Favorite Sports Quote

I am a huge fan of John Wooden.

He reached goals in NCAA basketball with his UCLA Bruins that will likely never be met by anyone else. In his 27 years leading the Bruins they never had a losing season. His record of 88 consecutive winning games is unheard of...not to mention his record 10 NCAA championships.

Coach Wooden understood and experienced success, both as an athlete at Purdue University and as the coach of the Bruins. He is actually the only person to be inducted in the Basketball Hall of Fame twice...once as an athlete and once as a coach.

With that in mind, check out this quote:

"I always tried to make clear that basketball is not the ultimate. It is of small importance in comparison to the total life we live. There is only one kind of life that truly wins, and that is the one that places faith in the hands of the Savior. Until that is done, we are on an aimless course that runs in circles and goes nowhere."

In that one quote is the message we strive to get across in sports ministry. Our relationship with God is more important than anything.

How easy is it to lose focus of that? I am a competitive guy. I love to win. It is easy for me to let winning become the highest priority. My initial goal for playing basketball in our church league was to build relationships. There have been games, however, that I focused all of my attention on winning the game and those relationships I said I wanted to build took a hit.

Hebrews 12:1-2 reminds me to stay focused.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

It is not easy, but living a life that is focused on Jesus and ridding oneself of all that hinders us from doing so is one of true success.

In living that life we have to decide everyday to purposefully focus on Christ.

As Coach Wooden said, basketball, or whatever the case may be for you, is not the ultimate.

Basketball and God

For the last several Sunday nights I have had the opportunity to play basketball with a great group of guys at the church. After we play there is another group that comes in to play. I didn't realize they were playing or that God was going to challenge me and open up a new avenue of ministry.

In that second group are about 30 guys. I only know 5 or 6 of them. Unfortunately, I would not normally spend time with these guys. We don't run "in the same circles."

As the sports director of the church, I started sticking around after my games to monitor this group. My mindset was that I would be there when something bad happened...a fight...a verbal outburst of colorful language...whatever the case my be.

Tonight it clicked!

I had tried to be friendly...while patting myself on the back for what a great guy I am for reaching out to them.

Last week one of the guys asked me why I just watched them and never played in their games. I didn't have much of an answer for him. That question challenged me all week. Then I started preparing for my next small group lesson from James 2 and realized that I was exhibiting a prejudiced heart. James 2:1 (NLT)says,

"My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?"

Well...tonight I played! And I must say, I did pretty good! It was amazing the way I viewed people differently and the way they viewed me.

Using basketball to build a bridge to others is something God has done in my life since I was in elementary school, yet it seems to surprise me everytime I experience it.

My goal is for these relationships to be ongoing and genuine. That they will result in people coming into a real relationship with Christ.

Begin with the end in mind

And so it begins. My life as a blogger.

One of my favorite books is Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. One of his principles is to begin with the end in mind.

It is with that principle that I like to view 1 Thessalonians 1. This is the chapter from which I derive my "philosophy of life."

The end of the chapter is my goal in life. Verses 7-8 say:

And so you (the church in Thessalonica) became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere.

That is the end I want in life...it is my goal. To live a life that others could model and find faith in God. To set an example to all of the believers of what is means to live out faith. I do this not for the sake of self or pride, but for the sake of knowing I am fulfilling the Great Commission.

How is that done? For that I turn to the beginning of this short chapter. Verse 3 says:

We (Paul, Silas, & Timothy) continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you see the three keys listed there?

• Work produced by faith
• Labor prompted by love
• Endurance inspired by hope

Many books today will show you ways to work harder, labor more, and endure everything that comes your way. I have realized that is a misguided philosophy. According to this scripture, the focus should be faith...which will produce work, love...which will prompt labor, and hope...which will inspire endurance.

So there it is. The goal is clear. "So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step."