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!

Tonight is the first game of a new season playing in a 30 and over basketball league. So I guess I’m still over 30. I would have thought I was under that limit by now.

Oh well, maybe next year.

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?

Yesterday was another great day at Fellowship Church.  We had an outdoor service (pics below), and a potluck dinner, complete with football, wiffleball, basketball, slip and slide, group sings around a big oak tree, and whatever else people found to do.  Here are some highlights for me during the “Party in the Park”:

*We focused on Psalm 107 and started a new series called “Nature lover”, referring to falling in love with who God is, and not what He can do for us.
*All week and even to that morning, people asked me “What do we do if it rains”, and I responded, “It doesn’t rain during the Party in the Park.”  So there were people praying all week.  I learned this lesson from my friendship with this church in 1996.
*Our volunteers did an amazing job setting everything up and preparing for the event!  Fellowship rocks!
*The band was amazing!  Playing a mini concert of songs from Lifehouse, Coldplay, Steve Fee, and Delirious.  They even read Scripture for the service!
*The “Best Thing” Project – awesome!  We’ve already heard some great stories about how God is using this, and we’d like to hear more. 
*The best story I’ve heard so far with my own ears is how this family helped a woman  in our church fix the muffler system on her car with a hanger wire, then gave someone else their money to go get the parts she needs and he fixed her car!  Unbelievable!
*The party afterwards was great!  Although my face, neck, and bald spot (how times are changing) are now burnt.  So much for the rain!
Here are some pics!

The band practicing before the service started

The back row enjoying the service. 

The preacher bringing it.

I was a recipient of what came from this sweet grill!

Sue set up shot and chilled through the afternoon.

This young one chilled too – slip and slide style.

How was your weekend?

In case you haven’t heard the Boston Celtics crushed the Atlanta Hawks in Boston this afternoon 99-65. 
I enjoyed the game.

Did you?

From left to right:  Kevin, Tim (hidden behind kevin), Paul the coach, Marty, Pete (coach at Wachusett for 23 years), Scott, Chris

40-39. 
I’ll tell you the point total right from the very beginning.  My basketball team played our first playoff game last night and we barely won on a last minute free throw by Scott Herzig.  Here’s how it went down.

We couldn’t hit a shot.  Basically one of our guys, Kevin  (who was on fire throughout the evening) was the only one who could make anything last night.  So we gave it to him and he made it.  The other tea, who we beat by 11 points earlier in the season, could not miss a 3 pointer.  When they would try to bring it down low, Chris or Kevin or Paul or myself who exit the ball with a fury, so they just kept shooting, and making, 3′s.

And we found ourselves down by 3 with a minute to go.  39-36.  I should continue this story by telling you that I could not hit the broad side of a barn last night.  I was pretty discouraged and had resided myself to the fact that I should pass the rest of the night.

At the end of the game, my primary function was point guard, so I would bring the ball down and dish it to Scott or Kevin, both of whom I would gladly give a last second shot to when it counts.  So with minute left, and down by 3, I brought the ball down the court.  Paul came to a high post on the 3 point line and set a pick for me.  I dribbled to the left and hit nothing but net, and the ball game was tied.

They brought the ball down very slowly, and eventually Scot and I stole the ball.  I brought the ball down again, and Paul came up high again with 30 seconds left.  So I dribbled to the left and let the ball go.  Big mistake.  Nothing but air.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Once again, they brought the ball down and wasted time and with 12 seconds left, Scott knocked the ball out of the hands of the point guard (person who handles the ball) and it was loose.  The point guard and I dove for the ball.  I hit the ball off the point guard’s head and then slapped it again to Scott Herzig, who drove on the left side of the court, where he was fouled by two of their team members.

Scott went to the line.  He made the first one.  40-39.  There was 4.3 seconds on the clock.  He missed the second shot, which was good because the clock continued.  The green team grabbed the ball and headed towards me.  I was already on the defensive side free throw line and there was a green team member on my right.  The guy who grabbed the ball threw it across the court to the guy on my right. 

The thought in my head was like that of a cornerback in the NFL.  I could go for it, and get it.  Life would be good.  I could go for it and not get it and the guy would get an easy layup.  I went for it and the green team member went for it.  I hit the ball into him, and the ball was tipped out of bounds.  Everyone looked at the ref who pointed toward our direction.  It was our ball with .8 seconds left.

Paul had the ball on the out of bounds line and Scott talked him into throwing it across the full length of the court. Even if they got it, they would have to make full court shot while being guarded to win.  So Paul threw it, and the ball hit the side basket, which was kind of hanging down from the ceiling.  Other team’s ball.

The green team had one final chance to win and they were down on their end of the court.  We all grabbed our guys and they moved.  The ball found itself in the hands of the guy next to me, who just happened to be a great guard, but who was also about a foot shorter than me.  He was about 6 feet away from the basket.  He got the ball and shot it, and I swatted the ball out of bounds, with a grunt that would have made Venus Williams proud.

And we won the game.

I’m going to the dentist office today at noon.  This does not make me happy. 

We won our basketball game last night, 52-40.  This makes me happy!

What makes you happy today?

I received news yesterday that has really got me thinking. Please allow me to elaborate.

Before I go into my news, let me just say that one of the things that really inspires me is the 6th man.  For those of you who are not big sports fans, the 6th man is the basketball term for the man or woman who does not start, and is not necessarily the biggest “star player” on the team, but they frequently come in and assert their importance in the way they play their role.  That role may be a 3 pointer, or rebounding, or blocked shots, or even scoring field goals (not through the uprights), but there is no doubt that they a)make a huge impact and b)are in the game for a very specific task.

Some examples of great 6th men are Kevin McHale, Bill Walton, Dennis Rodman (pre-skirt days), Leandro Barbosa, and others who I will no doubt be chastised for forgetting.

So yesterday I received some news that a close friend of my family had been diagnosed with lung cancer.  His name is Bob.  Bob lives in Fremont, Ohio. 

Bob is an amazing guy who always has a smile on his face.  Bob and his wife Judy helped out in the youth group at our church growing up.  They were not the youth pastors, but their impact was widespread.  They invited teens into their home and let them play and eat and hang out and be kids, and never asked anything of them.

If you needed to talk, Bob was there.
If you needed a hand fixing your new “used” red Pontiac 1000 (honestly, it wasn’t a chevette), Bob was there.
If you needed a ride when the 1000 broke down, Bob was there.
If the youth group needed a place to hang out and play games, Bob was there.
If the youth pastor needed a task to be done, there was no doubt that Bob was there.  Probably smiling.

Bob was never the star, but he was always accomplishing his role – the task God had given him to accomplish in his life during that time.  It was a great lesson for the son of a pastor in a small town in Ohio who would eventually become a pastor himself, but not before sitting in an assistant position for 10 years.  It was a great lesson for me.

Not everyone is the “star”, but the truly special people of this world are the ones who are not, yet shine brighter than everyone else.  This story reminds me of a story that Buddy told about a “6th man” in his church in New York.

Who has been an example of the stellar “6th” man in your life?

Until next time…

Perhaps you’ve had one recently…Perhaps not.  Mine was the last 24 hours.  It was interesting because it had been a long weekend and I was tired.  There had been a few ups and a lot of downs. 

Without going into details about what the ups and the downs were, I think I was just tired, and so the downs were highlighted in my mind.  It wasn’t a bad weekend.  It was just a hard one.  Maybe you’ve had one of those before?

And then it happened, starting yesterday morning.

Someone wrote me an email that was so encouraging, it could have, by itself, put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.  But it wasn’t by itself.
A short while later, someone called my cell and left an incredibly encouraging voice mail.  Then I received a facebook wall comment that was encouraging while I was playing basketball last night. (My team won by the way, 48-38, with yours truly putting up 12.) 

I went to bed smiling and had a great night’s sleep, which is not unusual for me, I sleep quick and good on a typical night.  But this morning, I received a comment on this blog that was, once again, incredibly encouraging.

So I start off this day with the anticipation of readiness for a long, adventurous week, but armed with a little help from people who have communicated to me how much they appreciate me.

So I wonder who needs some encouragement today from me…from you?

Until next time…

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, it’s time for the Sunday morning recap at Fellowship Church.  Billy already gave his here.  Here are some thoughts I had about my weekend at Fellowship Church.

*I attended a benefit dinner for Hearts for Heat this weekend.  Hearts for Heat is a ministry of Fellowship Church, and is doing an amazing job of providing oil for people in Worcester County.
*I ate with Massachusetts State Rep. Lew Evangelidis at the dinner.  Turns out he plays in my basketball league.  We haven’t played against one another yet, but when we do…
*Saturday we helped the Dancy’s move into Holden.  The team is coming together and the future of FC looks great!
*After that, I was sore.
*It’s amazing how when things fall apart, like in music practice or whatever, that God comes through and gets us past it.
*We are only a few weeks away from our Easter service, where we’ll all find out how to vote.  Should be a great service.
*Billy made some hilarious confessional videos for the service yesterday.  There was a lot of laughter, specifically at the last one when he was jamming out to Feist.
*Totally psyched about the guitar hero championships next Saturday at “The FC.”  Played for the first time in 2 months yesterday against Carie.  Gonna need to practice this week.
*I confessed that there are times I don’t think I can do the thing God has called me to do.
*Yes, I really did fail my broadcasting platform, and yes, then I did graduate with a real degree after working my tail off on learning how to talk.
*Yes, this was Moses’ problem too.
*No, I don’t doubt that I made the right decision to stay at Fellowship. 
*Were you inspired to find out what God’s vision is for your life?
*I love Fellowship Church in Holden!
*Have a basketball game tonight.  Pray for me that I don’t injure myself, and that some state rep for Mass. doesn’t injure me in any great way.
*My dad just called me and told me that his attendance at church yesterday was 800!  Go Hillcrest!

How are you doing?  Anything I can do for you?

Until next time…