Grace and Truth

What an incredible weekend!  Johanna and I were reminded of the incredible family and friends that we have as I was ordained on Saturday night and the outpouring as family and friends came out was just incredible.  We had friends from college come from Pittsburgh, Baltimore and other places.  We had family friends come, we had family there, even Chris Bonvillian (the man I am named after) came out.  It was just an incredible night and I wanted to take a moment on this Monday to thank everyone who came out and was a part of that special night in mine and Johanna's life as well as in the life of LakeView. 

But, this weekend something else, outside of the great weekend that we had really stuck out to me.  As one of my best friends, Andrew DiDonato settled in on Saturday afternoon to watch some college football in the hours leading up to the ordination I was brought to tears by the scene at Penn State just before the Penn State-Nebraska football game.  Many, if not all of us, know the scene that is surrounding Penn State University right know and the scandal that has rocked that campus and community, but the scene just prior to the game was one that I will never forget. 

As the two teams came together before the game to join in prayer over the circumstances that led up to the game and was in the news all week tears came to my eyes.  Tears of brokenness for all of the victims that may have been sitting in a living room somewhere watching that game. But, more importantly tears of joy because of the power and strength of God that will endure through this tragic situation. 

As I listened to some of the videos of Ron Brown in that circle I heard Him say some things that struck me and I pray that each and every person who saw that scene will know and hear in the midst of it all.  First of all, Ron prayed that everyone would know that the Lord is bigger than it all.  What a reminder to us all in the midst of these troubles and a reminder to us as a church.  In the midst of every struggle, every tough time, every crisis the Lord is bigger than everything!  Take a look at Isaiah 53:4-6.  Here we are reminded that Jesus came to the earth and took up our pain and our sorrow and by His wounds we were healed.  He won the victory!  In the midst of it all, all of our pain, all of our sorrow Jesus has already won the victory!

praying

The second huge thing that I heard from Ron as He prayed was his quote of John 1:14.  What a reminder that Jesus is full of grace and truth.  What a difficult thing to grasp in this circumstance.  Jesus is full of grace and truth!  In the midst of it all Jesus pours out His grace to those who will accept it and brings truth to the matter. 

The picture that I saw when I watched this scene unfold on T.V. was a picture of grace and truth.  A picture that showed two teams about to go into competition pausing to recognize the fact that God was in control and He is bigger than the circumstance in front of us! This brought tears to my eyes.  As I sat in my living room I was reminded that God is still in control.  God has a plan that is bigger than this terrible situation.  God's plan is to bring grace and truth to a culture that is in desperate need of just that. God's plan is to bring healing.  God's plan is to bring revival, revival that started with two teams coming to together at the 50 yard line to recognize the fact that God is in control, that God is bigger and that God will bring healing, grace and truth. 

Carrying the Name!

Have you ever been to the beach and seen one of those planes flying over the ocean with a large, long banner hanging out the back with a message on it?  The banners say something like "All you can eat buffet, 4th street, only $6.99" or "Buy 1 get 1 free boogie boards at waves on 10th street."  They fly over carrying messages.  Messages of "can't miss" deals that are going on all around us! Deals that are so good that they have to share them with us.


We do this everyday with the clothes we wear, things we do, names we proclaim!  Look at your facebook page.  You will see names like: Lil Wayne, Lady Gaga, Waka Flocka Flame, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Brown, Chris Tomlin, Lecrae, David Crowder, and even names like J.C. Penny, American Eagle, Hollister, Banana Republic and Gap among many others.  We carry these names everyday.  We tweet, text and make them our statuses.  I recently heard Louie Giglio give a message on this. We are awesome at carrying names, we do it everyday.  These people have incredible music or clothes or athletic talent to offer us that entertains or clothes us but what is that? What is that in the long run.  There is a name that has so much more to offer you that we never carry!  The name that transcends barriers of culture and prejudices, the name that saves and rescues, the name that is above every name, the name that every knee will bow to, the name that dispells darkness and makes the demons tremble...the name of JESUS!

That is our call in Fellowship of Christian Athletes, your church and every where you go every day of the year.  We are to carry the name of Jesus.  Giglio says "we have to make sure that we are not just mules for the culture and at the end of a lifetime we are guilty of carrying the names of the culture that counts so much on us." But, when everything has been talked about, did you carry THE Name?  Do you carry the name of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth?  All too often we carry the name of the ministry we represent or the team that we support or our favorite musical artist.  But, we are to carry the Name of Jesus because that is the only name that will save!

"Walk in Wisdom"

The numbers are staggering! 47.3 million kids are playing sports in America today and only 7 million are playing high school sports.  Now, there are a lot of reasons as to why this is how it is including cuts and less roster spots.  But, the amount of kids that are playing sports today is incredible.  When I step back and look at these numbers I think of the amount of children that are playing and coaches that are coaching sports without the hope and unconditional love of Jesus Christ.  Those are the coaches and athletes that we at Fellowship of Christian Athletes are called to go to.  To love them, to serve them to support them and after developing a relationship with them to present them with the hope and good news of Jesus Christ!

For the past few months I have been thinking about this calling that God has placed on my life and has put in front of Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  How do we minister to coaches and athletes?  What is the best way to go about this?  In reading a few books recently God has led me to a verse that I believe shows us how we are to go about this ministry.  Colossians 4:5 tells us, "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time."  Wouldn't it be a lot easier if God would just tell us how, when, and where we are to do ministry and witnessing?  Here is your answer.  We are to walk in wisdom!  These people that are without Jesus Christ are without everything that matters.  They are without hope, peace, forgiveness, direction, identity, purpose, understanding as to who they are, where they come from, or most of all where they are going.

How do we walk in wisdom though?  I truly believe that this all starts in prayer, in your closet and then moves at the movement of the Lord.  It starts with a relationship, showing the individual that you care about them, about their athletic endeavors or the team they coach, and most importantly you care about them as a person.  Whether they want to hear about "religion" or "Christianity" or not, they will recognize that something is different about you.  Our conduct and words can and do penetrate all prejudices and preconceived ideas about Jesus, Christians or religious people.  Are you walking in wisdom to those who you are called to minister to?  I pray that everyday I would, in my time spent with my Lord and Savior, gain wisdom from Him and walk in that wisdom to each and every athlete and coach I come in contact with.

"Be Still and Know that I am God" -God

What an exciting time we are approaching in the life of Frederick County FCA!  We have 18 registered huddles and numerous coaches huddles going on in Urbana, Linganore, Middletown and other areas!  FCA Frederick County is truly rolling!  We are seeing God move in the lives of coaches and athletes all over the county and I can tell you that it is very humbling to be used by Him in this capacity and I want to thank you for all of your support and allowing me to do this job and be an instrument in the hand of the Lord!  There is one thing that I wanted to bring your attention to and I hope you can all attend:
On Sunday February 6th (Super Bowl Sunday)  FCA and Outback will be sponsoring a Coaches Luncheon at Cedarbrook Community Church for any coach (no matter the age or gender you coach).  The cost is $10 and you will get to hear a great speaker in Hank Janczyk (second-winningest coach all-time in NCAA Lacrosse).  The Luncheon will go from 12:30-2:00 and will be great time to learn about FCA, see God move and Fellowship with other coaches. 
If you would like to attend please contact Gary Hefner at hefnerhomes@msn.com or by phone at 240-372-8186.  Make reservations by THIS SUNDAY!
If anyone has any questions about how to support Frederick County FCA or how to get involved please feel free to contact me at crich@fca.org or by phone at 301-514-6208.  Thanks and lets keep on rolling to see the lives of every athlete and coach in the area changed for Christ!
As we enter the beginning of the year and all the great things going on however, my prayer is that each and every day you would take some time and "Be Still" in the presence of the almighty creator of the Universe!

End of Year Giving to Frederick FCA!

I hope and pray that everyone had a very Merry Christmas and had some time to enjoy with your family, friends and the ones that are close to you.  As we approach the end of the year I am very excited about the generosity of your giving as well as your support through prayer.  I am very encouraged and know that in the upcoming years God is going to do big things, bigger than we can ever imagine.  This cannot be done without your support and prayer.

As we approach the end of 2010 and springboard into 2011 I am approaching the next goal that we have set in fundraising for Frederick FCA!  We need to raise $3,000 before the end of the week in order to meet our goal. I hope that you will prayerfully consider giving to FCA in Frederick County so that we can begin to budget for the 2011 calendar year!

I also wanted to share some great stories that have been going on over the past few weeks:

1. With the help of Andee and Jim McKeever the Urbana Middle School huddle took presents to Inner City Children in Frederick to give them a Christmas last Wednesday, December 22, 2010
2. Also last Wednesday we had our first chapel with the Linganore High School Wrestling team before their tri-match with Thomas Johnson and North Carroll and had about 20 guys there.  
3. We are very excited about the possibility of getting a FCA Huddle going at Oakdale Middle School at the beginning of the New Year and will be meeting with a teacher at the middle school in the upcoming weeks to discuss everything.

There are many more stories that i wish I had time to share with you, but I hope that I get a chance to meet with each of you in the upcoming days, weeks, and months to share with you.  If you would like to set up a meeting with me fee free to contact me, my contact information is at the bottom of the page.  I am here to serve you!

Thank You and Merry Christmas!

I am very excited to announce that last week,with the help of many of you, I reached the first goal that I had set of raising enough support to come onto full-time staff with Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Frederick County. I first, want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your prayers and support.  By reaching my first goal I am able to come on full time staff and start moving around to huddles and getting the FCA Chapel program going in different schools in Frederick County.  I am very excited about this opportunity and want to thank you all for your support.

Secondly, I wanted to wish each and every one of you a Merry Christmas!  I hope that as you read this you are looking forward to time with your families over Christmas.  In all of the craziness of Christmas may we not forget the real reason for the season and celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ came to earth to be fully man so that if we would just believe and call on Him as our Lord and Savior we would be saved!

Finally, I want to give everyone a few things that are going on in the county and a few dates to look forward to.  First of all, tomorrow I am very excited to do the first chapel service with the Linganore Wrestling team at 3:00 pm at the high school.  There is also a FCA Chapel going on with the Urbana High School Wrestling team.  A few dates to mark for your 2011 calendar:

1. April 8, 2011 Metro MD FCA Banquet
2. June 2-5, 2011 Leadership Camp at North Bay
3. June 27 - July 1, 2011 8:30-3:30 Power Camp at Covenant Life Church (Montgomery County)
4. July 10-15, 2011 Salisbury Sports Camp

If you have any questions about these events please contact me by email at crich@fca.org or by phone at 301-514-6208.  You can also go to the FCA Camp Website and get more information at www.FCACamps.org.