Who Really Wins March Madness

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This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you what. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. You know, when I thought about this, one of the things that we thought about when it came to March Madness was this: is High Point University?

just won their first ever championship or they won their championship game in the regular season, but they also won their first ever tournament game in the NCAA tournament championship. And so when I think about that, I was thinking about this: is God interested in? in sports. Is God interested in sports? And as we all know, Eric Liddell.

Uh, from and that's one of the things that I thought of. I've got my friend Jeff Hoover here. Uh, we've got Stu, who's going to call in here in just a minute. Uh, but one of the things that I thought about was Eric Liddell in the chariots of fire. He said this: His, his, I believe it was his future wife, wanted him to leave and to go to the missionary field.

And he said, This: He said, I believe that God made me for a purpose. He said, I'm going to be a Christian missionary to China. He said, But He also made me fast. And he said, when I run, I feel his pleasure. To give that up would be to hold him in contempt.

To win is to honor him. And that's in 1 Corinthians 9, verse 24. The Bible says, Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. And it says, So run that ye may obtain. Are you running your Christian life?

Are you going in your Christian life in a way? That would make sense in a way where the Lord someday will look at you and say, well done. Good and faithful servant. You know, I thought about it as an athlete, as a student athlete, or as an athlete, or if you're in the NBA, or even if you've got kids who are playing sports. One of the things that I learn is every day when I'm working out I go and I do my workout.

I run. I lift weights. I do all this other stuff. But one of the things that I learned is this: God gets the glory when I give him my very best. You know, the Bible says in Proverbs 29, verse 18, it says, where there is no vision, The people perish.

It says, But he that keepeth the law. Happy is he. Habakkuk 2.2 says, And the LORD answered me and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon the tablets, that he may run that readeth it. And so we've got somebody who just called in. But while we're doing that, High Point University just won.

We've got Stu Epperson, the owner of the Truth Network. Are you there, Stu? Hey, my great topic today, man. Everyone's talking about bracket busters. Everyone's talking about Cinderella and everything, man.

I tell ya. What what uh I want to share is this uh Special High Point University. And what God's doing there, man, I tell you. Into Chase Johnson. He's the buzz.

He's the. Bracket Buster. And that whole team, so special things about that. Yeah, absolutely.

Well, you know, it's funny. Even before the game yesterday, I saw them talking on the news about this guy, Chase Johnston. And what they were saying, Stu. was they were saying that the whole year He did not hit one two-point shot, but he was a really good three-point shooter. And uh but it's funny, in the game when they they won their first ever NCAA tournament game.

Almost at the last second, the game-winning shot, he hit his first two-point shot of the year, a layup, and they won the game. Amazing. And so I'll tell you, and you might just turn that volume down that and the speaker that's coming into your studio because I can. Yeah, th thank you. No, Mike.

The number ninety nine is significant. A kid came in Early in the year, a new recruit, a great kid, and said, Hey, Chase, you're wearing number two, man. I've always had that number. Could I be that number? And Well Chase, that's been his number.

He's the star. What is he going to do?

Well, he gives that number up and takes the number 99, which, of course, there's a couple of places in the Bible. Powerful stories of the shepherd leaving the 9-9 to go after the one. Great picture of how Christ is a great shepherd, a great savior.

So here you have Chase taking on this new number. uh early in the season not knowing and you know injuries and lost a lot of his playing time and here in the big game He didn't hit a two-pointer all year. He comes in and hits a bunch of threes. I think he scored like. you know, 11 points in four or five minutes.

And then next thing you know, Uh hits that game-winning shot. And just, you know, took the mic and gave glory to God.

So it's a great, it's a great testimony. And whether we win or lose. We want to give God the glory, but you know, Chaplain Payne. All kinds of uh you know, godly men have poured into Chase's life. I think maybe one of his other pastors may be calling in just to share.

About him and how the teen Bible study. I know my nephew David. is on the team. Number thirty five, he's he's a a red shirt sophomore freshman somewhere in there. But he just He's part of this Bible study, but there's just a certain encouragement when you see.

Guys really try to lift up the Lord. And there's a T shirt that all these kids are wearing from High Point. It's purple, and it says Jesus wins on it. And I think that's the greatest little statement we could make. It really is.

And Stu, you've really been I've seen you in videos all year long hanging out and working with the High Point University basketball team. What have you been doing over there? I got some family kids that go to school there. I've got my nephew on the team, daughter in law school, So I've gone over just we befriended, we had some of the kids over for Thanksgiving, these international students, where do they go? And just getting to know them, and just obviously, we share the Lord with everyone we come in contact with.

It's just neat to see the openness. The coaches have been all in on having speakers come in. I've been I got to speak to the team not too long ago and just encourage them. in the Lord encourage them The greatness is a John 15:13 kind of greatness that Chase quoted, you know, where we are willing to lay our life down. Jesus.

laid down his His robe, he picked up a rag, he washed those disciples' feet. And if you want to be great, you serve. And these teams that recognize that, that sacrificed for each other, laid down the line for each other, they're the teams that thrive. Like Mendoza, who laid his life out to get that game-winning touchdown for Indiana in the big national championship game down in Miami. He was quoted to have said, I would be willing to lay my life down.

for my teammates. You know, it's pretty pretty remarkable And that's what Jesus has done for us. And that is, you know, whether we win or lose, we're playing for the audience of one. That's another thing I reminded these kids. I said, you know, you're playing, you should play harder.

Knowing the king Jesus is watching and he's pulling for you than anyone else. You know, Colossians 3:23, we're going to work at it with all of our heart. because we're doing it as unto the Lord and not unto men. And so that's the dynamic. That's kind of been the heart of this team.

It's that now everyone's watching it play out, and it's just neat to see King Jesus get some glory. Amen. Amen to that. And, you know, it's funny when I was talking about this earlier today. Hey, we're going to talk about the NCAA tournament or we're going to talk about sports and Jesus.

I think a couple of people got a little annoyed at me. They wanted me to go deep into, you know, some scripture or they wanted me to get into apologetics or something like that. And I do believe that there is a time and a place for that stew. But I was also reminded, and I started praying and thinking about this earlier. I remember back in 2017, there was a backup quarterback for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

And the whole year he was a backup, but at halftime during the national championship game in January of 2018, they inserted him because Jalen Hurts wasn't doing too well.

Well, this quarterback ended up going in there at the second half and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass in overtime to win the game. And when they asked him in the interview, they said, well, you know, tell us about your season or tell us about how you felt. And he said, well, first of all, he said, my parents may not like this. He said, but first of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. How many people, Stu, do you think got to see that?

Oh, wow. Yeah, what a blessing. Yeah, no, that's a beautiful picture of the gospel. Right there. It's a called using your platform.

Everyone listening has a platform. Your platform might be Your uh assistant. Daycare worker. But you have a platform, a voice, using it for him is a key. And it's true in March Madness, and it's true.

When everyone goes back to work the next day. That's right. We'll be right back after these messages. All right, guys, we are back, and I want to thank Stu Epperson for coming back on the show. But when I was thinking about this as well, there have been many, many times throughout sports history where there have been.

Places and times where God has absolutely showed up. You know, and I've got Jeff here, and one of the things that I was just thinking about, Jeff, was. Recently, the Venezuelan baseball team, this is Venezuela, this is not America, this is a place that's supposedly been socialist and, you know, they've been taught not to believe in God and anything like that. But recently, on March the 17th, they actually won the WBC, the championship in baseball, the world championship, and they beat, they unexpectedly beat the USA. And during the whole time, they were giving praises to God.

They were thanking God for the good things that he had done for them. And Jesus, they said, gets all the glory. And they just kept going on and on and on. And so, you know, there's some people who say, well, God doesn't really care about sports or God doesn't have anything to do with sports. But when I look in the Bible, Jeff, I see sports all over the place.

You know, in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, it says, know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize.

So run that ye may obtain and and Jeff, you were involved in sports for many years, is that right? Yes, yes, I was uh uh involved with uh basketball and soccer. And you know, as Stu said, One of the things that uh that Uh um that gets me is that You know, God's Tells us that I had one guy who I was playing against, and the guy said. Uh, I ran over him actually as a goalkeeper to get to knock the ball away. And he said, I thought you were a Christian.

And I said, Well, I am. I said, That's why I give a hundred percent for the Lord. When I'm playing, I play, you know, I don't play dirty, but I play a hundred percent, always giving a hundred percent for the Lord. And that's the way we should always do in anything that we do for the Lord.

Well, Colossians 3:23, it says, Whatsoever you do, do it with your might, as if you're working for the Lord and not for man. And, you know, I was thinking about this before, you know, in Galatians chapter 5, and it's verse 22 through 24, it says that the love of the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness. And people like all of that. But the last one that I think a lot of people don't think about is self-control. And when you are involved in sports, when you're playing sports.

When you're doing them, you have to have self-control. There are days when you go out there and you have to go to basketball practice and you don't feel like doing it. There's days where you have to wake up at five o'clock in the morning, just like the High Point men's basketball team. And I'm sure that they didn't feel like it, but the reason that they did it is because they had a greater purpose. And I'm reminded of a story of a guy that I heard who was a college or a high school football player.

And he was a quarterback the whole time, and he never did really well at all. But the very last, the last game of his last season, His dad had died, and his dad was blind. And this guy had a phenomenal game. He threw for like 400 yards. He had five touchdowns.

It was absolutely phenomenal. And they asked the guy, they said, What happened? They said, Where have you been the last four years? You know, you've been on the team, you've played quarterback, but you've never really done that great. You just did mediocre.

And he said, Well, here's the thing: he said that my dad. was blind. And he said, My dad never got to see a game. And he said, But my dad died. In this game, I knew that my dad was watching me and I wanted to make him proud.

And so, one of the things that we have to have, Jeff, is yes, we have to have self-discipline, we have to have self-control, but we also have to have a greater purpose. And so, I know I'm sure you weren't making a lot of money all those years you were a missionary, but you were teaching sports and you were helping people out with sports. What got you up every morning? What pushed you?

Well, I mean, the fact is that That in sports, I mean, in anything, we can draw people to the Lord. And uh the whole thing is that I look at it this way that I was a player And who can be the best player? Who knows the best way to be the best player? And we have a lot of good coaches. But the best coach is the Lord.

And the best player, the best uh coach Is the Lord, and I just look to Him to always help me to make things better. Uh to lift him up. as the coach and as a player uh when I didn't know how to do things, I just brought it to the Lord, and the Lord would give me a strategy or give me something to help Those people that I was helping. And that's what it's all about to me is I would tell them then That not that this was f out of my My head, my intellect, but that I truly. Gave that to the Lord and prayed about it, and then God gave me this or that.

You know, God gave me in soccer a better throw because I couldn't kick. You know, and I could outthrow anybody in the world because in soccer because Uh, but I couldn't kick the ball. Uh, well, I listened to God, and God made the difference. Yeah, and and I look at this and I think about this, and God absolutely gets the glory in sports. I think about Nick Foles.

Uh, they won uh the Eagles, he was the backup quarterback the whole year, uh, to Carson Wentz, I believe his name was. And uh, so the whole year, Carson Wentz won all these games, they went to the Super Bowl, and Nick Foles went to this Super Bowl game. They weren't supposed to win, but Nick Foles is a devout Christian, and he out-dueled Tom Brady. I'm looking at this right now: Nick Foles threw for over 300 and some odd yards, he threw for four touchdowns, and he even caught a touchdown pass to win the game. And after the game, they, you know, a little while afterwards, they asked him, They said, Well, what do you want to do?

And he said that when I'm done playing football, he said, I want to be a youth pastor. You know, a lot of people leave the game of football, a lot of people leave the game of backup. Basketball, and they say that they want to make money, or they want to get in real estate, or they want to do this or do that. Hey, and if you want to do that, that's fine. You know, God gives us the ability to make money, but why are we doing it?

You know, are we making money just so that we can hoard it to ourselves or show everybody how successful we are? Or are we doing it so that we can help others? You know, there's been many times where Christians have succeeded in football. There's been many times where Christians have succeeded in basketball or anything else. One of those times I was thinking about, people have asked me before, they say, Mike, what is the biggest miracle that you've really ever seen in your lifetime?

And the one that I think of more than anything else is Tim Tebow, you know, because Tim Tebow was a national miracle. I mean, this was a guy that really nobody wanted. They were surprised that the Denver Broncos took him in the first round. He was a third-string quarterback. And all of a sudden, during the 2011 football season, the team wasn't doing too well.

But everybody was calling on Tim Tebow. And all of a sudden, they took a team that was like, I think three and six or two and six. And all of a sudden, he just started winning these games like crazy. Not only was he winning the games, but he was giving God all the glory. And he was telling people, he said, God is helping me to win these games.

And they got to the point where they were just phenomenal. And they ended up losing to the New England Patriots about halfway during the year. And then they started to skid. It was like what happened to Tim Tebow. He started to lose all of these games, but he still gave glory to God.

They knew that he was a devout Christian. They called it Tebowing. I think they actually trademarked that thing that he did, but he would get down and pray. And people were praying all over the country. People were giving their lives to Jesus Christ.

Everybody was talking about Jesus because of this devout Christian named Tim Tebow, who was waiting till he was married to have sex. You know, came out and he. Started to give glory to God. All of a sudden, they somehow snuck into the playoffs. And they played the Pittsburgh Steelers.

And everybody said they've got no chance of beating the Pittsburgh Steelers. And what they did was he ended up beating them. And they looked at the game afterwards. And when we get back from the break, I will give you the amazing, miraculous statistics from Tim Tebow. 866-34-TRUTH is the number.

866-348-7884. We'll be right back with more sports stories. This is Michael Zwick. I'll be right back with Truth Talk Live. Truth Talk Live.

We are back for another segment on. March Madness, and I believe we've got a mat. Who has come in? Matt is on the phone. He is actually Chase Johnston's pastor over in High Point.

And the name of the church is City Lights Church, and it's right across the street from High Point University. And Pastor Matt is with the students. And so, are you there, Matt? Yes, I am. Yeah, man, that that was a pretty exciting game yesterday, huh?

Oh, man, it was crazy. I mean, these students were on their feet the whole time. And it's such a great story. Obviously, being chased as pasture. And sixth year player came back to HBU.

you know, battled injuries throughout his career. And um Going into the tournament, you know, he's not a starter anymore. He started pretty much every game last year, but at some point this season, I think it was 11 games in there, 8-3. the coach asked them to play a different role this year, took them out of the starting lineup. there were actually some games that he didn't even get minutes.

He didn't log any minutes. And um going from a starter to in some games getting no minutes, that's tough. For any athlete who trains as hard as he does. especially in your last year. But he kept such a great attitude throughout the whole season.

And I really wanted to use his platform and be a testimony to his lost teammates, showing that his identity. Is not in being an athlete or getting minutes or being the hero of the team, but his identity is in Christ.

So he's cognizant of that. And I think he lived righteously all season long, seeking to honor the Lord. And then, of course, he has blown up in the last 24 hours. I mean, he's everywhere. He is, man.

And one of the things that I saw, it's so funny because his number is actually 99. And one of the commentators, I don't know if it was at the very end of the game or right afterwards, but he said he leaves the 99 and goes after the one because he wasn't even supposed to be number 99 this year, right? Yeah, so what happened was a new transfer player came in, and Chase was number two. And pretty good player. And the guy went to Chase and said, hey, I'd love number two.

Like, what are your thoughts on that? And Chase being just the servant-minded guy that he is, uh he was like, Yeah, man. You can have number two. And he purposely took number ninety nine because he wanted people to ask questions. You know, what a great what a great example.

All of us can do little things in our life to create gospel conversations, right? And for Chase, it was number ninety nine. It is. And they said the whole year they said he had hit so many three point shots. And they said, but he hadn't hit one two point shot until it was time to win the game yesterday.

Oh man, that was so nerve-wracking because, you know, it's late in the game and everything kind of slows down in real life sometimes, you know? And you see this guy from Wisconsin tracking him pretty hard, looking to block the shot. But thankfully, yes, Chase got his first two point bucket for the season. And um yeah, won the game for him. It's been fun.

It's been a fun ride.

Now are you out there in Portland? Yes, so I'm out here with the team right now. I'm actually with got to hang out with Chase and his family lot tonight and spend some time with them and celebrate and really just praise God for it's a gift. All these things are gifts, man. And Chase recognizes that.

You know, God doesn't owe him anything. and the fact that he scored, what, eleven points in four point five minutes to lead his team in a pretty major upset, one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far. It's a lot of fun. But yes, I'm here, got to travel with the school and hanging out with some HPU kids, and we'll be at the game tomorrow.

So who are they playing tomorrow? Tomorrow they play Arkansas.

So it's going to take another really big game from all the guys. Arkansas is a very different team than Wisconsin. Again, it's one of the best teams in the country. And interestingly, Wisconsin beats I think five top ten teams.

So, I mean, we can beat Arkansas, but it's a very different team. Arkansas likes to play more of a one-on-one style basketball game, very athletic, coached by John Calapari, obviously one of the best coaches ever in NCAA basketball. Um so we'll see what happens. It is. It would be pretty cool to beat John Calaperi.

But I don't know if you heard any of the show before, Matt, but what we were talking about before the break is where God has absolutely showed up in college basketball and in college basketball and in professional football and a lot of others as well. But one of my favorite stories was about Tim Tebow. And I think you've got some noise in the background. I don't know if you can. Yeah, I apologize.

I'm on a bus, but let me see if I can break away here for a second. Let me look. See what's going on here. Yeah. But, anyways, yeah, you're good, man.

One of the things that I was talking about was Tim Tebow. And if you remember the Tim Tebow season, I said that was one of my favorite miracles that I've ever seen. I said, you know, I've seen people healed. I've seen some amazing things happen. But this was nationwide.

It was a quarterback that really nobody wanted in the NFL, even though he won the Heisman. And during the whole year, it was the 2011 miracle season. There were miraculous fumbles, miraculous comebacks right at the end. And the last game of this, or the second to last game of the season in the playoffs, they were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers. And they said his, his, his manager told him, he said, Tim, Timmy, you're not going to believe this.

He said, yeah, I know. Tim said, oh, I know. We beat the Steelers and we're going to play the Patriots. He said, no. He said, it's been three years since you were to the day since you wore John 3.16 on your face.

And he says, tonight, your yards per rush were 3.16. He said, your yards per completion were 31.6 yards. He said the time of possession was 31.6, the time of possession. And he said, after the game, he said that 90 million people Googled John 3.16.

Well, you know what Tim Tebow said? He said, I can't believe that there's 90 million people out there who don't know John 3.16. But it was a miracle, man. Right, right, right, right, right. Yeah.

Now, how old?

Now, how old are you right now? How old am I? Yes, sir. Oh, I'm a pastor. I'm 50 years old.

Oh, did you grow up playing sports yourself? I did. I did. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

What did you do? I played um basketball and also college soccer. You played college soccer.

So, one of the things that I was thinking about when I was preparing for the show today is that, you know, people know the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22 through 24. And it says, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. But I do believe one of the ones that we leave out many times is self-control. And as an athlete, you've got to have self-control. And as you know, as a college soccer player, I'm sure there were times in the morning where you didn't feel like getting up and going to practice.

I'm sure that there were times when you didn't feel like working out, but you did it because you had a greater purpose. Is that right? Right. Oh, a hundred percent. A hundred percent.

And how do you t how do you go ahead? Yeah, I mean, I think the fruit of the Spirit, it's not a fruit of the believer, right? It's fruit of the Spirit. And so it's not fruits, it's a singular fruit. And so.

The goal is that we manifest all those things because they're all one fruit, you know. And what I try to teach is like, We can't do it. The only thing we can do is just like a farmer. We can clear out the land and clear out the big sins of your life. And then, obviously, after you do that, you can.

I'm going to start tilling the soil. And you do that through the Word of God. And then, of course, you pull the weeds, you know. And the small sins you got to eliminate as well. And obviously, as you plant God's word, into that soil, into your heart.

I mean, at the end of the day, just like a farmer, I mean, you can't cause that seed to germinate. You just got to pray, and you got to pray for the Holy Spirit. to germinate that seed.

So our responsibility as believers isn't as much I have to do all these things, and oh, I'm not measuring this. It's like, hey, walk in the spirit, abide in the vine. And as we seek to have an intimate walk with Christ, you know, you're going to catch yourself. being loving and being joyful and exercising self-control. And really, man, you know, getting it back to Chase, I think that's what we've seen With Chase this season.

It's been like. I'm going through a trial. I have to remain under trial, as James One says. And so I better just have a deep, abiding relationship with Christ because the moment I don't do that. I can go sideways.

And this whole platform but I've been working for and toward. For so long can be gone in an instant because my flesh gets the best of me. Because selfishly, you know, he wants to play. Who wouldn't want to play their senior season? And so yeah, I think, you know, bringing it full circle Think what has been a privilege for me to walk beside him and just see him this season, to your point.

demonstrating these fruits. on a huge stage. like, you know, I don't know what the numbers are right now. But Chase Johnson's everywhere. He's everywhere right now.

And I was talking to some of the High Point official High Point administration even this morning. 1500 applications came in yesterday. Yeah, you know, within just a couple hours. You know, like it's getting crazy. But, you know, pe I I would love to know how many people have looked up Chase Johnston.

You know, and uh, Chase Chase loves the Lord, and um, it's just going to be an opportunity, kind of like the Tim Tebow story from the Lord receiving glory through all this. Amen. I am just curious: what does Chase want to do after school? You know, Chase, right now, he wants to be a pastor. He wants to be a church flanking pastor at some point.

And so he's going to get some seminary education. He's probably going to go back home. Helped his high school basketball team, worked at the church that he grew up in. And just kind of relax for a year, figure it out, and then get a game plan for future. Um potentially a vocational ministry.

for a lifetime calling. But you know, I I'm sure You know, he's a young guy, and the Lord may redirect. That happens to all of us. Um but that's the game plan right now. Yeah, you know, when I heard you talking about Chase, you know, one of the things that I've always seen over the years is I have seen some phenomenal basketball players, and I have seen some phenomenal football players, baseball, everybody else.

And all of a sudden, yeah, and all of a sudden, they just got the big head and they started to think that they were really great. And I remember there was a great running back a few years back, and he said, I'm not even going to play this year because I want to make more money. And he never really succeeded the same way he did after that. There was another football, a wide receiver, and these, I believe they were both for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And this guy really, he just started to believe the hype.

He thought he was better than he was. But one of the things that Jesus talks about is he says that there were two men who went up into the church one day, and he said that one of the men looked up and he said, Lord, I thank God that I'm not like these other men. He said, I'm a pretty good person. I tithe. I don't commit adultery.

I give away. Money, I'm a pretty good person. But Jesus said the second guy, he beat on his chest and he said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. And Jesus put it like this: Those who humble themselves will be exalted, but those who exalt themselves will be humbled. And from what you've told me about Chase, he's a pretty humble guy.

Oh man, yeah, yeah. God resists the proud he gives grace to the humble, you know, and I agree with everything you just said. And I told Chase yesterday, I said, man, what a ride, you know. We've had times many times this season sitting at my kitchen table just praying for a good attitude, taking on this new role. It wasn't an easy thing for Chase.

Trials are never easy. And I think when you look at the grand scheme of things, even maybe some of the listeners are like, well, it's just basketball. But when you put your you know, a lifetime into that work, And that's your platform, and it's taken from you. You know, you don't know how to deal with this thing. And he's a young man.

And so. We prayed so many times, and he's just been so humble and um asking the Lord to give him a heart. um that ultimately um finds his value in Christ, his identity in Christ. And to your point, um God's just poured grace out on him. And I even texted him this morning.

I said, Man, can you believe this right now? Like, you're everywhere, buddy. And I do believe, you know, choose to sin, choose to suffer, choose righteousness, choose to be rewarded. And, you know, rather than going down the road of being a cancer in the locker room, Chase chose the path of righteousness, and God is rewarding him. Amen.

Well, we're on a commercial break now, brother. But I didn't want to stop you, man. You're doing great. You're good, man. I appreciate you calling in, okay?

All right, guys, we are back for our last segment. One of the things that I was thinking of, and by the way, this is Michael's wick, but was Field of Dreams. My family and I were just watching the movie Field of Dreams. And I remember at the end of the movie, did you see the movie, Jeff? At the end of the movie, Kevin Costner actually went up to shoeless Joe Jackson, who was able to come back because he built this field.

And he heard a voice, and it said, if you build it, he will come. And he said, Shoeless Joe, he said, all this time I've done this, I've built a field, I've let you guys play baseball. And he said, not one time he said, have I ever asked, what's in it for me? And shoeless Joe, he said, is that why you did it was for yourself? And he said, well, he said, I just want to know.

He said, what's in it for me? And shoeless Joe pointed to the dugout or pointed to where the catcher was at home plate. And he said. Look over there. and he said he looked over and the guy took his his hat off, his helmet off, and he realized that it was his dad.

And so the whole time that he did this, it was so that he had one last chance to get right with his dad. And I was thinking about that when it comes to sports, or really when it comes to life, so many times we do all this stuff. We could do all the work in the world, all the work in the world for the Lord. But if we're not doing it for the right intentions and if we're not doing it for the right reasons, then really it's all for nothing. Jesus said, He put it like this: He said, Those who do their good works to be seen by men.

He said They've received their reward in full. They've gotten the applause of man, and that's what they were after in the first place. He said, But when you do your good deeds, do them in secret.

So that nobody can see what you're doing. Therefore, your heavenly father who is in heaven will reward you openly. And what he did was, when he saw his dad, he realized that that is what it was all about. It wasn't about seeing a baseball game, it wasn't about playing a game or getting a bunch of people to come. It wasn't about all the acclamations and the rewards and all of that.

He said it was about having that personal relationship with his father. And as we go about our Christian lives, Jeff, Jeff, one of the things that I've seen, I've done a lot of ministry work. I've done a lot of, you know, I've done a lot of good things for the Lord. But the most important thing in my life has been my relationship with my Father in heaven. And yeah, a lot of times I know there's been people who have had difficult relationships with their father on this earth.

But, you know, the first thing that we have to do, Jesus put it like this: He said, I tell you the truth. He said, If you forgive other men when they sin against you, he said, Your heavenly Father will forgive you. He said, But if you don't forgive other men, Other men, when they sin against you, your heavenly father will not forgive you. And so. Jesus told us two things.

He said, You know, love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. And so the first thing that we have to make sure that we're doing right, Jeff, is to say that, Lord, I have a personal relationship with you, Jesus. And then really only after that. Can you get right with your fellow man? Because if you're not right with God, You'll never be right with your fellow man.

Go ahead, Jeff. Yeah, a few minutes ago, Mike, you mentioned self-control. And the thing is that we had a game one time against a Czech team. and this Czech team was uh uh mm let's say they were higher than we Uh They should have beaten us. and all but the thing is That what they did Because of that.

They actually beat on us. They would hit us, punch us in the back, in the kidneys, and things like this when they were blocking out. They they would just uh you know, beat on us uh And The whole thing was, and even my coach, our coach said. That if you can't Hold in if you can't. uh uh you know, just play and forget about these things and and forgive them and and go on, get off the court.

We would rather have four on the court Than to uh You know, to lose our testimony. And the thing is that after that game, We went and tried to give testimony uh in the locker room and these guys laughed at us. Uh and all.

So, not only that, not only did they beat on us, but then they laughed at us, and we didn't get to. to give the testimony that we wanted to give.

So we went back and we In the hotel, and we sat down and we forgave every one of them and prayed for the other team. We were going to play this same team in the next two days.

So we did this, and then we came against them again. And We ended up tying the game, well, winning the game basically on a long shot that they, but and the whole crowd knew that we beat them. But the referee didn't count the shot right, and we ended up going into overtime, and they beat us in overtime.

However, The good thing was that As we went down to the locker room and we shared Jesus with them. They listened this time because we had won their respect, because we had forgiven and we had not retaliated against them with the same thing. If Most teams would have retaliated in some way against. The beatings that we were taking. That's right.

But we. With God we were able to Hold on. Take our self-defense. To your self-control, and let God do that for us and help us hold on to that. And then, not only that, to forgive them.

And then we saw how the Holy Spirit worked in their lives. uh to turn this all around so that once again we could do what we Came there for was to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ to the crowd and to the other team.

Well, anybody can for the glory of God. And anybody can celebrate when things are going their way. You know, I heard about a pastor out of Texas who said, Hey, I want you to take the rest of the money that you've got on your credit card and I want you to donate it. And he said that when you donate this money, he said that, you know, eventually God is going to bless you. You're going to get a million dollars.

And he said, you're going to be driving around in your new Mercedes-Benz and people are going to say, wow, God is really with that person. And I heard J.D. Greer one time, he said, he was telling that story and he said, no, he said, God will get the glory when you're driving around your old hunk of junk car, your pinto from the 1970s, and you're still smiling. Because yes, anybody can smile when they just won the Super Bowl. Anybody can smile and give glory to God when they just won the NBA championship.

But what happens when you lose? And so before the show, I was reminded. Of a story, and I told Stu about this, of a Dylan Thompson. And I don't know if you remember him, but he was a quarterback for the University of South Carolina in the early 2010s. And so during 2011, 2012, and 2013, he was the backup quarterback, Jeff.

And during those three years, they won 11 games. And his senior year, he had the opportunity to win the starting quarterback position, and he became the starting quarterback. And that year, he broke all kinds of school records. He did phenomenal, but the defense was terrible. And instead of winning 11 games, they barely won seven.

And they won some big games. They beat Florida. They won their bowl game against Miami, Florida. But there was a string of about four games out of five that they lost. And every single one of those games, one of them was an overtime by three points.

The rest of them were like three points, seven points, or whatever. But you know what he did that really impressed me? You know what he said that I never forgot? I've forgotten a lot of these people who won. But the thing that he said that I never forgot was this.

He said, I'm going to thank Jesus Christ. I want to give all praise and glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ after he lost the games. And he said something like this: He said, If I can't praise God, When I lose a game. He said, I really have no business praising God when I win. Because life, we all have valleys, we have peaks, we have good times, we have bad times.

But anybody, anybody can can have a smile on their face when they're doing well. But when they're in that valley, how are you going to act? And there was an old movie, and one of the lines in the movie was this. It says, Sometimes you will splash in the rocks, other times you will bask in the sun. He said, But what makes you a man?

Is what you do when that storm comes. Yeah, you're going to have some tough times in life. And one of the verses that I was looking at this morning was 1 Peter 3:15. It says, But be ready, for if anybody asks you for a reason for the hope that you have within you, always be willing to give an answer. And if they're asking you for a reason for the hope that you have.

In other words, what they're looking at is they're seeing how your lifestyle is. They're seeing if your lifestyle matches what you're preaching.

Now, that's not saying that we don't preach. We have to preach the good news. You know, and there's an old expression that says, preach the gospel constantly, use words when necessary.

Well, of course, we're going to have to use words when we're sharing the gospel. But in addition to that, And almost as important, maybe as important is the way that we live our lives. If people see us lose a game or they see us fail at something and we do it with humility, they may come up to us and say, Hey, there's something that you want. There's something about you that you've got that I want. I remember one time when I was working at a job and I didn't really want to do the job, but I did it.

And there was a lady who asked me, she said, Mike, she said, you're really, she was leaving the job. She said, you're really a Christian guy, aren't you? And I said, yeah, I love the Lord. And she said, will you pray for me? I don't think she ever asked anybody else that.

But she asked me that because at that time, she thought that I was living a Christian life. One of the things, too, Jeff, is we got to have goals. You know, the Bible says in Philippians 3, verses 12, it says, Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend. That for which I also am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended.

But this one thing that I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark. For the prize of the higher calling in the Lord Jesus Christ. Guys, I want to thank you for listening today. I hope you enjoy March Madness, but more importantly than that, I hope you get your relationship right with Jesus Christ. This is Mike Zwick from If Not for God with Mike Zwick.

I'll be on the Truth Network tomorrow at 12 p.m., and I appreciate the opportunity for you guys to listen to me today. Have a blessed weekend and give God all the praise. Um