Photo by Ameer Basheer on Unsplash

God’s team gets the win

People used to make jokes about the Dallas Cowboys being “God’s team,” but it’s really “Jerry’s hobby.” 

I’d like to say that everyone would say last Sunday’s Dallas Cowboys game was incredible. But, we used to pastor in Atlanta, and I’m sure there are a lot of our friends there who would disagree. So, let’s just say most people would say the Cowboys/Falcons game was amazing. 

Believe it or not, that game inspired this blog post. 

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Cowboys play with less energy than they played in the first quarter. They looked like they had not slept the night before, or that all of them had the virus. It was beyond frustrating to watch! 

Then they woke up. 

They played like a different team and had one of the biggest comebacks in history. I don’t understand why they seemed asleep in the first quarter, but I hope they figure it out a little earlier for next week’s game. 

The team looked depressed, and I wondered if there had been disagreements among the players. There is a lot of pressure on some to kneel and a lot of pressure to stand. There are people who are first string and others who want to be. What kinds of discussions or disagreements take place before a game? 

At some point, everyone in a Cowboys jersey decided to agree they were there for one reason: to win a game. 

And they did. 

It’s time to win 

God’s family is diverse. We don’t vote the same, look the same, or agree on the kind of music we want to hear. Some dress up, some dress casually, and some don’t have the luxury of making a choice. When we get to heaven, there will be unity all the time. 

Until heaven, we are all different. 

Most of the rhetoric these days is about the divisions among people. We spend a lot of time discussing our differences. But what about our commonalities? There are a lot of things all of us know are true. I think it is time to focus our thoughts in that direction. 

The Cowboys aren’t “God’s team”; Christians are. What if we are in the fourth quarter of human history? 

One thing is certain: we need to win the game. 

It’s time to take some chances 

According to an NBC Sports column, there was about a 6 percent chance that the Dallas Cowboys were going to recover that fourth-quarter onside kick. But, they took the chance because it was their only chance of winning the game. 

Is it time for God’s team to take some chances, even if the percentages aren’t on our side? 

According to one survey, 97 percent of people come to faith in Christ before the age of thirty. After thirty, the number of people who accept Christ as their Savior drops to just two percent. 

Don’t read further until you allow those numbers to sink in into your soul deeply and profoundly. 

God’s team is playing like the Cowboys in the first quarter of Sunday’s game. 

We are flat, lifeless, depressed, and completely out of the game. But here is a thought that should matter. The Cowboys only had a 6 percent chance at recovering the onside kick—but they did. They won Sunday’s game because they took a chance at the impossible. 

Are Christians today even attempting to buck the odds and take a chance? 

Biblical history is about attempting the impossible 

  • God created everything and everyone out of nothingness. All that is needed is God. 
  • God brought the floods and spared only a few. The only thing crucial is faith.
  • God provided a holy land to people who could never have conquered the enemy. God’s Presence was the only power they needed.
  • God disciplined those he loved, and they lost the land. Life eternal is always more important than the comfort, wealth, and safety of our earthly lives.
  • God sent his Son. Human beings were never going to choose his laws, so he allowed them to choose his forgiveness.

This could be the fourth quarter of the game. Is it time to attempt the impossible? 

Mary was just a teenage girl when the angel came to her and told her she was going to have a baby. She knew it wasn’t “possible.” And then the angel told her, “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). I think that if the angel Gabriel brought a message to Christians today, it would be to remind us that we serve the God who has always made the impossible happen. 

We know the truth; we just need to trust the truth. 

Mary knew there was a 0 percent chance she could be pregnant. She also knew that if it were God’s will, it was 100 percent possible. 

We need to trust God instead of percentages. 

Trust what is certain 

Trust God’s sovereignty. 

Our news reports will be filled with percentage points and polls. Trust that God will remain in charge, regardless of any election. 

God told the prophet, “Remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose’” (Isaiah 46:9–10). 

Pray, vote, and trust God to accomplish his purpose. He will. 

Trust that everyone you see is destined for heaven or hell. 

The Bible makes it clear, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). 

It isn’t our job to hope a person will go to heaven. It’s our job to make certain they understand their choice. Christians need to return to their first priority. We are disciples of Christ, called to make disciples of others. Nothing is more important than that priority. 

Trust that Christians will win. 

Have you felt like God’s team is losing the game? 

I wouldn’t have given the Cowboys any chance of victory last Sunday. Actually, I don’t give them much of a chance next Sunday. They are human beings, and every game is an uncertainty. 

Christians don’t need to ever doubt the outcome of their lives. For every person who has put their faith in Christ “will be saved” (Romans 10:13). 

We have a 100 percent chance of victory because Christ assured the outcome. 

Celebrate your victory 

I’m grinning right now as I type, thinking about the way Dak Prescott, the Cowboy’s quarterback, left the field jumping with joy, wearing a huge grin on his face. He had achieved an impossible victory. Nothing else mattered. 

What do our faces look like today? 

If people see us, will they know we are victorious?

Trust the outcome of the game, not what appears to be true according to the clock. Satan’s goal is to convince us to believe his statistics, not God’s. He is really good at convincing unbelievers, especially those who have reached their thirtieth birthday. We need to tell people the truth. 

We need to live like we just won the game! 

Evangelism is living with the truth of God and sharing it with others. What if our generation is living in the fourth quarter of the game? 

We need to play the game with that intensity. It’s time to win. In fact, we already have—so let’s make sure others join our side of the field. 

God’s team is going to win, and it will be a great celebration very soon. 

P.S. Have you signed up for my bible study, Foundations of Faith, yet? It’s not too late, we just released lesson 2!

Visit https://www.janetdenisonbiblestudy.com/ to sign up for this study, if you’ve already signed up you can login and access the newest video too.

When Fear is Real and Reasonable

Sometimes evil has a face and a name.

What kind of person grabs a little girl off the street, from her mother’s hand, and takes her somewhere to abuse her?

But that happened in Fort Worth, Texas. Thankfully, some heroic citizens worked with police and the little girl was found and rescued.

She is safe today, but will she and her family ever feel safe again?

I didn’t want to write about this story because everything about it is sad and dark. But her rescue has been described as a miracle. I wrestled with this blog post, not wanting to think about this story, but knowing that a miracle should be discussed.

The rescue was a miracle, but healing will require a choice.

Most of the time when Christians write about fear, the spiritual lesson is “fear not.” Jesus often told his disciples not to be afraid, even when they had every right to feel fear. He taught them not to worry because God loves them.

But how could that mom feel anything but fear as that car drove off with her little girl inside? How will she ever not worry? She was just walking down the street, holding her daughter’s hand—and evil succeeded.

For that matter, how do we not worry when our fears are both real and reasonable?

Does God ask the impossible of us?

The simple answer is yes.

The spiritual answer is found in:

  • Luke 1:37: Mary said, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
  • Matthew 19:26: Jesus told his disciples, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
  • Philippians 4:13: Paul said, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

It seems like God has asked Christians to walk through this world with enough faith to believe the impossible is possible.

Is “fearlessness” too much for God to ask?

The impossible is impossible for us, not God.

There is a mom in Fort Worth whose life has been permanently changed. She has known fear at a level most of us will never experience. That said, all of us will experience real and reasonable fears. Everyone will face the impossible choice that Jesus called us to make when he commanded us to “fear not.”

The only choice we will have in our moments of very real, very reasonable fear, is to know that the impossible is only possible with God. The only answer to some fear is knowing God “can” because we also know we “can’t.” It isn’t possible for human beings to live without fear. It is possible for human beings to trust God is bigger than whatever we are afraid of.

A lot of our fears are real and reasonable. Evil exists. Bad things happen. We know that God can protect, but we also know that sometimes his choice is to walk us through the pain or fear, rather than remove it.

Is it possible to trust that God will be enough for our real and reasonable fears?

Jesus, help our unbelief.

Jesus sent his disciples out to do ministry in his name. They encountered a man whose son was possessed by an evil spirit. The disciples tried to cast out the demon but weren’t able. When Jesus walked into the situation, he told the son’s father to bring the boy to him.

The father had been disappointed by the disciples but handed his son to Jesus, saying, “If you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:22). Jesus reacted to the man’s words, saying, “‘If you can!’ All things are possible for one who believes” (v. 23).

Everything in me relates to the father in this story and not to Jesus.

As I write this blog, a wonderful friend and mom is admitting her cancer will win and she will soon go to heaven. Both she and her kids seem too young for this to be happening.

A man we know needs a new heart to live, but he will need to wait to see if a heart will become available.

And a Fort Worth mom in the news will bring her little girl home from the hospital with physical healing, but recovery from her emotional pain will be more difficult.

I know that many people who will read these words have similar stories of their own.

I hope all of us will remember the words the possessed boy’s father prayed. He looked at Jesus and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 19:24). The Lord understands our struggle but wants us to trust him anyway.

My favorite prayer for real and reasonable fears

David understood fear. King Saul, and many others, wanted him dead. David wrote these words in Psalm 56 that I have found comfort in praying when I face real and reasonable fear. David wrote:

Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly.
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
(Psalm 56:1–4)

It is when, not if, even for the faithful.

It is impossible to walk through this life without fear because fear is a reasonable response for any human being.

That said, when we are afraid, there is something to do. We need to continually and faithfully decide what we are going to do with our fear. Some fear is real and reasonable, but we can ask God to do the impossible and give us the strength and peace to survive even our greatest fears.

When evil is real, we will have to trust that God is real too. When fears are defined by a doctor or a set of circumstances, our choice is defined by God. When we are afraid, we need to be like David and understand that God is larger and stronger than anything that can attack our earthly lives. We can trust God to handle what we can’t.

Some fears are impossibly difficult for us, and it is difficult to believe our faith is sufficient. God understands. And Jesus promised us that we don’t have to fear. Jesus stepped out of his grave and proved Christians will too. So, we can pray the words of that father, saying, “I believe. Help my unbelief.” We can echo King David’s words: “I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?”

We can believe that, with God, even the impossible is possible for our greatest fears.

A little girl was hurt, but she was also saved. The two people I know who desperately want to continue their earthly lives also know they will live eternally in heaven. Fear and pain are real and reasonable, but so is our faith.

When you are afraid, trust in God. He is as real as your fear, and many years of ministry have taught me that God is enough for all the real things that happen in this world. And God’s promise can be trusted for all the real joys that will reward our faith.

Lord, we believe; help our unbelief.