Legendary Grambling University football coach Eddie Robinson is widely recognized as one of the winningest coaches in history of college football. Robinson coached three American Football League players who would later be inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame:
The Kansas City Chiefs' Buck Buchanan; the Oakland Raiders' Willie Brown; and the Houston Oilers' Charlie Joiner.
Robinson coached James Harris, who with the AFL's Buffalo Bills became the first black quarterback in modern Pro Football history to start at that position in a season opener.
He also coached Packers defensive end and Hall of Famer Willie Davis and the Super Bowl XXII MVP, Redskins quarterback Doug Williams, who would ultimately succeed Robinson as Grambling's head coach in 1998.
Whenever the names of these students are mentioned, coach Robinson is always remembered as their mentor.
What an awesome testimony to a life which would become legendary in the anals of sports history....
But lets not concentrate soley on the football lessons each of these men learned from coach Robinson; he also mentored and nurtured them concerning lifes lessons which garnered success for each both on and off the field of play.
So then; as a professed disciple of Christ let me ask these questions:
How many people have you influenced since accepting Jesus as your Savior and Lord?"
How many lives have you touched, how many people have benefited from your being a blessing to them in one way or another?
How many view you as a godly and positive mentor to them?
Have you ever given any thought to what will be your legacy after you've been called from earth to glory? The word of God does give us a blue-print for legendary success
Matthew 5:16 reads - "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven...."
As we endevor to become imitators of Christ, we must be careful not to conduct ourselves in ways that dishonor God and His Kingdom Principles. Becoming an imitator of Christ requires that we love as He does, maintain constant communication with the Father, and demonstrate a life of holiness before others that brings Him glory.
Accomplishing these goals require that we must truly know who Jesus is in our life.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:7-10 - "7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. 8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings..."
Truthfully speaking, our goal is not to have people see us; but Christ living big on the inside of us.
We read throughout His earthly ministry that everything Jesus did; the many miracles He performed, lessons He taught; the life that He lived, was all done to glorify and bring attention to the Father.
Having that same attitude will gain the believer instant access to the Kingdom of God, and more importantly; it will aide in leading others to know and love Jesus.
Remember: As disciples of Christ we are charged to go and make disciples of others...Let the world see your shine!
Growing up we had a lot of well meaning statements or sayings which were no doubt initiated by some to make us wise. One of my all-time favorites was:
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me."
In one way that statement makes sense, but yet in another it's seen as foolish; allow me to explain...
My mother would always tell us that when a person or persons make un-true and negative comments about us we should always remember that we are the children of God and He never makes junk; in fact, we are who He predestined us to be.... "Agree?"
So how do we apply that same thought to those moments when we're verbally threatened, berated, or caught-up in the heat of an argument. How should our psyche respond or react to the verbal fits of rage aimed at us from those whom we love and respect?
Jesus said in John 6:63 - "the words I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are life..."
The same holds true for the words we send in each others direction.
When one person belittles another with harsh words the reaction takes on a plethora of forms:
1. Anger and retaliation
2. Low self esteem
3. Deep depression
4. Negative reinforcement
5. Oppression
6. Self-hatred and hatred of others
7. Bodily harm and/or murder
The list is lengthy because words take on a life form of their own.
In so many cases people are known to use their tongue as a dangerous weapon which can kill a persons influence and assassinate their character...James 3:6 states:
"...and the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell."
What we say out of our mouths is also an identifier of our true nature and character. Proverbs 15:1-2 says; "A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness."
It's always easy to incite an argument, make snide remarks or simply just gossip about someone, however in the life of a true disciple it should be even easier to avoid bickering by speaking positive and encouraging words to others.
Even so; our children are very deeply effected by the words we use. It pains me to hear a parent using profanity around and against their children, my heart aches each time I hear a parent or any adult refer to a child by using profane and negative titles.
We must be very careful when labling our young.
Mom, haven't you realized that each time you say to your son; "you're just like your jail-bird dad" you've just discouraged the scientist in him and set that young man on a course which leads to a life of crime?
Dad, don't you understand that when you constantly say to your daughter; "your mamma was no good and you're just like her" that you've just murdered a world renound educator, and in-turn created a drug addict who prostitutes herself for a fix?
Hebrews11:1-3 (NLT) reads; "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. But by faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen."
Simply put, God spoke positively and the world existed... and in His word we are instructed to employ all wisdom in teaching and admonishing one another... (ref. Colossians 3:16)
One of my favorite movies is "The Outlaw Josey Wales". In the movie there is a scene where Josey boldly rides into the village of the feared Comanche chief Ten Bears and the ensuing dialogue takes place...
Josey: You be Ten Bears?
Ten Bears: I am Ten Bears.
Josey: (spits tobacco) I'm Josey Wales.
Ten Bears: I have heard. You're the Gray Rider. You would not make peace with the Blue Coats. You may go in peace.
Josey: I reckon not. Got nowhere to go.
Ten Bears: Then you will die.
Josey: I came here to die with you. Or live with you. Dying ain't so hard for men like you and me, it's living that's hard; when all you ever cared about has been butchered or raped. Governments don't live together, people live together. With governments you don't always get a fair word or a fair fight. Well I've come here to give you either one, or get either one from you. I came here like this so you'll know my word of death is true. And that my word of life is then true. The bear lives here, the wolf, the antelope, the Comanche. And so will we. Now, we'll only hunt what we need to live on, same as the Comanche does. And every spring when the grass turns green and the Comanche moves north, he can rest here in peace, butcher some of our cattle and jerk beef for the journey. The sign of the Comanche, that will be on our lodge. That's my word of life.
Ten Bears: And your word of death?
Josey: It's here in my pistols, there in your rifles. I'm here for either one.
Ten Bears: These things you say we will have, we already have.
Josey: That's true. I ain't promising you nothing extra. I'm just giving you life and you're giving me life. And I'm saying that men can live together without butchering one another.
Ten Bears: It's sad that governments are chiefed by the double-tongues. There is iron in your word of death for all Comanche to see. And so there is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron, it must come from men. The words of Ten Bears carries the same iron of life and death. It is good that warriors such as we meet in the struggle of life... or death. It shall be life.
(he takes his knife and cuts his hand. Josey does the same and they grasp each others hand.)
These two men understood fully well that they each had the ability to both kill and be killed soley based on the myths and ideas of their perspective cultures; yet they chose their words wisely, and were equally wise enough to see the good in both cultures, which lead them to form a covenant that would establish a positive and productive peace between the two.
The moral of this message is a simple one:
First: Always be slow to become angry and refuse to resort to using harsh words against each other.
Second: Refrain from placing negative labels on your children, instead use encouraging words that lead them to fulfilling their God given destiny.
Third: Resist gossip and falsehoods about others at all cost, for those whom you think ill of or speak negative about just may be your "predestined assignment."
...and the peace of God which passeth all understanding will keep your heart and mind, through Christ.
When I was a young aspiring athelete the one thing that I never shyed away from was competition. Any person(s), or team that was deemed to be the best at my level automatically became my target and my goal. I've always believed in the old adage, "if you want to be the best; you have to beat the best"... My competetive nature eventually spread to other challenging contests such as chess, cards, checkers and many other board games. The bottom line being that I simply wanted to win; a loss or tie was not an option for me.
Today I still loathe the thought of losing, but there is one arena inwhich my competetive nature will not rear it's head; and that arena is, "The Body of Christ".....you know; Church.....
Oh...you say the church is not an arena or a place of competetion?
Well incase you haven't noticed, the church as we once knew it has changed...."Drastically".... Sure, services are still being conducted regulary on Sunday mornings, and evenings at many churches. Pastors, Elders and Ministers are becoming more learned spending many hours studying the Bible and in the presence of God seeking a "Rhema" word for their respective congregations. There are still weekly Bible studies and prayer sessions being held, however attendance is often low. Those who are responsible for carrying the Gospel still labor Sunday after Sunday to deliver a message they hope will lead their membership on a path to righteousness, and effect change within the community and the world.
But let's face some very discouraging truths here....
Somewhere between "Thy kingdom come and Thy will be done" the purpose of not forsaking ourselves the chance to assembly together for the sake of the cross and winning the lost has developed into a competition of Olympic size proportions...
Let's begin with the first category:
- Member Enrollment aka. "Recruiting": First let me start by saying that there is absolutely nothing wrong with desiring to see your church membership grow; I believe that every congregation should seek to reach every soul in the community that their assigned to. But when churches purposely venture into other areas with a message that says we're better; and post billboards advertising their services directly across from another congregation, it boasts of arrogance, and speaks very loudly to their true motives. While the race isn't to the swift or the strong, its also not a contest of who's better or who can acquire the most members. Every Called Out Assembly is commanded to make disciples, while also being the life support and blessing to the community....If you've enlisted into this warfare to compete against another pastor, preacher, or congregation, then you have lost focus on your God given assignment.
- Choir Competitions aka, "Church Idol": Taking pride in the skill and anointing of your choir's and praise teams is nothing unusual, nor is there anything wrong with it. Music plays a very important role in our praise and worship service. Colossians 3:16 clearly states; "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and adminishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts To The Lord... So how is it that every single year church choirs are encouraged to compete in nationwide contests to name the best choir in the country while winning an enormous monetary prize?
Is this how we are to demonstrate the joy we have in our Lord and Savior, or am I just being much too puritanical?
I think not...
Those songs of praise and worship are not to be trivialized to the level of obtaining earthly gain in a choir competition. Praise belongs to the King of kings, and Lord of lords. I submit to you that when Jehoshaphat led the kingdom of Judah against their enemies putting the singers on the front line of battle, it was not for the purpose of competing within the kingdom for a prize. This warfare was of a spiritual nature and those songs of praise that went up before the Lord prompted Him to fight their battle
(Ref. 2nd Chronicles 20)
The church is failing in it's duty to spread the gospel, it's failing in holiness, we're losing the "Five Fold Ministry" of the church and concentrating on competing from within the body...
We must realize that every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every house divided against itself shall not stand...(Matthew 12:25) We are not called to be in competition with each other; we were chosen to stand together and prevent the gatesof hell from prevailing, separate ourselves from the way of the world, and demonstrate what it means to live victorious in Christ...
Get Back On Post Soldiers of the Lord!"
We are in it, to win it, by holding up the Light; not by beating up on each other for the root of all evil.
