925 Athletic Ministries @ Nevada

What Kind of Consumer are You?

2011-05-19T07:57:00.000-07:00

I was working out to a video at home with my wife and kids and I realized I am very much in control of what kind of consumer I am. I speak in terms of consuming because that is the way we are trained to think in our culture. It is a bit impersonal and cynical to think that the dominate culture in America is consumerism, but it is, so instead of fighting the ocean in which we are sailing, I think it may be more productive to redirect the ship. I asked myself a simple question: where is my consumerism taking me? This is an important question. I was speaking with one of my colleagues about how eating healthy is so much more expensive. We spoke of how we could feed our families for seven bucks at Taco Bell, but it takes over twenty to put together a healthy meal at the grocery store. We then talked about what we value. This got me thinking about where I spend my money. Am I spending it on what I really what to invest in? I want to invest in the health of my family and I. It is probably the most important investment, that and investing in initiatives that help people know God. If I am to invest in things I believe in, I must "consume" things that will give me those results.
That brings me back to the video work out this morning. I realized that I could turn on some morning show on the tv or some kids show for my daughter to veg out to. But those things really wouldn't take me to where I want to go. Instead, I put on a work out video and got a morning sweat going. Then I made breakfast and looked at a book sitting on the table that I've been meaning to read for the past few months. In the evening, instead of "consuming" tv or internet surfing, I want to "consume" that book. This is really a rehash of what Jesus said, "Where your treasure is there your heart will be also." This is more true to me today because it is true through yet another experience.

Be of Good Cheer

2010-10-16T06:50:00.000-07:00

Last night my family and I had the privilege of spending some time with the other campus ministers at Nevada. We ate, played and prayed. My two-year-old daughter was playing with a toy she had never played with before. When it was time to share or move on to something else, she became very sad and ran to her mommy in tears. I picked her up and assured her that she is loved and she will be able to play with the toy again sometime. Then I said, "Don't cry, be happy." Of course, she didn't know why she ought to be happy when her fun was being ended. I just read Matthew chapter 9. A couple times Jesus says, "Be of good cheer..." To me, that means, "Don't cry, be happy." What was different with Jesus was that he follows the statement with an affirmation. "Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you." and "Be of good cheer, daughter, your faith has made you well." It is important not only that Jesus gave an attitude directive - be of good cheer, he also gives us the reason. Be happy, here's why. Often, I try to do use this type of technique, in a self-serving way. For example, when my daughter was sad, I was uncomfortable with her crying loudly in front of my friends. Because I didn't want to be embarrassed, I said to her, "be happy." Jesus is not embarrassed by the people whose attitudes he directs, he is simply giving them an identity, or reinforcing the one that he already gave them when he made them. He is loving them by saying, you are this way or that way, you are forgiven, you are healed. What I learned here is that I am who God wants me to be when I lay down my life. I am the perfect father for my child when it is not I who live, but Christ in me. When I walk in the confidence of my identity as given me from God, I don't have to act in ways that will hurt others because of my own insecurity. In the example with my daughter, I don't need to be embarrassed and thus give her instruction to help abate my discomfort. I need to direct her attitude because of the reality of who she is in the eyes of God. She shouldn't be happy to increase my comfort, she should be happy for better reasons like because she is forgiven and faith has made her well.

First Day of School

2010-08-23T15:31:00.001-07:00

I love the first day of school. There is nothing like the butterflies that come as a result of the uncertainty of the difficulty of the new classes and the interaction with the other students in those classes. I like change. I like newness. I was in the Center for Student Cultural Diversity today and I was very excited to see the place come alive with activity. It felt a bit like a reunion. That is one of the best things about the first day of school. You get to see people you haven't seen for three or four months. The weight of the work required isn't being felt yet and I get to just enjoy the community that I only experience when school is in session. I am very excited about our first 925 meeting tomorrow as well. I have had an uncommonly refreshing summer break and I am ready to hit the ground running. I have to be careful to remain connected to God in the midst of all of the newness of another semester. I often find it easy to be distracted with other, more urgent matters, but my relationship with God is the most important, so I am going to keep Him at the forefront and let everything else fall into it's place.

Opening the Door

2010-05-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock..." This Bible verse, found in Revelation 3:20 is really about returning to fellowship with Christ not about salvation. Considering this, one should ask, "Why would anyone who is already following Jesus need to invite Him in?" The answer to this question is the key to intimacy with Christ. In a way, when Jesus was incarnated, lived sinless as a man, died for our sin and rose from the dead, He rang our doorbell. He was calling us out. He was inviting us to let Him show us the way to the father. Accepting Christ's invitation is not only a one time decision, it is a continual process. It is not like you just open the door of your life and let Him live there. The truth is, we all have several doors that need to be opened to Christ. Some of these doors we don't want to open and we don't even want to admit that some exist. I was praying about connecting with God more and I kept on getting distracted. I was thinking about this and that, plans, bills, meetings, etc. I suddenly realized that I hadn't been inviting God into those areas of my life. After all, they are just meaningless details. It's not like they are major decisions or events. Hmmm, if they aren't that important then why would they be stealing my attention from my Creator? The truth is, they are important! They are very important! I remember one of the best things a minister ever told me was that God cares about your life more than you do. I found this hard to believe because at the time I heard it, I was about 10 years old and all the grown-ups I knew told me that my life wasn't even real. I was just a kid. I would find out about the "real world" later. I found this troubling because the problems that I was facing certainly felt real. I had a temper, I had crushes on girls, girls had crushes on me, I liked playing with legos, I hated it when my little sister messed with my legos. These things really mattered to me. When I found out that those things, those things that were stupid kid stuff to grown-ups, mattered to God, I was very happy. I was happy because I knew that it was the best news ever! Someone as important as God was interested in my life! Every other important person I knew considered my life and all its details meaningless. I admit that all the talk of the "real world" tainted my view of what I considered important. My view of God also only sought to involve him in things I considered important. This combination excluded God from everything except major life decisions. When Jesus came and lived among us, he did unimportant things for most of his life. He understands and, better yet, cares about all the details of our lives. If I am honest, I am connected to my life and like it a lot. To give up my life for Christ means giving Him every little meaningless detail (as well as every important detail). This is the answer to what we all are looking for - a friend who is as interested in us as we are! What happens though when you invite Jesus into every area of your life, you don't just keep focused on yourself, you start to see how focused you were on yourself and you begin to see how you can consider others as more important that yourself. I believe the way of humility is what happens as intimacy with Christ grows. He, as owner of every little detail, begins to change you bit by bit into an other-focused servant leader. I like this arrangement. I get to be known for who I really am and I get to become more like the person God has always intended me to be. This is both comforting and humiliating. I get the comfort that God knows everything about me and loves me anyway, but I also have to face the fact that I am the biggest barrier God has to overcome to change me into who He wants me to be. He is knocking on the door, I encourage you to invite Him in. He is what you've been looking for. Welcome to the real world.

Context

2010-04-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

I had a great discussion today with a fellow campus minister. While I was going off on one of my famous rants, I stumbled upon an interesting revelation of my context. I have grown up in a modern paradigm of believing, by which I mean I have learned what I know about Jesus through the understanding that all things are discoverable, it is just a matter of time before we find out all there is to know. Now, I find myself ministering to/with a people with a postmodern mindset for all areas of their lives except their Christianity/spirituality. What this looks like is a group that says they can't be certain of anything except what the Bible says. I've come to realize that neither a strictly modern (all knowledge is attainable) nor a strictly postmodern (we can't be certain of anything) worldview is compatible with the Christian faith. There is a place, however, that is not occupied by any human way of seeing the world. This place is a place where those who are willing to give up their own view can accept God's view of the world. His view is not concerned with humans acquiring all knowledge nor is it concerned with them living in perpetual uncertainty. His view is above ours. When we give up the pursuit of knowing Him on our terms, we get to be both certain of some things (i.e. Jesus is God)and uncertain of other things (i.e. how God can be one and three at the same time). The result is a humble and honest type of believing. Both our faith and God's mysteries are in tact. The trouble with this type of faith is that it makes you really have to think. We can then approach God as people whose lives are being transformed by what we believe and we can also go to Him to reveal the mysteries of the things we don't yet understand or believe well enough to let transform us.

Thoughts on Servant Leadership

2010-04-18T03:33:00.000-07:00

Servant Leadership is a principle that Jesus has given us, but it is much more than just a principle. All the talk that basically amounts to saying, "do it God's way and you'll be successful," makes me sick. What I mean is that many times we can use truths in the Bible to build a successful practical skill set. For example, there have been studies that show the most successful CEOs in the country exercise the practice of serving those whom they supervise or lead. I think it is good to live the principles Jesus taught in practical ways, but that cannot be the end. I am afraid that most people I talk with on campus are not looking to do what it takes to be a Christian. Oh, they are willing to extract some benefit from Jesus if they can, but they are not looking to be changed on His terms, only on theirs. This is often my problem too, as is often the case when examining others, if honest, you can find the fault greater in yourself. My problem is that I see great benefit from believing in Jesus. Eternal life, peace, purpose to the work I am doing on earth, common ground for my wife and I, standards for living, direction, unconditional love and acceptance. Often, however, I forget how I actually get to those benefits. I forget that my belief in Jesus is a belief in one who came to live to show me the way (and be that way). His way is not free of suffering or death, it is actually littered with death and suffering. Many times I think that Jesus came and suffered so that I wouldn't have to. I think he died so that I would never have to die. The opposite is quite true though. I must not only believe in what he has done, but follow him by doing it myself. When I say "believe," I am referring to the term that many people use to justify their claim on the benefits Jesus offers without living a life that accepts responsibility for those "beliefs." Following is not simple. Ask anyone who has ever tried to stick together in a rock concert. I remember following my friend through a crowd during a New Found Glory concert. There were crowd surfers kicking me in the head, bold punks looking for fights, boyfriends protecting their girls, and short people filling in any gap possible. Following my friend through that sea of people was very difficult and frustrating. Others in the crowd acted like I was violating their rights when I squeezed through, some even tried to pick a fight about it. My hair got caught in someones boot while they passed by surfing the crowd. It was uncomfortable following. It is uncomfortable to follow, really follow - closely follow Jesus. His way is far worse than making your way through a crowd of egotistical boyfriends, holister clad new hat wearing fight pickers and vertically challenged inappropriately dressed teeny boppers. His way requires that we look at the way we have been living (for ourselves) and stop. We have to be honest and see that we only want what he's got because it seems like a good deal not because we think he is actually our king. We put him in the place of beneficiary. It is like we think we are doing Him a favor following him. He is the salesman to us and we are his customers. The unfortunate outcome of living in this paradigm is that when we aren't satisfied with the product, we have no use for the salesman. Jesus is not a salesman and His Way is not a commodity that can be bought or sold. He is the Son of God. As such, he demands our obedience. He didn't come demanding though. He has every right to, but he offers us a relationship instead. He is the rightful ruler of our lives, but he doesn't force his way in. He loves us. He does the risky thing to love us. He puts himself out there at great cost to himself. Honestly, I am hardly willing to love my wife without some expectation of return. He loves based on who he is not our response. So, following Him must be based on who he is not our willingness to respond. Christianity is about death and rebirth. Servant leadership is not just a principle that every successful business executive practices. Servant leadership isn't just about serving people to put them in your debt. No, servant leadership in the way of Jesus is serving with no need for reciprocation. It is not a tactic, it is a character trait. More accurately, it is a fruit of the spirit -evidence of new life. The life of a servant leader only comes as one dies to the old nature and is captured by new life. We must see that our way is not His and we cannot just pick and choose when to apply his teachings to our lives. We must abandon our way completely. Only then can we have new life. Jesus died so that we could die and that when we do, then we could really live. When we exchange our life for his we are transformed from self-servers into servant leaders. "But whoever would be great among you must be your servant." Matt 20:26

Hearing from God

2010-03-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

I was reading through Matthew chapter 13 in the Bible today and I was reminded of a parable that I've seen used for a variety of purposes. Matthew 13 is particularly useful because it contains seven parables about the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God can be a vague topic and assumptions abound when talking about it. I love talking about God's kingdom. It is very mysterious and resists definition. This is why I love this chapter in Matthew. Jesus compares the kingdom to several different things, a sower and his field, a treasure, a pearl, a mustard seed, leaven, catching fish, and a mixture of weeds and wheat. I am pretty intimidated by some of these parables. I find comfort, however, in Jesus' response to his disciples questions. His disciples asked him about the meaning of the parables. Jesus replies, to you the secret of the kingdom of God has been given, but those who are on the outside, I speak in parables. When I read "secret", my ears perked up. Jesus knows how to illicit curiosity and he had mine. What secret was being given to his disciples? I wanted in on it! Then he goes on to quote from Isaiah saying, "they are seeing but never perceiving, they are hearing but not understanding." The secret seems to me that the disciples were given understanding, not because of their superior intellect, but because of how close they were to Jesus. In each of the parables Jesus tells, he seems to point out that He is the one who is actively pursuing us. This isn't a situation where our virtue attracts his attention, or our beauty catches his eye. We are valuable, full of virtue and beauty because he assigns us value. He was willing to sell everything he had (his life) to pay for us. The upside-downness of this situation is hard to grasp. Jesus came to establish a kingdom, but instead of gathering servants and loyal subjects, he serves us and even dies for us. The secret of the Kingdom that I desire to be in on is only given to me when I lay down my own way of understanding, really my whole life and accept His. That is what the disciples were doing when they were asking Him questions. They were saying, "I don't get it, and I don't want to try to make sense out of it with my mind, please Jesus show me (give me) your mind." The secret is seeing the world the way God sees it and we can never come to that by thinking our way through it. We must be led into His understanding. He offers us new life and only through the new life he offers us can we see a new paradigm, a new grid to view all things. We can't be there anymore we have to be re-born. Only when we dump off our life and take on his can we gain His understanding.
This week is passion week where Christians take time to remember Jesus as he approaches and is killed on the cross before we celebrate his resurrection. I am reminded to follow Him to the cross and lay down my understanding and view of the world to make room for His new life. As I do so I hear Him whisper His secrets in my ear and now that my ears are really His, I can understand what he is telling me. To be in on the secret, you have to give all your stuff up. What better time than right before Easter to let God show you the secret of His kingdom.

Spring Break

2010-03-14T16:35:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhhhh!!! The sigh of relief is breathed all over campus. We are now on Spring Break. I remember spring break was a time where I wanted to have fun and at the same time not be sucked into the cliche college spring break experience. So typically, I would go snowboarding, go to connections, a camp put on by Inver-varsity or visit my folks. I have never been to Cancun, or Fort Lauderdale, or that Lake where everybody gets hammered and puts their boats together. I think it is fairly easy to see cliche sins that are similar to a stereotypical college spring break. These are what some people have categorically labeled sins of the flesh. This basically means sins that you do with your physical body - i.e. sexual immorality, substance abuse, criminal activity. I haven't participated in sins of the flesh as extravagantly as some. I have dabbled, but I wouldn't say that they have ever been a part of my lifestyle. Oddly enough, this puts me in a vulnerable position. Much like a person with a broken leg is more likely know they need medical attention than a person with the early stages of brain cancer, I have sin that is not always obvious (except maybe to my wife). Because of this, I am in danger of skipping over my sins, thinking all is well. I need treatment even more than people with outward sin issues. I have heard it said that often ministers will have inward sins, often called sins of the spirit, and when they go unconfessed, unrepented and unresolved they eventually fall outwardly taking many people with them. I have witnessed this a few times. The effects are devastating. Someone who is revered and respected falls and their friends, family and followers are hurt. This spring break, I am committing to an examination of spiritual sins. I am going to the great physician to let him search me and to prescribe the only kind of medicine that can change me - new life. In preparation for Easter, many people give something up. I think this is a great start because it often give us the opportunity to realize we are still in need of the doctor. Humility, joy and peace are the by product of a life fully given over to the great physicians care. Spring break will be a time of renewal, join me, get a check-up and brain surgery if necessary.

Super Bowl Sunday

2010-02-07T08:41:00.001-08:00

I am thinking about what today is all about and I have contemplated many different scenarios. I was reading through Matthew 7 where Jesus is teaching on some of the most foundational principles for Christian life. He talks about not having a critical, overly judgmental attitude, to treat others the way you want to be treated, to act on the truth that has been revealed to you and other life saving insights. When I read through this, I was challenged in a way that is pretty new to me. The focus of the challenge was on two new perspectives that I had never seen before. The first was that Jesus was using parables to show the heart of God in the midst of all the religion and all the regulation that had been most of his hearers focus. Jesus teaches to “judge not, lest you be judged,” to show us that we are looking in the wrong direction when we look to enforce our rules. The very thing that we must change is where we are looking. Instead of looking for faults in others, we must go to Him the only way we can cleanse ourselves of our impurities and then we will be full of the love that is worthy of sharing with others. Another famous saying, “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you,” is a closely related principle. Jesus is saying take a look at your life and what you wish someone would do for you. Now do that for someone! He emphasizes this by saying that the law and the prophets pretty much all add up to this. It seems on Super Bowl Sunday I should begin living what I have been taught. What do I want? I was thinking, I want someone to come to my house for the super bowl! So, I guess doing that for someone else is going to mean going to my friends house… and bringing nachos!

What is behind communication dysfunction?

2009-06-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

I have spoken with many people with whom I strongly disagree. Most times it is a chore to have a discussion with people like this, especially people who are close to me. It seems we are both playing tug of war trying to get the other to fall onto our side of reasoning and become enlightened to our seemingly perfect perspective. It was recently pointed out to me that many times our goal in communication is off. Many times our goal in communication is to agree. This is often because we value people who agree with us more than people who disagree. Yeah, you guessed it. That is the bad part. The part when I realized I need to change what I use to determine a person's value. Instead of valuing a person more because they agree with me, I should value them as a person first. This sounds really simple, but if you really think about how you interact, it is pretty revolutionary to start off valuing someone no matter what their viewpoints are. I have found this especially helpful in my marriage. My wife and I will often disagree on fundamental things like emotional reality versus rational reality. There are a plethora of occasions for disagreement and now I see these as opportunities to understand her better. This is huge and I think a fundamental insight to helping turn the tide on communication dysfunction in our homes, workplaces, schools, and athletic arenas. So what is the new goal? If not to agree, than what? I would say to understand.

To communicate to understand means to listen intently, ask meaningful questions and carefully choose how you express yourself. This is a scary place to go, because with this kind of communication you actually get to know other people and, God help us, people will get to know you! We will have more authentic relationships and our dialogue will include rather than exclude people. Because we can learn to be more welcoming in our speech, this is essential for the Christian life. I have observed that people are repulsed by me when I am only out to get them to agree with me, but if my first priority is to understand them, I find myself caring more about who they are than what they think. People will typically perceive this and appreciate my care for them as a person. When there is this kind of environment -where each party is equally valued- it feels much safer to explore ideas with which the other disagrees.

It is in this safe place that people can explore the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether we are communicating with a family member who is closest to us or a stranger with whom we have no relationship, we can still create a safe place for them by seeing them as God sees them -beautiful, created with purpose and significance, worth dying for, a child of the living God. When we see them as He does, our definition of their worth changes from performance-based to identity-based. When we see their true identity in God, we will value them as people and create a safe place where they will be much more likely to listen to us as we share with them the Gospel of Jesus. It is really a win win. We get to be more like Jesus, which is what we are looking to do and people get to see our message as the good news that it is because it is stripped of our pride and self-righteousness. Praise God,this is good stuff. Let's go with God and do it.

John 15:12 "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Psalm 139:13 "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb"

John 17: 20 "I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me."

Who is Jesus?

2009-06-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

Summertime and the Livin' is Easy?

2009-05-30T11:14:00.001-07:00

There was no more anticipated time than summer when I was growing up. I remember how long and glorious the days were when they were void of school, homework and extracurricular activities. My freedom was usually dedicated to some sort of large project like building a tree house or restoring a motorcycle.
I remember the death of summer as I knew it came my freshman year of college. I no longer took long trips to the beach, or went searching for a better place to mountain bike. I worked for 8 hours a day, lifted weights, sprinted through conditioning drills and attended summer school. My college summers represented the kind of drudgery that I imagined only characters from the Grapes of Wrath could identify. I remember how odd it was that nearly everyone on the football team dreaded fall camp, while I was waiting for the deliverance it would bring. I often remember going from work to work out to class thinking, "someday I will have a job whether it is football or a typical career and I won't have to serve two masters."
That was the really hard part about those summers. People from my work didn't understand the demands of my football training and the coaches (so I thought) didn't understand the demands of my job. I was caught in a trap serving (and despising) two masters. Both demanded my complete attention and I had the pressure of guilt that caused me to remember to go to summer school too.
It was a tormented life, but now as I look back on it, it didn't have to be like that. I could have been making the main thing, the most important thing my relationship with my Creator. When God is ultimate in my life I have realized that I can face anything, because I am not trying to force my job, my sport, my education or my family into a place that only God can fill. God requires all of me, but not to take away all my energy and leave me confused, torn, and exhausted. He requires all of me so that his Holy Spirit can empower me to do everything better and to my full potential. When God is ultimate, everything I do is valuable for eternity. What I do now, whether it is work, play, school, church, or family stuff, I know that it has eternal significance because I am doing it all out of my relationship with God.

^{Colossians 3:23} And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, ²⁴ knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.

Open Gym

2009-04-05T20:04:00.001-07:00

I just had a blast playing volleyball with some of UNR's volleyball team. They were very accommodating and encouraging, so when I occupied the wrong position on the court or sent ball ricocheting off my hands randomly. I had to enter their world with humility and learn quickly where I was supposed to be and how I was supposed to contribute. This comfortable atmosphere was not at all what I expected when I first walked into the gym. Before we started playing, I had a surprising feeling of anxiety. I simply didn't know what I was supposed to do. Luckily, I knew a few of the volleyball players already, so I asked them what to do. All I remember about athletic warm-ups involves plyometrics, dynamic stretching, and cracking your knuckles. I thought about doing this, but thought better of it, so I asked Tati what to do for warm-up. She showed me how to warm-up for volleyball. It turns out it was much different than my usual football or shot-put warm-up. We passed the ball back and forth doing various motions to warm-up the muscles that will be used in volleyball. This allowed me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the volleyball. I really appreciated this because I was able to get used to how to hit, pass, and handle the ball before we were actually playing (when it counts). All of the various aspects of open gym really intrigued me. The fact that anyone was welcomed and accepted with humility into an atmosphere of mutual encouragement. There was something deeply spiritual about it. There were those on the outside trying to figure it out for themselves, but eventually they joined the round robin game and found what seemed to be a uncomfortable insider's game was really an inclusive, humble, encouraging community. It is my dream to help the people of God look more like the people at open gym: a various mix of experts, novices, and anyone in-between cooperating to grow in our relationships with God and contribute to the lives of others.

John 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Romans 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

Ephesians 4:2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

God's Playbook

2009-03-28T12:07:00.001-07:00

I don't like to draw overly simplistic analogies. The Bible is like God's Playbook is one that I hesitate to use because I don't think it fully communicates all of what the Bible actually is. It does however get at one thing that is true about God's word, the Bible. When we think of a playbook, we think of instruction. I remember that a playbook was helpful because it showed me how I fit into the bigger scheme of the game. I knew as a defensive tackle that I was supposed to play through my gap in the offensive line . What I came to realize was that by playing my position well, I freed up the other players to play their position. I also noticed that when I didn't play my position, the rest of the team would have to play out of their assigned position to cover me.
The deep spiritual truth about this circumstance is that God has given us the Bible to help us see what our purpose is here on earth. We can know what our position is and what our assignment is in that position. The tragic thing is that all too often we don't read the Bible, so we don't know what we are supposed to do. This results in us playing the wrong position (perhaps someone else's) and working hard trying to do too much and not really contributing to God's game plan.
To put it simply, God wants us to be in right relationship with Him and through that he wants to reconcile the world to Himself. This includes all of creation. How we get to participate in God's reconciliation of the world is different for each of us.
Ephesians 2:10 says,
For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.But all of us that are Christians are called to be ambassadors of God's good news as it says in
2 Corinthians 5:19,20
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Hungry?

2009-03-03T17:18:00.001-08:00

I was encouraged by reading this today:

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
-Matthew 5:6

As an athlete, I get hungry after a workout. We all do! If we don't eat, it affects everything we do. We get lazy and don't want to do anything. An average human needs to eat at least every four to five hours.

The same mindset we have for eating actual food should also be the mindset we have for taking in God's Word. His Word has to be honey to our lips and water to our souls. If we go too long without eating spiritual food we will turn to desires of the flesh to satisfy those internal needs.
You can only go so long without seeking God before you get spiritually hungry. This doesn't only refer to reading God's Word, it also can reference spending time in prayer or even listening to Christian music. Walking with God and feeling how amazing He is satisfies our cravings. You see, He created us to desire relationship with Him, and the only way to fill that desire is to seek after Him.
Today, nourish your soul with the food it was meant to receive. Let the Lord quench your thirst and fill your hunger needs.

Recommended reading:
  John 6:35

by Justin Aguirre, student-athlete

Espn Good Sportsmanship

2009-02-26T19:02:00.001-08:00

Faith and Hardwork

2009-02-17T17:15:00.001-08:00

I was encouraged by this exerpt from Francis Schaeffer's No Little People:

Let us not think that waiting on the Lord will mean getting less done. The truth is that by doing the Lord's work in the Lord's way we will accomplish more, not less. You need not fear that if you wait for God's Spirit you will not get as much done as if you charge ahead in the flesh. After all, who can do the most, you or the God of Heaven and earth?

Sex and Religion

2009-02-13T17:25:00.000-08:00

Adrian Crawford speaks @ 925

2009-02-06T18:49:00.000-08:00

Untitled from Chris Barry on Vimeo.

Friends No Matter What?

2009-02-03T10:02:00.001-08:00

I have a bunch of friends that are involved in various groups. Some are professional athletes, some are college athletes, some are in business, some are in ministry, and so on. I have noticed with certain friendships there are conditions. These conditions aren't readily observable, but they are there none-the-less. I read John chapter 4 today and I noticed that Jesus spoke with His disciples as being ones who can reap where they have not sown. He said that someone else did the labor and they have the opportunity to get the fruits of someone else's labor.
Many of my friends aren't Christians. I love my friends, so I naturally want them to know Jesus as I do. I want to know that I will spend eternity with them in heaven. Sometimes I admit that I deliberately turn conversations to talk about God. What I must realize is that as a Christian, it isn't my job to sow, grow and reap. It is my job to partner with what God is doing. That is what Jesus was talking about when he said, "another sows so that you can reap." God, he has sown himself into the hearts of people by loving them unconditionally and we have the opportunity to simply join God by loving that person. What this looks like for me is to give people an opportunity to hear about God - sometimes by telling them about Jesus and most of the time showing them. Whether they become Christians or not, I still get the privilege of having the relationship. I long to love as God loves, and for my friends that means we are friends no matter what.

John 4:35-38
35Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

Are you having a Super Week?

2009-01-26T17:23:00.001-08:00

Everyone knows or should if they have a pulse, that it is the week before the big day - Super Bowl Sunday. The day when your friends come over and get dorito crumbs in your couch, when women talk amongst themselves while the men wear jerseys, eat fried finger food, and hopefully celebrate with chest-bumps or at least the occasional high-five. It is times like this when I think of what else usually happens on Sunday. It has been called the Lord's day and it isn't just because of the NFL games. The notion of Sunday being the Lord's day has been an attempt to remember our Creator on the first day of the week. Jesus was resurrected on the first day. It is a day of rest. Allowing a day for rest is a Jewish tradition called Sabbath. The benefits of resting are obvious - it strengthens family relationships, gives an opportunity to worship our God, it enhances health.
So what is the connection between Super Bowl Sunday and The Lord's Day? I will admit that without some intention, there could very easily be no connection. But I think that this day, this week could be an opportunity to rest. It could be an opportunity to remember that this is the day that Jesus rose from the dead. The Super Bowl, which has become a reason for people to gather and cheer for their team shares the same day as the day that Jesus was resurrected. What team are you cheering for? Who do you think will win? These questions may apply easily enough to Super Bowl Sunday, but what about the other Sunday's of your life? When you think about how you spend the Lord's day, do you cheer for God's team? Do you think His team will win? Are you on His team?

Mark 16:9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene.

Mark 2:27 Then Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight.

Perspective on Beauty

2009-01-16T16:03:00.001-08:00

I went snowboarding at Mammoth Mountain with my wife a couple days ago. One of the things we kept talking about as we rode the chair lift was how beautiful it was. Many times I take God's creation for granted. I am blessed to have the opportunity to participate in many recreational sports. This opportunity is only afforded to a very small percentage of the world's population. In my recreation I often find room for speculation. As I rode down the mountain watching the beauty of the east sierra's and watching my beautiful wife carving turns in the bright snow, I was struck with an uncommon moment of clarity. "This is Good." I thought. The Lord spoke those same words after he created the world, I remembered. Then I began to notice that there is power in declaration. The mountains and my wife have always been beautiful, but as I came to experience their beauty, that beauty is now a part of my perspective. It has entered my conciousness and now I can see what has always been there. When I notice the beauty around me, it causes a tremendous sense of thankfulness to rise up in me. I thank God so much for His beautiful creation. What beauty is around you today? How could you make more of an effort to appreciate that beauty?

Ecclesiates 3: 11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

1 Peter 3
3Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

The Top of Our Game: Stewardship

2009-01-06T15:04:00.001-08:00

People who have put their faith in Christ usually are in one of three seasons. The first season is that of a son or daughter. This season is important because it is in this season that we learn who we are in Christ. We learn that we have a Heavenly Father and that we have been adopted by Him and invited to have a relationship with Him through our faith in His Son, Jesus. In this stage we see God as a provider and protector and we are His children. This is a great perspective to have, but if we only have this perspective, we could turn into spoiled brats, always expecting our needs to be met and never bothering ourselves with the needs of others.
When we start to concern ourselves with the needs of others, we enter the next season of our relationship. This season is where we see ourselves as God's servants. We recognize that God is our Father, and we are trusting in Jesus as our savior and Lord. We also recognize that because we have a relationship with God, we have been blessed and that the blessing isn't just for us, but it is for others also. With this realization comes the responsibility to serve God by serving others. Here we are growing in maturity because life is not only about us, it becomes about God's kingdom of love touching all of humanity. Again, this is good, but if we stay here, we can develop a mentality of duty and we see our service to God and others as a manditory work in exchange for right standing with Him.
Then comes the third season. This season finally gets back to the beginning - creation. Here, we finally start living as God has created us to live - as stewards. We live in this season when we realize that God owns everthing. Everything that we have is a gift including our ability to serve Him. No longer are we living for ourselves or with a contractual agreement with God that we can serve Him in exchange for righteousness. Stewardship means we are using God given resources to expand His kingdom of love. In every act of service, gift given, kind word, and presentation of the Gospel God is glorified most as we take the least credit. I encourage you to become stewards of the gifts God has given you.

Christmas Study Break Party Directions

2008-12-04T12:29:00.001-08:00

Click Here:
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Dead Day Christmas Party/Study Break

2008-12-03T10:19:00.001-08:00

925 will be having a Christmas Party at Pete's House right by Rancho San Rafael Park at 6pm December 10th. Wear a Christmas sweater, $15 Starbucks card goes to the ugliest sweater!
We will also be playing games so be ready for an extremely fun time. Bring a dessert to share. There will also be Jimmy John's sandwiches.

Basketball then Pie and Thankfulness

2008-11-25T10:54:00.000-08:00

This week we will be going to the Men's Basketball game @ 7:05pm in Lawlor Events Center, so make sure you pick up your student tickets early. After the game, we will have pie, games and a short discussion about what Thanksgiving is all about in JCSU rm 323. Hint: it is about more than watching football in a tryptophan induced food coma!

Photo Rally, Free Pizza, Winning team = Movie Tickets

2008-11-18T17:19:00.001-08:00

Photo Rally. This Wednesday @ 8:15pm in the Student Union 3rd floor room 323. Start at 815p SHARP
Team puzzle/question start
Teams depart and take pics and follow clues
Teams return with pics for judging
Teams returning after 9:25 are DQed

Winning Team gets movie tickets, everyone gets pizza

Love in Sports

2008-11-03T17:01:00.001-08:00

Love may seem out of place in sports, at least in the way we commonly think of love. I, however, am not talking about romantic love. I am talking about sacraficial love that results in a deep sense of commitment to do the best for others. Whether your teammate is your boy or girlfriend or the player next to you on the field, it is about a commitment to that relationship.
We all want to think we are loving, but when it comes time to put it on the line, are you really? When your teammate throws an interception and the other team takes it the other way for a touchdown how do you respond? The typlical response is to point the finger and hang your head. The loving response is to get fired up and make a great play so that your teammate's despair can be transformed into joy. You can take on the burden of your teammates failure by helping the team be successful, but only if you are committed. Are you more concerned with being cool, esteemed and lifted up? If you are, when it counts you won't lay it all on the line for your teammate. But if you are more committed to the team's success than your own, you will give your team your best and that will excite other to do the same. That is what it looks like to be a true leader - to love your team.

You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving. -Amy Carmichael

Happy Halloween?

2008-10-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

Do you ever find yourself wondering what Halloween is all about? I know I have. Especially since I had a daughter, I have been taking a fresh look at holidays and celebrations. I want to be deliberate in how I raise my child and I want to have good reasons for why I celebrate or don't celebrate holidays. I want the traditions of my new family to be meaningful, enriching and most of all honor God. I don't just want to accept the status quo, but I don't want to be weird and out of touch - at least not unless there is good reason.

Since the word Halloween is a colloquial contraction of All Hallows Eve, which is the night before All Saints Day. There is something that surely can be redeemed right? I mean saints are good and the notion of remembering the saints who were executed, murdered or otherwise martyred for their faith seems like a worthwhile holiday. I don't think the issue is with the holiday itself, rather, I think the problem is in the focus of the traditions.

Just like every holiday in the west, our creative capitalistic mindset has transformed an opportunity to remember the contributions of our faith founders into a excuse to buy more stuff, party and eat sugar (or high fructose corn syrup). I’ve seen the usual response: to Christianize what Halloween has become -plastic stuff, candy, and costumes. When I was growing up this looked like a lame harvest party. I was confused why I went to school and there were kids with cool-looking vampire and werwolf costumes and at church it looked like midget disneyland. Amidst the princesses and piglets, my brother and I couldn’t help but get some fake blood and squirt it on our face and costume and make whatever parentally guided costume we were wearing into a dead version of that (a dead pirate, dead rocker, dead karate kid, dead surfer etc.).

Instead of just sanitizing a pagan tradition, I think Halloween would be much better if Christians used the community aspect of the holiday as an opportunity to love their neighbors, something that is very clearly God’s will. Trick or Treating could be an opportunity to look over the fence and love our neighbor by connecting with them and inviting them over for dinner or for a future play date for the kids. Going to the pumpkin patch and pumpkin carving could become a neighborhood tradition and a great way to exercise the kids creativity.

At college, it has been my experience that Halloween is mostly another excuse to party and dress very immodestly. One year, I had the positive experience of going to Savers, making my own costume and gathering with a bunch of friends for a night of dancing, listening to loud music, having frivolous conversations and connecting with new people. In effect I was partying without the substance abuse. That is what I encourage you to do and it is what I encourage everyday not just on controversial pagan-roots-having holidays. Connect with people, love them and love God.

Some Guiding Scripture

1 Timothy 6:11
Everything is permissible but not everything is beneficial.
But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

Hebrews 12:1
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

2008-10-26T21:54:00.001-07:00

Soccer Pics and Spiritual Training Podcast

It was super fun for those of us who went to the soccer game on Sunday. The ladies played their hearts out and us observers had a blast just chillin' a little bit before the hectic week begins. Check out some of the pics that I posted. I got quite a few of Rice, Whitney, Cristen, and Jill as well as some of the ladies with whom I am not yet acquainted.

We are going to be looking at Spiritual Training this week. See y'all Wednesday 815p JCSU 323

The podcast is to save time during our leadership team meeting. So leadership team, if you would listen to that, I would really appreciate it!

Daryll gets a tackle, Leadership - Serves

2008-10-23T15:31:00.001-07:00

DSC_0519, originally uploaded by 925athletics.

I thought I would put up a pic of one of our faithful 925 athletes, Daryll Hill is number 81 in this pic making the tackle at last Saturday's homecoming victory over Utah State. Daryll's voice can be heard on the podcast about Servant Leadership because he was the one to read one of the scriptures Peter Sewell used as he was presenting.
Wednesday night's meeting was an excellent and inspiring look at Leadership in a way that most people are not familiar with. Servant Leadership is a term that has been coined in the business world recently and really just means a boss that isn't a pompus self-centered money grabber, but one that actually cares for his/her employees. I think the Bible portrays a different and more difficult view of servant leadership. When Jesus came to earth He was given all the authority over everything, but he didn't use His authority to lord it over people. He used it rather to serve them. This was the main message and is a continue challenge for us everyday. How can we put down our expectations of others just following us and actually choose to serve them. How can we regard others as more important than ourselves? After all, the culture that surrounds us tells us that we have to look out for number 1. Hmmm... what if we already have someone looking out for us and what we are called to do is look out for the needs of others?

Thought: Success is the inner satisfaction and peace of mind that come from knowing I did the best i was capable of doing for the group.

What kind of leader are you?

Leave it All on the Field: Leadership

2008-10-21T01:21:00.001-07:00

This week is going to be about Servant Leadership another of 925's Core Values. Please check back soon as I will be posting more pictures. I have posted new Pics from the New Mexico State vs. Nevada football game. I have also posted a new podcast on Servant Leadership. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Teamwork Podcast now available

2008-10-19T01:57:00.000-07:00

Go to

www.925.mypodcast.com

and you can download the podcast. If you want to subscribe, so that you will automatically receive future 925 podcasts, simply click on one of the buttons, like "subscribe using iTunes"

Teamwork - You are a Vital Part

2008-10-17T03:32:00.000-07:00

Tiffany Tandy spoke about how we can become better teammates in how we encourage others in their giftings and how we allow others to encourage us in our gifts and talents. If you want to know more about this concept. We studied 1 Corinthians 12:18-22 and Romans 12:4-5. Remember that God has made you just the way you are for a reason. He has a vital part for you to play in His team. He wants to show you all the great things that He has planned for you, so that you can be a light as He is and you can shine in the darkness. Tiffany spoke of the glow in the dark stars that you can stick to you may be familiar with from your childhood. How they work is that they absorb the light during the day and then when night comes, they are able to shine brightly in the darkness. This is how we are to live -absorbing God's light and allowing it to shine for all people to see. Are you allowing God's light to shine through you? I invite you to come to find out more next week as we are continuing our journey through 925's core values.

925 Blog

2008-10-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

The purpose of this blog is to provide more information about the 925 Athletic Ministries in Nevada. We exist to change the world through sports. We work to see athletes and athletic departments spiritually trained and transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Check back here often. There will be a recap each week about our meetings, which are at 8:15pm in the Joe Crowley Student Union room 323 on the 3rd floor on Wednesdays.

The typical format of our 1 hour meeting is:

Game
Food
Athlete questions and discussion
Media Clip
Message about athletics and Jesus
Short Prayer
Hang out time

Tim Tebow

2008-10-02T15:51:00.000-07:00

This video was aired on College Gameday just a few weeks ago. Praise the Lord! As he says,

"Take advantage of your Pedastal!"

Screensavers and Wallpapers

2008-10-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

Click on the links above do download your image. Right click and save as desktop or drag to desk top if you are a Mac user.