Lessons from Sports Camp

             My youth group and I had an awesome opportunity to attend/work/serve/have fun/throw marshmallows/whatever at Sports Camp a few weeks ago. Sports Camp is a souped up VBS pairing the teaching of sports with the teaching of Jesus. It’s one of those great opportunities to go and serve others.

The great truth about any mission trip though is that you get so much more than you bargained for. You go to serve and teach. You leave with so much more. The Sunday after our return, we sat down and made a list. The end result is a list of things we, as a group, learned. Here it goes…

1. We saw a small picture of God’s Kingdom

                This one is mine. I always feel such a longing for God’s Kingdom after being with a group of fellow believers. So much more than a song, I see the Kingdom in fellow believers. So much more than words that often relegate God’s Kingdom to streets of gold or the size of mansions, I see a snapshot of His Kingdom when sharing in the collective lives of other believers. It’s a place where God’s presence negates the need for both sun and moon. It’s beautiful.

2. Kids look up to us

                Charles Barkley once infamously touted that he, “was not a role model.” We are role models. We are real. Many of us can’t do remarkable things with a basketball or a football, but kids watch us more intently than any sports star on television. We are real and we are tangible. Plus, we’re taller than they are; they have to look up to us.

3. A good attitude is important

                We possess something that so many others don’t…hope. I Peter 3:15 is not simply about being ready to argue. It’s a verse that tells us others will come to us because there is something so different about us. Jesus yields hope. Hope yields an attitude worthy of the one that starts the process.

4. We are the only Jesus some will see

                The student that brought this one to light prefaced his statement with, “this gets said all the time.” The phrase is overused for a reason. Broken homes, broken lives, a broken world and there is only one answer for that. Our encounter with Christ should move beyond us. Through service and genuine caring that can be accomplished.

5. There are cool Christians

                People that believe in Jesus aren’t cool. People that profess faith in Christ aren’t popular. At least that is what the movies and media tell me every day. I think we learned the opposite is true. Even without Tim Tebow, we still found people we could be proud to call friends and fellow believers. Of course “cool” is never our goal. Still, I don’t have to search the world to find people to hang with. I don’t have to compartmentalize my life with “church friends” and “popular kids.”

6. Love the unlovable

                One of the core values of our youth group is to: Love people when they lease deserve it and when they lease expect it. Like anything in life, this can become a cool phrase for a t-shirt that we never actually apply in our lives. Sports Camp challenged all of us to love those kids that didn’t act the way we wanted them to. I was screamed at, my wife was kicked in the shin and my entire youth group has decided having children is “just not for them.” That is all right. We were able to overcome THE greatest obstacle in loving others…us. We had a chance to get past ourselves and see those that just needed to know they were loved no matter what or who they are.

7. Patience

                This is pretty self explanatory, but so important to us. Someone had patience with us. A parent, a mentor, a teacher, a coach, Jesus and that made the difference for all of us. Patience is not just something we prop up on a pedestal. It is something that has to ooze from us as we deal with others.

8. Being active is important

                One of my youth leaders lost 15 lbs during his week at "boot camp." He was looking for hidden cameras shooting a new season of Biggest Loser. Teaching kids sports, playing ultimate Frisbee, lifting weights- all of those things were way more fun than sitting on the couch eating potato chips. There are so many drums that get beaten about sins we shouldn’t commit. Gluttony and slothfulness should be listed somewhere as well.

9. Love kids

                We overlook them. We believe children are the future. They are people that need love now. Enough said.

10. Be flexible

                We are so rigid in our everyday schedules. My new friend Jackie shared a story with me. It concerned being late for a meeting because the time he spent with a broken individual was more important than being on time. So many times I value time, punctuality, or production over people. Be late for a meeting. Change your plans in a minute. It can make a difference to someone that needs you and not your day planner.

11. Heaven is bigger than where we live

                It is so easy to get focused on my church, my town, my house and forget how wonderfully large and diverse God’s family is.

12. Positive relationships are important

                For as long as there have been camps there have been “camp romances.” Stealing someone’s heart for our own fulfillment does a disservice to us and others. One of my youth leaders shared something so telling: “It’s not just about being physical. Every relationship you have, you give a piece of yourself away.” We should be careful in giving our hearts away. We should be just as careful with the hearts we try to capture.

                I think the beauty of all of these lessons is that they didn’t take a sermon series or a bible study for us to figure out. All it took was taking the things we have heard over and over and actually doing them. Personally, I can’t wait to see what we learn next year.

I Used to be Fat (or How I Lost Weight)

I just paid someone $50 for the privilege of running 26.2 miles. Yep, that just happened. If you have known me over the last decade, you are probably thinking that doesn’t sound much like Paul. If you don’t know me, I have a confession to make. I used to be fat.

  June 2010            

               In the last 2 years, I have lost 70 pounds. No, you didn’t miss seeing me on the Biggest Loser. I would have bragged loudly enough that you would have already heard about that one.  I have had a lot of people ask me how I lost the weight. Apparently, there was even a rumor that I had surgery to lose it. No, I didn’t have surgery. I had neither the money nor the inclination to do such. For those that choose to get the surgery (and there are several various procedures), I think that is fine. Many have had great success in using the surgery route. It is just not the route that I chose.

                As I looked back over the last few years (dripping sweat post speed workout), I thought about how I got going and got motivated. One of the greatest decisions of my life was to stop the thing that was killing me on a daily basis. Here are the highlights, or lowlights depending on how you look at them.

                                            March 2012

I Started

*Every journey starts with the first step. Trite I know, but certainly true. Anytime I’m up off the couch and NOT stuffing my face was a step in the right direction. I had said hundreds of times, “I need to lose weight,” or “I’ll get started next week.” The difference was made when I just started.

*I stopped worry about what others think. The purpose of a gym is to get in shape. Even though the favorite pastime in gyms seems to be gawking/judging others around you, at the end of the day you are there for you, not what others think of you.

*I found motivation. Shows like Biggest Loser, Heavy, and I Used to be Fat are shows of amazing transformations that involve people that make the exact same excuses that I do. If a woman can lose 200lbs and get her life back, why couldn’t I? If a man can lose the same and run a marathon, why can’t I?

I Got Mad

*Talking with a friend, I discovered one big truth. My weight isn’t offensive to me. I don’t really have to see myself all that much when you think about it. I found a picture of myself that showed just how big I was. I was offended! I got mad. How could I have let myself look like this?

*I realized my life and my goals didn’t match. As a Pastor and more importantly a Christian, my goal in life is to lead others to Christ. What I found was I didn’t look like a person that I would want to follow anywhere. As my cousin pointed out, if they did follow me, they would catch me pretty easily.

*I got embarrassed. I will be heading to Monroe, GA for a vbs/sports camp soon. The last time I was there, two years ago, I was politely asked to sleep in a different room. My snoring was so loud, no one could sleep. My choice for gluttony had sentenced me in a very public way.

I Changed My Lifestyle

*I stopped treating myself like a dog. When a dog does well, he gets a treat. Americans are much the same. When we celebrate, we eat- a lot.

*I practiced self control. I’m blessed enough to know where my next meal is coming from. There is no need to shove the entire buffet table down my throat. I don’t need seconds, thirds or fourths.

*I was wise with my calories. If I'm going to eat a desert, it has to be worth it. Just because food is present doesn't mean it needs to be digested.

I Refused to be “Skinny Fat”

*I didn’t want to just lose weight. Being a smaller pants size and still breathing hard on a walk to my car was not the life I wanted. I pushed myself to not just be smaller, but to be better and healthier.

I Set Goals

*I didn’t get fat overnight, so I certainly wasn’t going to be skinny overnight. Countless studies tell us that we will be more successful if we set goals. If I was in it for the long haul, a goal was a must.

*Adjust your goals. As I lost more, I got more ambitious. As I looked in the mirror more, I changed my barometer for success. Your original goal might seem like settling once you get there. Don't be afraid to get ambitious.

*I set public goals. It started with a 5K. Then I registered for a half marathon. In October, I will be running the full out marathon. Public goals go hand in hand with accountability. When October comes, people will ask me about the race. If I haven’t trained, if I haven’t run, then I’m going to be called out.

                If you were looking for exact science, I’m sorry to disappoint. There are a lot of people a lot smarter than I am that can tell you all of that. At its simplest, eat less and exercise more. But I guess we all know life is often more complicated than that.  Maybe these will help.

Next time: Part Two, Why Losing Weight Matters