February 21, 2022 - Are You Ready For Next Season?

 “To everything (turn, turn, turn)… there is a season (turn, turn, turn)… a time to every purpose, under heaven”                (Turn! Turn! Turn! – The Byrds AND Ecclesiastes 3:1)

Season: a period of the year marked by a particular activity/event… a fixed time of year when a particular sport is played… This concept has been heavily on my mind recently… I have been working on a new ministry opportunity for InBounds, and it seems the word keeps popping up in things I am reading in the news or on social media…

I was reading about Michigan’s basketball coach (Juwan Howard) being suspended for the rest of the “season” due to his conduct at the end of game this weekend. So his choices this “season” have shortened it, and could quite possibly affect the next “season” of his life…

I read where my dear friend Mitch has moved and is preparing for, in his words, a “new season.” (Dudes getting hitched!!!)

“Seasons” bring changes… and the Scriptures tell us we need to be prepared…

…Be ready in season and out of season… (found in 2 Timothy 4:2)

For this week’s devotion, I hope it will serve two purposes: encouraging each of us in our walk... and promoting the aforementioned “new ministry opportunity”…

The Greek word for “season” carries a definition that includes the idea of “when the opportunity occurs”

I have recently agreed to extend our InBounds local outreach by serving as a development director for the Marshall Baptist Retreat Center on beautiful Lake Guntersville. As part of this position, I have been asked to develop some new ministry outreach and also to manage what is already taking place… which includes a VERY BUSY summer of hosting groups that are renting the facility. This creates a need for some staffing… which creates an opportunity for our desire to EQUIP young people for ministry… to make them READY FOR OPPORTUNITIES… for each SEASON of their lives.

Here is part of the write-up I did about the TRAINING CAMP opportunity:

“If you are between the ages of 16-25 and wanting to prepare to Go MAD (Make A Difference) in the NEXT SEASON of your life this may be what you are looking for… Your life has been largely regulated by the academic calendar, with summers being the “off-season.” As a coach, I often explain that “the off-season in when championship teams are built!” At your age, every school year tends to be a new SEASON of LIFE… I want to help you get STRONGER (in your faith), more COORDINATED (in how you put that faith into action), and more FOCUSED (in your energy moving forward with your faith)… In a nutshell, to help you improve performance as you prepare for NEXT SEASON!”

So, two things:

1.       Are you poised and prepared to Go MAD when ministry opportunities arise? I often ask why folks don’t tend to share the Gospel or plug into ministry… and the answer I hear most is that people don’t feel prepared or qualified… THEN GET PREPARED OR QUALIFIED!

2.       Do you know any 16-25-year-olds that would be good candidates to spend a couple of months this summer with InBounds in a very intensive TRAINING CAMP? (Which also gives a chance to earn a few dollars)

Get ready for NEXT SEASON!!!