November 11, 2019 - We Have To Own It!

As I was looking through ESPN’s website today there were a couple of articles with people questioning if coaches should be fired… when a team is losing, the first thing that people that tend to be blamed are coaches. At times it is true that a coach is doing poorly, but sometimes it is simply that players are not performing up to par and a poor representation of their coaching…


I loved the response that Marcus Morris Sr. had concerning the New York Knicks poor start to the NBA season… after stating that he understands the frustrations and that he thinks the coaches are doing a great job, he followed with a simple assessment about the players: “It’s all on us, and we have to own it!”


In Scripture and in history we see people making their judgements about who God is and what His character is like, based upon His “players.” As we approach the CHRISTmas season I often point out that one of the reasons the shepherds would have been scared when the angel appeared to them, is because God’s “players” (i.e. the priests) treated them so poorly. The correlation was that if the “coaches” felt that way about them then “ownership” must feel that way also…


All of that to remind us that as “players” we have a real responsibility in how we represent… how we “play the game”; it reflects on our God. We can tell people that they shouldn’t judge God by people, but the reality is that they do… in the words of Marcus Morris Sr., “…we have to own it!”


2 Corinthians 5:20 states: “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ…” God has chosen to use us as His representatives…


What is your life telling people about who God is? How does your life reflect His character? In this case I can assure you that it is never the “Coach” that is to blame!

November 4, 2019 - Coach Wooden, Mr Miyagi, and Jesus!

One thing you have to do as a coach is put the players through some uncomfortable times in order to prepare them for the games… In practices players want to have fun… they want to scrimmage or have contests… very few want to run or lift or study game film.


But the reality is that one must go through the uncomfortable stuff if one wants to grow… I know there were so many times as a player that I would get frustrated if the coach had us on the line to run; I just wanted to play! Coach John Wooden made it a point to not dole out running as punishment; he stated that he didn’t want his players to equate running with a negative, but instead to understand it was a necessity for greatness. And I guess history shows that Coach Wooden got his players to buy-in and trust him as their coach!


As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of the first Karate Kid movie as Daniel has convinced Mr. Miyagi to train him… Daniel is ready to learn to fight and Mr. Miyagi proceeds to have him wax the car, paint the fence, etc. Daniel gets furious as he feels he is wasting his time doing Mr. M’s chores and  Mr. M simply wants Daniel to trust him and the process… Most of you have seen the movie and recall that each of the chores developed a distinct movement in Daniel that was used in his fighting technique; he just had to trust his trainer!


These things came to mind yesterday as I listened to a sermon about love equaling trust or faith… a sermon where Steven Furtick pointed out that our faith should not be in what God does, but in who He is!


A couple of really cool Scriptural observations I took note of, and hope you will to:


In John 11 we get the story of Lazarus being sick and then dying… early on we read that Jesus received the message about the sickness from Mary and Martha and then we get verse 6…


So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was…


That is a strange statement; “so… He stayed”? Pastor Furtick pointed out that it would make more sense if Jesus would have hastened to Lazarus instead of staying… BUT the point of the story is that Jesus would be glorified… so people would believe. (See verse 15 and also John 20:31) The circumstances were intended for the ultimate outcome not the immediate gratification…


Then Pastor Furtick pointed out these verses:


11:21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”


Note that Martha is clearly upset with the situation and with Jesus… yet she still recognizes who He is… the Lord!


11:22 “But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give you.”


Martha, was upset, probably even angry, but she decided to trust in who Jesus is over what the circumstances were…


I don’t know what you are going through this week but I can tell you… Trust God!