Keeping the right perspective on sports.

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As a big fan of pro sports, a dad of kids that participate in sports, and former athlete myself, sports are a big part of my life. Sometimes too big. I struggle with the balance of enjoying something and at the same time not letting it occupy too much of my life or emotions. I shouldn’t be so emotionally involved in a Mavs or Cowboys game that it ruins my day, and I certainly shouldn’t be moved to anger over my 9th graders’ basketball game not going the way I think it could or should. Sadly, what should be a point of simple joy and a reason to thank God, can sometimes becomes an area of my life where the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) is not so evident. One resource that I have found to be particularly helpful in combating this struggle with sin is CJ Mahaney’s little booklet, Don’t Waste Your Sports.  I don’t know how many times I’ve read it, more than I should have to. But it always brings sports back into the right perspective.  I’ll let you read the book for yourself, but I’ll tell you that the premise is that sports, like everything else, are an opportunity for the glory of God (1Cor10:31). If our focus is for God to be glorified in the way we play, spectate, and coach sports, it takes care of soooo many things.

Here’s a link to the book. A very quick and easy read. More of a booklet than a book.

Matt Chandler on Grace Driven Effort…

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Grace bigger than sinThis past Sunday we continued our series in Romans in ch 6 discussing our struggle with sin in the life of a Christian.                       Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Romans 6:12

Pastor Matt Chandler offers some insights on how this effort can be lived out biblically, not by our will, but by God’s GRACE.  I loved this quote “The goal is this: Christ would become more beautiful and desirable than the allure of sin.”

Check it out the entire post HERE

 

Some great reading for 2014…

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In our message at GBF this past Sunday I gave several suggestions for books to read for 2014. Here are they are, with Amazon links:

Dug Down Deep, Joshua Harris — http://www.amazon.com/Dug-Down-Deep-Building-Truths/dp/1601423713/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388444252&sr=8-1&keywords=Dug+Down+deep

Major Bible Themes, 52 Vital Doctrines, Lewis Sperry Chafer — http://www.amazon.com/Major-Bible-Themes-John-Walvoord/dp/0310223903/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388444316&sr=8-1&keywords=major+bible+themes

Basic Christianity, John Stott — http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Christianity-John-Stott-ebook/dp/B008B9HSRU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1388444449&sr=8-2&keywords=basic+christianity+by+john+stott

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney — http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Disciplines-Christian-Donald-Whitney/dp/1615216170/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1388444628&sr=8-8&keywords=spiritual+disciplines+for+the+christian+life+Donald+Whitney

Humility, Andrew Murray — http://www.amazon.com/Humility-Andrew-Murray/dp/1480219029/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388444792&sr=8-1&keywords=humility+andrew+murray

Humility: True Greatness, CJ Mahaney — http://www.amazon.com/Humility-Greatness-C-J-Mahaney/dp/1590523261/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388444840&sr=8-1&keywords=humility+cj+mahaney

The Treasure Principle, Randy Alcorn — http://www.amazon.com/The-Treasure-Principle-Unlocking-LifeChange/dp/1590525086/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388444939&sr=8-1&keywords=the+treasure+principle+by+randy+alcorn

 Grace and peace,

Roy

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Preaching at Pine Hill ChurchPreaching at Pine Hill Church on the Navajo Reservation near Cuba New Mexico this past November.  Myself and three other men, partnered with our Native American brothers to collect, split, and deliver firewood. We had planned for about 30 people from our church family to join us at the end of the week to distribute more firewood as well as prepare and serve a traditional Thanksgiving meal to the Pine Hill community. However, icy weather and hazardous road conditions prevented them from coming.  Soooo it was up to us.  But my 3 missionary buddies (Troy Applegate, Justin Ferguson, Jerry Shuller) stepped up big time, recruited some Pine Hill helpers, and managed to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for around 80-90 people, while I preached the gospel that Sunday morning. We drove part of the way home in some nasty weather, but God is faithful, and we made it back to our families safe and sound.  We furthered some Christ centered relationships, served some folks in need, proclaimed God’s Word, and had a great time in the process. Below is a short video my friend Jason Carney put together.

Thanksgiving at Pinehill 2013 from Jason Carney on Vimeo.