Two Coaches

Baseball was big in my family when I was growing up.  As legend has it, my Papaw had a shot at playing for the Cincinnati Reds but was prevented from his chance at the pro's because he was the only one in the family who could carry the keg of beer from the basement of the family bar and bring it upstairs to tap it behind the counter.  

Both my brothers were talented at the sport, especially my oldest brother who was a natural and had a passion for the game.  Either he viewed baseball as something he was passionate about or something to get him into a college scholarship after high school, either way he was good at what he did on the diamond.  

If my oldest brother was passionate about baseball our father was a fanatic.  Dad spent hours upon hours researching methods and techniques to improve our ability to hit, field, and throw the baseball.  I can remember pulling pieces of rubber tubbing with a baseball attached at the end to develop arm strength.  I can remember throwing a dish towel into a mirror while standing on a 2X4 to improve my balance and delivery, and I will never forget the infamous Ken Griffey Jr. "Instruct-O-Swing" contraption we would hit baseballs off of and into a backdropped net my father had built for us to be able to practice in the off season inside our family garage.    

I have happy memories from my childhood involving the game of baseball and my family and I have nightmares involving the game that I have tried to erase from my memory for most of my adult years.  

One of those nightmares happened when I was just a young boy, maybe 7 years old or so.  It was the first year the kids were allowed to pitch during games and not have to rely on the coaches to lob the baseball directly over home plate so we could hit rockets into the outfield.  It was an indoor practice our team was having in a local gymnasium.  I was on the pitchers mound and I was struggling to throw a strike, in fact I had hit 6 kids who were just trying to take batting practice.  My father stood behind the backstop and made hand gestures and arm movements and tried to quietly mouth instructions to me as he watched the nervousness get the better of his seven year old son.  He looked like a wild character, standing back there, obviously frustrated but still loving and only wanting his young boy to succeed.  My coach stood off to the side of the "field", he was a drunk with a thick mustache and was married to a woman that coached a team we considered to be our rival.  I can remember my coach turning his head from watching my father give instructions to watching me hit his players in their rib cage.  

After awhile the coach called timeout and asked my father to join him out on the mound.  I stood there as the coach began to express how he thought my father was being a distraction to me and then watched as my father disagreed and said he was helping me.  This continued for a few minutes as I stood there, my seven year old self turning and twisting my head to the left and then to the right as I followed the conversation, bewildered and confused as to what was actually taking place.  All I knew was I had a few teammates crying because I'd hit them and maybe cracked a few ribs and now two adults had stopped practice to come and talk about something on the pitchers mound.   

Everything sounded like noise to me until suddenly I heard my name.

"Anthony!  Son, who do you want to listen to?  Who do you want to coach you?"  The words left the mouth of my alcoholic coach and snapped me back to reality.

Immediately I felt alone, helpless, confused, scared, worried, terrified, and any other words you can think of.  I would have pissed my pants had there been enough water in my system.  I didn't know what to say, I didn't know what to do.  There my father and my coach stood, towering over me, both men looking down into my eyes and waiting for the answer of a seven year old to determine who would win their argument and ultimately who would walk away with their head held high and their chest puffed out.  I thought this was why God created women, to settle arguments between men and determine who was more manly.  Well, for whatever reason I was the one in charge of making that decision now.  After what felt like an eternity and after what seemed like a thousand voices screaming the question into my ears I finally answered.  

My father immediately had a look of total defeat on his face.  I think I saw tears welling up in his eyes as he dropped his head down and walked back to the sidelines.  My coach, with a drunk smile on his face knelt down, placed his hand on my shoulder and began to give me instructions.  All I could do was watch my father walk away, obviously saddened and disappointed.  Suddenly this wave of emotion swept over my body as I felt responsible for his defeat.  I had given him over to the enemy, betrayed my dad to a drunk little league coach with a mustache.  

The entire drive home on the dark backroads of Kentucky I sat in the front seat with my baseball glove in my lap and told my dad I was sorry, I told him I didn't mean it, I wanted to pick him but I didn't know what to do.  I don't remember him saying much that night or even looking at me.  I just remember seeing the glow of the dashboard lights in his face as he squeezed the steering wheel and drove us home.  

Today I am 28 years old and find myself in a similar position at times in life.  Frequently choosing between two people, choosing between two things, having to make the decision on who I want to coach me.   

Most of the time these decisions are choosing between God and sin.  What voice do I want to listen to in the moment?  Do I want to listen to God or do I want to follow sin for awhile to see what happens?  When God says, "She's not your wife" will I still choose to follow her for awhile anyways?  The answer to that is yes.  And just like when I was seven, I frequently make the wrong decision of who I want to coach me.   

Thankfully, God doesn't walk away with His head tilted down to the ground looking defeated.  God gracefully and loving encourages me and brings me back home and back into His arms.  

Pressence vs hype

As I have grown older, and I understand I am still young, I have begun to find myself disgusted with the same things most of us have become so accustomed to.

I do not think of myself as being anything special or unique.  I grew up in an average home with normal parents and an ethnic background leaning heavily on the Italian roots from my father.  I didn't grow up rich and I didn't grow up so poor that I would be destined for a "rags to riches" life story.  I graduated high school, I played sports but was not the star on any team, I never went through a goth phase growing up, my parents never forced me to go to sleep with my bible in hand nor did they force me to memorize entire books of the bible at a time, and my favorite food was jello.  In other words, I am rather ordinary, nothing special about me.  Yet I have this burning desire inside of me that tells me I cannot accept the ordinary and the normal and the traditional things of Christ, of the Christian life.

Jesus was a lot of things but ordinary was not one of them.  I'd imagine when people asked their neighbors, "Have you of that Jesus guy going around?" the answer was never "You mean that normal dude?" or "that plain looking fellow?  The one who sits in the back of the church and doesn't say much?"  For example, at one point Jesus told His disciples to eat His body and drink His blood....That's not normal.

So, when Jesus says in the Bible "These same works I have done, you will do also and greater works than these." I have to take Him at His word.  When He tells me (and you) to "go into all the world and preach the Gospel, heal the sick, and cast out the demons..." I assume that means I am not only able to do those things but I am SUPPOSED to do those things.

When did it become okay for Christians to not heal people?  When did it become okay for Christians to work a normal job, live in a normal apartment, and attend a normal church for their entire lives without ever experiencing a real Jesus?  When did it become okay to forget about the power and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit?  When did the extent of God's power become limited to our checking accounts?  When did the most powerful thing we see in church become the book club?  Since when did preachers become known as the most popular because of what they said and not because of the manifestation of the miraculous in their lives?

We sing songs talking about healing, freedom, grace, peace, love, mercy, and all these other powerful words but I am not entirely sure we understand what any of those words actually mean.

I think we have been focussed on hype for far too long in churches.  Everything we do has become about the next big event or the next catchy title of the sermon series.  We rely on hype and advertising to bring the people into our churches and hope they enjoy themselves so much that they choose to stick around.  But hype will never sustain a church.  The only thing to sustain a church over a long period of time is the power and the presence of God.

I am begging you, whomever is reading this, please stop,  Stop the nonsense, stop the regurgitating the same thing everyone else is saying, please stop the same boring life.  Let's do something, let's be used by the Holy Spirit and actually see the power of God move through our lives into our cities.  

In the book of Acts it says that 5,000 were lead to the way in a single day.  The city I live in has a population of around 125,000.  That means we should be able to transform this city for the kingdom of God in 25 days.  But we won't do it by inviting them to bible study and by holding a book club.  We will transform it by getting in the streets, loving the people, and allowing God to actually move through us in ways of His manifest power and love.

Join the movement, join the revolution.  Don't be satisfied with what you have or where you are.  Pray and tell God you are open to Him, tell Him you want to be used for His kingdom in a very real and powerful way.

Flight Zone & Escape Behavior

So let's talk about a Flight Zone.  What is a Flight Zone?  Well, it doesn't have anything to do with aircraft.  I had been studying for a presentation I am giving in my class for bible school on the topic "what is a pastor?"  I decided to begin studying out the behaviors of sheep.  Why would I do that? you may ask.  Because a pastor is often referred to as a shepherd and we christians and church members are often referred to as sheep.  I know, very flattering.  Anyways, I figured I would study the behaviors of actual sheep and maybe that would give me some clarity on the life of a shepherd which would give me some more clarity on the roles of a pastor.

While I was studying behaviors of sheep I learned that sheep, like most animals, have what is known as a "Flight Zone."  A Flight Zone is an area surrounding the animal that if encroached upon by a potential predator or threat will cause alarm and escape behavior.  Escape behavior is essentially what the animal will do immediately following the encroachment of a possible enemy.  An animals escape behavior will vary from animal to animal.  Some animals may run for their lives, others may take a defensive position, and others will run for any form of protection they may find.

While reading about sheep and their behaviors and flight zones I can't help but wonder what my flight zone is and what my escape behavior is like once my flight zone has been breached.  

I know the Bible says "we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and rulers of darkness." and I also know that the Bible says "the enemy is roaming about seeking whom he may devour."  Based on those scriptures I understand that I have only one enemy in this life, only one substance that could possibly violate my flight zone, only one threat that could make me switch to my escape behavior and that is the devil.

This leads me to asking myself, what is my flight zone and what is my escape behavior?  Have I given the enemy so much ground in my life that my flight zone has become very small?  How much of an attack will I tolerate from the devil and his forces before I go into escape behavior?  Will I allow negative thoughts?  Will I allow sickness?  Will I allow lack?  Will I allow poverty?  Will I allow my family to live their lives not knowing Jesus?  How much will I take?  How much will I allow the enemy to encroach on me and my territory before I finally move into escape behavior?

And what exactly is my escape behavior?  Do I turn and just begin running away from the threat of my enemy?  Do I run and run hoping that I will be strong enough to out last and out run the one seeking to kill and destroy my life?  Do I turn and try to fight back?  Do I try to fight my enemy leaning on my own understanding and my own ability?  Or maybe I do what sheep do, maybe I turn towards my Shepherd, maybe I go and stand next to Him and I lean on His strength and His power.

See, as Christians we have to know that the devil and his forces have already been defeated.  We have to know that they hold no power over our lives besides what we allow them to have.  If we allow the enemy to encroach on our territory, if we allow the enemy to get close to us and take what is ours before we transition into escape mode, then we are saying we don't fully trust in what Jesus already did for our lives.  The word of God says that He came to give us life and life more abundantly!  That abundant life is within our flight zone and we shouldn't allow the enemy to come in and take what's rightfully ours through Christ.

Animals have four varying degrees of flight zones and the zones get closer and closer depending upon the threat the animal perceives in the object encroaching on their territory.  The closest zone is the social zone, where the animal feels no threat and therefore allows the closest distance without going into escape mode.  As I read this I wonder if I have allowed the enemy to come into my social zone.  Have I allowed him to get so close to me that I am unaware I should be in escape mode and standing next to my Shepherd leaning on His power and His promises to protect and defend me.

I think it's time I reevaluate my flight zone and I begin to take back my territory that was promised to me and made available to me through my Shepherd, Jesus Christ.  When times get tough, when seasons get hard, when threats come, I should go into escape behavior and run to my Savior before I get too comfortable with having the enemy in my territory. 

Happiness and hope

Proverbs 11:23 says "The godly can look forward to happiness..."

We can look forward to happiness.  I like that.  And yes, I did assume myself to be the "godly".  I know it might seem simple or freshmen to be pointing out this verse and writing about it, but the point of this blog is to share my thoughts and this morning brings this thought.

Who is considered the "godly"?  Well, a quick Google search on "who are the godly?" Brings up a study on godly living.  As true as it is that we should live our lives in a certain way to show that we are children of God, I don't believe we can expect too much of what we do in our lives to make us that much more worthy to receive a specific title from heaven.

The book of Ephesians says we are children of God.  It says if we are in Christ, if we believe in Him, we are seated in heavenly places.  If I can believe I am seated in heavenly places, it would also be safe to assume I can have the benefits of those heavenly places, right?  I mean, if I am seated court side with Jack Nicholson at the Lakers game then I would assume those benefits would be mine as well.  I would expect to see Kanye and Kim or high-five Kobe or get my picture in some national publication sitting next to Jack or any of the other benefits that come with sitting next to Jack Nicholson court side.  

The same should be true when we consider our lives as believers and followers of Jesus.  We are seated in heavenly places.  Those benefits of heaven are mine and they are available to me right now.  I'm not going to be seated in heavenly places, I wasn't seated in heavenly places in a time before right now, I AM seated in heavenly places.  Right now, right here, I am seated.  Those benefits are mine NOW!  Not later, not sometime in the future, right now.

How can I be sick, poor, broken, hurt, jealous, troubled, depressed, lonely, or anything else expect good if I am seated in heavenly places?

It's true, I can look forward to happiness according to proverbs 11.  I can look forward to happiness right now and for the rest of my life.  Why?  Because I am seated in heavenly places.

Ephesians also says that God ordered that all things would fall under the authority of Christ.  What things? ALL THINGS.  That includes my happiness.  My happiness falls under the authority of Jesus!

So here's the deal.  Say it to yourself.  Say, "Self, You are seated in heavenly places.  You are happy because you are under the authority of Jesus."

A solider who falls under the authority of a General will experience the benefits of that general.  When war breaks out, if that General is the smartest and most experienced in combat and war, that soldier will experience those benefits.  We experience the benefits of Heaven for two reasons.  First, we are submitted to Jesus and His authority.  Second, because we are under His authority we are seated in Heavenly places and experience the benefits of Sonship, of being royalty, and of the palace of Heaven.

- cheers.

Turning your back on the world

There is a worship song that my church has been singing lately.  A portion of the song says “The cross before me, the world behind me.  No turning back.”

This morning while making my coffee that part of the song was stuck in my head for some reason.  I don’t even like the song so it was odd that it would be stuck in my head.  I sung that part of the song out and then thought “that’s wrong.”

I think there are a lot of songs with a similar message.  Stay with God, turn towards the cross, look to Jesus, but stay away from, out of, don’t go near, turn your back on the world.

While the songwriter is not present to define what they meant by “the world”, I will judge them strictly for the sake of this blog.

Why are Christians so afraid of the world?  You know we live in the world, right?  It’s like there is some evil force that we have no power of, but apparently the world has something enticing to offer most Christians because they keep having to remind themselves to look at the cross and not to turn their eyes to left or the right for fear of embracing the world.

I cannot see Peter, Paul, John, Luke, Timothy, or any of the other disciples, apostles, teacher, preachers, or prophets of the New Testament holding the same opinion.

See, most Christians today are afraid that of they spend more of their time in “the world” than they do in the Church they will somehow morph into sinners.  I would imagine if Paul or Peter spent more time inside the church than they did outside, in the world, ministering to the needy and the hurt and the confused and the politician, they would feel guilty.

Don’t misunderstand what I am saying.  Obviously I understand the importance of keeping our focus on Jesus and having the relationship that we do with Him.  But if we are so ignorant as to assume we should turn our backs to the world we may have some serious issues.

How can we fulfill the great commission if all we do is keep our eyes on the cross and our back continually to the world?  Should we just wait for the lost and hurting to walk in front of our path in order for us to see them and reach them?

No, we should turn towards the world and forge forward towards a goal of bringing love and healing to a lost and dying world.

So please, enough with the songs and sermons about how bad the world is.  Enough with turning your backs on the world that needs you more than the church does. 

- Cheers.

Solution to striving.

Tonight, November 13th, I got in my car to drive out and get a coffee because I was bored sitting at my house.  As I got in the car I started thinking about what has been going on in my life lately. Then I heard God say to me "clarity does not come in striving, clarity comes in peace."

There have been so many negative things happening all around me over the last few days.  Stress of traveling half way across the country for the Holidays and all that goes along with it.  Friends who are facing unthinkable devastation in their family.  My church back home facing difficulties to the worst degree.  My family members experiencing sickness and fear.  Church members facing sickness to the verge of death.  And all of that on top of typical stress with life.  I have been quietly wondering what I am supposed to do, what can I do to change things in my life and to help all these people around me.  It has been impossible to focus on one issue because there are so many different things weighing on my mind.

I have begun to shut down to it all.  Too tired to seriously think about it and even more tired to do anything about it.  The thought of facing these issues has left me telling myself to just sit back and watch what happens.  Instead of adjusting to overcome the issues I have been doing nothing but waiting to see what is left after the destruction.

Without doing anything I have been striving internally.  It is like warning signals are going off inside and all around me.  When I begin thinking about one issue another area of issues pops up and takes my focus away.  I have been striving like never before.  My thoughts have been clouded and I have not been myself.

It is natural to strive when things go wrong.  Maybe things went wrong because I was not showing enough attention to a specific area.  If I strive to figure things out I can somehow fix it all.

God is showing me that relief and clarity do not come in striving, they come in peace.

Earlier today I was so exhausted from it all that I couldn't get out of my bed.  I needed to get up and go to church to get some things done but I literally could not get out of bed.  I stayed there and thought "God what do I need to be learning right now?"  His response was " Trust Me."
Right then and there I stood up, got dressed, and began saying out loud what I believed about God and my life.  I started saying "I am a son of Abraham and his blessings are mine.  I am blessed in my coming and blessed in my going.  I am blessed in the city and blessed in the field.  My descendants will be as vast as the stars in the skies."  "I am a brother of Jesus and a son to The Father.  He has a plan for my life.  A plan for good and not for evil.  I have been healed and blessed and I am prosperous."  I audibly spoke anything and everything I could think of that told me who I am in Christ Jesus.  I was not thinking about the issues I was dealing with, I was not thinking about solutions to my problems.  I was focusing on who I was in Christ.  I had stopped striving and instead confessed who I was in total peace.

Psalm 34:4,5 says
   4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.
   5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

Among other things the hebrew word for "sought" means to "frequently follow".  Following someone can be difficult or easy depending on the trail you are on.  Jesus said in Matthew "My yoke is easy and my burden is light."  Therefore we know that frequently following Him will not be a burden we are unable to handle.

To seek The Lord is not to strive.  To seek The Lord is to remain in peace in His presence and in the understanding and knowledge of who you are in Him.

My plan to succeed during these times of difficulty in my life is to remain in His presence and to remain in His peace.  To remind myself daily who I am in Him and to remind myself of His promises to me.  I never asked God to make the promises to me, I wasn't alive when He made them.  Therefore I do not feel guilty or greedy when I remind Him what He said He would do.  He said He would do all things according to His glory.  He said He would do exceedingly and abundantly beyond all I could ask or think.  I refuse to feel greedy when I expect Him to hold true to His word.

Wherever you are right now, if things in life are falling to pieces, if friends and family members are going through tough times, or if things are great for you, choose to remain in His peace and refuse to strive for the answer to your prayers.