January 28, 2019 - Driving to the Goal!

When coaching players I would often stop a practice and ask why he or she passed to a certain teammate… and follow it up with a simple question, “did that help us get closer to the goal?” (I know there are times that a pass needs to go backwards, but only if it gives you a better lane to move forward.) The point is that everything we would teach, diagram, or demonstrate was meant to do one thing… get us to the goal… it was the driving force!

Yesterday I was privileged to hear a message from my dear friend Quinton Williams on the idea of “Drive.” He talked of how easy it is for us to get distracted from what drives us… and to get off track. He talked of the need stay on course… he used as an example the road strips on the shoulder of a road that wake a wayward driver to get him back on course…

Our drive/focus as believers needs to be on Jesus… and the commission He gave us. Yet this world is full of things trying to distract us… we end up making Jesus and the Gospel an addition to our busy schedules, instead of being the goal we want our schedules to get us to…

So, what is the answer to staying “on the road”… going toward the goal? First, each individual has a responsibility to know the “Playbook” that the Coach has given… you must be committed to the Word of God to give direction! Second, you must have teammates that have the same goal… teammates that help you stay “awake” to the plan… that keep you “between the lines.”

I’m really just scratching the surface of the ideas here, but hope it gets the point across that we need to build our lives around the right goal!

2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.

Hebrews 3:12-13 Beware, Brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

January 21, 2019 - Hey Batter-Batter, Hey Batter-Batter, Swing!

As I was reading a book by Dr Tony Evans this weekend, he was sharing stories from his past in athletics, including his time as a baseball catcher. He talked of all the energy spent trying to disrupt the batter… talking noise… or in baseball terms, the chatter.

I was clearly remembering as a young boy out in the field yelling, “Hey batter-batter, hey batter-batter swing!” Or yelling from the dugout when were up to bat, “We need a pitcher, not a belly-itcher!” (Yes, that felt as weird to write as it must have sounded to anyone that was past puberty… but to young guys we were looking for any way to distract the opponent as we could.)

Whether we call it chatter, talking noise, talking smack, whatever… the reality is that we live in a world that is trying to distract us. Some of it is blatantly ugly and clearly from the enemy, yet some things seem as harmless as Little League chatter. And like a Little League batter, we will swing and miss, or maybe not even get the bat off our shoulder, if we listen to this chatter/noise.

I love the story that Evans shares (Page 131, in the book Destiny); he talks of Yogi Berra trying to distract the great homerun king Hank Aaron. Yogi apparently was just talking to try to break his concentration but stating, “You’re supposed to hit with the label up on the bat.” (For you non-baseball readers, on wooden bats how the label is facing is supposed to make it more or less prone to cracking.) Not exactly harsh chatter… But I love what Aaron reportedly responded, “I came up here to hit, not to read.”

Mere words were not going to distract “Hammerin’ Hank”… he would always go to the plate on a mission!

(In basketball I remember having coaches that stated. “No girls!” during the season… felt they were a distraction to us.)

As a believer we are called to be on mission… living on purpose! Yet, in the hectic world it is very easy to get distracted. I am encouraging us to take inventory of our lives and what distractions we are being affected by… that keep us from staying on mission.

Ephesians 5:15-17

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

It is when we make being in the Word a priority that we can know God’s will… His purpose for our lives. It is when we eliminate distractions that we can actually find out who God has made us to be… or using the word Dr Evans uses… our destiny.

Bottom line is that we need to live smarter… subtracting distractions… adding intentional focus on the Lord.

January 14, 2018 - Scoring Opportunities

I loved when I was on the sidelines coaching basketball… that was the time that I could help my teams implement the plans/plays we had established in practices. The job on the defensive end was to close up the holes the opponents wanted to attack; and on the offensive end to take advantage of the holes the opponents had open…

I wanted our players to be aware of the other teams’ tendencies, so they could compete at their best. For instance, if a team was super athletic and loved to get to the basket, we would run a defense that forced them to shoot outside… we needed to be aware of what type of defense the other team was playing to know what offense would attack it best…

But the bottom line is that I had these things called time outs that allowed me to stop play and bring the team together; during those times I could adjust our defensive approach, or I could design a series of passes, cuts, picks, and/or screens to create openings on the offensive end… to show them opportunities to score.

Simply put, the better we were at finding the holes and getting to the basket, the more successful we were going to be!

I teach often about the importance of understanding our culture in order to be able to reach them. (See 1 Corinthians 9:19-23) Yet this week’s devotion is going to be short and to the point. Just like my players needed a time out in order to hear from a coach that was showing them where the openings were to score, we all need time outs with God for Him to show us how, where, when there are openings for us to reach people… opportunities to score!

So, a quick reminder of two things this week:

1.       God’s Word is the Playbook that diagrams how we should live life… Spend time in it! (Psalm 119:105)

2.       As players, when we enter God’s huddle, we should open the Word, but we get to the huddle through prayer. Seek God for guidance/help! (See James 5:13)

And while you are at it praying for direction and opportunities, take a moment and lift us up as well. We want to run through every open hole that gets us an opportunity to share the Gospel… to score!

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ,… (Colossians 4:2-3)

January 7, 2019 - Whatever Season You Are In

Recently Lisa and I had the privilege of visiting an 88-yr-old lady; this sweet dear saint greeted us at her door with the aid of her walker… with hands crippled up from arthritis… and (we later found out) battling the effects of spinal stenosis…

Yet what was so incredible about our time with her, was how joyful she was. She spoke of contentment… how she appreciated in spite of being home-bound, that her son moved her chair where she can see outside better. She reminisced of the days when she was active in her church… of the days even that she was able to get to church… and then acknowledged the “season” of her life she is in.

We were able to remind her how the Lord is still using her through her prayer life, and through the joyful example she gave us. It was a great example of this lady doing what she can for the team…

I was reminded of our visit as I watched the news of Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki’s probable final game in Boston against the Celtics. Dirk has had an incredible career, and even started having a few good games lately, but that night in The Garden, he showed signs of a new “season” in his life… one where he has to realize he can’t do everything he once did for his team, but contributes where he can; this may be at times physically with his play, and other times emotionally/mentally in helping teach the younger players.

The same ideas are true in all of life. Ecclesiastes 3 talks of the ideas that everything has its time and place… in verse 1 (The Message) it states, “There’s an opportune time to do things…”

Right now, right where you are at, what are you doing for the team? How are you helping in executing the “game plan” of the Great Commission? Are you following the Great Commandment to love God and love (serve) others?

Last week I encouraged us to view “greatness” in the way that Jesus defined it… by making resolutions of being a servant to others? (See Matthew 20:26-27) This week I am encouraging us to make sure we are following through with those resolutions and to remind you…

It doesn’t matter what “season” you are in in life… you can choose to allow God to use you! Just like the old lady we visited still praying for others… or my friend Pastor T who is battling cancer but still glorifying God and reaching out to even medical personnel… or (fill in whatever “season” you are going through.)

And when it is time to “retire” may it be said of each of us that we were faithful and “finished the course… fought the good fight!” (See 2 Timothy 4:7)

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