This week we took some time out with JD Binger a Player Minister from the USA. Again we threw some questions his way, so we hope this may encourage you get a glimpse of how God is working in other areas of the world. Take this opportunity also to pray for JD in his continued service through Player Ministry. Take a look...........

Name: JD Binger

Age: 22

Hometown: Belvidere, IL USA

Brief football playing history:
I’ve played since I was five. Growing up, my only ambition was to play football. I toured with the Chicago Eagles collegiate team to Germany during the World Cup as a missions trip. The following summer I played with the City Stars Reserve squad. I played for four years at Messiah College where I garnered two All-American awards and was elected Division III my senior year.

Position:
Centerback

Current Club and where:
Non - Please pray

Previous Club:
Messiah College

Testimony:
I was born and raised into a Christian household. Church and religion have always been large building blocks in my life. Football, as well, was from early a main element in my development. While football was my passion, church was my requirement. So while football put the fire in me, church threatened to snuff it out. These two arenas, as you might guess, never interacted with one another while I was growing up. Church belonged on one side and football on the other. I could never see what football matches and bibles had in common. Then, God started something transformative in my life. He began teaching me that he placed these desires in my heart, he knit me together making every piece and every stitch intentional. In that process, church and religion began fading into relationship with Jesus. As I learned how deeply God cares about me, that it goes beyond petty things like how I look on Sunday morning, my world slowly changed around me. I realized that football and God weren’t mutually exclusive paths. The “non-Christian” parts of my life began to take on meaning and importance that they never had before. It’s been pretty much a two-steps-forward-one-step-back since then. I learn and grow. Then forget and lose my way. But no one and nothing can contend with God’s grace.

How do you use football as a tool to share Jesus Christ?
Football is a special stage for me or anyone else who plays. Sports have that ability to draw people’s attention, football especially. I have always tried to buck the trends that we too often see from attention-saturated athletes. I play hard, but I do it without compromising my integrity. I intentionally strive to go against the flow so that people see a difference in me. And when they see it, I want them to know that Jesus is the reason for that difference.

What is player ministry to you?
Simply put, it means taking care of your teammates around you. Build them up. Love them. Form genuine relationships. These are the things that change people’s lives.

3 Key aspects of Player Ministry?

Integrity: If you say one thing and do another, people have a habit of not valuing anything you stand for. In short, they lose respect for you. But more importantly, you lose the ability to positively influence them. A life of integrity sets the stage for good player ministry.

Servanthood: In my years at Messiah, serving others was a huge focus. In my mind, I always thought it was only semi-important because it meant just being nice in a sort of awkward manner: “Thirsty? Take a drink of my water bottle. Look, there’s a door, I’ll open it for you.” Servanthood seemed to me like nothing more than a kind gesture. But I’ve been learning how the act of serving requires me to place your comforts/needs/wants before my own. I’m making you my primary focus that inevitably removes me from that spot. It’s brilliant really. In one fell move I demonstrate my love for you while stabbing the beast of self-importance that’s always trying to gain ground inside of me.

Relationship: I don’t know anything of lasting importance that didn’t have its foundation in relationship. Ministry isn’t shouting scriptures until someone throws up a white flag. It’s connecting with them in a genuine way that in the end changes both of you. I think I used to envision ministry as something more of a procedure than a process, like the Bible-Fairy thumping folks on the head. But real ministry grows out of a personal, face-to-face relationship.

What/Where next?
You tell me. I’m currently looking to extend my career by seeking out tryouts to play professionally.

What’s God been saying to you recently?
He’s been busy talking my ear off. I feel like He’s been teaching me new things everyday. Perhaps I’ll steal the words from Gandhi to express one of the most important lessons: “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” I can’t control what happens across this world, but I can control what I do. If I want to see more compassion, I need to be more compassionate. If I want to see people’s faces lit with joy, I need to let God’s power shine through me so I can be that bright source of joy for others.

Prayer points?
That God would provide some direction for my life, that he’d open the right doors, close the wrong ones, and help me get to where I need to be. Also, that he would continue the good work that he has started in me, you, and everyone around us that in the end will transform this world.

I hope that this works. I enjoyed going through these questions because it helped bring to mind the things that God has been working on in my life.