June 22, 2020 - Closed Practices

I will be very honest as I start this week’s devo… I’m tired and a bit overwhelmed with stuff I need to get done. In case you didn’t know it, the world is a bit topsy-turvy right now, with a lot of things to draw our attention. On top of that, for me personally, I have a massive amount of irons in the fire (and even had one of those frustrating experiences where many hours of computer work I did on Saturday was lost in a computer update… nowhere to be found in my “history”.) So, planning to be short and to the point today…

When life is feeling this way, I remember what we would do in the sports world to focus in and remove distractions… Closed Practices! Yes, it was common to shut the doors of the gym and not allow in any outside influence, in order to concentrate on the task at hand. Friends in the gym led to horseplay… parents in the gym led to possible voices with a different agenda… etc. Bottom line was that we only had a set amount of time to accomplish our goals… and needed to stay on task!

In the hustle and bustle of life right now there are many voices vying for our attention, and my question is what is actually our task… our agenda? When I look at Scripture, especially the life of Jesus, I really don’t see Him being drawn away to every voice or issue. That is not to say that He didn’t address issues, but that He addressed everything based upon, or out of, love not legislation; based upon this mission statement: “…Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49)

Jesus was not blind to the issues of the day, nor did He ignore them; yet, He answered them in the context of His Father’s business… What is the Father’s business that we need to be focused on… not distracted from?

Fulfilling the Great Commission of evangelism and discipleship, via the Great Commandment of loving God and loving others, according to the Great Game Plan of reaching our community and beyond…

As stated over the past couple of weeks, this is by no means a political post! I have my views on politics… want to be informed… want to exercise my stewardship of voting… etc. BUT, the game plan / purpose of these devotions is to encourage and equip the team… they are “closed practices” based upon staying focused on the team objective… to motivate not legislate… (and to steal the motto of our church)… Love Is Why!

So my challenge to you is to measure the things you are doing against your purpose as a believer… as part of God’s team…

June 15, 2020 - Sacrificing For The Team

The past couple of weeks I have attempted to “stir up love and god works” (Hebrews 10:24) in the midst of these trying times. This week I want to be a bit more direct and ask us each to examine ourselves… our feelings… our motives… what hills we are willing to die on… YET maybe more importantly what we are willing to sacrifice?

I love players that are committed to getting better… YET more importantly those that are committed to making the team better. Often times when the Scriptures talk of the “new man”, they are referring to the new team or body of Christ that is made up from many tribes… with one purpose… “playing the game” of life under the banner of Christ!

Yesterday I watched a short video on Julius Erving that highlighted how good he was… (he was my favorite player growing up and I still fly a couple of Dr. J posters…) What jumped out at me was how incredible his stats were in the ABA, but then they dropped a little going to the NBA. One train of thought could be that the NBA was just a harder league; YET “The Doctor” showed he could get those stats whenever needed… YET he had an all-star caliber teammate (George McGinnis) that was also a big stat guy and Julius was willing to share the wealth. (I got the pleasure of seeing that team live against the Indiana Pacers.)  Later on, the team had yet another great player (Moses Malone) that helped them reel in an NBA championship, again with Dr. J willingly sacrificing a bit.

When I am looking at social media I see (“hear”) a lot of squawking about everyone’s rights and opinions. Can I encourage everyone to have a “YET” moment this week?

YIELD to EXAMINE that you are TEAM-oriented… focused on the goals of the team more than your own “stat-line”… focused on fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15) via the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) according to the Great Game Plan (Acts 1:8)!

I intentionally used the word “squawking” as I did see a really nice post from Missionary Flights International, where the guys were checking on a “squawk.” That is something with the plane that is typically minor, but of left unchecked can become very major.  They reminded us to see if we “have any squawks to assess?”

They then gave a great Scriptural reminder for doing this: Search me, Oh God, and know my heart; try me an know my thoughts; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)

And while you’re at it… ask Him to search your social media, etc for any “squawks”…