And A Prayer Meeting Broke Out

Another CHCS Hoops season is complete.  The Red guys and the Purple girls got the last "W" of the season - that means they won.

There was a lot of good playing by Teal and Purple in the first game.  I'm really glad Leah has not challenged me to a game of one-on-one; I'm not real sure how that game would come out.

The Red against Tan game was a "nail-biter!"  That means it was close.  Red came out on top by one point, and they had to come from just a little behind to win in the fourth period.  CJ was the man!  What a great game he played, and he kept his cool under pressure.  The neat thing was that CJ, Caleb and Andrew have been talkin' about winning a boys CHCS championship for three years, and they did it!  Good job Red guys!

Red against Tan, like I said was very close.  When a game is that close, it can also get very tense for the players, coaches and even us spectators, you know, us watching the game.  When the final buzzer sounded, our ref, Mr. Calhoun breathed a sigh of relief, a few of us wept, some of us laughed for joy, some hugged and some did all of the above and couldn't decide which one to stay with.

One guy had a job to do.  John P.  Yep, that's what his teammates called him this year.  He had decided on his own that a prayer after the game would be a good way to end the season.  He had Coach Sumner call all the boys together with the coaches, and he prayed a prayer of thanksgiving and blessing for both teams.  There were a lot of great feats performed in the gym that night, but that was the greatest and the hardest.  It made me very proud, in a godly way, to be related to Chapel Hill Christian School!

And of course it got me to thinkin' about how I am supposed to live my life.  One author has said, "With God, prayer is not everything, but everything is by prayer!"  Talking with God should be like breathing. Yes, our lives should be lived like a prayer.


Ephesians 6:18 may say it best.  John Stott, who just went home to see His Lord, called this passage the four alls of prayer.  Pray 1) all in the Spirit 2) at all times 3) with all kinds of prayers and requests 4) for all the saints.  


Thanks, John P., for letting a prayer meeting break out at the end of a basketball game.  Yep, it was in the Spirit at that specific time.  It was a kind of prayer and it was for us basketball saints.  You got all four!


Well, since we're talkin' about prayer, we better have a good one.  Dear Lord, thank You for making Yourself available to us 24/7!  And thank You that before, during and after even a game of hoops YOU ARE THERE!  In Jesus' name, Amen.


Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson 


PS Mrs. Calhoun wrote me today.  She is asking for prayer for Mr. Calhoun.  He is at the Cleveland Clinic and needs God's help in his body.  Let's do the "four alls" for our favorite referee, Mr. Calhoun.  

What's In A Name? - Again

What a blessing it is to have the Okoye Family from Nigeria as a part of our Chapel Hill Christian School Family!

In a past blog entry you may remember that I got pretty excited about the real meanings of the real names of Mr. Okoye and his sons Paul and Joseph (who attend our Green Campus).  I told you then that Mr. Okoye's name means the "power of God."  Joe's name means God is my strength, and Paul's name means God is my guide.

Yep, I get excited just thinkin' about the sermons that could be preached from those names!

And do you want to know what else?  The other day Mr. Okoye sent me an e mail that told me the other names in his family and what they mean.  You want to know, right?  Well, okay then, here we go!

Mrs. Okoye's name, Ifedinma, means "No one is like God's Son for He is good."  Mr. and Mrs. Okoye's first child's name is Ebelechukwu Nkiruku (not even gonna try to pronounce that one for ya); it means "God is my mercy, so my future is greater." Very cool, right?

Soooo, this has got to get us to thinkin'!  Let's put them all together, shall we?

If God is powerful and almighty, it is very important that He is also good.  If He is almighty, but not good, you and I are in trouble.  "Why?" you ask.  Because the Bible says that the penalty for disobeying God is death.  And guess what? You and I have sinned.

But GOOD NEWS!  God is good!  When His goodness and power come together, we get His mercy through His Son, Jesus.  But wait, there's more!  His mercy allows us to be in a friendship with our good and powerful God.  And in this friendship He gives us His strength and His guidance.  It's amazing; isn't it?  


It is so awesome; we better just stop and pray now!  Dear Lord, thank You for being powerful and good.  And thank You for giving us Your mercy, instead of wrath - and Your guidance and strength.  We praise You this morning!  In Jesus' name, Amen.


Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson




   

Got Soft Hands?

Felt pretty cool the other day.  Cool does not happen very often once you are over fifty years of age. Wanna know why I felt cool?  OK, I'll tell you.

The sixth grade boys let me in the pickup basketball game at recess.  Now the problem with cool here is that I might have become very uncool.  "Why?" you ask.  Well, first of all, I am slow.   Second, I cannot shoot anymore, and never could dunk.  Third, as I have mentioned before, there is no jump left in these legs.

Good news through - I can still pass.  I can make the "no-look-behind-the-back" pass.  Yes I can, if I can get the ball entirely around my waist.  Or a cute way to say it would be, "Get the ball around the entire 'tire'."  Still one problem though - someone has to be able to catch the "no-look-behind-the-back" in order for it to be cool.

So here's the way it played out.  I was dribbling with the right hand left of the key.  Martice was three feet from the hole and had shaken free of the man guarding him.  The ball went "around the tire" and into the air.  Martice made eye contact and shot his hands out and over his head.  The ball came to rest in Martice's soft hands, and he made the catch!  He proceeded to soar high from the ground and make a thunderous, 360-degree, tomahawk slam-dunk (OK, I made up that part)!  No, he actually scored from the left side on a two-foot layup.

The key to it all?  Soft hands.  Martice had to be able to catch that pass.  As always, Martice's catch got me to thinkin'.  

I remembered Judges 6.  "Really, what's in that chapter?" you ask.  Well, it's a good one to read; it's all about Gideon.  It seems God was trying to get the nation of Israel's attention, but no one was listening.  They were not "catching the nice lob pass" God was throwing to them.  He wanted them to tear down their idols and worship Him alone.

No one was listening, that is, until God talked to Gideon.  God was using the Midianites to call Israel back into a close friendship with Him.  When Gideon listened, and listened closely, and then obeyed,  God used him to miraculously defeat Midian's army and bring Israel back to Him.

So here's the question for us today.  Are you and I "catching" the things God is saying to us?  He is always talking to us through His Word, by His Holy Spirit, through His people (like teachers, pastors, parents and grandparents) and through things that happen in our lives.  Hard hands or a lack of attention cause a very special pass to bounce out of bounds.  God is speaking; are we listening?

Let's ask Him to help us!  Lord, make our hearts soft and open to all You want to say to us today.  We're listening!  In Jesus' name, Amen.


Proud of you,
Pastor Wilson