Read Your Notes!

One of the services offered to student athletes on scholarship at a university is academic tutoring. When I attended Florida State University on a basketball scholarship, my teammates and I took advantage of the tutoring program. Usually, the academic advisor and the athlete would meet to ascertain if there was a match before tutoring began. If the athlete didn’t like the tutor, they could request to meet with another one.

One of the determining factors of whether or not we liked the tutors was based upon their ability to give us privileged information concerning the tests. Many of the tutors were teaching assistants, so we knew they had insight into what was going to be on our exams. If we felt they didn’t have enough information, we would request another tutor. Never once did a tutor give us answers to the test.

My favorite tutor, who became a good friend, was a guy who had excellent notes from the class he was helping us to prepare for. Every session, my teammates and I would hound him for the answers to the test. We were being lazy and did not want to read the notes he had given us. The first fifteen minutes of our tutoring sessions would consist of us belittling him for not telling us the answers to the upcoming exam. We would offer him front row seats to our games, threaten to replace him with another tutor, and try to bribe him with Golden Girl (FSU dancing girls) introductions.

All of our conniving was in vain. He would not budge or give in. After ever attempt to get him to relinquish the cherished information, he would say to us in a loud voice: “Read Your Notes”! Every time we read the notes he gave us, we did well on our exams.

Dustin Johnson, a professional golfer, missed the playoffs of the 2010 PGA golf tournament because he failed to “read his notes”. Johnson grounded his club in what was deemed to be a bunker before his second shot, leading to a 2-stroke penalty. That knocked him out of a potential playoff won by Martin Kaymer over Bubba Watson.

The area had been trampled down by spectators and was well outside where traditional fairway bunkers would reside. But Whistling Straits is anything but a traditional course. Bunkers dot the property, hence the rule that was posted in the locker room and handed to every player prior to the tournament.

"I just thought I was on a piece of dirt that the crowd had trampled down," a despondent Johnson said in the locker room afterward. "I never thought I was in a sand trap. It never once crossed my mind that I was in a bunker.

"Obviously I know the rules of golf and I can't ground my club in a bunker, but that was just one situation I guess. Maybe I should have looked to the rule sheet a little harder.”


God has given us a book of notes, and He expects us to read it, and be prepared to face our day of judgment with good standing. This book of notes is called the Holy Bible, and it contains special revelation of who God is and what He expects from His creation. It answers the major questions of life: (1) Who are we?, (2) Where did we come from and where are we going?, (3) What I am supposed to do with my life?, (4) What happens to me when I die?, (5) What’s wrong with the world?, and (6) How do we fix the problems in the world?

One of the great deceptions of philosophical thought is: Ignorance is bliss. Ignorance is not bliss; it is costly with devastating outcomes. Ignorance will cause you to fail a test, lose a tournament, and more importantly, keep you from knowing God’s will for your life. Failure to know God’s purpose and plan for your life has eternal consequences!

Let’s learn from my academic tutor, and Dustin Johnson, that a wise person is one who has set aside the time to “read their notes”. If there is a God, then nothing is more important than knowing how to live according to His purpose and plan. It is possible to know God’s will for your life, but you have to open the Holy Bible and “read your notes”!

Joining With Others is Much Better Than Being a Lonely Seal

Smart people who are serious about accomplishing their goals in life look beyond themselves for help. No person can maximize their potential without assistance from other people. I am reminded of this fact over and over again.

After taking many months off from golf while trying to repair his marriage and image, Tiger Woods and his golf coach Hank Haney parted ways. It seemed that Tiger was determined to get back to championship level play with himself as his swing coach. That plan did not work out to well. It only took a couple of poor performances before Tiger was working with another swing coach.

Smart people who are serious about accomplishing their goals in life always partner with other people to help them succeed.

While exhorting the church at Philippi to press on towards the goal of knowing Christ and making him known, Apostle Paul instructed them to join with others in order to make this goal a reality. In Philippians 3:17 he writes, “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Apostle Paul knew that if they were going to passionately live for Christ and stand firm against the deception of false teachers, they would have to do it as a church family.

No person committed to accomplishing a goal as lofty as living for Christ as a strong witness can do it by himself or herself. When we operate alone we become easy objects for defeat. In other words, our isolation makes us more susceptible to be devoured by our enemies.

While watching Shark Week with my three boys, I was reminded of this fact once again. Great White sharks congregate off the coast of South Africa because of the high volume of seals located in that area. The seals learn at a very early age that the key to their survival against these fierce predators is joining together. As they leave Seal Island to feed, the smarts ones travel in pods. If one seal lingers behind, or travels out on his own, he becomes a prime target for dinner. The Great White sharks lurk at the bottom and breach with jaws wide open on a loner seal.

Apostle Peter reminded the saints that just like a hungry lion, the devil, looks for people to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” During a hunt, a lion will go after the chosen prey that has wandered from the pack.

When we operate alone, we end up defeated or devoured. It seems our Creator has revealed this truth to us in His creation.

Are you serious about serving God faithfully? Do you want to be all that God has destined you to be for His glory? If so, you cannot do it alone. Only those who join with others as members of a church community will successfully press on towards the goal of knowing Christ and making Him known. The rest are just ringing the dinner bell!

The One Thing

It's the one thing
You are my thing (INXS)

When I was a young boy, there were so many things I thought I was going to do in life. I wanted to jog the whole state of Florida. I wanted to make an Olympic team and play for my country. I wanted to learn another language. I wanted to sing like David Lee Roth and play the piano like Billy Joel. I wanted to start my own business. I wanted to make two professional sports teams in the same year. I wanted to get a full basketball scholarship to Florida State University.

Out of all the things I wanted to do, I only ended up doing one thing. I went to Florida State University on a basketball scholarship. As I reflect back on my accomplishment, it struck me that it took all of my focus and energy to earn a full basketball scholarship to a major university in the Atlantic Coast Conference. As I matured, I realized I would be more successful if I focused on one thing.

Life begins to make sense when you can narrow it down to the one thing you should live for.

Facing the end of his life while in prison, the mature Apostle Paul had discovered the secret to living life well. Apostle Paul was content in any circumstance, and rejoiced in the Lord no matter what he was going through because he lived for the one thing: to know Christ and make Him known. In a letter of thanksgiving and exhortation to the church at Philippi, he writes, "13Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13-14)

During his presidential campaign, Governor Mike Huckabee's top assistant was asked a question about the demands of her job. To the surprise of the reporters, she responded by commenting on how her job was not difficult. One confused reporter asked her how her job could be an easy one. She responded by saying, "All I have to do is please one person and that is Governor Huckabee."

Living life is much easier when we live for the one thing.

In this faced paced busy world we live in today that leaves so many of us stressed out and on the edge, take some time to reevaluate your life to determine if you are living for the one thing. Maybe you need to stop doing so many things and focus on the one thing. I know this can be quite a challenge, but it will be well worth making any necessary changes.

Are you living for the one thing?

Remember, life is joyful, fulfilling, easier and makes more sense when we learn to live for the one thing: Christ Jesus!

The Pursuit of Happiness

Every person on the planet is in pursuit of something. College students are pursuing an education. The unemployed are hoping to get hired by some company. Single people are trying to find the right mate. Athletes are trying to win a championship. I have discovered that the reason most people pursue things is because they think once they attain or accomplish them, it will bring them happiness. So, I believe we can narrow all of our pursuits down to one thing: the pursuit of happiness.

It is often preached in America, that if you give your life to the Lord, you will live a happy life. Therefore, after making a commitment to the Lord, many people expect God to do in their lives whatever they think will make them happy. The result of this belief is that it leads people to perform certain activities in an attempt to manipulate the Lord. In other words, since we do things for God, He should do the “expected” things for us.

However, God’s main concern for our lives is not our happiness. He is more concerned about us knowing Him and becoming more like Him. Apostle Paul, suffering in prison, wrote what is known as the epistle of joy to the church at Philippi. How could a man in chains facing certain death rejoice in the Lord? He could rejoice because he had learned to make his pursuit in life about knowing Christ and making Him known.

In Philippians 3:7-8, 10 he writes, "7But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ. 10I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death."

When we understand that the main goal of knowing Jesus is loving Him and doing His will, and not our personal happiness, we can process the difficult moments in our life with a more accurate Biblical worldview.

God does allow undesirable events to take place in our lives. When we stay in the center of His will, these events become the refining times that mold us and shape us into His image. As we go through them, we can rejoice because Christ is being formed in our lives, and being glorified through our lives.

Glorifying Jesus in every moment of our life…now that’s a happy thought!