Welcome to the His Call Your Coordinates series! 2020 has definitely been a challenging year, hasn’t it? Many of you feel lost right now. You wonder where God is or what your purpose is now that our world looks so wildly different. I can relate!
But our God is always with us. No pandemic can thwart His purpose for our lives. God is placing us at certain sets of coordinates to carry out His call even though our world feels a little wonky right now! Our theme verse, then, for this series comes from Acts 17:26-27b:
From one man, he [God] made every nation of mankind to live over the entire face of the earth. He determined the appointed time and the boundaries where they would live. He did this so they would seek God and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
I pray these words become more precious to you as we meet together throughout this series. It captures two truths that are vital for us to acknowledge whenever we feel lost or purposeless:
1) God has appointed us to live in a very specific time and place, so we are never truly lost.
2) God is never far from us, so we are never truly alone.
I also pray that taking a fresh look at Paul’s missionary travels throughout the book of Acts along with various interviews I’ve had with some of my fellow author friends, help you have a light bulb moment; enabling you to live out God’s call in your life right from your own coordinates. For God is never far from you! Instead of holding onto the past and continually lamenting what could have been, let’s look to God and where He’s placed us for what we can be doing now.
So let’s get started, shall we? We’re off to look at what happened to Paul as he traveled to various coordinates such as Corinth and Ephesus. For this week’s adventure, we’ll meet up with my friend and fellow traveler, Kate Battistelli. I do hope you’ll unpack, sit for a spell, and listen to our recorded interview at the bottom of the page for further inspiration and encouragement before you leave. Enjoy the rest of your travel itinerary, which is also listed below for you to reference and thank you for spending part of your day with us!
His Call:
To mentor others in the faith so they can mature spiritually and help others do the same.
I still remember the smile on my little boy’s face when he thought the Star Wars character, Luke Skywalker, was the author of the New Testament Gospel of Luke in his children’s Bible. I hated to break the news that this really wasn’t the case. Getting an active little guy of any age to sit still and focus is tough! Upon hearing the truth that Master Luke was actually a Dr. Luke, my son’s smile faded as he realized his error in mixing up an ancient doctor of medicine from Antioch with a cinematic Jedi from Tatooine.
My mama’s heart desires to help my son grow and mature spiritually. Like my son, I too, needed to be mentored and encouraged in my faith. There are a lot of different “Lukes” in my community or on my social media feeds. I need to know which ones are trustworthy and which ones are spreading false teaching.
For false Lukes preach faith-based messages that sound convincingly convenient. Most of these “gospels” have nothing to do with the grace of God. Nor do they mention the saving work of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness His sacrifice on the cross provides to all who come to Him by faith. Instead, these cinematic Luke-types are feeding their audiences fictional scripts that focus on mantras that make hearers feel warm and fuzzy.
The majority of what I see touted on Twitter or am hearing on certain podcasts and news shows disgusts me. The false messages prevalent today lead many away from the true gospel message.
Jesus said for us to take up our cross and follow Him and only Him to the coordinates God has called us to.
He never asks us to follow a Luke-type. Jesus said we are to follow Him, no matter the cost (Matthew 16:24).
Carrying one's cross isn't convenient. Carrying one's cross is costly. Click To TweetThis is why you and I need those who are more mature in the faith to come alongside us! Not for us to follow them. But to allow them to help us follow Jesus. Some in Christian culture today are getting this backwards. They are placing too much emphasis on the words of a human messenger instead of in the Divine Logos Himself.
Who or what we allow to influence us matters. Our soul is at stake (Matthew 16:25). We do not need others to tell us how to gain the whole world. We need them to help us forsake it while loving those who are still in the world along with us!
If God is calling you to find a mentor at your coordinates, look for the broken and bruised among the faithful. For though their cross has cost them much, they continue to carry it anyway.
Or like Paul, God may be calling you to mentor someone right now. Do not dismiss the bruises and scars that you bear from your own cross-bearing. These are what you will draw from so you can help others heal or find their hope in Jesus instead of a false Luke-type at their current coordinates.
Your Coordinates:
Corinth (37° 56′ N 22° 56′ E) and Ephesus (37° 56′ N 27° 22′ E)
While in Corinth, Paul invested in the lives of two of his fellow tent makers, Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:3). Commentators believe that during this time, Paul mentored the couple in their faith to some degree. While many interesting things took place during Paul’s time in Corinth, he eventually sailed to the port of Ephesus with Priscilla and Aquila.
The Jews that Paul reasoned with in the synagogue there asked him to stay longer. But Paul felt led to continue on to another set of coordinates, leaving Priscilla and Aquila behind to continue building up the believers there. This allowed Priscilla and Aquila to fully depend upon God to lead and guide them going forward.
Soon after Paul departed Ephesus, a well-liked speaker, Apollos, who knew the Scriptures well came to Ephesus (Acts 18:24). Even though he taught the Word of the Lord accurately, he knew only of John’s baptism. Paul’s mentees took Apollos aside and corrected him in private, so his teaching could point others to Jesus as the Messiah (Acts 18: 25-26). I assume this made Paul very proud of Priscilla and Aquila.
Leaving the Broadway stage to answer God’s dare to homeschool
My guest for this week’s interview, is the lovely and accomplished Broadway performer, author, and grandmother, Kate Battistelli. Similar to the Apostle Paul, God has called Kate to several sets of coordinates to accomplish the various calls He has designed for her life.
At one time, Kate performed on Broadway. But then God dared her to go to a different set of coordinates. While at these coordinates she homeschooled her daughter Francesca, who eventually became a Grammy award winning singer. I imagine Francesca’s songs are a blessing to many of you!
Take a listen to our conversation. Be encouraged as Kate shares about what has happened since those early days with her daughter. The current call that God has given Kate proves that it is never too late to do what God dares you to do at the coordinates He’s given you!
She’s also weathered some health issues, stood her ground during some intense seasons of spiritual warfare, and trusted God as she overcame shame from past choices she made. Kate believes then that, “God’s sees me according to my destiny and not my history.”
Others have poured into Kate to help her come to this realization and to remind her of her need to follow God and obey His dares whenever He calls her to pick up her cross and follow Him. Like Paul, Kate is also pouring into countless Priscillas and Aquilas at her own coordinates as well as others around the globe whenever God calls her to do so.
“If you are older, God can still have a second act or another story for you.” ~ Kate Battistelli
Guest Bio:
Kate Battistelli is the author of The God Dare and Growing Great Kids. She’s mom to GRAMMY award winning artist Francesca Battistelli and has been married to her husband Mike for 36 years. As a young actress in NYC, Kate went from understudy to starring as Anna in the Broadway National Tour of The King and I opposite Yul Brynner for more than 1,000 performances. Kate and her husband laid down their careers in Broadway theatre in answer to their first “God Dare,” moving out of New York City and into a life of homeschooling and a home business. Kate is one third of the popular Mom to Mom Podcast and you can connect with her online at katebattistelli.com.
Additional activities for your travel itinerary:
Say “hi” in the comments below and answer one of the following questions to be entered into the “Travel From Home” Giveaway!!! One commenter will be chosen from the six blog posts in the series, and the winner will be announced on July 30th!
What is one thing a mentor has taught you that has stuck with you or impacted your faith?
What is one piece of wisdom or advice you want to pass along to someone younger in the faith?
Who can you love by helping them to see that God has never left them? What evidence in their life or in yours proves this? How can you specifically share this with them this week?
Lastly, here is a link to a freebie that you can click on and print off for fun! I hope this prayer for your coordinates is a blessing to your heart and to your home:
Lisa Ludt says
Hi Tracy and Kate! Wow, this was so impactful! I love when Kate said “If you are older, God can still have a second act or another story for you.” This gives me new hope at age 54. For the questions this week, one thing a mentor taught me was to see that I was worthy of God’s love. That is something I greatly struggled with for many years. I mean, how could He possibly love me? I had messed up so much in my younger years. I remember when I was 17 (and pregnant), and my brother was diagnosed with Leukemia (he was 13). I actually believed it was a punishment from God related to me and the fact that I had gotten pregnant young and out of wedlock. I never felt worthy to approach God…I always felt ashamed and wondered why I was even here. My mentor (my Aunt) was so loving and patient and kind, and through many hard conversations and prayers and tears, I learned how powerful God’s love and forgiveness is, and that He sees worth in me! I strive to pay this forward as often as I can as I believe those younger in faith need to know this! They need to know our God is merciful and forgiving, and when Satan tries to use our past to make us feel unworthy, we need to remind him of his future! We are here because God has a plan for us. We are where we need to be at each mile marker of this journey, even if we are not sure why. God knows why and He is with us every step of the way as our guiding compass….we are never lost or alone!
katebattistelli says
Oh Lisa, it astounds me how the enemy causes so many of us to get it so wrong for so wrong. I too believed for years that God couldn’t use me I’d messed up too much but that is such a lie! God’s love is big enough to see past our sin and offer His forgiveness and mercy when we truly repent. Thank God He sees us according to our destiny and not our history! And thank God for an aunt who was willing to have those hard conversations with you. You are blessed! And believe me, 54 is young!! Bless you, Lisa 🙂
Tracy Steel says
Thank you, Kate, for coming on and for sharing with us today. You are truly an inspiration to us all and I thank God for giving you many “dares” over the years and for you saying “yes” to Him in the many ways that you have! Blessings to you, my friend! 🙂
Lisa Ludt says
Thank you Kate! I love that….God sees us according to our destiny and not our history. That truly resonates in my heart, and is so full of hope and joy. Thank you for opening your heart to us!
Tracy Steel says
yes and amen, Lisa! We are never lost or alone as God’s children! Thank you for sharing your story and what you have learned as you’ve continued to follow God and discover HIS truths about who you are in Him!