January 31, 2022 - Afraid To Go In???

I’ll start this week with an admission/reminder that the way I think is weird… after more than 1000 consecutive weeks of using sports stories/themes to illustrate Biblical truths, it is hard for me to sit through a sermon without my mind drifting to some correlating event in my coaching or playing past…

This past Sunday it was a mix of the Sunday sermon and pictures popping up in Facebook posts. Primarily this week’s happened as I saw one of my former players (when I was coaching a 5^th/6^th grade team my daughter was on) who is now playing high school ball.

This young lady, Grace, has always had a desired commodity in basketball… that old coaching adage, “you can’t teach height!” (There my mind goes again… coach’s mind thinking about getting players to play big: https://youtu.be/WXGIf-NGsxM) I see her in current pictures grabbing rebounds… blocking shots… making shots… being an asset to her team!

Yet it wasn’t always that way… the first time I turned to put her in a game, she welled up with tears and turned me down. She was unsure of what she had to offer. I had not yet taught her that much, so she didn’t have confidence in her skill set. BUT she did have that part “you can’t teach… height!” Initially I just needed to her to go in… hands up… you get the picture… (So here’s a picture…)

Anyway, that thought of Grace welling up with tears and not wanting to go in, led to remembering the joy of watching her finally get in the game (with the coaxing of her friend Emma) and making a huge difference for our team! And now the joy of seeing her still making a difference… And it was brought on by the story of a boy with seemingly little to offer…

All four Gospels record the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 with 5 just five loaves of bread and two fish… and how when they were done there were still leftovers. The Gospel of John (in chapter 6) records that Jesus got the initial offering of food to perform the miracle, from a boy. At a time when Jesus’s disciples were worried that they didn’t have enough money to feed the mob (v 7)… at a time when the disciples questioned how much the boy had to offer (vs 9: “but what are these for so many people”) … Jesus took the willingness of that boy to “get in the game” and made a huge difference!

Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. (v 11)

Not sure who needs to hear this, but it is time to “get in the game” and make a difference! You may be reading this with tears welling up afraid to “go in” or feeling like you simply don’t have enough… BUT GOD can and will use what you have!

Go MAD (Make A Difference) this week!

January 24, 2022 - LONG TO BE STRONG!

Last week I talked about the idea of “buying in” to the team… the program… the purpose. It is not just about “playing the game” by avoiding violations, but more about striving together as a unit… not just “all in” in the desire to be ahead on the scoreboard, but instead in the desire to grow as a unit. 

Well enough of that review… if you want to “buy in” then you (and I) need to be “strong.” And when I think about the best players I have ever coached, they were incredibly “strong” but not necessarily physically. Of course, the crowd goes crazy when witnessing great physical prowess… and I do to. The highlights I watch always seem to involve a great display of athleticism and or skill… but when I think about the biggest difference-makers I have had on teams, they possessed a different type of strength… it was strength of understanding who we were and what we were trying to accomplish. They saw the game differently that others.

In life, we are called to “not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (See Ephesians 5:17) In other words become those who know who we are and what we are trying to accomplish… how do we do this? We must be in the Word learning what God says about us and about the Game Plan!

Here we are in January and I hope your resolution (and mine) is to get strong!

Proverbs 24:5-6 A WISE MAN IS STRONG, yes, a man of knowledge increases strength. For by wise counsel you will wage your own war, and in a multitude of counselors there is safety.

Note the need to understand the plan… and the need to be surrounded by others that do the same… “buying in” means making gaining a high game IQ a priority…

And I love the word “safety” we find at the end of those verses… it literally has the idea of deliverance or salvation… and can be translated a bit differently… “in a multitude of counslors there is VICTORY.”

January 17, 2022 - Buy Into The Program... The GC2A

The National Basketball ASSOCIATION… the National Collegiate Athletic ASSOCIATION… obviously I am keying on the word ASSOCIATION. That word means: a group of people organized for a joint PURPOSE. This has been fresh on mind as I have been discussing some outreach with an ASSOCIATION of churches in the area where I live…

I was recently listening to a lesson being given to youth about being careful who you ASSOCIATE with… It was a very solid lesson and had a lot of great advice. Yet, as I thought about it, when I would hear that message being taught when I was young, all I remember is the warning about hanging out with bad kids… and then it moved into, when you date and eventually marry, make sure it is a believer… etc. Please don’t hear me wrong here, I am thankful for that advice being given… BUT I think it falls a bit short. It is possible someone is not “bad” but also is not what you need…

I have been a part of teams where, on the surface, everyone seems to be “organized for a joint purpose”; we were playing the same sport with the desire to win… we were on the same team… we wore the same jerseys… showed up for the same practices and games… even had the same cheers. No one on the team was a “bad guy” trying to make us run the other teams plays or make us lose. But I remember times when maybe everyone was not “all in” …  had not “bought in” to the overall purpose of being a team. There were players that were simply “bought in” to the scoreboard…

I recently read where a recruiting coach made this observation: “Buying in to the program means that you love what you are a part of and your joy is infectious to everyone in the program.” (Andy Drake, NCSASPORTS.org) He talked of players needing to “buy into Core Covenants” of the program in order to be successful…

May I suggest here that we need to start evaluating our “ASSOCIATIONS” we are a part of… obviously if they are bringing us down we need to get out… but let’s raise the standard from “not bringing us down’ to actually “building us up… pursuing the same purpose.” Which also means you need to know your purpose… your, in the words of Coach Drake, “Core Covenants”! To me they are very simple: the Great Commission (evangelism and discipleship) and the Great Commandment (loving God and loving others)… in other words let’s (personally and corporately in our churches) build a GC²A… Great Commission/Commandment Association!

The early church was successful because they “bought in”! I love this verses:

Acts 2:46-47 So continuing daily with ONE ACCORD in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

ONE ACCORD = ASSOCIATION

The Greek word for ONE ACCORD means with one mind… with one accord… with one passion. It is a compound word with the idea of “rush along” and “in unison.” Let’s find folks that are moving with passion and purpose and hang out with them!

January 10, 2022 - Failure is only fatal when you allow it to be final…

Well, we are 10 days into the new “season” of 2022… and I wonder how many resolutions have already been broken? How many gym memberships are already going unused? How many brownie cupcakes and sugar cookies have already been eaten? (Oh, I got personal there…) 

The reality is that most new year’s resolutions fail because there is a difference between a true resolution and just a dream. The mere term “resolution” has as its core the word “resolute”; this means to be purposeful, determined, unwavering…

·         “purposeful’ carries the imperative that your “why” has to be strong!

·         “determined” involves a key element of research and calculation… it involves a plan!

·         “unwavering” because a “what” without a strong “why” allows for weak excuses!

Coach Wooden said this: “Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.”

I think it is good to make resolutions and desire change… and I believe it is important that I add an additional thought to Coach Wooden’s maxim… Failure is only fatal when you allow it to be final…

First take a look at God’s love for us… demonstrated in “that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) Let’s then, out of gratitude, take a look at our own personal “play” and how we are helping the “team”… let’s renew our purpose to love God and love others… let’s determine a plan to “go MAD” (Make A Difference) today… and let’s “play strong!”

Check out how The Message paraphrase shares what Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet, said: “Let’s take a good look at the way we’re living and reorder our lives under God.” (Lamentations 3:40)

You may have messed up… and in your mind failed… if so, you need to hear something else Jeremiah said in that passage: “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed (failure is not fatal), because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Isn’t it a great reminder that God is resolute!

January 3, 2022 - Have Fun! Play Right!

I love sports… the competition… the skills… the teamwork… etc. I take it very seriously… Yet, I often hear the idea, and even teach it, that it is a game… therefore you should have fun!

Please know that I believe the game (life) should involve much rejoicing and fun! But that does not mean there is not an element of being serious! If a player comes into a basketball game and just takes off running with the ball, it messes up the game… if a player steps onto the football field and just sets up wherever he wants and takes off whenever he wants, it messes up the game… For the game to be fun and fulfilling, it must be played right! (Turnovers hurt the player and the team!)

Christianity creates an interesting balance… We are placed on the team and in the game by grace through faith… not on our own merit but on Jesus’ merit. We are relieved of the penalty of sin because Jesus took it for us on the cross. Then He rose from the grave offering us this place in the game…

Since the beginning of the church, it has led some to “play the game” (of life) carelessly because they misunderstand the difference between the penalty of sin and consequences of sin! They “get in the game” and just think about having fun and not the seriousness of “the game.”

In reality, sin still creates “turnovers” in our lives. It messes up “the game” for us as individuals and for the team as a whole. When we trust in the finished work of Christ for salvation, the penalty of sin (separation from God) is removed, and we become God’s children (on His “team”.) But “in the game” sin still is harmful! We should “play right” by avoiding sin; not in order to earn a place on the team… but because we trust the Coach’s game plan… I have reminded us many times on here over the years that the Coach (God) is on our side!

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and REJOICE in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? ² CERTAINLY NOT! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Have Fun! Play Right!