The Beauty of Second Chances

Gene Hackman stars as Norman Dale, a coach who is in need of a second chance in life and coaching.

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.”     John 21:15, NIV

One of the beautiful things we see throughout Scripture is that God is a God of second chances, He never gives up on us when we fall away or when we make a mistake in life. Just as we read in today’s verse, Jesus Christ restores Peter publicly after Peter had just denied him three times when Jesus needed him most. Peter would eventually go on to preach the gospel before dying a martyr’s death and being executed on a cross upside down.

In a small way, I think about one of my favorite movies Hoosiers (1986). Norman Dale arrives in Hickory, Ind., needing a restart- a restart in life and coaching. Norman Dale is one of the main characters in the movie and he had a checkered past. He allowed his emotions to get the best of him and had struck a player while coaching in college (doesn’t seem like that big of a deal now days..). But with the help and encouragement of his friend and the principal at the school, Norman receives a second chance. With a few “hiccups” along the way and playing by the rules, Norman leads the Hoosiers to the 1951 state championship against a school that was 10 times larger in population and his reputation is restored.

Are you in need of a second, third or even fourth chance today? Let me encourage you, do not give up hope! God can still use you. As scripture reminds us in Lamentations 3:22-23, “Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Behind the Song “Victory In Jesus”

As I am preparing for Sunday’s service, I wanted to take a minute and share the story of one of the hymns we will be singing.

Story behind the song- Victory In Jesus

Eugene Monroe Bartlett Senior (1885-1941) was born on Christmas Eve of 1885. He dedicated his life to Jesus at an early age. Years later, as a very successful business man, he decided to invest his money into founding the Hartford Music Company and Music Institute. He also became editor of the Herald Song music magazine.

 

Bartlett’s mission was to publish hymns and teach singers to sight read. He hired instructors to teach voice, piano, piano tuning, rudiments, harmony and stringed instruments. The school attracted many talented artists. Within the first year of business he sold more than 15,000 copies of his hymnbook. He wrote many of the songs himself.

 

Through this music ministry, Bartlett gave many writers, singers and musicians their first opportunity in Gospel music, including Alfred E. Brumley who wrote I’ll Fly Away and Turn Your Radio On.

Bartlett is considered a founding father of Southern Gospel music, and he was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1979. Throughout his 56 years of life, he composed more than 800 songs, including Everybody Will Be Happy Over There, and Just a Little While to Stay Here. He wrote the words to his last hymn in 1939 – Victory in Jesus.

Victory in Jesus

I heard an old, old story,

How a Savior came from glory,

How He gave His life on Calvary

To save a wretch like me;

I heard about His groaning,

Then I repented of my sins;

And won the victory.

 

O victory in Jesus,

My Savior, forever.

He sought me and bought me

With His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him,

And all my love is due Him,

He plunged me to victory,

Beneath the cleansing flood

 

I heard about His healing,

Of His cleansing power revealing.

How He made the lame to walk again

And caused the blind to see;

And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,

Come and heal my broken spirit,”

And somehow Jesus came and brought

To me the victory.

 

I heard about a mansion

He has built for me in glory.

And I heard about the streets of gold

Beyond the crystal sea;

About the angels singing,

And the old redemption story,

And some sweet day I’ll sing up there

The song of victory.

When Inspiring Quotes Aren’t Enough

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it t prepare and equip his people to do every good work.”      2 Timothy 3:16-17, NLT

We all love-inspiring sports stories about the struggles and successes of everyday people, but especially from athletes. Think for a moment about all the inspirational quotes you can think of that came from an athlete or coach. But one of the best and most influential motivational speeches I’ve ever heard was from the late coach Jim Valvano. Coach Valvano who led N.C. State to a miracle NCAA men’s basketball championship game in 1983, once said, “Never give up! Failure and rejection are only the first step to succeeding.”

See, Coach Valvano had every reason to say that. Not only did he coach in the tough ACC, he also battled cancer in the last part of his life. On March 3, 1993 weeks before he died, he gave this now famous, “Never give up” speech at the first ever ESPY awards on ESPN. To this day Coach Valvano’s speech is still considered the most inspirational sports quote of all time! But, as inspiring and emotional as that speech was, it can never touch the inspiring words of God, who spoke through the men who wrote the Bible. Just as we see in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Scripture covers and encompasses everything we will ever need. The Bible is God’s inspired word and because it’s inspired and trustworthy we should read it and apply it to all of our life. I love inspirational quotes from athletes and coaches, but their words can never replace the truth of God’s word. God’s word is our guidance for how we should live and He wants to show us what is true and equip us to live for Him.

Let me encourage you today to be inspired and read God’s word.

I Love My Job!

One of my favorite Christian bands is a group called “All Sons & Daughters”. They are more of a folk band than rock band, but they have a song called “Brokenness Aside” and here is the chorus to that amazing song…

‘Cause I am a sinner
If its not one thing its another
Caught up in words
Tangled in lies
You are the Savior
And you take brokenness aside
And make it beautiful
Beautiful

I love the idea that God will take something broken and will make something so beautiful out of it, even when we will never see it coming! That was our camp experience last week in Nashville, brokenness. God was moving in the lives of our students and leaders last week and I still believe He is not finished moving in their lives. It was a beautiful picture to see students and leaders surrender themselves, turn to Him and lift up their hands in praise. I saw what the body of Christ is supposed to look like as they carried each others burdens, prayed for each other and cared for each other! But I also realized that just because they are teenagers, that  they don’t experience pain and hurt. It broke my heart to hear about the things that our students and leaders are carrying around with them, trying to carry other peoples burdens along with their own.

Pastor Mark Driscoll every now and then does a “I love my job” tweet and I want to steal a play from his playbook and say that I get the opportunity to minister to students, families and leaders who constantly struggle with identity, doubts, fears, insecurities, divorce and pretty much anything else and “I LOVE MY JOB!” I don’t love the pain and heartache that comes with ministering to our students and their families, but I love the fact that I get to remind them of the one who came to bear our guilt and sins and His name is Jesus Christ. I get to remind them that Christ alone is sufficient for all their needs and all they have to do is trust in Him, kneel at His feet and turn their problems, pains and sufferings over to Him. I get the opportunity to see students redeemed! I get to see students lift their hands in worship, lifting their voices to God! I get to see students care and pray for each other! I have the best job ever and I would never trade it for anything else!

Scenes like this go way beyond youth ministry and what people think about it. I know people are always going to have their doubts and misconceptions about youth ministry, but when you see students and adult leaders surrender themselves to God it’s the most humbling and rewarding moment. This past week I saw evidence of what the church should look like and I can say that I am encouraged because a lot of our students “got it” last week. I also try not to compare all of our camp experiences but sometimes it’s hard not too. Last year, Philly was amazing and we saw some great things, but this year in Nashville was something extraordinary, one that I cannot find the words for just yet. I’m just really excited for the decisions that were made and anxiously awaiting to see how those decisions will play out in their lives.

I LOVE MY JOB!

My Summer Reading List

This Summer I have committed myself to being a better steward to reading than in the past. (I like to read but sometimes I let my lack of concentration get the best of me!) Summer is always a great time for ministry because it allows you to experiment and try new things and new approaches to reaching people.

Summer is also a great time to devote oneself to reading just a little bit more than usual. For example, my wife is a school teacher and she does not get to read (for enjoyment at least) as much as she would like, but now that school is out she can very easily finish 2 books in  a given day. I love that about her because she has enhanced my desire to want to read more. I was always the student/person who only read because it was required for a grade not enjoyment! So, this summer I am only focusing on a few books that I am excited to read and I wanted to take a moment and share those books with you.

1. Disciple: Getting Your Identity From Jesus by Bill Clem
2. The Invested Life: making disciples of all nations by Joel C. Rosenberg & Dr. T.E. Koshy
3. Leaders Who Last by Dave Kraft
4. Blaze of Glory by Jeff Shaara (A Book about the Civil War)

Well, there it is! I know it’s not a very exhaustive list but it’s long enough to conquer in the next couple of months, maybe my Fall list will be a little longer (I doubt it!) Have a great summer and I pray that you create a Summer reading list for yourself as well! Until next time…