Court Kings 131 - FCA 122

“The greatest leader is not necessarily the one who does the greatest things. He is the one that gets the people to do the greatest things.” – Ronald Reagan

Last week, I shared about how six of the young men from our Living H2O Initiative basketball program were scheduled to scrimmage a traveling Christian all-star team called the Court Kingz. The game was hosted by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes of Indian River County and Nick Beaver, their local representative, did an outstanding job coordinating the event.

Well, it turned out that seven – not six – of our young men participated along with three top players that Nick recruited from Port St. Lucie… and we needed them all, because the Court Kingz had mega-talent. Several of their players were 6’8” or taller and all of them had either played professionally, collegiately, or for the Harlem Globetrotters.

Nick’s goal was for us to make the game as competitive as possible, despite the fact that the Court Kingz routinely beat their opponents by 30, 40, or 50 points. Well, I am proud to say that our guys played extremely well and at several points in the game, trailed by just three or four points. The final score was Court Kings 131 – FCA 122, and one of our players scored more than 40 points!

The next day, I received a very kind text from Nick which read, “Thank you brother for everything. Thank you for coming out and supporting us. Thank you for inviting the guys and the team. I pray I honored Risk Takers and represented you guys well. I appreciate your leadership and humble heart for the gospel. I have A LOT to learn from you in leadership and shepherding a flock! Your guys were OUTSTANDING. Incredible teamwork, incredible sportsmanship, all the above.”

Here was my response to Nick: “I think the evening was a total success from top to bottom. Christ was honored, the gospel was proclaimed and people were entertained. And yes, I was very proud of the way our guys played and conducted themselves. GREAT job, brother!”

My friend, as Ronald Reagan famously said (and Harry Truman before him), “It is amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” Nick Beaver and I both had the same goal – to honor Jesus and proclaim the gospel – and by working together, we were able to achieve it by God’s grace, power and strength. To HIM be all the glory, honor, and praise!

“But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Galatians 6:14 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President