Last night I played basketball after life group.  My team had a game, and so I decided I would play in it.  I have tons of thoughts going through my head right now about the value of teamwork that I’m learning from this team, my life group, and my church in general, but I’ll save that for a later date.

We were bringing the ball down for the last time, the game was locked up, and we had successfully beaten our rival team (the Green shirts).  The buzzer sounded, and just then I turned around to see our senior statesman on the team being thrown down for no apparent reason by a green shirt boy wonder 25 years his junior.  Senior statesman, a man I greatly respect, was pretty mad when he scraped himself off the ground.  I was mad too, actually, as Green shirt boy wonder stared Senior Statesman down and mouthed the words “What’s his problem?”

“Well,” I thought to myself with immediate disdain for Green shirt wonder boy, “for no apparent reason you have just thrown a man 25 years your senior about 5 feet and down to the ground (and continuing in my thoughts I added), stupid Green shirt wonder boy.”

It is in these moments I wonder what to do.  Because I want to get up in his face and ask him why he didn’t shove me that far, to which of course he would say,  “I will” and the fun would be had by all.  Or I could let it play out, and just sit by and rejoice that we won the game.  But I really want to help our Senior Statesman out, plus I know I also have the back of Policeman Hercules on our team.  Also I don’t want to be like Alpha males Marine or Car Salesman. Yet the headline, “Pastor in Holden goes to jail for a public fighting display,” doesn’t sound so appealing either.

So it played out how it played out and I’m sitting here at my computer sharing with you the story of my evening, and I wonder, with all the honesty you can muster…

Just exactly how you would have let it play out?

Why?

I can understand back in the 70′s and 80′s why you would want to get all the churches together and play sports.  All the churches felt obligated to keep their “sheep” away from the world.  But now?  I have no problem with sports, what I do have a problem with is building a wall around yet another event you have on a weekly basis and calling it “a church league.”  I know there’s something wonderful about getting to pray with the same group of guys after the game that you just chewed out for calling the “stupid foul” on you, but seriously, let’s let this phenomena die…and very soon.

Here’s a few things I despise about church leagues:

1.  In many of them, there are no referees.
Ummm, I understand the majority of us profess to have a relationship with Christ, but Christ wouldn’t even want to get in the way of some our tempers.  A basic rule of thumb – if there’s no referee, it’s pick up ball anyway.

2.  It’s just another ministry of the church that takes people away from their families.
I know, I know, a city league would take away from family time too, but at least that’s the decision of the individual.  Because trust me, down the road, people will start blaming the church.

3.  They take away from “Kingdom Living”

I know it seems spiritual to let people see “churches coming together”, and occasionally praying afterward, but it’s not – there, I said it.  What church leagues do is give churches an excuse to make a name for themselves.  If you want to be a testimony, get out of your comfort zone, and register for a city league.  You know, people who don’t go to church, and live out what you believe every time you play on the field or the court.  And if you don’t want to live out what you believe, at least it’s not the church that’s taking your time.  It’s time to stop playing in our holy huddles and begin making a difference in people’s lives.

Next Post:  Calling all Christian Office Supply Stores!

Sometimes you learn a lesson and the lesson is so clear that you can’t even believe it.

Last night I played basketball for my team, the Paxton Police (long story).  I arrived late for the game since I had a Fellowship Church life group I was committed to (and had an amazing time at), but I eventually arrived with 7 minutes left in the 1st half.  We play two 20 minute halves.

I went in the game with fresh legs, and immediately shot 1 for 4 in the 6 minutes I played in the first half.  I didn’t feel bad considering I hadn’t warmed up, in fact, the ball felt pretty good rolling through the hands.  The second half started and I shot worse than the first.  I missed my first 5 shots really bad.  This got me down, so I decided to pass up any shots that came my way for the rest of the game.

Someone on our team called a time out with 10 minutes to go and during that time, my fellow player, affectionately referred to as “coach” (I believe he was a coach for one of the Wachusett Regional High School teams) looked me in the eyes and said this:  “Marty, good shooters stop shooting when they’re off.  great shooters keep shooting, because eventually, they’ll be on.”

At this point, I didn’t know which one I was, so I thought about it for a while as the game began again.  Then I decided to shoot.  Then I shot again.  And again. And again.  It matters very little at this point whether I made them or not.  Because THE point is the words.

If I was a coach, there’s no way  I would tell someone to do something I didn’t believe he could do.  I would tell them to do what they do best maybe.  But if someone was going to shoot the ball with 10 minutes left in a close game, it better be someone I know can shoot.  And then I have a choice to allow them to hold back, because after all, they are off their game – or to convince them that they can shoot the ball, and they CAN make the shot.

Your words are empowering today.  You have the choice to bring someone down and to tease them about their difficulties, or you can convince them to keep going and eventually, they’ll hit their sweet spot.  I believed at that point that the team believed I could make my next 4 shots down the stretch, so I shot it.  When I believe in myself, that’s one thing – that’s good.  But when I have a team that believes I can do it…

That’s great!

What do you think?  Should it he burn it?

Excuseme, Mr. Flacco, I think I'll take that ball and raise you 7.

You may not like football, but you have to like heart.  And perseverence.  And everyone likes a sweet grudge match, right?

This week I’m smilin’ cause the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl.  Or should I say, it’s just another reason I’m smilin’.  I usually smile anyway.  I had 31 text messages sent to me during the game, and only 1 afterwards. But…

I’m still smilin’

Congratulations to our next president.

One day, someday, when Carie and I have kids, and then they have kids, I can imagine this little scene on a rocking chair with my grandkids on my knee.  I’m reading them the stories of Jesus, and possibly talking about the young boy who came to Jesus with five loaves and two fishes.  And in this little scene I explain to my grandchild that what Jesus did was a miracle.

Grandchild:  “Grandpa, what’s a miracle?”

Marty:  “Well ____________, a miracle is a wonderful and an extraordinary event that happens in our world that exceeds normal physical powers or really just doesn’t make sense.”

Grandchild:  “Oh (thinks for a bit), you mean like the story of the Red Sox?”

Marty:  “The Red Sox?”

Grandchild:  “Yeah, the story of their team in the 2000′s.  You know?  The one you always tell me.  The one about them not being able to win a world series for 86 years, and then, in 2004, after being down in a series 3-0 to the evil empire, they came back and won it all.  Not to mention when they did it again in 2007 after being down against the Indians, who by the way haven’t won since 1948, 3 games to 1.  And then there was the ‘lights out’ story.”

Marty:  “The ‘Lights out’ story?”

Grandchild:  “Yeah, the one when the Red Sox were definitely down, and you said they had all but made their tee time reservations in the 5th game, and Tampa Bay fans, who, you said, really don’t know how to cheer for a game, were calling you and texting you, and emailing you after the Rays took a 7-0 lead going into the 8th inning, and even your friend Billy who went to the game, left because he thought it was over, and then it happened.”

Marty:  “Remind me again_______________, what happened?”

Grandchild:  “They won Grandpa!  They came back from 7-0 to win the game in the 9th!  A miracle Grandpa!  A real life Miracle!”

Marty:  “Yeah ________________, thats a miracle.  Thats a good way to think about it.  Now it’s time for bed.

“Sweet Dreams.”

My big idea for today, as promised from yesterday, is this:

I’ve been doing some research on accountability here and there, reading some books and observing human behavior and that sort of thing, and I thought of this online idea that I am going to test on myself.  This idea is in the area of eating and drinking.

You see, I eat a lot. I drink a lot of soda.  You might even say I’m addicted.  Thankfully I exercise enough and God has gifted me with some decent metabolism to fight the amount of food and drink that I intake.  That being said however, there is no doubt that I eat and drink too much.  Scripture says to “not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery.  Instead, be filled with the spirit,” and also asks the question, “Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit?…Your body is not your own.”

I am convinced that I can do better with my eating and drinking habits, and have already been working on them.  So I’d like your help too.  You don’t have to do much – just be there.

I am going to start twittering each and everything I eat and drink.  Of course my twitter is connected to my facebook, so this will go on my facebook status as well.  All I need to know is that people are aware of what I’m eating and drinking.

You might say, “Well you can always lie or not put it down or even forget.”  This of course is true, but I won’t lie about it.  As a Christ follower and as a pastor, people tend to frown on this sort of thing, and I would be ashamed to lie.  The truth is, I could forget, but then one of you could always ask me “if I skipped my lunch or am I just empty-headed today?”

So that’s that. Please help me as I embark on my eating and drinking journey by holding me accountable, and enjoy the ride with me.

And by the way, today I’ve had two life saver mints.

The Trailer

I have a love for the art of story.  I love the eloquence of a finely told life experience, especially if it is accomplished across the bridge of two movies or two books.

It probably started when my dad and I sat down to watch “The Magnificent Seven” and “The Return of the Seven” one night.  I loved that a team of experts would come together, then accomplish their task, and then I loved the fact that I got to see it done all over again.  I mean, some of these series of movies and books have been life-changing for me.

Occasionally a book gets a solid first run, and they make a sequel not worthy of the original content.  In fact, many times the only reason it’s done is marketing.  Unfortunately this happens a lot in the Christian sub-cultures of our world.  Are you serious?  Give me a break, “The Power of a praying pet turtle?“  Or the Oh so popular “Chicken Soup for the One eyed radio DJ’s soul.”  So I thought I’d share with you my favorite series of film, literature, sports, or television:  (and no, American Pie is not on the list)

10.  Boston/LA 2008 – That sure was a long 21 year wait.

9.  Left Behind. It did become something of a marketing ploy, but I enjoyed the story nonetheless – inaccuracies and all.

8.  Young Guns. I love these movies, and Jack Bauer’s in them, so they can’t go wrong.

7.  Star Wars. Many would suggest this would be number 1.  I would not.

6.  The A-Team.  “I pity the fool…”

5.  Rocky. Nuff said.

4.  John Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy series.  A collection of detective/legal thrillers set in San Fran.  Good stuff!

3.  Lord of the Rings books and movies – These last two were difficult, but an amazing story to walk through.

2.  Letters to the Next president by Andy Stanley – seriously, you have to hear or watch these.

1.  Harry Potter – I have no words to say how I felt after I finished those books in November of 2007.  And this was after I made fun of others who read the stinking things.  Whether its the movies or the books, these things are absolutely brilliant.  And of course I was drawn into witchcraft immediately after reading them.  (this is sarcasm)

Okay, your turn. What did I miss?

I’ve been watching the Olympics over the weekend.  It’s been great seeing unbelievable competition so far and I’ve been very impressed with the sportsmanship of the U.S.A teams, specifically the sweet defeat of France by our men’s swimmers immediately after the French team said they were going to smash the Americans.
This morning Carie and I had some much needed chill time after a busy weekend, and we decided to sit down and watch our taping of last night’s coverage.  Afterwards, I decided to run.  I’ve been running pretty much every morning for over a month now, but it was pouring out, but I still felt compelled to go running. 
Now I’m trying to figure out if I wanted to run because I was watching the Olympics, or because I’ve been doing it regularly? 
My favorite sports so far have been swimming and volleyball.  The competion has been great, nothing short of thrilling actually.

What’s been your favorite moment in the Olympics so far?

Don’t forget about this post!

This just about says it all.