October 25, 2021 - The Hardest Job On The Court/Field

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been keying on the MAD Hoops rules we utilize in our outreach… these rules are written for a couple of desired outcomes: character/attitude of players, and better enjoyment of the games… 

These rules center on the idea of reminding a player who he is AND who he is not. So let’s lead into this week’s rule with a scenario from my life… I have always looked at ways to make a little extra to help out the family (in the ministry world this is called “tent making”; based upon how the Apostle Paul made tents as his side gig for income.)

One of the seemingly logical avenues of revenue for me would be reffing games… yet I remember the first time I tried that as an 8th grader… my coach asked me and my friend Chris to call a 6th grade game… and I still remember looking at a dad in the stands that was screaming at me and asking him if he wanted the whistle… I knew then that my temperament and reffing were a good match.

Reffing is one of the hardest jobs in the word… requiring fast judgement, while under great scrutiny. Often from the opening tip… kick… pitch… people are screaming at refs; in spite of the fact that refs are generally pretty good… but he statistics of how often they are right are truly staggering… even with modern rules for challenges and replays they are usually right even on close calls. (So much so that many think challenges should be done away with because they generally don’t change a call and just slow down the games.)

One of my biggest pet peeves is watching players forget who they are and decide they are referee supervisors. Therefore as a coach I had a “No Palms Rule” where I benched a player whenever he showed his palms to a ref to question a call… this week’s rule: Player is not a referee… (And neither is a fan!)

·         Player is not a referee… there is no need for you to point out someone else’s travel, double dribble, etc… but own up to your mistakes…

-          Proverbs 28:13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

We would be amazed at how different life would be is we stopped scrutinizing everyone else’s calls n life and just “played the game” - remember “Players Play!”

(Note: this is not to suggest that heathy accountability is not needed… I heard that explained at a recent conference as “protective love”… not intended to penalize like a referee!)

October 18, 2021 - "You've gotta make that shot!"

Have you ever been sitting in the stands at a game and overheard (or been the culprit) someone berating the players for messing up? I “love” it when the brilliant fan, or coach for that matter, states the obvious such as, “What are you doing, you’ve got to make that shot!” Or after a turnover, “Watch what you are doing you threw that pass away!” As if the player didn’t already know that… 

I have shared many times my philosophy I settled on for coaching and life… Players Play! Coaches Coach! Refs Ref! Fans Cheer! And last week I started sharing some of our culture-changing rules of our MAD Hoops outreach… these are Biblical principles applied to the basketball court… and hopefully beyond to the court of life.

This week I’ll share another one:

Player Is Not A Coach… there is no need to point out when someone else makes a dumb play (that player already realizes it)… but it goes a long way to admit when you make a bad pass or dumb play!

-          Matthew 7:3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye?

I’ll take it a step further and state this is a good rule for “coaches” as well. This is not to eliminate accountability, but when someone has messed up, they are typically fully aware… so even the job of a coach is to give instruction for moving forward… the time for a “coach’ to key on the negative is when the “player” is unaware of what was done wrong. I’ve heard coaches spend entire timeouts harping on what was done wrong instead of giving clear direction of what to do right.

Galatians 6:1 says, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any TRESPASS, you who are spiritual RESTORE such a one in a spirit of gentleness…”

TRESSPASS: a lapse or deviation from truth and uprightness…. a “TURNOVER” or “MISSED SHOT”

RESTORE: to strengthen, perfect, make complete, make one what he ought to be… TRUE “COACHING”

Can you imagine how much more pleasurable the game/life would be if we committed to building each other up instead of tearing each other down?

October 11, 2021 - Team Culture: Behavior a Result of Expectations

As I sit in a hotel room this morning, I am reflecting a bit on the journey of utilizing sports in ministry… (that is what I am teaching on at a conference.) I am getting notes together but also looking back at the InBounds Ministries story. We have seen opportunities worldwide to present The Substitute Gospel message… and to share God’s Playbook! 

Yet one of my favorite stories to think back upon is the MAD Hoops story; this outreach truly has been a culture changer… on and off the court… stateside and abroad. When we determined we could go MAD (Make A Difference) in men’s lives through pickup basketball, I started thinking through all the years I had spent on playground courts… YMCAs… school yards… driveways… etc. I thought about not only the fun and excitement, but also the very normal outbursts of tempers/arguments/fights… (And since the inception of InBounds, I have pointed out that sports are simply “life put in a microwave”… getting all the highs and lows… the fair and unfair… just in the condensed time of a game.)

I could spend a lot of time just sharing stories here but wanted to get to the points that jumped out at me for this week’s devotion (And possibly will spend the next few weeks sharing from the “written rules” of the MAD Hoops story.) I mentioned the idea of being a “culture changer.” Culture is something that is built upon typical behavior that is directed by expectations. Therefore, I started piecing together ideas/rules (from personal experience and years as a coach/AD) for MAD Hoops that were Biblically based, in order to re-direct expectations on the basketball court, and then hopefully in life off of the court. What does The Playbook have to say about the pickup basketball culture?

Last night I pulled up an article on “the unwritten rules” of pickup basketball. (Found on basketballword.com) “Unwritten rules” is simple way of saying “expectations/culture”; no matter what is written down, how do people act and react… Here is a quote: “In pick up, basketball foul calls are the responsibility of either the defense to call the fouls when they foul a player, or the offense calls their own foul. Many times, it’s offense calling the foul and that’s where most of the arguments stem from.”

I am in full agreement with that assessment. Therefore, I established the first couple of rules of MAD Hoops (again designed to be not just court lessons, but life lessons):

·         Player that commits the foul calls the foul… players are encouraged to own up to the things they have done wrong! Defense, call it if you hack someone! Offense, call it if you charge or clear out illegally!

James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another…

·         Player that has been fouled should play through the contact… do your job without expecting to be bailed out by a call!

Philippians 2:14 Do all things without complaining and disputing

We witnessed a rec center culture change… we watched a church basketball league change… we watched overseas culture change… as a result of new clearly defined expectations of taking personal responsibility in what one does wrong, and in not allowing what someone else does wrong to keep one from doing right…

Can you imagine with me, off the court, if the team (the church) spent more time “playing through the contact” and confessing where we have wronged others?

Let’s Go MAD together!

PUT ON YOUR RALLY HAT

 Hello Team, hope this email finds you doing well as we prepare for cooler temps... holidays... baseball playoffs... football games... and yes the start of hoops season...

InBounds is primed for a busy fall/winter... including a trip I am taking at the beginning of this next week to coach at the Free Grace Alliance International Conference in the Houston area on using sports in our evangelistic/discipleship mission...

Yet to be fully transparent, with the aftermath of dealing with a pandemic and other issues for the ministry, we are in GREAT need of your help to finish out this year and start strong in 2022... (Financially speaking we are "way behind on the scoreboard")

Typically we, and other ministries, will start reminding folks of what we do as the year winds down in hopes of end-of-year gifts... this year, due to our current status, I am not waiting until the "2 minute warning" but instead trying to "go hard through the whole 4th quarter"...

The end of 2021 will mark 15 years of our support-based mission raising funds...

The end of 2021 will mark 20 years of weekly devotions found at CoachBurden.com (that is over 1000 consecutive)

The end of 2021 will mark 25 years of using a sports platform for our ministry endeavors in local, national, and international missions...

What I hope and pray is that 2021 doesn't mark the end of these endeavors... we need your help! - would you consider a sacrificial 1-time or recurring gift to the ministry?

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October 4, 2021 - Temper Over Tempo

The goal of any team’s gameplan is going to be to set the tone for the game according to the team’s tempo and style… and adversely, to get the other team out of their comfort zone. This is one of the reasons why teams love to play at home with not only the familiarity of the court/field, but also the advantage of a fan base that helps build energy at the right times. There is a common discussion at tournament times about teams playing for the home court advantage… BUT the reality is that it can only happen if a team can successfully play on the road as well… since the advantage is gained by having the best record in all games.

With the reality that the home court is typically the easier place to play, can you imagine if an athletic director made scheduling calls and refused to play away games? That may work if you are the hottest ticket around and people are clamoring to play against you but normally not an option. (I remember during one of my stints as an AD when I was instructed to schedule games WAY past the typical time, and without a home field for the team… and had to schedule all away games… that was fairly easy to do.)

The church is often guilty of only wanting to schedule “home games.” Let’s face it, Sundays are an easy time to set the tempo how we want… (and yes that includes music style, dress style, etc.)… we set a tone we hope will attract the “visiting team.”

Please don’t hear me wrong; I believe it is important to take advantage of a home court advantage and set a tone for the way we want to “play the game”… but I am not sure we can be attractive enough to be put on visitors’ schedules apart from spending some time at “away games.”

In John 17 we read of the real “Lord’s prayer”; the time when Jesus is spilling His heart to the Father. What is cool is that He pray for His apostles and their place in the world… while desiring them to not be of the world. He is recognizing they will be “playing on the road”… especially since the “home court” churches were yet to be established. He also prays for us! Did you know Jesus prayed for you? If you are a believer you fall under the banner of verse 20 where Jesus says, “I do not pray for these alone (the Apostles), but also for those who will believe in me through their word…”

What is interesting is that Jesus doesn’t talk a lot about their “playing style”, but more about their mindset… He wanted them to not be separated by their location or their style, but by their values and how they think. 17 "Sanctify them by Your truth, Your Word is truth.”

Jesus was more worried about temper than tempo…

Paul echoes these thoughts by reminding us in Romans 12:2 that we are to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.”  

John Wooden said that we can be “quick but not hurry.” In other words even if the tempo of the game changes, our temperament shouldn’t.

The opposition will try to impose its will on us… get us playing their style… and it is easy to fall into the trap. That is why Romans 12:9 reminds us to “cling to what is good.”

Playing the game of life with the right temperament, in spite of whatever tempo is set, is based upon transformed minds that have been sanctified by God’s truth. The world can speed us up or slow us down in tempo… but shouldn’t alter our mindset.