October 28, 2019 - Not Much Left Of Him...

I love teaching the fundamentals of basketball; especially emphasizing the importance of being a complete and balanced player. I’ll explain what I mean by starting with one of my favorite stories to tell (when I am working with older players that can understand it…)


It is the story of a man that was in a terrible car accident. He lost his left arm and left leg…

he’s all right now…

but there’s not much left of him!


Moral of the story, one doesn’t want to be just an “all-right” player with “not much left” in one’s game. It is really easy to guard an “all-right” player!


In my camps / practices we spend a lot of time working on the weak hand of players; it’s not necessarily an easy thing to do but it creates much more complete and balanced players. One way to improve is obviously hard work… yet sometimes it is adversity that brings about growth or change… and adversity can be brought about in a couple of ways.


One is adversity one deserves… such as a player that doesn’t work hard might find himself on the bench; lack of playing time is a great motivator…


And then there is adversity that just happens. When I was 11-yrs-old was when I really started being able to use my left hand better. I already had a basketball coach that made us do lay-ups correctly from either side which helped, but the biggest help was when I pulled tendons in my right elbow during baseball season. I was a pitcher and that meant I was not going to be on the mound the rest of the summer… but I wasn’t through playing; I switched and finished out the summer playing left-handed! Through my injury I became a more complete player…


I’ve seen this happen many times, where players come back stronger from adversity…


Biblically we have a promise from God to take adversity we face and turn it for our good… I do not believe God is responsible for the bad stuff that happens to you and me; but I fully believe He is aware and capable of using it!!!


Romans 8:28 is an oft-quoted verse reminding us of this truth. It promises that “all things work together for good to those who love God…” The chapter goes on and reminds us that we are absolutely secure in God’s love!


I know this is a subject that is talked about a lot but let’s be honest, how is it changing how we live / think? This promise alone should transform how we face each day. If we truly believe this promise, we will view every hardship as a way we are becoming more complete and balanced.


This came to mind yesterday when listening to my friend and pastor Quinton Williams sharing the vision of a new facility our church in Alabama is building… one that is breaking the norms and being structured to be a game changer in the community every day of the week (not a Sunday-only structure.) This is coming about following a bad fire at the facility earlier in the year. It is very exciting, and I loved what Q said… It was something along the lines of “If we had known what was going to be happening now we would have been dancing around that fire!”


Bottom line: We need to trust the outcome in spite of the circumstances!

October 21, 2019 - You're Not A Shooter

As I was prepping for this week’s devotion, I was reminded of a great scene I witnessed years ago at a high school basketball open gym… it is one I am almost certain I have mentioned in a past weekly post, but it is worth repeating. (Have posted well over 900 of these weekly devos, so I’m sure there have been many repeat stories…)


I was in the gym with my dear friend Coach Mike Gurley; Mike is a GREAT coach that gets the most out of his players! On this particular occasion there was a young man that was a stud football player… strong and fast! He got the ball and used his speed to get to an open lay-up. Gurley applauded and yelled to the young man what a good play it was; then followed it up by reminding the player that he is out there for his speed and defense… that he could shoot lay-ups when they were available… and then reminded him that he was not allowed to shoot outside shots because he simply wasn’t good at them… and if he did he would be benched. I know that some of you are right now thinking that seems harsh and that the kid was probably devastated and would never want to play again…


Yet the reality is that players want to play for Coach Gurley and are faithful to do their jobs within their giftings as the coach sees fit. You see, after telling the player those things, Coach Gurley followed it up with, “But I love you though!” Everyone chuckled a bit, but everyone also trusts that Coach is on their side!


I thought about that story, which happened probably 7 or 8 years ago, because I was thinking about “players” in life being faithful to the task before them. It came up last weekend as we were ministering in Daytona Beach at a church. One our young guys in Next Man Up (our worship team) mentioned how thankful he was to meet John, one of my dear friends at the church where we were serving. He mentioned that he noticed how faithful John was to serve and make things happen. He saw John doing a lot of stuff that wouldn’t show up in the “box score.”


That was followed by this past weekend serving at a church in Tampa, where my wife made note of a young man that reminded her of her dad. This was because she was hearing all the stuff the young man was doing at the church… hearing of his faithfulness to his calling. The young man’s name is Jesse and he and his wife serve leading youth, directing music, taking care of broken stuff, leading/organizing special events, etc. Believe me, when my wife puts someone on par with her daddy, that is BIG!

As I was studying in Romans 12 there is a section about the team... the body… playing one’s role… here are some of the things I was taking note of in that study:


Vs 3 – tells us to think clearly about ourselves and especially the “measure of faith” that was “dealt” to us… the Greek word for faith is Pistis, and is often translated as faith or belief, but also carries the idea of faithfulness, which makes a lot of sense in context with the idea of being faithful to the role the Coach (God) is putting us in…


Vs 4 – states we don’t all have the same function or office… we are given different roles


Vs 5 – reminds us that we have different gifts to help us fulfil those different roles


Bottom line is that God reminds us often that He loves us; in turn let’s be faithful to do our jobs and serve the team (the church)! This section reminding us to be faithful is immediately in context of explaining what is the “good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (See vs 2)

October 14, 2019 - Good Coaches Needed

One of the things I used to love to do as a coach, was to actually jump into the scrimmages with the players and break a sweat… as a player I remember the coaches that invested in my life on and off the court. I have heard it mentioned many times about how much influence a coach has on a player due to the amount of time spent in practices, games, travel, etc. Bottom line is that mentors are most successful when they spend time in the game with their proteges…


This past weekend I heard a great description about how God spoke everything into being except man… with man he got in the mud to make the male and then reached in his side and got in the blood to make the female… The God of the universe created us very intimately to be in a relationship with Him. (Thanks, Greg Stier for that reminder…)


Taking it a bit farther, we messed up that relationship and God again stepped in so intimately that He took on flesh and became a man (John 1:14) and experienced what we experience… He got in the game with us… understands and even sympathizes with us (Hebrews 4:15.)


We should be taking advantage of the fact that God is ‘in the game” with us… recognizing His presence throughout our day… even boldly going to Him (Hebrews 4:6.)


This is the basis of our confidence and motivation to stand strong (hold fast – Hebrews 4:14.) And it is the pattern of how we should spend time / function as the body of Christ. I am convinced that we don’t have near enough mentors… most church emphasis is on peer-to-peer ministry… yet the Scriptures call for old men to mentor / coach young men and old women to mentor / coach younger women. There is even the reminder to be a “pattern of good works” to them… and to be a pattern one must be “in the game” with them… (Titus 2:7)


“The game” needs more good coaches! God is a great coach!

October 7. 2019 - What is a Substitute? (Early release)

For almost 25 years I have been serving with InBounds Ministries and been blessed through our athletic platform to present Christ as the Substitute God sent into the game of life for us… I love getting to encourage people to throw up a fist to The Coach when realizing they need a Sub…


So, what is a substitute? That may sound like a stupid question, but it is one that has to be asked. This is a central truth to the core of the Gospel itself… many will claim agree with me on that statement, but yet proclaim a message that doesn’t understand what a substitute is…


Imagine with me that a player called for a sub, the coach sent one to check in… Upon the sub checking in, what does the player that is subbed for do? He goes out of the game; the sub did not come to give him strength or encouragement or to get him to play better… the sub took his place!!!


Any so called Gospel message that requires that a player stay on the floor to play better, misses the substitutionary principal of the Gospel: For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:21) The Gospel is completely about Christ taking our place! When we trust (believe) in that, the Bible declares us saved! (“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.” – the words of Jesus, found in John 6:47)


Some will scream at me, “It can’t be that easy! That is cheap grace!” To which I answer, “You just changed the Gospel by claiming that I am not asking people to spend enough for salvation… you questioned to validity of the cost. That is the beauty of the Gospel, it is about Jesus paying the whole price! The true Gospel is not cheap… it is free… that is what grace means!


Once we are “saved” we are then encouraged to still live by faith… trusting God’s Word… living according to God’s Word… I believe that is how we allow Christ to live through us. Christ was described as “the Word (that) became flesh” and we are told in Galatians 2:20 that “Christ lives in me (us), and the life which I (we) now live in the flesh I (we) live by faith in the Son of God.” So logically how the “Living Word” can lie through us, is by allowing His written Word to guide us.


As the Substitute, Christ did not come to play alongside us or to give us a self-improvement plan, but to He came to:

Play for us! – that is justification (salvation)….

and to Play through us!… - that is sanctification!


What does the word substitute mean to you? Have you first trusted in what Christ did for you? Second, do you trust His Word allowing Him to live through you?


Jesus, Jesus, Jesus… sweetest name I know!