Streaking with Flags On!!!

Still Streaking!!

Last week we notched another W with an impressive win. We decided to continue our winning streak. Perfection is the Goal. Unfortunately it was ugly win.
There were unruly parents, ejections, tackles (a no-no in flag football), and way too much trash talk. Regardless, we got the WIN!!

I loved it, but it was definitely immature. Let me explain......
The team we played consisted of 18 year olds. We scored on our first possession and it was business as usual. Your boy (me) caught a touchdown pass. They scored from their first play from scrimmage, after we blew a handful of tackles.

They were so excited (I'm guessing because when you score against the #1 team in the league, you get pumped). That prompted some trash talk....something about "dropping bombs on us" and "That's Right." My teammates and I don't enjoy being the recipients of trash talk, so of course, being the more mature and grown up team....we start riding them back. One of them left the game with a nickname of Fred Savage, we yelled, scream, and got super excited for no reason. And it just got out of hand.

It's kind of funny when underdogs try and take down the big dogs..... but it just gets ridiculous when the big dogs are relentless. This is not an UNDERDOG story, or league. It's a "May the best team win league."

Nonetheless, at the end of the game. Players were still yelling, flipping the bird, and to make matters worse, one of the 18 year old's parents started trash talking us from across the football field as we were about to head out. There are very few sports scenarios that I can fathom, where the outcome is better when parents get involved. This was not one of them. When a 50 year old man keeps calling you tough guy from across the field, it looks foolish. But when you respond with a "You want some too old man?!?!?" comment, then you have two fools going at it.

And that is why..... ...Forget the NBA I LOVE THIS GAME.

http://www.tampabayclubsport.com/Football-sun-mens-rec.htm

Still Undefeated!!

6-0 Baby!!
The Vanilla Express pulled of a 29-20 come from behind win on Sunday to maintain their unblemished record. It's amazing...we stayed and watched some of the next game. It's clear that other teams have heard about our skills, as they have beefed up their rosters as they prepare to perhaps meet us in the playoffs.

While we boast a roster of 9 players, our last two victories have come with only 6 and 7 active players, respectively.

We are making it happen. Big Game winning drives, key intercceptions on defense, and on top of that, making sure that we finish with more points than our opponents. That's the name of the game!!!!

Flag football is going well for us!!!

Here are our most recent standings......

http://www.tampabayclubsport.com/Football-sun-mens-rec.htm

GO TEAM GO!!!

Gridiron Update!!

Vanilla Express is Dominating the League....

5-0 folks, and we have no intentions of resting our starters! Last week we actually started the game with only 6 players, and then picked up a guys sitting on the sideline. We ended up beating that team too. I hope we continue our success.... it would be nice to win a Championship, even if it is a Rec Championship. We want the #1 Spot baby!!
Fun Game......only downside, is that its COLD!!!! We have played a couple games where the temp is in the 40s or 50s, which is like playing Ohio Football. No Complaints....I love this game!!

Key to winning: TEAMWORK!!!

Understanding the Hinderances of UNANSWERED PRAYERS

Thoughts from 2/3/10
Here is your time to breakthrough....
I've been reading a daily email that goes out on a list serve recently. Over the course of 6 days, I was excited to read each e-mail. There were 6 principles and one was touched on each day. For principle #7, I had to incoporate some personal experiences and what I know to be true about the Bible and the God we serve. Shout out to Vernon Tubbs II. This is his some of his inspiration & revelation he has received and passed along. It's too hot to NOT pass it along. This will help revamp your PRAYER life, and also make you take a deep look inside of yourself. So here we go....

7 Reasons for Unanswered Prayer

1. Prayerlessness
HE SHALL CALL UPON ME, AND I WILL ANSWER. PSALM 91:15 NKJV

The first hinderance to answered prayer is: Prayerlessness. Sounds simple, but our prayers are not answered when we don't pray. Saying we believe in prayer is not the same as praying. James writes: "You do not have because you do not ask" (James 4:3 NKJV). We must take the time to ask God for what we want and need. Sometimes we process situations in our minds, or talk about them with our friends, or wish, or hope, but we don't pray! Contemplating asking for something from God is not praying! Thinking, wishing, hoping, and talking with others is not prayer...only prayer is prayer! We aree only praying when we talk to God about it.

God is waiting for us to make requests of Him in prayer. He never gets tired of us coming to Him! He is able, willing, and ready to act on our behalf, but only if we PRAY. Jesus said: "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened" (Matthew 7:7-8 NKJV).

2. Lack of Confidence

LET US THEN APPROACH THE THRONE WITH CONFIDENCE. HEBREWS 4:16 NIV


The second hindrance to answered prayer is: Lack of Confidence

When we understand that as God's redeemed children we have the right to approach Him at any time, we are able to overcome the enemy's attempts to make us feel condemned. As a result we then become confident in approaching Him. We no longer say to ourselves, "I know God can do it (meaning that He is powerful enough to pull it off), but I find it hard to believe He will do it for me (feeling unworthy)." We think such thoughts because we don't think we're worthy. Jesus has MADE us worthy!
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."
Grace means God will give us what we don't deserve - if we're confident enough to ask for it. (Think about it, he gives us life, when we ALL deserve death. If that doesnt say it all, nothing will.) We ask in Jesus' name, not in our own name. Because we have NO AUTHORITY without him! We're nothing without Jesus! God is willing to do more than we could ask or think (See Ephesians 3:20). So we need to exercise faith, and avail ourselves of all He can do by asking confidently.

3. SIN

IF I REGARD INIQUITY IN MY HEART, THE LORD WILL NOT HEAR ME. PSALM 66:18

The third hindrance to answered prayer is - sin! (it deserves about 1,000 more exclamation points)

Unconfessed sin locks us in and shuts God out. If we have hidden sin in our hearts, we cannot pray with confidence that God will answer. However, if we ask Him to reveal our sin, He will. When He does, we must deal with it if we want to keep the lines of communication open. If God reminds us of a situation in which we didn't do the right thing, we can't just sweep it under the rug; we have to acknowledge it and receive His forgiveness. Several people experienced a decline in hearing, or other spiritual deficiencies from God as a result of their sin! Jonah, David, Moses, Solomon, ......................................

When God reveals our sin we need to repent and stop what we are doing, regardless of how big or small we may feel they are. We need to take Him seriously, immediately! This means doing everything within our power to make sure our relationship with Him is unobstructed. That way our prayers will be heard and answered.

4. Praying Outside of God's Will
IF WE ASK ANYTHING ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, HE HEARS US. 1 JOHN 5:14 NKJV

The fourth hindrance to answered prayer is: praying outside of God's will. The Bible says: "Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us and...we know...that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him." One of the best ways to make sure we are praying according to God's will, is to pray according to His Word. Use a verse, a passage or a principle from Scripture to back up what you're praying, for God says, "I am ready to perform My word" (Jeremiah 1:12 NKJV). This is aligning your heart to God's will. You don't just do it once, you have to do it continually. "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) SO we must make sure our heart is aligned with God's Word, and His Plan!

Sometimes there are things we want to pray for, but we aren't sure whether those things are God's will for us according to Scripture. In this case we simply need to ask God to give it, if it's His will to do so, and to help us to be satisfied with His decision. St. Augustine said, "O, Lord, grant that I may do thy will as if it were mine; so that thou mayest do my will as if it were thine." D.L. Moody said, "Spread out your petition before God, and then say, 'Thy will, not mine, be done.' "

When we pray in harmony with God, we will have what we ask for. We may have to wait, because God's timing is part of His will, but it will come. At this point, we shold say, "I may not see it yet, but God has promised it to me, so it's on the way." And if God doesn't give us what we ask for, He will give us something better, if we walk in faith.

5. Wrong Motives

YOU DO NOT RECEIVE, BECAUSE YOU ASK WITH WRONG MOTIVES. JAMES 4:3 NIV

The fifth hindrance to answered prayer is: Wrong Motives.

If you have the wrong motives, your prayers won't be answered.
A motive is the why behind the what. In prayer, the reason we pray is much more important than the words we say. Having a pure heart that loves God & loves people, is always an acceptable motive to the Lord.
Selfishness & revenge are unacceptable, manipulation & control are unacceptable; jealousy & pride are unacceptable. In fact, anything that is selfish is unacceptable. A.W. Tozer writes: "The labor of self-love is a heavy one indeed. Think for yourself whether much of your sorrow has not arisen from someone speaking ill of you. As long as you set yourself up as a little god to whom you must be loyal, there will always be those who will delight in insulting your idol. How then can you hope to have inward peace? The heart's fierce effort to protect itself from every slight, will never let the mind rest."

To pray effectively we must purify our hearts on a regular basis. We need to examine ourselves, and examine our motives. Taking a look at them will be painful, but it must be done if we desire to see our prayers answered.

6. FAITH

WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE GOD. HEBREWS 11:6 NIV

God longs to be believed! The Bible says: "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that He...rewards those who earnestly seek him." Faith is a powerful spiritual force. It's the thing God responds to. Therefore it must be the driving force behind our prayers! But we must expect our faith to be challenged. Satan will cloud our mind with doubts and fears. When he does, we need to examine our heart and see what it says. We can believe God's Word in our heart, even when our mind questions it. So we need to stand on what's in our heart, not on what's in our head. We must not believe our doubts; we must challenge our doubts and believe God!

Sometimes doubt begins with distraction. When we're distracted from God's promises, we start to doubt. As we think more and more about our problems, our faith wavers. We must focus like a laser on God's promises, His power and His willingness to work on our behalf - and merely glance at our problems. James writes: "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (James 1:6-8 NKJV). We must be anchored to what God says, and not drift all over the place when our circumstances begin to change.

7. You experiential track record with God.......
I Samuel 17: 34-37
David said, "I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference—I killed it. And I'll do the same to this Philistine pig who is taunting the troops of God-Alive. God, who delivered me from the teeth of the lion and the claws of the bear, will deliver me from this Philistine." Saul said, "Go. And God help you!"

Experience aside....David was a fighter. What qualifications did he have to go and challenge Goliath? None. What did he have? He had an experiential track record with God. He was a killer....in his own right. He knew that when faced with a lion or a bear, he would have to go kill the animal that came against his flock....if it turned on him. Goliath had turned on the people, and God, by defiling him. David used his previous victories against his enemies (in this case the lion and bear), and sought to kill David. He knew the faith her had in God was great enough to get him through this next battle, just like it was enough to conquer a lion or bear.

Christians, when faced with new challenged, use the previous victories of God in your life as FUEL to your prayer fire. It's amazing the confidence that will give you. You will pray with more ferver. Your passion will be ignited. And you will approach God bodly, just as he commanded.

I've seen it happen and I am a witness.

PRAY HARD CHRISTIANS!!