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Reasons Why People Do Not Like Sports

September 30, 2011 by Leave a Comment

[from Francis J. Kong's PhilStar Column dated Sept24, 2011]

I was working out in a gym one time, and standing beside me was a tall guy who was smiling at me. Apparently he recognized me. I smiled back and said, “You’re so tall you must be a basketball player.” He replied, “Oh yes. I do play once in a while.”

The gym attendant looked at me with amazement. He couldn’t understand what had just happened. When the tall guy walked away, the attendant asked me, “Sir, you don’t follow basketball do you?”

“Unfortunately not,” I said, “Why?”

And the attendant replied, “That gentleman is a professional basketball player in the country! He’s a superstar – and you don’t know him?! Tsk, tsk, tsk…”

The funny thing is, I used to play basketball for my high school varsity team, until one day I realized that basketball is not for midgets like me. I’m 5’7” and a half.

I remember somebody saying that he doesn’t like sports. “I’ve had it! I quit that business once and for all,” he ranted. “You won’t be able to get me near one of those places ever again!” Here are some reasons why people won’t go to sports games:

Every time I watch a game, people ask me for money!

The people with whom I had to sit didn’t seem very friendly!

The seats are too hard and not at all comfortable!

I went to many games, but the coach never came to call on me!

The referee made a decision I didn’t agree with!

Some games go into overtime, and I get late going home!

The band played some numbers that I’ve never heard before!

It seems that games are scheduled when I want to do other things.

I was taken to too many games by my parents when I was growing up.

I don’t want to take my children to any games because I want

them to choose for themselves what sport they like best.

I suspected that I was sitting with some hypocrites – they really came to see their friends and what they’re wearing rather than to see the game.

[By now you must be smiling. These are the same ridiculous reasons why people don't go to church. You can read the whole thing HERE.]

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Why Our Churches Matter

June 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Bill Hybels, in his book Courageous Leadership, eloquently states the unique position of the church in our society:

What I discovered [in Washington D. C.] was not how powerful [our elected officials] are, but how limited their power really is. All they can actually do is rearrange the yard markers on the playing field of life. They can’t change a human heart. They can’t heal a wounded soul. They can’t turn a hatred into love. They can’t bring about repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace. They can’t get to the core problem of the kid I saw in the airport and millions of others like him.

I scrolled through every other option I could think of, considering what they have to offer. Businessmen can provide sorely needed jobs. Wise educators can teach useful knowledge of the world. Self-help programs can offer effective methods of behavior modification. Advanced psychological techniques can aid self-understanding. And all of this is good. But can any of it truly transform the human heart?

I believe that only one power exists on this sorry planet that can do that. It’s the power of the love of Jesus Christ, the love that conquers sin and wipes out shame and heals wounds and reconciles enemies and patches broken dreams and ultimately changes the world, one life at a time. And what grips my heart every day is the knowledge that the radical message of that transforming love has been given to the church.

That means that in a very real way the future of the world rests in the hands of local congregations like yours and mine. It’s the church or it’s lights out. Without churches so filled with the power of God that they can’t help but spill goodness and peace and love and joy into the world, depravity will win the day; evil will flood the world. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Strong, growing communities of faith can turn the tide of history. They can! Don’t bother looking elsewhere. The church is it.

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We Are Not Sitting Ducks

June 3, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Could it be that I’ve been reading Matthew 16: 18 wrong all these years? The full verse says:

“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

I’ve always thought that this means that the church will be in the defensive, that hell and the entire force of darkness will try and attack the church to destroy it.

Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger in their book Simple Church is saying the exact opposite. They say that the church is the one doing the offensive and the gates of hell will be run over because it is too weak to stand against the onslaught of the church.

The idea here is that:

1) No one ever wins by playing defense. It’s the offensive that does the most damage.

2.) It’s hell that has prisoners that need freedom. In order to free those prisoners, the church must do the attacking.

3.) The verse says “the gates” of hell will not prevail. Gates don’t attack, they just stand where they’re at.

4.) Nowhere in the Bible do you find a verse that indicates we are sitting ducks.

If Rainer and Geiger is right, then I just realized something very powerful tonight. This actually changes a lot of things in my perspective.

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How to Fight a Bully

October 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
From the LORD comes deliverance.
Psalms 3: 6- 8

I remember this verse when I was still pastoring a church in Ormoc seven years ago. I was just a kid then, barely out of college and in many ways, clueless on how to go about the heavy responsibility that was placed on my shoulders. One of our neighbors threatened me because he didn’t like us doing praise and worship in church. I was terrified.

I turned to the men in the church to help me deal with the situation but I realized that as pastor, it was mainly my problem and I needed to deal with it myself. I remember going home that night feeling so small and powerless. I was just 22 for crying out loud!

The following day, I played Paul Wilbur’s song that exactly quoted this verse, turned up the volume of my stereo and cried my eyes out in a desperate prayer for strength. I could never forget the sense of relief and the faith of God arising in my heart that day. It gave me courage to confront the person, drag him to the barangay chairman for formal hearing and settled everything once and for all.

Over a period of less than four months, this person became my friend and good neighbor. He never attended our church but he also didn’t bother us again. Amazing.

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Slow Motion Miracle

June 28, 2010 by 2 Comments

As we concluded our ONE series in church yesterday, I can’t help but be amazed at what God has done in our victory group. Few months ago, we would never have thought that the new believers in our group would be so fired up the way they are today. When I dragged two of them to the Discipleship Training few weeks ago, it was not my intention to “push” them into something. I simply didn’t know how to get to the venue of our training so Jethro escorted me there while Tyrone came along so he could pay for his ticket for the World Conference. We didn’t plan what was gonna take place there.

Silly me, I should have known that God has better plans than my coincidences. When Tyrone and Jethro heard that they too can make disciples, something in them just clicked. I was there when it happened. We were seated together on the same table when we did the training excercises. At first I just noticed that they were having a great time but I wasn’t really paying them much attention because I wanted them to mingle with others. After the training, we boarded a jeep and while waiting for other passengers, we talked about what we just learned. That’s when I noticed something. Tyrone told me how surprised he was that he can have this opportunity to do one to one and make a difference  in the lives of other people.

I sat there dumbstruck. The only words that came out of my mouth were, “Yeah, but isn’t that what we’ve been telling you guys since you got into the group months ago?” Tyrone’s answer astounded me. “Yes but it feels like I just heard it for the first time now!” When I heard this, I suddenly hopped out of the jeep and blurted out, “Let’s go eat, I’m hungry!”

And so we talked and talked about what the training was all about and how they could be part of what the Lord is doing in Caloocan. Never have I seen such fire and eagerness in a layperson’s eyes in all my 18 years of being Christian. You should be there to know what it’s like, the look of God’s revelation literally radiating from them while they were talking. I remember the many times I chuckled and shook my head in disbelief at what was unfolding before me. Two people whose lives are ignited by God’s passion to reach out.

When I got home, I was excited but cynicism also began to kick in. “Of course it was the training that fired them up. It will die down in a few days.” What an obscene, faithless thought! But I prayed for them and chose to believe that God was doing something really special.

Almost a month has already passed since the training. My negative ideas proved to be wrong; these people are really growing fast in the Lord. When I saw Tyrone yesterday, I saw a man so different from what he was months ago. He is now serving as one of the ushers and upcoming leaders who took sign up forms from people who wanted to join victory groups. He’s got a few people to text this week and hopefully form a victory group for them in a few weeks time.

If I was already surprised at what God has been doing in his life, nothing prepared me for what happened yesterday during our victory group meeting. When it was his turn to speak, he spoke with such power and anointing that one of the tough guys in our group shed a few teardrops. Even I was so amazed at him. Hasn’t it just been months when I first saw him walk into one of our services? Barely a month ago, I stood with him in prayer for something he’s been fighting against all his life.

And now this…

Lord, thank you for the privilege of seeing this slow motion miracle happening right in front of me. I’m grateful beyond words.

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