It was the fourth quarter of my son's big game of his senior year against their arch rival. Great game! Three minutes left but they were losing by twelve with four minutes to go. Their coach was about to throw in the towel and put in the bench. I was sitting behind the bench watching this moment about to unfold. Suddenly I yelled out from my bleacher seat...YOU DON'T GIVE UP! YOU DON'T GIVE UP!
Next time down the court my 6ft8' son hits a deep three pointer! YOU DON'T GIVE UP! Turnover. Back down the court my son hits another deep three pointer, and it's a six point game! I yell out again...YOU DON'T GIVE UP! A missed shot, and back down the court. Then from deep in the corner, with fifty seconds to go in the game, my son hits yet another three pointer! YOU DON'T GIVE UP! YOU DON'T GIVE UP, I yelled! A three point game with little time to go!
I sure wish I could tell you they came back and won the game, but I can't! Down by three, with less than ten seconds to go, he steals the ball and then...dribbles the ball off his foot...out of bounds...game over! But I have to tell you this ... I have never been so proud of a kid or a team as I was at that moment. They didn't win the game...but THEY DIDN'T GIVE UP! Life lesson learned!! GOD JUST WANTS OUR VERY BEST!
Now don't tell me you haven't! But tell me the truth.
Have you ever wanted to give up!
Throw in the towel!
Say I'm out of here!
If you haven't you're either a not telling the truth, or just haven't lived long enough to realize that the Christian life is not a sprint. It's a marathon with high hurdles! Facing the Giants Movie - "Death Crawl"
When you do get to that point in your life...and you will... I want you to take a moment and think what this life and this world would be like if Jesus had made that decision to give up! We would be still lost in our sins, with no hope of eternal life and no help for this life we now live and even endure! There would be no joy, only phoney moments of laughter masquerading the hidden pain beneath the plastic smiles!
But Praise God... HE DIDN'T GIVE UP! He chose to endure the cross because He loved people like you and me and was totally obedient to His Father above! So no matter where you are today I urge you to take one more step! And as you do just humble yourself and cry out...I need you Lord! You know you can't make it without Him! The good news is this... for the believer in Christ... He's just one step away! NEVER GIVE UP!
Watch this and you will appreciate not only the music, but the Lord he serves with passion! Pray that we can make it happen this Spring! Mike Goin AGF member, brother plays with him and has blessed us at Grace!
In junior high school I played the clarinet for one reason only. Just to sit next to a girl I liked. She was good so I had to be good too or I would have sat in the back row. But what I really wanted to play was the sax! Today we are both married with kids, but the love of the sax is still with me. What if I had just taken the time. Maybe today I could play like Greg Vail. Gifted and a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ!
God probably knew I would get the big head and never follow Him, so I will just rejoice with Greg and others who play instruments so beautifully for the glory of the Lord!
I love sax players from Grover Washington, to Kenny G, and so many others, but playing "my instrument" for the Lord is so special! May God Bless all of them and allow them to continue to play for Him. Maybe in heaven I will finally get my chance to play for the Lord as well. Enjoy the sounds!
From August In Touch magazine by Dr. Charles Stanley
"Right timing is critical in a believers walk with the Lord. However trusting His timing in important decision, uncertain direction, or pressing needs is extremely difficult when everything within us cries, "Do something!" Because we want action, waiting for God seems so passive.
To wait for the Lord means to pause for further instruction while remaining in the present circumstance. It is a purposeful, expectant focus on God- a choice to be actively still and quiet in our heart, listening for His voice and watching for His intervention. The wait is not for events to work out as we want, but rather for God's will to be done. The Lord's voice often comes to us through His Word. Because this is His instruction book for our lives, quiet meditation on Scripture is essential. Sometimes when I read my Bible, a passage will jump out at me. The guidance I'm seeking is right there, almost as if it has my name written on it.
At other times, God will use changed circumstances to redirect us, or He will motivate another person to give guidance, However, always remember that any voice offering us direction must align with the Lord's will as revealed in His Word; otherwise, it is not from Him.
The first step in waiting for the Lord is submission to His choice of how and when He will act. What are you hoping God will do? Are you seeking Him or the thing you want from Him? Because He alone knows what is best for you, let go and trust His choice."
When I served as Associate Chaplain of the Cleveland Cavaliers the on player that stood out to me above all was Mark Jackson of the NewYork Knicks. He was so serious about Jesus Christ. Most players who come to Chapel really love the Lord. They take the time before the game to sit through a 15 minute message with players from both team, but only a few go on to be Christian leaders on their team and city.
Mark would always greet me with a hug, and come early just to talk a little more about Jesus. Along with Alan Houston and Charlie Ward they formed them a powerful witness for Christ. To see that Mark is now a Pastor is a thrill to behold.
He is also a key NBA analyst for ABC-TV, but his love for the Lord cannot be hidden. Mark was more than just a great player, he was a great man with a great wife by his side, and a great God. I pray the Lord will continue to use him in a powerful way in His new calling! Would you pray for him too.
Miles McPherson is the President of Miles Ahead and Senior Pastor of the Rock Church in San Diego, California. As a nationally known speaker, Miles is viewed as an expert on relevant issues such as teen pregnancy, drug use, suicide and gangs, as well as dynamic church leadership and outreach strategies.
Miles was born in Brooklyn, New York in March of 1960. The second oldest of five children, Miles grew up in Long Island, New York with a solid family background. As with most teenage boys, he had dreams of becoming a professional football player. He also had the desire to learn. After playing football in high school, he attended the University of New Haven where he majored in engineering while playing football. Miles was the university's first player to achieve All-American honors and be drafted into the NFL; he attained his dream and played as a defensive back for the San Diego Chargers.
His life began to spiral out of control. Two years into his professional football career, Miles was battling a drug problem and living a very immoral lifestyle. Fellow Chargers teammate Sherman Smith approached McPherson and asked him, "If you were to die right now, would you go to heaven?" It took over six months for Miles to answer that question. Having been up all night doing cocaine and realizing that his life was empty, Miles asked Christ to come into his life in April 1984. The change in his life was dramatic and instant.
Soon after his conversion, Miles began attending Horizon Christian Fellowship in San Diego and reaching out to teenagers. He also began doing motivational speaking with the Chargers' organization. In September 1986, within a week after retiring from football, McPherson went to work as a Youth Pastor for Horizon and enrolled in Azusa Pacific University's School of Theology. He received his Master's of Divinity degree in 1991, and in 1992, founded Miles Ahead, a non- profit organization that reaches out to the world's youth with the Gospel.
The Rock Church held its first services on February 27, 2000 with 3,364 people in attendance. The congregation grew quickly, generating the need for increased services. Currently over 7,500 people attend one of the Rock's six weekend services. The church is has now into its permanent home.
Between his crusades, speaking engagements and Rock Church services, Miles has spoken to over 465,000 people and seen over 43,000 people make decisions for Christ. Miles and his wife Debbie have three children and reside in San Diego, California.
I remember reading Iain Murray's excellent biography of Jonathan Edwards. I found much to identify with, especially the personal heartaches Edwards endured as pastor of the same church for twenty-three years. After all that time his flock voted him out.
I've been the pastor of Grace Community Church now for forty wonderful years. While I don't envision a fate like Edwards's, I know what it is to be the subject of controversy, both inside and outside the church.
Have I ever contemplated leaving the pastorate? Admittedly, there are times when even the prospect of digging ditches for a living has a certain appeal. But I know God has called me to be a pastor, and I have never seriously considered bailing out.
Someone once suggested that I could leave my church if I wanted to and still have a fruitful ministry preaching on the Bible-conference circuit and through radio, thereby avoiding the hassles of leading a church. I could never do that. In fact, I can think of at least ten reasons I remain committed to church ministry.
1. The church is the only institution Christ promised to build and bless. He said, "I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it" (Matthew 16:18). Christ's purpose in the world is to call to Himself a redeemed people who would live to the praise of His glory. He is building the church. In that I take great comfort and confidence, thankful for having a small part in our Lord's great work.
2. The corporate functions of the Body all take place in the church. The church is where God has ordained His people to meet together to celebrate the Lord's Supper, to worship Him, and to encourage and edify one another. It's my joy to call God's people to worship, just as the psalmist said, "Come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand" (Psalms 95:6-7).
3. Preaching is the chief human means God uses to dispense His grace. The apostle Paul commanded Timothy to "preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2). I have the privilege each Sunday of proclaiming God's message to His people - a message of grace, by which God saves people and transforms lives.
4. I can be consumed with study and communion with God. There's a public side to me that the congregation sees, but there's a private side to me that only God knows. While I might preach three hours a week, I study thirty. And those hours spent each week in God's presence are a high and holy privilege.
5. I am directly responsible to God for the lives of the people He has given me to shepherd. Teaching on the radio and the internet, I'm not as personally accountable for how people apply God's Word. But as the pastor-teacher of a congregation, I have a relationship with my people like that of a shepherd and his sheep. I watch over their souls as one "who will give an account" (Hebrews 13:17).
6. I am also accountable to the people in my church. Everything is exposed to them: my life and family, my personal strengths and weaknesses - everything. I cherish that accountability. It is a constant encouragement for me to reflect Christ in everything I say and do.
7. I love the challenge of building an effective leadership team from the people God has put in the church. When someone starts a business, he can hire anyone he wants. It's another thing entirely to build with the people God has called, when few of us are wise, mighty, or noble by the world's standards (1 Corinthians 1:26). God reveals the greatness of His power by demonstrating that the world's nobodies are His most precious resources.
8. The pastorate embraces all of life. I share the joy of parents over the birth of a child, as well as the pain of children over the death of a mother or father. I help celebrate at a wedding; I also offer comfort at a funeral. There is an inevitable unpredictability that accompanies my calling - an incredible adventure may begin at any given moment. It is at those times that the pastor goes beyond his sermon to stand in the gap for God in the lives of His people.
9. The rewards in this life are marvelous. I feel loved, appreciated, needed, trusted, and admired - all a result of being an instrument God has used in the spiritual progress of His people. I know my people pray for me and care deeply about me. I owe a debt of gratitude to God for that. I am honored to be a channel through which the grace of God, love of Christ, and comfort of the Holy Spirit can be made real to people.
10. I'm afraid not to be a pastor. When I was eighteen, the Lord threw me out of a car traveling seventy miles an hour. I landed on my backside and slid 110 yards on the pavement. By the grace of God I wasn't killed. As I stood up on that highway, having never lost consciousness, I committed my life to serving Christ. I told Him I would no longer resist what He wanted me to do, which was to preach His Word.
God has called me to be a pastor-teacher "for the equipping of the saints for the work of service" (Ephesians 4:12). The reward of being a pastor far surpasses any frustration I will ever feel in ministry. And so I say with the apostle Paul, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14).
