October 26, 2020 - Take the RIGHT Shot!

Often over the years I have taught, written, remarked about the “Burger King-microwave-culture” we live in. It is the “have it your way” and “have it now” culture. We are a culture that is seduced by the end result as being the only proof of success… I know some of you will bring out phrases like, “it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” But let’s be honest, we only say that when we know we are “losers”… 

It’s why coaches/recruiters will cheat… it’s why athlete’s will use performance enhancing drugs in spite of the potential side effects…

I often write about John Wooden and his days at UCLA (10 national championships in a 12 year span) and wonder if he would have been fired before that in today’s culture? You see he had coached as UCLA for 15 years prior to that first championship… 

Basically, because we look at end results as the proof, we neglect to consider the path to get there…

It carries over to our church culture as well… as growing in numbers often outweighs growing in mind/spirit… I remember hearing one preacher say, “if numbers are proof of God’s blessing, He is all over Disney World!” 

Don’t read me wrong here, I am not opposed to being culturally attractive in outreach. In fact, I often teach that our “methods are ever-changing” and the “anything short of sin is fair game.” Yet I also teach that our “message is never-changing” and that we must adhere to the Biblical mandate of sharing Christ as our Substitute (see Mark 16:15… 1 Corinthians 15:3-4) or the Playbook as the foundation for how we play the game (see Matthew 28:18-20)!

Cultural attractiveness minus the Message is simply fluff and the crowds it will bring do not indicate success. Cultural attractiveness plus the Message is a brilliant strategy that we “might win the weak… might by all means save some!” (1 Corinthians 9:22)

The “path of success” for the believer, is one of obedience… which is simply one of walking by faith (trusting) in how God said to do things… even if we don’t immediately see the results. We stick to the game plan! As we have been studying the “Hall of Faith” (Hebrews 11) on Sunday mornings at our church, it was pointed out again yesterday that the whole lot of these Biblical heroes were commended or approved not because of their results but because of their faith!

Hebrews 11:2 For by it (faith) the men of old gained approval. (NASB) 

“God doesn’t commend based upon results…” (Matt Brooks, LifePoint Church)

“God is not concerned if you hit the shot… He’s concerned if you take the right shot!” (Coach Burden, InBounds)

October 19, 2020 - Leaking Power

As I was preparing for messages, I preached the last couple of Sundays, I was reminded of a great quote from John Wooden: “It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.”

During the messages, I have been keying on the idea of “stewardship,” and let’s be honest that most of the time the word stewardship makes us think of what/how we are spending financially,... yet in my messges I was emphasizing the importance of using our time, talents, and treasure wisely…

And as I thought about Wooden’s quote about attention to details, I was reminded of his process of even teaching his players how to wear their socks properly and lace their shoes to avoid blisters that would slow them down. Which got me thinking that stewardship is not just how we spend, but also the wisdom in what to avoid.

A word that I think could describe what good stewardship looks like is “efficiency.” Being efficient is not just having maximum results, but doing it with minimum wasted effort or expense.

I have often mentioned my dear friend Jason Otter in these weekly devotions. Jason is the best basketball trainer I have ever seen; based upon this idea of playing efficiently, he trains players to get the most out of their play by maintaining proper positioning and limiting wasted movement…

Another example of this concept of efficiency, or stewarding one’s effort happened last week as my daughter Faith was doing an evaluation with another dear friend, Brian Creel of AthElite Nation in Boaz, AL. Like Jason when it comes to hoops, Brian is the best I know at training power and speed. As he put Faith through the evals, he timed her in running the 40. While doing this he filmed the dash and went back to the film to show Faith some of his observations…

Faith ran a very respectable time, but Brian pointed out that she had some issues not only with how her feet were landing… but also with how she was using her arms. In essence, her feet were landing with too much time spent on the ground… het arms were crossing in front of her body a bit creating a slight “falling off-line.” And the basic premise is the quickest distance between two points is a straight line, therefore when “falling off-line” it was causing her to “leak power.” I love that description… she wasn’t breaking rules… just not being as efficient as possible… and thus wasting some time (or she could have had a GREAT time instead of just a respectable time. (Remember efficiency results in MAXIMUM results.)

So, this week it is a familiar challenge… if we took video of your life, how efficient would it look spiritually… in serving God by stewarding your time, talent, and treasure? Are there things that are throwing you “off-line” resulting in less-than-best results? Hebrews 12:1 tells us to not only get rid of sin in our lives but also the “weight” that can cause us to “leak power”!

Ephesians 5:16 exhorts us to “redeem the time,” or to make the most of our time… in essence running straight spiritually in all we do’

Do some self-evaluation of your life and determine if there is “weight” or “sin” that is causing you to “leak power” and be inefficient…

Ephesians 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise…

October 12, 2020 - At The Catch...

We have had these devotions going now for almost 19 full years… (this week is #980)… and I have talked often of coachability… teamwork… trust in the game plan… commitment… humility… etc. And I have used many different sports as examples to teach us these lessons. This week, while prepping for a message, I came across a word in the text that brought a new “sport” or “exercise” to mind… ROWING. In the English it is a very common word we find in the Scriptures… the word Servant; in fact, we find the word servant almost 900 times. Yet, in the original language there are a few of the times where the word that was translated servant is different… one that can carry the idea of being an officer or assistant to the king… but has the concept of being part of the “rowing team”!

As I studied the word a bit, I came across the following article and decided to simply share its content with you this week… in hopes of reminding us to listen to the Captain (Coach)… and to go shoulder to shoulder with one another in a common goal, working together! So, without further ado… “At the catch…” (Command to tell the rowers to put their oars in water in preparation to start rowing.)

The Work of an Under-Rower

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018 / OMAR C. GARCIA

HUPERETES

The word huperetes is one of the more unusual words for servant in the Greek language. The word huperetes means under-rower. The word originally referred to a rower on board a trireme or a war-galley. It later came to refer to someone who performed hard labor. Paul used this particular word when he wrote to the Corinthian believers.

“So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God” (1 Cor. 4:1).

5 Aspects of an under-rower’s work.

• An under-rower had to row to the captain’s beat.
• The under-rowers had to row together.
• An under-rower had to trust the captain.
• An under-rower was committed for life.
• An under-rower received no honor.

Paul modeled the attitude of an under-rower.

• He was submissive because he rowed to the captain’s beat.
• He was sensitive because he rowed in harmony with others.
   There are 35 “one another” passages in the New Testament.
• He was trusting because he didn’t care where he labored.
• He was dedicated because he was willing to die at his post.
• He was humble because he wanted no glory for himself, only for his captain.

We should adopt the attitude of an under-rower.

• Obey our master. Order our steps according to his cadence.
• Cooperate with our fellow servants. Sail with the fleet.
• Trust the Lord to guide us. Put His preferences above our own.
• Remain in service for a lifetime.
• Give Christ all the glory.

October 5, 2020 - SPACING (Part2)

Last week we began talking about “spacing” and the need to avoid the traps of the enemy… simply put, we need to “Resist him”! (The enemy) [1Peter 5:9] I stated that this week we would key on a different aspect of spacing… not what to avid but what to pursue…

As a coach I consistently found myself talking to my teams about proper spacing on the floor to create opportunities. In fact, when it came to that, I regularly talked about not being right on top of one another. (Picture a little kids’ game where all the offensive players are bunched up begging for the ball.) I regularly would teach that movement/passes need to be made to improve our ability to get to the goal, not to stay in the same place…

But ultimately, in our Christian lives we need to ask what the goal is… if you have been reading these devotions for long, or sat under my teaching in any capacity, you know that my focus is most often on fulfilling the Great Commission via the Great Commandment according to the Great Game Plan… evangelism and discipleship, packaged in love, shared at home and abroad…

Yet ultimately those things will happen if we truly get our “spacing” right… or as I put it last week, helps us understand what The Coach desires of us.

Ephesians 5:17 tells us to “understand what the will of the Lord is.” So how do we do that? SPACING!

In the message that prompted me to think about “spacing” the pastor spoke about Enoch, and what made him special to God… so special that Enoch didn’t taste death but just went on to be with the Lord after 365 years of life… (See Genesis 5:21-24) This same Enoch is listed in the “Hall of Faith” of Hebrews 11… Yet, we don’t see any grand exploits about Enoch, simply that “Enoch walked with God.” (Genesis 5:24) This idea of “walking” carries the idea that Enoch was shoulder-to-shoulder with God throughout his life… SPACING!

James 4:7-8 Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…

SPACING… last week we talked about avoiding the enemy… this week we talk about shouldering up to The Coach and His will! Last week we talked about evaluating the court (life) and staying away from the traps… this week… are you truly leaning into (walking) with God?

We “shoulder up” with The Coach, according to Ephesians 5, by understanding what His will is… intently listening in the huddle (being in the Word) and intentionally executing it in the game… when we get in God’s huddle of His Word, it will transform how we think and how we play the game!

Make it a priority to shoulder up (walk) with God by allowing Him/His Word to transform your game (life)!