Back to the Basics Boys

Just this past week here at the Peay we started our spring football practices. We geared up with three practices before out first scrimmage. Instead of simply picking up where we left off from last season we started with our base defense, went over our stance and starts, fine tuned our technique. We went back to the basics. Got back in touch with the little things, the important things, the things that make a difference when all else fails. Many times in the huddle I start the call with the simple phrase "Back to the Basics Boys...."

In the Book of Revelation Jesus tells the Church of Ephesus the same things. 2:4-5 "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works..." Jesus is saying you have left me, strayed away, turned your back on me, forgotten the most basic of things. You have left Me (Jesus), your first love. And like any love Jesus is not happy without us, he loves us so much that he wants us back. He provides simple instructions for us to come back, and its all about coming back to the basics.

First he asks us to remember from where we have fallen. He is saying look at where you were, what I was doing with you, what I was doing in you. Repent, the most fundamental of concepts for us as believers. Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Why repent? Because we have fallen into sin, strayed away from the path that God has for us. We are told to the repent and do the first works.

What are the first works? Just like in football, the first works are the basics. For football players its tackling, catching, stance, technique, assingment, etc. For the believer its repentence, prayer, faith, love, etc. Do the first things first. Be restored unto God, ask for forgiveness and come back to the basics. You cannot instantly go back to where you were before. It takes time to restore and get back into the groove. In football when you start out you are never going to be as good as you were before. You are going to be rusty, after shaking the rust off you begin to improve and soar higher that you ever did before. The same holds true for Jesus. All we have to do is go Back to the Basics Boys...

Isiah 40:301 "But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint."

More Flawed Thinking

I'm definitely no Rhodes Scholar, Albert Einstein, or Sheldon Cooper but I do believe I catch on to a few things. Although Anatomy class thoroughly confused me, I know for a fact this one thing, the brain is in the head and because of that the head is the most important. Every other body part has a function, some much much more important than others, but nothing trumps the brain. The big toe thinks he is important, but he doesn't make any decisions. He leaves that to the brain. The AC joint in the shoulder thinks he is important, but again he doesn't make any decisions. He leaves that to the brain. Each body part in the body is important to the body or it wouldn't be there, but each body part does nothing except for what the brain tells it to do.
 

The Bible makes it clear to us that as believers and members of the Church we are no different than the big toe or the AC joint. We are important to the function of the body, but not the decision makers. Colossians 1: 18 “And He (Christ) is the head of the body, the Church..." Going back to anatomy class if Jesus is the head of the body we can logically conclude that he is the Brain, the decision maker, the one who commands the rest of body. 1 Corinthians 12:27 "Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually." This tells us that we are the body of Christ and serve as individual parts. As individual parts of a body we take orders from the head (Jesus). We do what the head tells us to do, not what we want to do or feel like we need to do. Unfortunately this is not how it works many times.

Many times we feel that we are in charge when in fact we are nothing more than the big toe. We feel that we are so important, too good to do the task that we are presented with, to follow the commands from the head. Instead we take what we know, what has been said as nothing more than a suggestion. We go off and do our own things. Imagine if the big toe told the brain he was not going to do what it was commanded to. That it decided that it was going to be in charge of breathing instead of balance and walking. Or if the lungs said guess what brain, I'm not dealing with oxygen today instead I'm going to hold things today. Our Body would be a wreck, it would die. There is no difference in the body of Christ. If each members decides to go their own way, do their own thing the body will die. To function properly each part has do to its own task. God places us where we are in his body because that is where we can best serve him. He has equipped us with everything we need to do the task that he has for us to do. All we simply have to do is trust in him, obey him, and go all our while we are doing that task.

We must realize that we are not more important that the head (Jesus). After all, he is the one who saved us. We need to realize that he designed us to be the part of the body that we are, nothing more and certainly nothing less. Remember, we are the body and the body doesn't work unless all of the parts are doing their task...

Check this Song Out
If We Are the Body

Flawed Thinking

Its late in the fourth quarter and your team has the ball... Instead of focusing on finishing the ballgame, focusing on winning they are focused on not losing. Their whole mindset is on not losing instead of winning, their way of thinking is flawed. Conseqently as the game comes to its closing seconds they commit a fatal error that costs them the game. This same mindset can be found in the mind of us today as believers, we are so focused on not sinning that it captivates our minds, demands our attention. As a result, we are caught, trapped by the sin that so easily snares us. Fortunately, the Bible offers a critical truth that helps drag us out of this mentality.

Colossians 3:2 states "Set your minds on things above, not on things of the earth." What does it mean to set our minds on things above? It means to set our eyes on Jesus, the eternal, and not on the things that we can gain on this earth. It takes our attention from the lusts of this world to the purity of the Cross. Takes us from the selfish pleasures of this life to the Joy and Peace that comes with seeking our Savior.

By setting our minds on things that are above, our eyes are opened to a new realm of pleasure. Instead of lusting we begin to love. Instead of hating our enemies we begin to pray for and love them. We begin to humble ourselves before Alpha and Omega instead of being filled with the pride that dragged us down before. It takes our minds off of trying not to sin and failing; to seeking the one and only God and forgetting about those sins. Our hearts will be so tuned into Christ that nothing else will even matter. We will pursue God with such passion and love that nothing will be able to come between us. He will captivate our minds, demand our attention, and fill us with peace and joy. Instead of focusing on not sinning, we will focus on God and the best He has for us.Setting our "Minds on things above" helps us to eliminate our Flawed Way of Thinking.....

Friend of Sinners?

If most of us were to be honest we have a hard time admitting when were wrong. Why is that? Because we like to think of ourselves as being perfect, being incapable of committing any kind of sin or mistake. However, when someone else makes the same mistake we are quick to point it out and consequently judge them as a result. We feel that we are superior to that particular person in that moment and instead of showing them love we condem them. Instead of building them up we tear them down farther than they have already fallen. Instead of being their friend we become their greatest enemy. Afterall Jesus isn't a friend of sinners, right? WRONG!!!

In John 8: 1-12 we find an example of Jesus befriending a sinner. The scribes and Pharisees bring a woman who was caught in the act of adultry to Jesus and ask Him what is to be done to the woman. They ask if stoning the woman is the right thing to do in which Jesus replies in V. 7 "He who is without sin among you, let him throw the first stone at her." The people turn away one by one because each and every person that was there was a sinner except one, Jesus himself. Instead of picking up the stone he states in V. 11 "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."Jesus did not judge her, persecute her, tear her down, he built her up, showed her love, and presented to her and everyone else the way to life. V. 12 "Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall no walk in darkness, but have the light of life.""

As believers many times we are quick to judge and condem those who fall into sin. Instead of following the example of Jesus, we follow the example of the world. Instead of remembering that we are sinners saved by the Grace of a savior (Romans 3:23-4), we see ourselves as being better than what we are, A SINNER, and begin to judge and condem. In this story Jesus makes it a point to remind everyone that they are all sinners V.7 and that the one that is without sin is the only one in position to judge of punish this woman. Even though Jesus had the right to throw the stond he did not, he showed her love, encouragement, support, and friendship. This is the example that we are to follow.... Jesus Friend of Sinners.

Jesus Friend of Sinners



P.S.
The life of Jesus was spent showing that he is a friend to sinners. Look no farther than the cross 2 Corinthians 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him." He died to make us "SINNERS" like him "HOLY." He did not come to heal the "HEALTHY" but the "SICK." He did not come for just the "SAINT" but for the "SINNER" as well. Jesus is a friend to "ALL" and that includes "SINNERS." Let's follow the example of Jesus be a friend of sinners instead of casting stones.

Newness of Life

A batter swings at a pitch and hits a weak pop up in foul territory. The third baseman runs over, camps out under the ball, and calls everyone else over. The batter is dead, thinking that he is out he slowly walks to the dug out head down when the unthinkable happens. The third baseman misses the ball, the batter is safe, he has new life at the plate. He struts back to the batters box, confident in this new life that he has just received. Just like the batter here, in Christ we have a Newness of Life.

Before Christ we were wondering helpless through the world. Living on our own accord, head over heals in sin. We were both apart from and enemies of the One and only true God. However, he came and died upon a tree, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed," Isaiah 53: 5.By placing himself on the Cross, he provided a means for our salvation, a way that we could obtain a newness of life. All we simply have to do is place of Faith in Christ Jesus. I believe that the lyrics of the song "Glorious Day spell this out perfectly:

One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He

 Living He loved me, dying He saved me
And buried He carried my sins far away
Rising He justified freely forever
One day He's coming, oh, glorious day, oh, glorious day

Paul writes in Romans 6: 4 "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." 6:6 "Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." What is newness of life? It is dying to your sin and walking in your relationship with Christ. It is no longer conforming yourselves to the world, but being transformed by a loving relationship with the one and only True God. It is understanding that without God we are nothing, and that the life we now live is to Honor and Glorify him.

We, like the batter in the beginning of this post do not deserve the new life that was given to us, but we were provided the opportunity to live in it, to walk in it. The new life is much better than the old life, it is a life of freedom, joy, and love. Go all out, live for the Lord, love like crazy, and walk in the Newness of Life.

The Road Less Traveled

Many College Football Teams are entering the spring season with the same goal, bring home a National Championship. Afterall, this is the reason that we all play the game. However, many teams fall incredibly short of this goal. Why is that? I would be willing to bet they are not willing to take the road less traveled. They are not willing to put themselves beside and fully give themselves to the team. They are not committed to the hard work and dedication that it takes to become a champion. They walk on "Easy Street" where they never leave their comfort zone, never push themselves, and constantly wonder why success is never achieved.

The champion on the other hand understands the commitment that has to be made. He understands that they Team is greater than the Me. He goes all out, working harder than he has ever worked, pushing himself harder that he has ever pushed, preparing himself for everything that could come his way. He takes the road less traveled, the road that always leads to success.

Jesus says in Matthew 7: 13-24 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." What is Jesus saying here? Take the road less traveled. Like many football teams, most peoples goals is to make it to heaven. However, many take the road most traveled. Never leave their comfort zones, never go all out for Jesus. Instead they find their comfort in the world, its lusts, its desires, its passions. They follow the world like so many others down the broad path that leads to destruction.

To road that leads to life is both narrow and difficuly. Just like the champion, the believer must walk on the road less traveled. What is the road less traveled? It is simply following Jesus with no restraints. Its giving up your own desires pursuing God and the best that he has for you. It is understanding that God is most definately bigger that you, and submitting to him and his authority. Do it mean that this path is a funless obligation? Quite the opposite, Psalms 16:11 "You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore." The road that leads to life is full of joy and pleasure. A joy and pleasure that can only be found by taking a leap of faith, going all in, walking..... The Road Less Traveled.

The Love Mile

Many times in life the one who goes the extra mile is the one who is successful. The individual who does more than what is required of them achieves extraoridinary success and pleasure. Many people in our society today are content and satisfied with simply being average, complacent with just scraping by doing the absolute bare minimum. They sell themselves short, never becoming all that they can be, never reaching their maximum potential.

Unfortunately, many Christians take this same mindset in regards to their faith. They wake up on Sunday, walk through the Church doors, and walk out never changed, challenged, or moved by their faith. They claim to believe, but "Even the demons believe... and tremble," James 2:19. They sell themselves short, just go to Church to feel better about themselves. They see Jesus as their Ticket to Heaven instead of their Savior from Hell. They do the bare minimum, believe, and according to the Bible "Even the demons believe. James 1:22 states "But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves." This is a strong warning that being in Church, hearing the Word, being exposed to the word, believing the Word is not enough. Doing the Word is what is asked of us, is what God expects out of us, after we first have Believed.

In Matthew 5:41 Jesus states "Whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two." Jesus himself taught that doing the bare minimum is not enough. Not only did he teach it, he lived it. Jesus lived on this earth in the flesh just like you and me, and through it all he remained perfect, sinless. However, just becoming perfect, following the Law completely, going the first Mile was not enough. It was in the second mile, Death on the Cross, the Love Mile, that brought us salvation. He didn't merely come here do be perfect, he came here to save us through death on the cross.

We too have the choice, the opportunity to go the second mile. Do become not only hearers, but doers of the Word of God. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Believe God, crucify yourself unto Him, Live by faith, and let your faith guide you to God the Father, Spitit, and Son. Don't simply go through the motions, go all out. Go the Second Mile!