September 14, 2020 - Pace and Purpose

“Game management” is important in every sport… you think of it with football and the 2-minute offenses, or in hoops with if a team should slow things down or get out on the break, or just an individual player determining what “gear” to be in to set up his move…

I was already planning to deal with this topic, and then I saw an article tonight about the Los Angeles Clippers blowing big leads in their last couple of games; their coach, Doc Rivers, stated that he knew the problem… once they got up on the scoreboard, they stopped playing with pace and purpose…

When teams stop playing with pace and purpose it is often stated that it was like someone “took the air out of the  ball…”; guys start standing still and not cutting hard to the basket… the game tends to become “East-West” (side to side) instead of “North-South” (getting to the goal.)

Obviously the “pace” of 2020 was brought to a standstill back in March when the quarantines started hitting; we could truly say the “air was taken out of the ball.” As a result life became very much just idly standing around and not “playing” with any pace or purpose.

Yet 1 Corinthians 15:58 says we should be “always abounding in the work of the Lord”! And 1 Peter 4:10 states this: “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”

Playing with Pace and Purpose involves: Not standing around but actually “abounding”… actively “ministering to one another”… “as good stewards”…

A steward is one that has been charged with managing a household or land or financial affairs… it is a superintendent of sorts. We are commissioned to manage our gifts and our time properly… with Pace and Purpose! Stop standing around… make a move… cut to the basket… you get the picture!

September 7, 2020 - Live To Play Another Day

Heard a great message this weekend from my friend Todd Oldham (one of the pastors on staff at LifePoint Church in Albertville AL.) The church is in a series called “Inside My Head” where the pastors have been dealing with emotions that can take us captive.,. most of which have negative connotations; but Todd got to share about happiness… something we all long for. Yet an honest look at happiness has to include the reality that we are not always happy… (for example: I typed in “happiness is fleeting quote” and had over 3 million hits come back…) To teach about happiness in 2020 is even more challenging, with anxiety and depression at all-time highs.

Life is hard! We are either facing troubles or will face troubles… and there have been other times in history when things seemed really bleak. Todd took us back to Habakkuk around 600BC. Habakkuk, a prophet, is talking of how bad things are about to get… no crops… no herds… kind of like grocery stores with empty shelves… they may have even had a toilet paper shortage…

Let me shift gears for a moment. Back when I was coaching, we faced some incredibly talented teams. One, which I have written about before, had around 6 or 7 future D1 basketball players on the roster. They were taller than us, faster than us, and more skilled than us; not a good recipe for success. In fact, when in the locker room I told the players, “We are about to get the crap beat out of us…” At this point some of you will think I sound like a horrible coach, but then I reminded my guys of a few things. First and foremost, I asked “What are you scared of?”, we were playing basketball, not going into a knife fight; we would live to play another day. I then also reminded them that the scoreboard is not the determining factor in success; but that effort and attitude were the important things. I encouraged my guys to make sure the other team had to earn their victory, and thus we would earn some respect. I then told them to have fun, as they would be seeing these guys on TV in the near future. My guys played loose, had fun, and we got the crud kicked out of us! Yet it made us stronger for the next team we would face!

Back to our story from Habakkuk… he admits that he is distressed over the coming troubles, to the point of trembling (3:16.) But then he makes what would seem to be an odd statement:

18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

I think the key to Habakkuk’s moments of happiness, even in the midst of distress, came from a great life lesson he had discovered; one which the Apostle Paul quotes him on in three of his epistles…

Habakkuk 2:4 …the just shall live by faith.

If we go back to Habakkuk 3:17, he states that “though” things are about to get ugly, 19 “the Lord God is my strength…” Faith equals trusting God!

He didn’t sing “Don’t worry be happy” as though life was going to easy; he would have sang “Great is Thy faithfulness” knowing he could trust the ending! (Verses 17-19 truly are a hymn of faith… what God has said is true!)

Because of the faithfulness and sufficiency of Christ we can know what the future holds… we win! No matter how hard it might be… we keep playing!