What an amazing week I had! On behalf of the seminary, I
attended the annual National Sports and Recreation Ministry Conference in Orlando (the event
formerly known as Rec Lab). Not only did I get to visit a wonderful city but I
was privileged to hang out with incredible people who do ministry with a
“whatever it takes” mentality! I sure wish you could meet my friends John
Garner, Tommy Yessick, Myrna Gregory, Tiffany Moore, Chuck Connor, Jenny
Hemmer, and a whole lot more mission-minded folks who believe I Corinthians
9:22b is their mandate to ‘play with a purpose.’
At our closing banquet,
Pat Williams, Sr. VP of the Orlando Magic, offered a challenging presentation
on characteristics of extreme winners (which
you can read about in his new book The Ultimate Road
As I reflect back over Williams’ passionate presentation, I
am wondering at what point in their lives those goal-setters realized they were
pursuing extreme dreams. I think most
of us are afraid to dream THAT big because, well, racial equality, flying
around the world, and being the best basketball player seem like such
unreachable possibilities. Or maybe that’s the point! They didn’t see them as
unreachable … perhaps they figured someone was going to do it, so why not them?
What one person calls a scary nightmare, another person describes as the ambition
of a lifetime.
So I can't help but wonder what you’re
dreaming about. I imagine some of you are reaching for things that would make
me hide under my bed but that’s because it’s not God’s dream (or to reference
Hebrews 12, God’s race) for me. But I pray you go after that dream with all you’ve
got because we’ve been challenged to do what we do to the glory of God … and
that’s what turns scary nightmares into extreme
dreams!
No comments:
Post a Comment