No Bricks

It doesn’t make sense at all. I am five feet seven inches tall on a good day. I weigh over two hundred and fifty pounds. I have been known for bench- pressing rather than my jump shot. My vertical is short enough you could barely slide a credit card underneath my feet when I jump. I never started on a basketball team in junior high and never even tried out for my high school basketball team because I knew I would not make the team. Yet I found myself invited to give a motivational talk to our state ranked and district champion basketball team on the eve of their beginning a playoff run.

As has happened thousands of times in my life the Lord gave me the message suited for the occasion. I called it “No Bricks.” He always gives me the right word for the right occasion. Make no mistake about it. I am not a motivational speaker. I am a preacher and that is how I started tonight. I shared Biblical truth but in a way that those young men could relate. I took a brick in with me and held it up. I told them there would be no bricks in the way of fear or attitude. I reminded them that the basketball hoop is actually large enough for two basketballs to go through at the same time. I had them repeat to phrase “no bricks” as symbolic of there not being any fear. [II Tim 1:7] reminds us that “For God has not given us a spirit of fear (or some translations use the word timidity) but of power and love and displine.”

I then talked about invisible walls of brick impossibilities being made of tissue paper. I reminded them of what Jesus said in [Matt 19:26] where He stated, “With God all things are possible.” I told them the story of the mile. One of the first recorded times for a person running the mile was way back in 1915 when the time was 4:12.75 seconds. Over the next hundred years that mark would decrease significantly. In 1942 the mark was lowered to a staggering 4:04. People actually begin to contemplate running the mile in less than four minutes.

Though the time was lowered several times over the next thirteen years to 4:01.3 no one could break that four-minute barrier. Experts said it was impossible. Runners began to give up on the thought of ever doing it; that is with the exception of a young man named Roger Bannister. He believed, trained, and on an eventful day on May 6, 1954 Roger Bannister proved to everyone that the brick wall of the four minute barrier was indeed made of tissue paper crossing the finish line at 3:59.4 That was amazing feat but only forty six days later a man named John Landy broke Bannister’s mark with a time of 3:57.9 For over a hundred years nobody could accomplish that feat and in little over a month two men did it in the same year. Today the world record set in 1999 for the mile is an astonishing 3:43.13. Brick walls of impossibilities are made of tissue paper. With God anything is possible.

I challenged those young men to repeat the phrase “no bricks” over and over again but the Lord had something else for me to share. I asked them why they played. Finally somebody said it was fun. Next, I wanted to know for whom did they play for. In no uncertain terms I laid out the truth that they should play for God. I challenged the Seminole Basketball team to play for the glory of God and not to arrogantly play for themselves. I quoted part of [James 4:6] which states, “… God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.” The biggest opponent those boys will face tomorrow will not be the opposing team but God himself if they play arrogantly and prideful. I reminded them that it was God who watched over them as they traveled to all those out of town games. It has been God who has kept their team free from injury. It is God who has given those boys talent. It is God who has given those boys a support system in families, friends, coaches, and an entire community. I chanted “no bricks” of pride getting in the way.

Now if those teenage young men can get hold of that truth what about us as adults. How many live frozen in raw terror about the future? How many look at impossible circumstances and wilt before them losing heart? How many arrogantly live their lives without ever acknowledging God and His goodness? My simple message to you is “no bricks.” No bricks of fear. We live with courage. [Joshua 1:9] “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” There will also be no bricks of impossibilities for [Luke 1:37] states, “For nothing is impossible with God.” Finally, we will not live in pride but humble ourselves in His presence and receive His grace and His blessing. [James 4:6] NO BRICKS!