kcmark Mark Blog Post

Legacy, Team and a GOAT

After last night’s Super Bowl victory by the Los Angeles Rams, I was thinking this morning about how nice it will be to not have to listen to the national sports media fawn and gush for the entirety of the NFL off-season about how Joe Burrow is the new golden child and heir apparent to Tom Brady. I have nothing against Burrow personally, but the national sports media doesn’t just beat a dead horse, they beat it, grind it up, make some glue out of it and then try selling the glue with the classic Middle School Theory of Persuasion – talk as loudly and as often as possible to try to get your way.

My thoughts of gratitude toward the Rams for enabling us to avoid this painful alternate reality were interrupted as I was checking out post-game comments and came across this quote from Aaron Donald, defensive tackle for the Rams and who many would argue is currently the best defensive player in the NFL (Sorry, Watt)

“Legacies aren’t built from individual stats but team success.”

In the context of the game of football the quote doesn’t seem that profound — in fact, it seems fairly obvious, right? Tom Brady wouldn’t be considered the GOAT if he hadn’t made it to 10 Super Bowls, winning 7 of them. Swap TB12’s Super Bowl numbers with Dan Marino’s (1 SB, a loss) and tell me Brady is still the GOAT. No way.

However, Donald’s quote didn’t stop me because of it’s application to the game of football, it stopped me because of it’s application to the game of life. It was one of those moments where the Holy Spirit nudges my own by shining light into the shadows of my inner thought life.

Oh, Father – how often am I inclined to look at my “individual stats” in my marriage, my relationships, at work, or even in ministry?

Sure, I want to build a legacy through my walk with God, but I’m once again reminded that life doesn’t work that way – legacies aren’t built that way. Aaron Donald has it right. Building a legacy – even a legacy through your walk with God – requires teamwork.

Of course, this implies we are on and have a team and I was reminded that I (and you) do have a team — two of them.

First, we have the ultimate team in God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit. If you’ve been around E6 enough you know we often begin pray with “Father, Son, Holy Spirit”. That’s because if we desire to create a legacy in the Lord they must each have a role in our lives. God is our Father, creator of heaven and earth and sustainer of life. Jesus is our king, our redeemer, our savior and friend. The Holy Spirit is our counselor, our comforter, our guide. Like a football team, there is some overlap in their roles – receivers sometimes block, running backs sometimes pass (like Mixon’s TD pass last night). The point isn’t to put God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit in a box – the point is that when you accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, you have a team walking with you in life and it’s a team effort, not an individual one, that creates a legacy. I’ve had periods where I’ve lived my life, and measured it, based on my “individual stats” and that road always leads to a dead end.

Which leads us to the second team we either have or need. Brothers. Specifically, other men who are also seeking to follow God daily. Without this second team, I might not have ever realized the true value of, and my desparate need for, the first team. There is a reason that Solomon, who God gave immeasurable wisdom, says in Proverbs 17:7,

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”

God designed us as men, and he designed us in a way that if we desire to become all that God created us to be we must be in relationship with other men. How does this happen? We must ask our first team – Father, Son & Holy Spirit – to identify, draft and build our second team. Don’t miss this point. It’s all too easy to go back to relying on our own stats and our own skills to attempt to build our second team. This is where we have to lean in and trust that God our Father, truly knows best and desires the best for us, because He truly does. If that last statement seems impossible or ridiculous to you, I get it. I really do. If you long for those words to actually ring true for you personally, consider coming to our Spring Boot Camp. It’s a place where God has shown up to reveal that truth for many, many men.

If you look around and realize that you don’t have much of a second team, or perhaps none at all, I would invite you to do two things. First, pray – pray for God to put Christian men in your life who are looking for the same thing and then continue to pray. Just like a championship football team, a band of brothers directed by God doesn’t happen overnight. Be patient and focus on your first team in the meantime. Second, sign up and join us for our upcoming Brew & Chew. We can’t wait to see what God does when guys take the active step to gather together as men to share a beverage and have conversations about things that matter to God. You might even meet some other guys needing the same thing as you in this season of life.

Lastly, if you’re wondering if building a legacy in your walk with God is actually worth it, consider this promise from God recorded in Exodus 20:6 as He spoke directly to the children of Israel from Mount Sinai,

“I am loyal and gracious to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Are you kidding me? A thousand generations?? Now THAT is a legacy worth letting go of “individual stats” and allowing the team’s needs and the team’s success to be your success.

Never forget – there is only one true GOAT and He’s already on your team.

kcmark E6 Ministries, Mark Blog Post

Hummingbirds and Hammocks

For me there is something magical about encountering a wild animal. Whether it’s an 8-point buck casually tip-toeing through the forest less than thirty feet away from my temporary perch during a recent Boot Camp, or catching a glimpse of a family of five raccoons strolling through our backyard late at night from the comfort of our couch, or waking up and finding hundreds of starlings blanketing our lawn as they use it for a brief pit stop during a fall murmuration, there is a part of me that leaps to life when it happens – I can feel this mixture of joy, excitement and curiosity begin to rise up. There is a sense of, ‘I don’t want this encounter to end because it feels so true.’  For me, it is also often where God shows up.

Yesterday, it was hummingbirds. Our puppy was, once again, up at the crack of dawn ready to start the day and so I found myself lying in the hammock in our backyard rather than crawling back into bed. The hammock is nestled between our deck and a nearby maple and provides a perfect view of the hummingbird feeder hanging off the corner of the deck. It was early enough in the morning that neither the sounds of the neighborhood nor the wind had woken up, but it was not too early for the hummingbirds. I barely had time to get myself situated in the hammock before a ruby-throated hummingbird darted to the feeder for a refuel. As I watched it hover, briefly land, and then hover again, that familiar sense of wonder returned and God began to connect some dots for me.

During the past few months, Jesus’ words about the vine and the branches in John, Chapter 15, have really stuck with me.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”   – John 15:1-5

This choice to ‘remain in Him’ has come up for me in Sunday sermons, in favorite podcasts, in books I’m reading, in the wise words of trusted friends, and now… hummingbirds.

A couple weeks ago I watched an episode of Nature which focused on hummingbirds.* Did you know a hummingbird has to feed on nectar every 20 minutes that it is awake?  Every. Twenty. Minutes. For it’s entire life, which can be twelve years or more.  Their little avian fuel tanks are so small and the rate at which they burn that fuel is so high, if they don’t feed almost constantly they will run out of fuel and be unable to fly.

Speaking of flight, what these tiny guys can do in the air is nothing short of a miracle. Their wings beat 50-80 beats per second and, unlike any other bird, they can hover, fly backwards and sideways, and at speeds of more 55 mph. As I watch this little guy from our hammock I think how incredible it would be to fly like that!

To get a sense of how deeply reliant hummingbirds are on nectar, consider this. Experts have estimated the amount of nectar a hummingbird must consume daily to sustain their unmatched flying abilities is the human equivalent of eating 1,300 hamburgers a day and washing it down with 16 gallons of water.

Hummingbirds must stay close to the flower – their source of energy – in order to hover, dart and zip through the air — in order to be what they were created to be and do what they were created to do.

It’s in this moment, in the stillness of the morning as I marvel at this little guy above me, that I realize their flower is a reflection of our Father.

“If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:5

Oh, how I long to have an impact for the Kingdom, to know Him more intimately, to bear the kind of fruit where others can’t help but see the truth and glory of God through my life in the same way that I am absolutely captivated by this hummingbird, BUT…. how often do I go more than 20 minutes without drinking from my Father’s well?

Once again, I hear Him say, “Remain in me.”  There is no condemnation, no judgment for my past and present wanderings.  It is a simple but profound invitation.  “You want to fly like the hummingbirds – you want to be what I created you to be.  You can be – even this very day – all you need to do is drink from My well – not weekly, not daily, but minute by minute.” That’s a standing invitation for each of us.

I’m reminded of Jesus’ words,

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.  – Matthew 6:33-34

I cannot solve tomorrow’s problems today, nor can I change yesterday’s failures, but I can walk with Him today, in every moment.  When I make the choice to do so, I know I am being exactly who he created me to be.  And so I pause in the moment and say, “Jesus, oh, how I want to remain in you. Not just each week, each day or even each hour, but every minute of every day. Thank you for this reminder through your amazing creation!”

Job 12:7,10 says, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you … In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”

Today I’m reminded why my heart loves seeing wild animals – because they remind me of, and occasionally even teach me about, our amazing heavenly Father and how to walk closer with Him every 20 minutes of every day.  The more I lean into Him, the more of my life I give over to Him, the more myself I become…..and the more he can use me, as he uses the hummingbird, to do amazing things that will draw others closer to Him.

* P.S.  – If you want to learn more about what an incredible miracle of creation the hummingbird is check out the full episode, of Nature’s Super Hummingbirds on PBS’ website.