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Often when guarding an opponent, a defender has to be
aware of screens… and must have a plan on what to do if a screen is set. (For
those that aren’t basketball savvy, a screen is when an opposing player sets up
as a “wall” to block or pick the player off from following the guy he is
guarding.)
Screens are difficult because one typically cannot see
them coming because of being focused on the player he is covering… and thus they
are often called blind screens… demanding that he have teammates that warn him
when a screen is coming! (A vital role of teamwork is communication!)
Once one hears that a screen is coming, he has to
determine if he is going “under” or “over” the screen… based upon if the player
he is guarding being more of a threat to pull up for a jump shot or is more apt
to drive to the basket; yet other times, one’s teammate may call switch and take
over covering his responsibility…
You may be wondering how in the world this pertains to a
weekly devotion? It came to my mind last week while in a chapel service, when
the speaker shared a video clip of the rap artist Flame doing his song “Move.” It
is really a great song with many truths in it… yet the following line jumped
out at me:
“Hey watcha lookin at… get from in front of that screen…
That is so obscene… Jesus died for that very thing”
Obviously, Flame is not discussing avoiding “screens” in
basketball, but I do believe his reference to avoiding video screens does refer
to the enemy’s (opponent’s) desire to create a wall to block or pick us off
from our mission… through the use of “blind screens” such as internet porn… a
seemingly innocent drink at the party… things that can get us knocked off ball…
off mission.
At risk of writing a sermon here, we need to be careful
of anything that can “screen” us off of our mission! We need great “teammates”
to warn us when they see problems ahead, (and need to listen to those warnings.)
We need to be good “teammates” as well and warn others…
We need to take heed of the warnings of Scripture to
avoid works of the flesh… far too often we are as unwise as an alcoholic
sitting at a bar… we are sin-aholics that
think we are strong enough to watch wrong things… to dabble in wrong
things… etc. These are ways the enemy is knocking us off course…
As a coach I would regularly tell players to get around the
screens… as a minister I am telling you the same!
2 Timothy 2:22 Run away from infantile indulgence. Run after
mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and
serious prayer before God. (The Message)
Ephesians 5: 15 See then that you walk circumspectly,
not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming
the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore
do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
(NKJV)
Walk circumspectly… be aware of your surroundings… when the “screens”
are coming… and get around those “screens.”
Bottom line is that we are trying to stay on mission by avoiding
things that will pick us off!
Flame goes on to say in his song, “If the Lord tell me move I move,
anything He want me to yeah I do… but if it ain’t of the Lord then I won’t budge.”
I am finally getting to the subject I was planning on
writing about a couple of weeks ago… and realizing due to time and energy that
it needs to be a “30-second timeout” as I am not sure I have a “full-timeout”
available tonight… literally just got in from an 11-day worship tour and this
old man is feeling it…
So straight to the point… do you ever feel like life is
unfair? In the sports world there is always questioning of referees, and in
today’s world of instant replays… reviews… multiple camera angels… etc., it
seems that every game leaves one team complaining they were cheated.
This was evident in the NCAA tourney a couple of weeks
ago… especially in the Auburn and Virginia game. Auburn seemed to have the game
in hand, but Virginia made a great comeback. Auburn fans were infuriated and felt
as though the referees made a couple of mistakes… wondering of the game was
being called by three blind mice???
One of the supposed mistakes was on a foul called on an
Auburn player that allowed a VA player to hit 3 free throws and send the game
to overtime. (Yet that one didn’t have to many lasting complaints as the Auburn
player clearly jumped into the VA shooter, not allowing him his landing space.
Even former Auburn players were admitting it was a foul.)
But then the replays started of a play that led up to that
point where a VA player clearly double-dribbled; it was one where no one seemed
to notice it until the replay… but there was an infraction. But this took place
at a time when it is common for people to say that refs should “let the players”
decide the game and not call it so close (that is until it hurts your team.) And
I am not sure if the refs just missed seeing it or if they were calling it
loosely???
All of this to say that life is full of unfair times and
we are responsible for how we handle it. After the Auburn game, their coach,
Bruce Pearl, was quoted as saying, “The biggest point I want to make, and I'm
sincere in this, I'm not just saying this because it's politically the right
thing to say. There is human error involved in the game. Kids make mistakes,
coaches make mistakes. Yes, officials will make mistakes. That's part of the
game. Get over it… Sometimes they're going to go your way, sometimes they're
not going to go your way. Are we going to give God less glory because we lost
and ... only because we win? Stop. Grow up, this is part of the game.”
Sounds like Coach Pearl was channeling some of the Apostle
Paul’s teaching: “Do all things without complaining and disputing.”
(Philippians 2:14)
“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
This week let’s focus on giving God glory in all
circumstances… winning or losing!
Side note about the double dribble: My personal belief is
that the ref simply let it go… because he had just let another call go that
favored Auburn. Auburn was simply trying to slow Virginia down since Auburn had
the lead… yet literally a split second before the no-call on the double dribble,
there is a no-call on holding on the Auburn defender… (I even saved a picture
of the player tugging on the jersey of the Virginia player, which could have
caused the player to lose control of the dribble.) Maybe they simply were
trying to just let the players decide it… And as Pearl stated, the game involves
human error. The game, like life, is not about just individual plays… it is
about the whole the game… 2 points in the first quarter are worth just as much
as 2 points in the last quarter!
This week’s devo is not what I had planned to write… but
a very simple thing I was reminded of this morning… I will get to my other thoughts
maybe next week…
This morning we were sitting together as a ministry team
and one of our guys was sharing a devotion. (It was really good, not only
because of content but also atmosphere, as we were looking out over the ocean.)
We are on what we have called “The comPASSION Tour”… serving in multiple venues
through music and message. One of the things that was brought up this morning
was a reminder that we all need good people “in our corner.”
This jumped out at me also because last week I had re-watched
the movie Rocky. There is a scene after Rocky gets offered the fight against
Apollo Creed where Mickey (an old trainer/manager) goes to Rocky’s apartment to
try to convince Rocky to let him train him. I don’t remember all the script but
it basically has a frustrated Rocky stating he is going to train himself
because Mickey didn’t believe in him in the past… Earlier in the movie it shows
that Mickey had given up on Rocky, even though Rocky had wanted Mickey to work
with him… so obviously Rocky is hurt. And now that the big fight is in the
picture, Mickey is interested and reminding Rocky of the vast experience Mickey
possesses…
To make this short, Rocky continues talking to himself
about not needing Mickey and eventually comes full circle to realizing he absolutely
does need a good cornerman… and a good cut-man… etc.
The reality of life is that we all need that; we need a
cut-man for those times when we have been injured… and a good cornerman to give
us encouragement and advice.
Who is in your corner? Do you have someone that has been
there and knows the ropes… someone that is on your side… someone that wants to
see you win? We need to surround ourselves with the right kind of people! Can
you imagine a boxer coming back to his corner after a round and being told he
has no hope… he is not good enough… etc.?
Are you in someone’s corner? Are you actively being an
encourager to others?
A simple truth this week… show me who a man surrounds
himself with and I will tell you what kind of man he is. If he has negative
nay-sayers around him, he will be a defeated man!
Therefore comfort each other and edify one another… 1
Thessalonians 5:11a
I love this “cornerman” story…
Then Jonathon, Saul’s son, arose and went out to David in
the woods and strengthened his hand in God. And said to him, “Don not fear, for
the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel,
and I shall be next to you. (In your corner) Even my father Saul knows that. 1 Samuel 23:16-17
Well tonight is the big night in college hoops… the
national championship game. And, of course, there is some controversy surrounding
it based upon calls refs made, etc. I am tempted to jump in on that bandwagon
of discussion but will save it for another day…
Instead this week my mind was tweaked by the annual
coaching carousel… as coaches get fired… take higher profile jobs in better
conferences… etc. The coaching profession is truly based on a “what have you
done for me lately” mentality…
You see guys or gals that have had success in the past,
but maybe had a down year or two recently, and the news is out that the school
needs to go in a different direction. (What I really love is how often the “different
direction” is not just a coaching change, but promising the new coach increased
$ to hire staff… improved facilities to help in recruitment… etc. You would
think the old coach would have appreciated that help…)
Or maybe a coach at a smaller school had an exceptional
year and gets offered a “bigger” job…
Example: Wofford had a really solid year; one where they
had the right athletes to fit their program and made a serious splash in the
tourney. Their coach, Mike Young, just got the job at Virginia Tech in the ACC…
this is a big-time job. He is a popular choice because of this year’s success…
but I am curious why he hasn’t been offered jobs in the past. He has 30 years
of service at Wofford [17 as the head coach] where he has shown what type of
coach he is.
First, kudos to Wofford for sticking with Young that long…
I know they are not in a power conference and not expected to win big, but that
is a great history… reminds me of a coach that spent 16 years at a university
and then won a national championship… and then 9 more… you see UCLA stuck with
John Wooden for a long time before their great run of 10 championships in 12
years.
These programs stuck with their coaches because of trust,
not momentary circumstances of winning or losing. They believed in the overall
picture of having a solid coach.
So how does this translate to the weekly devotion? Well as
my “mind was tweaked” it was with the thought that we treat God much the same
way coaches are treated; we tend to have a “what have you done for me lately”
mentality. If circumstances are rough… or prayers are not answered to our
liking… we tend to question His goodness as our “coach.” We forget that God is
in it for the long haul… His promises centered on eternal victory.
I stated this last night while preaching but feel it
bears repeating: if God never answers another prayer to your liking, it doesn’t
change the fact that He is a good God that loves us… He demonstrated that not
by answering every prayer like we want… not by changing every negative
circumstance to where we are “ahead on life’s scoreboard”… not by having every “season
be a winning season.” “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
Today, whatever you are going through, remember that God
loves you and has proved it beyond any doubt! He has secured your eternal
victory… everything else we are dealing with is temporal… sometimes a winning
season, sometimes a losing season… but in the end we win!
Well we have made it through the Elite 8 and are heading
to next weekend’s Final Four in college basketball… (and made it through the
InBounds March MADness schedule of sharing our ministry.) The basketball
tourney has been exciting as always (and our ministry events have been awesome
times of celebration and praise!)
This year’s NCAA hoops tourney has not had near as many
upsets from the underdogs… with the Elite 8 beginning with 3 of the 4 #1-seeds
still alive, a couple of the #2’s, plus a #3 and #5. The only remaining team
from the lower seeds was a #12. So, any time the top seeds are playing one
another, it is hard to consider any game an upset, no matter who the winner is…
Except for the fact that the darling of the media Duke
Blue Devils went down to Michigan State. The reason this one is somewhat of an
upset is because Duke had such an insanely talented group of freshmen…
following a pattern of schools getting what are called “one and done” players…
guys destined to play a year in college and jump straight to the pros. And Duke
epitomized this trend with one of the most celebrated classes of freshmen ever.
(The other program that gets brought up in the discussion of this trend is the
University of Kentucky… who, like Duke, lost this weekend.)
But instead of focusing on Duke (and UK), I want to point
out that Michigan State (which beat Duke) was very talented as well but played
with more experienced players. (As did Auburn, who beat UK.) IN fact I saw some
stat that showed since the beginning of the “one and done” era, only a couple of
the these super-freshmen teams has won the championship… it is still usually a
more mature, experienced team that wins.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved watching the Duke freshmen
this year. The Williamson kid is one of the most, if not the most, freakish
athletes to every play college ball. Yet, I am not surprised that they didn’t
make it to the championship. (Nor was I shocked by UK’s loss… I even have
Auburn in my Final Four brackets I did…)
The reason I am not surprised is simple… sports are a
microcosm of this thing we call life; and when it comes to “life” the
Scriptures are clear that maturity is the key to success. Over and over we see
verses about the man of God becoming complete or mature. That is the goal of
being in the Scriptures… “that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:17)
This came to mind this morning as I was reading Proverbs
chapter 1. The first few verses of this book of wisdom key on obtaining wisdom…
and the chapter concludes by personifying wisdom and having her warn of failure
to those that ignore her… In other words, victory belongs to those that become
mature players!
Read Proverbs 1 today… be reminded of the importance of
maturing…
