Author Archives: Jeff

4,178 days: Gritty, gusty, tough and resourceful.

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Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks for becoming the 2011 NBA Champions. The Dirk Side won over the Dark Side.

Mavs coach Rick Carlisle used terms such as grit, guts, mental toughness and resourcefulness to describe his team, saying the men he coached embodied those attributes more than any other team he’d been around. (That’s saying a lot; he played on the ’86 Celtics.) [See a great article by ESPN.com’s J.A. Adande.]

The most outspoken and fan-like owner in sports was especially silent during this trip to the NBA Finals. After the game he said:

“I learned chemistry matters, that it’s a team game. That you have to have players that believe in each other and trust each other and trust your coach. And that it’s a process. And that it doesn’t happen overnight.”
—Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (breaking his media embargo for the NBA Playoffs and Finals); via the Daily Dime on ESPN.com

MavsThere are few shortcuts in life. Sports and business commenter Darren Rovell noted that Mark Cuban had to wait 4,178 days for a title. Perseverance and faithfulness pay off. This morning he had company on the plane back to Dallas. I don’t know much about Mark Cuban, but it appears the man is growing in humility and gratitude, which is helping him muster the courage to be generous towards others.

Dan Gilbert, the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team LeBron James left last July in “The Decision” to “take [his] talents to South Beach” after six years together, tweeted that there are NO SHORTCUTS. There may be some shortcuts, but ultimately we won’t be successful in life over the longhaul if we take the easy road.

Let’s be clear: neither road for either team was easy.

The constant scrutiny, the overplayed commentary on the faux coughs (D-Wade and LeBron apparently mocking Nowitzki, caught on local media). Some would say they did this to themselves. I agree. But it still has to be an overwhelming ordeal, self-inflicted or not. They began the year celebrating themselves, long before the season. And today the Miami Herald has a Macy’s ad offering Heat championship gear. Oops.

The Miami Heat of 2010-2011 have been together for about 340 days. Under Cuban’s leadership the Mavericks invested 4,178 days pursuing a championship. That should be celebrated. It’s not so much that they waited so long. It’s that the persevered so diligently.

I wasn’t able to watch game 6, but was rooting from afar for the Mavericks. Something about their non-superstar superstar Dirk Nowitzki makes we want to root for him and their team. (And not just because we were born two days apart.) His whole adult life is wrapped around pursuing the great prize, and in the off-season he holes up in a gym and works on his game. Gritty, gutsy, tough. No excuses. During interviews he grabs the mic and speaks eloquently, never deriding the opposition or mocking them. The young man from Würzburg, Germany seems like a class act to me. One of those people who is the same from far away as when you see them up close.

The fallout from the Heat’s loss will be as big a story as the Mavs win. The Heat were supposed to win; they almost bought themselves a championship, and the fear was this would become the new norm. The Mavs took a different route, and though they too are spending millions there are no easy fixes. After the game LeBron James commented on those who were rooting against him:

“At the end of the day, all the people rooting for me to fail, they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life they had before they woke up today. They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live. . . . They can get a few days or a few months on being happy about not only myself but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal, but they have to get back to the real world at some point.”

He’s right. We all woke up to our same mediocre lives. He woke up to the same personal problems he had yesterday as well. That’s true of all of us. Sports give us a mini-escape from reality, but we must face our problems and persevere through them. We are all witnesses to the challenges of life.

In the face of Dirk’s brilliant fade-away jumper, the Miami Heat probably wish the criticism would just go away. Of course they will rebound. Life treats talented people very kindly, especially those who are a business-in-and-of-themselves; LeBron’s ‘brand’ will take a hit, but after next year’s pending lockout he’ll have another chance to courageously pursue faithfulness and perseverance.

Actually, during the lockout, when the games are not televised or scrutinized — that’s when one must persevere and be faithful. If we would be awesome when everyone’s watching, we must do the daily work when no one’s there to see. If we’re honest, that’s the title we desire: to be called faithful and courageous. It takes grit, guts, and resourcefulness. A ring is just bling; becoming a faithful person who perseveres is the real deal.

All of it makes we want to get a new shirt.

[Thanks to @darrenrovell for most of these links.]

 

London » One thing I seek.

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VisionPsalm 27:1-4:

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assail me
to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
it is they who stumble and fall.

3 Though an army encamp against me,
my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
yet I will be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to inquire in his temple.

We mentioned the first theme for our speaking in London. Here’s a preview of the second theme:

#2 Vision: The one thing I seek (Psalm 27:4a).

Unless we’re proactive, we can fall into the mindset of simply waiting for life to happen to us. Our world tell us to decide what we want to be and go do it. Our fear tells us to avoid failure at all cost, so play it safe and wait for destiny to knock on our door. God’s Word says neither is enough but instead gives us one pure and holy passion, one magnificent obsession. When we are freed from insecurity and can move forward boldly in godly confidence, we have the courage to pursue this one thing – the glory of the risen King. All of life becomes filtered through this single-mindedness. To live is Christ and to die is gain. A complex world becomes simple as our focus becomes fixed. What one thing do you seek?

 

31.

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Proverbs 31:10-31:

10 A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

[Today is my wife‘s birthday.]

Kari,

You are an amazing woman, fully of godliness, abounding in joy, overflowing with wisdom, and committed to faithfulness and perseverance in our family. (Proverbs 31 describes the trajectory of your life. You are a woman of noble character.)

May our kids come to embrace and embody the Gospel which you adorn so well. And may others behold the beauty and goodness of the one true God whom you serve.

A wife of noble character who can find? I did. (Somehow. Still amazed.) God brought me you.

 

In Christ,
Me.

 

Constantly.

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Ask yourself:

“Does gratitude characterize your thoughts of God? Thankfulness is a good test of your faith. Its absence demonstrates that your faith is more lip service than experiential knowledge. Your days, whether easy or difficult, should be filled with thanksgiving because while life changes drastically, your God remains the same forever. He is constant — constantly good, loving, and faithful.”

—Joe Thorn, “Thanksgiving,” Note to Self, p. 44.

 

London » Themes.

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As Kari and I prepare to travel to London to speak at the Single-Minded conference, we landed on themes and emphases we are convinced are God’s heart for His people.

Kari drafted up the key themes, which come from Psalm 27:

  1. Confidence: The stronghold of my life. (vv. 1-3)
  2. Vision: The one thing I seek. (4a)
  3. Beauty: The holy gaze of life. (4b-5: men & women split sessions)
  4. Worship: The joyful sacrifice. (6-10)
  5. Consistency: The level path. (11-12)
  6. Hope: The courage to wait. (13-14)

Over the next couple weeks I will give a summary of the intent behind each talk. Here’s the first:

#1 Confidence: The stronghold of my life.

Confidence is hands-down the #1 most attractive quality. It spans generations, cultures, and draws others in more than liposuction and bulging biceps. Moreover, God created us for confidence as true confidence comes from knowing Who He is, who we are, and Whose we are. In a world that bombards us daily with messages that we need to be a certain way, look a certain way, hook-up in a certain way, God’s Word stands in beautiful contrast with a message that cuts straight across the grain. In a media-saturated consumer culture that feeds on our insecurities, the first step to a single-minded life is attaining the unshakable godly confidence that only comes from the One who fashioned our form.

 

Old enough to encounter the Story they already live inside.

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This morning I led a Bible study for sixth grade boys. Each week this year they’ve gathered before school to dig in God’s Word and be instructed and challenged by a godly leader. For my third visit to this group [read about another time], we walked through the Story of God in summary.

We started with their curiosities, each boy with a note card answering a few simple questions:

  1. What is your favorite sports team? (And favorite player?)
  2. What is a movie that inspires you? (Who starred in it? Or, what character is the hero?)
  3. What is your favorite song and/or band?

Every student was eager to share theirs, so we interacted a bit. Here are a few of their answers:

Then on the back of the card the answered these seemingly unrelated questions: Continue reading →

 

The purpose in life is not to find yourself. It is to lose yourself.

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Borrowing from the post this morning, here’s the conclusion to David Brooks’ NY Times op-ed column:

Today’s grads enter a cultural climate that preaches the self as the center of a life. But, of course, as they age, they’ll discover that the tasks of a life are at the center. Fulfillment is a byproduct of how people engage their tasks, and can’t be pursued directly. Most of us are egotistical and most are self-concerned most of the time, but it’s nonetheless true that life comes to a point only in those moments when the self dissolves into some task. The purpose in life is not to find yourself. It’s to lose yourself.

(Emphasis added.)

 

Build anything.

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With the sun outside in the Spring, we see the limitless possibilities in life. On an overcast day like today let’s endeavor create something meaningful. I will be playing with Lego blocks with my son this morning. We’ll be building memories.

 

Some of the best advice: it is not about you.

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graduationNew college grads enter a world full of uncertainties, in a system not structured to automatically achieve their perceived “success.” Even in a first world, the job market will not cater to new grads’ every whim. And yet, what consistent message has the millennial generation heard? It’s all about you.

They’ve been coached, tutored and coddled into thinking the world is in fact their oyster. Who’s to blame them if we’ve trained them to think their role is the key one, and we’re all just minor characters in their big story? The vocabulary of ‘self,’ of ‘freedom’ and ‘autonomy’ are what makes up an illusory world, one we’ve built for them. (‘They’ are us, and we are them.) Perhaps I’m a bit cynical, but the consistent message spun by boomers to their kids (in general) will actually lead to their demise. The problem here is not early twentysomethings, it’s the raw bill of goods we’ve sold them. We have told them half-truths we needed to say to feel good about ourselves.

Once again, David Brooks of the NY Times hits the nail on the head:

Worst of all, they are sent off into this world with the whole baby-boomer theology ringing in their ears. If you sample some of the commencement addresses being broadcast on C-Span these days, you see that many graduates are told to: Follow your passion, chart your own course, march to the beat of your own drummer, follow your dreams and find yourself. This is the litany of expressive individualism, which is still the dominant note in American culture.

But, of course, this mantra misleads on nearly every front.

Continue reading →

 

Grateful for the courage of the fallen.

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Memorial Day is formerly known as Decoration Day, which was first recorded to have been observed by Freedmen (freed enslaved southern blacks) in Charleston, South Carolina in 1865, at the Washington Race Course, to remember the fallen Union soldiers of the Civil War. Today, what is now known as Memorial Day, is a day of reflection and recognition to commemorate all U.S. Service Members who died while in military service.

Our nation has lost many heroes on the field of battle:

  • Civil War (1861-1865): 72,524 soldiers killed in action
  • Spanish-American War (1898-1902): 385 soldiers killed in action
  • World War I (U.S. involvement 1917-1918): 53,402 soldiers killed in action
  • World War II (1940-1945): 291,557 soldiers killed in action
  • Korean War (1950-1953): 33,741 soldiers killed in action
  • Vietnam War (1964-1975): 47,424 soldiers killed in action
  • Gulf War (1990-1991): 147 soldiers killed in action
  • Global War on Terror (2001-present): 5,921 U.S. soldiers killed in action [source]

I am grateful for those who courageously laid down their lives for the freedoms I enjoy (and often take for granted). We trust, like Augustine wrote, that the ultimate purpose for war is for peace.

photo © stock.xchng contributor theoneill