April 7, 2008 - In Christ's Huddle

As a coach I bring my team into a huddle in order to give them direction. I often will pull out my dry erase board and diagram it for them. I will tell each individual player what I expect for him to do.

Obviously the players have some responsibility there as well. They need to be attentive in the huddle and willing to execute what I diagram for them.

What would you think of a player that totally disregarded his coach’s instructions? It is not the type of player you’d want on your team, is it?

What type of “team-player” are you? Do you listen in the huddle?

Christ was very direct with his explanation of the “Gameplan” for each of us. It has not changed since He instituted it. Yet we continually need to be reminded of it. So let’s get back into Christ’s huddle.

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matthew 28)

Note that this is a very specific plan. He told us to “Go.” This is very clear that we are called to take the Gospel to people! Don’t misunderstand this. Too many of you are willing to “set the pick” to free up someone that is going but not willing to “go” yourself. What in the world am I talking about there? Too many have fallen victim to the reasoning that they can just give financially or pray for those that “go.” Don’t get me wrong, those are admirable things that you should do. But that doesn’t fully allow for you to fulfill the command made to you.

The word “go” there has the idea of “as you are going.” It is a command to all of us to be witnesses wherever we are at. And by witnesses it means actual mouthpieces. It is not just about being a good testimony.

We are also commanded there to “make disciples.” This means we should not stop at just sharing the Gospel message but we should also be involved in teaching God’s Word and Ways! How long have you been on God’s team? Are you busy teaching anyone? Or are you just a sponge that is being a benchwarmer?

In Christ’s huddle we are called to do some specific things. Are you gonna be a player or a benchwarmer?

Summer Opportunities!!!!!!

Summer Opportunities!

Greetings Sports Fans from the Total Player Academy (InBounds Ministries)

Welcome to our “blog.” This is used by our ministry to share our weekly sports devotions, newsletters, and also announcements. Recently we were able to announce the awesome news that God had provided a gymnasium in Lincolnton, NC for us to use for our “home” events. As the summer schedule is unfolding I figured the easiest (and cheapest way) I could initially fill people in is right here. This entry is for everyone who knows someone. Yes, you may know just the right person(s) to plug into this outreach! So please read all the way through.

This summer will include many of our Saturday Hoops School sessions for boys and girls in 1st through 8th grade. These sessions will key on fundamentals and always will include a devotion from God’s Playbook. The dates of the sessions are as follows:
June 14, 21; July 19; August 9, 23, 30
(Times to be announced at www.myspace.com/TotalPlayerAcademy)
Sessions = 3 hours / Cost $20 [$100 for someone that pre-registers for all 6 sessions.]

The things I am most excited about are the three residential camps we have on the agenda. Each camp will capped at 10-12 players to insure maximum reps on and off the court. These are discipleship camps designed for the serious player on the court and in the game of life. They will involve intense, advanced work on the court. They will also involve intense, advanced life lessons from God’s Playbook. In short these are Elite Camps for Basketball Disciples from all over the country!

Residential Camps that are scheduled include:
High School Boys - June 15-19
Middle School Boys - August 10-14
Cost: $250 (Includes Food, Lodging, Instruction, Shirt, and Activities)

PLUS a ROCK’em Road Trip where the players will put skills into action as we travel to Chicago to team with Child Evangelism Fellowship in their Greater Chicago Outreach. We will still have training sessions for the players but they will also conduct Blacktop Bible Clubs where we combine basketball teaching and Bible teaching in neighborhoods.
Middle/High School Boys/Girls – July 20-August 2
Cost: $500 (Includes Food, Lodging, Instruction, Shirt, and Activities)

Residential Camps and the ROCK’em Road Trip are Invitation Only camps based upon applications received. Applications require reference letters as well. For more info or applications please contact Coach Burden at CoachB@TotalPlayerAcademy.com or call him at 704.450.2042.

And there is plenty more that will be added as we settle into our new facility.

Now you may be thinking “Why did I read all of this? I am not in the age group that most of this blog is about.” True, but you know some that are. If you are a parent, teacher, coach, youth pastor, pastor, etc., you could help us tremendously by:
• pointing people to our site
• having me send you some summer brochures to hand out
• forwarding this email to your school, church, personal directories
• linking our websites a/o blogs to your websites

We do not have the funds to do a huge advertising campaign. But we do have the networking resources to let a lot of people know about this.

We also have a limited staff and time. Therefore it is difficult to do all the legwork required to get this out. Yet in the small amount of time it has taken me to write this and for you to forward to appropriate places, we can reach thousands.

Please help us and also pray - as the schedule is very busy with these things and our foreign missions outreach.