GOLF IS SPELLED G.O.L.F.

It goes without saying that the game of golf is a popular sport throughout the world, transcending all cultures and even socio-economic barriers.  Many companies and business entities are capitalizing on golf’s popularity and forward momentum.

For most of us however, our relationship with golf is one who might own some golf clubs, possibly even passed down from the previous generation, that sit in the garage or closet somewhere without the possibility of seeing the light of day or the glory of an actual course.  No, most relate vicariously through the professional golfer who displays their proficiency in the game each and every week with surgical prowess on most every shot and putt, to cause most would-be golfers to enjoy the game from an easy chair or an occasional conversation around the water cooler.

So, to ask someone about their love for the game, would require the asker to know one’s relationship to the game.  Is their livelihood derived from the game?  Do they invest their time, money and affection into the game on a regular basis?  Can they spell golf?  Have they ever taken an instructional lesson from a professional golf teacher to improve their skill in actually playing the game?

Unfortunately, I could have easily written the same information about the average Christian.  Most people are good people, who hold a membership in some church, possibly handed down from the previous generation.  Yeah, they own a Bible somewhere, just not sure where it might be located.  They might chat a bit if asked about their church, just don’t ask them about their faith.  Recently, I spent several hours with two Christians on a golf course without even a hint of conversation about their faith and love in Christ.  Even when prompted, over the years, I have rarely been successful in holding deep conversations with folks about their faith-even ministers.

You know there is a huge difference in saying that you have a relationship with someone and saying that you identify with someone.  A relationship only speaks of the fact that you are in proximity to the person on some level, albeit possibly a distant acquaintance, without being impacted and influenced by that person or visa versa.  Conversely, to identify with someone is to hold the same interests, to be affected and effected by one another’s views and experiences to the point of instigating change or being changed yourself.  Most people today have a relationship with Christ, they just don’t really identify with Christ.  Those entities and elements that are supremely important to Him, just aren’t that necessary to most “Christians”.

My wife and I agreed some time ago that we are teetotalers.  If we are in, we are all in.  You will rarely talk to either of us that we are not speaking of the awesomeness of Yahweh and the growth and development of our faith.  We enjoy hours and hours of fellowship with others that flows by like minutes as we lose ourselves in conversation about the Kingdom of Christ.  Yes, we are all in and we desire to expend the energies and resources of our lives to identify with Christ.  For the King!
So dust off your faith in Christ and preach the good news that will impact the lives of others for eternity.  Don’t just have a ‘relationship’ with Christ, identify with the revelation and authority of Christ and change the world.

 

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KEEPING IT ALL CONNECTED

Given that my brother ‘affectionately’ refers to me as the walking golf channel, it is obvious that I analyze my game constantly, along with my playing partners.  During the winter months I try to add new shots into my game and also work on different swing thoughts to improve my score and better my golf experience.  Recently, however, due to all the winter tweaking, I realized I had digressed quite extensively from my level of play ending last fall.

I’ve often heard that the golf swing starts from the ground up.  In other words, starting with the feet and working upward with the knees, hips, torso, shoulders and arms, the rhythm of the golf swing must follow a particular flow and sequence.  Last year I spent an excessive amount of time working on initiating the downswing with my left hip and that somehow triggered some really good shots.  At the beginning of this year however, it has seemingly all gone awry and my pleasure levels while playing golf have greatly diminished, but not my motivation to keep playing the game.

So, while working on my wedge shots in the yard yesterday, and hitting some horrible shots from skulls to shanks, I realized my issue.  While I was concentrating on all the different parts of the swing, I was not keeping them connected.  The components were there, but they were moving independently of one another, not in the sequential flow and connectivity that is required for the intended outcome.  After employing a tip I saw years ago by placing a golf towel or tee under the left arm pit, I was easily able to connect the torso, shoulders and arms together, which produced solid contact and shots on the correct trajectory and expected distance.  Glory!!

As a minister of the gospel of Christ, I spend an inordinate amount of time counseling others in all manner of life situations.  Many times, after digging into the problem, the necessary components are there, but the flow and connectivity of those components are missing.

In the Kingdom of Christ, the sequence and flow of spirit, soul and body must never be compromised.  Whenever your life deviates from its expected trajectory and intended destination, survey each of these three elements of your life and evaluate how you are processing each of them.  If you are prioritizing your soulish needs or worldly desires over the mandate to glorify Christ, well, need I say more?  The following verse is key:

“Now may the God of peace (wholeness and fullness) Himself (only Yahweh can accomplish this through the finished work of Yahshua and the ongoing work of the Spirit) sanctify (progressive action of grace to purify and separate you from the old man to the new man – who you were from the beginning) you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  1 Thessalonians 5:23

So in golf, when there are problems with your golf swing, work sequentially from the ground up and keep everything connected.  In life, when things go awry, operate from the spirit down through the soul (mind, will and emotions) and body-keeping them connected by the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

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ECONOMICAL CHANGE

‘Economy’ has been generally defined as the management of resources, most often by the selling and trading of goods and services, for a given community or nation.  Many times the media reports on the status of our national economy at any given time with a measuring device of productivity with descriptions of healthy, rich and robust or poor, slow and anemic.  A poor economy would suggest that we are using more resources than we are manufacturing and thus incurring a debt.  At the time of this writing, according to U. S. Debt Clock.org, the United States national debt has just surpassed 19 trillion dollars, which is, to say the least, disturbing.

It would seem that people of this era are not ashamed nor dismayed by financial debt.  Debt is just a way of life.  For those who keep such statistics, most people aren’t even close to having enough money ‘saved’ for retirement.  Of course, trusting the government with this responsibility has long since been propagated throughout our society.  Actually, most indicators reveal that the Social Security program will not be sufficiently funded for those who only rely upon that program as their sole source of income.  So instead of saving money and investing, our society is moving deeper into debt with little to nothing to sustain them after their working days are over.

This is troubling because our society as a whole has changed their view of how our economy works.  To me, this is symptomatic of a departure of not only the founding fathers’ view of this country, but also the kingdom of Christ view of just how life works, based on a kingdom of heaven revelation.  You see, the world’s economy is generally based on dollars and cents…not sense.  One would readily and justifiably take advantage of another in any business transaction and brag about it later…that’s just good business…right?  WRONG!!!!  At least in the kingdom of God that is absolutely wrong.

I just heard today of a ministry that was preparing to buy a church building from a church that had diminished in size and therefore couldn’t afford the building they occupied each week for worship.  The minister who was positioned to buy the building realized the ministry was going under if no one bought the property and promptly waited to buy the foreclosed property later from the bank at a reduced price…despicable!

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? 9 The Lord’s voice cries to the city– Wisdom shall see Your name: “Hear the Rod! Who has appointed it? 10Are there yet the treasures of wickedness In the house of the wicked, And the short measure that is an abomination? 11 Shall I count pure those with the wicked scales, And with the bag of deceitful weights? 12 For her rich men are full of violence, Her inhabitants have spoken lies, And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. 13 “Therefore I will also make you sick by striking you, By making you desolate because of your sins. 14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied; Hunger shall be in your midst. You may carry some away, but shall not save them; And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword. 15 “You shall sow, but not reap; You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil; And make sweet wine, but not drink wine. 16 For the statutes of Omri are kept; All the works of Ahab’s house are done; And you walk in their counsels, That I may make you a desolation, And your inhabitants a hissing. Therefore, you shall bear the reproach of My people.””  Micah 6:8-16

The economy of the Kingdom of Christ is not built on selling goods and services but the Word and Spirit.  It’s an economy where those within the kingdom judge righteously by doing the right thing based on a vision of God and not a balance sheet or profit and loss statement.  For those who have professed their faith in Christ to pay their sin debt, we must now ask the Father to baptize us into Christ by filling us with His Spirit so that we now have His heart and mind on every matter…especially business transactions.  Secondly, we must ask the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, to open our eyes to Yahweh’s economy that is built on the following paradoxical premises:

 

• Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”  Luke 6:38
• “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Matthew 6:33
• “Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  Luke 12:32
• “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Matthew 6:19-21
• “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money).”  Matthew 6:24
• “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. 5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.”  Colossians 3:1-5

The solution to this widespread soul virus begins in the heart of every individual Believer of Christ.  From there, we must return to Yahweh-centered family economies where there is unity and a commitment to the vision of the family-a vision that benefits each member of the family.  Hopefully, this will spread to our churches and then to business, education and government. Let’s return to an economy that works and prospers everyone…the Kingdom of Christ!!!!

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Unity Equals Victory

In football, I love the idea that when a play is called by the quarterback in the huddle that every member of the offense knows what his assignment is for that particular play.  The play is called, the players ‘break’ the huddle and line up in their unique positions.  The quarterback then barks a series of signals that either changes the play at the line of scrimmage or signals the start of the play.  Bam!  All eleven players move indiscriminately toward their assignment to achieve movement toward the ‘goal’ line.  Some teams are very good at this and others are just average.  And no matter that you have a superstar at one or two positions, without everyone doing their part, that team will not win as often as the team where every player is synced with the other players, all doing their part.

The apostle Paul stated it thusly to the Ephesians:

11 And He Himself  (Christ) gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 (a) for the equipping of the saints (b) for the work of ministry, (c) for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head–Christ– 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

I’m convinced that someone read this passage and then invented team sports.  Every team sport has individual positions and one or more of those positions serve as a leader for the team to excel and achieve their goal of victory.

Whether it is marriage (a two-team sport), family, business, or ecclesia (church), Paul’s game plan works every time.  Unity equals Victory!

As leaders, let us share the vision succinctly, incorporate all the players, outline the assignment for each position and provide leadership that unites the players along the way to victory.  We can do this!

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Don’t Keep Driving for Show

There’s a familiar adage in golf, “You drive for show and you putt for dough.”  The obvious application is that most people spend more time practicing the less important parts of the game.  On average, in a round of golf, you may use the driver twelve to fourteen times or 14% of the time.  In comparison, an average golfer will use their putter thirty to thirty-five times a round which equates to almost 40% of the score.  So, the question arises as to why most golfers spend most of their practice time with the ‘big stick’ and hit a couple of putts right before the round begins.

In bringing this golf analogy into a kingdom life application, the same premise exists, most people of faith spend most of their time on the externals and not enough time on the internal elements of their faith.  Check out this verse:

8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life (perpetuating, reproducing life; dynamo power).  Galatians 6:88

I’ve hear it a thousand times, “Read your Bible, pray, go to church, pay your tithe and offering, witness to others!”  While all of these practices are viable, shouldn’t they flow naturally out of a Holy Spirit-filled life of devotion and desire to bless our Father, Yahweh?  According to the apostle Paul, as we sow to the internal presence of the Spirit, the Spirit will produce fruit (Galatians 5) that will remain.  If someone isn’t constantly scheduling church services, Bible studies, prayer meetings and service projects, most people wouldn’t naturally participate in these endeavors.  This does not make these endeavors wrong, just positioned on the wrong side of a life in the Spirit.  The apostle Paul further explains:

16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.  Galatians 5:16-18

So, what does this mean?  Simply that if you are doing all the outward, ‘drive for show’, Christian disciplines and your score is not even close to what you expect, you may need to focus on a part of your ‘game’ that is less impressive but more necessary to your ultimate goals.  Praying and sowing to the Spirit aren’t nearly as popular as these other churchy endeavors, but the payoff will glorify the Son and please the Father.

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