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I love football. The opening of football training camps gets my juices going. I watch some of the greatest athletes in the world getting ready to play a highly skilled game. So what do they start with every summer at training camp?

Footwork and technique drills. Coaches demanding constant repetition of fundamental skills. The best teams are the ones that most consistently execute the basic fundamental aspects of their craft.

Legendary Coach Vince Lombardi famously began each training camp by gathering wide-eyed rookies and grizzled veterans around him. He would begin by holding the pigskin in front of him and solemnly proclaiming this truth.

From that rather rudimentary start he would detail the importance of understanding the fundamentals of the sport. I can learn something from that approach. When I first came to faith I was so excited to learn the fundamentals of faith. How do I study the Bible? How do I pray? How do I grow in my faith? But something seemed to happen as I accumulated some seasons under my belt. I forgot the fundamentals. I started looking for the latest trend in faith. I defined myself by movements instead of by Jesus, the Cross and His finished work. For me football training camp is a annual reminder that I desperately need the fundamentals of faith.

Fundamentals are best taught by those who have the gift of teaching and complete knowledge of the skills required. You hope you can find an expert to teach you. That is exactly what the disciples did when they came to Jesus and asked for His help on how to pray. They had watched Him pray. They knew how important prayer was to Jesus. Now they asked him to teach them how to pray. Here is Luke’s “play by play” of that moment.

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Over much of my fumbling, bumbling Christian journey I would skip straight to the “give us our daily bread and forgive us our sins” parts. I managed to miss the most important fundamentals of this insightful prayer contained in the opening words.

I get to relate to God as my Father! That privilege comes only from my relationship with Jesus. Noted preacher Haddon Robinson stated that in the entire Old Testament God is only called Father seven times and it was always in respect to the Nation Israel. There is never a recorded instance where any individual dared to address the Sovereign God as Father.

Now Jesus comes on the scene and Robinson writes about the amazing contrast.

“When you turn to the New Testament, however, 275 times or more we are told directly or indirectly that when we bow before the sovereign majesty of the universe the word that should come easily to our lips is Father.”

That is a fundamental game changer! I can come to the God of the Universe who knows my sin and my weakness and my failure and call Him Father! Are you kidding me?

I also zoomed by the next fundamental. Hallowed be your name. Prayer starts not with a shopping list of what I need God to do but instead with worship and recognition of who God is. We are coached by Jesus to remember how great God is and to recognize that His ways are not our ways. We are taught to remember that His holiness is perfect and His grace is our hope.

Hallowed be your name.

When I learn those fundamentals the rest of the offense falls into place. He is my Father who loves me and wants the best for me. He is holy, powerful and present. When I put my full weight on those fundamentals I think I can probably trust Him for some bread, forgiveness and strength to overcome temptation.

Training camp is in session. I pray you won’t forget your faith fundamentals as you start the week.

In honor of National Mutt Day my friends at Tyndale are providing another free chapter from my latest book Stay: Lessons My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Loss, and Grace. Since our newest rescue Maggie is a mutt she wanted me to feature her. This chapter relates how difficult it was for our rescued friend to learn her brand new forever name.

Download “Forgetting Her Name” from Stay by clicking on this link.

I hope you enjoy this sample!

If you want to read the rest of Stay you can find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Christianbook.com and other fine retailers.

Last week the “ducks were on the pond”. Baseball fans will recognize that phrase as a colorful way to describe having a runner on every base. But this time I was enjoying some time off from the baseball gig with my lovely bride. We were sitting on the porch of our little cabin near Fredericksburg, Texas when a flock of eight ducks noisily left the pond and waddled toward us. They lined up and quacked expectantly. If I spoke duck I suspect the translation would have been something like the famous quote from Caddyshack.

“Hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know.”

We fed the ducks some cereal flakes and apparently that was an acceptable offering. Every time we went out on our porch the ducks would waddle over and wait for their snack. Joni and I were fascinated by their behaviors. They always stayed together. There was a clear leader of the pack and when the leader decided it was time to move on to other activities the seven dutifully followed. They swam at the same time. Groomed at the same time. They slept at the same time. They were created to thrive in community. So are we.

Here is an excerpt from Stay about living in community.

We were created to be in a community with other believers. Because of our unity in Christ, we are to embrace those different from ourselves. That’s what makes a church dynamic to a person who experiences grace and acceptance for the first time. And that is why church can be devastating when the congregation becomes selective, judgmental, and legalistic. Anne Lamott shares a thought-provoking observation: “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”

That is both an ouch and an amen statement. When differences result in judgment, what we thought was a safe place instead becomes the biggest betrayal of all. When we become “experienced” Christians, something seems to happen. We can lose touch with our former brokenness and sinfulness and desperate need to be forgiven and accepted. That is when the pretense begins that our holiness is based on performance instead of complete dependence on Christ.

Years ago I wrote When Bad Christians Happen to Good People. I envisioned a church that would be the kind of place that you couldn’t keep people away from even if you barred the doors. A place that would value every spiritual, physical, and financial gift, no matter how big or small. A place that would make it a practice to reach out and care for one another sacrificially. A place committed to meet those needs that we now prefer to leave to the “professional Christians” on staff. I dreamed of people from different walks of life, economic status, and culture being involved in each other’s lives without our differences dividing us. A place that would practice the prodigal son ministry, running to welcome those returning home, especially those scarred by bad decisions and sin. We would hold our brothers and sisters accountable to godly standards, but always in humility and grace. We would delight in the company of other spiritual travelers and make it a priority that no one ever felt alone.

I realize now that what I was longing for was a place of grace.

I know that finding and living in real community in our culture isn’t easy. I understand how easy it is to want to throw in the towel. I almost did. The truth is that we need community, even if we’ve been hurt by bad relationships in the past. If you aren’t in a community of grace, it may be time to ask God to lead you to such a place. I know that can be daunting. It took me a long time to find such a place, but I found one. It took me a longer time to realize how God was redeeming every hurt, every slight, and every trial. Eventually, I was able to see how He’d been preparing me, especially through those hard times, to embrace and welcome grace in a whole new way.

I have been swept away by grace. My life—including my relationship with Jesus, my marriage, and my ministry—have been transformed. It’s been that dramatic.

Taken from Stay by Dave Burchett copyright © 2015. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

Summer has made it’s presence known this week in Texas. The oppressive heat leads to scenes like this for the canine friend Maggie.

For years I have been throwing around the phrase “dog days of summer” with no clue about its origin. The Romans noticed that the hottest days of the years happened to coincide with the appearance of the “dog star” Sirius which is the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major. They believed the appearance of this bright star contributed to withering heat.

The Greeks were likely the first to use the term dog days and you will surely recall this reference from your most recent reading of the Iliad by Homer.

Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky
On summer nights, star of stars,
Orion’s Dog they call it, brightest
Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat
And fevers to suffering humanity.

One of the problems with our cultural Christianity is that we too often confuse giftedness and godliness. Someone may be gifted at speaking or writing or singing and we elevate that person in our spiritual estimation. God uses gifted people to be sure. But I am learning that God can use regular people reflecting Jesus through trials and suffering in miraculous ways.

These heroes of the faith generally don’t make headlines. What they make is much more important. They make a difference.

Our friends Debbie and Jim Dixon have made a difference in our lives. Two years ago our non-smoking friend Debbie was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer. I don’t think the cancer realized what a tenacious foe it had attacked. Debbie has unleashed every single thing she has in her battle with this terrible disease. She has suffered a heartbreaking litany of side effects and setbacks in her long struggle. I think I might well have conceded after going through about half of what she has endured. But not my friend Debbie.

She has never wavered in her desire to live every moment that God would grant her to live. Debbie and her sweet husband Jim have faced this horrible season with resolute faith, love and grace. When Joni and I go to “cheer them up” we leave encouraged and inspired by our friends. Of course there are tears and sadness in such a tough journey. But their hope and peace is remarkable. It comes from their faith in a God who never leaves them even when others might suggest He has. Paul Tripp says it well. “In moments of suffering, biblical faith never requires you to deny reality. Biblical faith allows you to stare the harshest of realities in the face with honesty, hope, and courage.”

That is what Debbie and Jim have shown me. In the midst of the darkest valley they are a beacon that shows that my faith is not only real…it works at the most difficult times. How can you endure such a trial? Paul begged for a trial to be taken away and received this response.

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

It cannot be explained how the Holy Spirit comforts and sustains you in those trials. Joni and I have experienced it through the death of our daughter and through our family cancer journeys. I have recently seen that strength in the lives of my friends. I am grateful that I have had the privilege of sharing my life with these special followers of Christ. I hope that I will pass the future tests and trials of life as well as they have modeled it for me.

Debbie would be the first to ask for a shout out for her beloved Jim. I know he had to have been discouraged but I have never heard Jim complain. He has never griped about the tough hand that he and Debbie have been dealt. Together they trusted God in every moment.

I had always wondered exactly what Paul meant in Ephesians when he wrote that husbands are to love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. I thought it was a lovely little metaphor and a nice goal to shoot for but I did not believe it to be possible. Jim messed up the curve for all of us. I have seen a working model of how a husband can love his wife like Christ loved the church.

Today I listened to a song by one of my go to guys when I need some musical comfort. Andrew Peterson has a song called Lay Me Down. In this song Peterson sings about how his final resting place could be anywhere because something else will happen when you lay him down to die. Here are the lyrics from this awesome song.

When you lay me down to die
So long, boys, so long, girls
Lay me down and let me say goodbye to this world
You can lay me anywhere
But just remember this
When you lay me down to die
You lay me down to live.

That is exactly what my friend Debbie believes. Debbie knows that when God ordains that moment she will not be laying down not to die…but to live. It will be hard to say goodbye to her devoted husband Jim, her family and her friends. I know that Debbie and Jim also believe the next part of Andrew Peterson’s lyric.

I’ll open up my eyes on the skies I’ve never known
In the place where I belong
And I’ll realize His love is just another word for Home.

All of us will be facing the journey home someday. None of us escapes this life unscathed by pain and suffering. I am grateful today for the hope of a joyful reunion with so many family and friends. And I especially grateful that I believe the words written by Paul in his letter to the Romans.

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.

I cling to that hope today.

There have been a lot of dire statements over the past few days about the future of Christianity in America. Some have declared that America will be judged harshly by God after the recent events. I am not smart enough or holy enough to know how or why God will judge America. I remember in Genesis when God mercifully offered to withdraw judgement if a handful of righteous people could be found in Sodom.  Abraham started by pleading for the city if fifty righteous people could be found. He eventually asked for mercy if only ten righteous could be found and the Lord agreed. You know the rest of the story. There were not ten righteous people to be found in that city of debauchery. I am pretty sure there is a far bigger number of sincere followers of Jesus in our country than that. So I don’t know how God is going to proceed. Maybe we needed a wake-up call to get off, as one old pastor colorfully called it, “our blessed assurance”.

Others are proclaiming America to be post-Christian and perhaps even celebrating the trend. I wonder if a paraphrase from Mark Twain might not be in order here. “The death of Christianity has been greatly exaggerated”. To be sure the cultural dominance of Christianity has been deeply wounded. That did not happen in the last month. That has been slipping away for years. But that may not be such a bad thing. Christianity always seems to be more effective when playing as an underdog.

My friend Ed Underwood put our current cultural status in wise perspective in his excellent blog.

First Century Christians didn’t think in terms of getting their way in the courts and power centers of the Empire. They thought in terms of survival for another day to serve Jesus in a broken world. As house churches erupted in an affluent but cruel and decadent empire society turned on them with murderous rage. When the message of forgiveness transformed their lives the gospel awakened a radical sense of cultural compassion. Unwilling to participate in unjust power structures and cultic worship of the emperor, believers stood alone and without political shelter. Peter and Paul were martyred under Nero (54-68) and John exiled under Domitian (81-98). To claim the name of Christ in those simple times was to invite vicious, unrelenting persecution.

Nevertheless, they gathered in the name of Jesus and worshiped him by living lives that portrayed the Savior’s message of forgiveness, love, and justice.

And that ragamuffin group of people changed the world by loving and serving selflessly and fearlessly. The early church had no chance to “win” the culture war. Instead they built a community of believers that infiltrated the culture.

To be completely honest I am concerned about our country and it goes way beyond the most current news. But I am not worried about the church and God’s plan. Both will prevail. God said these words to Peter in the Gospel of Matthew.

“I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”  (Matthew 16:18, ESV)

So I feel pretty confident that the media, the government and the culture will not prevent God from accomplishing His purpose. I have recently been meditating on a verse from Psalm 16.

Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    I have no good apart from you.”  (Psalm 16:1-2, ESV)

I love the fresh take on this passage in The Message.

Keep me safe, O God,
    I’ve run for dear life to you.
I say to God, “Be my Lord!”
    Without you, nothing makes sense.

That is my meditation for this week.

Be my Lord for without You nothing makes sense.

Nothing has changed in the Sovereignty and Holiness of God in the past month. Nothing. So I am not afraid. If fact, I am excited to see what God will do now that many of us have shifted our focus back to where it should have been all along. On a God who is loving, holy and sovereign and still very much in the business of accomplishing His eternal plan.