Daryl Strickland

If you have read any of my football post, you know that I have had the opportunity to coach at the Middle School where our church meets. It has been a lot of fun and a learning experience as well. We finished up yesterday and our final record was 3-4, a far cry from the 7-0 I was anticipating. However we did go out a winner (17-0 shutout) and it was against a rival school.

Things that I learned this year:

1. Character is THE most important aspect of a teammate.
2. Winning starts with an attitude. You have to believe before you can achieve.
3. Losing will tempt you to shrink your dreams and goals - resist!
4. Preparation is the key to success.

I want to talk a little about #4. In an earlier post I stated that winning shouldn’t feel like losing. Something that I learned this year is that preparation is the KEY to success. In football, in church, in life. Scripture says in Proverbs 21:31 “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD”. This principle is so true and the most important part of the equation is that the victory is God’s but don’t miss the importance of our part.

I remember thinking after the game that felt like a loss that we were not prepared. We didn’t have a substitution plan, we didn’t practice our extra point play enough, our defense was ill prepared to defend pass and the list went on. I think lack of preparation only leads to regrets. On the other hand, I remember the feeling after our fall kickoff service at Lifepoint and it was touchdown for the home team good. The weeks and months leading up to that service, we thought, planned, fasted and prayed and like the scripture said, the victory rested with the Lord.

I now feel so strongly about this that I think you can suffer defeat and it could feel like victory, because when you cover all the bases and you are ready, you leave no room for regrets and second guessing.

Thanks Myrtle Grove, I had a blast!

That’s something that I have learned over the last few years. I don’t know who coined the phrase but John Maxwell is where I heard it first. He aslo said that when you quit learning you quit leading. This has been an inspiration to me to keep my mind open to new ways of doing things, to keep my eyes open to what is going own around the world that is being successful and to stay humble even when you feel like what you are doing works.

Over the last few weeks though, my thought process has been challenged. I think that I had reworded this principle to read like this: Readers are Learners. I don’t think this principle is true all the time.

At Lifepoint Church where I work, we believe that spiritual maturity is measured by application not by knowledge. We believe you can memorize all of scripture and not live it at all (remember the Pharisees). We also believe that it is better to apply one truth out of God’s word than to know it all and apply none of it. I think that it is possible in our quest for knowledge to read, listen to and look at tons of material and learn nothing at all. The book that I posted about last week (QBQ) says this: “Learning is really about translating knowing what to do into doing what we know. It’s about changing. If we have not changed we have not learned”.

This may not be new info to anyone out there but I want to challenge you like I am being challenged, If you read, listen to or here something that resonates with you, learn it! Study it and apply it, put your knowing into action, then you will be a learner and that keeps you in position to lead.

I know a lot of people worship football but have you ever worshipped with a football? I did yesterday and it was cool. I shared for part of our message yesterday and it was related to when I coached high school football, so I wore my coaching shirt and brought a football with me. As we got into our worship set I found myself singing to God with my eyes closed and a football lifted up. It was cool and weird. It was like it was a tambourine or something. The coolest part was a mental image that I got while I was doing this. Here it goes: Our passions when used properly are a tool for worshipping God, when used improperly, become the god we worship. I will let you think about that for a while.

Just read this cool business book titled QBQ (question behind the question). The just of the book is personal accountability. The book is an excellent read for anyone, especially if you think people around you don’t pull their weight or you tend to be pessimistic. The author points out that we tend to think of all the incorrect questions or IQ’s when we look at situations. Most of the time we have a victims mentality and our questions center around why someone else dropped the ball or how we don’t have what we need to do our job. Everything can be blamed on someone or something other than ourselves or our decisions.

The author encourages you to change your questions from negative questions that don’t solve problems to positive questions that solve problems. Instead of saying things like, “why are we always under-staffed”, the question would be, “How can I help make the best out of this situation”? The difference is the focus in the second question is on you, the only person you have control over and instead of being a victim you are part of a solution.

Anyway, I can’t do the book justice but it is very positive and a quick read. It gives you a life-giving outlook on circumstances, which we all can use.

If you like “ridin’ dirty”, check this out.

One detail I forgot to share about our Catalyst trip was that we were able to be a part of breaking another Guiness Book Record. Last year was sitting on the most whoopie cushions, this year it was the largest pillow fight. See the video below.

Hadn’t been there in a long time but today was the day. Obviously Williston had never heard of David and Goliath. We gave up 8 TD’s and scored zip. I watched as our well coached defense (I am the defensive coach) proceeded to put on a clinic on how not to tackle, and how not to play zone defense and how not to fire of the ball and how not to come up and play the run. I am sure it will be a best seller.

On a more positive note. Our kids showed a lot of character and class. It is when you are getting waxed like today, when you see if you have any team unity and we did. On the backside of a 55-0 score I am still proud to be a Gator!

We lost last week in a heart breaker where I played the coach formerly known as Robert the Bruce (Braveheart reference. I had to leave during the game and felt like Robert the Bruce.) We have Wiliston today at home. This is the biggest team we will play all year. They look like Florida State and if there is a David and Goliath, this is it. I hate that for them!

Another year, another awesome Catalyst Conference. I catch myself at Catalyst each year just in awe of the creative, the detail, the insight and the excellence of the conference. But, I shouldn’t because at the core of the planning there are people that are madly in Love with the giver of creativity, the inventor of insight, the author of excellence.

From the Georgia Tech Drum Line, to 10,000 person pillow fight, to the transparency of great leaders, to the never ending supply of great worship leaders - this was on time for me. I am a detail guy and to see the planning and the thought that goes into something like this, just gets me excited.

What really blessed me though was when they ask all those under 30 to stand and roughly 4,000 people stood up, I was blown away. These people represent a generation that only 4% say that have a relationship with Christ. The cool thing about this group though is that they are leaders and leaders multiply things. These 4,000 or so leaders are going to rock the planet!

Andy Stanley was one of the speakers and besides my pastor (Jeff), he is my favorite communicator. His session was for me. He spoke on leadership and how it is a gift from God, we are stewards of it, it is always temporary and we are accountable for what we do with it. I highly recommend that you get the cd’s.

Lastly, I was great getting to hang with the team. Many of them had never been in this environment and to see how they responded, how they were challenged, how they were inspired was awesome!

God willing I will be there next year, prepared and eager to learn!

I am just about to pop! This series that we are doing at church is rocking my world and God is sending people to Lifepoint that are getting their world rocked (in a good way). I don’t want to get weird on you but God was in the house yesterday. Jeff was rocking, the band was rocking and the message was rocking. We are talking to different people everyday and they are telling us how this series is helping them and challenging them (a series on adultery and affairs).

Is the reason that I am about to bust today

A). It is Catalyst Week.

B). It is week 2 of Starting Point.

C). We wrap up Love Affair with a strong message called “Forever Faithful.

D). The Panthers have won two in a row.

E). $0.99 menu at Taco Bell

Actually it is F. all of the above.

I can’t believe I get to be me. To top it off, I have been following this Pastor in Anderson, SC and on his blog last week, I read how 8200 showed up at their church last week (he challenged his people to invite friends and family who don’t know Christ) and over 2oo of them gave their lives to Christ. As I read this, I was so excited and the cool thing is I am just as excited about the 236 people that were at Lifepoint last week. We serve an awesome God who is at work and using faithful people!

Stay prayed up this week!