Fickleness and Fantasy Football

Let me preface this by saying I'm a huge fantasy football fan. I'm in no way telling you that you should or should not play the game. With that said, I want to use this game of statistics to make a spiritual comparison. I have been playing fantasy football with my church buddies for years. For those who do not know how the game works, at the start of the National Football League season you draft players for your fake team. Players can be from any of the 32 teams in the league. Based on how those players preform in their real game, you are awarded points. The goal is just like real football, if you score more than your opponent than you win. Based on your record, you can qualify for the playoffs and have a chance to win your league championship. Most of the time if a player is having a rough year and there's no hope for the playoffs, then he/she will quit. This leads me to the "meat and potatoes" of today's blog entry.

This year, I was asked to be "co-manager" of my best friend's fantasy team. He and his wife's son was due around the time the NFL season was starting, so he needed an extra man to help run his team. This league is unlike any league I have ever played in. The league consists of fourteen teams, the draft was in person with a huge draft board projected onto a screen, and they also do weekly podcasts. Me and my buddy spent weeks either texting back and forth, or in person talking about our strategy for the season. So fast forward past the draft, to where we are at the season's halfway point. We currently reside in 8th place, with a 3-5 record, and the fifth most points scored in the league. Yes we have had some rotten luck. My best friend and I are very competitive guys and we have had some fickle moments this season. Just this past Monday night, we had about a thirty point lead on our opponent. The only player he had left was Pittsburgh Steelers backup quarterback Mason Rudolph. The Monday night matchup was between the 2-4 Steelers and the 0-6 Miami Dolphins. My buddy text me Sunday night and said something to the extent of "Rudolph is average at best and there's no way he can beat us." My fickleness came out and I responded along the lines of "Well he's facing the Dolphins so if he's going to go off and have a career game, this is his prefect opportunity." In a few minutes my buddy responded and said "I'm not worried." In the first half of the game things looked really good for us, as Rudolph had recorded -4 fantasy points at one point. Thinking he was only going to have 1 point for the half, the Dolphins threw an interception with about two minutes left, giving the Steelers the ball. Rudolph and the Steelers offense proceeded to march down the field, where he threw a touchdown pass. At the half, what should have been a one point yield from Rudolph had ballooned to nine points. Our lead had gone from thirty to about twenty points.

At the half I text my buddy and said "Dude I'm officially worried." He responded and said "They're terrible, I'm still not worried." Shortly after coming out of halftime, Rudolph threw his second touchdown pass of the night. Luckily for us this gave the Steelers the lead and meant that they wouldn't be playing from behind and could run the ball more, or so we thought. The Steelers kept trying to take shots down the field and at one point they had a guy wide open, but luckily for us Rudolph missed him. My buddy text and said "Good thing he didn't catch that, that would have ended us." After many more minutes of sitting on pins and needles, the game finally ended and the Steelers won 27-14, Rudolph recorded 20.55 fantasy points, but we won our matchup 174.10-167.20. Needless to say this was closer than either of us wanted it to be, but a win is a win. What I want you to learn from this, is that with fantasy football, or anything else, we can all be fickle. Notice how both of our emotions roller coasted throughout that game. But what about in our Christian walk? How do we avoid being fickle? Consider this way:

Trust God in all things. When things don't go our way, how easy is it for us to blame God? Why do we always blame him? Well I think it is because we can't see God, he doesn't answer right away, and we are used to airing our "dirty laundry" to him anyway, so we think we have the right to blame him for everything that goes bad in our lives. Think about this, when everything in our lives are going great, who do we thank? God When everything in our lives are going terrible, who do we blame? God We are a fickle society. We don't blame ourselves, we often let our faith waver, and the result is that we question God. During my beloved Vanderbilt Commodores baseball team's run to the College World Series championship, I wavered back and forth playing arm chair manager in every decision that Coach Tim Corbin made. The fact is, Coach Corbin knows more about baseball than me and probably everyone reading this combined. There's a reason he's the best coach in college baseball. Obviously no one knows more about anything than God. God knows what's going to happen this afternoon, tonight, tomorrow, and tomorrow night. Why do we love him when things are going good, and then question him when everything is going sideways?

I want to leave you with two passages of scripture that I am constantly reminding myself of. In Romans 8:28, Paul tells the church at Rome "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose." Focus on that first part of the verse though. Paul, speaking through God told the Romans and tells us that if we love God, then everything will come out in a positive way. Will it always be the way we want it to? Of course not? But as long as we love God, and never question him, then everything will turn out for the best. How comforting is that? Another verse that we should take comfort in is found in Proverbs 3:5-6. It says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths." We become so fickle sometimes, that our faith in God wavers. But the fact that as long as we trust Him, "He will direct our paths," that's the most comforting thing in the world. Do these passages mean that we will never find ourselves being fickle with him? Of course not. We are all imperfect humans, living in an imperfect world. Whether it's in your Christian walk, your family, your job, or your fantasy football team, never lose your faith in them.

In Him,

Carver Moore

We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Photo at top courtesy of ESPN.

Have My Prayers Become too Repetitive?

Have you ever felt like your prayers are too repetitive? Do you often find yourself praying to God for the same things over and over again? I know I do. There are two passages in the Bible that I want to examine, compare, and apply in this article. In Matthew 6:7, Jesus tells the Jews to not use "vain repetitions." According to Matthew Henry's Commentary, Jesus was cautioning the Jews to not be like the Pharisees and "make long prayers (Matthew 23:14)" just for the sake of praying. This means that as Christians today, we shouldn't pray just because we have too. Instead, our prayers should come from the heart and it doesn't matter how long or short they are as long as we have our hearts and minds in the right place.

Now let me transition to the Parable of the Persistent Widow. In Luke 18:1-5, Jesus tells the Jews of a widow who wanted "justice for her adversary (v. 3)." The widow continuously went to the judge seeking justice for this adversary. The judge was a man that did not "fear God nor regard man (v. 2)." After a period of time however, the judge avenged or made things right with the widow (v. 5). In verses 6-8, Jesus explains this parable by saying in verse 7, "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them them?" This tells us that every time we go to God in prayer, with the right heart and right mind of course He will hear us and avenge us.

So now you may be asking yourself, "Carver, how do I apply this to my life?" Well I'm glad you asked, because here are a two tips on how we can be more like the Persistent Widow and less like the Pharisees:

1. Make sure your prayers are sincere. When you pray really humble yourself. There should be things in our prayers that push us, or lead us to tears. Prayers are more sincere when we turn off the TV and put down the phone and just blot out every other care in the world and take time for God. I don't know about you, but this is easier for me to do at night when I'm getting ready to go to bed. I learned a long time ago when it comes to praying with someone in a public prayer, the best thing to do is to repeat what the man leading the prayer is saying back to yourself. Sadly our society is not friendly to the idea of stopping to pray. I challenge you to carve out time throughout your day to go to God in prayer. It may only be for 30 seconds, but for those 30 seconds just clear your mind of everything else but God. One thing that helps me is to put reminders out there for myself. In the "notes" app of my phone, I have three scriptures (2 Timothy 4:2, Philippians 4:13, and Romans 8:28)   to constantly remind myself of throughout my day. Our prayers are not like school papers where we are required to write on a specific topic in 250 words. Instead prayers are the highest form of conversation we can engage in.

2. "Wear God Out." A few years ago there was a preacher that spoke at Willow Avenue's summer series. I can't remember his name and I don't even remember the title of his lesson, however one thing he said has stuck with me. He kept using the phrase "wear God out," in reference to our prayers. This phrase and the Parable of Persistent Widow go hand in hand. Just like the widow in Luke 18 absolutely wore the judge out with her requests, so should we with God. Contrary to what society says, God wants to know all our problems, needs, and requests (even though He's all knowing and already knows about them) and it's our job to bring them to Him. In Luke 18:1, it says "men always ought to pray and not lose heart." As Christians it's easier for us to lose heart when we pray sincerely and frequently but it seems like God is not listening and not sending us an answer. The Persistent Widow teachers us that if we have a Spiritual, Personal, Physical, etc, need, concern, or request we are to bring that to God frequently. Say you have a family member or friend that is living in sin, bring that to God and never stop until He answers it. Young people, do you pray for your future spouse? If so, bring that to God every time you pray. Persistency always pays off. God always answers our prayers. Not always in the way and/or time we want Him to, but He never forgets us.

Prayer is a very powerful thing. But with anything that's powerful, we have to use caution. Don't be like the Pharisees and pray just because you have too. But do be like the Persistent Widow and always come to God with your difficulties and needs. God loves YOU and wants to hear YOUR problems.

In Him,

Carver Moore

We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Lessons from Gathering 'Round the Desk

If you've ever been to the Willow Avenue church of Christ, you will notice a distinctive desk in one corner of the foyer. Around this desk sit three men that have had an immeasurable impact on my life. These three men combine humor, with encouragement. Topics discussed range from sports to politics to dating and marriage advice. These three men know almost everyone that come through the doors of Willow Avenue and they almost always know when someone is absent. The relationship that I have formed with these men over the years, reminds me of the relationship that Paul had with Timothy. The books of I and II Timothy were written by Paul to a young aspiring preacher named Timothy. In these two books, Paul took on the role of mentor, telling the young man to "fight the good fight" (I Timothy 1:18-20), "preach the word" (II Timothy 4:2), and also how to organize churches and treat people. Paul realized that he was not going to be around forever. The future of the church was about to be in the hands of Timothy. I don't know about you, but I really take this to heart. I see congregations all throughout the brotherhood struggling to keep their doors open mainly because of a lack of leadership. We are losing good men that were leaders in the brotherhood and are struggling to find replacements for them. In this article I want to offer two ways that older people can encourage young people and also how young people can get involved in church leadership.

1. Older people, don't treat young folks like they know nothing. Value their opinions and offer constructive criticism when they are wrong. I can't begin to tell you all the times that I have got in over my head in a specific task in the Lord's church. One that is still fresh on my mind was the time I led the song "Nearer Still Nearer" at a Willow Avenue 5th Sunday Singing. If you're familiar with this song, you might have heard it sung in a way that involves the four different parts singing in a round where each comes in during each of the four verses. Well, yours truly decided to do this. Somehow I got the alto and soprano parts backwards and the song sounded horrible. After the last prayer I was ready to make a mad dash out the door, but one of the elders, who's my cousin, came up to me and said that was the most beautiful version of "Nearer Still Nearer" he had ever heard. For about a week other members of the congregation came up to me and told me that was the prettiest song they had ever heard but offered constructive criticism saying that I did indeed get the two parts backward. I was floored by the compliments, but I appreciated them. At the next 5th Sunday Singing, you guessed it, I sung "Nearer Still Nearer" in a round, but got it right this time. It's amazing what a few compliments and words of constructive criticism will do. 

2. Young people, get involved in the "thankless jobs" in the church. When I turned 21, I signed up to be in the bus driver rotation. Eventually, Willow Avenue got a new insurance policy that stated that bus drivers had to be between the ages of 25-70. I was forced into a brief retirement. On my 25th birthday I received a call from our deacon over transportation. He said "Happy Birthday Carver," I said "Thanks," and he said "How old are you this year?" I told him "25," he said "Can you drive the bus this Sunday," and I said "Sure!!" The bus ministry is my favorite ministry at Willow Avenue. It's what some consider a "thankless" job, but in a congregation of 500, it gives me a purpose. These "thankless" jobs while not flashy, serve a purpose and will make you love God and develop a servants heart more than you might realize. 

I want to go back to those three men around the desk that I love so dearly. Through them I have learned to love and embrace the "thankless" jobs. They have and if they hadn't I don't believe the church at Willow Avenue could function quite the same. They have taught me how to get to know and be friendly to everyone that comes through our doors, a practice that I use at Chestnut Mound. They are also quick to offer constructive criticism when I ask for it, or when they see me do something that I could do better. About a year ago I heard one of them say to a visitor that passed through our doors, of course the person wasn't a visitor to him, but in response to the visitor making a comment about their generation getting older, the man behind the desk said "that's why I hang out with guys like him (pointing to me), he keeps me young." I don't think I'll ever forget those words as long as I live and I hope to pay them forward one day. This week and every week, be a Paul to a young Timothy!!

In Him,

Carver Moore

We would be honored for you to join us for worship at the Chestnut Mound church of Christ.

Our service times are as follows:

Sunday Morning Bible study: 10 am

Sunday morning worship: 11 am

Sunday evening worship: 5 pm

Welcome to "Meditations from the Mound" a ministry of the Chestnut Mound church of Christ

Welcome to the official webpage of the Chestnut Mound church of Christ located in the small Smith County, Tennessee community of Chestnut Mound. We are located between the cities of Carthage and Cookeville and are about ten miles from interstate 40. For the past few months, the leadership of this congregation has been searching for ways to evangelize our community. The hope of this webpage and our Facebook page is to spread our faith and the good news of the gospel to not only our community, but the world. Please check out the different pages on the left side of the page under "Menu" for information on who we are and what we believe. We would be honored by your presence for worship at any time and we would also be honored to sit down with you and study the Bible. Bi-weekly (Monday's and Wednesday's) we will be putting out spiritual articles on our webpage. If you would like to get these articles by email, please enter your email address in the box in the upper right hand corner. Our hope is that you will engage with us and be touched by the work that we strive to do. Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you and God bless you!!

In Him,

Carver Moore

Worship Times 

Sunday Morning Bible Study: 10 am

Sunday Morning Worship: 11 am

Sunday Evening Worship: 5 pm

Phone: 615-489-6729 and 931-644-1854

Email: chestnutmoundcoctn@gmail.com