Overcoming Discouragement

Are you discouraged?  Often fight discouragement?This past week I spoke with two ministry leaders who were in very different ministry contexts with very different recent circumstances.  However, both were discouraged.As I talked with them, what became clear to me is that even though their situations were very different, the reason they were discouraged was very similar. 

They both lost sight of their progress.

 To show you what I mean, let me use one of those conversations.  . This leader told me some of what had been going on in the last couple of months:

• He envisioned a particular project for his church and delegated it another leader who carried it out very effectively. This leader confessed, “This is the first time I have ever done this successfully.” 

• The success of the initiatives around this project impacted several aspects of the church – women’s ministry, youth ministry, and men’s ministry.

• Several people, whom they had invested in for some time, made decisions to embrace the gospel and its Hero, Jesus, whom they are following up now.

 After he reviewed these items, he said, “My team is smoked and I am tired and disheartened.” As we talked further, he came up with this powerful and poignant image.  “I feel like I have given my all to climb this far up the mountain and make it to this ledge.  Feeling exhausted and somewhat satisfied, I looked up and I still had so far to go.  Totally discouraged me.” After validating his discouragement and how far he had to go, I asked him to reorient his perspective. 

“It isn’t time yet to look ahead.  Right now, you need to look back.” 

 I went back over the progress of the last couple of months with some additional words to weave this into a compelling story of all that God had done.  I wept as I recalled it to him (For those of you who know me, I know that is no surprise!). It was such a beautiful picture of the awesome works God had done. 

It was time to celebrate that progress!

 We went over Psalm 145:3-7 and discussed the call there to talk about the great works of God, to meditate on those that we hear from others, and finally to celebrate the goodness of God.  To not do so would keep others from joining that celebration and rob God of the glory of his greatness he deserves. So, we did just that.  We “sat on that ledge” together and looked back.  I went back over how far they had come in those several months and asked him, “If I would have told you a few months ago that this would all happen in the next several months, how would you have felt back then?”  He responded, “Ecstatic!” “Well then, let’s be ecstatic now.  Don’t look ahead.  Look back.  Take the next week and celebrate with God.  Tell your team of these works and encourage them to think about them and then tell you what else they see.” 

His heart got lighter and lighter as he changed his perspective –

from looking ahead to looking back.

 There would be a time to start looking ahead and addressing the challenges there.  But not yet.  Celebrating God’s goodness is designed to energize us for those challenges. However, like these two ministry leaders, most of us don’t seem to do a good job of celebrating God’s goodness.  We forget the progress in our frantic pace.  We get mired in the challenges and pain of the past.  We may focus on the future out of fear of getting caught up in that past.  Or we celebrate our “goodness” rather than God’s. Any of these keep us from being energized by celebrating the greatness of God’s works and his goodness in including us in them. My advice – the next time you get discouraged, sit "on the ledge" with our Hero and look back and remember.  Think back to where you used to be.  Do this with Jesus and some good friends.  If you can't look back to that place because of the "clouds" blocking your view, ask God to clear away the clouds.  Ask others to tell you what they see.  However you get there, remember where you used to be and put that perspective with where you are now.  See how far God has brought you.  Celebrate his goodness in giving you such progress.  It will energize you for the journey ahead, no matter how daunting it may appear.

When To Involve Others In Decisions

Written By Bob Schindler, Chief Operating Officer of CEDE SPORTS

When Do You Involve Others in Decisions?

“I am thinking about whether to offer basketball this year to 3rd and 4th graders.”In a recent conversation with a sports, rec, and fitness leader, she told me that the person in charge of sports had resigned somewhat unexpectedly. This resignation left the leader understaffed, wondering how to handle the approaching seasons with the limited capacity.  We talked through several of the ideas she had for dealing with the dilemma when she said this statement, “I am thinking about whether to offer basketball this year to 3rd & 4th graders.” She explained her reasoning and concerns about cutting these grades. I was impressed with how hard and well she had worked through this idea.  

Why ask others?

The conversation turned to asking others for input.  We addressed the why first. I outlined the following reasons 

• Involving others helps the leader by generating additional solutions that weren’t previously on the table. 

• Involving others helps the leader to anticipate objections and deal with those objections to that decision as it is communicated more broadly.  

• Involving others helps the leader gain cooperation with the change being made

Thinking Through It

Fleshing out those reasons, I suggested she get some input from her staff and some key parents involved in the league, especially those with 3rd and 4th graders.  As we talked further, she asked“How do you know when to involve others in a decision?”I thought it was a great question but immediately acknowledged the fact that there is no cut and dry way to answer that question or an easy extreme of always or never to run to. I suggested the following questions to help move toward an answer:

• Is there time to get others involved?  The timing of some decisions preclude the opportunity to get others’ input.  

• What is the level of impact of the decision on others?  Different decisions have different impact.  Changing the furniture in a Family Life Center has less of an impact than whether to have 3rd  and 4th grade basketball.

• How important is the cooperation of those impacted by the decision?  In the case of whether to do basketball or not, because of the impact on existing staff and parents and the importance of their cooperation, I recommended the leader talk to both groups or representatives of both – particularly the parents.  Generally, the greater the input into a decision, the greater the cooperation.

• Are the reasons for and the principles surrounding the decision clear and articulated?  If you aren’t clear on those reasons and principles and you ask someone, “Should we have basketball for 3rd and 4th graders this season?” they are left to answer out of sheer preference.  If you have those outlined, this provides a great preface to the consideration of the decision at hand.  “Because we are short staffed and need to keep things simple and not overtax our staff, we are wondering whether to do basketball for 3rd and 4th graders this season.  What do you think?”

What do you think?

These are some suggestions. I am sure there are many others. The value of additional input seems clearer than when to involve others.  How do you know when to include others in decisions?  

Difficulty In Defining Success

Written by Bob Schindler, Executive Director of CEDE Partners – an Initiative of CEDE Sports

How Do I Know I am Winning?

“At the end of the game, all I had to do to know whether we had won or lost was to look at the scoreboard.” A good friend and colleague of mine, M.L. Woodruff, then said, “Now I don’t have that scoreboard. I don’t know whether I am winning or losing.”  M.L. had served as a high school baseball coach for 30 years (where he won 11 state championships by the way - obviously winning more than he lost!) before pursuing a call to lead Istrouma Sports at Istrouma Baptist Church in Baton Rouge. It was in that role with Istrouma Sports that I met M.L. This conversation came up early on in our relationship. It stuck with me.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized that M.L.’s challenge is not unique. We all want to know if we are winning or losing, making progress or falling behind. In some areas of life, we may have a clear “scoreboard.” In others, like in ministry, that scoreboard may not be so clear. For example, are you winning or losing in:

• Your marriage?
• Your parenting?  
• Your following Jesus?

If you know, how do you know?  What is your scoreboard?  

Keeping Score

In the pursuit of the answer, what sports, rec, and fitness ministers often do is to establish a scoreboard that is easily measurable.  Their scoreboard typically includes:   

• Number of participants
• Finances
• Facilities

While this is helpful information, it is incomplete.  It doesn’t evaluate the whole picture and give a true understanding of whether progress is being made.  To help sports, rec, and fitness leaders with this dilemma, we developed a tool to evaluate progress called The Wheel.  It is based on the three components of a wheel 

• The Hub – Power Source
• The Spokes – Power Transfer
• The Rim – Power Effects

To learn more about how to use this tool, we invite you to join us on Wednesday, October 28th, from 3:00-4:00 pm EST. Zoom Link Here In this time, we will explain how The Wheel was developed and how to use this tool as a Standard or Measure for evaluating the progress in a sports, rec, and fitness ministry.  In addition, we will also discuss using this Measure, with the right Method and the right Motivation which will lead to a fuller and more biblical picture of progress.  We hope to see you there.   

Making Pandemic Lemonade

Written by Ken Cross, Church Mentor at CEDE Partners – an Initiative of CEDE Sports

Our Present Reality

We have all heard about making lemonade out of lemons. This phrase tells us to take an adverse situation and turn it around for your benefit and especially for the benefit of others. The Covid 19 pandemic has certainly been tough on sports ministers. Some that I personally work with, have had to take different roads in the ministry of the church such as:  media work, “Cares Act” guru helping the church get two or more months of salaries, or facing the reality of being reduced to only part time. Your situation might be similar to these. There are many unanswered questions ahead as we wonder how school is going to happen, and if we can restart our ministries without compromising safety. 

Lessons from the Past

When the Black Death of the Bubonic plague of London was devastating Europe in 1665, Cambridge University shut its doors and professor Isaac Newton was forced to stay at home. During his sequester, he invented calculus, parts of optic theory, and allegedly while sitting in his garden, he witnessed an apple fall from a tree, which inspired all of our understanding of gravity and the laws of motion. Now that is sweet lemonade!Jesus had gathered very large crowds of hungry people in Matthew 14 and 15. With no restaurants in sight, He used these moments to teach His disciples that He was enough in every situation. Is Jesus enough for your situation? What is God wanting to do? And what is He desiring for you during this time?

Considering the Future

Is now the time to re-evaluate your calling to ministry? Are you called or are you just doing a job? From my experience those who are intrinsically called and motivated by God will persevere through the hard times.  The “hirelings,” those that have entered by the wrong gate for the wrong reasons, will find what else it is that God has for them!Is now a time to re-evaluate your present ministry? To make plans for the future? Since you have been able to reflect during this time and perhaps see those proverbial apples fall from the trees! At CEDE Sports we have tools and mentors to help you do just that. One of the tools is called The Wheel (see the image below).Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” So assuming you are a believer, God has prepared plans just for you! What a great promise! That is lemonade that is always sweet! I believe since God put Adam to work before the Fall that He was showing us that there is nothing sinful about work. Even now God is preparing to do His kingdom work in the new Heavens and the new Earth. Preparation is underway. Take a positive perspective on this pandemic,  seek God, and pursue His prepared good work for you! 

How to be a Good Sports Minister

Simple Idea, Profound Impact

I came across this quote recently from Tim Keller about preaching:

"A man who is not deeply involved in personal shepherding, evangelism, and pastoral care will be a bad preacher."

What a humbling quote. It makes sense though, doesn't it? How are you going to be able to connect and communicate to your congregation if you're isolated and disconnected from them? How are you going to able to lead them as they grow spiritually if you're not personally involved in shepherding, evangelism, and pastoral care?

The same is true for sports ministers. A healthy sports minister would be involved in shepherding, evangelism, and pastoral care. Perhaps you don't use those terms though so this may be confusing, allow me to clarify:

1) Mentoring and training coaches and volunteers would be shepherding.

2) Sports ministers need to be personally involved in evangelism, particularly through sports. Are you currently engaged in this? What non-believers are you praying for? How often are you rubbing shoulders with non-believers?

3) Whenever a behavioral issue comes up in your sports ministry, how do you handle it? Do you dismiss it quickly? Do you avoid it? Do you leave it alone and hope it works itself out? This is what most sports ministers do. If you're doing any of those three, you're missing an excellent opportunity for gospel ministry. You're avoiding what "pastoral care" looks like for a sports minister.

This may be a simple truth but the impact it can have is indeed profound.

Three Key Components for Coach Development

We talk with sports ministers about developing coaches about as often as Stephen Curry looks good shooting a jump shot! 

Why?

Maybe that is because the success of sports ministries that have leagues rests on the shoulders of those coaches. They are the “players” in the game of “sports ministry.”  (We don’t consider this vital ministry in any way a game, but, to understand the role of coaches, we use this metaphor.)  Since most sports ministers don’t have the luxury of only having “first-round draft picks” on their team, they know they need to develop these coaches.

This is the other reason so much discussion goes on here.  They are looking for help.  Most of the sports ministers we talk with are frustrated with their efforts to develop coaches.  They don’t think what they are doing is that effective or wrestle with the lack of participation from their coaches.

Step By Step

One of the ways we help alleviate that frustration is to get sports ministers to think about three key components when it comes to developing coaches.  They are:

–       Vision

–       Curriculum

–       Structure

Vision is what you want those coaches to become.  You could encapsulate that vision by asking the question – “What would an ideal coach know, be able to do, and be?” Or “What is the knowledge, skill and character of the ideal coach?”

Curriculum is the content God uses to move your coaches toward this vision.  This material comes in a variety of formats and is what your coaches need to grow from where they are now into these ideal coaches.

Structure is the delivery mechanism for your coaches to interact with this curriculum.  It should include various activities along the thought that you

 Teach to Knowledge           Train to Skill                Mentor to Character

God has used us to help sports ministries develop this vision, curriculum and structure and change the atmosphere of coach development from frustration to fulfillment.

If that is something we can help you with, contact us at info@cedesports.org

Written by Bob Schindler

Back To The Basics

A while ago I was in Dallas meeting with leaders from local churches to discuss the foundation for Sports Ministry in the Local Church.  We talked about the why, the what, and the how of Sports Ministry which I still find so relevant to share with you today.  Our primary leader was Pastor Sameh Maurice from Kasr El Dobara Church in Cairo Egypt, someone I deeply respect and enjoy being around whose church is doing a fantastic work in the Middle East.

God's Character is the Foundation

In answering the why, we began by looking at God’s character.  We were reminded that since God is the author of all things and all things are to reflect his glory, his character is a critical starting place for every discussion of the whys of anything, including Sports Ministry.

As we talked about our God being loving, relational, and incarnational, I was deeply impressed with the incredible grace of our marvelous God so beautifully seen in Christ.  He came to be with us – our Immanuel – who would “never leave or forsake us.”   He also came to be one of us – this “Word became flesh” – and “sympathizes with our weaknesses” as one who has been “tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”

With us.  One of us.

I thought about the passion Cede Sports has to see Sports Ministries glorify God.  I was deeply impressed that in order to see this passion realized, I sensed God’s urging on the need to herald this incredible incarnation and call Sports Ministries to take up this same incarnational mindset and approach.

I thought about reminding Sports Ministries to take the initiative to be with the people outside the kingdom and not just wait for them to come to them.  I thought about the value of playing with and not against those outsiders if we are going to one of them.

These are two ways to be with them, one of them and reflect the Son’s incarnation.  There are many more.  If you think of any, let me know!  Better yet, write a blog for us about it.

After all, we all need to regularly get BACK TO THE BASICS!

The Biggest Loser & Spiritual Development

Written by Bob Schindler 

What I like about the show, The Biggest Loser, is watching people achieve what they have never achieved before but have longed for some time to accomplish.  It just stirs my heart as I watch their struggle and joy.

I think there is something to learn from the show about developing people.  To unpack those insights, let me ask “What makes these people able to do on the show what they couldn’t do on their own?”

Remember, there is nothing magical about the equation for losing weight:

Decrease caloric intake + increase caloric output = weight loss

I would guess that each person on the show understood this equation for the most part.  They may not have understood the caloric content of what they were eating but they at least understood the principle.

If that is so, “Why did they achieve during the show what they couldn’t do on their own?”  Or another way of asking the question – “What did the show provide for them that they couldn’t get themselves?”

Basic Premise

While there may be many more than the list below, I point to following concepts as keys to the participants successful weight loss:

 –      Clear formula for weight loss: outlined above and discussed/reinforced often/meals

– Community of development: they were on teams working together on that formula.  

– Qualified Coaches : participants were given individual as well as group attention that extended beyond but impacted their approach to weight loss.

–  Accountability to the team: individual progress impacted the whole team.

–  Focused atmosphere: they were removed from the everyday distractions and together for a specific purpose.

Having listed them, it is the combination of these elements that is the key not just the individual components.  In fact, some of the participants may have even experimented with some of these ideas individually without the corresponding success they found on The Biggest Loser.

Relevance To You

With those thoughts in mind, think about your own efforts or your efforts to help others grow spiritually.  Like many who want to lose weight, I often find people who -

–  want to grow spiritually but who have never really experienced what they long for.

–  are trying to help them grow spiritually, like sports ministers and their coaches and players, but who have little or frustrating impact from their efforts.

 One solution to this frustration may be to take a lesson from The Biggest Loser and try to build this same kind of development atmosphere

1)    the community of development

2)    accountability to the team for progress

3)    focused environment

4)    qualified coaches

working within God’s formula for development.

Our Commitment

At Cede Sports, we work to help local churches construct such an environment.  We create tools to support that environment, including the following video. Join our church directory at no cost where you will have access to many free resources to help equip and train you in furthering your Sports Ministry for the Gospel. Preview these by watching this video explaining our devotional resources and then use this link to join our directory to access all our free resources!

The results – God is using such environments to help sports ministers, coaches, and players achieve what they have always longed to achieve but have never quite got there.  Here is one sports minister’s recent experience:

“We have a renewed excitement and energy. We have a renewed passion for pursuing something that’s so much bigger than just sports. We’ve re-designed our programs with the idea of integrating sports and ministry in mind rather than trying to inject ministry into sport which is what we were guilty of doing before. As a result, participants are enjoying a better experience, families are being served better, and volunteers are serving with a higher calling in mind which gives them a lot of significance.”

If we can help you and your church, please contact us.  We exist to serve the local church.

Is it OK for you to fail?

Failure is a part of life. We all live with the failures of others. More importantly, we also live with ours.

How do you respond to these failures?

• Do you get angry with yourself?
• Do you blame others?
• Do you deny your failures?
• Do you slough them off?
• Do you dwell on them?

My friend, Tim Briggs, wrote this blog about a lesson he learned in dealing with his young son’s failure in a soccer game:

After the game, we had a long talk on the field about what happened. When I asked him why he melted down, all he could muster in response was, “I couldn’t get the ball from him. He dribbled right past me.” There’s so much I wanted to say in response to his confession but found myself trying to find the right words that would resonate to his five-year-old understanding of the world. The simplest way I could explain things to him was to say, “It’s okay to fail.” I explained to him that failing was a part of sports. I explained to him the failing was part of life. I explained to him that failing doesn’t define him.Interestingly enough, I think this whole episode has impacted me more than him. He has long forgotten what happened last weekend but here I am, still rehearsing the whole scene in my mind. Maybe it’s because I often feel the same way he does. Failure is so threatening to me because I idolize affirmation. I look to it to provide something that it can never deliver: significance, satisfaction, and salvation.

If you are at all sensitive to what goes on in your heart when you fail, you can relate to what Tim says here.

The gospel speaks powerfully to us in our failure.

The gospel acknowledges the depth and breadth of our failure. The gospel also declares God’s gracious remedy in Christ for our failures, making “him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” (2Corinthians 5:21)As Tim says, this means our failures can no longer define us. God intention in such gracious provision is to free us from our fears and silly strategies to deal with our failures and into a willingness to embrace and admit our failures to ourselves, God and others.For me, this doesn’t happen all at once. Rather, as I continue to bask in God’s provision in Christ, this happens over time. As I find my identity more and more rooted in him, I am able to let go, more and more, of the lie that my identity is tied to my behavior or lack there of.

So what now?

This doesn’t mean I treat my failures casually, don’t evaluate my behavior, or don’t try to get better. It does mean the energy behind those efforts has changed. Rather than being powered by my fear of failure, or my passion for admiration or my dread of criticism, now my efforts can be fueled by the desire to show off this great and gracious God. He not only overcame my failures but provides me power to face my failures and actually change. This change is not just on the outside, dealing only with my failed behavior. This change goes much deeper and to a much more important failure, the failure of my heart. This change roots out the selfishness and self-centeredness that so dominates all my life and is seen in so vividly in my fear of failure.   This change turns that self-centeredness to a God-centeredness that gives me more and more of his perspective on my failures.Is it ok for you to fail? It all depends on how you see the gospel.

Idols in Sports Ministry

Tim Keller has a book out called Counterfeit Gods. In the book, he tells the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Esau, Jonah, and Zaccheus and uses their stories to teach about idolatry.  From the book, “The human heart takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things. Our hearts deify them as the center of our lives, because, we think, they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them.”So, what is an idol? Keller explains, "It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give."If we're honest, it's easy to find idols in sports ministry. Things like number of participants, revenue, wins and losses, etc. can all be made into idols and become "ultimate things." I hope that for those of us in sports ministry that we can find our contentment and security in God. I pray that we can rejoice in the successes of our sports ministries and yet in the midst of that, still find our significance in God.