read the note.  It was addressed to my wife!  Debbie would often come this way on her walks, and a stranger had been watching.  Following.  Admiring.  The note left a phone number and invited Debbie to give him a call.  I was enraged that someone was stalking my wife. We left the note where it was, and kept walking.  Only minutes later, we looked back and noticed a man stop and pick up the note.

Leaving Debbie behind, I ran back to my house in time to see the man pull away in his truck.  Within seconds, I was in my own vehicle, chasing him down the road.  I pulled ahead of him and then slammed on my brakes, forcing him to stop. I physically hauled him out of his car, slammed him down on the hood, and shook him.  “Are you stalking my wife?” I yelled.  He denied it, until I pointed the note in the back of his car. Still shouting I yelled  “You leave my wife alone and never go near her again because I will use every resource I have to stop you!”  I’m one hundred percent sure that if not for God, I would have hurt the guy badly.  I was that furious.  That was the end of him coming anywhere near our house or that bridge.

Maybe you’re appalled that I lost my temper.  To this day, I shake my head over how rashly I behaved.  But I’m not sorry that I acted so swiftly and decisively to protect Debbie and our marriage.  And that incident taught me more than few things about love and commitment.

So often, when people think about commitment they think about what they stand to lose.  If I give myself to this person, I’ll lose my freedom.  It will cost me so much – so much time, so much money, so much energy.  What if the sacrifice is too great?

Yes, commitment involves loss.  But it also involves enormous gain.  When you make those vows, you gain a lifelong ally, a refuge, a protector.  Someone who will fight with you and for you, for the things that matter most.  Those vows Debbie and I made were what compelled me to run after that man.  Because Debbie had pledged herself to me, I trusted her; I didn’t need to stop and wonder whether I had misread the situation.  Because I had pledged myself to Debbie, I leapt to her defense.  I risked my own safety to make sure she would be safe.  Commitment makes a new kind of love possible: deeper, more courageous, more adventurous.  True love is not possible apart from true and total commitment.

Think about this in the spiritual realm.  So often people worry that if they pledge to follow Jesus, God will ask them to give things up.  He might; it’s true.  But we’ve got it backwards if that’s what we focus on.  Because giving ourselves fully to God actually involves enormous gain.  Satan sets out to destroy us.  But picture this:  the Creator of the universe grabbing Satan and shaking him.  “You have no idea who you’re dealing with!  Stay away from my child!”  That’s the kind of power and love we have on our side when we’ve given ourselves completely to Jesus.  (If you doubt me, try reading Romans 8:28-39 every day for a week.)  And when you’re sure of that love and power, you’ll find yourself loving God and loving others more courageously and more freely than you ever imagined.

This is how I greeted my colleague, the Executive Director of Ministries, first thing in the morning the other day.  A confused look followed.

“For what?”

“I don’t know yet.  But I’m surely going to have done something wrong by the end of the day, so I’m profusely sorry.”

We both threw our heads back and roared.  Because it’s funny.  And also because it’s so true.  In fact, we joked, we should both create apology templates in our email programs: “Dear ______, I’m sorry for ______.”

We’re always sorry as leaders.  Have you noticed that?  It’s impossible to please everyone.  Case in point: our team at Power to Change is busy developing The Life, a national initiative to challenge Christians around the world to commit one hundred percent to Christ.  One element of this initiative is The Life card – a credit-card sized symbol that’s a reminder of the commitment.  “It has to be brown and yellow,” a number of people suggested, “It should be warm, earthy tones.”  “Blue,” the rest insisted.  “A refreshing ocean blue.”

Brown and yellow versus blue.  These are the situations you face sometimes as a leader.  It’s not like you can compromise and choose green.  That would make everyone unhappy.  And no matter what you decide, you’re likely to step on somebody’s toes.  So you make the choice, and then you apologize if you need to.  And you’ll need to frequently.  I was only half-joking about the apology template.  You might want to create one for yourself!

On a more serious note, I’ve found that being quick to apologize has always served me well as a leader.  (As a husband and father too.)  Recognizing that a person is hurt doesn’t necessarily mean you were in the wrong, or that you’ve made a mistake.  Apologizing is not a sign of weakness.  It’s a sign that people’s feelings matter to you, and that you value relationship more than you value being “right.”

When you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, which you will, you’re in good company.  I won’t deny it can get uncomfortable.  But try to relax.  Try to laugh about it.  Then apologize.

I hear voices.  Sometimes it sounds like my own voice, second-guessing my decisions.  Questioning, doubting, nagging at me.  Rehearsing what happened that day, cycling around the same thoughts over and over.  “You should have done that differently.  What if you made the wrong call?”  Sometimes it’s the voices of other people.  Critical, skeptical, disapproving voices.  “Are you sure this is possible?  I disagree with that.  You’re on the wrong track.”

If you’re a leader, you probably hear those voices too.  Because leaders – if they’re really leading – live out on the edge.  Leaders have to make hard choices.  They take risks.  They’re always moving beyond what is and what seems possible to what seems unlikely at best, laughable at its worst.  This is especially true of ministry leaders – the whole point is to set impossible goals that only God can accomplish.

So if you’re a leader, you’re going to be criticized.  You’re going to question yourself.  How do you silence the voices?  How do you get a good night’s sleep?

What I’ve learned is that prayer is the only way.  When I’m lying awake at 2 AM with the same negative thoughts rolling around and around my head, I pray:  “God, please stop my mind.  Stop these lies and doubts.  Give me peace.” “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.^” (Colossians 3:1-2)  I’m usually in a deep sleep within minutes.  And I wake up, refreshed and thankful, realizing that God has answered my prayer yet again.  When I’m feeling discouraged at the end of the day, I’ll pray, “God, could you show me your hand with me?”  And He does.

Of course, you could pray a thousand times and it might not help.  You can’t just pray a quick prayer in the middle of the night and expect that to be the answer.  Prayer won’t work unless it’s rooted in trust and surrender.  When I pray, it’s because I know that I am not the one with power or strength, God is.  When I pray, it’s because I know that I can only see a little way into the future, but God is already working things out far beyond what I can see or imagine.  When I pray, it’s because I know that even if I fail, or make a huge mistake, God will present me to Himself holy and pure, blameless in His eyes… “as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25b-27)

When I pray, it’s because I know that without God, I would fall off the edge.

If I weren’t a leader, I would probably sleep better.  I wouldn’t hear voices as often.  But I also wouldn’t be forced to depend on God so completely.  And I wouldn’t have the enormous joy of answered prayers – during the day, and at 2 AM.

But books don’t travel well at 150,000 miles/second. Videos do. And there’s a whole host of Christians making cutting-edge videos to effectively declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world. Here’s four:

TruthMedia

The first and (admittedly biased) favourite is our very own TruthMedia, whose Internet television network is a cutting-edge initiative that seeks to make the Gospel “inescapable.” Through this online network, they’ve had the opportunity to introduce hundreds of thousands of online seekers around the world to Jesus Christ.

Luke Schenk is the Creative Director at TruthMedia, and now utilizes a recently refurbished studio with professional equipment in Langley, BC. They’re constantly seeking actors, script writers, and short film contributors to enhance their ministry.

I am Second

I was recently stunned by the testimony of Brian Welch, not printed and shipped in book form, but communicated via video conveniently on my Facebook feed. Who gave this former Korn band member a voice to share his testimony? How did I hear about God’s transforming work in his life? I am Second is “a movement meant to inspire people of all kinds to live for God and for others.” Their modus operandi is the video: well made and in characteristic “I am Second” fashion: bold, artful, gutsy.

GSFN

Then there’s Global Short Film Network (GSFN), a part of The JESUS Film Project who is a partner of Global Aid Network (GAiN). Although executed differently, their goal is very similar to I am Second: “to help you discover a person’s story through the theme of the films. As you listen to their story, you can share your own and connect the viewer to the person of Christ.” GSFN’s films come with discussion questions to equip believers in 76 countries and in 14 languages.

This Is Me TV

In the near future, the Gospel will seek to go viral yet again with This Is Me TV, a testimony-based project launched by Dave McSporran of Bottled Media. Think MTV Cribs meets the Gospel. “We want to inspire and encourage Christians to follow their passions for Jesus. You can be an athlete or hip-hop star and still be a Christian.” Trailers to the episodes will be all over Youtube and Vimeo, but the actual episodes will be found at thisismetv.com.

“This isn’t Christian television with fake-happy people. It’s real people, real life.” As a videographer, Dave sees the project as an opportunity “to do something worthwhile with the gifts [he has] been given.” The first episode launches on April 13^th and the trailer can be found here.

Things of First Importance

There stands Gollum, on the edge of the fiery pit in the land of Mordor. He holds the One Ring high above his head in delightful glee, having grasped that which he has longed for for many years. But then, in a moment of oblivious passion, he stumbles backward(!) and plummets into molten lava, destroying both himself and the ring.

As we all know, that scene is from Tolkein’s novels-turned-movies trilogy, Lord of the Rings. It’s the climax of hundreds of pages and hours of film recounting one of the most epic tales ever told. And it’s undoubtedly the climax of the story: the thing of first importance, if you will. But none would venture to say it’s the whole story. How foolish that would be!

Without grasping the immense power of the ring, you can’t appreciate the extent to which evil was overcome and the potential for peace in Middle Earth was gained. Without knowing the journey that Sam and Frodo took to get to Mordor, you can’t appreciate the fulfillment of a quest accomplished or a friendship forged.

In fact, to drop a poor soul in on the climax of this trilogy would be akin to cruelty. Let them know the whole story first! For therein lies the richness of the tale. My point? I’m afraid we’ve mistaken the entire good news (gospel) for the climax of the story.

A Richer Story

How big is God? If He’s as big as they say He is, shouldn’t His plan be similarly impressive? Should His offer of “full life” not include staggering implications? When Christians proclaim the good news (gospel), “Jesus died and rose again” others scratch their heads, thinking God must be small and irrelevant.

Interestingly, most would say the same about a heart. The heart beats and beats and beats and without it… the body dies. But the heart is not everything. There is a body that the heart seeks to nourish so that it can perform incredible tasks.

In fact, if all you saw was a heart, you might wonder what the big deal is. I mean, sure, it beats fairly consistently, and it seems to be a very impressive, well-designed organ; but why is it so crucial? And why is Gollum’s plunge into Mount Doom’s flame so critical? And why oh why talk about Jesus’ death and resurrection in same sentence as “good news”?

Just when I get fooled into thinking the good news (gospel) is only the heart, I read that God is reconciling all things to himself and that this is yet another implication of the gospel. All things. Every little thing: reconciled. So the cross is – the centerpiece of the arrangement – the key in which the song is sung – the point on which the wheel spins – the heart of it all. But being the thing of first importance does not necessitate being the only thing of importance. Nor does it limit the vast implications that something of first importance can have. In fact, vast is too small a word in this case.

We’ll get to the implications, but not yet. We need a backstory – an introduction, if you will. The Apostle Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 15 that there is a truth at the center of this thing called Christianity: Jesus died and rose again. But we should read those words and immediately backpedal. “Wait, what? Who is Jesus? Why did he come? Why did he die? How did he rise? What do those two truths mean for today? Why do millions care about the gentle Jesus martyr? How can he be such good news?” Let’s rewind together.

1.     A plan – The good news was designed before time began. It was formed and the universe was built around it. And guess what? It was made specifically for you and me. Ephesians 1:4 explains that the historical Jesus, who only walked on earth for thirty years or so, does have something to do with God’s eternal plan. He wasn’t sent as a patch for a plan gone askew; he was the plan. And His death/resurrection paves the way for us to be with God. That’s good news. How that all works is coming, just wait.

2.     There’s a promise – So did we know about this plan ahead of time, or did it come as a surprise? Pastor Mark Driscoll once jokingly said, never trust anything that started in America. Point being, it’s a good thing that the promise of the Gospel came before Jesus. He didn’t show up and cleverly devise a religious system to fool hundreds of millions of people. No, His arrival was expected and predicted as early as Genesis 3. Could this be the Gospel? Yup. And another dimension was added with Abraham, several chapters later. The Gospel would include a land, a nation, and a blessing. Connection to you and me? 1) Our land is being prepared for us in heaven by Jesus Christ. 2) Our nation is the body of Christ, His people, His Church and His bride. 3) The blessing is His offer of salvation for all people, through Christ. Now that’s good news.

He Sat Down

Fast-forward from Genesis to Jesus. Picture him: there’s Jesus in the synagogue and he stands up because he’s got a message to share. He unrolls the scroll – reads from Isaiah, a passage specifically predicting the Saviour Messiah – and rolls up the scroll. He hands it over and sits down. And never, in the history of the world, has a man sitting down meant so much as it did in that moment. Every eye was fixed on Him.

“That’s it?”

“Could he be the one?”

“Will Joseph’s son make the blind see?”

“How will Jesus the carpenter free us? With wooden swords?”

And as if to remove any doubt, Jesus declares, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Boom. That’s the tell-it-like-it-is, straight-up Jesus coming through. This account tells us that the historical Jesus hasn’t been hijacked for a spiritual campaign labeled Christianity. No, this was his baby, right from the get-go. The royal proclamation of a Kingdom had arrived in the form of a man, who was also God. Jesus Christ was here and he had good news. He was the good news. He still is.

Still? Now we’re getting to the implications. For through Him we have gained access to faith. *Careful with the following articles. It’s the good news, the Gospel, one singular thing. But it’s also the Gospel of a multitude of things: a comprehensive plan for developing a new civilization and there is no end to the implications of this list applied to your life.

1.     It’s Alive – the Gospel is not only true – it’s powerful. And it’s power is able to transform you and me. When we meet God, we are not just changed intellectually or reformed socially, we are reborn. And from that point of new birth we experience the painful and powerful molding of our personhood. We do not instantly become like Him. No, He transforms us over time. God is mighty to save in an instance and mighty to sanctify over a lifetime. The good news never stops – it’s alive today and offers you and me a working power.

2.     Good News Has Hope – just as there seems to be no end to man’s evil, so too is there no end to the hope offered by the Gospel. We live in the dark days of a fallen world: hardships, pains, and sicknesses that we know are distortions of how things ought to be. Because of the Gospel, we wait for the perfection of a redeemed world, and in the meantime, we pray for His Kingdom to come. What’s that look like? Jesus’ life. We seek the healing of broken things and we receive, in small ways, the assurance of what a redeemed world looks like. Bodies are healed, minds are restored, and family strife is calmed. The Kingdom is here – but not quite yet – and we are filled with hope as we see the firstfruits of the approaching harvest day. The good news is the hope that Creation can be, and is being, redeemed.

3.     A Gospel of Obedience – if there is a wrong way to live, then there ought to be a right way, no? The good news gives direction (thank God) and it does so in the most empowering and enabling way. Jesus called His first followers the same way He calls you and me, with two simple words: “Follow me.” Nothing else. He doesn’t tell the fishermen how, he just says, “Follow” and the journey begins. So while there is obedience, there is also enormous freedom in the call to “follow”. Watch Him. Learn His ways. Do what He did. It’s a call He made then and is still making now.

4.     Justice is good news – we’re eager to lament over evil, but hesitant to confess we’re part of the cause. Logically speaking, if there is a right way to live, there is also a wrong way. Since we’re part of the issue, part of the contribution to this world’s evil, the perfect justice of a good God demands an answer from us. Since we have nothing to impress God with, He sent His son to wipe our slate clean. Justice has been served for you and me. But what if someone doesn’t want it? “What will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” It’s a natural question asked rhetorically in 1 Peter 4. The King will return and He’ll already know where we stand. That’s not a threat, just reality. If goodness requires obedience then justice naturally demands an answer from the disobedient, and the Gospel has got one.

Amidst this discussion of power, transformation, hope, obedience, and judgment, Jesus’ death and resurrection remain the key to it all. The same power that defeated the death of Jesus, defeats the death around us and gives us the power to transform, which in turn provides hope for all things. Jesus paid the price for our debt that we owe God for every time we contribute evil to His world. And, in the meantime, the good news doesn’t leave us stranded, but gives us a beautiful, rich, life-giving path to follow.

If all you knew was that the ring perished in the fires of Mount Doom, you wouldn’t really know anything. Jesus died and rose: four words that can mean so much, but without both the backstory and future implications we cheapen the deed.

Back in January, we had a big snowfall, and I was using the snow-blower.  Our driveway is steep, so it’s almost impossible to drive a vehicle up it when it’s snowy.  I’d only cleared about half the snow when my son arrived, and decided to try to drive up the driveway.  He gave it lots of gas and made it halfway up, then spun out, and slid back down.  Again and again he tried, until finally he slid onto the lawn, and spun up the grass too.  Finally he gave up and parked at the bottom.

When I saw what he’d done – packing the snow down and spinning up the lawn I’m so proud of – I was furious.  Next thing I know, I’m yelling at my son. “What are you doing?  This is crazy!  You wrecked my yard!”

He was not impressed.  “Don’t talk to me that way!”

“At least come grab a shovel and help me unpack all this snow!”

“If you’re going to talk to me that way, I’m going home.”

“Fine.  Just leave!”  And he left.  I was still fuming when my wife came out.

“Leonard, you yelled at your son!  It’s only snow.  You need to apologize.”  But apologizing was the last thing I wanted to do.  I felt like my son had been careless and disrespectful.  He was the one who should be apologizing to me!

That night, I tried to pray.  But I could sense that things were not right between me and God.  It was as if God was saying, “Leonard, you shouldn’t be talking to me.  You should be apologizing to your son.”  And then, over the next few days, whenever I tried to do things for God, it was like God was saying, “You know, Leonard, don’t even bother.  You yelled at your son.”  This sin kept popping up.  Finally, I realized, “Wow.  I’ve got to apologize to God and to my son.”

So I prayed, “God, I was so stupid.  I yelled at my son.  What was the point of that?  It was only snow.  The grass will grow back.”  God forgave me, but it wasn’t enough.

I wrestled for days.  Could I apologize unconditionally?  My temptation is to apologize conditionally: “I shouldn’t have yelled, but you shouldn’t have wrecked my yard.”  That kind of apology means nothing.  Finally, I mustered up the nerve to phone my son.  “Son, I yelled at you the other day, and that was totally wrong, and I’d like to apologize to you for it.  Can you forgive me for what I did to you?”

“Yeah, Dad, sure.  Thanks for calling.”  That was all it took.  Suddenly there was this incredible freedom in my soul.  I was forgiven.  I was free from my sin.

I’m not proud of that story.  And you might wonder why I’m sharing it.  Two reasons.

First is this:  if you want to do good things for God, make sure you’re not letting sin pile up in your life.  A little bit of sin here or there might look insubstantial, but before you know it, it will become an obstacle – an obstacle between you and God, and obstacle between you and the people you care about, an obstacle between you and the things you want to do for the Kingdom.  Make it a habit to clear sin out of your life.  That means confessing – to God and often to people – and receiving forgiveness.  (God will always forgive you.  People might struggle to forgive but it is your responsibility to ask for forgiveness and then leave the results to God.  You can only do what’s in your power to do.)

Second reason:  If you want to introduce people to Jesus and to the forgiveness and freedom they can have with Him, then you need to be living that forgiveness and freedom yourself.  When you tell your friend whatJesushas done for you, there should be a spark in your eyes reflecting the daily freedom you are experiencing.  When you share how Jesus is redeeming you, you should be speaking with your head held high, no burdens weighing you down.  That’s what will get people’s attention.  That’s what will stir their longing for Jesus.

So I encourage you: it’s only snow.  But don’t let it pile up too long.

I strongly encourage you to watch Into the Storm, a biopic about Sir Winston Churchhill’s leadership of England during World War II.  It’s actually my all-time favorite movie.   It paints an incredible image of the kind of leader it takes to make s significant difference.

If you watch the movie, I’d love to know what you think.

Have you ever been a part of a ‘failure celebration’?  What did you think of that experience?

Image modified from http://bostonherald.com

Dave Klassen is the National Pro Ministry Director for Athletes in Action. As a Christian whose entire life is surrounded by the sports world, all ears perked waiting of Klassen’s response. For the 0.5% of the population that doesn’t already know, Tim Tebow was a Heisman-winning quarterback in university and recently led the Denver Broncos of the NFL on a surprisingly successful playoff run. Similarly, Jeremy Lin has led his team, the New York Knicks of the NBA, on a surprisingly successful winning streak as of late. But besides their youth and success in the game, these men also share devout faiths in Jesus Christ. The difference comes in approach: one is quiet, the other loud. Drew sought Dave’s opinion and, of course, the temptation would be to pick sides.

“It’s personality for most of it. Tim is very vocal, very prominent. If you look at what he did in university, compared to what he’s doing now, it’s no different. Jeremy Lin is strong too and vocal but in a different way.” So why the flagrant abuse of Tim Tebow and the relative acceptance of Jeremy Lin? “One of the biggest issues is that the secular community is more comfortable with Lin’s personality.”

Drew sought to illustrate. “Let’s say there’s a guy who’s Christian and one of them just grinds everybody’s nerves with ‘Jesus this’ and ‘Jesus that’: spiritual overdose. Would you ever pull up a guy like that? Or just let them go?”

Dave has had to do that before and credits a lot of it to maturity. “I don’t think anyone wants to offend anyone,” he says, altruism showing through. But it’s not just Christians that offend. “The same is true for the guy who plays the blaring swearing music in the locker room. Sometimes we are too aggressive.” And that includes Christians. “There is a place where it offends and it is a personal walk with Jesus Christ. There is a place to be zealous and a place to withdraw.”

So… what about you? What’s your take on these two men and how they share their faith? Is one more effective than the other? Should we aim to be as quiet as Lin or as loud as Tebow?