We have a great event lined up for February 23rd that I think most, if not all of you would enjoy. The Fellowship of Christian Athletes, FCA, is having its annual banquet and fundraiser at Honey Lake Plantation Resort and Spa.
Famous University of Georgia head football coach, (and former FSU offensive co-coordinator), Mark Richt will be the keynote speaker and autographed footballs, UGA helmets, photos of you and coach Richt and other memorabilia will be available at the silent auction. It’s a great cause; there will be an abundance of good food; and a pleasurable time with plenty of Christian fellowship will be enjoyed by all. I urge you to participate if at all possible. The goal is to get 500-700 folks to attend and we need your participation in order to help young men hear the good news about Christ. http://honeylakeplantation.com/fca
I heard Coach Richt give his testimony some time ago and it’s dynamic and I continue to be impressed with his commitment to Christ Jesus. Like his former boss at FSU, coach Bobby Bowden, he spends an enormous amount of his time speaking and encouraging others to seek Christ.
Yesterday I gave a tour of Honey Lake to a beautiful young lady who wants to get married in the church here at the resort. She works for the Kansas City Royals baseball team and was formerly with the Atlanta Braves and even interned with the Atlanta Falcons. She began telling me about all of the Christian athletes on those various teams with whom she’s worked who have their own charities, and the list was quite impressive. She told me that some of them spend enormous amounts of their personal time and money trying to help others.
We recently donated a quail hunting trip for four to an Atlanta based charity fundraiser for little children with cancer sponsored by Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann and his wife. Much to do was made of his mega $80 M contract in the media, but I didn’t see anything about his charity. So often we hear of athlete thugs who are involved in shoot outs, rapes, nasty divorces, and the like, but the good that these guys do goes largely unnoticed.
In my recent Success Seminar I made the point that it is absolutely necessary to give back in order to succeed. The Bible commands it, but also tells us that we will be rewarded beyond what we give. Personally I have discovered that I cannot out-give the Lord. Sometimes it hurts to give, especially in this wretched economy. A friend of mine runs a local charity and she’s been “crying a river” because donations are off so dramatically. Indeed the various charities that constantly solicit me for donations tell me that exact same thing.
It’s interesting to me, because giving may be just what the doctor ordered in order to resolve the horrific economic problems in our big-government-entitlement-crazy country. There is a song entitled, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die”. It kind of reminds me of this dilemma; Everyone wants to be blessed, but no one wants to give. In order to get to heaven we must die, but no one wants to go – just yet. The same with giving; everyone wants to be blessed, but no one wants to give – just yet.
God smiles upon our lives and gives us the peace and joy that every soul stalking this earth desires when we are obedient and follow His commands including the one instructing us to give back. If we refuse to do anything but cater to ourselves, we will not be smiled upon. The Bible states that God loves a cheerful giver and we should desire that love with all of our hearts.
I won’t lie to you and say that it’s always easy to give, especially when it involves our personal time. I do my fair share of speaking and other endeavors and I can tell you that it requires time away from the family and my career, it’s tiresome, often inconvenient, and since I refuse to take compensation, it can be expensive. I can only imagine how many more speaking engagements Coach Richt, Coach Bowden, Brian Mc Cann, and others participate in than I do, and it must be very taxing on them with their busy-busy schedules. And yet they consistently pack their bags and make those trips as do I and we are happy as clams to do so. It’s a God thing!
How about you? Do you give your personal time and money to those who are less fortunate? Do you give to those organizations who answer the call to those lost souls who need to hear the word of God, like those young athletes that the FCA ministers to?
Or do you spend all of your time and money pursuing personal interests on the golf course, shopping malls, and of course building and building and building your portfolio?
I urge you to do something for someone other than yourself this upcoming year. Do it in a BIG way. You can have a piece of heaven here on earth and you won’t even have to die. There is no need to wait. I can assure you that you will never regret it, especially when you stand before God almighty and offer a full and detailed accounting for your life.
Proverbs 11:24-25
One person is generous and yet grows more wealthy, but another withholds more than he ought and comes to poverty. A generous person will be enriched, and the one who provides water for others will himself be satisfied.