PURSUIT
I would argue that the word “PURSUIT” is one of the most powerful words in the human language. Few coaches encourage, demand, and preach rebounding as much I do. I would go as far as to say I adore a great rebounder and a dominant rebounding team. You can’t win big, if you can’t rebound. You can’t rebound, if you can’t pursue. I believe Hall of Fame Coach Pat Riley nailed it with his quote, “No Rebounds, No Rings.” In this blog, I am going to compare two of my favorite passions in life. Pursuing Christ is hands down my number one passion. I thought it would be fun to compare my passion for pursuing Christ with the passion of pursuing a ball through the art of rebounding!
Derived from the Anglo-French purseute, pursuit means the act of striving towards a goal. Let’s take a look at the King James Dictionary definition of the verb form Pursue.
PURSUE, See Seek.
1. To follow; to go or proceed after or in a like direction.
2. To take and proceed in, without following another.
3. To follow with a view to overtake; to follow with haste; to chase;
4. To seek; to use measures to obtain
5. To prosecute; to continue.
6. To follow as an example; to imitate.
7. To endeavor to attain to; to strive to reach or gain.
8. To follow with enmity; to persecute.
You can find the word pursuit mentioned in some of the most important documents ever written. Before making a comparison between Rebounding and Pursuing Christ, let’s take a quick look at a couple of these important documents.
In the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson announced that every human being has “certain unalienable rights,” among which are those to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” When Thomas Jefferson selected the phrase “the pursuit of happiness” to describe one of the unalienable rights of man, he chose his words wisely.
Most importantly let’s take a quick look at a few verses in the Bible that says regarding pursuit.
2 Timothy 2:22 Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.
Proverb 15:9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But He loves one who pursues righteousness.
1 Corinthians 14:1 Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
I have to add one more of my go to verses…
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek (PURSUE) Him.
Now that we have all that on the table, let’s compare Pursuing Christ with Pursuing a Rebound!
IF YOU DON’T PURSUE, YOU WILL RARELY GET A REBOUND OR FIND CHRIST
Satan is a liar and a deceiver. He will fill your ear with excuses for not going to the boards or for pursuing Christ. In order to be a great rebounder, you must anticipate a miss and go every time to the boards. Are you disciplined in your pursuit? Do you put Christ first? When I start my day with Jesus and end my day with Him plus look for opportunities all along the way to reflect His Love and Glory, I am never find myself frustrated for taking the time to Pursue Christ! James 4:8 Draw nigh to me and I will draw nigh to you. Especially when you Seek (PURSUE) ME with all your heart! Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:13, Proverbs 8:17, Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9, Acts 17:27
USE WISDOM IN YOUR PURSUIT
I have heard the term “Backside Rebound” or “Own the Backside” since my dad coached my first team in 5th grade. It was the beginning of my pursuit of wisdom in mastering the art of rebounding. I will never forget when one of the greatest coaches of all-time, Coach Don Meyer ,pulled me aside during a practice in the NAIA All-Star Game. He said, “Coach, tell them that the ball is going to bounce half the distance from where it is shot.” That was a wow moment to me. It was pure brilliance, both Words of Wisdom and a Walk on Water moment all at the same time. So many rebounders run to the basket to rebound as a 3 point shot miss bounces over their head.
When it comes to wisdom and pursuing Christ, God left us a blue print in His Word and a sent the Holy Spirit to reveal and help us understand His promises. One of the biggest revelations that I have stumbled upon in the last few years is the power of mentor-ship and accountability. I have added both to my pursuit of Christ and the results have been so powerful in feeding and strengthening my Spirit Man and increasing my spiritual walk and pursuit of Christ.
REFUSE TO BE BLOCKED OUT
This one is my favorite fundamental of rebounding. Sadiel Rojas, who I featured in the cover picture, was the most ferocious rebounder that I have ever coached. His love of contact was only second to his desire to dominate the boards. Together those two passions made him absolutely a lethal weapon on the boards. He wears under armor padding all over his body when going into battle. His plan was to hit you before you hit him. He put the time in the weight room and studied the art of rebounding. He attacked his opponent every game like it was a test of his manhood. In order to block Sadiel out, you better be willing to give every ounce of your being every play, then find the strength and courage to be able to do it again and again for 40 minutes.
I often have said if you I could bottle up heart, then I would be a millionaire. There is plenty of skill involved in being a great rebounding including working early, anticipating a shot, getting to the most logical position that the ball will bounce, read and react to the flight and bounce of the ball, own the largest area possible, hit anything in your area, then chase and pursue the ball by angling off any opponent pursuing the ball, committing both hands and your nose to pursuing through the ball to successfully secure the rebound.
At 6’3″, I believe Sadiel is argually the best pound for pound rebounder on earth. He was a very good business student as well. He has marketed his own iRebound camps as well as his own NoPlaysOff and FOR HIS GLORY gear, both while successfully pursuing a professional career in Rebounding. He has won a NAIA Championship, was a NAIA National Player of the Year while leading the NAIA both in rebounding and scoring, won a NBA-D-League Championship with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, represented the Dominican Republic in National Competition, and is currently enjoying a lucrative career playing with UC Murcia in Spain. A double double machine, who had 20 plus rebounds numerous times for me and an impressive 18 rebounds in a NBA D-League Game. I rest my case in selling you on Sadiel’s passion and ability to pursue the ball off the glass.
My question is this. What if you allowed nothing to stand between you and Christ? What if you pursued Christ like Sadiel Rojas goes after rebounds? The Bible speaks in Daniel 10:13 of the prince of Persia resisting an angel delivering an answered prayer for 21 days before Michael, the warrior archangel, came to help. My point is through God, the blood of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, nothing on earth can stand between you and Christ. We are all guilty of allowing things to come between us and our pursuit of Christ. It’s time that changed!
PURSUIT IS A CHOICE
Everything comes down to the power of choice. We all may not have the size or athleticism to rebound, but every human on earth has the ability to pursue Christ with all their heart. I am often asked what drill do you use to teach your team to rebound. I am also asked do you teach rebounding or recruit rebounders. The answer is yes to both. There is not a drill that is going to transform you into Sadiel Rojas or your team into a dominant rebounding team. Rebounding is a big part of every drill we do from pre-practice to even pursuing every missed Free Throw. If we chose to pursue Christ in every thing we did, then imagine the favor that would fall from heaven. The Spirit would show up with all the might and power of God to show everyone His power through us. We can’t expect amazing results when we choose to pursue Christ only when we feel like it or if we only call on Him when we find ourselves in a pit. Does your level of pursuit match the blind men who pursued Christ by hollering “Master”. Does it match the level of pursuit of the men that dug a hole in the roof to lower to their friend into the presence of Jesus for a miracle, The Bible is full of examples of heroes that combined faith and passionate pursuit to reach miraculous results! Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, It’s time to increase our level of PURSUIT!
THE SLC3 CHALLENGE calls all coaches to choose to Pursue Christ at a level they have never done before! Don’t settle. We as coaches get what we tolerate from our players, yet we tolerate ourselves settling for a lackluster pursuit of Christ. We can change that today, it starts with you! JOIN THE SLC3 MOVEMENT TODAY
Rebounding does come with a price. My favorite nickname for Sadiel is Wolverine. I call him that for numerous reasons, one of which is how quickly he heals. Woverine would go hard daily at his teammates in practice, so much so that on occasion I would step in and guard him just so he would not hurt a teammate. Despite the under armor padding, Sadiel would come in bruised up a little after every battle. He lived in the ice bath. Once he broke a small bone in his hip while at OWKU, but healed up quickly over Christmas break. When you battle men twice your size, you often catch an elbow or two. He has broken his nose on numerous occasions. The biggest challenge was when he broke his back after getting his legs taken out from under him in a NBA D-League Game. Not only did he come back quickly from the injury, he came back even stronger. You should all be impressed by Sadiel, but he would be the first to tell you that he plays FOR THE GLORY OF JESUS CHRIST! Pursuing a closer relationship with a Savior who paid the ultimate price for each of us will always lead you to greater things.