The spiritual Super Bowl

When a U.S. city has a professional baseball team winning the World Series, there is nothing like it in all of sports. I am sure the same can be said of winning a Super Bowl because I played in one, but we lost to Pittsburgh. Very few people remember the loser, but we always remember the winner.

As pastors in America, we play hardball for the King, and we have already played 80 percent of our games, with a short time remaining before the final buzzer. This, however, doesn't mean we sit back and do nothing, because we can still lose. We have to establish a game plan that calls for victory!

Our opponent is an adversary determined to destroy our Christian foundations and the very soul of America. This victory can only be won by adherence to the playbook and the coach.

I can remember several years ago when the Seattle Seahawks were in the Super Bowl against Pittsburgh. There were some poor calls made by the officials, and Seattle lost the game. Excuse after poor excuse was used by both fans and coaches. Well, maybe they were right in their assessment, but that doesn't change the results.

We as pastors across America are like assistant coaches, leading a team of believers in Christ to victory. And though we're being watched by many on the sidelines, the One we must be most concerned with is God, the Head Coach. He has given us His playbook, and for some unknown reason we seem to be following our own ways to a "deadly" fourth quarter. Like so many teams that go to the Super Bowl, we too are fast becoming a team of coaches making excuses for our players. In football games, it's usually poor officiating that results in excuse-making. Well, what's your excuse today for the mess we are in as a nation? Is it the economy, a foreign war, the warming of the earth, to name a few? Perhaps it's like the Seattle Seahawks on that monumental Sunday … they had a game plan, and something went wrong by fault of the officials. If they would have stayed focused, eyes firmly on the plan, they probably would have won the game.

I cannot imagine my former coach Tom Landry or the great Vince Lombardi sugarcoating their words to those great teams. Their enemy was laziness, slothfulness, counting their dollars before they were earned and fear. Today our enemy is the failure to trust our Lord, ego, pride and walking away from His Holy Word.

Have you all become tired of hearing my rants about gay marriage, abortion, the persecution of our children in public schools or the Second Amendment being threatened? Well, do something about it! We have been provided the greatest team since the creation of heaven and earth. We have the tools to take America back to its biblical foundations.

Recently, Howard Schultz, the CEO of coffee giant Starbucks, stood before the shareholders of the company, when one individual stood up and told him that Starbucks' open endorsement of gay marriage had hurt the profits of the company. Schultz publicly lashed out at the shareholder – it's not about the bottom line, but it's the right thing to do. This blatant attack at a shareholder is inexcusable in every major corporation I know. The CEO is accountable to the board and chairman of the board, as well as the shareholders. But Shultz decided to act out publicly and tell the shareholder if you don't like it, put your investment elsewhere.

Do you, my fellow pastors, share Howard Schultz's view? If you're like me, you don't, so perhaps it's time for you to start following the playbook and stop following the crowd in the stands. This is not about condemning anyone, but rather addressing a sin that is destroying our society. Do you know of any civilization in the history of our planet that has survived from this behavior? If so, I would like to know. Do the civilizations of ancient Rome, Greece and modern Britain ring a bell? History, my brothers and sisters, does not lie, nor does God's Word.

Join the Black Robe Brigade and team up with others who want to stand for truth. The Head Coach is watching to see if we implement His plays.