The Week That Was

I love this time of year. Selfishly, it's partly because of my birthday being mid-September, but there are other reasons:

In Sports: Baseball becomes meaningful in late August and into September, with pennant races, playoffs on the line, and late season call ups to see how next years rookies are going to look. Basketball talk starts to warm up and preseason camps will start to open soon. But the most important, like changing event is the beginning of football season! (HALLELUJAH CHORUS!!) My heart beats faster at the thought of pads popping and all the sights and sounds of football. It brings me back to many great memories on the field and in the stands. I. LOVE. FOOTBALL.

In Family: The kids are back in the swing of school, they are connecting with friends, doing homework, getting smarter and finding themselves a bit more every day. I am in awe to see the growth and development of my son as he becomes a young man and finds his way around the world. He's making good friends and seems to have a good head on his shoulders. My daughter is showing off her brains again, accepted into a competitive math team (math? really?), and doing great in school.

In Church: All the ministries that lay dormant over the summer spring back to life: kids midweek stuff, Adult Bible study stuff, Women's ministry stuff... all of is comes back like the flowers in spring, only on the other end of the calendar. I love the energy, the excitement of seeing the life changing message of Christ shared in so many venues. It's invigorating, like the crisp air we are beginning to notice in the mornings.

I love this time of year! It is my absolute favorite. Do you love it, or do you prefer something else?

What A Pastor Learns From Coaching Football - Part 2

I started this idea last month, and the crazy has kept me from finishing, so here's the next installment. For those who don' t know, I finished my four year commitment to coaching youth football for my son's team. From Mac's fifth grade year until this his eighth grade year, I've coached the defense and special teams. It was quite an adventure, with some huge ups and downs. Along the way, as in everything in my life, I try to keep track of the lessons God tries to teach me. Let me share another:

• You can lead a linebacker to the running back, but you can't make him tackle.

Coaching defense is about two things - putting players in position to succeed, and teaching them what to do when they get there. I spent hours on the field running them through drills on how to tackle, how to defend a pass, how to rush the passer, how to defeat blocks, etc... all the concepts they needed to know to be successful when the play unfolded in the game. And I developed schemes and game plans that would allow for our players to play in positions and situations that would give them the greatest chance to succeed.

Those things I could do as a coach, I did. But in the heat of the moment in the game, I could do nothing to make a player use what he knew. I could encourage or instruct them to line up in the right place, but I couldn't make them do it. If they didn't want to tackle, they would not tackle.

More than once in the last four seasons, a player was in perfect position to make a game changing tackle, and pulled up rather than put the other man on the ground. It was painful for me as a coach to see them get in position to succeed, knowing they had the knowledge and the skill to succeed, and watch them chose not to succeed.

As a pastor, it's very similar. I can use all the gifts God has given me, I can teach and instruct, challenge and encourage, model and envision what God has said to do and how to do it. But at the end of the day, I cannot make anyone serve. I cannot make anyone pray. I cannot make anyone give, or stop gossiping, or give their heart to Jesus. I have no power to control people, no matter what anyone thinks. I've watched friends in pastoral ministry pull out their hair over people who have all the knowledge they need to be successful in their life and walk and service for Jesus, and then watch helplessly as they make choices to shipwreck their lives, their walk, and their church.

Sometimes pastors (and I'm guilty of this) and coaches (me again!) will take these moments personally. And yes, there are times when as a coach and as a pastor, I didn't prepare my people for the challenge they found themselves facing. At those moments, I have to own my part, and work my tail off to be better prepared to prepare those under my care. But sometimes, the information, the knowledge and experience are there, on board the person in position to 'make a play' in their life, and they pull up short instead of stepping up. At that moment, I can encourage, I can remind, I can recast the vision, but I can't make them do what they already know is right. It's not possible. I can't handcuff them to the chair to keep them from getting drunk, I can't tape their mouth shut to keep them from saying something damaging to their spouse. I can't hack into their bank account and preset their giving to God's work. None of that is possible.

As a pastor, that's painful to admit. I am powerless against the forces of choice in the lives of people in my care. If everyone decided to stay home this Sunday, I'd be in a worship service by myself.

But here's where I have a choice to make myself: as a coach, I don't get to play, so my choices for myself don't make it to the field. But as a pastor, I'm still able to make choices for my own life that end up on the 'field' of ministry. I can give. I can show up for worship. I can serve. I can bring my gifts to ministry. I can invite people to come experience Jesus. I can make my choices.

Pastors - YOU HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE, EVEN IF YOU'RE THE ONLY ONE!! If no one else worships, you choose to worship. If no one else gives, you give. You don't have to make up for everyone else's giving, but you do have a choice to give. You can serve, so do it. If no one joins you, you will still be honoring your commitment to God and to His larger team, the Church, even if people in your church are choosing poorly. PASTOR - YOU CANNOT BLAME YOUR CHOICES ON YOUR PEOPLE!!

Those of you who are not pastors - YOU CANNOT BLAME YOUR PASTOR FOR YOUR CHOICES. Even if your pastor is not perfect, you cannot put your spiritual choices on hold because you don't like what they are saying/doing/thinking. If your pastor is in sin, point it out to him/her. If they are leading in a direction you don't like, talk to them about it, but remember that God puts leaders in our lives to challenge us as well as comfort and teach us. But your responsibility to the Body of Christ, His Bride, HIS CHURCH does not end because you have a problem with a pastor. You are charged to do your part, so do it. Serve, not because your pastor says, but because Jesus said. Give, not because your pastor needs you to, but because God commands it. Worship, not because you like the music or the message, but because worship is a choice you make in your heart and it honors God.

The Bible teaches personal responsibility. I need to fulfill my role and my part of the Body. Each of us does. And I have a choice whether I will or not. All of us does.

I'm trying to do my part with all my heart. What are you trying to do?

Quick Hits

Some things in the air:

• The Lions (3-3) finished their season on a sour note, losing their final game to Blackfoot 37-18. Mac played with a serious cold, having run a fever the two days before, and still had 12 tackles and two passes defended. He was a trooper. Proud dad moment.
• That said, football is over at the McCready house (except for some watching, of course), and just as the schedule starts to slow down, Rachel starts basketball practice TONIGHT!!
• Good feedback from the first message in the 40 Days Of Prayer series. People needed to know or be reminded that God is a loving Father and Friend, so we can be real and relational when we pray. Hope that it will change people's prayers to remember that.
• I stuck my head in on the Student Ministries Leader meeting - THERE WERE 12 PEOPLE THERE!!! God is up to something big in our church when there are a dozen people who want to be a part of changing the lives of teens. LOVE IT!!
  
• Stayed home with a sick girl Monday and Tuesday - Rae was running a fever, so no school for her. She's better today, and fired up for her first practice tonight.
• Had an amazing staff meeting today. I love this staff! They are dedicated to Jesus Christ, to this church family, to each other and to the work that God has called them to accomplish.
  
• Because giving is not keeping up with our expenses, there are going to be some hard things happen in the life of our church family. Please pray for people's hearts to be moved toward giving, and that the blockage about finances in this church would be removed.
• There will be a direct discussion of the finances this Sunday before the message. I hope it will be heard, and I hope it will not take away people's attention from the message on prayer.
  
• Sunday's message will be life changing for someone, perhaps you. My world is being rocked by the thought of praying to a holy, holy, holy God. GOD IS BIGGER THAN MY PROBLEMS, AND HE'S BIGGER THAN YOUR PROBLEMS, TOO!!
• Getting the final details nailed down for the New Orleans trip. Looks like 5 of us going, and I can't wait! Wish I was there now...
  

Stay tuned for more on any and all of the above, but I wanted to get you caught up.

What A Pastor Learns From Coaching Football

This is the fourth year of my football coaching career, and after a long, busy weekend of football and church, I have finally been able to put into words what I think I've learned about being a pastor by coaching youth football. Could be more later, but for now, lets go with these:

• I can't do it all. As a football coach, I'm on the sidelines, I'm at practice, I'm calling plays and sometimes time outs. I'm making substitutions, and putting players in position to succeed the best I can, BUT I NEVER MAKE A TACKLE! I don't do the work; I can't. Even if I could, I'm just one guy, and it would take 10 more to make the defense work. I have to do my work through others in football. It's the same in church! I can't do all the ministry, and I've tried very hard the last few years to learn how to minister through others to reach more and more people. I'm always trying to put people in position to succeed, and trying to get the 'plays' called so that we have the best chance to win.
  
• You can't win them all. I wish I could say that there was a formula to guarantee success in sports, but there's not. Sometimes, you work hard, you get the right people in the right places, and you still come up short. Bad bounce, bad breaks, or superior opponents, even illness or injury can change the outcome of a game. You try to do your best, give your all, but sometimes you come up short. I tell the players on the team to win with class and lose with dignity. Good advice in church, too. We don't always win. Ideas don't always pan out, but instead of getting upset, blowing up, pouting or other unhelpful responses, going forward with dignity and a posture of learning from defeat makes more sense.
• Winning feels good! Yeah, this is a 'duh' statement, but it's true. When we win a football game, all the work, all the effort, all the conditioning and practice feels worth it. It feels GOOD! When the church wins, we all can celebrate and NEED TO REJOICE! We can and should feel good about the wins we see in the church, whenever God's kingdom moves forward. We have a great opportunity to see some of that this weekend with baptisms, so don't miss it, and don't forget to clap and cheer!!
• There's more than one way to win. Seeing a player grow from an uncoordinated 5th grader into a young man with speed and agility in the 8th grade is an amazing experience. There are a handful of kids who've been with us for the full four years, and measuring their growth in their understanding of the game, their ability and skills, and most importantly, their character, has been the best part of this experience. I wouldn't trade that for anything. The same is true of some of the people in my church. Watching men decide to follow Jesus, then lead their families, or watching someone who was afraid to pray in front of a small group of their friends turn into a person of prayer and a leader in the church, those experiences are priceless. I love being a pastor for moments like that.

If I think of any more before the Lions finish the season this year, I'll pass them on. Meantime, we're 1-2 after this weekend, with a road game at Aberdeen on Saturday night. Feel free to pray for Coach Bill to do his best to coach the kids and represent Jesus.

Silence...

The pressure of football practice and our first game last week (a two point loss for the Lions, revenge will come in the playoffs!!), and getting things in shape for the 40 Days of Prayer campaign coming in October have left me little time to blog, so sorry if you've been looking and not finding here. I'm hoping that after this weekend, I'll be able to get back to regular. Plus I'm still trying to 'debug' the book reviews from Study Leave, I'm having HTML problems of unknown origin. Soon!

Today I'm having the first relaxing day off in a couple months that doesn't involve a long drive or flight, so I'm chilling out and recharging the batteries. Don't underestimate the power of rest in our hurried world. I can't hear from God if I'm too tired to listen.

I will post some more on the Beautiful series (so far, lots of good stuff God is getting done in the lives of women AND men in this series!), and let you know what has me fired up about 40 Days of Prayer when the dust settles next week. Meantime, pray for me, we have a game Saturday night in Bear Lake (90 minutes south of here), and that's going to make for a long weekend. I think the Lions have a great chance to win, and Mac will get the start at both tight end and safety, so pray for him to stay healthy and have enough gas in the tank to go both ways for the full game.

Yes, I promised not too much of 8th grade football on this blog, but this one is important! :)

I Wanted To Talk About My Study Leave...

I had the best of intentions to post my first book review from my Study Leave yesterday, and then again today, but the distance between my technical abilities and the demands of my technology have left me helpless. I can't figure out how to do this right now, and I don't have time to learn this weekend. There are bigger issues I'm chasing, so please be patient with me, and I'll get the book reviews and a summary of the Study Leave up here as soon as I can figure out how.

What has taken the focus of my attention? Three things:

• First, I started coaching my son, Mac, in football again. He's in 8th grade this fall, and we're back with the Lions. After matching the professional version of the Lions with an 0-for the season record last year, we hope to shock the world and make the playoffs this year.Mac has worked hard this summer to get ready, and after a week and a half of practice, the team seems to be coming together. I like our chances. I won't bore the non-football people with too many details, but I will give an occasional update here. I have enjoyed the connection this has made between me and my son as he's growing into the man of God he will someday be. Plus, a whistle is always a fun thing to have between your teeth!
• Second, there's an Elder Team meeting on Saturday. I'm looking forward to it, and I honestly feel like the way our church is going is a direct result of the attempt at being biblical in our governance. The Elders represent that in a major way, and I'm always glad to meet with them, pray with them, dream with them, and work to see God's best unfold at FBC with them. Can't wait!
• Third, I've been working on the beginning of the Beautiful series. It's going to be really good, I believe. I've been praying extra over it, because when a man talks to women about God's plan for women, it can get... uncomfortable. I'm praying for God to give me the words to say that will speak truth and love to the women in our community, and inspire them and the men that love them to lean into God more and more for direction, grace and all that He wants to give them. Can't wait to see where this ends up!

There you have it. I promise you'll get to hear about my Study Leave, but first, these pressing priorities have me focused. And I invite you to pray for all of this in my life, if you have a second.