Tag Archives: love one another

by

Stick to the Plan

I, along with so many others in our community, are cheering on the Seattle Mariners, even though they are over 3000 miles away from our mountain home in North Carolina. Why? Because Cal Raleigh is our home town player!

Cal was born in Jackson County, North Carolina. He attended Smoky Mountain High School where I taught, and his mother was my co-worker. His father is the former head baseball coach at Western Carolina University located down the road in Cullowhee. We are all SO proud of Cal!

My husband Phil, a life long baseball fan, has been a bit disconcerted with my avid interest in baseball lately. We have visited 19 of the 30 major league baseball parks over the almost 50 years of our marriage, but my personal interest in baseball has been nominal at best. Then Cal was drafted by the Mariners. That changed everything.

Cal was a part of our Fellowship of Christian Athletes leadership team (along with his sister, Emma) at Smoky Mountain High School of which I was a faculty sponsor. Cal had his senior prom pictures taken in our yard (because of our vintage barn and rock walls). He was, and is, a fine young man and we are proud of his recent accomplishments and are cheering him and the team on in this run to the World Series.

My friends Carol and Alice Marie and I text each other during Mariner games and our college friends on the west coast are cheering for the Mariners as well. We have recruited fans!!! Carol and I attended Seattle Pacific University so we have dear friends in the Seattle area. I have NEVER watched baseball games this closely since our son Benjamin played Little League.

I have been listening to interviews with the players and a reoccurring theme post-season voiced by Cal, a team leader, and other Mariners players is – Stick to the Plan.

The pressure during playoff games is incredible. They face the reality of “win or go home”. There may be two outs, two on base, and a full count … what pressure at that moment!!! and then they say – “stick to the plan.” The ultimate plan is to win the World Series and each player has a role to play to get to that victory.

Stick to the Plan – sounds easy doesn’t it? Yet when the pressure is on, in a game and in life, it is difficult to stick to the plan when you feel like reaching the goal is all up to YOU. The key appears to be understanding your role, doing your very best to fulfill that role, and leaving the rest to the team.

For years Phil has drawn parallels between sports and our spiritual life in his teaching and preaching. So I am following his lead. I see a clear connection between “stick to the plan” and facing pressure spiritually.

  • know the plan – Matthew 22: 37-39 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
  • know my part in the plan – I John 4:7-8 7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
  • stick to the plan – don’t get distracted Hebrews 12:1-3 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. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. 3 Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.

Love the Lord our God

Love our neighbors

Fix our eyes on Jesus – the One who initiates and perfects our faith.

By God’s grace may we Stick to the Plan

by

No Place for Hatred!

DSC_1697-2

Busted!

15 Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them. I John 3:15 NLT

This Scripture hit me right between the eyes today as we discussed it in Bible study. “Hate” is such an ugly, debilitating emotion. Yet I recalled just a few days before expressing hateful feelings myself about a certain basketball team, a certain coach, and certain players. I do not know, nor have I met any of these people.

Jesus said –

21 “You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ 22 But I say, if you are even angry with someone,  you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.  Matthew 5:21-22

Dedicated fans (dare I say “rabid”?) are not the exclusive territory of any one team. When Phil was attending Asbury Theological Seminary soon after we married, I cleaned house for an 80-year-old lady who had court side seats in Rupp Arena. Mrs. Moore was a widow and had two season tickets that her husband, a doctor and Kentucky graduate, had obtained during the heyday of Adolf Rupp and the Kentucky Wildcats. She went to those games, often taking a niece or a friend. She told me once their children would inherit the right to those season tickets. Mrs. Moore was a calm, quintessential Southern lady – UNTIL HER WILDCATS were playing!

Similar stories can be shared about most teams with loyal followings. My older brother reminded me when we were reminiscing about the Cubs’ World Series win, that my father, although a Cubs fan, was most consistently for the underdog. (that has been the definition of a Cubs’ fan, hasn’t it?) Even his favorite team did not receive his backing if a little known school or losing program threatened a win. He always thought it was a thrill to see “David beat Goliath”.

There has been an increase in the past few years of fans who take pride, not so much in their team and how it is playing, but in how ugly, disgusting, and downright vulgar their cheering section is. Expletives are commonplace. For these fans, I use the term loosely, it is no longer about the game, but about their extreme behavior in the stands.

Our family has always loved sports and competition. Everyone has played on multiple teams except for myself – who has never been on a team. (Someone has to watch!)

Yet I am concerned about the shift in our culture from cheering for your team to win – to degrading the opposing team, win or lose. I hear comments from fans of all ages that talk about opposing teams, coaches, and players in such degrading terms that hatred is the result.

I have talked this way myself.

I am busted.

As in any situation, when Holy Spirit convicts me of sin, I must confess it, accept forgiveness, and CHANGE MY BEHAVIOR.

I need to do this to honor the Lord.

I need to do this to be a positive example to my grandchildren.

I look forward to watching some basketball in the coming days. I want to focus on cheering for the teams in my bracket.

There is no place for hatred!