To Get What You Want...

     What a wake up call I received this week. I'm not talking ATT or Verizon, I'm talking about an epiphany that has altered my mindset about many of the trials and circumstances I am either currently living in or those that I have overcome in life. As my daily prayer life has become a part of who I am, and as I have learned to go to God with thanks for what He has done in my life, I realized that during most of my prayers I am asking God for something. It may be strength, courage, perseverance, or wisdom, but whatever it is I guess I have always thought God was just going to pour it down out of Heaven much like the rain that nourishes plants and provides them with what they need to grow. Well, my "Aha" moment was this. Yes, God hears our pleas for strength or wisdom or whatever you may "want" in your life, but to get what you "want", you've got to do what it takes to get it.
     Let's take the virtue of patience as an example. We may desire to increase our ability to have patience with a loved one, a friend, or some type of situation at work. We go to God and make our request for patience known and then I guess we think all that we need to do at that point is to sit back and let the One that made us go to work on pouring some patience into us. I get a mental image of milk jugs on an assembly line making their way around to the milk dispenser and as each one reaches the delivery point it just sits there and the milk pours out exactly the amount needed to fill each jug to the lid. Sounds pretty easy huh? Unfortunately, fortunately that isn't how it works. You may have heard the old saying, "Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it", that's kinda the same principle here. If you ask for patience God doesn't work on the milk jug method of filling us with patience, instead to gain patience we have to go through the process of learning patience, giving patience, and enduring situations that build patience in us before we finally realize that we have become a more patient person.
   The training ground is what we would prefer to get a free pass around, yet that is exactly what we must have to actually gain the gift God wants to give. I've been enjoying the song "Let it Rain Is There Anyone" by Crowder and Mandisa lately and the gist of the song is to allow God to "rain" down on us the problems, issues, matters, and circumstances that will eventually create in us the person God wants us to become. There's one part of the song that really hits home with today's thought:

"So let it rain if You want
You are God and I am not
Let it rain, rain down on me
Every day whatever You want
Not my will but Yours, Lord
Let it rain, rain down on me"

 

If we truly want that strength to see us through each day, if we want wisdom to see us through a situation we are facing, or if we need God's courage to face those demons standing in front of us then we need to understand that to get what we want, we must go through what it takes to get there. 

     How could we gain strength without doing the workouts? Remember "No pain no gain"? Bodybuilders go through a tremendous amount of pain and sacrifice before they ever reach the level  professionals in that field strive to achieve. Same for us, when I pray for patience I must understand that I'm going to have to go through some pretty uncomfortable situations to reach my destination. Along the way, every situation I endure builds that patience I so desire to obtain. To acquire wisdom, I have to go through some experiences where I probably won't look very wise in my decision making, yet the lessons I will learn through those experiences is where the wisdom is actually obtained. This may have been a no-brainer for most of you, but for some reason this one just hit me full frontal this past week. 

     To close out today's time I'd like to share one last thought for the week. You may need forgiveness. You may be asking for forgiveness and just don't feel like you could ever be forgiven. Keep in mind, none of us really deserves forgiveness, yet God has a plan for each of us to receive forgiveness. Within that plan we have to be willing to forgive those that we may not want to forgive. Today's  principle holds true in this situation as well. How can we gain forgiveness if we are unwilling to forgive. Jesus shared a parable about a king that forgave a servant of a huge debt owed to the king, and then the same man went out and threw a man in prison for a small debt owed to him. The king found out and placed the first debtor in prison. (Matthew 18:21-35) Whatever we want, whatever we ask for, be reminded God will give it to you if it is truly what you want and what He believes you need, but it doesn't come in a neat little box with a pretty little bow on it. We have to be willing to do what needs to be done to receive the gift, so as for me, "Let it rain, let it pour, let it rain, rain down on me!" 

May God richly bless you today and every day going forward! 

Coach Carter 

 

"Try It, You Might Just Like It"

      
     This week families will gather around tables filled with turkey, ham, dressing, potatoes, gravy, and a plethora of other vegetables and of course their favorite desserts as well. I faintly remember as a child that some of those dishes just didn't really appeal to me and I would slide right by those as I made my way down the buffet style table. Today I don't experience that issue in the least, I love to try new foods and in many cases I'm asking for recipes so I can duplicate them in the future for family and friends. But as a child my memory serves me well, maybe because I've encountered the same experience with our own children, I was the kid that liked cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and pizza and the green stuff or any other bright red, orange, or mixed colors usually triggered a snarled nose and an emphatic "No thanks" when offered this fare. As I did with my children, my mother would systematically make her plead, "Chuck, just try one bite you might just like it" to which I would reluctantly open my mouth, pursed lipped, and take what would have amounted to a "nibble". In most cases my mother was right, of course, so I would end up adding a serving to my plate. As I grew older and my taste-buds matured I don't seem to have that problem anymore. If anything, I have to watch my plate to make sure I don't end up with an extra one! 
      Our walk of faith could be compared to this same mentality of "Try it you might just like it". Regardless of where you are currently on the faith spectrum, taking just a small bite could be the difference maker in your perspective on life. David was a man after God's own heart. From giant slayer, to refugee on the run, to King of Israel, David's faith ran a wide spectrum of reliance on God. In Psalm 34:8 King David proclaims, "Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!" Just take a bite David seems to be saying, give God a chance in your life's ups and downs. Some of us have a relationship with God established, but when it comes to life's challenges and struggles are you relying on Him for your strength and encouragement? Take a bite. When life gets tough, I mean really tough, do you give God your problems or are you going it alone? Try a bite. For those that don't have a relationship with Him, life is tough going it alone, my advice would be to try just a bite, you might find that you like it and you really needed it!
      As you sit down to eat your turkey and dressing this Thanksgiving, be sure to take the time to give thanks first. Give thanks for the relationship you have! If you don't have a personal relationship you can start one today, "try it, you might just like it!" 
Happy Thanksgiving every day!

Coach Carter

Hitting the Curve Ball

    
     In baseball, there are a number of different types of pitches fastballs, sliders, screwballs, changeups, and of course the elusive curveball. In youth baseball leagues most pitchers rely on their fastball as their main pitch and a good fastball is often enough, but as pitchers develop and expand their pitching arsenal the curveball is the one that they work to master. Why? Well, a properly placed curveball hit by a batter typically results in a ground out ball that is easily played by the infielders. The key to hitting a ground ball is learning how to go against what visually appears to be the right ball to swing at, and instead figuring out where the not so attractive curveball sweet spot as you swing for the fence. That is a not so easy skill to master as even major league baseball players struggle with hitting a curveball specialist. If our young boys and girls struggle with the whole concept of learning a curveball, and then as professional baseball players they are still struggling with this batter's nightmare, then how is it that batters still experience success on all levels getting singles, doubles, triples, and even the celebrated home runs in their games? The obvious answer is they learn from a batting coach that can see from the outside where the batter is biting at the wrong pitches and teaches them what to look for and how to train and develop their eye to pick out the right curveball to attack. Most assuredly, having a batting coach that knows and understands the curveball is a key asset to a batter's success in conquering the curveballs that are thrown his or her way.
     Many times in life we hear someone say, "Boy, life really threw him a curveball" in describing an out of the blue life event that really changes the trajectory of what a person's normal life looks like. Unexpected diagnosis at a doctor's visit, a downturn in the economy that hits right as your new business opens its doors, or a spouse leaving a note on the kitchen table announcing that they are leaving and won't be coming back. Each of those would qualify as "curveballs" in life, and there are a ton of other personal curveballs you could attest to in your own life. The point is though curveballs are tough to hit in baseball, and in life when we get a curveball pitched our way it is just as difficult to overcome and conquer.
     In our analogy of the progression in learning to hit a curveball I stated that most young players haven't been exposed to curveballs so when they do they rarely experience success. Having to face the unexpected death of a family member is a curveball that we don't come equipped with the ability to face and know how to react or respond. Being faced with a life-changing accident that leaves our health altered isn't in our DNA at birth. A curveball in life is just as elusive to conquer as a baseball curve is, and without proper coaching our success rate on facing those curves is going to be a struggle almost every single time. The good news is we have a coach that is always available to "coach" us up, and His playbook is easily accessible and always available.
     For the person that has a personal faith based relationship with God, life's curveballs are a challenge to conquer, just because we say we believe in God doesn't necessarily equip us for an unexpected, life-changing event in much the same way as saying I'm a baseball player so I should be able to hit a curveball. A life without faith, and trust in that faith, is a life that will struggle to handle the curveballs that life will inevitably throw your way. Capsizing events in life happen and without a "coach" to teach us and show us the way to face them head on, our batting average is going to suffer.
      The words of Jesus are a comfort and encouragement to us as we face life’s curveballs in John 16:33 "In the world you will have much trouble. But take hope! I have power over the world!” Paul, probably one of the Bible's best hitting coaches, tells us "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” 1 Corinthians 11:1, and again Paul proclaims what is probably the most encouraging scripture for us as we face life's curveballs in Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me". Without Christ, we will struggle to overcome life's curveballs almost undoubtedly. With God, we are guaranteed to have a coach with us each step we take and every curveball we face, “I will never leave you and I will never abandon you.” Hebrews 13:5. Why face life's challenges alone? Turn to Him and look to Him as you face the curveballs as they come your way.
Coach Carter

Faith of a Mustard Seed

     I am fortunate to have the opportunity to assist with setting up and overseeing our high school football stadium. I may be a little partial, but I believe we have one of the best stadiums in East Tennessee. An artificial turf field, jumbo tron scoreboard with video, and an accommodating visitor and home set of bleachers. The home side has been in place since before I attended East High in the late '70s and early '80s, and I can distinctively remember running "goat trails" on those very bleachers during wrestling practice from time to time. Walking up and down the bleachers to the press box is a task today, the steps feel like they reach above the tallest treetops. Part of our responsibilities in preparing the stadium early in the mornings is posting a number of flags for whichever home team is playing that week. It was on one of those early morning postings that today's FTM came to me, so here's "Faith of a Mustard Seed", hope you enjoy!
     When the stadium is empty and the morning is quiet and still, it's easy for your thoughts to wander as you go through the stadium flipping trash cans, setting up the field, and of course, as I already mentioned, posting the flags at the top of the stadium. Standing on the top tier of our bleachers, trying not to lean too hard against the chain link fence, and standing on my tippy-toes may not sound exactly daunting to you, but for me I kind of get a little weak in the knees if I lean a little too much towards the fence and the 200 or so foot drop that awaits on the other side of the translucent wire barrier. Yet on this particular morning, my thoughts were directed to the bleachers themselves, and to be more precise the rivets, bolts, and nuts that hold those bleachers together.
      Each week the stands are filled with hundreds of fervent fans, rising to their feet, children pouncing from one bleacher to the next, and students pounding down on the metal structures as they are either celebrating a winning touchdown, or agonizing over an incomplete pass that could have won the game. As I was walking across those same bleachers early that morning, the thought crossed my mind that really all that holds those bleachers together are small nuts and bolts, some riveted together and others cranked tight by hand or machine. Really? People jump up and down on, rest comfortably on, and fully place their trust in a quantity of nuts and bolts that would probably fit in the bed of my little old red Ford pick-up truck? That's trust, or it's being oblivious. Take your pick. The same would be true for Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, over 100,000 screaming, crazed fans will be jumping up and down on a structure that at its foundation is held together by rather small nuts and bolts in comparison to the task they are charged. Yet we never give it a second thought, we trust that the engineering feats of the skill sets of those that designed and built our stadiums are far more superior than the force of gravity which is constantly pulling things downward. That's a considerable amount of faith I would venture to say.
       If we will place our faith in nuts and bolts to hold not only the bleachers up in our stadiums, but also safely protect our own lives and the lives of our children, then what type of faith does it require to trust that God's Word is true, Jesus' life and teachings were real, and that our faith in God is centered around a trust that God is real and that he is there for you in your adversities and afflictions? The words of Jesus recorded in the gospel of Matthew 17:20 assure us, Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."  In our daily lives the first thing many of us do is give up when we face adversity. We don't turn to our faith in God and seek His guidance or ask for His strength to face the challenge in front of us. Faithless, we attempt to conquer life's setbacks on our own. If we do turn to our faith, we too often place a limit on what is possible thus limiting our faith, which grows and matures as we hold tight to our faith in the midst of turmoil in our lives.
        Mustard seeds are small, so tiny that a large hand full would probably fit on the head of one bolt that holds our bleachers together. Yet, in a second parable also found in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed. He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field.  Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32. If having the faith the size of a mustard seed enables us as Jesus shared in the first parable, then wouldn't it be safe to say that as our faith grows from mustard seed size to the size of the mustard tree, our resolve and perseverance should be growing just as well. As our perseverance grows and our faith matures, should we not arrive at a place where we can place our trust in God regardless of the circumstances or outcomes we traverse through in our lives? 
     Faith is organic, we don't just obtain it at its most intimate level when we accept God as our personal Savior, instead it grows as we invest ourselves in reading, studying, worshiping, and trusting in Him. Just as the mustard seed starts out tiny and grows into a mighty tree, your faith too will grow and mature as you learn to trust and obey God's plan for your life. 
Coach Carter 

The Thermal Dynamics of Our Faith

     
     The Second Law of Thermal Dynamics and Entropy, (disclaimer I am not in any way, form, or fashion claiming to be a physicist) states that in nature things do not tend to increase or improve they only over time decrease or devalue. Think about a rock wall for example, when our ancestors built walls around their property the rocks and mortar that were used were sturdy and firm. Over time, left to the elements of wind, extreme temperatures, and various forms of precipitation that rock wall slowly erodes and at some point, left to its own care, falls into disarray. That principle transfers into just about everything in life. If you buy a new car, the value depreciates as soon as you drive it off the lot. When we plant flowers the seeds begin the process of growing, yet all the time the plant is decreasing in its lifespan. Ouch, I need to be careful with this one, it could drop into some depressing thoughts if you were to dwell on it too hard. The concept to take away from today's message is that an object left to its own accord will not improve over time, it will only topple into a lesser state of being. Build a fire and let it burn without adding more wood to the pile and eventually it will burn out. If this is true in nature, what about our faith based relationship with God?
     Just as in any relationship the law of entropy has that same impact. Entropy states that things do not decrease they only increase which kind of sounded backwards to me at first, but think about it this way. Back to our example of the rock wall diminishing, the impact of the forces of nature on the rock wall continue to increase over time causing more damage to the wall's sturdiness. The wall doesn't get stronger due to the forces of nature. In much the same way, our earthly relationships do not tend to just get better over time. If we do not make a concerted effort to maintain and improve our relationships they will crumble and fall into disarray in much the same way as our rock wall example. Relationship building requires a maintenance contract, remember "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health" those commitments were provided to assure that we understood that there would be work to be done as this relationship moves forward beginning day one. It isn't just in the marriage relationship where this holds true. You can apply the law of diminishing effect to your friendships, workplace colleagues, and yes it certainly does apply to our relationship with God.
     In I Thessalonians 2:13 Paul shared this encouraging message to the church there, "Therefore, we never stop thanking God that when you received his message from us, you didn’t think of our words as mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God—which, of course, it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe." When we accept Christ as our Savior, our relationship can start the process of entropy if left to its own accord. As Paul states the Word of God continues to work in those who believe, but faith without works is dead or falling into a state of entropy (see James 2:14-17). The good news here is that if we trust and believe, we will continue to grow in Christ, we will strive to know Him better, to serve Him deeper, and to love Him with all of our heart, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37). 
     In nature, the Second Law of Thermal Dynamics applies aptly, in the realm of God the same law does not apply. We have a choice, we can form a relationship and then allow the world to steal away the joy that we first found through our relationship with God, or we can enter our relationship with a common understanding that we must continually learn and grow into the servant God has purposed us to be. Our relationship with God does not have to ever be diminishing, we are in charge of that piece of the puzzle. It is our charge to improve our understanding of God's Word and then apply it constantly and consistently to our everyday lives and the relationships we have with those we know here on this rock and more importantly our relationship with the author of our faith. 
Be encouraged, you are not in this alone!
Coach Carter