January 1, 2018 - Don't Play Just To Survive

Have you ever seen, or been a part of, one of those games where your team had a lead but started tightening up… watching the lead slowly slip away? I’ve been a part of it personally and I witness it on a regular basis.

What happens is a team gets a little bit of a lead and starts trying to milk the clock… but in turn the team goes flat and starts coming up short on shots, being a little less crisp on passes, is a little slower on cuts, etc. They find themselves playing to “survive” to the buzzer…

In the basketball world we talk about it all the time; we implore our teams, “Stop playing not to lose, and start playing to win!”

Life kind of follows the same type of mentality. Being that we are at the start of a new year, I want to use a bit of my story and personal philosophy to encourage you this week… and for the year…

2017 brought a lot of crazy twists and turns for us on Team Burden; not only could we have given up we were down (numerous times close to death in the cancer battle), but we also could have just sat back in safe-mode once we started to get back ahead a little bit…

But that is not the way we decided to roll! It is not what we will plan to do in 2018! I refuse to be seen as one that is just a “survivor”, but instead want to be seen as one that has decided to LIVE!

When I lace up the shoes for each new game (day or year), I put them on to play… to compete… to “bust it to the buzzer.” In boxing terms, I will go down swinging!

Hebrew 3:3 reminds us to “exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today’…” In other words, keep playing the game the right way! Throughout the Scriptures we are encouraged with having an active faith!

Over the next few weeks, I plan to expand on this idea a bit more but for now let me implore you to make one clear resolUtion for the year… it comes from the motto of our missional group… it states:

Today we LIVE! (Love Intentional Value Everyone)

Don’t play it safe! Take the risk of loving and serving others this year!

Stop playing life not to lose, and instead play to win!

December 25, 2017 - Entering The Game...

With it being CHRISTmas day, I must stick to our InBounds roots and celebrate the Substitute!

I still find that my favorite songs of the year are the ones that talk about how Jesus came into the world… with no fanfare… no crowd cheering… etc. (I’ll share the lyrics of one of my new favorites at the end of the devotion.)

Think about it from a game perspective; if your team were behind, and up to the scorer’s table walks a substitute that simply doesn’t pass the sight-test… doesn’t appear to measure up… abilities unknown. Simply put, the crowd would not be getting too pumped up.

Yet we know the rest of the story, that the Substitute we are celebrating proceeded to play a perfect game and then ultimately took our place in paying our death penalty.

There are so many things I could be writing about… so many lessons of CHRISTmas; but let me remind us that even though I do hope you have a Merry CHRISTmas (a day of happiness), I more hope and pray you find joy and peace (the promises of why He came.)

So here’s to some Merriment on CHRISTmas…

…and a Joyful Jesus-mas! …as we celebrate the introduction of CHRIST into the game of life!

New Favorite JESUSmas Song (as I think about Him being introduced to a largely empty gymnasium…)

Chris Tomlin Lyrics

"Winter Snow"

Could've come like a mighty storm
With all the strength of a hurricane
You could've come like a forest fire
With the power of Heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

You could've swept in like a tidal wave
Or an ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things we've scarred

But You came like a winter snow, yes, You did
You were quiet, You were soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Ooh no, Your voice wasn't in a bush burning
No, Your voice wasn't in a rushing wind
It was still, it was small, it was hidden

Oh, You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below

Falling, oh yeah, to the earth below
You came falling from the sky in the night
To the earth below