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.

Freedom From The Performance Treadmill

Written By Bob Schindler, Chief Operating Officer of CEDE SPORTS

A Tale of Two Tournaments

I played in two golf tournaments in the last week.  You may or may not know that I played professional golf for four years almost 40 years ago. My time in golf was filled with failure and shame. Every day my worth as a golfer was posted on a scoreboard for all to see. When I ran into someone I knew, the first question almost always was, “What did you shoot?”  In those days, not only my worth as a golfer but my value as a person was tied to my performance on the golf course.  This led to a roller coaster emotional life, with most of my life in the downs of that ride.  Even when I played well, which wasn’t that often, I usually focused more on the poor shots of the round than the good ones.  Value tied to performance is a treadmill that will not stop. It is relentless and wearing to the soul.  Even after good performance, the joy is short lived as the need to continue to perform arises.  

The Gospel's Impact

The gospel frees us from this performance treadmill. Our worth is no longer determined by what we do but who we are, by our identity in Christ – i.e., sons and daughters of God, members of God’s household.  We are God’s workmanship, his masterpiece, “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” God intends our performance to flow out of who we are as an expression of our identity in Christ.While that is what God intends, the battle for freedom from the performance treadmill can be a difficult and intensive one. At least it has been for me. My performance-based identity started long before I entered professional golf. I can’t even remember a time when I didn’t feel the guilt and shame underneath all of my efforts to prove my worth by what I did.  

Still A Work in Progress

What does all this have to do with the two tournaments I played in over the last week? After I left professional golf and eventually got into local church ministry, I didn’t play much golf for the next twenty years. When I came to Charlotte in 2003, I came hoping to play more golf. (I even went through the process with the USGA of being reinstated as an amateur in 2005.). It started with some local one-day tournaments. I eventually tried to qualify for a state tournament and made it.  My experience there uncovered the long-buried shame and insecurity. I didn’t like what I saw and felt, so I walked away. Disappointed. In the last year, I decided to re-enter this world, not to prove my worth as a golfer, but to integrate the gospel into this battle.

I wanted to see my experience match more of the truth I see in the gospel that declares God alone determines my value. Everything else I turn to is a dissatisfying idol. I wanted to live out that reality in this realm where I felt such shame and insecurity.  

Tournament 1's Evaluation

That brings me to the first tournament last week. This tournament was a two-day individual tournament that involved a battle with almost every shot. I battled to believe the gospel in the face of the experience right in front of me. Yet, as I played, I was able more than ever before to divest myself of golf as my idol to prove my worth and play the shot in front of me. I left that tournament very encouraged with a sense of hope that tournament golf could actually be a place of enjoyment for me.  

Tournament 2's Evaluation

Then I played in the second tournament, a two-man, one-day tournament. I came to this tournament with more confidence than the first but struggled executing some shots I typically do well. These poor shots became my focus along with my sense of failing my friend and partner. I was back on the treadmill, and, after the round, all the shame I was so well acquainted with returned.  

What Did I Learn?

For the last several days, I have been processing these two tournaments.  I see – 

• The relentless nature of this battle to be free from the performance treadmill

• The depth of the shame that it produces 

• How much I want to run from rather than embrace this shame from my failure

• The continual need for the gospel to set me free from my performance to determine my worth and produce such deep shame

Sports are a microcosm of life. Golf is one of the best metaphors. It is a meal of mediocrity, lightly seasoned with success and heavily seasoned with failure and shame. As such, I am finding it a great laboratory to learn about freedom from the performance treadmill.  

Who Is The Gospel For?

Written By Bob Schindler, Chief Operating Officer of CEDE SPORTS

Being Gospel Centered – Part 5

Who is the Gospel for?  

Who is the Gospel for? Ask that question to a group of Christians and most of them would answer – “non-believers.” Ask a follow up question, “Why do non-believers need the gospel?” A typical answer would be, “To deliver them from the penalty of sin and get them into heaven.” From this perspective, the gospel is a two-chapter story – Fall and Consummation (Heaven).  The apostle Paul had a different perspective. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”  (Romans 1:16) Paul says the gospel is for everyone, not just for non-believers.  “Why is the gospel for everyone?” you might ask.  The gospel is for everyone because it brings salvation to everyone.  This salvation, this deliverance, come to everyone who believes – present tense.  

The Power of God in Redemption

Certainly, the gospel delivers non-believers from the penalty of sin, but it also saves believers from the power of sin. As believers, we still struggle with the power of sin in our lives. Every day. All through every day. Therefore, we need the power of God. We need the power of God to deliver us from the power of sin. Believing, present tense, ongoing, is the key to experiencing the power of God to save us from the power of sin.  Pause for a moment. Think about this reality in your life. Do you see your struggle against the power of sin? Do you recognize that battle even going on in you today? This battle is where we need the gospel.  Recognizing this reality adds the Redemption chapter to the gospel.  Longing for freedom from this battle takes us to Consummation, where we will finally be free from the presence of sin and this battle.   

God's Design

Creation is added to the story when we see that God designed us to live differently. In this design, we were intended to be honored image bearers who would act as God’s representatives on earth, fulfilling his plans by bringing out the treasures in creation in communion with one another and with God.    This is the design from which we fell, the Fall chapter of the Gospel. In our pride, foolishness, and rebellion, we rejected God’s good plan for our own, where we thought we could experience all the goodness of the creation without the Creator as our Head. We live with the results of that foolish and rebellious decision today. Look around you. All the corruption – the disease, the evil, the corruption – is a result of that decision and the myriads of others just like it that humans have made since then, including you and me.  However, God promises, on the heels of that rebellion, to one day restore that good design for creation and for us. God worked throughout the ages, primarily through the nation of Israel, to fulfill that plan that climaxed in the arrival of His Son, the Hero of the story, who, by his death and resurrection, would usher in our deliverance from the penalty of sin and empower us for our battle with the power of sin, along with the redemption from all the corruption in creation that God promised.    

A Four Chapter Story

With this perspective in mind, we have a four-chapter story – Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation. Paul writes Ephesians from this perspective. He shows us who we were in the Fall – dead in our trespasses and sins (2:1), who we are in Redemption – alive together with Christ 2:4, sons and daughters of God (1:4), redeemed heirs (1:7, 1:14), awaiting our inheritance and our full redemption (1:14) in the Consummation when God “brings all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” (1:10)While we wait, in Ephesians Paul acknowledges our struggle with sin and our need of the gospel in that struggle. As he tells us to “walk in a manner worthy of the calling you have received” (4:1) as sons and daughters, as members of God’s household, united with Christ, he acknowledges the tendency to live like we used to live, succumbing to the battle with sin (4:17-19). He goes on to tell us how to experience the power of the gospel to overcome this tendency. We are to “put off the old self…to be made knew in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”(4:22-24) In other words, we are to preach the gospel to ourselves and embrace the truths of that gospel to walk in God’s power to live out our calling.  

Easier Said Than Lived

While this is simple in principle, it is very challenging in practice. It is challenging to acknowledge the allure sin still has to us, the depth of our struggle with overcoming sin, and the doubt we still have to the gospel’s truth and power.  However, the challenge will lead us deeper and deeper into the gospel as we embrace it. We will journey deeper and deeper into our relationship with God, our union with Christ, our experience of God’s love and power, and our longing for the freedom promised in the gospel.Who is the gospel for?  Everyone.Who needs the gospel?  We all do.Why do we all need the gospel?  To to deliver us from the power of sin that is so deeply rooted in our lives.   

Blessed

Written By Bob Schindler, Chief Operating Officer of CEDE SPORTS

Being Gospel Centered – Part 4

We all want to be blessed

To be blessed is to be divinely or supremely favored, to be favored in a way that results in happiness and joy. Jesus appealed to this longing in his “Sermon on the Mount.” Nine times he begins a verse with “Blessed are….”. Each verse outlines a very provocative way to be blessed.  Paul also understood this desire to be blessed. As he begins his letter to the Ephesians, where in chapters 1-3 he gives an understanding of our calling in the gospel, he affirms one of the key truths of that gospel – the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.This incredible statement – that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ – gives us a great principle for gospel centricity.  

Being gospel centered isn’t about gaining more blessings from God, but it is about living in the blessings we have already received in Christ.  

Blessed In Our Remembering

As we remember the gospel and our great Hero, we remember that we live not to earn more blessing, more favor from God. We remember that we live to experience the blessings that at ours in the gospel and its Hero, Jesus Christ.  Think about that for a moment. This means we can’t do anything to make God give us more blessing or we can’t do anything to make God give us less blessing. Every blessing is already ours in Christ. This truth, when embraced and lived out, brings freedom from the burden of works to impress or please God to get blessing and the fear that we might do something wrong to remove blessing.  

A Blessed Perspective

Recognizing this truth also brings into focus the struggle we all have in keeping this perspective. This freedom from the burden and the fear is a hard-won battle. We live in a world that constantly bombards us with a different story, a story that says we must do something to earn or keep blessing, sometimes very overtly and sometimes very subtlety. The world and our flesh constantly challenge us to let go of our grip on the gospel centered principle.  Therefore, we must remember. We remember the gospel. We remember the Hero of the gospel. We remember that we have received every spiritual blessing in our Hero.  

Blessing in Believing

Our remembering brings us to the place of believing, believing that we can’t earn more or lose these blessings because of our efforts or lack thereof, believing that every blessing is already ours in Christ.  We remember and believe to experience these blessings, to satisfy our longing to be blessed.  If you want to know more about those blessings that God wants us to experience, look in Ephesians at the verses right after the promise of receiving - received every spiritual blessing in Christ.  You will find a litany of those blessings in Ephesians 1:4-14.  You can also look at Ephesians 2:1-22 for even more of those blessings.   Remember.  Believe.  Experience – all the blessings we have already received in Christ because

Being gospel centered isn’t about gaining more blessings from God, but it is about living in the blessings we have already received in Christ.   

Remembering the Hero

Written By Bob Schindler, Chief Operating Officer of CEDE SPORTS

Being Gospel Centered – Part 3

In Him

When we talk about being gospel centered, one of the objections we hear is “Why don’t you use the idea ‘Christ centered’ instead of gospel centered?”  It is a good question. After all, if Jesus Christ is the one by whom and for whom all things were created, if “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17), then clearly He is the center of everything and our focus should be on being Christ centered.  Paul certainly had this perspective as he wrote Ephesians.  After telling us in 1:3 that God has “blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ,” he then goes on to outline those blessings like:

• Being chosen in Christ to be holy and blameless in God’s sight – 1:4
• Being adopted as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ - 1:5
• Having redemption in Jesus Christ – 1:7

Paul uses the term “in Christ” or “in Him” twenty-one times in the first three chapters.  (A great exercise is to find those occurrences that outline our new identity in Christ.). He is clearly writing from a Christ centered perspective.  

The Mystery

Having said that, Paul also speaks about “the mystery of Christ.” (3:4) He goes on to say that  “this mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.” (3:6)  Paul ties the mystery of Christ to the gospel. The mystery of Christ is expressed through the gospel.  Through the gospel come the riches of Christ, those blessings in Christ that Paul mentioned in 1:3.  Paul goes on to say that he “became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace.” (3:7) where in other letters Paul referred to himself as a servant of Jesus Christ (Rm 1:1, Gl 1:10).  Once again, he ties the Christ and the gospel.  For Paul, to be Christ centered is to be gospel centered.  To be gospel centered is to be Christ centered.  These two ideas are deeply intertwined.  If that is so, why even use the term gospel centered?  Using the term gospel centered recalls the gospel as a story, not just a set of propositional truths, and Jesus Christ in the context of that story.  Just as any person’s story helps us to better understand that person, the four-chapter story of the gospel – Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation - helps us to see and understand Jesus Christ more clearly, more fully.  

Jesus - The Greatest Hero

Seeing that gospel as His story and seeing Christ’s place in the story as the Hero broadens and deepens our grasp of His work. Like any hero, he arrives on the scene and overcomes significant opposition to fix what is broken, restore what is lost, and right what is wrong.  Jesus is the Greatest Hero because He overcomes the greatest opposition to right the greatest wrongs, restore the greatest loss, and fix the greatest brokenness. Seeing Jesus as the Hero of this gospel story reminds us all that we are not the Hero.  Life is not about us.  Life is not up to us.  Yet, the Hero has given us a significant role in the story, a role e has uniquely fitted us to fulfill.  Our role is one he promises to empower as we walk in it.  Each of us, Paul says, “are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which he prepared beforehand that we should walk in.”(Ep 2:10). Being Gospel centered is about remembering, believing, and experiencing.  It involves regularly remembering the truths of the gospel. The greatest truths, the most central truths of the gospel that we must remember are those that surround the Hero of the gospel story – Jesus Christ, the GREATEST HERO!!!!! 

Regularly Remembering the Gospel

Written By Bob Schindler, Chief Operating Officer of CEDE SPORTS

Being Gospel Centered – Part 2

We use all kinds of ways to remember things:  

• Reminders on our phones
• Dry erase boards on our refrigerators
• Note cards on our bathroom mirrors 

I have used all of these and many other methods over the years.  We come up with these “systems” for two reasons.  First of all, we tend to forget.  Secondly, we tend to forget even important things.  These “systems” remind us of what is important that we tend to forget.  

Believing and Remembering

In Part 1 of Being Gospel Centered, we acknowledged that being gospel centered involves believing and remembering.  The only imperative in Ephesians 1-3 is in 2:11 “Therefore, remember…”.  In giving that command, he didn’t intend this to be a one-time remembrance.  By using a present tense verb for remember, Paul is calling for a regular remembrance of the gospel truths in chapters 1,2, & 3.   This present tense, ongoing remembering, leads us to a very important observation about who the gospel is for.  The gospel isn’t only for those who are separated from Christ as a way to get connected to Christ and get to heaven.  The gospel is also for those who are connected to Christ so that we might experience the grace to presently live out the truths of the gospel.  That grace is experienced as we not only remember but believe afresh in the gospel.  Present remembering is to lead to present believing.  This believing leads to the present experience of the power of the gospel.  The regular experience of this power is why author Jerry Bridges says, “Preach the gospel to yourself every day.”  

How do you Remember?

With that in mind, what “system” do you have for remembering the gospel?  If you don’t have one, let me suggest a few.

• Learn the four-chapter gospel outline – check out https://thestoryfilm.com/ for one example.  There are many other resources that give that similar outline of Creation, Fall, Redemption, Consummation.  
• Ask the Holy Spirit to make real for you the truths of those chapters.  
• In your regular prayer time, use this outline to review that gospel and your place in it.  
• Focus on one particular chapter of the gospel and meditate on that chapter.  Use your thoughts as fuel for prayer.   
• Take sections of Ephesians 1 and 2 to remind you of the gospel truths.
• Be grateful for what you remember, believing afresh the truths you were reminded of.   
• Ask one of your friends to go through this remembering with you.  
• Develop a system of your own.  

Remembering – Believing – Experiencing.  This is the process Paul has in mind with his present tense command to “remember.”   

Being Gospel Centered

Written By Bob Schindler, Chief Operating Officer of CEDE SPORTS

Gospel Centered Ministry

At CEDE SPORTS, we talk about gospel centered sports ministry – for sports chaplains and for churches doing sports, rec, or fitness ministry.  In this blog, I want to introduce a series of several blogs where we will look at gospel centricity – what it is and what it isn’t.  This discussion is based on the letter of Paul to the Ephesians.  While he never uses the term gospel centered n this letter, as we look at this topic over the next several blogs, I think you will discover the concepts around gospel centricity are imbedded in the letter. 

Ephesians

The letter is divided into two distinct parts.  Chapters 1-3 form the first part with chapters 4-6 making up the second part.  The first part of the letter focuses on understanding our calling in the gospel.  The second part focuses on living out our understanding of our calling in the gospel.  This order of the two parts is no accident.   To reinforce that order, in the first part, there is only one imperative, surrounded by lots of indicatives.  Many truths to believe.  One command to obey.  That command is found in 2:11 – “Therefore, remember ….”  Paul goes on to tell us what to remember – who we were and who we are in the gospel.  We are to remember this.  We are commanded to remember this.  

Two Keys

With these thoughts in mind, I see two initial keys to being gospel centered.   

• Being gospel centered begins with believing - believing the truths about the gospel.  
• Being gospel centered involves remembering – remembering the realities of our life before and after the gospel. 

 Believing and remembering.  This is the opposite of the popular cultural phrase “Fake it till you make it.”  As you think about what it means to be gospel centered, keep these ideas in mind – believe and remember, who you were apart from the gospel and who you are in the gospel.   

Who is the Gospel for?

Written by Bob Schindler, Executive Director of CEDE Partners – an Initiative of CEDE SportsMy answer to that question today is different than it would have been 20 years ago.At that time, we were in the midst of planting a church that had as one of its desires to see half of the growth in the church coming from the conversion of non-believers. (We were young and naive, not realizing at the time what an radical desire that was.) In the face of that desire, we were intentional and relational in our approach to outreach. While we didn’t say it explicitly, we said by our actions – “The gospel is for non-believers.” – in answer to the question.This implicit answer impacted us in ways we didn’t realize then but do more now. For instance, when I read Romans 1:16 – “For I am not of the gospel because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” I only saw this verse in the context of evangelism. That means the salvation that the verse speaks of related only to the salvation from one’s sin that unbelievers experience when they believe. I actually read the verse without realizing it like this – “it (the gospel) is the power of God that brings salvation to every one who believed (past tense).” I even memorized this verse to help compel me to share the gospel with those non-believers for that salvation.At the same time in that church, we were committed to the discipleship of those who had believed in that gospel – both new and long-term believers. We tried to be just as intentional in our approach to that discipleship as we were in our outreach. In that discipleship, we emphasized small groups, interaction with the Scripture, authenticity, serving, worship, as well as other “spiritual disciplines.” However, I don’t think I saw the gospel as a central component of that discipleship. While I didn’t say it explicitly, again by my actions, my answer to the question was – “The gospel isn’t for believers; just for non-believers.”Today I see things very differently. It began as I looked more closely at the Scriptures, specifically those that spoke of the gospel. Going back to Romans 1:16, I noticed the tense of the verb “believes” is not past but present. In looking more closely at the verse, I realized Paul was saying the power of God is experienced as a person presently believes in the gospel – not as a one time past event but a present ongoing belief. This was a radical revelation.I began to understand that the salvation Paul is speaking of here in Romans 1:16 is not just a salvation from my sins in the past but an ongoing salvation from my sins in the present, something all of us as believers need – DESPARATELY. I saw that the way we experience the power of God for that salvation is through the gospel.Paul reiterates this idea in 1Corinthians 15:1,2 – “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” Paul is writing to his friends and fellow believers in Corinth. At the end of the letter, he concludes by saying, “Now, brothers.” I noticed he clearly addresses believers not non-believers. He then says, “I want to remind you of the gospel.” Paul saw that remembering the gospel was essential to believers.Why? Paul further explains – “By this gospel you are saved.” The ESV says “By this gospel you are being saved.” The verb, saved, is present. Once again pointing to the present impact of the gospel in a believer’s life.Paul goes on to say this present salvation is experienced “if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.” This present salvation isn’t just a given. It is experienced as we believe presently in the gospel. That is why Paul wants to remind them of this gospel. Their present salvation was at stake. Not their future salvation from the penalty of sin but their present salvation from the power of sin.Otherwise, Paul says, we believe in vain. The vanity or emptiness of our belief that Paul is speaking of here is not that we lose our eternal salvation but that we aren’t experiencing the present effect God designed for the gospel to have in believers’ lives.So I saw, and hope you see, the gospel is not just for nonbelievers. It is something for believers. Author Jerry Bridges speaks about this idea when he says; “I preach the gospel to myself every day.” I would even go further as to say I want to preach the gospel to myself throughout the day - for as I believe that gospel, the power of God flows into my life to save me in all the ways I need saving.Who is the Gospel for? It is for you and me and all others who need the power of God in their lives today.

The Power of Story

Let me paint you a picture..

"Motorcycles are dangerous."I believe that propositional statement to be true.  You may believe it or not.  If you do, you can believe it to be true without that belief really connecting with you.However, if I said “I had a motorcycle wreck on June 22, 2013. I was riding with two of my friends about 20 minutes from my house when I rounded a curve. It was an unfamiliar road and I didn’t quite make the curve, ending up on the shoulder. I thought I would just ride it out and just ease back on to the road. However, something caught my front wheel, flipped the bike, and sent me about 30 feet into the air, with me doing a somersault in the process. I landed on my left side in between the road and a metal fence.  In the process of flying off my bike, I broke my left ankle and right thumb. On the fall, I banged my left elbow, taking eleven stitches to heal up. I went back to the accident scene two weeks later and saw the fence and the road – each about 3-5 feet from where I ended up in this sort of ditch. As I looked at that grass “cradle” where I landed, I started to weep. I got a real glimpse of how close I came to hitting either the fence of the road – neither of which would have been good. I wept over what could have been and out of gratitude for God’s protection.”Then you would understand why my belief connects with that truth that motorcycles are dangerous. My story connects me to it. If you cared about me, that story would connect you with it as well.

The Bigger Picture

The powerful connection that comes from telling a story is important to remember as we think about the Gospel.As I have asked people over the years, “What is the Gospel?” I usually get a propositional statement or two like:-       Jesus died for my sins.-       Jesus died for my sins so I could go to heaven.-       Jesus died for my sins so I could be in relationship with him now and then be with him forever.All these statements are propositions. I believe they are true. But, when it comes to describing the Gospel, they are incomplete. They don’t tell the story.In not telling the story, these statements don’t connect with us in a way that The Story of the Gospel can.So let me ask you a couple of questions about the Gospel:-       What do you tell people when you tell them the Gospel?-       What do you train others to tell people when you train them to “share the Gospel”?-       Does what you tell them describe the great Story of the Gospel that God has been telling since CREATION, through the FALL, and REDEMPTION, and ultimately ends up in the CONSUMMATION?You may be telling people the truth, equipping others to tell them the truth, but you may not be telling them or equipping them to tell others the whole Gospel. The result - you may be telling them the truth, but you may not really be connecting with their hearts as you remove those truths from the STORY of the GOSPEL.If you would like some resources to help you both understand and share the Story of the Gospel with others, check out the following:-       The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler-       The Story (Tract)-       The Gospel ProjectRemember – “If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away when needed.  Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.” Barry LopezHow different would our evangelism be if we thought this way? God has given us the Story of the Gospel. We need to care for it and learn to give it away when needed because there are those in our spheres of contact who need the Story of the Gospel more than food to stay alive.

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!