For many years I would take three bounces, look and concentrate on reaching the back of the front rim, get the feel right on the leather, bend my knees and release the ball properly.

Repetition can create success. I do know that repetition creates memory.

When one includes precision with repeated physical movements, muscle memory occurs.

Muscle memory allows one to stand behind a stripe, concentrate and perform successfully when hundreds, maybe a few thousand people scream.

This same type of memory can create efficiency in our Spirit as well.

Reading the Scriptures repeatedly, dwelling on the words. approaching our Lord in prayer, with pursuit and diligence….creates a spiritual muscle and the memory to give you the ability to STAND, endure and get through circumstances which can buffet you.

Use Scripture to confront all circumstances, whether good or bad, for The Word should be put to work not only in dire straits, but also when full sails and a prompting wind are moving you forward.

Put your practice time in.

Terry
March 2, 2015

Have a friend who has moved here and has been trying to sell a house for years, and recently did.

I have another friend who has moved from here and is making decisions on
buying a house in that new city.

Both sides of a similar decision. Buying and Selling. Coming and Going.

Life leads us to see people come into our lives….while others leave our circle and go on to new ones.

In my life I have done a good bit of coming and going.

I believe God can use us if from cradle to grave we never changed locations.

To a greater extent, I believe God purposes to move us into new and plowable ground to enrich not only us but those from whom He intends us to touch.
And, He does intend us to touch.

He stretches us in these changing locations. He allows us to meet new people and grow from that contact….and He uses us to be influential in the growth of those people we come to know.

Changing causes us to walk out into water that is over our head and that floats us up to where our feet do not touch bottom.

If we stayed in one place too long our feet can get rooted in sameness, comfort and predictability.

God has it for us to be growing. He is conforming us into The Image of His Son. That confirmation cannot be realized if the conformee is cemented into a rigid and antiquated existence.

As CS Lewis said….”He means to redo the whole structure”.

Allow God to move you to new locations. While it may not be a new city or a new residence….it can be a level of life you never knew you were capable of.

As my friends who are buying and selling – buy what God is conforming you to and sell that new message to the world you live in.

Terry
February 27, 2015

It’s a verb.
It’s a command.
It can be positive or negative.
Intentional or accidental.

Are you having intentional, positive impact on the people you live with, interact with and socialize with on a regular basis?

If you are….continue on and pray God leads you and guides that IMPACT toward good results.

If you do not know about your impact… then purpose to make it happen and achieve positive outcomes. Step out of yourself and get involved.

If you see wrong…work to right it.
If you see or sense impropriety in s friend life, convey that to them not as an indictment, but in and through a conversation where you convey your concern and ask strategic questions aimed at the impropriety.

Be purposeful.

You would not let someone drown if you saw them flailing in the water. You would get help or attempt to go to them.

If you see a friend “flailing” in their marriage, their job, their walk with Christ, they are drowning without being in the water.

Get them help.
Go to them and help.

Bring a positive impact to them with your intentional actions.

Only one of three helped the wounded man on the roadside. Two otherwise good people passed by,
but the Samaritan stopped.

Stopped from his journey, stepped away from his planned timetable and forever impacted the
needy one with his time, money and concern.

Who do you know by the “side of the road” today, in need of your impact ?

What are you prepared to do about it?

Terry
February 20, 2015

There is good and bad in the world. Most of the time, what we focus on is what we will see.

A friend sent that comment to me. I have seen it true I my life.
One can find what he wants to find, wherever he wants to find it.

I went to Samford.
There were ample opportunities for me to find good and godly things and activities.
There were also ample opportunities for me to seek and find any wrongful activity or behavior I wanted. A couple of times it got presented to me easily.

We have the choice, wherever we are to seek and find uplifting behaviors or the behaviors we would not share among church friends.

It’s not where you are…It’s who you are. It’s WHOSE you are.

As Christ followers we can make “Christlike” decisions. We can also ask Christ to leave us alone while we go into a sinful behavior/ activity.

However…..He cannot.

He is bound by His Word to never leave you nor forsake you.

You can find what you want to find wherever you are.

Remember JESUS s in you and He is not leaving.
Be careful to not help Him recall why He was crucified.

Terry
February 17, 2015

In the devotional today, there was a great statement.
“Ironically, with physical wounds we seek help immediately, but with emotional ones we are inclined to focus on the problem…the hurt….Instead of the solution”.

Many people go to an emergency room or to a Doctor of some type for stitches, x-rays and bandages….with an outward wound or injury.

Why do people not seek the same urgent care with an emotional injury?

There is something that tells us inside…. “It’s not as big a deal.”
Maybe that’s our conscience saying to us “Let it go.”

Where do you go for that help?

You should have some “cornermen” to be your emergency room physician at those moments.

Who are yours?

Terry
February 15, 2015

Last night many attended the Fight Club Valentines Dinner and Dance.

The attendees ate, laughed a lot, tried to sing, some danced, rehearsed old stories and remembered their courtship.

And this was at a Church Dinner.

Paul said it “All things are available to me”.

We can do and engage and have fun….while still remembering who and what binds us together.
We can hear the sermon that said our past does not define us…..but remember and rehearse moments from our past which gave meaning and color to our lives and is worth recalling.

Paul also wrote “Not all things are prudent”

There were things not done nor said at the event last night….because The Word abounds in our hearts and minds.

In the balance, there was fun, there were uplifted hearts, there was dancing…..there was freedom.

JESUS walked in Freedom. He came to deliver us from evil….but His initial miracle was to create wine at a party. He allowed for the party to continue. Not a Roman orgy…. but the celebration of the Union of two people.

In His Life He exampled freedom as he laughed, ate, went to parties.
In His Death and Rising from It….He gave us another level of Freedom, eternal Freedom.

Last night was a celebration of the Union of about forty couples.
It was the celebration also of the unity we know and experience in the group we are involved in at
Metro.

May we remember that unity as we go out today.
Share it, spread it….
Show it.

Show and share the horizontal love we feel and have for each other….then reveal and reflect the vertical Love we receive and possess for our God…the grantor of our Freedom.

Terry
February 9, 2015

You have to play the whole game.

When it looks as if it’s over, and even when it might not make sense, play the whole game.

Did you not think with the ball on the one, in this years Super Bowl, that Seattle was going to score and win?
Being on the one though does not equal 6 points. Seattle had to score.

The defensive back could have simply tried to tackle the intended receiver. Momentum, though would have carried them both into the end zone.

You have to play the whole game.

A friend of mine prayed for her husband 30 years. After 30 years, he came to know Christ.

Effort sustained can become victory realized.

In the Super Bowl the winners kept playing. Down 10 in the fourth quarter against the best defense in the league. They overcame that.

And, they did not allow emotion to thwart them either.

To get Seattle in the position to win, another circus catch was made.
It was the third circus catch made by an opposing receiver late in a Super Bowl against the Patriots.
They could have resigned to the fatalism you could see on Brady’s face upon seeing that catch made.

One other thing….that circus catch was made after the ball was tipped by the same defender who made the interception at the goal line, to secure victory for The Patriots.  He could have felt drained and defeated after tipping the ball and seeing the Seahawks receiver make the  miraculous catch, which seemed to doom New England.

The defender overcame that temporary misfortune and then made the play to seal the Patriots victory..

Never think you cannot overcome some earlier mistake.

Overcome whatever is in your way.

Play the whole Game.

Balls get tipped….
Things look bleak…then you get opportunity.

If you are aware and awake ….and playing the WHOLE game….on the grass and in life.

Terry
July  2015

Yesterday our Pastor spoke of Hope. Hope is in our lives everyday.

Yesterdays hope can be today’s reality. Gods Word says “hope deferred maketh the heart sick”.

Hope based in some semblance of reality… can be realized and fulfilled by our effort and persistence.

We should all hope for better and good things.
Hope brings us up in the morning to see it fulfilled in the day.
Hope drove us to today from days past.
Hope gives us light when we are in the dark.

In our own strength, Hope can fulfilled by using our gifts and abilities.
But where do they come from? We are gifted by God with our ability and talent. In us, God places hope and His Light which propel us forward.

Gods Intention in us…is the Hope we feel.

Our Hope is His Light shed into our hearts and lives.

To fully realize Gods Intention in us…the Hope we feel…we cannot misplace it. We cannot
aim it incorrectly. We cannot misdirect our effort to realize It. To refocus It ….away from God and His Desire for you probably leads to frustration.

It comes from above.

At Its foundation, the Hope in us is from Him….for Him.

Allow that Hope to open your heart to receive the Fullness of God…intended for you today.

Saw this phrase in an email today. Thought it held a lot of meaning.

When things are new…relationships, jobs, cars, etc. we are quick and intentional to pay attention, to cater, to care for and to protect.

When the first scratch on the new car, we are irritated but it’s there.
The third or fourth ding does not bother us as much.

The first argument a couple engages in is usually followed by immediate heartfelt apologies and regret and affirmations of love.

Time and repetition dulls us to those initial feelings. It diminishes our intent to hold close and protect those relationships and possessions.

Does the repetition of our sin cause any diminished intent on behalf of our Savior?

Don’t let life diminish your intentions

What do you talk about as you eat dinner with your family.
Hopefully, you do eat dinner with your family.

Do you ask questions of your children? Do you discuss your day? Their day?

Do you allow them to hear you vent? Is your venting destructive about someone else?

Dinner time conversation is great for young people. They do not act like it…but it’s where they are on equal footing conversationally.
You can reveal your character to them…and they to you.

Be careful that you do not spew on them any anger or frustration too often. They may feel that spewing is what adults do about other adults.

Be yourself… But operate around your dinner table as if Christ were at one of the settings.

Encourage the conversation.

But, be aware and beware the other occupants at your table hear your words and your inflections….
and your expressions.
They are learning who you are and what you think….in private, relaxed moments.

You are always teaching whether you know it or not.