Stay tuned to find out
how you can get off the bench
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and into the game for Christ.
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I'm Jason Bradley
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and you are
watching Urban Report.
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Hello, and
welcome to Urban Report.
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My guest today is Ron Dozier,
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he's the author of the book
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entitled "The Gospel
According to Sports".
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Ron is the
director of stewardship
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at his local church.
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He's a member of the Saving
Grace Prison Ministry team
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and he's also the
Development Director
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for Columbus Adventist Academy.
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Needless to say Ron is busy.
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Welcome to Urban Report, Ron.
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Glad to meet you.
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Good to have you.
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So we have so much to talk about
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in a short amount of time.
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But let's start
with your background.
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Well, basically I was born
in Seventh-day Adventist church,
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in Seventh-day Adventist Church,
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my mother used to tease me
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and she was
baptized while carrying me
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so like baptized twice.
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And I've been an
elder in church in variety,
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couple of churches for
probably about 30 plus years.
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And I've been a Yankees fan
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for equally that long
along the Buffalo Bills fans.
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So you can't be an elder
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and be a Bills and
Yankees fan at the same time.
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Okay.
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So we share that
in common not the...
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well, Yankees fan, yes.
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Bills, I don't
know about that one.
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But we'll talk about that later.
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But the baptism,
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my mom carried me as well
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and Pastor C.A.
Murray baptized her.
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Well, of course,
my mom carried me,
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but baptized her
while I was in the womb.
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Oh, wow,
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and Pastor Murray and I
go back a little ways too,
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'cause he is also from Buffalo.
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Yes, yes. I wonder
if he's a Bills fan.
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If he is, he
better not tell anybody.
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So you have so much going on.
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How do you find the time
to manage all of the things?
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Well, fortunately
I'm retired, that helps.
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But one of the good
things about being retired,
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you get a
chance to do the things
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which you have a passion for.
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And I always liked writing
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when I was a
director of human services
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for non-profit organization.
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I used to write lot
of grants and proposals.
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So this gave me a chance
to move it to another level
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in terms of doing some writing.
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And you always have,
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you know, you have a
passion for your church.
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And I tell people
that I love my church.
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And when you love your church,
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you'll look for ways
which you can be of service.
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While, you know,
being a member of the church
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and serving them
for writing capacities.
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Yes.
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And so you are a
life long Adventist,
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been serving all throughout
growing up, coming up?
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Right, exactly. Okay.
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Now, you wrote a book
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called ''The Gospel
According to Sports''.
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We have a copy of it here
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and they have a
copy on the screen there.
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Now, when I
first read that title,
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I was little, little thrown
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by ''The Gospel
According to Sports''.
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But as I talk to you
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and as I went started
looking through the book,
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I was like, he's
on to something here.
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What was your motivation
for writing this book?
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Well, actually what the
Gospel According to Sports is,
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is a bridge between
sports and spiritual values.
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We typically kind of
put sports on one side
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and say Jesus on the other side.
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But this looks at the gospel
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through the
binoculars of sports.
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Okay.
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So it's design to
appeal to a person
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who has a heart for God
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as well as the
heart of an athlete,
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so that you can
basically, instead of saying,
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well, one is separate
and divorce from the other
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that we can literally
use sports characters,
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use sports personalities
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and sports lessons as a segue
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to things that
deal with the gospel.
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Okay. Okay.
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So it's kind of like
a conversation starter
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and then a look,
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a way to compare
different aspects of sports
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with the events that
are going on in the Bible.
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No doubt about it.
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It's interesting
because so much of the Bible
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is considered years ago.
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But sports is everyday,
sports is very visible.
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So when you do a presentation,
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you're literally
using visible images
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of sports characters
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and then related
them to biblical events
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and biblical values.
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Now before we dive
deeper into the book,
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you put together a
trailer for this book.
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I'm not familiar with seeing
a bunch of trailers for books
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and I thought
this was very unique.
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I'd love for our
viewers to take a look at it.
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I think, they will enjoy it.
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All right.
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They are on the 16th fairway
of about 200 yards to the pin.
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It's counting three up.
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Second down and nine
for their own three-five.
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Just over nine minutes
to go in the quarter...
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From the face-off.
Back to the points.
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Takes a shot,
passes to the other,
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one timer,
deflection, run off to the post.
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And with one minute
left go in the game,
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the score remains exactly...
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Battling along the board.
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Passed to the corner.
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All alone, he shoots and scores.
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Wow,
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now I feel like I was about
to go into a movie after that.
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I thought it was
going into a movie,
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that's why it makes you
want to dive in this book
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and learn more about it.
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Ron, let me ask you a question.
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What makes this book different
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from the other books
that are in the Christian...
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the other sports books that
are in the Christian book store?
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Well, mostly
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what happens when you go
into Christian books store,
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you see some books
that relate to sports.
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But usually, they are
written by the athlete,
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who's been had a life story
involved in a particular sport.
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What make this book different,
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one it covers a
variety of sports,
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it covers hockey,
baseball, track, even cycling.
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It covers a variety of sports,
football, the draft, and...
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but it's presented
from a fan's perspective.
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A fan wrote it for
the benefit of other fans.
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Okay, Okay.
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Now so it offers
a different spin.
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It's from a different viewpoint.
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Yes, I mean, often
you hear stuff of guy
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tells his life story in his book
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that focuses on his
life in a particular sports.
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But this is...
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takes a spin on it
and says, "Hey, look,
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there's a variety of correlation
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between Bible
figures and sports figures."
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And some of those can be very...
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can seem kind of
abstract at time,
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but when you compare them,
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they really
kind of come together
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and it gives you a
great object lesson,
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so you go away from, you say,
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"Wow, I never
thought about that way."
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And that frankly is the gold,
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to be able to
present sports in such a way
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that people who have an
appreciation for the gospel
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say, "Yeah, I never
thought about it that way."
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As well as those who may have
never thought about the gospel,
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and always looked at the
gospel as kind of a negative,
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but sports can be presented
in a way that's very positive
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and proactive as
opposed to negative.
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When I say negative,
sometimes we talk about sports
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and we talk about the gospel
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and say, "Well, this is limited.
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Well, you can't do
this or you can't do that."
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But when you
present it from the gospel,
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from the sports prospective,
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it's based on sports principles
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that people can
identify with him
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and it make sense to be
able to promote it in that way.
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Okay.
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If only people would
realize that the gospel isn't,
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it's not a bunch
of you can't do this,
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you can't do that,
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it's actually a
blessing in terms of...
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it's all because God loves
us and cares about us, you know.
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I was sharing with somebody,
in the first chapter one,
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Referees.
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We typically talk about,
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it shares things
about the commandments
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and we typically
think of commandments
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in terms of what you can't do.
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But when you look at referees,
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and you look at the
whole idea of sports,
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the reason for referees
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is because they
bring order out of chaos.
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If you don't have a referee,
your games will be chaotic.
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All of us at some point times,
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athletes have
played pick up games.
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You had to pick a baseball game,
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pick up hockey
game, baseball, football,
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whatever is game,
it's a pick-up game.
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And pick-up games
have one thing in common,
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everybody acts as
their own referee.
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And as result,
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there is always gonna be
an argument about he did this,
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no, he wasn't, why
wasn't he call for this.
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And it tends to be, you know,
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that kind of
friendly combativeness,
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I mean, in terms
of pick-up games,
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but a referee
brings order through it.
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And so therefore,
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when we start
talking about the law of God,
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the law of God
basically brings order
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in the chaos of our lives.
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And when you perspect,
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when you use it
from the perspective
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of what it does from
sports, it just makes sense.
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That's an excellent analogy.
00:10:07.40\00:10:09.17
Now, what are
some other examples
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that you can give
us from your book?
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One of the things
that I enjoy writing was
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the analogy about basketball,
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beating the odds,
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think about the odds of
being able to make the NBA.
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In the book, it
specifically talks about
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who was the best
NBA player under 6 foot.
00:10:28.76\00:10:34.40
And do a correlation
between that individual
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and David's taking down
the giant in his life, Goliath.
00:10:36.97\00:10:39.90
So we identified a
couple but as it turns out,
00:10:39.93\00:10:43.84
we identified
Tyrone Muggsy Bogues,
00:10:43.87\00:10:46.61
who was a tall,
00:10:46.64\00:10:47.98
who was a some tall
of 5'3" inches tall,
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played twelve years in the NBA
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and led his
team to the playoffs.
00:10:53.25\00:10:55.52
And that takes a lot of doing
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to be able to
take down the giants
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that he had to confront
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in order to be
successful in NBA.
00:11:00.49\00:11:02.19
Then the book talks about
00:11:02.22\00:11:03.56
then how do you
as an individual...
00:11:03.59\00:11:05.06
He was 5'3"? He was 5'3".
00:11:05.09\00:11:07.93
I remember him being short,
00:11:07.96\00:11:09.86
but then also those guys
are like 7'0", 7'3" or...
00:11:09.90\00:11:14.24
The average
height in the NBA today
00:11:14.27\00:11:16.67
is approximately
6'8", that's the average.
00:11:16.71\00:11:20.14
So imagine being under 6 feet
00:11:20.18\00:11:22.38
and competing
successfully in NBA.
00:11:22.41\00:11:24.78
You have to have
a lot of confidence,
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and the book talks about
how do you take down the giants
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in your own life.
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Are you able to do
those kind of things
00:11:30.85\00:11:33.22
that make you successful
when the odds are against you?
00:11:33.25\00:11:36.86
Oh, man! Oh!
00:11:36.89\00:11:40.80
What else is in this book?
00:11:40.83\00:11:42.93
I mean, the examples
that you've given so far
00:11:42.96\00:11:45.43
have been... you
can see the correlation.
00:11:45.47\00:11:48.97
You can see the
correlation there.
00:11:49.00\00:11:50.44
But what are some other
things that you have in here?
00:11:50.47\00:11:53.07
Well, one of the
things that I talked about
00:11:53.11\00:11:55.81
and it was on the
segment on track and field.
00:11:55.84\00:12:00.58
I told somebody and they
were talking about the book.
00:12:00.62\00:12:03.08
I say, "If Apostle
Paul were alive today,
00:12:03.12\00:12:05.45
he would be a fitness trainer."
00:12:05.49\00:12:07.59
You know, run the race,
you know, we fight not against,
00:12:07.62\00:12:10.63
we wrestle not
against flesh and blood.
00:12:10.66\00:12:12.36
I see Paul would be a
great fitness trainer.
00:12:12.39\00:12:14.86
And so on track and field,
00:12:14.90\00:12:16.26
they tell you with
whom you run a marathon,
00:12:16.30\00:12:18.60
to have somebody
to coach you through,
00:12:18.63\00:12:21.20
and I can imagine,
00:12:21.24\00:12:22.67
Paul would be a good
coach for doing fitness training
00:12:22.70\00:12:25.37
in terms of being
prepared for marathon.
00:12:25.41\00:12:27.54
And in the segment on fitness
00:12:27.58\00:12:32.41
in particularly in
running a marathon,
00:12:32.45\00:12:34.75
how do you get
through when you hit the wall?
00:12:34.78\00:12:37.39
Any person who's
ever run a marathon,
00:12:37.42\00:12:39.22
any long distance race,
00:12:39.25\00:12:40.96
you hit a wall,
00:12:40.99\00:12:42.32
when literally your body
starts to run out of energy.
00:12:42.36\00:12:45.93
And how do you
power through that?
00:12:45.96\00:12:48.16
As off times for Christian,
00:12:48.20\00:12:49.53
we can be going to
church, and going to church,
00:12:49.56\00:12:51.30
but then you hit the wall.
00:12:51.33\00:12:52.80
How do you power pass the wall?
00:12:52.83\00:12:55.74
And talk about how you turn,
00:12:55.77\00:12:58.77
what could be a
something that would inhibit you
00:12:58.81\00:13:00.64
from going forward to
being able to power through it,
00:13:00.68\00:13:03.24
and being able to
get that refreshment.
00:13:03.28\00:13:05.68
If you've ever seen a marathon,
00:13:05.71\00:13:07.05
there often are
people on the side,
00:13:07.08\00:13:08.55
they're giving them
a little refreshment,
00:13:08.58\00:13:09.92
when they get that
certain point in the race.
00:13:09.95\00:13:12.09
And that's what happened,
00:13:12.12\00:13:13.46
Christ give us that
little bit of refreshment
00:13:13.49\00:13:15.32
as we're going through
to help power us through,
00:13:15.36\00:13:17.79
and it makes
the great difference
00:13:17.83\00:13:19.46
in what happens to us.
00:13:19.49\00:13:20.83
I'm glad you said something
about a marathon, you know,
00:13:20.86\00:13:22.63
something else
that's interesting
00:13:22.66\00:13:24.00
about a marathon
and spirituality,
00:13:24.03\00:13:25.80
our walk with Christ,
00:13:25.83\00:13:27.37
is that people don't just
show up at a marathon and say,
00:13:27.40\00:13:31.47
"Hey, I'm gonna do a 10k
00:13:31.51\00:13:34.08
or I'm gonna do
however many miles,
00:13:34.11\00:13:36.85
and I'm gonna run that race,
00:13:36.88\00:13:38.78
it's the same
thing with Christianity,
00:13:38.81\00:13:41.62
like you have to study the word,
00:13:41.65\00:13:43.69
you have to pray,
00:13:43.72\00:13:45.05
you have to
constantly be training
00:13:45.09\00:13:47.12
and filling your mind
with spiritual things.
00:13:47.16\00:13:50.03
You don't just show up
like, hey okay, you know,
00:13:50.06\00:13:52.89
you have to be prepared.
00:13:52.93\00:13:54.26
You wouldn't show up for a
marathon wearing high heels,
00:13:54.30\00:13:55.63
I mean, you got to be
prepared for marathon.
00:13:55.66\00:13:59.23
And it's interesting,
00:13:59.27\00:14:00.60
one of the
things that a marathon,
00:14:00.64\00:14:02.24
when we're doing the
research on marathon,
00:14:02.27\00:14:04.37
one of the things that came out,
00:14:04.41\00:14:05.94
is they tell you six
months before the marathon,
00:14:05.97\00:14:08.64
there are some things
you should start eating,
00:14:08.68\00:14:10.58
and some things
you should stop eating
00:14:10.61\00:14:12.41
just to get your
body physically prepared
00:14:12.45\00:14:14.45
for marathon.
00:14:14.48\00:14:15.82
And the very things
they tell you shouldn't eat
00:14:15.85\00:14:18.12
are some of the things
00:14:18.15\00:14:19.49
we shouldn't be
putting in our bodies anyway.
00:14:19.52\00:14:21.22
So instead of saying,
00:14:21.26\00:14:22.59
"This is what you shouldn't eat,
00:14:22.62\00:14:23.96
this is what you shouldn't eat."
00:14:23.99\00:14:25.33
This is the proactive
look at how our bodies operate
00:14:25.36\00:14:28.23
and say, "If you
gonna run a race,
00:14:28.26\00:14:30.17
then this is what
you need to be doing."
00:14:30.20\00:14:31.57
And since we're in
a race for our lives
00:14:31.60\00:14:33.34
and for a race for our souls,
00:14:33.37\00:14:34.97
hey, that's why diet,
not diet restrictions,
00:14:35.00\00:14:39.47
but those things
that in hit that,
00:14:39.51\00:14:41.11
that promote good health
00:14:41.14\00:14:42.88
are foremost part
of what it goes on.
00:14:42.91\00:14:45.48
That's what we
need to be taking in,
00:14:45.51\00:14:47.32
all the good stuff.
00:14:47.35\00:14:48.68
Exactly. Yes, yes.
00:14:48.72\00:14:50.99
What are some of the
responses that you've had?
00:14:51.02\00:14:54.79
It's interesting, I had one lady
00:14:54.82\00:14:57.03
who looked over and she
said, "You know something,
00:14:57.06\00:14:58.66
I don't even like sports,
00:14:58.69\00:15:00.03
but I started reading your book,
00:15:00.06\00:15:01.40
I really liked
it," and she said,
00:15:01.43\00:15:04.30
"Wow, I think the Holy Ghost
was looking over your shoulder
00:15:04.33\00:15:07.17
when you were
writing that book."
00:15:07.20\00:15:08.60
And I laughed at it
00:15:08.64\00:15:09.97
and then I thought about it,
I said, "You know something?"
00:15:10.01\00:15:11.34
I think she was right,
00:15:11.37\00:15:12.71
because you know when
something is driven by God,
00:15:12.74\00:15:16.75
that when you finish writing
00:15:16.78\00:15:18.11
and then you look at it
two, three days later, you say,
00:15:18.15\00:15:20.12
"Wow, did I write that?"
00:15:20.15\00:15:21.65
And I found myself
saying that a couple of times
00:15:21.68\00:15:24.02
because of just the way
in which the inspiration
00:15:24.05\00:15:26.79
kind of flowed.
00:15:26.82\00:15:28.16
But more importantly,
00:15:28.19\00:15:29.52
it really creates an opportunity
00:15:29.56\00:15:31.09
to really hit people
00:15:31.13\00:15:32.46
that we typically
don't get in our churches.
00:15:32.49\00:15:35.16
And in fact, frankly,
00:15:35.20\00:15:36.53
one of the things that
got me started on the book
00:15:36.56\00:15:38.70
was, we were doing,
00:15:38.73\00:15:41.60
feeding homeless
00:15:41.64\00:15:43.44
and we used to feed the homeless
00:15:43.47\00:15:44.81
every second
Sunday of the month.
00:15:44.84\00:15:46.78
And I was... as
the elder of the group,
00:15:46.81\00:15:49.08
I would go and
give devotional thought
00:15:49.11\00:15:50.48
and they say, "You know,
Elder Dozier, please, go in
00:15:50.51\00:15:52.45
and give a devotional
thought before we eat."
00:15:52.48\00:15:55.42
Now if you go into a
men's homeless shelter
00:15:55.45\00:15:57.32
on a Sunday afternoon,
00:15:57.35\00:15:58.69
you know what
the guys are doing,
00:15:58.72\00:16:00.06
they're watching sports.
00:16:00.09\00:16:01.42
Whatever it is,
00:16:01.46\00:16:02.79
they're watching
golf, basketball,
00:16:02.82\00:16:04.16
they're watching sports.
00:16:04.19\00:16:05.53
And I found myself having
to turn off the television,
00:16:05.56\00:16:08.70
say, "Now, this is
what the Bible said."
00:16:08.73\00:16:10.70
And some said, "You know,
that's not the way to do this."
00:16:10.73\00:16:12.97
And that became the inspiration
00:16:13.00\00:16:15.14
for going forward
and promoting the book.
00:16:15.17\00:16:17.41
And as a result,
00:16:17.44\00:16:18.77
the flow worked out very nicely
00:16:18.81\00:16:21.34
in terms of being able to segue
00:16:21.38\00:16:23.04
between some of the
things there in the Bible
00:16:23.08\00:16:25.25
and things that we
confront on a everyday basis.
00:16:25.28\00:16:27.32
Nice.
00:16:27.35\00:16:28.68
Now you've also
been able to do some,
00:16:28.72\00:16:31.05
an evangelistic
series as a result, correct?
00:16:31.09\00:16:34.39
Yes.
00:16:34.42\00:16:35.76
Last year at the North America
division pastoral conference.
00:16:35.79\00:16:42.46
I had a booth
there, while I was there,
00:16:42.50\00:16:44.93
a couple bought a
book the night before.
00:16:44.97\00:16:47.34
I think, they were from
Georgia-Cumberland Conference.
00:16:47.37\00:16:48.97
They came back and says,
00:16:49.00\00:16:50.34
"Hey, we were reading
this thing last night,
00:16:50.37\00:16:51.71
you got to put
together a series on this."
00:16:51.74\00:16:54.11
And as a result,
00:16:54.14\00:16:55.48
I put together
a seven-day series
00:16:55.51\00:16:58.58
on the Gospel
According to Sports
00:16:58.61\00:17:00.82
that's designed to do
an evangelistic outreach
00:17:00.85\00:17:03.89
to the people who
typically are not in our church,
00:17:03.92\00:17:06.35
primarily, men.
00:17:06.39\00:17:08.56
And so it's designed
to present the gospel
00:17:08.59\00:17:10.59
in a way that's proactive
00:17:10.63\00:17:12.83
and that's
specifically identifies
00:17:12.86\00:17:15.53
those kind of things
that are relevant to men.
00:17:15.56\00:17:19.50
And what kind of
information have you gathered
00:17:19.53\00:17:22.74
in correlation to men
and their church attendance?
00:17:22.77\00:17:26.31
I found that in terms
of doing some research,
00:17:26.34\00:17:28.74
there was on any given weekend
00:17:28.78\00:17:30.75
and this is some from
the U.S Census department,
00:17:30.78\00:17:32.78
they said, "On
any given weekend,
00:17:32.81\00:17:34.22
13 million more women
go to church than men."
00:17:34.25\00:17:38.05
And they referred to
that as weekend widows.
00:17:38.09\00:17:40.72
13 million!
00:17:40.76\00:17:42.32
13 million more women
go to church than men.
00:17:42.36\00:17:44.33
They found that a lot of
men say they believe in God,
00:17:44.36\00:17:47.46
but they don't attend church.
00:17:47.50\00:17:49.46
There are also some
stats that indicated that
00:17:49.50\00:17:53.07
in most churches,
00:17:53.10\00:17:54.80
there are programs that
have either women's ministry
00:17:54.84\00:17:57.11
or children's ministry,
00:17:57.14\00:17:58.47
but less than or about 10%
00:17:58.51\00:18:01.21
have relevant
men's ministry programs,
00:18:01.24\00:18:03.65
so as a result,
00:18:03.68\00:18:05.01
it just doesn't really relate
to church attendance for men.
00:18:05.05\00:18:09.18
There was one
pastor, who did a broadcast,
00:18:09.22\00:18:12.55
and a lot of churches
have broadcasted their sermons,
00:18:12.59\00:18:14.42
you know, their messages.
00:18:14.46\00:18:16.02
But one weekend,
00:18:16.06\00:18:17.39
he decided to put the
camera behind the rostrum,
00:18:17.43\00:18:20.10
and so afterwards he looked
out to what he had recorded.
00:18:20.13\00:18:23.10
And he looked at
it and he realized
00:18:23.13\00:18:24.77
that the men were sitting
kind of lethargically there,
00:18:24.80\00:18:27.37
while the women
were very engaged
00:18:27.40\00:18:28.80
and involved in sermons.
00:18:28.84\00:18:30.24
He realized
00:18:30.27\00:18:31.61
that he was preaching more
to the women than to the men.
00:18:31.64\00:18:34.24
So the challenge
00:18:34.28\00:18:35.61
of what the Gospel
According to Sports is
00:18:35.64\00:18:37.58
and putting the
evangelism series
00:18:37.61\00:18:39.41
that I put together
00:18:39.45\00:18:40.78
is designed to reach men
what's relevant for them,
00:18:40.82\00:18:43.99
where they respond in
a way that's proactive,
00:18:44.02\00:18:47.16
that's positive
00:18:47.19\00:18:48.52
and it contributes
and empowers their lives.
00:18:48.56\00:18:50.53
So in a sense, like how,
00:18:50.56\00:18:54.10
when Jesus
would speak to people,
00:18:54.13\00:18:56.83
He would use different parables
00:18:56.87\00:19:00.00
or He would talk about
being a shepherd to shepherds
00:19:00.04\00:19:04.71
or He would talk about
being a fishermen to fishermen.
00:19:04.74\00:19:10.75
Is that along the lines
00:19:10.78\00:19:12.81
of what's going on
in the book as well?
00:19:12.85\00:19:15.58
Exactly. And I think
it's more than just a gimmick.
00:19:15.62\00:19:18.42
Some people think of that
00:19:18.45\00:19:19.79
the Gospel According to
Sports is kind of a gimmick,
00:19:19.82\00:19:21.39
just to get them in the door.
00:19:21.42\00:19:23.02
But it shouldn't be
a rubber band event.
00:19:23.06\00:19:25.06
You know, a rubber
band, you stretch it out
00:19:25.09\00:19:26.49
and it goes back,
00:19:26.53\00:19:27.86
but it shouldn't be
a rubber band event,
00:19:27.90\00:19:29.23
that if you make
messages relevant to men
00:19:29.26\00:19:32.77
and you make messages relevant
00:19:32.80\00:19:34.54
to the things that are
important in their lives
00:19:34.57\00:19:36.81
and correlated to the
Gospel of Jesus Christ,
00:19:36.84\00:19:39.17
not only will they
participate, they will stay.
00:19:39.21\00:19:42.04
And the Bible illustrates
the fact, that the fact that,
00:19:42.08\00:19:45.68
you know, we talk
about in the Book of John 4,
00:19:45.71\00:19:52.09
that the woman at the well
went told though, you know,
00:19:52.12\00:19:55.66
when she, when
Jesus confronted her,
00:19:55.69\00:19:57.63
she ran to town
and told the folk,
00:19:57.66\00:20:00.50
you know, I met a man,
00:20:00.53\00:20:02.26
now the only person she
could go to were the men.
00:20:02.30\00:20:05.00
Obviously, the women
weren't talking to her.
00:20:05.03\00:20:06.80
Yeah, yeah.
00:20:06.84\00:20:08.17
So she brought
the men to Christ.
00:20:08.20\00:20:09.77
And when the men came to Christ,
00:20:09.80\00:20:11.14
these are men who may
had issues of their own,
00:20:11.17\00:20:13.21
but as a result
of their enthusiasm
00:20:13.24\00:20:15.31
and their
involvement with Christ
00:20:15.34\00:20:16.71
and asking Him to
stay three more days.
00:20:16.75\00:20:19.91
The Bible says, many people
in town, as a result believed,
00:20:19.95\00:20:22.88
that's because of the
enthusiasm of the woman,
00:20:22.92\00:20:25.42
but the evangelism of the men
00:20:25.45\00:20:27.22
that brought not
just the men she knew,
00:20:27.26\00:20:28.92
but brought many
people in that town to Christ.
00:20:28.96\00:20:31.83
And so therefore,
when we reach men,
00:20:31.86\00:20:33.93
we can make our churches grow.
00:20:33.96\00:20:35.80
When we reach out to
make sermons and messages
00:20:35.83\00:20:38.60
relevant towards
reading the minds of men,
00:20:38.63\00:20:41.64
they would not only attend,
00:20:41.67\00:20:43.47
but they will bring
others to Christ as well.
00:20:43.51\00:20:46.34
And so, how do you
partner with the churches?
00:20:46.37\00:20:51.11
Well, one of the things
00:20:51.15\00:20:52.48
that is part of this
whole evangelism outreach thing
00:20:52.51\00:20:55.78
is to go to church.
00:20:55.82\00:20:57.42
Had privilege of
being able to go to a church
00:20:57.45\00:20:59.45
in Titusville,
Florida, last year.
00:20:59.49\00:21:02.79
And we gave the
message on sport fishing.
00:21:02.82\00:21:05.16
Now sport fishing
is based on the fact
00:21:05.19\00:21:07.26
that there are
three types of fishing.
00:21:07.30\00:21:08.63
Okay.
00:21:08.66\00:21:10.00
There's career fishermen,
00:21:10.03\00:21:11.37
those are the folk
who like to disciples,
00:21:11.40\00:21:12.77
who make a career out of it.
00:21:12.80\00:21:14.27
Those are people who
go out and hunt fish,
00:21:14.30\00:21:15.87
I mean, they're with big nets
and with big devices nowadays
00:21:15.90\00:21:18.71
and hunt fish.
00:21:18.74\00:21:20.08
Then the recreational fishermen,
00:21:20.11\00:21:21.61
the recreational fishermen
is the guy who goes out
00:21:21.64\00:21:23.95
just kind of stands
out there with the friend
00:21:23.98\00:21:25.95
and have a good time.
00:21:25.98\00:21:27.42
But the sport fishermen
00:21:27.45\00:21:28.78
is the guy who knows
to use the right lure
00:21:28.82\00:21:31.12
at the right time to
get one kind of fish, bass.
00:21:31.15\00:21:35.22
And it's based
on the bass fishing
00:21:35.26\00:21:37.53
that they're
able to be successful.
00:21:37.56\00:21:39.19
And it works for you similar,
if we can use the right lure
00:21:39.23\00:21:42.66
of the kinds of
things that relate to men,
00:21:42.70\00:21:45.80
you will get men.
00:21:45.83\00:21:48.50
So one of the
first things you do,
00:21:48.54\00:21:50.84
when I put together is
a message on bass fishing
00:21:50.87\00:21:53.51
or sport fishing.
00:21:53.54\00:21:54.88
And then I outline a
series of seven messages
00:21:54.91\00:21:58.11
that relate to men.
00:21:58.15\00:22:00.28
And one of the
messages is called the fan.
00:22:00.32\00:22:03.32
And that message
00:22:03.35\00:22:05.22
the participants are
invited to wear the jersey
00:22:05.25\00:22:09.26
of their favorite team,
regardless of what it is,
00:22:09.29\00:22:12.09
and the challenge is,
00:22:12.13\00:22:13.70
can you be as loyal to Christ
00:22:13.73\00:22:16.16
as you are today to
jersey that you have on?
00:22:16.20\00:22:20.40
That's good,
speaks to priorities.
00:22:20.44\00:22:22.54
Right, it speaks
to the fact that,
00:22:22.57\00:22:25.41
I heard somebody
saying once that, you know,
00:22:25.44\00:22:28.34
if you are not a
disciple of Jesus Christ,
00:22:28.38\00:22:30.15
you're just a fan.
00:22:30.18\00:22:31.55
And I thought about, I'm
just like, wait a minute,
00:22:31.58\00:22:32.91
some of the most ardent
supporters I've ever met
00:22:32.95\00:22:35.45
are loyal fans who
with it, win, lose or draw.
00:22:35.48\00:22:40.09
And when we're with Christ,
00:22:40.12\00:22:42.42
even when the team
doesn't seem like is winning,
00:22:42.46\00:22:46.06
Christ ultimately wins
00:22:46.09\00:22:47.93
and so the
loyalty is encouraged,
00:22:47.96\00:22:51.70
not to abandon
loyalty to your favorite team.
00:22:51.73\00:22:54.80
Yeah. Don't be a bandwagon.
00:22:54.84\00:22:56.17
Yeah, don't be a...
after the superbowl,
00:22:56.20\00:22:58.31
how many people suddenly put on
00:22:58.34\00:22:59.67
New England Patriot's uniforms.
00:22:59.71\00:23:01.08
After the club
winning world series,
00:23:01.11\00:23:02.54
how many people started wearing
clubs uniforms all of a sudden.
00:23:02.58\00:23:05.91
The loyal fan is the fan
as they are all the time.
00:23:05.95\00:23:09.82
Absolutely.
00:23:09.85\00:23:11.72
So tell us more
about some of the points
00:23:11.75\00:23:14.72
that you are making
in regards to the Bible?
00:23:14.76\00:23:18.79
Well, one of the things
in the segment on hockey,
00:23:18.83\00:23:23.67
one of the things we talk about,
00:23:23.70\00:23:25.40
I put in the book is
00:23:25.43\00:23:26.94
the fact that we often
feel that when we're in life
00:23:26.97\00:23:31.77
that we're being bombarded,
00:23:31.81\00:23:33.21
and I use the metaphor,
the analogy of the goaltender,
00:23:33.24\00:23:38.48
who in hockey is got a
lot of mask and stuff on it,
00:23:38.51\00:23:41.88
it's almost like to say,
the full armor of Christ,
00:23:41.92\00:23:44.62
except you get
all this armor on.
00:23:44.65\00:23:47.26
And I say, you know,
00:23:47.29\00:23:48.92
can you imagine trying
to stop a puck by Sid Crosby
00:23:48.96\00:23:53.76
without protection?
00:23:53.80\00:23:55.83
It would be deadly.
00:23:55.86\00:23:57.20
Similar, we can't stop
the temptations of the devil
00:23:57.23\00:24:00.20
unless we're fully protected.
00:24:00.24\00:24:02.10
But the reality is not
only we'll be able to stop him,
00:24:02.14\00:24:05.47
the reality is,
it's a power play,
00:24:05.51\00:24:08.28
you know, hockey
has a power play,
00:24:08.31\00:24:10.01
in life, it's a power play.
00:24:10.05\00:24:12.28
Except the power
play is on our side.
00:24:12.31\00:24:14.28
We had the Father, the
Son and the Holy Spirit
00:24:14.32\00:24:16.95
and the devil's
just on one side,
00:24:16.99\00:24:18.75
only one third of the
angels were taken out.
00:24:18.79\00:24:20.89
So it's a power play.
00:24:20.92\00:24:22.26
And you got a power
play, you have the advantage.
00:24:22.29\00:24:25.39
Okay. Okay.
00:24:25.43\00:24:27.20
And what famous athletes
00:24:27.23\00:24:32.27
have read this book?
00:24:32.30\00:24:34.24
Well, in the Referee section,
00:24:34.27\00:24:36.91
a copy of book was
given to Ed Hochuli,
00:24:36.94\00:24:40.01
who is a NFL referee,
00:24:40.04\00:24:42.74
enjoyed the book.
00:24:42.78\00:24:44.11
And there was a
former NFL receiver,
00:24:44.15\00:24:46.95
I think his name was Ray Hall,
00:24:46.98\00:24:48.68
who really identified
with the football segment.
00:24:48.72\00:24:52.79
And then there's
also a segment for women,
00:24:52.82\00:24:56.49
there's a segment in it called
Dedicated Women in Sports.
00:24:56.52\00:25:00.76
And even though
00:25:00.80\00:25:02.13
lest we think only men
are involved in sports,
00:25:02.16\00:25:04.23
women are great sports fans too.
00:25:04.27\00:25:06.20
And one of the
segment deals with women,
00:25:06.23\00:25:08.30
women in sports,
00:25:08.34\00:25:09.67
both dedicated mother
and dedicated athlete.
00:25:09.70\00:25:12.31
And it reflects on
the life of athletes,
00:25:12.34\00:25:15.74
particularly women in the WNBA.
00:25:15.78\00:25:17.75
We often think about NBA players
00:25:17.78\00:25:19.68
was being high paid
sports, you know, super stars,
00:25:19.71\00:25:22.98
but in WNBA, in 2012,
00:25:23.02\00:25:27.12
the average salary
00:25:27.16\00:25:28.99
for three year vested
in athlete in the WNBA
00:25:29.02\00:25:32.49
was only $75,000 a year.
00:25:32.53\00:25:34.03
Wow!
00:25:34.06\00:25:35.40
So therefore, when
those young ladies,
00:25:35.43\00:25:37.57
who have children
and many of them do,
00:25:37.60\00:25:40.07
they have to not
only go on a rope
00:25:40.10\00:25:41.90
but they had to
carry the children with,
00:25:41.94\00:25:43.27
they don't have
like entourage of nurses
00:25:43.30\00:25:45.07
or something do,
yeah, but do that.
00:25:45.11\00:25:46.71
And in the book I talk
about the life of Tina Thomson
00:25:46.74\00:25:50.91
who had a child,
literally raised her child
00:25:50.95\00:25:53.55
while playing in NBA... WNBA.
00:25:53.58\00:25:56.05
And so she was both
the mother and a athlete.
00:25:56.08\00:25:58.35
And the correlation is
we can have full plates
00:25:58.39\00:26:01.79
and still be able
to serve the Lord.
00:26:01.82\00:26:05.69
Nothing should keep us so
busy and keep us away from God,
00:26:05.73\00:26:11.10
we have to make our
relationship with God
00:26:11.13\00:26:12.63
a priority. Exactly.
00:26:12.67\00:26:14.17
Yes.
00:26:14.20\00:26:15.54
And give us, we have
a short amount of time,
00:26:15.57\00:26:18.61
give us one more,
00:26:18.64\00:26:20.51
one more correlation between
00:26:20.54\00:26:23.21
the Gospel According
to Sports and the Bible.
00:26:23.24\00:26:26.65
In the boxing section,
00:26:26.68\00:26:28.92
I talk about a
guy named John Tate,
00:26:28.95\00:26:31.32
who when, I think it was 1998,
00:26:31.35\00:26:33.62
became the heavy
weight champion of the world.
00:26:33.66\00:26:35.92
And he went out
to defend his title.
00:26:35.96\00:26:38.66
And his corner
00:26:38.69\00:26:40.50
he got head in different rounds,
00:26:40.53\00:26:42.00
he was really heading rounds
00:26:42.03\00:26:43.37
and I was,
actually I gave this story
00:26:43.40\00:26:44.73
when I was doing
a men's conference
00:26:44.77\00:26:46.10
up in Canada.
00:26:46.13\00:26:47.47
And he was heading the rounds
00:26:47.50\00:26:49.00
and he's caught on one thing,
00:26:49.04\00:26:50.97
you're head, stay
away from the last round,
00:26:51.01\00:26:54.31
stay away from him,
00:26:54.34\00:26:55.98
but he wanted to punctuate
his fight with the knockout,
00:26:56.01\00:26:59.21
so the last round, he
got too close for too long,
00:26:59.25\00:27:03.28
for too longer period of time
00:27:03.32\00:27:04.95
and he got knocked out.
00:27:04.99\00:27:06.32
But not only did
he get knocked out,
00:27:06.35\00:27:07.99
he lost his
title and his career,
00:27:08.02\00:27:10.36
never ever recovered.
00:27:10.39\00:27:12.03
The bottom line is
when the Holy Spirit,
00:27:12.06\00:27:14.20
and when our
corner tells us something,
00:27:14.23\00:27:16.16
do we listen?
00:27:16.20\00:27:19.87
Or do we ignore it?
00:27:19.90\00:27:22.24
And get knocked out. Yup.
00:27:22.27\00:27:23.84
'Cause that's the result.
00:27:23.87\00:27:26.07
That's a humbling experience.
00:27:26.11\00:27:27.44
It can be quite a humble thing,
00:27:27.48\00:27:28.81
the humiliating
experience sometime.
00:27:28.84\00:27:30.18
Absolutely.
00:27:30.21\00:27:31.55
Well, based on the
response that you have,
00:27:31.58\00:27:34.72
are you working
on another project?
00:27:34.75\00:27:36.79
Well, right now,
00:27:36.82\00:27:38.15
because of one of the things
people asked about the book,
00:27:38.19\00:27:40.56
I'm putting together
something called "Game plan".
00:27:40.59\00:27:42.99
So as the Gospel
According to Sports,
00:27:43.02\00:27:44.59
"Game Plan" with a
Q&A for discussion groups
00:27:44.63\00:27:48.20
and individual
development for individuals
00:27:48.23\00:27:50.37
and hopefully go on
to the next one called
00:27:50.40\00:27:52.30
Gospel According to
The Sports, The Next Level.
00:27:52.33\00:27:54.04
Nice. Well, thank you
so much for joining us.
00:27:54.07\00:27:56.24
It's been my pleasure.
00:27:56.27\00:27:57.61
And thank you for joining us.
00:27:57.64\00:27:59.17
Remember, with Christ
you can gain the victory.
00:27:59.21\00:28:02.74