December 31, 2018 - Climbing the Ladder (How Low Will You Go?)

Here we are on the eve of the big game… the game we will call 2019! Typically before games, athletes are envisioning how they see the game going… thinking about and committing to what needs to be done to stop or slow down the opponent… thinking about how to implement the offensive game plan (which by the way we have been discussing in this blog the last few weeks)… and, to be honest, many players are thinking about what they need to do to stand out and be successful (sometimes with no regard of the team.)

Bottom line is that we can think about things all we want, but the “committing to” is how we actually put it into action. All around the globe tonight people will be making their New Year’s Resolutions… and the reality is less than 25% of those will be kept past the first week of January… in other words, a lot of thinking about… not a lot of committing to.

Reality is that commitment demands sacrifice and one must be very passionate about something to really sacrifice for it! Yet, in spite of those woeful numbers, I think it is imperative that we make plans and prepare… the we set goals / resolutions… that we figure out what we are passionate about.

Most resolutions are set with the idea of how to better oneself… i.e. my year will be better if I am better… if I look better… if I make more… if people make more of me… if I climb the ladder a few rungs higher…

Let me challenge you for this next “game” (year) to look at it a bit different. Jesus had a lot to say about obtaining greatness… but He had quite a twist on it. He basically said that our greatness is not in how high we climb… but to what depths we will go… TO REACH GREAT HEIGHTS WE MUST CLIMB DOWN THE LADDER!

Matthew 20:26-28 “Yet it shall not be said among you, but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave--- just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (The words of Jesus)

So, what are your resolutions for the year… your “game plan”? I’m not saying you shouldn’t resolve to take better care of yourself… or be better at your job… etc. I am saying that our focus, as members of God’s team, should include a lot of planning on how we can meet the needs of others… how we can seek to serve, not be served! Get yourself a game plan and commit to it… sacrifice for it… make sure it goes beyond just thoughts to action… make sure it last longer than just though… longer than a week…

Have a great 2019… How low will you climb?

December 24, 2018 - Unexpected Scorers

How a player perceives himself and/or his role on the team, will determine or dictate how he performs in the game. Obviously, skill set matters, but what goes on between the ears is just as important. No, I’m not a sports psychologist… just a coach that has witnessed time and again the transformation that takes place in a player when he finds identity and purpose within his role on the team.

I remember one player that came to me in high school and had always been expected to just be a facilitator… a passer. Yet the young man had some great scoring skills as well; he could shoot the 3 and had good handles for getting to the hole. As a coach, I just had to rewire his identity… make sure he understood what we wanted and needed from him as a team… and he became an unexpected scorer for us.

That young man got so excited about his new role that I then had to start reminding him that passing is a good thing also… that he didn’t have an opening to shoot every time he touched the ball… I LOVED WATCHING HIS EXCITEMENT and he made a huge difference for our team!

The last couple of weeks I have keyed on the importance of sharing the Gospel and some practical points on how to do it… This week I want to encourage you in that role for the team… we need you to be a “scorer.” And in case you feel you are not capable of or worthy of or… fill in an excuse… lets remember what happened that first CHRISTmas.

The shepherds were a lowly lot… what was expected of them was to guard the sheep and stay to themselves; history indicates that not many folks would even talk to shepherds (including religious leaders}; so to say they weren’t big on the social scene is an understatement… they would not be expected to “score” if that meant communicating with others… they would not have been a coach’s choice… BUT GOD had a different plan.

Let’s pick up in Luke 2 following the shepherds being told about the Savior and then meeting Him in the manger…

17-18 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told to them.

They now had new identities (angels spoke to them, and they had met God); and with this, they took on a new role for the team… had a new purpose… and became “unexpected scorers” for the kingdom!

YOU HAVE A PURPOSE! YOU HAVE A MISSION! YOU CAN AND SHOULD BE A SCORER! (Please let us know if you want to be trained further in how to carry out the mission…)

December 17, 2018 - Being Offensive Without Committing Offensive Fouls

I often spend time in these weekly blogs with challenges to be more offensive (looking to score), while not being offensive (rude and unloving.) Yet I realized following last week’s devotion that sometimes it is easy for a coach to say things that the players simply are not fully equipped to carry out… telling a player to score means nothing if the player doesn’t know how to get in position to shoot!

In basketball I spend a lot of time not only teaching the basics of shooting the ball, but also in teaching players how to get open for the shot… how to make reads. For instance…

…if a player has ball in hand, I may show him how to feign relaxing and when the defender starts to come up out of the defensive position to then blow by…

…if a shooter has a defender on her I will teach if the defender’s hand is down let it fly… if it is up blow by…

…if a player is off-ball and the defender is trying to deny him the pass… if the defender stays between him and the basket then pop out for the past… but if the defender over-denies and steps past the shoulder to cut back door…

I realize this is gibberish to non-basketball folks reading this, but I think we all get the point that there are ways to be much more effective in getting good shots. And last week I encouraged to be taking shots by sharing the Gospel. So, this week I thought I would give a simple tip on the how-to’s of sharing… of being offensive without being offensive.

I mentioned holiday greetings in the previous devotion and those seem to get a lot of attention on social media; for instance, I often read things like “it is not happy holidays, it is merry Christmas!!!” – or – “keep Christ in Christmas!!!” (And I emphasize the exclamation points!!!)

Quick questions, (and remember my goal is to help us get open for good shots), why do we expect the world to put Christ in anything? When the world gives their greetings, are they being rude or nice? The way we come across sometimes is like we are saying, “How dare you say Happy Holidays to me!” When, to wish someone happiness during the holy-days is a pretty nice sentiment. And even if it is as crazy as “Mery Xmas”, at least they are wishing merriment…

If our responses to folks are abrasive and demanding of our rights, we have already gone against the example of our Savior who laid down His rights; and we have committed an “offensive foul” by trying to run through the defender instead of getting an open shot…

What if instead we said something like, “thank you so much, and Happy Holidays to you too! I love this time of year. What is your favorite of the holidays? Mine is Christmas… the promise of joy and peace… it blows my mind that God would come to earth… do you know why He did that?” And you can get into a great Gospel conversation.

Or maybe you see the Merry Xmas sign… what if you asked, “hey what does the X mean to you?” And then follow it up by solving for the variable? (Every CHRISTmas I like to mention this point to make my math friends happy!)

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one” Colossians 4:6

Burden translation: Be offensive without committing an offensive foul! Take good shots!

December 10, 2018 - Getting Buckets

In the spirit of last week’s devotion on telling the Good News (and my typical CHRISTmas time rants), I have some quick observations this week…

Obviously, it is basketball season, and it doesn’t take long in knowing me to realize that is my favorite sport. I appreciate the beauty of the teamwork, the different roles that have to be played, etc. I understood this past week when Greg Popovich (coach of San Antonio Spurs) stated that “there is no basketball anymore, there’s no beauty in it.” This was coming from a coach that is known for teams that play beautiful, unselfish basketball… where there are a number of passes getting the team the best opportunities to score. In fact, that style has led to San Antonio having the highest winning percentage of any active NBA franchise.

I do love to watch them play and, as stated, understand Pop’s complaint; but, bottom line is that in order to win a team must “get buckets!” A team could play beautiful basketball… many passes… player movement… set picks and screens… AND STILL COMMIT A VIOLATION BY RUNNING OUT THE SHOT CLOCK! As far as I know, there are no beauty-points in basketball, and the only way to score is for the ball to go through the hoop…

All of that to remind us this week (this time of year) that the only way we “score” is when the Gospel is shared…

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (Good News) of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. Romans 1:16

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Romans 10:17

So instead of worrying about what holiday greeting we receive, why don’t we be the givers and share the Good News… “take a shot”… or we risk “having the shot clock run out” on this great time of year for telling what the shepherds did… that there is a Savior… peace with God available!!!

(And you have to take shots in order to get buckets… “you will miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!”)

December 3, 2018 - Bragging On My Favorite Player!

Everyone loves to brag about his team winning (or the rival team losing.) You hear things like, “My favorite team is (insert favorite team’s name); and my second favorite team is anyone playing against (insert rival team’s name)!”

Or maybe it is not a favorite team, but instead a favorite player that is bragged about… spouting off his or her stat line from the night before…

Although we may love it and gloat when a rival loses, it is not near as rewarding as celebrating when we win!

Simple reminder this week as we head into the CHRISTmas season… once the shepherds had met Jesus, we are told that they celebrated by telling everyone about it… I guarantee they would have lit up social media with the news!

The Scripture says, “Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning the child.” (Luke 2:17) It was a message of “great joy to all people.” (2:10)

What was that saying? That there is now “a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (2:11)

My point is simple: We need to be bragging about Jesus and what He has done for us as individuals and as a team/family! (Not spending so much time talking down about the rival…)

Make December a brag about Jesus month!