I feel blessed that over the years I have had the pleasure of watching in person my sons participate in their sporting endeavors. From the days of Little League baseball and soccer to school sports, travel basketball, and travel volleyball. One of the best things my father gave me was his presence at all my events. My dad’s presence was stronger than most of what others tried to communicate to me about the way I should play the game. It was his presence that built confidence, a sense of genuine care, and that it was ok that I made mistakes and that he was present if I needed to talk about it or learn from it. The best part about my dads presence was that I was the most important person in his schedule for that time, not just another athlete he happened to see play when he could.  The demonstration of my father’s commitment to my athletic endeavors created that desire to provide for my own children. While I have coached both of my sons on different occasions, I have found it most rewarding to simply be there….be there to watch them grow in character…be there to watch their sport development…be there to watch them experience the enjoyment of playing a sport of their choice.  
Through the years I have often arrived at games with much excitement for the game and my child’s performance in the game. There have been times I knew my child would play well against a particular co-competitor and there were times when I was anxious as to how he would respond. Of course, the times in which I knew he would do well meant for a better mental and spiritual process for me. It was the times in which he struggled that created more “begs” to God than He probably wanted or cared about over a sporting match.
 
Recently, I was unable to travel with my son’s team. It was a back-to-back weekend travel schedule and I was there for the previous weekend, but due to work schedule and weather, I was not present for this series of games. What we know about being present is that the unknown is removed. You are aware of the game day operations, the teams participating, the refs, the coaches, and the interactions of the players and fans. It’s as though you can control (at least attempt to) what’s going on during the process. But, when you are absent, the mental faculties go crazy. You spend most of the time trying to create specific scenarios, interactions, and reasons for good or bad play. It really becomes an anxious event for you (the reason is its your child!). The unknown creates worry of failure while playing, fear of disrespecting officials and players, and the made up emotion of hurt for the team if they loose. There is also the emotion of a false sense of joy, excitement, and adrenaline that we create as we daydream about them winning. The unknown really created a roller coaster emotional experience.
 
On this particular weekend, I felt as though I was calm on the first day of the tournament. I awakened, prayed and asked God to bless the team and give them a great experience (of course He knew I meant wins).  As the day went on, I would hear reports of the team losing one match, a second match, a third match that did include a win, and finally a fourth match. What happened? After all I prayed for God to bless the team. And by the sounds of my sons voice that night, he wasn’t experiencing any blessings.
 
Where does a father (parent) go from here? I wasn’t able to help him process all the events that would have caused such mishap. While he did share some wisdom with me regarding reasons for the losses, I found myself hurting that night for him and his teammates. The best I could do at the moment was go to my ever-trusty sports motivation quotes and send him two quotes to think about and tell him I love him. Meanwhile, I lay in bed praying to God for his experience the next day.
 
The next day arrived and I was up and ready.  As a father struggling how to integrate my faith in Christ and sport, and share that with my son, I found guidance from bible regarding the mercies of the Lord being new everyday and sent it off to him in social media format. Just letting him know that today was a new day and we are reminded to put yesterday behind and enjoy the processes for today. I then jumped in, as many of us do, with prayers of blessings again for the team and his playing performance…only to be quickly stalled in the midst of my prayers. It was then the question of “what am I really praying for” came to light. While I can have multiple dialogues on whether God cares who wins or not during a sporting event, I was convinced that I was praying in a selfish manner. You see, in actuality I was praying for the selfish reasons in regards to performance such as:
 

• His skill would be displayed
  
• His attitude would be good so he wouldn’t be a discouragement to team or coach
  
• His team would win so they wouldn’t be discouraged
  
• His team would improve so he / team wouldn’t have altercation with their coach
  
• His team would play better so that he / team members wouldn’t want to quite
  
• The referee would make the right calls (meaning the benefits for his team)
   
  

The reasons all these prayers were selfish were they worked toward a goal of removing adversity and growth. My prayers were centered on being answered so that non- confrontational issues would arise.  My prayers had become more focused on performance levels and desired behavioral outcomes.
 
As I continued to pray, I realized the need to re-focus. Sure, God does care about performance levels and behavior, but more importantly, God cares about His glory. When we pray for the glory of God to be displayed, just like it was in scripture (both with the first Adam in Genesis and the second Adam of Christ) we can do so as modeled by Jesus when he said, “Father, not my will but yours.”  It’s then glory that can be revealed and create an altering transformation. Praying now for the team and my child was altered to:
 

• Create a desire within him to glorify you with his gifts and talents, not for his glory
  
• May his attitude towards his teammates, coaches, and co-competitors represent Christmanship over Gamesmanship (win at all cost)
  
• Despite losses, may the team learn how to work together as a body, much like the body of Christ
  
• Through trials and multiple losses, would the team learn their weaknesses and how to overcome them. For success is fun, but reveals little like adversity does. The Apostle James speaks of trials and tribulations being growth points.
  

 
Though I lived in a continual state of prayer on this day with anticipation of hearing about their matches, I am pleased to say that they responded to trials and placed third in their bracket out of sixteen. In final conversations with my son, we could dialogue about learning through the experiences. Learning how to communicate with teammates in difficult times, learning how to “play through” life’s disappointments, and learning how to lose and win in a Christ-like manner.
 
Most of all, I was thankful for the processes that God led me through that weekend. It caused me to re-focus on what’s most import – learning to pray for my child during his sporting events.  While my son was facing struggles of competition, I too was facing struggles. Struggles of not being there physically to try to control the outcomes, struggles of wanting things to go their way so adversity wouldn’t be a factor, and struggles of how is it I’m to pray. Through my own adversity, God transformed the way in which I would pray for my child and his team. Not only does his performance need to reflect God’s glory, but also my prayers need to do the same.
 
The next time you’re at your child’s sporting event, ask God to show you how to pray for them and their team. It’s a learning curve we will all face.
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Introducing This Week's Guest Blogger....


Greg English currently serves as Recreation Minister at Cool Spring Church and President of the Board of The Association of Church Sports and Recreation Ministries (CSRM). Greg is the husband to a Sports Fan Wife, father to one recreation athlete and one competition athlete and seeker of Christmanship in the Culture of Sports.

 Let me start this blog by saying I love my colleagues who God has used to build and run large church sports ministries.  I’m convinced that many people will worship Jesus for eternity because of their efforts.  And, much of what I have learned since God led me into sports ministry as my vocation in 1992, I learned from them.  I say thank you men and women.

However, if sports is the greatest bridge to those who are lost (and I am convinced it is in America), then how can it be employed simply and organically and still be ministry-effective?  If a church has no sports facilities (or no facilities at all), no staff dedicated to sports ministry, no budget to allocate, can that church still employ the greatest bridge to share The Greatest Story Ever Told?  I shout a loud “Yes they can!”
Over the next four months I will blog ways that I believe a church can very simply and organically employ sports (or any leisure activity) to build relationships with people who don’t attend a Christ-magnifying church which prayerfully will lead to significant conversations about the wonder of Jesus.
Why incorporate sports?

1. Sports is a tremendous bridge to facilitate the developing of relationships.
   “Sports is the greatest bridge to lost people.”-California Senior Pastor who incorporated pick-up soccer in the rebirthing of his church in Southern California.
2. Sports can bridge the divisions that make it difficult to have meaningful conversations with people we desire to reach; whether those divisions are racial, political, cultural, or economic.This is especially important because of the rising antagonism to Christians and Christianity.The relationships made through sports allow spiritual conversations to take place without that antagonism.
3. Sports will allow you to build deeper relationships more quickly than most other points of contact.Erik Thoennes, Talbot Seminary Professor and former NCAA football player, believes that sports accelerates the building of relationships.The winning and losing, being on a team, seeing the wonder of nature together, pushing yourself to your physical limits together and getting injured and recovering – all these experiences done with others accelerates the deepening of relationships.

An indication of the power of sports in America can be seen by observing whom advertisers involve to endorse and sell their products.


Sports and recreation activities can be employed simply and organically to build relationships with the people God is calling you to reach.
As you pray and work to reach out in your community, consider how simply playing a game or engaging in a recreational activity might help you meet people in your community whom you might not connect with any other way.  Sports and rec activities can be employed with limited people, time, and financial resources – and no sports facilities!  It is easier and more organic than you might think.  You do not need to create a big sports ministry machine in order to meet and reach people in your community.  Again, I’m not saying large sports ministries are not valuable, they are extremely valuable and effective – but it is not a prerequisite to employing sports for effective ministry.

The three principles below (over the next three blogs) will help you build relationships with people who can then, in a very natural way, see and hear the Gospel.  As a result of the relationships built through sports, this can happen in a natural and friendly environment.
 
Thanks for reading.  I’ll blog again next month.
Steve Quatro – Director SOLA / Former CSRM Director of Operations / Azusa Pacific University Faculty
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This blog is written by Steve Quatro.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:
Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. W. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and Steve Quatro are archived at: www.csrm.org

 
Overcoming Obstacles in Local Church Sports Outreach Ministry #5 - Practical Objections
This set of blogs revisits and updates a series of articles that address common obstacles faced by many Local Church Sports & Recreation Ministers.  The articles first appeared in CSRM’s Journal “The Sports Minister” and were originally written by Sports Ministry Pioneer Rodger Oswald.  They appear here in edited excerpts.  The end goal of the series is to help identify, define and explain various obstacles faced by Local Church Sports Outreach Ministers
 
Practical Objections to Church Sports Overview
Having addressed the major Biblical and Philosophical-based objections to Church Sports, I now move to objections based on practical matters.  While Biblical and Philosophical issues are significant, the most prevalent obstacles Local Church Sports Ministers face are practical. 
 
After careful analysis, I have concluded the major obstacle Sports Ministers face when initiating a new ministry into the life of the church can be summarized in one word: CHANGE.  And, as you know, people don’t like change.  It disrupts status quo, it mandates adjustments in the way people think and operate.  Change moves churches into areas of the unknown, and some might even conclude change implies what a church has done historically hasn’t been good, or at least not good enough.  The change created by adding a new ministry often strains relationships and causes relational difficulties amongst church staff and volunteers.  In specific there are three practical areas of tension that arise when a Sports Ministry is initiated or expanded in a local church: finance; leadership; facility.
 
Finance
A hard reality when a ministry is added or expanded is the overall church budget doesn’t increase.  Therefore, everyone’s “piece of the pie” diminishes.  This makes it hard for leaders of existing ministries to embrace a new ministry when it comes at the expense of shrinking the portion of existing ministries budgets.
 
REALITY CHECK #1 - Church funds don’t belong to anyone person or ministry.  They are the Lord’s funds given to local congregations to carry out the Lord’s work.
 
REALITY CHECK #2 – Sports Outreach Ministry is one of the few revenue generators in a church.  People won’t pay to sing in the choir or to attend a Sunday School, but people will pay to participate in the church’s sports and recreation activities.
 
Leadership Loss
It is equally hard to embrace a new ministry if it means existing ministries lose either leaders or participants to the new ministry.  Every local church ministry needs servants…the hand and feet that make a ministry go.  Thus if a new, and often what is perceived as, a more exciting ministry “steals away” people, it is disdained by those leading existing ministries.
 
REALITY CHECK #1
As for servant stealing…you never steal anyone away from the Lord’s work.  If the Lord lays a ministry on a person’s heart, you would be foolish to try to stop them from going.  If they served you for a time, thank them, bless them and release them to the work God is calling them.
 
REALITY CHECK #2
Most churches with an effective Sports and Recreation Ministry mobilize many people who have never before been a church volunteer…many of whom acquire the “volunteer bug” and later serve in other church ministries.  In addition, Sports Ministries attract many new people to the church and many of them eventually serve in many other church ministries.  In other words, Sports Ministry gives people to other church ministries, it doesn’t take them away.
 
Facilities
All ministries need space…whether it’s a field, gym or a basic room.  At least at first, new ministries don’t bring new facilities.  In fact, they take up a portion of the facilities other ministries used in the past.  Now the new ministry has become a rival for space…something most churches never have enough of.
 
REALITY #1
Should ministries that produce spiritual fruit and growth be stopped because facilities need to be shared?  I have never known a church with sufficient facilities – regardless of how many they have.  Space will always be a problem with a dynamic church.  The goal of a church regarding facilities ought to be to have good communication, blessed cooperation, humble conciliation and flexible creativity.
 
REALITY #2
Churches with effective Sports Outreach Ministries not only bring in new people but also new financial resources and this expanding critical mass often results in new, upgraded and ever expanding facilities, equipment and resources for the entire church.
 
Summary
Local congregations are wise to do all they can to enable and empower ministries that produce evangelistic-disciplemaking, and integrate them as directed by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4.1-3 where he called for unity.
 
Whatever the obstacle is that you face, the bottom line is to know you have: a) Biblical mandates and freedom for Sports Outreach; b) Historically-based, philosophical evidences; and c) Successful practical precedence to overcome any resistance you might face.
  
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Next week’s blog will begin a series entitled: “Surrounded by a Great Cloud of Witnesses” which highlights historical Muscular Christian pioneers who created models for Local Church Sports & Recreation Ministry
 
This blog is an edited excerpt an article by Rodger Oswald originally published in “The Sports Minister” Journal – Spring 2000.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:
Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. W. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and Rodger Oswald are archived at: www.csrm.org

Overcoming Obstacles in Local Church Sports Outreach Ministry #4 - Philosophical Objections
This set of blogs revisits and updates a series of articles that address common obstacles faced by many Local Church Sports & Recreation Ministers.  The articles first appeared in CSRM’s Journal “The Sports Minister” and were originally written by Sports Ministry Pioneer Rodger Oswald and appear here in edited excerpts.  The end goal of the series is to help identify, define and explain various obstacles faced by Local Church Sports Outreach Ministers
 
Philosophical Objections to Church Sports Overview
Having addressed the major Biblically-based objections to Church Sports, I now move to those objections based in philosophical principles.  This has more to do with the construct of the local church…in other words what is The Church supposed to do?
 
The Purpose of Local Church Sports Outreach Ministry
When someone asks the Sports Minister what his or her philosophy is, what they really are asking is; “Why are you doing what you are doing.”  Churchmen over the ages have been asking that same question, and even today, the answers vary.  However, if one were to spend time in the book of Acts or the Pastoral Epistles (the letters to Timothy and Titus), I believe the consensus would be the local church gathers in order to WORSHIP, EDIFY and EVANGELIZE.  The task for the pastor and/or church leadership is to determine how that will take place most effectively in order that people might have a vibrant relationship with God and that the results include the spiritual growth of the individual as the body coordinates to impact the unsaved locally and globally.
 
The fact that some Churchmen eschew or ignore Sports Ministry is interesting in that recent history has proven sports and recreation is the most culturally relevant and therefore, most strategic tool the local church has to: a) build “body life;” b) build up the believer; and c) build a bridge of relationship that lends itself to incarnational evangelistic-disciplemaking.  When asked about this, the responses are very revealing.  Some pastors respond with: “They never taught me this in seminary,” or “The really spiritual things take place in the worship center, Sunday School class or home Bible study.”  They may even add: “Jesus was not a competitive person and therefore His followers should not be competitive.”
 
These and other responses speak to the issue of Philosophy.  Those uttering these responses reveal the scope of their paradigm (and the fact they are uncomfortable outside that paradigm), or a bias based on a lack of interest in sports and recreation…or perhaps even resistance toward sports due to a negative personal experience.
 
The fact that someone is unaware of the potential of a prospective ministry should not prevent a person from learning about that potential for the sake of The Church and the gospel.  Likewise, it seems as though a prudent person ought to be willing to examine feeling and prejudices based on present need (and ecclesiastical effectiveness) rather than historical biases.
 
[For further reflection on the Philosophical basis for Sports Outreach Ministry readers are encouraged to review previous blogs on the “3-Tier Paradigm” archived in previous CSRM blogs (http://www.csrm.org/blog)
 
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Next week’s blog will continue the series on Obstacles to Sports Outreach by discussing Practical Objections
 
This blog is an edited excerpt an article by Rodger Oswald originally published in “The Sports Minister” Journal – Spring 2000.  All rights reserved.  For any reproduction right, including copying, computer reproduction, etc. contact:
Dr. Greg Linville at CSRM International C/O The World Outreach Center 5350 Broadmoor Circle N. W. Canton, Ohio – USA 44709 or glinville@csrm.org
 
Other blogs and articles on Local Church Sports, sports theology and ethics written by Dr. Greg Linville and Rodger Oswald are archived at: www.csrm.org