Full Court Press

Article by Malcolm Caldwell from The New Yorker:

When Vivek Ranadivé decided to coach his daughter Anjali’s basketball team, he settled on two principles. The first was that he would never raise his voice. This was National Junior Basketball—the Little League of basketball. The team was made up mostly of twelve-year-olds, and twelve-year-olds, he knew from experience, did not respond well to shouting. He would conduct business on the basketball court, he decided, the same way he conducted business at his software firm. He would speak calmly and softly, and convince the girls of the wisdom of his approach with appeals to reason and common sense.
The second principle was more important. Ranadivé was puzzled by the way Americans played basketball. He is from Mumbai. He grew up with cricket and soccer. He would never forget the first time he saw a basketball game. He thought it was mindless. Team A would score and then immediately retreat to its own end of the court. Team B would inbound the ball and dribble it into Team A’s end, where Team A was patiently waiting. Then the process would reverse itself. A basketball court was ninety-four feet long. But most of the time a team defended only about twenty-four feet of that, conceding the other seventy feet. Occasionally, teams would play a full-court press—that is, they would contest their opponent’s attempt to advance the ball up the court. But they would do it for only a few minutes at a time. It was as if there were a kind of conspiracy in the basketball world about the way the game ought to be played, and Ranadivé thought that that conspiracy had the effect of widening the gap between good teams and weak teams. Good teams, after all, had players who were tall and could dribble and shoot well; they could crisply execute their carefully prepared plays in their opponent’s end. Why, then, did weak teams play in a way that made it easy for good teams to do the very things that made them so good?
Ranadivé looked at his girls. Morgan and Julia were serious basketball players. But Nicky, Angela, Dani, Holly, Annika, and his own daughter, Anjali, had never played the game before. They weren’t all that tall. They couldn’t shoot. They weren’t particularly adept at dribbling. They were not the sort who played pickup games at the playground every evening. Most of them were, as Ranadivé says, “little blond girls” from Menlo Park and Redwood City, the heart of Silicon Valley. These were the daughters of computer programmers and people with graduate degrees. They worked on science projects, and read books, and went on ski vacations with their parents, and dreamed about growing up to be marine biologists. Ranadivé knew that if they played the conventional way—if they let their opponents dribble the ball up the court without opposition—they would almost certainly lose to the girls for whom basketball was a passion. Ranadivé came to America as a seventeen-year-old, with fifty dollars in his pocket. He was not one to accept losing easily. His second principle, then, was that his team would play a real full-court press, every game, all the time. The team ended up at the national championships. “It was really random,” Anjali Ranadivé said. “I mean, my father had never played basketball before.”Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/11/090511fa_fact_gladwell?yrail#ixzz0YLJO3pdN

How much more productice if life was approached as a full court press? We cannot give up any ground in life. It might keep away the frustrated shouts!

Joy

Joy can be a real challenge at Christmas. Ironically it is a season where joy should be a part of our life. We sing “joy to the world” but feel depressed. Christmas is the season where we pursue joy. We fill the parking lots of malls, we pack bars and clubs with friends, and we exchange gifts at Christmas parties all in the name of joy.
Many of us are finding it harder this Christmas to express joy. The economy has left a dark cloud over many of our Christmas festivities. Limited funds have us making tough decisions when it comes to picking things off of the children’s wish list. The turkey meal becomes chicken and the Honey-Baked Ham is bologna soaked in honey and covered in Baked Beans. I have even heard some ask can we just skip over Christmas this year. The reason some of us want to skip over Christmas may not be the bad economy. It could be a relationship that has broken up. It could be children who have wondered away. A bad doctor’s report that says this could be your last Christmas together. With so much bad news in the world today it is hard to proclaim “Joy to the world!”
It is times like this that it is important to go back to the heart of Christmas. The story of Jesus’ birth explodes with joy. In the story we find shepherds living in fields. Shepherds were considered unclean, lower-class, and not very popular among the majority of the Jewish people. The shepherds provided the sheep that were needed for the sacrifices in the Temple. They still were not highly regarded because they did not participate in the social or religious life of the people. They kept to themselves. Raised their sheep. Lived in the fields. Isolated. Lonely. Separate. And yet, it was these men that God chose to announce the birth of Jesus, the Savior of the world. The sense of joy that the angels felt in giving the shepherds this announcement is obvious. The first word to the shepherds is “I am bringing you good news of GREAT joy . . .” It is almost as though this angel could not get the words out before the whole host of angels break forth in praise.
I remember once when I was a child that my cousin came running into the house one Christmas holding what looked like a baseball bat wrapped in Christmas paper. In excitement he could not control himself and he says, “I can’t tell you what it is but it looks like a bat doesn’t it?” This same excitement bursts from the angels as they tell the shepherds the good news that Jesus has bee born. The joy is contagious. The shepherds leave immediately to go tell this good news to those in Bethlehem. They take a huge risk leaving their sheep behind. They leave their livelihood and seek after the meaning behind the joy. The meaning behind the message that brought the angels such joy is worth leaving everything behind to discover it for themselves. Then once they discover the source of the angels joy they leave announcing it to the world. This is a world they had rarely participated in but insisted that this world experience the joy that they knew.
What was it that had the angels of heaven acting like little children who can’t keep secrets? What was it that forced the shepherds to leave all they had known behind? What was it that brought so much joy to the world? What was it that they had that so many of us miss?
Joy. The story of the angels and the shepherds teach us that joy is not found by seeking joy. Joy is a by-product. It is the result of another great event. Joy is a product of experiencing the Good News of Jesus Christ. Joy is not self-induced. We can’t find joy by fighting crowds at shopping malls. We can’t turn on joy by watching our favorite Christmas movie. Real, abiding joy does not come after receiving that “salad shooter” that we always wanted. These thing may bring us pleasure but they do not produce lasting joy. Joy is not a present. Joy is a presence. Joy is found in Jesus. Imagine what difference it would make if you put retelling the story of Jesus to your children instead of spending some much time making wish lists for Santa.

Becoming Great

A few things on my life goals list:
* Run a marathon
* learn to sail
* build a sailboat
* Learn to foreign languages: Spanish and Arabic

I am just thinking one day that I am going to wake up and be able to accomplish everything on this list (25 things) without learning, practicing, or studying. Somehow I will possess the necessary skills or abilities. Yeah right! It is true though if you haven't noticed that the time frame for mastering a skill is shrinking. Some books say "30 days" to a new language.

I guess God could just give you the ability in a moment but God doesn't usually work that way (remember how long the Israelites wondered in the desert or the story of Joseph?) God works more by the pressure cooker method than the microwave.

If we are going to master a skill or ability it takes one thing: PRACTICE. Here is the steps to accomplish things on your life goal list:
1. make sure you have a life goal list.
2. Do it.
3. Do it again.
4. After you fail, do it again.
5. Keep doing it.

“Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person.” - Albert Einstein

Great Day

Yesterday was a real blessing. We started the day out eating muffins. Then we went to the restaraunt where we served meals to 300+ people. It was a great experience for our children to serve those among us who are less fortunate. I was amazed at the amount of volunteers who came out to serve and many who stayed all day. We invited a hispanic/latino congregation to join us. The one thing that serving others will do is break down barriers of language and culture. It was a lot of fun seeing people attempting to communicate and build relationships.

After we got home yesterday I prepared a meal. We had fresh green beans, corn, potatoes, and ham. As a family we sat around the table sharing what we have to be thankful for.

Then we topped off the evening with putting up the Christmas tree. It was a great way to end a great day - telling the children about the birth of Jesus.

Some of my lessons:

1. We got to love our city. In loving our city we must know our city. We must take the time to get to know the people of our city. We can't remain divided among class or race. As followers of Jesus, we are called to love the people in our town.

2. We must live the gospel. Our lives must be a reflection of the life of Jesus. We must live incarnationally. We can't just speak of God's love. We must embody God's love.

Give Thanks

What I am thankful for:
* Sweet Tea
* Chocolate ice cream
* a truck that runs
* Socks that don't have holes in them
* Sunrises and sunsets
* the feel of sand between my toes
* my children thinking I'm a rock star, hero, and superdad when I am none of these
* cold weather that doesn't stay around forever
* summer nights
* for new life, resurrection moments, and second chances
* for a God who loves, who forgives, and who sends
* a church that serves
* a staff that laughs, works, and encourages
* a wife who likes a clean house and lives with three messy guys
* a wife who is a best friend, lover, and traveling partner

Just a few things . . . . .

Healing Service @ Liberty Hill Church

Pictures by Susan Kyle

Cowardly Thing

When I was in school I usually ended up cramming for tests. I would want until the last minute to finish deadlines and to turn in reports. If I am not careful I can treat my own spiritual life the same way. How many of us wait until a crisis to start praying? Or we go weeks without reading the scriptures and then try to read a whole book in one sitting on a Sunday afternoon (in between the Falcons game of course!) In speaking to a large crowds Jesus says, "For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it" (Luke 14:28)? What if you decided to build a house and the contractor showed up without any drawings and said we were going to wing it as we go? Yeah that will be fun (and costly)! Laziness means more work. C.S. Lewis says, "The cowardly thing is also the most dangerous thing." The Christian life takes preparation. It takes planning. It takes centering our lives on Jesus. It takes stepping back DAILY from the demands of the world to re-position ourselves, re-center ourselves, and to re-gain our grip on the life we have been called to live in Christ.

The Love Truth

The one thing that has gotten Christians in trouble with people down thru the ages has been that we have to say: “Well, yes it does make a difference what you believe.” The problem is not with what we believe or what the Bible teaches. Christians have always believed that Jesus is the only way to heaven. As the world grows smaller and we rub shoulders with people from different religious backgrounds, how do we explain what we believe in a way that they can understand? Leslie Newbigin, missionary scholar gives us some suggestions:
First, “We should recognize that God’s grace is at work in the world. At work even in those who do not call on Jesus as Lord. My relationship to my fellow human being should be modeled on Jesus who gave his life for the sake of all humanity even those who do not profess allegiance to him. Secondly, we should be willing to join side-by-side with those of other faiths who are working and striving toward a better humanity. We stand with all faiths to a call for peace. We work with Muslims to end world hunger. We join with Hindus to create equality. We strive with the Buddhist to reduce pollution. We join hands in the struggle for justice and freedom even though we know that the ultimate goal is the coming of Christ and his glorious reign. Third, it is this connection that creates a context for dialogue. And our mission is to tell our story. We are called to tell others the story of Christ. Newbigin argues if we as Christians are demonstrating love the opportunity for dialogue will be provided by the other person. We will be invited to tell our story. They will recognize a shared humanity but also see distinction. They will be aware of different motivations and different goals. This will give us an opportunity to share our story, the story of Jesus, the story of the Bible. The story itself, as Paul says, the power of God for salvation. The Christian must tell it, not because she lacks respect for the sincerity of her co-worker, neighbor, or friend of another religion. She tells it simply as one who has been chosen and called by God to be part of the company which is entrusted with the story. We are not called to convert, that is the Holy Spirit’s business. We will pray that it may be so and we will conduct our lives as to embody the story that we profess with our lips to believe.
Sharing the Christian message is not a matter of truth but a matter of love. It is not a love which encourages people to believe a lie. “As a human race we are on a journey and we need to know the road. It is not true that all roads lead to the top of the same mountain. In Christ we have been shown the road. We cannot treat that knowledge as a private matter for ourselves.”[1]
We all are called to assist others in the journey. We are challenged to guide others to the light that shines in Jesus Christ. If Jesus is the only way, the unkindest thing in the world would be to keep it to ourselves. If Jesus is the only way, the most loving thing is to share it with others. Let’s suppose that you and I are standing 50 feet away from the edge of a cliff. If you fall off, you will drop 1800 feet before you hit the jagged rocks ion the canyon floor. There are no guard rails to keep you from falling. As we stand there chatting, we see a man walking slowly toward the edge. As he nears the edge, we realize that he is blind and has no idea of the danger he is in. Suddenly, he calls out, “Which way should I go?” What would you think if I yelled out, “It doesn’t matter? Go any way you like?” Would I not be criminally negligent when he falls to his death? If I care about him at all, I will call out, “Don’t take another step. I’ll come and get you.” And then I will take him by the hand and lead him to safety, Love compels me to speak the truth and to do what I can to save his life.
[1] Newbigin, Lesslie. The Gospel In a Pluralistic Society, (Eardmans: Grand Rapids, 1989) 183.

Work to Live

We find some part of our identity in our work. Our minds are geared around the fact that we enjoy accomplishing tasks, fulfilling obligations, and meeting deadlines. We enjoy the excitement of knowing that we have created. This is because we were created in the image of a God that creates. The Bible opens up with the account of a working God creating a world. You and I, created in the image of God, were given a world to care for and a life of creative, purposeful work opportunities. God revealed himself in Christ, a carpenter. Work is a part of creation. The stars shine, plants grow, sun gives off heat, animals gather, and when we work we’re doing what we’ve been designed to do. Psalm 104: 23 says, “People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening.” Work is our contribution to God’s amazing creation. For this reason Paul gives the command, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”
Now if you have a job, or worked for many years and now retired you enjoy quoting this verse. If you are without a job, you don’t like this verse. I want to be clear: there is a big difference between those who cannot work because of circumstances like illness, injury, disability, or age and those who are not inclined to work because they simply have chosen not to work. It’s one thing when someone has a genuine need. It’s quite another when someone thinks the world owes them a living. The problem with our government based welfare system is that it cannot tell the difference between the two groups. In our passage, Paul is speaking to people who have willingly left the workforce and are now relying on the rest of the Christian community to support them in their laziness. It’s hard to pray for daily bread for the family when steps are not being taken to provide the bread. It also takes away resources from those that are in real need. “If you can work”, Paul says, “You should work.”
Mother Teresa was once asked by a reporter one day, “What is your biggest problem?” Mother Teresa answered with one word: “Professionalism.” She said, “Here are these servants of Jesus who care for the poorest of the poor. I have one who just went off and came back with her medical degree. Others have come back with registered nurse degrees. Another with a master’s in social work, and when they come back with their degrees, their first question always is, “Where is my office?” Then she said, “But you know what I do? I send them over to the House of the Dying where they simply hold the hands of dying people for six months, and after that, they’re ready to be servants again.” Whatever our occupation, our vocation is to be a servant. Some folk will only see God through us and at work is when most folks see us. It is true we work to live, but it can also be said we work so that others may see Christ live in us. Many occupations, one vocation: being a servant of Jesus Christ.

Hakuna Matata

When I get out of the center of God’s will I find myself worrying a lot about life. I worry about rather or not I am doing the thing God would have me to do at this moment. I worry about whether or not I need to be changing and doing something else. I worry about my children. Are they getting what they deserve from me? Am I giving them enough of myself? I worry about my marriage. Am I demonstrating my love enough to my wife? Am I giving her enough of my attention? I even find myself questioning my role in ministry. I tell myself that I could be doing something else. I could be going down another career path. One where I would not have to carry it home every evening. I know when I am living outside of God’s will because the worry factor goes up and I have more restless nights and more wasteful days trying to figure out the future.
We all have a tendency to worry. We worry about our careers. We worry about our children. We worry about our future. We worry about past mistakes coming back to haunt us. We worry about making the house payment. We worry about insurance bills. We worry about the economy. We worry about the war. Another word for worry is “anxious” and comes from the idea of being distracted. Worry distracts us from the task of living in the moment. It takes away our attention from the moment. It creates a preoccupation of our mental and physical powers with the things that are beyond our control. The more time we spend worrying, the less time we spend doing what needs to be done. Worry is misguided in its focus. It is an impractical and meaningless activity. By worrying about tomorrow we leave unfilled the tasks of the today. Worrying makes the cares of the future take precedent over the necessity of today.
Over the past month how many of us have worried over something or someone? Worry is an enemy. Worry is a reversal of priorities. It is a signal that we are not striving after the reign of God in our life on a daily basis.
In his book First Things First, Stephen Covey tells the story of a man teaching a time-management seminar. In order to make a point, the man pulled a wide-mouthed gallon jar from under the counter that served as his podium. He picked up some fist-sized rocks and put them in the jar. Then he looked out at the class and asked, “Is the jar full?”
Some of the students, not knowing where he was going, blurted out, “Yes.” The teacher laughed gently and said, “No, it’s not.” He pulled out a bucket of pea gravel and began to pour it in the jar. The class watched as the pea gravel filtered down between the rocks, filling the spaces until it reached the top. “Now, is the jar full?”
The class was a bit reluctant to answer. After all, they’d been wrong before. Instead of waiting for their response, the man poured a bucket of sand down among the pea gravel and the large rocks. He shook the jar gently to let the sand settle, then added more, until finally the sand reached the mouth of the jar. Then he asked again, “Is the jar full?” Andy they said, “Probably not.”
Now the teacher reached for a pitcher of water and slowly poured the water in the jar. It filtered down until it was running out of the jar at the top. “Is the jar full?” the time-management consultant asked. The class answered, “We think it is.”
“Okay, class,” he said. “What is the lesson in this visual aid?” Somebody in the back raised his hand and said, “No matter how busy your life is, there is always room for more!” “No,” the teacher said as the class broke into laughter. “That’s not it!” “The lesson is, class,” he said when the chuckles subsided, “if you don’t put the big rocks in first you’ll never get them in later.”
What a powerful picture of priority living. It sounds like the same point Jesus was attempting to make when he said, “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”[1]
[1] Story taken from Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World by Joanna Weaver, pg. 103.

Small Voices

There is a story about a little boy who one night during dinner was not being heard and decided to make sure everyone around the kitchen table knew he was present. He let out a loud screeching scream that vibrated the dinner plates. His mother sent him to his room.
Life is filled with tiny voices often lost beneath the noise of a busy world. Those tiny voices remind us that the importance in life is most often than not found in the little things. Many times we discover that our lives are not changed by the enormous events but by happenings so small that we almost miss them.
Centuries ago there was a Roman official in a small obscure village on the outskirts of the Roman Empire. One day the priests of this region sent the official a case to review. It seems that a local carpenter was turning this little part of the world upside down with his teachings and miraculous wonders. The local officials did not like it so they attempted to present their case before the Roman official. The Roman official didn’t see a reason to get involved. He considered it an insignificant manner. He turned the manner back over to the local officials. Pilate, the Roman official, did not know that this carpenter would shape the course of history forever. The carpenter from Nazareth would become the hope of redemption for all of humanity. Pilate saw him as an inconvenience.
We need to remember it is the inconveniences of life that give direction to our lives. People who are careful about little things can be trusted to handle larger things. Businesses run more efficiently when attention is given to detail. Homes are built by small deeds of kindness. In life it is the little things that count.
Life is filled with many voices. The people who seem to manage life well are those who listen carefully for the small voices and who are alert for the small things. I’m still learning. Maybe next time I will listen to my son as we sit around the dinner table and he is trying to tell me something that I have already wrote off as unimportant. I guess I was the one that needed to be sent to his room that evening. I am discovering that it could be the tiny things could change your life. Hear

Update on the Turtle

We told Jaden he had a choice. He could keep the turtle in the plastic habitat of a swimming pool and potentially see the turtle die or he could let it go in the woods and let it live. He wrestled for a while with what was the right thing to do. He wanted to take responsibility for it. He wanted to feed it and give it water. He wanted to be the one to protect the turtle. But he also knew that by keeping it in the plastic swimming pool that the turtle would probably die.

He was fearful of turning loose. Do we protect at the risk of losing the soul? Do we shelter at the risk of destroying life? Religion keeps people in plastic pools. Religious people use manipulation to convince people that God lives in plastic pools. Some people will spend their lives in plastic pools because someone has told them that is where God is.

Jesus comes along and says, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed"(John 8:36). Jaden, my son, one afternoon walks down by himself picks up the turtle and takes it to the edge of the woods. He walks back in the house with tears in his eyes and I ask him where he went. He says, "To let the turtle go so that it may live."

Sunday @ LibertyHill

* 9:45 Engage Day: breakfast, fellowship, and community - Our God is a Great Big God!
* 11:00: Worship. Generosity. Great things for the Kingdom.
* HeartStone after the service. Taking generosity to the street.
* Teaching the boys that leaves don't get up themselves. Patience on my part for playing as much as working to get up leaves.
* Playing baseball on the front yard with the whole family. Priceless.
Lessons of the day:
- There is a difference between volunteers and servants. Volunteers serve based on their own time. Servants serve when and where needed. Liberty Hill has servants!
-Preparing messages are essential. I cannot allow circumstances to take away from what is important.
- No moving forward until facing the facts.