November 29, 2021 - Trust the Coach, Not the Scoreboard!

Have you ever heard a coach say, “Trust the process!”? Especially during rebuilding times for teams there is a need to establish a foundation… and that means sometimes that the scoreboard/winning is not the objective. There is the old adage that sometimes you have to “be willing to lose the battle in order to win the war.” 

In other words, building a team or a program requires patience and trust… trust that the coach has a plan and a purpose…

I think of times of requiring a certain number of passes on offense to emphasize teamwork, in spite of maybe there being an open shot earlier in the set… I think of benching the starters in order to emphasize a need for energy… I think of benching a player for a whole game to teach consequences for actions… and the list goes on. The problem is that players and/or fans don’t always stop to consider the end goal of the coach… just the immediate results.

Yesterday as our pastor was teaching in the book of Psalms, he reminded me of these truths in our every day lives. We tend to look for immediate results (rescue) in our circumstances and when we don’t get them, we get angry and discouraged. The problem is that in doing so, we forget that God has a purpose and a plan, where He has stated He will use the circumstances for our eventual good… we just don’t like waiting. God wants to not just be viewed as our rescuer, but also as our refuge!

Pastor Matt reminded us to trust / hope in the Coach because:

“God is good! God is faithful! God can be trusted!”

If you focus on Him instead of your circumstances, then you allow God to be “not just the God of your destination, He is the God of your journey.” (Matt Brooks)

Why are you cast down, O my soul?

And why are you disquieted within me?

Hope in God; For I shall praise Him,

The help of my countenance

And my God

(Psalm 42:11)

Trust the Coach, not the scoreboard!

November 22, 2021 - It's About the Team Not the Scoreboard

I’ve watched quite a few basketball games recently, and one thing that has really stuck out to me, (maybe because I am working some much with our church life groups), is the demeanor of the players. With some of the teams you can see that they love being on the court together… others not so much. 

In one recent game my wife looked at me and asked why it appeared that the team that lost seemed happier than the team that won? I thought it was quite interesting that a team showed that the joy is in the playing of the game together… the journey… not just in what a scoreboard says. I also had noticed that throughout the game, the team that lost was more encouraging to one another… more apt to help one another off the floor… etc.

You may be thinking, yeah but they lost… and if we judge success by the scoreboard that is true. But the game, like life, is not always going to go our way. Sometimes we play poorly… or are weak… or the ball just doesn’t bounce the right way… or simply the other team is more talented.

What if we viewed our life as believers (being on God’s team) together in this way? What if we just simply bought into the idea that winning or losing, we are going to enjoy “the game” together?

One thing I often told my teams is that the scoreboard turns off very quickly after a game… therefore build things that last beyond the timer!

I often bring up the passage in Hebrews 10:24-25 that tells us to be with the team… to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together…” Yet we are told not just to “take the court together” and not just to play our part… BUT to do the things that losing team was doing the other night… “considering one another in order to stir up love and good works… exhorting one another.”

I know I have written about this topic recently, BUT want to remind you that this concept involves INTENTIONALITY… “considering” your teammates. Make a plan now to encourage someone and lift him/her up!

It’s about the team, not the scoreboard!

November 15, 2021 - Building Your Program

I was just reading an article about Texas A&M football coach, Jimbo Fisher; it is dealing with the speculation that LSU is trying to lure him away to coach in Baton Rouge… (and would probably offer many things to do so)… to which Jimbo has replied that if he were to leave, “you ought to say that’s the dumbest human being…” He was basing that answer on the fact that his current school has built one of the top recruiting classes in the nation coming in next year (and could even end up with the top class.) In other words, he looked at the program he is building… to potential rewards of the future… and realized he needs to honor his contract and stay put… and not miss the rewards! 

It reminded me of a song that I wrote the lyrics for many years ago… one that I recently came across and hung on my office wall… one that, to be very honest, made some folks uncomfortable. It was written from the perspective of if Satan were talking to a child of God… it is called “Crawl.”

I know that He’s your Father, and wants the best for you

But for some strange and unknown reason, you keep listening to me too

I know how to intrigue you, and what you will not flee

And though you do not have to, you keep crawling back to me

So, Crawl, Yes, Crawl

I say Fall, Yes, Fall

Don’t listen to your Master, and Crawl

I’m roaming all about, seeking who I’ll devour

I’ll take away your peace, through the final hour

I might have lost you in the end, but until that time I’ll see

You falling to enticements, as you come crawling back to me

So, Crawl (even though you have wings)

Yes, Crawl (though you could soar with ease)

I say Fall (even though the Spirit grieves)

Yes, Fall (leave behind your joy and peace)

Don’t listen to your master, and Crawl

The story and the song take my mind to 1 Corinthians 3

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

If you have trusted Jesus as your Savior, you are saved… that is the foundational hope/truth of the Christian. You came to Him with empty hands and accepted what He offered you. But once that foundation is laid, we should build upon it.. with the assurance of looking ahead to future rewards.

Salvation is a result of His work… which this passage reminds us, will forever endure!

Rewards are the result of our work… which this passage reminds us, are subject to testing!

Be a wise builder of a Godly program in your life…

November 8, 2022 - Restoration vs Retaliation

We have been marching through our rules/expectations we set for our MAD Hoops outreach… and as a reminder, these are set to Make A Difference on and off the court! Last week I shared the idea of being a “one another team” that seeks to edify/build up instead of tearing down.

BUT how do we handle “intentional fouls”? What do we do when the other person is intentional in his outburst… physically or verbally? This is a hard one… I have shared in the past that I grew up with, and still wrestle with, and “I don’t get mad, I get ahead” mentality. Yet, everything we have been sharing is that our MADness should not about anger, but about Making A Difference…

Here is the last rule we post at our outreach:

·         Player that commits an intentional foul (physically or verbally) will be asked to leave the gym… staff will determine this and then escort the player out…

At this point of the rule, we all are probably ok with it… after all there is the good of the whole at stake. We can’t allow one out of control player to mess it up for everyone… BUT doesn’t that player matter? Therefore, here is the rest of the rule/expectation:

·         …pray with player, and invite the player to return to the next MAD Hoops session.

Our goal is to Make A Difference in one another’s lives! The reality is that we all blow it sometimes and commit “intentional fouls” (often times to those we are closest to)… so we need to always be reminded of our goal…

Galatians 6:1 Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.

Restoration is more important than retaliation… Let’s Go MAD and love on some folks this week!

Here is the “Player’s Prayer” we have at the end of our rules/expectations… hope it is a reflection of your heart as well:

Player’s Prayer: Lord, as I lace them up today, I pray that you will be honored through my attitude and actions. I pray that others will see a difference in me. I commit that no one will work harder than I do, because you deserve my best in all I do. I commit that I will respect others – teammates, coaches, opponents. Lord, help me Go MAD (Make A Difference) on and off the court! In Jesus’ name I play and pray, Amen!

November 1, 2021 - A One-Another-Team (What does that sound like?)

The past few weeks we have been working our way through the culture-changing rules/expectations we set for our MAD Hoops outreach… or more accurately the culture-changing rules/expectations set out in Scripture for a MAD (Make A Difference) life… 

This week’s expectation of “players”:

·         Player is expected to play under control… not just physically but also emotionally; it is expected that players try to control their tongues by avoiding the use of profane language… There is a zero-tolerance policy for the use of God’s name is vain!

-          Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

When I share this point I want to emphasize that in Scripture I have found that whenever we see something God says is best to avoid, He replaces it with what is best… the emphasis here is not what we don’t say, but more on what the verse tells us to say… things that edify… things that “impart grace to the hearers.”

So, what does it mean to “edify”? The definition of the Greek word means to build up… and metaphorically it means: the act of one who promotes another's growth in Christian wisdom, piety, happiness, holiness…

What about imparting grace? This is the idea of being a holy influence… and bringing joy and pleasure to the other…

When you listen to the soundtrack of your life, both on and off the court, are you one that tears down or one that builds up? Are you trying to make things better for your “teammates” or just trying to make things better for yourself?

I’m just telling you that in our MAD Hoops world, it has been amazing to see men on the court that weren’t complaining and pointing fingers, but instead encouraging one another… we are intended, by God, to be a one-another-team!