I wanted to share some reflections as we are getting ready to kickoff year three.  Some things have changed, some things are the same.

We are still first and foremost about ministering to young men, challenging them to be sacrificial servants for Christ.  "Building leaders and servants through football" is still our motto.  When we break it down to key words, it is simple - SERVE.  HONOR.  LEAD.  Christians are called to be servants.  If you are of Christ, you were made to serve.  We are to honor the Lord and others in all we do, including in football.  We honor our teammates by giving our best.  We honor our opponents by playing within the letter and spirit of the rules.  We are to lead, take action and not wait around for someone else to do it.  If we are servants, honoring the Lord and others, then we are good leaders, contributing to the things of Christ.

Some things the Lord has shown me in the past year is that unity is of utmost importance.  God has taught me through my own sinful decisions, that by not putting a premium on relationships, we cannot be effective.  We are growing in unity and need to continue.  That is a challenge to all the teams and to all parents. 

Yet, is that not the heart of God?  (Jon 13:35) It certainly is, yet it runs so contrary to the fabric of American society.  Somewhere along the way, we have listened to marketing and advertisers that it is all about us.  Our churches are sickly because even there, it has become about "me" first.  We don't like it, we either complain or leave.  We need to put aside self in this league, and seek what is best for Christ.

We start the season much like the past two years with 7 high school teams.  We are getting teams stronger, through the commitment of more adults to help these programs.  We are branching out to other states and have some 78er teams back that we hope can become high school programs next year. 

Last year, we came into training camp thinking, "Are we going to be able to get our debt paid?"  We ended year one $23,000 in the red, and went into the second season $16,000 in the red.  We challenged the league through Project Bootstraps and through the efforts of the majority of the league, we paid it off!  We had a few lingering bills, but we headed into year 3 in much better shape.

Challenges lie ahead.  Who knows what the economy holds?  Who knows what happens with schools?  But our mission is still clear. 

Our biggest challenge is will we pull together?  I am asking every person to ask what they can do to help the league.  We are still a band of men and women, with full time obligations elsewhere, praying for God to help us get it done!  We need your help, your prayers, your patience and understanding. 

We have the best interest of the boys at heart and they need to see us devoted to one another in love, bound together in Christ, seeking to please Him.  We need your wholehearted commitment to glorify Christ above scoreboards, funds, perceived fairness, hurt feelings, and questioned policies.  This isn't meant to be pointed, it is meant to say, in the end, is not every issue secondary to showing the young men we are training that we are to love and submit to one another out of reverance for Christ? (Ephesians 5:21) Together, as we strive to walk together in this adventure, we will see God working in our midst!

There is a lot of complaining around our state and our country now-a-days.  I cannot say that it is undeserved.  There are a lot of terrible decisions being made, a lot of confusion, and a lot of uncertainty.  There are many without work, and with it, a lot of financial hardship.

Is there a silver lining to it all?  Could having our financial feet cut out from under us, get us, as individuals and as a society to trust Christ more?  In my work with corrections, I see every day a lot of hardship, a lot of lost souls.  But you know what I see as well?  I see people who are open and who are looking for answers.

The verse I have shared in earlier posts about seeking first his kingdom apply to being in such a situation.  But today, I also want to point out that there are more who are suffering and looking for answers, than there are laborers to send out to the fields for the harvest.  In other words, the needs are out there, but where are the Christians to meet the needs?  I am talking first about bringing the message of true freedom in Christ; the forgiveness of sins, a new life! 

God is about to bring an outstanding revival to Michigan.  When the church awakens to the need, and she will eventually wake up, we will see masses of people coming to Christ and we will see Christians revived, with a new vibrancy for the things of Jesus. 

If you don't know what this is like, just view the movie "The Blind Side" and I am sure many of you have seen it.  Go to the scene where Mrs. Tuohy is having lunch with her group of friends, and one of the friends makes the statement, "You are really changing that boy's life."  Her response though is the language of revival, "No, he is changing mine."  This is what happens when we are walking with the Savior and He is living in us, the scales come off, the hardness of heart softens, and we come alive!

We will return to our first love and we will see kids who come through this league leading the way.  Please make this your prayer. 

Partnering with you and Christ,

Boyd

Seeking Christ first can be a headscratcher at times...'how do I seek Christ first at home?' or "How as a teenager, do I seek God first?' These can be tough to answer.  The fact that we would ask the question in the first place though, is in itself a step in the right direction. 

It really comes down to letting God be God.  In other words, I am not in charge.  That is hard to swallow at times.  That can be really hard as Americans.  I know the church is in a struggle, because many Christians have a hard time admitting that we need to become less, so that he might become greater, in the spirit of John the Baptist (John 3:30)

We are seeking God first with this league by asking Him, "What do you want this league to look like?"  So what are we doing to put him first?  Looking for ways to attract more kids.  Looking for more ways to minister through our games.  Looking to partner with other ministries that are reaching teens.  Looking for ways to impact needy families.  So what is this looking like?

1.  Establishing an outreach coordinator for the league and for each team (Any volunteers out there?!)

2.  We are working on missions in some cities to outreach to needy areas.

3.  We have had talks with Upward, Child Evangelism Fellowship and Word of Life (Teen ministry) to work at partnering.  We hope to talk with AWANA and other ministries as well.

4.  We are linking with Prison Fellowship to hold a one day camp for the children of prisoners (July 14th).  Many of these kids are isolated and alone, and many have suffered abuse and neglect.

5.  We are striving to shift our coaches to "missionary" coaches, looking at their teams as a year round ministry, partnering with churches for prayer, support and accountability.

6.  Talking with foreign missionaries to establish partnerships through the vehicle of football.

Please join us in seeking His kingdom first, by praying for these 6 areas.  May we join in unified prayer, asking God to use this league for Him, and transform the boys involved as they learn this important lesson about seeking him first.  I will tell you in the future how I see the football side of things developing as we look to minister first.

For Christ,

Boyd

The Lord gives me consistent reminders that what is most important, even in football, is to seek first the glory of God and do whatever we are doing, for him.  I will share in the future the mandate that we have as Christians to use whatever it is the Lord puts our hand on, to do it for Him.  When we are doing something for Him and when we are seeking first his kingdom, we enter the "others" realm.  This is a place where we are concerned about others, their position, their condition, and how we are affecting others. 

We are in a war for souls.  Football, in the case of what we are trying to accomplish, can be a tool to draw young men and families closer to Christ, or for those who have not been redeemed, the opportunity for salvation.  But football, just for the sake of football, can be a diversion or a distraction, taking the eyes of young men off of God and others and on to self.  We can have young men pass through their youth in our midst and head into adulthood, just like others who are putting self first.  What a tragedy, when we have an opportunity to impact them for Christ!

And if our teams become more about themselves than the greater purpose, then we get things like bad on field behavior that puts a bad light on the name, the glorious name of Jesus.  Or when we become focused on self, or only about football, or more subtly, partially about Christ, but yet, having too strong of concern for self, we end up with less teams, or less players that we could have reached.  We have to continually ask, "are we seeking him first?"

In conclusion, I am more convinced than ever that God is doing things among us and will do great things in and through us.  He will do great things off the field, and on the field, as we take him at his word...seek FIRST His kingdom and His righteousness and all this will be given you as well!

For Him who is #1!

Boyd

and His righteousness and all this will be given to you as well.  Matt 6:33

It was nearly 20 years ago that I came to Christ.  At that time I was dropped out of college, in debt to the school before I could even get back enrolled let alone pay for classes, without a job and in debt for my utilities and just scrapping by for everything else.  When I came to Jesus on August 19, 1990, there was not a waiving of a magic wand that changed all of this.

What I did have was priceless though!  I had a Savior who I knew loved me.  I had eternal life and I had hope!  Matthew 6:33 is one of the verses that really stuck in my heart during that time.  When I could not point to anything, I could look to this promise.  My hope, and the Lord God did not disappoint, is that if I put Him first, he would help me to grow in His righteousness and he would take care of my temporal (earthly) needs.  

My heart's desire is that every kid involved in this league would see this verse come true in this very league.  Please pray with me that we would put the Lord first in this league.  My hope is that we would see great spiritual growth in our players and coaches.  My hope is that the Holy Spirit would give us unity, within teams, between teams, in families, with officials and fans.  Pray too that we would be successful in moving forward with an outreach focus at our games and within our communities.  I will let you know if future posts, just how many opportunities that Lord is bringing our way!

For Him who is Worthy!

Boyd