April 25, 2022 - Closed Practices

I remember my days as a coach and AD when I had to make some choices about our teams’ practices… at certain times we had to share the floor since the schools I worked at only had 1 single-floor gymnasium and multiple teams… and all practices had to take place before or after school, and yes, I said it was sometimes before school.

The reason for having the occasional early morning workouts, and the occasional late practices, was to make sure we had some “closed practices.” By “closed” it meant that we eliminated outside influences and tried to make sure that the players were focused on the task at hand… I didn’t want my guys checking to see if the girls were watching… I didn’t want outside voices (i.e., parents) getting into their kids’ ears… I didn’t want it to be constant foot traffic of classmates cutting through the gym and wanting to say hello… etc.

This came to mind yesterday as one of our pastors was introducing the message in our current series of Airplane Mode. The idea of the series is to emphasize the importance of eliminating some distractions, in order to hear from God and get to know Him better!

Here are some quotes that popped up in a google search…

“Don’t let the noise of the world keep you from hearing the voice of the Lord.”

“If the enemy can’t destroy you, he will distract you!”

“When the enemy sends distractions, they never look like distractions until they are finished distracting you.”

We tend to spend so much time in Christian circles warning about blatant sin, yet allowing for subtle distractions…

1 Corinthians 7:35 And this I say for your own profit, not that I may put a leash on you, but for what is proper, and that you may serve the Lord without distractions.

Mark 4:19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in CHOKE the Word, and it becomes unfruitful.

Have you ever thought about the fact that Jesus found it important to go into “airplane mode” and get away alone to pray… it was a “closed practice” in life… yet we typically live our lives so distracted that we even go to bed with our phones…

It’s time for some “Closed Practices”!

April 18, 2022 - Build A Super Team

The modern-day narrative concerning “super teams” is that guys are not loyal and just run to where they know they can win… this especially happens when old-timers are slamming the young studs. The issue, they claim, is that in the old days, players didn’t want to team up with their rivals… they wanted to beat them! 

First let me counter that thought a bit… yes, it is true that players tend to move around more now, in fact even in the college ranks teams are faced with new transfer rules. But that is how they were raised, especially in the travel ball world where the goal is typically to try to put together a “super team.” Yet, if we are being honest, the vast majority of times when a team wins at the pro level, they are a “super team” that was pieced together to be such. Maybe in the “old days” we would see a guy stay as the centerpiece of a team, but typically that same team made trades o0f players and/or draft picks to put the right guys around him… (but for some reason it was ok back then for team owners to trade guys but now it is not ok for players to initiate it???)

But I am not writing about this topic to discuss that issue in particular, but instead the reality that winning typically involves being teamed up with the right people…

I thought about this over the weekend as Pastor Matt Brooks shared the story of when Mary and Mary went to the grave of Jesus… and it found an empty tomb… here is part of the passage:

And behold there was a great earthquake; for an angle of the Lord descended from Heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothes as white as snow. (Matthew 28:2-3)

The story goes on to share that the guards were terrified and “became like dead men,” and the angel told the ladies to not be afraid… then pronouncing that Jesus was risen!

Matt pointed out a truth that I have often shared also, that the resurrected Jesus empowered and emboldened the disciples and early church to turn the world upside down with the Gospel! As Matt pointed out, the apostles were not at all afraid of death, most facing martyrs; deaths, because they “teamed up” with the guy that walked out of a grave!

But Matt also made a point I had not thought of before… he stated that he fully expected to see at least one of the Roman guards in Heaven… after what they had witnessed, surely at least one decided “I’m with Earthquake Angel!” and “turned in his helmet with a feather…”

In honor of Easter can I remind you that you need to be “teamed up” with Jesus for salvation… believing in His finished work (the cross and resurrection) as payment for your sin… and eternal life!

And since many that read this blog have done that, can I remind you of another truth… I don’t care what you think about sports figures getting on “super teams” but I can tell you that you need to be seeking to be a part of one! All of my life I’ve heard preachers warning about being “unequally yoked” (partnering with someone not heading in the same direction as you); but if that is true (and it is since 2 Corinthians 6:14 says “don’t team up with those who are unbelievers” NLT), then the adverse must be true also TEAM UP WITH BELIEVERS THAT ARE “EQUAL”!)

So, if you want to do great things, then find great teammates… build a super team!

April 11, 2022 - Not A "Fish Story"

I had the privilege of sharing with a high school fishing team a few nights ago… as I shared the story in John 21 of Jesus telling the boys where to throw their nets, and they caught a haul so big they had to drag it in… (153 large ones to be exact… see vs 11) 

The reality is that I believe every word of that story because in my studies I have found the Word to be true… but taken by itself it could easily sound like a “Fish Story…”

And let’s face it, we live in a world that is very cynical and want proof. I can be that way when I watch things like dunk videos on Instagram… some of these guys are doing things where I am trying to evaluate the setting, gain perspective, to prove if the rim had been lowered… Or we see pictures online and wonder how much is photoshopped or run through a filter…

Well folks have always had a cynical nature. At the time of Christ’s resurrection, there were many claiming things to try to discount it… after all, a guy rising from the grave is a pretty big deal…

Paul heard the talk and he addressed I in 1 Corinthians 15 and eliminate the reasonable doubt that came along with the Easter story.

Verse 3 begins: For I delivered to you first of all (some translations read: as of first importance)…

Paul comes right out of the gate expressing the urgency and importance of this message…

He continues, “…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,”

He shares the fulfillment of the prophesied story of the SUBSTITUTE in our place!

In verse 4 he shares fulfillment of another prophecy: “…that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,”

Paul shares that we needed not only a death payment for our sins, but also we needed the new life of resurrection!

Those of us that are believers find great joy and comfort in those truths… yet, let’s be honest, an unbeliever hearing of a guy dying and rising again from the grave is prone to think it is a “Fish Story.” So Paul eliminates the doubt to his hearers by reminding them:

Not only was Jesus crucified but He was “buried” (vs 3)… burying a guy in that culture would have been a death sentence in and of itself with the weight of the grave clothes wrapped around him… Burying Jesus gave confirmation of death… which was important since some claimed He didn’t really die and that is why He appeared afterwards. Sharing that He was buried gave perspective to the hearers…

He followed up that proof with another… after Jesus rose, Paul records that “He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. And after that He was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present…”

Paul essentially removes all doubts to those cynics as he brought in hundreds of eyewitnesses to verify this account!

As you celebrate Easter this year… also share the story… there is ironclad proof that was verifiable to the recipients of 1 Corinthians… and to this day, that ironclad proof of eyewitness testimony shows that Jesus’s death and resurrection are “No Fish Story!”

April 4, 2022 - Get Your Hands Up

Well, I am sitting here typing this as I await the national championship game between North Carolina and Kansas… (and I will say, that even though I did not fill out brackets this year, I am on record as saying to some folks that Carolina was one of my “sleeper” teams that everyone should look out for…)

Yet when it comes to games like this, there is always that question of who will be the unexpected hero to step into the spotlight and lead his team to victory? Who will raise his game to a different level? (Loved it as I watched South Carolina’s women win last night behind a career high performance from one of their guards… Destanni Henderson. She dropped 26 points in the national championship… that girl came to play!)

Recently I have shared much about being on mission, and if you are a part of our social network, you know that I have shared much about needs for folks to step up and help lead us to victory. At InBounds our mission is to always “come to play!” We are looking for every way possible to “Give ‘em the ROCK!” (evangelize) and to encourage the team to “Get schooled now… so you don’t get schooled later!” (discipleship) But it is not always easy, and, in fact, sometimes it is draining when putting in so many “minutes.” Just as our ministry is based upon the ultimate Substitute we need for salvation (thank you Jesus!), it is has been (and continues to be) built on the concept of the “team” stepping up.

I think of all the years as a player and a coach, encouraging players to give it their all and pushing to the limits. And the telltale sign of fatigue was the hands down on defense… or the player being bent over tugging on the legs of his shorts… As a player or coach, you know that is time when a teammate needs to step up and give a break. I loudly proclaimed many time, “Get your hands up!” (And by that I meant, “Or I will get someone in there that will…)

I think of Moses in the battle against the Amalekites (Exodus 17)… where as long as he stood with his hands raised with the rod of God in them, Israel would prevail… when he would lower them they would start to lose. But obviously the goal was victory and Moses was getting tired (verse 12 records it that his “hands became heavy…”) so his teammates came along beside him and gave him a place to sit, while they held up his arms… until victory would be theirs!

This week I challenge you to stay strong in the battle… to “get your hands up!” Or at least to help support someone else’s arms…

How can we help/encourage you in your battle? We exist to train others…

How can you help others fight their battles? I know that InBounds is in great need of support for the upcoming season… I ain’t gonna lie… our hands are “heavy.” Would you pray about a one-time or recurring gift of support to help lead us to victory? Or maybe the Lord has laid another mission on your heart that you can support…

Christianity is designed to be a team sport!