September 28, 2020 - SPACING (Part 1)

Well I find myself again drawing from the well of Sunday messages… it just seems that each week during the message something sparks ideas, much like reading about or watching games does…

This time the idea of “SPACING” came to mind… whenever teaching basketball it is imperative to teach spacing… typically it involves creating space (looking for openings) and/or owning space (getting to one’s spot)… but it is always intentional or deliberate…

When evaluating the defense, it is important to avoid traps. Every defensive scheme is designed to try to cut off the offense’s openings, and often designed to lead the players into situations with seemingly no way out… traps! Thus, great players read and avoid those situations via change of direction, passes, etc.

Spiritually, the enemy wants to lure us into traps… he is deceptive and the master of making things look like “openings’ only to pounce on us. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us to “be sober, be vigilant” because our enemy is “seeking whom he may devour.”

The word “sober” has the idea of being calm and collected… The word “vigilant” means to be alert and cautious… In other words, like a great player, we need to look ahead at potential “traps” and act accordingly. Interestingly, the word “devour” has the idea of swallowing up something… sounds like a suffocating trap to me… Therefore, 1 Peter 5:9 starts by admonishing us to “Resist him”!

I plan to share a bit from the positive side of “spacing” next week… what to pursue, more than what to avoid. Yet, wisdom calls for us to evaluate things in our lives to see what is luring us away from God’s desired plan for our lives. And I am not speaking of special callings of times and places, but His desired will for how we conduct our day to day affairs. God’s Word has clear instruction… reminds me of the acronym B.I.B.L.E. = Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth…

Here is the way Paul admonished us to “create space” in our lives: 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…

Bottom line this week: Survey the floor (your life) and avoid the traps of the enemy…

Next week: Let’s look at spacing that helps us understand what The Coach desires for us…

September 21, 2020 - Move Your Feet

I often talk with church folk and hear the same sentiment… that they are ready and willing to do what the Lord asks… a mentality that says one is willing to follow the direction of God when “called”… a mindset that waits for one’s number to be called in a play designed for him… It is typically an approach that thinks of grandiose plans for projects or the mission field.

Don’t get me wrong, I, as a player, loved to have my number called… for the coach to design a play for me. I have used that analogy in the past pointing out that God calls plays for us to perform “good works… that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10) When teaching about that verse I typically liken it unto players that see the play drawn up in the huddle and then return to the bench instead of taking the floor…

Earlier I saw a Facebook memory pop up from a friend’s page and it stated, “Don’t ask God to guide your footsteps if you’re not willing to move your feet!”

I thought of the prophet Isaiah saying, “Here I am Lord, send me” (Isaiah 6:8) and his willingness to go; he heard clear direction from the Lord! This is typically a verse used to encourage the mission filed or the pastorate… some grandiose scoring play, BUT…

I got to thinking, as I began writing today, that as a coach, I didn’t call the number of players that didn’t first show a willingness to “move their feet” in just the basic expectations. In other words, calling a player’s number for a grandiose play was predicated upon the player being committed or obedient to the basic structures of the game. Every player on my bench was willing to have a play designed for them, but bottom line is I didn’t trust doing that for every player on our bench.

What if we first gauged our “willingness” not on the grandiose ideas of ministry, and instead on the basic tenets of the Word, which is in fact the biggest part of how God has chosen to give us direction… Afterall Jesus stated it this way:

He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much… Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? (Luke 16:10-11)

Jesus also states that doing the things He says makes one wise, and not doing them foolish… (Matthew 7:24, 26)

And James warns us to not just be “hearers” of the Word but also “doers”… (James 1:22)

I know you may be willing to have your number called… but are you faithful to the basic tenets of “the game”? MOVE YOUR FEET on the basics, the grandiose stuff will come after one is found faithful!

September 14, 2020 - Pace and Purpose

“Game management” is important in every sport… you think of it with football and the 2-minute offenses, or in hoops with if a team should slow things down or get out on the break, or just an individual player determining what “gear” to be in to set up his move…

I was already planning to deal with this topic, and then I saw an article tonight about the Los Angeles Clippers blowing big leads in their last couple of games; their coach, Doc Rivers, stated that he knew the problem… once they got up on the scoreboard, they stopped playing with pace and purpose…

When teams stop playing with pace and purpose it is often stated that it was like someone “took the air out of the  ball…”; guys start standing still and not cutting hard to the basket… the game tends to become “East-West” (side to side) instead of “North-South” (getting to the goal.)

Obviously the “pace” of 2020 was brought to a standstill back in March when the quarantines started hitting; we could truly say the “air was taken out of the ball.” As a result life became very much just idly standing around and not “playing” with any pace or purpose.

Yet 1 Corinthians 15:58 says we should be “always abounding in the work of the Lord”! And 1 Peter 4:10 states this: “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

Playing with Pace and Purpose involves: Not standing around but actually “abounding”… actively “ministering to one another”… “as good stewards”…

A steward is one that has been charged with managing a household or land or financial affairs… it is a superintendent of sorts. We are commissioned to manage our gifts and our time properly… with Pace and Purpose! Stop standing around… make a move… cut to the basket… you get the picture!

September 7, 2020 - Live To Play Another Day

Heard a great message this weekend from my friend Todd Oldham (one of the pastors on staff at LifePoint Church in Albertville AL.) The church is in a series called “Inside My Head” where the pastors have been dealing with emotions that can take us captive.,. most of which have negative connotations; but Todd got to share about happiness… something we all long for. Yet an honest look at happiness has to include the reality that we are not always happy… (for example: I typed in “happiness is fleeting quote” and had over 3 million hits come back…) To teach about happiness in 2020 is even more challenging, with anxiety and depression at all-time highs.

Life is hard! We are either facing troubles or will face troubles… and there have been other times in history when things seemed really bleak. Todd took us back to Habakkuk around 600BC. Habakkuk, a prophet, is talking of how bad things are about to get… no crops… no herds… kind of like grocery stores with empty shelves… they may have even had a toilet paper shortage…

Let me shift gears for a moment. Back when I was coaching, we faced some incredibly talented teams. One, which I have written about before, had around 6 or 7 future D1 basketball players on the roster. They were taller than us, faster than us, and more skilled than us; not a good recipe for success. In fact, when in the locker room I told the players, “We are about to get the crap beat out of us…” At this point some of you will think I sound like a horrible coach, but then I reminded my guys of a few things. First and foremost, I asked “What are you scared of?”, we were playing basketball, not going into a knife fight; we would live to play another day. I then also reminded them that the scoreboard is not the determining factor in success; but that effort and attitude were the important things. I encouraged my guys to make sure the other team had to earn their victory, and thus we would earn some respect. I then told them to have fun, as they would be seeing these guys on TV in the near future. My guys played loose, had fun, and we got the crud kicked out of us! Yet it made us stronger for the next team we would face!

Back to our story from Habakkuk… he admits that he is distressed over the coming troubles, to the point of trembling (3:16.) But then he makes what would seem to be an odd statement:

18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

I think the key to Habakkuk’s moments of happiness, even in the midst of distress, came from a great life lesson he had discovered; one which the Apostle Paul quotes him on in three of his epistles…

Habakkuk 2:4 …the just shall live by faith.

If we go back to Habakkuk 3:17, he states that “though” things are about to get ugly, 19 “the Lord God is my strength…” Faith equals trusting God!

He didn’t sing “Don’t worry be happy” as though life was going to easy; he would have sang “Great is Thy faithfulness” knowing he could trust the ending! (Verses 17-19 truly are a hymn of faith… what God has said is true!)

Because of the faithfulness and sufficiency of Christ we can know what the future holds… we win! No matter how hard it might be… we keep playing!