November 25, 2019 - Getting by a tough defender...

I have written many times about the importance of “getting to the hole”; of when you have an opening taking it… In a basketball game that means going straight to the basket when there is a lane… after all the goal is to score. In the game of life, as commissioned believers, it simply means to share the Gospel when there is an opening… it is more important than winning arguments.

Yet, there is not always a clear lane to score; that is why basketball coaches diagram plays with passes and screens/picks to free up shots. But then there are the times when it is simply one on one and the defender is tenacious. He is down in his stance, (basketball folks know what I’m talking about… the opponent that slaps the floor… that has incredible intensity), and he is daring you to try to get around him. The rules of basketball do not allow you to run through him, so you must find a way around him.

Life is much like a game of basketball, we have many obstacles to get around. Often, we talk of how to help one another carry the load… and that is Biblical (see Galatians 6:2… my family verse… lol); yet there are other times we are on our own with an obstacle in front of us and each one needs to “bear his own load.” (Galatians 6:5)

I am writing this week about our Great Commission load… the call to reach people with the Gospel. The truth is that we will often run into obstacles/opposition. There will be some that are tenacious/intense in going against us. So how do you “get around a tough defender in order to get to the goal”? (And like in basketball, the “rules” do not allow us to run through the opposition, even though that is the way many Christians try to “play the game.” And let me be clear that is an “OFFENSIVE FOUL”!)

Let me start with a way I teach getting around an intense defender in basketball. As long as the player with the ball looks to be in attack mode, the defender will be in a ready stance. Yet when the player with the ball starts to stand up… coming out of attack mode… the defender will tend to do the same. Basically I teach that the player with the ball can sometimes just simply raise his head to look relaxed, and when the defender follows suit and stands up… the player with the ball can blow by to the goal. Simple rule is that it is much easier to go by a relaxed defender…

The same principle is true in getting around obstacles in sharing the Gospel… We create openings when we relax and the opposition relaxes; as long as we are in confrontational arguments, it is hard to get clear to the goal.

Heard a great reminder yesterday from the “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus explained that we will find success when we are meek/gentle. (See Matthew 5:5) The pastor (my dear friend Q) cross referenced Psalm 37 and pointed out that when we are meek, which literally means trusting God, it creates a gentleness in us… because we are not having to try to win the fight or find approval of others.

1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “sanctify the Lord God in (our) hearts”; in other words, set Him apart as the One we are trusting. It goes on then to say we can then “be ready to give a defense to everyone… with meekness and fear.” That word “meekness” means with gentleness of spirit.

Be strong in your convictions; BUT be gentle in your persuasions. If you will rise up and relax a bit, you will find more openings to the goal!

November 18, 2019 - Listen to the Coach, not those in the stands!

Coaching was always a challenge… not just because of the different personalities of players, but also because of the different personalities of parents… Parents obviously have a vested interest in their kids and want them to shine. Unfortunately, what parents don’t have is an inside track on what has been taught in practices or stated in the huddle on the sideline. As a result, I often had parents yelling for their kids to do things that didn’t line up with my plan as the coach…

Most of the time it was simply parents getting excited and wanting their kids to succeed… other times the parents thought they knew more than me as the coach; (there may have even been times they were right… yet I often think of the late Coach Don Myers who stated that if coaches want to get rich they should buy kids for what they are worth and sell them for what their parents think they are worth…)

Bottom line was that whether they meant well or not, my rule was that for our team the players should listen to me, not to voices in the stands. Just because those in the stands are cheering for you, if what they are saying does not line up with what the coach is saying, then no matter what their motivation, they are wrong!

In life, like in a game, there will be any voices trying to tell you what to do. At some point you have to determine if you are going to listen to those voices or to the voice of the Coach (God.) You have to determine if you can trust God and His Word (which of course means you need to know His Word.)

Sin is simply the result of not believing what God said and instead thinking we know a better way…

In Genesis 3 we see sin entering the human race… we see the serpent questioning “did God really say” that (vs 1) and then, after planting a seed of doubt in Adam’s and Eve’s minds, flat out stating the God was not right. (vs 4) The serpent went on to give the truth behind sin, that it is man trying to “be like God!” (vs 5)

Have you ever thought about sin in that way? It is when we think we know better than the Coach… and in this case, the Coach is never wrong. If God has given instruction, it is because He knows what is best for our “game” of life.

Be careful to not listen to the cheers of those that don’t know what the Coach has said in preparation for the game! Stop looking to the stands of life for approval or disapproval, and instead focus on the Word of the Coach! He is on our side! (I recently read the following statement, and have used it when preaching a couple of times, God hates sin BECAUSE He loves the sinner! He simply wants our best!

November 11, 2019 - We Have To Own It!

As I was looking through ESPN’s website today there were a couple of articles with people questioning if coaches should be fired… when a team is losing, the first thing that people that tend to be blamed are coaches. At times it is true that a coach is doing poorly, but sometimes it is simply that players are not performing up to par and a poor representation of their coaching…


I loved the response that Marcus Morris Sr. had concerning the New York Knicks poor start to the NBA season… after stating that he understands the frustrations and that he thinks the coaches are doing a great job, he followed with a simple assessment about the players: “It’s all on us, and we have to own it!”


In Scripture and in history we see people making their judgements about who God is and what His character is like, based upon His “players.” As we approach the CHRISTmas season I often point out that one of the reasons the shepherds would have been scared when the angel appeared to them, is because God’s “players” (i.e. the priests) treated them so poorly. The correlation was that if the “coaches” felt that way about them then “ownership” must feel that way also…


All of that to remind us that as “players” we have a real responsibility in how we represent… how we “play the game”; it reflects on our God. We can tell people that they shouldn’t judge God by people, but the reality is that they do… in the words of Marcus Morris Sr., “…we have to own it!”


2 Corinthians 5:20 states: “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ…” God has chosen to use us as His representatives…


What is your life telling people about who God is? How does your life reflect His character? In this case I can assure you that it is never the “Coach” that is to blame!

November 4, 2019 - Coach Wooden, Mr Miyagi, and Jesus!

One thing you have to do as a coach is put the players through some uncomfortable times in order to prepare them for the games… In practices players want to have fun… they want to scrimmage or have contests… very few want to run or lift or study game film.


But the reality is that one must go through the uncomfortable stuff if one wants to grow… I know there were so many times as a player that I would get frustrated if the coach had us on the line to run; I just wanted to play! Coach John Wooden made it a point to not dole out running as punishment; he stated that he didn’t want his players to equate running with a negative, but instead to understand it was a necessity for greatness. And I guess history shows that Coach Wooden got his players to buy-in and trust him as their coach!


As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of the first Karate Kid movie as Daniel has convinced Mr. Miyagi to train him… Daniel is ready to learn to fight and Mr. Miyagi proceeds to have him wax the car, paint the fence, etc. Daniel gets furious as he feels he is wasting his time doing Mr. M’s chores and  Mr. M simply wants Daniel to trust him and the process… Most of you have seen the movie and recall that each of the chores developed a distinct movement in Daniel that was used in his fighting technique; he just had to trust his trainer!


These things came to mind yesterday as I listened to a sermon about love equaling trust or faith… a sermon where Steven Furtick pointed out that our faith should not be in what God does, but in who He is!


A couple of really cool Scriptural observations I took note of, and hope you will to:


In John 11 we get the story of Lazarus being sick and then dying… early on we read that Jesus received the message about the sickness from Mary and Martha and then we get verse 6…


So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was…


That is a strange statement; “so… He stayed”? Pastor Furtick pointed out that it would make more sense if Jesus would have hastened to Lazarus instead of staying… BUT the point of the story is that Jesus would be glorified… so people would believe. (See verse 15 and also John 20:31) The circumstances were intended for the ultimate outcome not the immediate gratification…


Then Pastor Furtick pointed out these verses:


11:21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”


Note that Martha is clearly upset with the situation and with Jesus… yet she still recognizes who He is… the Lord!


11:22 “But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give you.”


Martha, was upset, probably even angry, but she decided to trust in who Jesus is over what the circumstances were…


I don’t know what you are going through this week but I can tell you… Trust God!