TIPS FOR GOSPEL CONVERSATIONS FROM TIM KELLER AND FRANCIS SCHAEFFER

I came across these two quotes:

From the Gospel Coalition:

Francis Schaeffer was asked what he’d do if he had an hour to share the gospel with someone. He responded by saying he’d listen for 55 minutes and then, in the last 5 minutes, have something meaningful to say. In other words, he listened in order to speak the gospel.

From Reformissionary (quoting Tim Keller):

…a gospel-shaped apologetic starts not with telling people what to believe, but by showing them their real problem. In this case we are showing secular people that they have less warrant for their faith assumptions than we do for ours. We need to show that it takes faith even to doubt.

[…]

There is a way of telling the gospel that makes people say, “I don’t believe it’s true, but I wish it were.” You have to get to the beauty of it, and then go back to the reasons for it.

I couldn’t agree more. At CEDE SPORTS, we talk about the 3 stages of the evangelistic process

– Cultivating where you build relationships with people and uncover their worldview (what Keller refers to as their faith assumptions)

– Sowing where you share truth with people – all kinds of truth related to their worldview/faith assumptions as well as a biblical worldview

– Reaping where you help people make decisions – not just the decision to trust Jesus but to believe in God, that he is a personal being, that he desires a relationship with that person, that there is a problem in that relationship, that they cannot overcome the problem on their own, all leading up to trusting Jesus to solve this problem.

STRATEGIES FOR BATTLING BUSYNESS AS A SPORTS OUTREACH MINISTER

We frequently tell those in and outside of the sports ministry world the following: The job of a sports minister is the most logistically demanding job in the church. It makes sense right? In order to do the “ministry” you need to do the “sports”…and sports take time. It is just a reality of the job. It’s a reality though that can become dangerous. Gordon MacDonald says this:

“I am of the opinion that busyness is a deeper threat to the soul than pornography ever was.”

 deeper threat to the soul than pornography ever was.”

In light of this, I wanted to offer everyone here some thoughts and resources so that you may struggle well with your busyness. First, some practical advice:

“Prune” to get more work done

In a vineyard, the vine keeper knows that if a vine is not regularly pruned, new fruit will eventually begin to steal resources from the older, more mature, fruit-bearing parts of the vine. Over time, the unpruned vine will eventually succumb to systemic mediocrity because it simply can’t support that much fruit. There aren’t the resources available. The good fruit suffers in order to support the less mature fruit.

In the same way, it’s critical that we (both individuals and companies) get really good at “pruning” – learning to say “no” to opportunities and projects – that don’t align with the important work that we’re doing. This means passing on opportunities – even really good ones – in order to preserve the energy needed to bring our best effort to the work that we know we need to excel at.

Sit down once a month with your calendar and your projects list, and look for things that might be good ideas, but need to be pruned in order to give you more capacity to do your crucial work. This doesn’t mean that you’re saying no to them forever, it just means that you’re recognizing that you don’t have the bandwidth to do everything all the time. It’s not failure, it’s the first step toward success.

Will There Be Sports in Heaven?

Written By: Bob Schindler

I imagine two responses to this question – “What a silly question!” or “Of course not!” – both of which quickly dismiss the question.

I would ask you to resist that tendency to dismiss the question and go a little deeper. What lies within the question is just how biblical your view of heaven and of sports really is, which defines your hope for heaven and your path to redeemed sports.

Randy Alcorn, author of Heaven, once addressed this question in a Desiring God podcast where he boldly declares –

“I believe there is every reason to believe there would be (sports in heaven).”

To which many object, “How can that be? After all, there can’t be any losers in heaven.”

Alcorn responds, “Why not?” and then gives a personal example. He coaches tennis and talks about how he would celebrate when one of his students developed to the point that that student could beat him. He points to this as an example of having vested interest in another person’s growth and a taste of what it will be like in heavenly competition.

Alcorn then asks the poignant and very important question – “Where did sports come from?” and answers quickly, “Clearly, from God.  Satan did not come up with the idea of sports!”

You may not be so easily convinced or those you interact with so easily convinced. (There are many in the world who think differently on this.) For more on this subject, let me point you to another resource that gives a fuller defense for the origin of sports and their presense in heaven:

Blog – “Was there competition in the Garden?”

The origin of sports is of immense importance as we think about the redemption of those same sports and further on to whether they are included in the consummation.

Heaven? I can’t wait to play golf there!!!

10 Ways to Be an Effective Coach This Season

If you do these 10 things this season, I can’t help but imagine you’ll have a great season!

1. Arrive early/stay late

The power of your presence as a coach can’t be underestimated. Once practices and games begin, coaches have to be focused on the game. Before and afterwards though is often the best time to get to know parents and your kids. These are the times when relational equity is established and bridges for ministry are built.

2. Remember, you are in a fish bowl

What I mean by that is everyone is watching you. Your actions and words are amplified because of this. Be prayerful and mindful of this. Strive to make your actions as a coach an apologetic to the world.

3. Remember who your teammates are

I don’t just mean the players, parents, and coaches on your specific team but instead the leadership of your league, the referees, and other

coaches/volunteers. You are all on the same team! You all have the same goals to impact people with the gospel through sports (hopefully anyway!). Don’t see people as enemies or adversaries but co-competitors and family.

4. Teach life lessons and Biblical truths just as much as the sport itself

You’re failing as a coach if you are just teaching a sport. You are more than a coach! You’re a teacher, you’re a mentor, and you’re a minister! Look at your coaching as such. Look for ways to integrate sports, life, and Biblical truth together.

5. Affirm, Affirm, Affirm!

This doesn’t mean you can’t rebuke and constructively criticize your players. Just remember, kids are longing for affirmation. The state of the American home is severely lacking in encouragement and affirmation. Let your team be a place where that can be found.

6. Pray…and then pray some more!

Pray for your actions/attitudes during games and practices. Pray the same thing for your kids, parents, and opposing teams. Pray for the gospel to be advanced. Pray for opportunities (Colossians 4:1-20). Pray for good conversations. Etc.

7. Empower your parents

Get your parents involved with the team–don’t be a one-man show. Ask a parent to consider being an assistant coach. Get parents involved with snacks or being the team communicator (reminders, emails, etc.). Ask believing parents to reach out to non-believing families.

8. Be solutions oriented

If there’s a problem in the league (rules, format, other teams, etc.), think through some solutions to the problem before bringing the issue to the leadership. Think of ways you can help the situation.

9. Spend time with your players/parents outside of practice and games

Sometimes this can be hard to do but…initiate team lunches after your games or dinners after your practices. Invite the team over to your house (or someone else’s house) before the season starts to get to know everyone. Do a team party after the season. During the season, invite the team to watch a game on TV and use it as a place to learn the sport more. Again, all of this proves to be fertile ground for relationship building. Make an effort to share your life with your team.

10. Handle conflict well

Conflict will be inevitable. Embrace it and vow to make your conflict resolution redemptive.

WHAT TYPE OF STRUCTURE DOES YOUR MINISTRY HAVE? PART 2

In part 1, I encouraged you to ponder about the structure of your ministry, to consider, like Goldilocks and the three bears, “Is it too little, too much, or  just right?” 

Let’s assume that you have just the right amount – an endoskeleton – that facilitates mission accomplishment.  Now I want you to ask:

What does this structure actually look like?

As I have thought about this question, I would suggest the following answer:

To successfully accomplish the mission of Gospel-Centered Sports Ministry, your ministry needs to look like a fully orbed NFL Team.

While an NFL Team typically has one owner, there are many other people involved in the success of that team playing the “game” of football.  Those people could be broken down into the on-the-field operations and the off-the-field operations.

Off-the-field operations would include things like finances, marketing, field operations, equipment purchase, contracts.  The people responsible for off-the-field operations is typically headed up by a person called the General Manager.

On-the-field operations would include player development and actual game-time player management.  The people responsible for on-the-field operations is called the Head Coach.

While some Head Coaches want to become also the General Manager so they can control player drafting, this Head Coach/GM combination is very seldom successful – because of the scope of the job.

Now back to the Sports Ministers I run across.  Most if not all are very overwhelmed with the day to day responsibilities of their jobs.  When I draw out the typical structure of an NFL Team with these two areas – on-the-field and off-the field – (see diagram below) they see the reason they are overwhelmed.

They are either

• Operating as both the GM and Head Coach

• Coaching with little to no assistant coaches

• or both!!!!

If there are operating as a GM/Head Coach, they see they are are overwhelmed with the off-the-field operations – field preparation, team assignments, equipment procurement, registration, and all the myriad of other things that go on before a single game is played – and the combination with all the on-the-field operations.

If they are the Head Coach with few or no assistant coaches, they see that they are are overwhelmed by trying to “coach” a team of 30 or more players (In this metaphor, the “players” in the “game” of Sports Ministry are those who are actually advancing the mission, moving the ministry down the field – like coaches of youth or adult players or adults from your church in leagues.)

Take a look at the typical coaching structure for an NFL Team – Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Coordinator, Special Teams Coordinator, Assistant Coaches and Position Coaches for Offense, Defense, and Special Teams.  Count them up and you end up with a coach to player ration of something like 1-4 or 5.  Quite a difference from the 1-30,50, 80 ratio I run across in Sports Ministers.

What would you say to a Sports Minister who is trying the

• Head Coach/GM model?

• Head Coach with few or no assistant coaches?

You might say

• Recruit qualified help in the off-the-field operations to free you up to coach (since this is the Sports Ministers #1 job according to Ephesians 4:11, 12)

• Recruit assistant coaches to help you develop your “players”

• Give up on really accomplishing your mission

• Draft only #1 draft players who need no development

Since the last two are not really options, the first two are where we point Sports Ministers.

So, where are you and your ministry structure with relation to the typical NFL team?

Take this diagram and show it to your leaders – church and ministry – and ask them what they think.  Ask them how you are doing?  Ask them what steps you could take to make this model preferred model more of a reality.

For assistance in developing this NFL model at your church, contact CEDE SPORTS.  This is one of the key reasons God has called us to the Sports Ministry movement.

WHAT TYPE OF STRUCTURE DOES YOUR MINISTRY HAVE? PART 1

What is the structure of your Sports Ministry through which you pursue your ministry mission?

This is another of those questions that I often ask Sports Ministers.  Over the years, the answers I hear break down into three categories that match up with the skeletal structures of the animal kingdom.

Too little—There is no structure to facilitate movement to mission—Invertebrate (no skeleton)

Too much—The structure inhibits movement toward mission—Exoskeleton (external skeleton)

Just right—The structure empowers the ministry to accomplish mission—Endoskeleton (internal skeleton)

Now imagine pictures of each:

Invertebrates – single-celled organisms, worms

Exoskeletons – crabs, snails, grasshoppers

Endoskeletons – reptiles, mammals, birds

Which type of skeletal structure is the most mobile?  The answer is obvious – endoskeleton.

Ask yourself.  Ask others.  How is our structure impacting mission?  Is there not enough that we are preventing movement?  Is there too much that we are restricting movement?  Is there just the right amount that movement is maximized?

In part 2, we will look at a skeletal structure that facilitates such movement.  For now, what type of skeletal structure does your ministry have?

The Difference Between a Good Team and a Great Team

A great post from the Integreat Leadership Serve blog. Below are some excerpts:

The difference between High Performance teams and really good teams is the level of genuine care and concern the members demonstrate towards each other.

How do you turn this idea into action? Here are some things your team can do to cultivate community…

• See how much you can learn about the members of your team – their past, their present and their dreams for the future.

• Celebrate accomplishments along the way – big and small. These can be personal or professional in nature, individual or team. Just make it authentic and frequent.

• Express gratitude and appreciation freely – A “thank you” goes a long way. Say it to individuals and the entire team… often!

• Constantly look for ways to serve others on the team – Think others first, and show your fellow teammates by assisting them whenever you can.

• Never stop looking for ways to do life together – That’s the essence of community. It’s not about me; it’s about we.

• Be patient – If you stay the course and continue to make “deposits,” community will grow deeper and deeper over time. It is cumulative.

Be careful – When I tell people community is what separates good teams from great ones, some want to rush to build community. It’s important to remember, high performance teams have ALL THREE elements needed for success: Talent, Skills AND Community. If you just develop community, you may have more fun, you may even love each other, but you’ll still be a lousy team.

The Importance of Love

How does the world typically think of love?

Written by: Bob Schindler

Emotion. A response we have to someone who makes us feel good.  Christians like to call this infatuation more than love. 

In response, we point to love as a verb not a noun.  We talk about commitment, choice, action.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul gives us a better way to look at love.

This passage is often associated with weddings and the love needed for a couple in marriage. But Paul wrote the chapter for quite a different purpose – for a local church and the love needed to keep the diversity and vulnerability he had just called that church to in the previous chapter.

In verses 1-3, he begins this look at love with a stern warning.  Someone can appear very successful in ministry and not have love as the motivation for that ministry.  The result of such a combination is scary – we become annoying to others in the body, we are nothing and gain nothing in the eyes of God.

Paul meant to rock the Corinthians as they heard these words.  God means it to rock us still today.

In verses 4-7, Paul then gives us this famous description of love.  As Tim Keller says, Paul wanted the Corinthians to think of two people as they went through this list.

First, he wanted to them to think of themselves.

In the previous 12 chapters Paul had outlined the poor behavior and attitudes he heard of in the Corinthians.  Most of the positive qualities listed in v 4-7 were exactly what the Corinthians were not and most of the negative statements defined exactly what they were.  He wanted them to see they were a people who often didn’t not possess love.

He didn’t want them to only see they weren’t behaving lovingly but that they didn’t possess love. If you look in verses 1-7, love is a noun.  The noun, love, is coupled with the verbs have not or is.  Love is not just a choice, it is not just a behavior. Love is something we have or don’t have because it is or isn’t.

So why this distinction? He wanted them to ask – “How do I get this love?” – and in doing so think about the second person.

Second, he wanted them to think of Christ.

Paul not only used a noun for love, he used a feminine personal noun. He personifies love. “Love is…Love does not…,” and gives attributes that we would say about a person – kind, not jealous, easily angered, etc.

When Paul begins with the idea – love is patient – he shows us something of where he wanted their minds to go.

The word for patient is “suffers long.”  Who suffered long for these Corinthians?  Who did he just remind them in chapter 11 took bread and wine on the night he was betrayed and said “This is my body broken for you.”?

He wanted them to think of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit wants us to think of him today – as the one who embodies love – who doesn’t boast as he is beaten, who isn’t self-seeking as he hangs on the cross, who keeps no record of wrongs as he cries, “Father forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing,” who always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres.

Paul wanted them to think of Jesus in his love in order to face their lack of love. Why? So they could experience his love in their brokenness.

Paul understood you can’t give away what you don’t have.  You can’t just behave lovingly.  You can’t just take up this list in verses 4-7 as a list of to do’s to become a person of love.  That makes you at best a person who behaves lovingly and at worst a proud moral lover.

But this approach cannot make you a person who possesses love!  Only the power of the gospel in a person can have such an effect.  To make this list in 4-7 merely a list of do’s and don’ts diminishes the need for and power of the gospel to make us people of love.

Paul understood that.  He knew our self-centered tendencies.  So he personifies love so that we would resist this tendency when we look at our lives in the face of this list. Instead, he calls the Corinthians and us to look at this list and confess how little we love, to bring that to Jesus, and watch him work.  Watch him embraces us there, forgives us, and deposit his love in us.

The Gospel is an Exchange

My brokenness for his love.  This is the exchange of the gospel. Not just when we first confess our lack and embrace his love at conversion, but this exchange as an ongoing process in our lives. This exchange changes us, transforms us, into people who possess love.  Not in a way that makes us say, “Look at what loving people we are!” but in a way that says, “Look at what a loving Person He is!”

The week I studied this passage, I was sitting in Texas thinking, “I wish this guy would hurry up” (as he described an incredible move of God in San Jose California) and later thinking “I could do a better job than him” as a speaker challenged a group I was in. The words – “Love is patient…Love is not proud” – came to mind.

No one knew my impatience or pride – no one except me and the Holy Spirit.  Now the choice – confess or deny.  It all depended on whether I really wanted to be a person of love.

Would you pray with us at Cede Sprorts?  We hear the warning that we could be very successful in the eyes of the world and yet be bankrupt before God. It all hinges on love. Pray for the courage to confess our lack of love – deeply, regularly, vulnerably – and to embrace the one who says, “As the Father has loved me, I love you.”

Tim Keller's Wisdom on Writing Devotionals

Years ago, Tim Keller write an article geared towards preparing sermons but the strategies listed could be used for any type of message or devotional.  Below is an excerpt:

A BASIC OUTLINE FOR CHRIST-CENTERED, GOSPEL-MOTIVATED SERMONS
The following may actually be four points in a presentation, or they may be treated very quickly as the last point of a sermon. But more generally, this is a foundational outline for the basic moral reasoning and argument that lies at the heart of the application.

The Plot winds up: WHAT YOU MUST DO.
“This is what you have to do! Here is what the text/narrative tells us that we must do or what we must be.”

The Plot thickens: WHY YOU CAN’T DO IT.
“But you can’t do it! Here are all the reasons that you will never become like this just by trying very hard.”

The Plot resolves: HOW HE DID IT.
“But there’s One who did. Perfectly. Wholly. Jesus the—. He has done this for us, in our place.”

The Plot winds down: HOW, THROUGH HIM, YOU CAN DO IT.
“Our failure to do it is due to our functional rejection of what he did. Remembering him frees our heart so we can change like this…”

Need more help?: Check out our video on What Are 3D Devotionals?

What Have You Done For God Today?

Guest post by Carey Keiger

Years ago, my wife sent me a text message that simply stated: “What have you done for God today?”

I had to think about that for a second…Wow! Had there been anything I had truly done FOR GOD, and for God alone that day? I had a quiet time that morning, but it seemed pretty rushed, and I’m not sure I went into that quiet time thinking, “this is for God today.” I definitely didn’t consider driving to work in morning traffic, something that I could do for God. How about my daily routines at work? Had any part of my lunch break been used for God? There did not seem to be any part of my day that I had done FOR GOD. That really convicted me…not to mention, blew me away.

Colossians 3:23 tells us, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men.”

I found that there was very little that I did on a daily basis that was for God. Everything was done for selfish reasons, or out of obligation, or just out of routine.

But what if everything we did, we did it as if we were doing it for the Lord? What would that look like? What would that look like in our daily lives? Or now that I am working in Church Recreation, I wonder what that would look like in our ministry? What would that look like on our ball fields, basketball courts, golf courses, etc?

Too often we have our own agendas, our own desires, our own responsibilities…and sometimes we are just going through the motions. But if we truly did our work for the Lord, what type of difference do you think that would make? It’s not easy – partly because nothing in or of this world will support you in doing anything for God. It takes an intentional effort to keep our ministry from becoming routine or just careless acts. As the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, “Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air.”  In the same way, we should not run our ministry without goals or purpose…and that purpose must be in line with the will of God.  

We should do nothing apart from Him. Jesus said:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Why do we try to leave Christ out of certain areas of our life? Why would we want to be apart from Christ, even when it’s just on a ball field for an hour? Aren’t we even curious about what we can do with Christ? How much fruit can we truly bear, when we are in Christ? Our ministry, our churches and our homes desperately need to be for Christ, and need to remain in Christ.

So what have you done for God today?