You know victory is near when...

.....your team chaplain hits a half court shot during chapel time right before the state championship game the next day!

I could see it coming for a couple of weeks actually...not necessarily making the shot, but being challenged to take it. When post season play started, in an effort to keep things lighthearted at the end of basketball practice, Carmel HS Coach Scott Heady began a half court shot contest. The first week it started out as just the players with some of the coaches shooting after the guys had gone into the locker room. Coach Heady played at Shenandoah HS and I heard he was pretty good so when he would hit about half of his attempts it didn't surprise me. The next week the coaches started joining the players in the fun, and when I saw they were giving the student managers a shot I knew I was in trouble. You'd think since I saw this coming I would have been practicing, but I don't think I've shot a basketball in at least a year because of some physical limitations. I especially hadn't taken any half court shots. As the last student manager took his shot coach asked, "anybody else?" That was all it took... one of the players started chanting my name, and it wasn't long before everyone was joining in, and the pressure was on. I tried to deny the ball 3 times but they kept pushing it back to me so I started emptying my pockets of coins, pens and keys (I was in dress clothes and shoes). All I could think about as I approached the circle with the ball is that they are looking to ridicule me for shooting an air ball so I didn't care if I heaved it over the backboard... it was going to get there. One of the mangers fortunately shot a rough video (See below) of me hitting the shot that I won't forget for a long time in front of the 2012 Indiana State HS Basketball Champions.

As soon as they were able to get me calmed down we started chapel. I was more confident to talk to them than I had been all season as I started out the talk with..."Gentleman, you know you are going to win tomorrow when your team chaplain hits a half court shot in practice the day before!"

What a great memory for this old athlete...The stuff legends are made of.....Still got it Baby!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tjn-QUrHF1c

The Walk-through

I was honored to get a text from the Carmel HS basketball coach this week asking me to attend the Saturday morning "Walk-through" with the team in preparation for the Sectional Championship game against #1 HSE later that night.
When a team gets into post season play it's not as easy as the regular season when you are usually preparing for one opponent, and at the most 2 opponents a week. In post season play a team has to be prepared for 2-3 opponents a weekend in sectionals and if they are fortunate enough to survive they must be prepared to play 2 opponents a day in the Regional, Semi-state and State games. That's where the walk-through comes into play. Because you need enough strength to endure and because the time in-between games is often short the abbreviated, slower pace practice is a necessity. It's simply watching some game film and going out on the court to walk through a game plan that you would normally run through at full speed if given enough time to prepare and recoup your energy when it's done.
Mentally walk-throughs are tough on a young athlete because he's not usually patient enough to slow down  and buy into the planning process to make sure that everyone understands their assignment and is on the same page. They don't feel like they are accomplishing anything, or can demonstrate success at that moment so it's hard to stay focused. I only know that from my first hand experience on sports teams in MS, HS and College. I was going through the motions on the outside, but on the inside I was thinking... "We already know how to do this, we've been doing this almost everyday since November and it's March. How many times does coach need to remind me to _____ and then to ______? I could do this in my sleep. There's no way this is the best use of our time."

Do you think that as believer's in Christ and his daily direction for our lives we sometimes don't want to slow down for the walk-through to prepare for the day and all the different opponents we are going to face? I know I underestimate the importance of it more often than I care to admit. I head into the day without slowing down for prayer or reading a few chapters in His Word for me. How irresponsible that would be of me as an athlete. I couldn't afford to blow off the walk-through before any game, let alone the big ones, and in life we don't have the luxury of knowing when we get up in the morning if we are going to face a big one or one that we are in the habit of handling on a daily basis.  In the New Testament of the Bible it states 8 times (* see footnotes below) that in some form or fashion the teacher or writer knew what he was telling them was something they quiet possibly already knew but God was telling them they needed to be reminded of. I can't afford to not take advantage of walk-throughs every chance I get, or arrogantly think that I am above slowing down to be reminded. I want to be prepared for whatever the world is going to through at me, so I handle myself in a way that would glorify Him, and many walk-throughs are necessary for me to do that.

BTW...Obviously, the Greyhounds weren't taking the walk-though lightly on Saturday morning. They were well prepared by a great coaching staff and bought into the fact that up to game time they were in need of being reminded and prepared as they later beat HSE by 18 points to capture the Sectional Championship! Congrats Hounds! As a team we also did the spiritual walk-through at the end of practice as we prayed for the families in southern Indiana who lost loved ones to the tornados just the night before, and also thanked God for the opportunity to play in such a significant game later that night.

Chaplain Ray

* Jn 14:26, Rom 15:15, 1 Cor. 4:17 & 15:1, 2 Tim 1:6, Titus 3:1, 2 Pet. 1:12, Jude 1:5

Beyond Treasuring to Pondering

I've had a request to give the cliff notes version of a portion of the sermon I delivered yesterday called "Twas a week after Christmas." The main point of the sermon was how we should react to Christmas and what God allowed us to come into contact in all of 2011 with the purpose of living closer to Him in 2012.

There were four parts to the sermon but central to the message was verse 19 from Luke Chapter 2 that says, " But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

The word treasure can mean many things but in this context of scripture I believe it to means to gather, make a pile or list of things that have been impacting in your life. Not necessarily doing anything with them, but for posterity sake, making sure they are in close proximity should there ever be a need to find them and remember a detail or fact that might easily be forgotten. In the Christmas story things that Mary would have treasured were the visit to see Zechariah and Elizabeth, the birth of their son John the Baptist, The angel Gabriel's visit and words to her, Joseph's reaction to her announcement that she was with child, Joseph's dream, the long hard journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the birth of the Christ child, The surprising visit from the shepherds, the question of why God chose her? And last but not least, as she begins to ponder...what the future will be like for her son.

Pondering, again in this setting, and for our purposes, means connecting the dots of the things, people, places, experiences, and circumstances that up to this point have been collected or treasured with the purpose of trying to figure out what God may be trying to show us about ourselves and what kind of life He wants us to live in the future. No doubt as Mary pondered she put the independent variables together to better realize what God was up to and how she could be in one accord with His will as her son began his life and purpose here on earth.

The best word picture I can give for going beyond treasuring to pondering is a jigsaw puzzle. When you pour it out of the box on the table you've got many different independent pieces (Treasures) that if put together make a big picture. That's what the result of pondering the treasures God has brought into your life can reveal. But before you say to yourself, well "That was easy" you need to be reminded that it's easy to think about doing, but actually very hard work to do. How many jigsaw puzzles have you started and never got around to finishing? You probably didn't finish them because you weren't able to. You didn't finished them because it takes time, effort, commitment and focus to look at all the pieces closely, group them by color and shape, then begin to see which ones connect and which ones don't. I'm sure you know the routine.

God wants us to approach the things (Pieces of the puzzle) over Christmas and this past year with the mindset that we can connect them and see a clearer picture of what He's trying to show us or who He is trying to get us to become. Treasuring comes naturally to us, but pondering is hard work and only an exercise for those who really care to discern what God is trying to show them.

To help us get there I've come up with a simple but serious exercise that will help you treasure this past year and Ponder what if means when you add prayer to the equation for 2012.

1- Carve out one hour of uninterrupted time (Quiet zone, no people, phone, tv, music, or internet)
2- Begin with prayer
3- Tell God you are sorry that most of the time you are guilty of only treasuring the things He's brought to you in life and not pondered what it is that He's trying to show you with them.
4- Ask Him what good and bad things He wants you to remember from 2011?
5- List a top 10 of major  happenings in your own life (Positive or negative impact) in the past year. 
Hint: Writing down the names of the months helps me recall what happened when.
6- Continuing in prayer...ask Him to reveal to you re-ocuring patterns or lessons in your list
7- Reflect on a predominant characteristic about God you've been aware of in 2011
8- Ask how you can get to know Him better in 2012?
9- Ask Him where He might be leading you in 2012?


By the way... I don't believe in resolutions. We may change our ways for a short time based on guilt, but true and lasting life change will only happen when we grow in our relational intimacy with Christ. Here's to you and I living closer to God and His will than you eve have before in 2012.