The other day I was flipping radio stations because I am just not able to listen to Christmas music 24 hrs a day (don’t judge me..ha). As I stopped on a station that I normally don’t listen to I was intrigued by the question they were asking listeners, “are our children (or your children) overly spoiled?”. I began thinking which ended up lasting all day with several conversations with others. I pondered whether or not my child is spoiled and even bigger, are we spoiled as a society. After talking to some close friends and wife here is what God showed me.
Are we and our children spoiled? Absolutely! As I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to difference countries and some third world countries I have concluded that God has clearly shown me that we are all spoiled. The simple fact that we have running water, air condition, heat, and electricity is more than most in our world even THINKS about having. When you compound that with this time of year and the money that we spend on our children, family, and friends it becomes so clear that as a whole….we are spoiled. But I believe that we need to take it one step further which might open your mind to a whole new idea.
As I spoke to several friends throughout that day and we discussed this topic there was one common theme that I heard over and over. That theme?? EXPECT. We talked about how our children walk into certain store’s and EXPECT to walk out with something. How many of you (I) go into Wal-Mart to grab a household item or grocery item and because our children are with us and ask for a $1-$5 item we grab it because it’s cheap and it keeps them happy? How about when we come home from work or school and EXPECT that our electricity will be on? Our TV to turn on? Our toilet to flush? Our shower/bath to produce water? I think you see my point. We EXPECT these things to happen because that has always been our expectation. If we walked into our homes and none of those things happened we would be upset (and don’t say you wouldn’t). We would call our utility company, service provider, repair person and “demand” that our service be restored……because it would inconvenience us.
As a follower of Jesus Christ my prayer is that fellow brothers and sisters in Christ will see our everyday treasures as a Blessing but my fear is that we view many of our treasures as expectations. When we EXPECT than we lose focus on whom and why we have everything that we have.
Psalm 33:12-13, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind.”
Ezekiel 34:26, “I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.
So, for me the radio station’s question is bigger than just are our children spoiled. The question is have we as a society and body of believers become so spoiled that it has become expected? I hope you agree that God’s blessing is more than we deserve…..and therefore our expectations should simply be to give Him praise for the things we have daily and minute by minute.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
11 yr old team minsters to homeless
Hey everyone,
I mentioned yesterday that one of our ministered teams had done a ministry project in downtown Atlanta. Below you will find a note from our coach and a few photos. I'm convinced that God is using these baseball teams/players to reach our communities. Thanks again for your commitment!
Mike Roby
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Mike,
This past Saturday our team headed down to Atlanta to join several churches in passing out food and clothing to the homeless. Even more important, we had the opportunity to pray and minister to them. The event touched our hearts and made so many of us in attendance feel lucky to have the “basics” that God has provided us. Many do not know that we have 25,000 homeless people in the city of Atlanta alone – so the opportunity to earn a jewel in our crown is very close to home.
My hope is that our players and parents alike will give thanks to the many blessings God provides us with and do everything we can to spread his word and share our good will.
God Bless you this Christmas!
Mike Nardella
11U FCA Redhawks
Monday, December 12, 2011
10u FCA Softball
I am excited to announce that the south side of Atlanta will have their first FCA softball team. Coach Darby Steele from McDonough has felt the call to start a 10u FCA travel softball team. These young ladies will be ministered to through their coach on a weekly basis. Not only will they learn the game of softball and compete in Atlanta area tournaments they will also be involved in weekly devotions/bible studies.
Darby will be holding team tryouts on Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 from 2-4pm @ the Salem Baptist Sports Complex in McDonough. Registration begins at 1:30pm and tryouts are of course FREE.
For further info please email Coach Darby Steele. Her email address is:
By His Power,
Mike Roby
770-713-9903
ROMANS 12:1-2
Friday, December 2, 2011
Coaches Clinic
On behalf of our baseball board of directors and myself we want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday. As you spend time with your family and friends our prayer is that you will also take time to thank our Lord for the blessing He has given us. Without Him nothing is possible.
We are excited to launch our first coaches clinic for 2012. Attached is the brochure/flyer for the Jan 14th clinic which will be held in Lilburn, Ga. Last year this clinic had 160 coaches attend from every level of baseball. If you know someone that would benefit from this please feel free to forward. Not only will these coaches learn about the game of baseball but more importantly they will learn about the game of LIFE and God’s game plan.
For those of you on the south end of Atlanta don’t worry. We have a clinic coming in February for you as well. That info will follow in the next few weeks.
By His Power,
Mike Roby
FCA Director of Baseball/Softball
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