Beale Memorial Baptist Church

John Chandler sent me an email with the following story from Travis Collins.  Good stuff worth the time to read.

You Gotta Call Unsportsmanlike Conduct

Travis Collins is pastor of Bon Air Baptist in Richmond and author of Tough Calls: Game-Winning Principles for Leaders Under Pressure.  He draws on his experience as a high school football referee to draw parallels for congregational life.  He is a great guy - except for a rather unfortunate attraction to the University of Kentucky ...   Some fouls can be overlooked.  Maybe a simple holding foul occurs thirty yards behind the run.  I'm probably not going to throw a flag on the one who committed the holding foul; I'll warn the perpetrator, but a flag would be unnecessary.  Maybe the third-string wide receiver is not lined up correctly, but his team is losing fifty-to-nothing with thirty seconds to play.  I'm probably not going to blow the whistle and stop the clock because that player is technically out of position.  If I were to do that at this stage of the game my fellow officials would give me the evil eye.  Not every foul deserves a penalty.  Unsportsmanlike conduct, however, must be called, or else the official will lose control of the game.  Football is an intense, aggressive sport, and a fracas is often one provocative comment away, lurking just beneath the surface.  Thus officials have to be on top of confrontational situations. ...Trash talk on the field can seem harmless at first.  But unsportsmanlike conduct can get ugly in a hurry, so it can't be allowed.  The official must act decisively to prevent the escalation of conflict; if he ignores taunts and offensive gestures and other abuses of the rules, then that official becomes responsible for the game's deterioration. "What you permit, you promote," declared Gary Whelchel, a commissioner of officials in Arizona. ...So, for the sake of the organization you lead, you have to throw a flag when people act in a mean-spirited way.  You cannot allow the bad behavior of a bully, or the monkey business of malcontents, to contaminate the whole.  When you see disruptive behavior, you've got to call it for what it is.  You cannot let your fear of the fallout, or your terror of the tyrant, prevent you from intervening when someone is causing trouble. One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is the organization's "cultural harmony" as Max DePree puts it.  You must protect those you lead from the disruptive acts of hurtful people.  That responsibility cannot be abdicated and cannot be delegated.  The health of your organization and the emotional well-being of employees hang in the balance.  You've  simply got to call "unsportsmanlike conduct." Bon Air Baptist's Pastor Emeritus, Bob Cochran, told me a sobering story that drives home why need to nip incendiary practices in the bud.  Many years ago, a young man stood on the grounds of the church where Bob was then pastor, put a gun to his head, and took his life.  By the time Bob arrived on the scene the young man's body had been removed, but when the pastor went to the spot where the awful event had taken place he spotted an autumn leaf covered with that young man's blood.  Bob immediately recalled Genesis 4:6, "The voice of your brother's blood is crying out to me from the ground." This young man, you see, had visited the church.  They had his name in their prospect file.  But they were too distracted to reach out to the young man.  They were in the middle of one of those all-too-common afflictions of local congregations-a church fight.  They were too preoccupied with the dissension to make the young man a priority. Bob kept the leaf, had it pressed and framed under glass, and hung it on the wall opposite his desk.  I have held that blood-stained, prophetic leaf.  Decades later it still bears traces of that young man's blood and declares:  We can't in-fight and out-reach at the same time. The stakes in our churches and other Christian organizations are too great for us to allow someone's ruthless behavior to divide and distract us from our mission.  I do not want to stand before God on Judgment Day and have Him say, "I gave you the opportunity to lead a great Christian organization, and you blew it by not protecting its fellowship."

I heard from Pastor David yesterday via phone and all was going well in Israel.  He wanted to let us know our Israel travelers will be returning today, Wednesday.  I know we will all be excited to have them back safe and sound.  

I wanted to share with you a short but spirit-filled update I received from Leslie Smith that gives us a glimpse of what they have been experiencing:

Day 4 (Friday)

After a buffet breakfast, we went to head waters of the Jordan River. We toured Tel Dan where David read scripture (Matthew16:13-20) where Jesus revealed who he was. 

We went to Mt. of Beatitudes where Jesus delivered the beatitudes.  David read the scripture and Larry prayed on that mountain side.  We went to Caesarea Philippi were Peter made his confession and reinstated as the first apostle. Tabgha where Jesus had the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes took place. Then we had lunch and had Peter’s fish on the Sea of Galilee. Next, we went to Capernaum and saw Peter’s home and viewed some antiquities.  We went to the kabutz to learn about the excavation of a boat that was used at the era of Jesus. At the end of the day we took a boat ride from Tel Dan to Tiberias.

Day 5 (Saturday)

The day started with a light buffet breakfast as it was Sabbath. The order of the day was baptisms on the Eastern shore of the Jordan River.  David baptized 13 in the Jordan and then Larry Lind baptized David. It was a moving experience and the water was not as cold as expected.  Next, we toured the antiquities of Beth Shan built between 1900 and 2000 years ago. On to Meggiddo (Battlefield of the Armageddon), where we saw a movie and a number of the group went down into the tunnel built to connect the water source in case of attack.   For lunch we went to one of David’s favorite restaurants in the Druze village where we could select from authentic area foods, such as Joffa.

After lunch, we went Mt. Carmel where Elijah defeated the Baal worshipers. We were mesmerized by the beauty and view looking over the plains of Jezrell.  Then we went to Caesarea where we saw the Roman aqueduct and walked on the beach.  We also visited the Roman port built by  Harold and enjoyed by Pontius Pilot, who got to enjoy the fresh water pool in the Mediterranean Sea.  We ended the day in Jerusalem at the Mt. of Olives and looked down on temple mound. We then headed to our new hotel, the Crown Plaza.

Tomorrow is Masada and the Dead Sea. 

The Israel crew is now split in two.  One group headed to Atlanta for departure the second leaving JFK tonight.  To say it has been a challenge would be a HUGE understatement.  Weather delays in NY caused hundreds of flight delays and cancellations.  Tempers within our group remain very postitive, but I have heard some New Yorkers use some tough language...  We are going to need the purification that only the Holy Land can provide after this time in NYC.

Yesterday we spent about 8 hours in a small regional jet.  We eventually landed in Conneticut whereupon Mrs. Taliaferro announced that this was the longest trip to a bathroom she had been on! 

Bill Croxton made the following observations...

All:  We were stuck in NYC at JFK last night due to weather and missed the
original flight to Israel. My son Scott who flew yesterday acknowledged the
degree of bad weather all over the east coast but it was even worse in New
York City area. We were stuck at Dulles on the plane on the tarmac for 6
hours, with a faulty bathroom, no running water, failing battery backup
system, no AC, and  no ice !   Finally given clearance for take off and
given hope that they might hold our 22 spaces on our JFK flight,   we
applauded only an hour later to find ourselves in a holding pattern around
JFK.  Finally we were detoured to Hartford Connecticut as we were running
out of fuel circling NYC. (another 3 hours lost).  During the "circus" at
Hartford, we were  first told tonight's flights were all over-booked.  We
were about to abort the whole trip  and reschedule later when we contacted a
Delta agent by phone and found limited seating from JFK and more seats thru
Atlanta.  The group was split,  some thru Atlanta to Tel Aviv, some direct
from JFK tonight (15th).  Looking at the tour  possibly being extended 1-2
days depending on consensus of group members and return flight rescheduling.
All but one of us has trip insurance.

I was able to get 11 rooms for all, near the airport  while David wrestled
with the Delta attendants to rebook  everyone's  tickets.  The hotel shuttle
could only carry 7 per trip and Lauren #22 had to stowaway to get the last 8
on the shuttle. The suprises seemed to never end until  the last group
checked in about 3 am with only carryon's.   Checked bags could not be
retrieved as they were rerouted to Tel Aviv.   Resting today  at the hotel
and will go to the airport around 4 pm for our 7:55 pm flight. Bill Croxton

 

Here are a few images of this past weekend's events.