I
spent most of March and some of April on the road doing basketball
shows. Most of the shows in March were for Upward Basketball
Award Banquets. I was in Arkansas, Illinois, Texas (twice),
Georgia and Maryland. It was a great time and I was able to
share Christ with many children during this time.
Trinidad
and Tobago
Ken Kirkwood, Jon Weitz, Ross Haverhals, Rich Ratliff and myself went to
Trinidad and Tobago to minister for eight days in May. It was an awesome
time and we were able to do many outreaches while there including games,
school assemblies and clinics. We even found some time to go snorkeling!
We were able to play the #1 and #3 men’s teams in Trinidad. With no subs,
we were able to learn about humility!!! They were very good and they pretty
much worked us over! We didn’t know about this beforehand but a major TV
news cameraman was there and he asked about who we were and why we were
there. That was when I hit them with the Gospel! He said that he
heard we were “a religious group” and wanted to know more about that. I
shared about Hoops of Hope and that we were there to promote a relationship
with the Lord and not a “religion”. The next night we watched the news
and they edited everything out except the Gospel part! Praise God, this
report went all over the Caribbean! Even when we are getting kicked around
the court, God can use it for His good.
What
God is Teaching
One of the neatest things about this team was the unity. I knew all but
one of the guys before the trip. We had a great time together and the guys
were very easy to lead. Since all the men were married, I felt the Lord
was leading us to study Ephesians 5:22-32, “ Wives, submit to your husbands
as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the
head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church
submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself
up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through
the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain
or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way,
husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his
wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds
and cares for it, just as Christ does the church--for we are members of
his body. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be
united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound
mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one
of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect
her husband.” (NIV)
One
of the things we noticed about this passage was that “love
your wives” is mentioned quite a few times. It’s as if
the Lord knows that men are a little slow and He wants us to “love
your wives” and He really means it! But we think, what
if I am mad at my wife, or don’t like what she is doing? Oh
yea, “love your wives”!
God
has been teaching me a great deal through my personal quiet
time. I had been going through a time of questioning my ministry
and myself. I began reading Ecclesiastes in order to find some
answers. This book was written by Solomon (David’s son). He
was known as the wisest and richest of all of Israel’s kings.
Solomon did a study of all that life had to offer. He looked
at work, entertainment, money, relationships and knowledge.
Here is what he found out after weighing all the facts. “Meaningless!
Meaningless! says the Teacher. ‘Everything is meaningless!’ Now
all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear
God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of
man. For God will bring every deed into judgement, whether
it is good or evil.” Ecc. 12:8, 13-14 (NIV)
That
really sums it up for me! If you feel like you have been just
floating through life with no meaning and not really committed
to the Lord, I have a personal challenge for you. It is in
Ecc. 11:4, “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever
looks at the clouds will not reap.” (NIV) This means don’t
wait for the perfect time to give your heart and life to the
Lord. Now is the time! Just confess your sins to God and ask
Him to take over your life and He will! We aren’t promised
another day, so don’t wait!
Prayer
Requests
• Details for the seven weeks of basketball camp in Colorado and California
• My eyes to be 20/25, they are now 20/40
• Have at least one full-time staff to join HOH
• Debbie Wadle’s legal proceedings
• Gracia Burnham (American missionary in the Philippines) was wounded and her
husband and a Filipino nurse were killed after more than a year of being held
hostage. They paid the ultimate price of sharing God’s love to a lost world.
There
are many things for which to praise the Lord. We were able
to purchase a used van that can be used for taking the team
to prison games. Also, Fellowship of Christian Athletes,
Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel and HOH have purchased nine
heavy-duty basketball goals to be used for big events. They
have to be transported from Florida by one of the FCA board
members in July. Please pray for all the details of that
move.