How could you?

I was watching some NFL this weekend. The St. Louis Rams were on and since they had not won a game I was going to turn them off and watch something else. They have been horrible... but when I saw the score, they were in the game. So I was compelled to see if they could finish it. Well they played brillantly and well enough to win making just enough plays and then found themselves down a couple points with little time left to go in the game. I thought what a shame, they played so much better, but then they started driving the ball down the field and with very little time on the clock were setting up for a 34 yard field goal. Now nothing is a gimme in the NFL but a 34 yarder is a good percentage chance. So they are getting the kicker out there and their right guard, Incognito ceased to be incognito. He was barking at an official about something. The commentators mentioned that he had been barking at a lot of people during the game but he went too far and drew a 15 yard unsportmanslike penalty. I was thinking, oh no he just made that field goal now a 49 yarder... not so automatic.

I drew a lesson from that. 1) know you surroundings, when you are about to win a game, and even more when you have lost so many in a row, be smart. Too many times we loose sight of our surroundings and our actions can have horrible impacts on the people around us. 2) Sieze the opportunities you are given. I wonder if they had missed that kick what the feeling of the team would have been toward Mr. Incognito. I am sure some would have been outright mad becuase he allowed an opportunity to be missed. The opportunities don't come along all that often so we ned to make sure we grab onto them and hang on. 3) Be considerate of those around you. Those other players worked too hard to loose that game, but becuase one player was being inconsiderate and not thinking about the others they almost lost.

Part of me is glad they won, I would have hated to be in his shoes and in his coaches shoes had that field goal missed... I hate to see anyone loose a job.

Uhmmm Me Caveman...

We have been studying men in the church using the book "Wild at Heart" as a lesson plan. What we have found is that the men in the church have been somewhat domesticated and tamed. Now couple that with the fact that one hundred or even two hundred or three hundred years ago you find men were indeed wild at heart. We were discussing are their truely wild men in the church today. I think that there are. Men who are willing to do things differently, men who are willing to explore the unknown. These men are indeed wild at heart. They pursue ministry where ministry doesn't belong. They work with people who quite frankly don't deserve to be worked with. They are willing to give of themselves to see others built up.
We need more wild men in the church. We need some more cavemen who are explorers, inventors and wild to forge new paths for the future.

Remember...

"In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire: THE A-TEAM."... music starts here... black hippy van jumps into the screen, its the A TEAM!!!

Remember Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith? No he wasn't the guy that ate people, he was the leader of the "A" Team. He was the one that always had a plan and said, "I love it when a plan comes together..."

What I always wondered is why did his plans always come together and mine don't? I mean I plan well, but there is always a contingency that comes up that no one thought of that just throws the wonkey wrench into the works... When the "Colonel" came up with a plan, there was always contingencies that came up and they were covered, most times...

I would just love to say one time... "I love it when a plan comes together...."