March 25, 2024 - ABOVE ALL THINGS: Urgency When The Clock Is Running Out

Have you ever noticed that when things get tough attitudes tend to deteriorate? Often people get more irritable and short-tempered when feeling pressure… when the water comes to a boil, people start to whistle and make noise… and we are typically most noisy to those closest to us.

In life and sport there is an old cliché: when the going gets tough the tough get going! This phrase/proverb is often attributed to famed football coach Knute Rockne (and elicits in this old lover of R&B music the sound of Billy Ocean in my head.)

It is on my mind due to watching how some of the basketball players I watched over the past few days in the NCAA tourney seemed to lack an understanding of playing with a sense of urgency when time was running out. In one game the game was tied with less than 10 seconds left and the star player of the team with the ball casually walked the ball down and ended up taking a horrible long three-pointer with defenders all over him… the shot wasn’t even close. In another game I noticed players on a team that was behind starting to try to preserve time by rolling the inbounds pass in to delay the start of the clock, only to see the guard pick the ball up while still deep in the backcourt and then walk the ball up… again no sense of urgency…

I am a proponent of making good choices in urgent situations… I often quote one of my heroes, John Wooden, who stated, “be quick but don’t hurry!” In other words, being under control is not a call to be nonchalant but a call to be clear of purpose in the midst of the chaos.

Well, we are in a time where we are hearing much about urgency and pressure… what is happening to the American economy/culture? What is going on in the Middle East? What does this mean in relation to end times?

As a coach (minister) it is easy to fall back on the urgency to score (get the ball down the court and in the basket… EVANGELIZE) and I believe a Biblical reasoning can be given… Jesus told us the “fields are white unto harvest" (John 4:35) thus indicating the urgency to EVANGELIZE has been there all along for us… John 9:4 records Jesus’s approach to His urgent times with Him stating, “I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day…”

I think we will all agree in theory that EVANGELISM is an urgent matter. BUT I saw something while preparing today that really hit home based upon our TEAM PHILOSPHY.

1 Peter 4 addresses the urgency of the times:

7 But the end of all things is at hand; THEREFORE be serious and watchful in your prayers.

Serious and watchful carry the idea of being in one’s right mind… calm and collected in spirit… or in Wooden’s words “don’t hurry!”

Then it is interesting as the Apostle Peter is not led by the spirit to encourage the urgency of EVANGELISM (even though we know that is true and has been since the time of Christ) but instead is led to encourage the importance of TEAM! When the water comes to a boil what will those close to us hear?

8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, “for love will cover a multitude of sins.” 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

“Above all things” how one ministers to and responds to TEAMMATES is the urgent call of the hour. We are still trying to score BUT as a TEAM!

March 18, 2024 - 10 Feet Tall

CREATING A CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE

by Dr. Greg Shelley, Leadership Academy Director at Fordham, Lafayette, and Colgate

As a coach you wear many hats.  You are a teacher, mentor, disciplinarian, administrator, leader, parent, trainer, and coach.  Still, at the end of the week, you are expected to win . . . and an important part of winning is developing and maintaining a winning culture.  But for some coaches, the ongoing and weekly pursuit of winning may deter them from creating the long-term Championship Culture that is most desired. 

Although there are many factors impacting culture (e.g., skill and talent, commitment, confidence, personality, coaching style, character, intensity, toughness, response to adversity, responsibility, support, accountability, and leadership), the team culture you most desire must be taught . . . and if you do not take the time to appropriately manage your team culture, it will likely manage you.

Some teams have a Comfortable Culture, some have a Country Club Culture, and some have a Championship Culture, (i.e., a culture that is value driven and centered on trust, respect, unity, passion, and a relentless commitment to winning).  No doubt, a winning culture takes time to develop and refine . . . and your culture will ebb and flow with the changing of personnel and circumstances.  Yet, creating a Championship Culture will take a long-term commitment by you, your staff, and your players.  (taken from Janssen Sports Leadership site)

I write often about TEAM and CULTURE… so much of the New Testament is written to the plural “you” called the body… the church… could be called the TEAM. Most of what is revealed of Go’s will for us as His children… as members of His TEAM… deal with building a proper TEAM or CHAMPIONSHIP CULTURE! The Greek word for “ONE ANOTHER” appears 100 times in the New Testament.

This is on my mind for a couple of reasons… 1. I have been watching a lot of tournament hoops this past week and just filled out my tourney brackets for the upcoming March Madness Big Dance – and observing what the team attitudes/culture is like. 2. As I mentioned in last week’s Game Plan, I just officiated a wedding and my studies for the challenge to the couple continued to take me back to God’s direction for a proper TEAM CULTURE.

So, I started looking more at this idea of the word champion. Of course, we use it for the winner of tournaments… BUT could it be that you could win and not be truly a champion? The word has its roots in the idea of a fighter or gladiator… someone competing for a cause. This is what leads to ideas like in the intro, that a championship culture will include unity (singular focus on a goal), passion (a common drive to said goal), etc. AND I WOULD ADD that a championship culture typically involves a fan base that is committed to this as well. It boils down to a fan base that makes even road games seem like it is a home court advantage. A home court advantage is driven by support that makes the players feel 10 feet tall… the cheering and enthusiasm is uplifting! You an win simply by having the best shooting night… or lets face it, by having the better players/athletes…. Thus maybe even being crowned a champion but not necessarily creating a championship culture.

For God’s team we are commanded over and over to consider one another to stir one another up… to lift one another to greater hieghts… etc. it involves, as the intro talks about, trust and respect… the only thing I would change in the copied paragraph is that the ‘long-term commitment” is not to winning but instead to one another and the team’s values… scoreboards are temporal barometers!

But quickly back to the importance of the fan base… I just watched an education Ted Talks with a presenter named Rita Pierson. Ms. Pierson has been in education for 40 years and you can see she is driven by her love for the team of kids she gets to pour into. She said this, “every child needs a champion… an adult who will never give up on them… and insists they become the best they can be.”  In other words, everyone needs a biggest fan… one that makes them feel invincible, even when the scoreboard may show otherwise.

Now to the Scripture that jumped out at me during the wedding studies. In Ephesians 5, Paul starts challenging husbands about their role in the marriage… and he likens it unto Christ’s goal for the church… the team…

Ephesians 5:27 that He might present he to Himself a glorious church, not having spot of wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

 There is a challenge to the team to have a different culture!

And this is imagery for a marriage team as well… and how is that accomplished? Well I’m going to delve into a quick marriage counseling session.

Ephesians 5:33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his on wife as himself…

You know I have never heard a wife complain that her husband is too sacrificial to her… that he loves her and thinks of her as much as he loves himself… never heard a complaint that her husband is her biggest fan championing her cause…

The verse goes on to say: and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

The word respects carries the idea of revering… of looking at with awe… and you know I have never heard a husband complain that his wife is his biggest fan… or that she cheers him on and makes him feel 10 feet tall…. I’ve never heard a husband say I wish my wife would criticize or question me more… I wish she would point out more of where my stat line fell short… (all of these things are the equivalent of a boos!) – never heard a husband complain that his wife champions his cause

A successful team is one that develops a Championship Culture by Championing for One Another!

Cheer on your teammates today… cheer on your mates today… (men are especially ego-driven… make your man feel 10 feet tall!)

March 11, 2024 - Larry Bird Agrees With Me... (at least on some of this Game Plan)

I’m sitting in the airport in Houston following a weekend lf celebration as I was privileged to officiate a wedding for a dear friend who is a former apprentice in our Talyor-Made INVESTment Training Camps… it was great weekend but now I’m not due to land back in FL until 1:30am or so… and then a bit of drive back to the house. Yet there is work due tomorrow, so taking advantage of my time in the terminal…

As I was driving back to the airport today, I started thinking about all the travel I get to do and my mind wandered back to 5th grade and the excitement I had when the sheet went up after tryouts for the 6^th grade team and I was one of three 5^th graders that made the “travel team.” It was so cool getting to load the bus and suit up at other schools to play. And to this day I love to suit up on the road for ministry “away games.”

As I prepped for the wedding a word that is commonly fretted over came up… the idea of submission. Before I give you a really cool definition I read, let me tell you how that fit with previous sports reading I was doing.

Many of you know that I have a very basic philosophy I incorporated as a coach/AD; it states: “Players Play, Coaches Coach, Refs Ref, Fans Cheer.” So, it caught my attention when I saw a Larry Bird quote where he said, “One thing about me is I always say the coaches coach and the players play. Whatever they tell you, you’ve got to do. You may not like it but you’ve got to do it. That’s what they do. That’s their expertise.”

This is coming from one of the greatest basketball IQ guys ever… BUT he is adamant about understanding and playing one’s role! He went on to say that his role was to win basketball games so he “brought it every night…laid it on the line every night….’

I talk often on these weekly Game Plans about the importance of team and one’s responsibility to the team. As I was preparing for the wedding ceremony, I found myself in Ephesians. In chapter 5 there are some very specific role challenges for wives and husbands… and then chapter 6 talks of role responsibilities for children and parents…. bondservants and masters (employees and bosses.) Really it deals with attitudes more than actions… attitudes of submission. There’s that word again…

Yet these are found in the letter in context that is dealing with God’s will for how we should look as a team. For the wedding I went back even further in the letter to the beginning of chapter 4, and in doing so even challenged the audience to imagine what are team would look like if we lived according to the Playbook.

Ephesians 4:1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.

Paul, after reminding us of all that Christ had done for us says “therefore” (because of that) “walk worthy of the calling.” So, what does “worthy” look like”? SUBMITTED

Ephesians 4:2-3 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

I want to be a part of a team like that… one where we are focused on one another!

Ephesians 5:21 Submitting to one another in the fear of God.

So here is the general idea of the definition I read and now challenge the team with… my Coach B maxim… to submit involves willfully placing oneself under another… IN ORDER TO LIFT ONE ANOTHER UP!

March 4, 2024 - TEAM CULTURE (Responsibility to Teammates and Self)

Paul gives us some great advice for team culture… Galatians 6:1-5

Brethren (Teammates), if a man (teammate) is overtaken in any trespass (turns the ball over), you who are spiritual (playing well) restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness (you are responsible to help teammates in an encouraging way), considering yourself lest you be tempted (remembering you are prone to turnovers as well).

Bear one another’s burdens (pick each other up), and so fulfill the law of Christ (build team culture).

For if anyone thinks himself to be something (thinks he’s the man!), when he is nothing, he deceives himself (forgets his role on the team).

But let each one examine his own work (focus on personal responsibility to the team), and then he will have rejoicing in in himself alone, and not in another (boast in being your best, not in being better than someone else).

For each one shall bear his own load (you are responsible for what you bring to the team!).