I didn't know the kid from the "Wonder Years" played basketball!

Intensity.

That’s what happens when the commanding officer calls his or her platoon out and moves them to another level.  Or when the coach builds a plan to utilize the strengths of the team in an effort to win the game and ultimately, the championship.  Or what happens when a leader builds a plan to take his tribe through a new open door of possibilities.  Or when a pastor calls the people in the church to move out of Ur.

The platoon or the team or the group or the church begins to feel stretched and intense and insecurities come to light, and all the good and bad of the group floats to the top for all to see, and the question remains, “How do we handle the good and the bad now?”  Or perhaps a better way to put it is…

How do we handle the intensity?  Peyton Manning or Brett Favre?  Kobe Bryant or Allen Iverson?  Ulysses S. Grant or Leonidus Polk?

In my middle school years I played basketball for a small Christian school.  I remember one night in 8th grade at the York School (our home ‘arena’) we were playing another middle school rival known to us only as Stateline.  The Red Machine came into our home and I figured we would beat them, because I thought that of everyone we played.  That night the game was close (tied at half) and then they took the lead by 5 with a minute to go.  Their lead was still 5 with 14 ticks left on the clock, and with that amount of time remaining, I brought the ball down the court and launched what felt like an NBA 3 pointer into the air.

Now I move to present tense for the play by play.

Thankfully the ball swishes through the net, making one of the most beautiful sounds ever made in history, and the crowd goes wild.  Time out.  8 seconds left on the clock – they bring the ball in and we foul them.  Stateline goes to the line, and misses both shots.  We quickly bring the ball in, but in some freak of nature, we lose the ball and it’s Stateline’s ball under our basket.  We call another time out.

Intensity.

The coach gives us a quick speech about hustle and winning and getting the ball in the hole, and we head out onto the court, and I swear the point difference between the two teams is 3 points.  I’m standing at the middle of the key guarding my player in a mano y mano press, when the whistle blows and play starts.  The crowd is still cheering us on, and everything is kind of blurry, when out of nowhere the ball lands in my hands.  He throws it right to me.

I stand stunned, trying to figure out what to do with the allotted time left on the board, and I head for the 3 point line.  I wish I could end this story hailing myself as an excellent hero of this intense game, but alas, the Spirit of Brett Favre took hold of me (he started his career about 4 years later), and the referee calls me for traveling as I dribble (or not) the ball out of the key.

My return to present day and past tense.

To make matters worse, the point difference between the two teams was not 3.  It was 2.  So as I stood by myself about 4 feet away from the basket, all it would have taken was a layup.  It was an intense game, and intensity took hold of my body and spirit, but unfortunately the intensity controlled me, and not vice versa.

When a team or a platoon or a group or a church decides to move past where it has been, it gets intense.  But the intensity can’t control us…

We must control it.

Which one of these are turkeys at Fellowship Church?

Now that’s a good helping of turkey to start off your Thanksgiving!
And to the others I am thankful for their huge helping of teamwork at Fellowship!

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!

Many people don’t know that they can find my blog at martyholman.com.  I think this is important information because everyday people find my blog using the search words, “Marty Holman.”  Come on peeps, just put those words together and slap a .com at the end.  Walaa!

Things are going amazing right now at Fellowship Church, and I’m so proud of my church for the way they have banded together in their life groups and in their service teams and on Sunday Mornings @ Fellowship to lead other people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  There is such a kingdom-mindset right now, and I’m privileged to be the pastor of this outstanding group of Christ followers.

At the forefront of this group is several leaders who have sacrificed of themselves to spearhead this movement of God.  I’m so proud to be working on a regular basis with guys like Steve, Al, Billy, Jeff, and Jay.   They are inspiring and teachable, ready to work and ready to wait, and most of all, they have been available for God to use them in a great way.

I put out a challenge to our team back in January that I wanted our church to grow in every way in the summer of 2008.  Seem ordinary?  I want you to know that in the 9 years that I’ve been here now, our church has never grown in the summer, and I have been praying,and I think it’s about time God changes all that.

So if you are a member or an attender of Fellowship Church or you just follow one of our blogs, would you begin praying for this to happen here in Holden, Massachusetts?  We’re starting to see momentum happen on a weekly basis, and God is moving here – no doubt!

One more thing.  I’ve also been praying about being involved in this in June.  It seems like hundreds, if not thousands of churches across America are taking part in it (which is not a reason in and of itself to do it), but I really want God’s direction here.  Please let me know if you have any thoughts on the subject.  Unless of course you are a natural critic and just think that anyone who would do this hates God.  Then you can keep your comments to yourself.  But if you have any constructive thoughts, good or bad, throw them in. 

Anyone have any thoughts on it?

Until next time…