Maple Bowl XXXI

Maple Bowl XXXI

Derrick Ford and I in the Velodrome

We made it! We have arrived at what we were working for as a football team, the National Championship Game which is today. We started the season 5-0 in the Vaahteraliiga (The Finnish top division) and then had two losses to the Helsinki Wolverines and the Seinajoki Crocodiles. We played very poorly in those games due to some injuries but on the other hand the Wolverines and Crocodiles played well and we were unable to respond to their challenge.

After those two losses we had a three week break during which many of our players played for the Finnish National Team in the European Championships. I held my breath hoping that our guys would come back healthy after having to play 3 games in 5 days!!! They do things differently here in Europe. Fortunately we only had one injury and that was to our kicker and punter, Kari Hytonen who pulled a calf muscle. The time off also helped our guys heal physically but the long lay off ate at me and our players as we did not have a chance to respond with winning ways and had to live with the losses for over a month.

When we came back together I challenged our players to focus once again. I talked to them about how we had started out 5-0, had an 0-2 slip and now our goal was to finish 5-0. That meant winning all three regular season games remaining and then 2 playoff games. Not only that but we needed to improve each week and get better as a team. Our players responded and after a tough victory 42-38 against the Lapeenranta Border Knights in record heat for Finland (38 degrees Celsius) we continued to improve and won our last two games 33-2 and 48-0. Having finished the season 8-2 we ended up in a three-way tie for first place with the Wolverines and Crocodiles. However due to our losses to those teams we received the third place seed in the playoffs which meant we had to travel last week to Helsinki and the Olympic Velodrome Stadium with its horrible AstroTurf surface to play the Wolverines at their home. Think of an ice skating rink on concrete and you get an idea of the footing. Regardless we came out in the game and jumped to a 28-0 halftime lead and eventually won 42-27, with the last couple of TD's coming against our junior team players primarily. I don't believe in running up the score as is the fashion here in Finland, so once the game was in hand we started subbing players in. I don't believe it is good for the game when scores are ridiculous and it does not help get young players experience when they sit all the time behind the starters.

Robert Johnson Throwing in a shootout against his brother Cedric from the Wolverines (Above)

Iiro Luoto Catching The Ball ! (left)

(Below) The top rated defense in the Maple League gathering after a series.

That game was the start of what I have termed the Butchers Revenge Tour 2010. We want to defeat every team in the country in the Maple League to leave no question that we deserve to win the Championship. Since we won our semi-final game it was then up to the Crocodiles to win their game against the Helsinki Roosters in order for us to complete our revenge. The Crocs and the Roosters played another incredibly close game but the Crocs did end up on top at home. So that has set up the game this week. Finland's Super Bowl -The Maple Bowl. The cup was donated to the SAJL (Finnish American football Federation) by the Canadian embassy many years ago and the championship game was named the Maple Bowl in honor of that partnership.

So here we are, six months after I have arrived and we are in the National Championship game. There will be events all day outside of the stadium in Super Bowl fashion in the area called the Tailgate square. Bands, high diving exhibitions, comedy groups and other events will add flavor to the day. We will not be able to partake of those activities because we have a task to finish. We are so excited to be in this game. We are like a fly on a manure pile!!We are going for a sixth consecutive national title today which would tie a record set by the Roosters in the 90's. If you are so inclined the game will be broadcast on the internet at this link http://www.sajl.fi/media/netti-tv/

On the SAJL site there are also interviews with coaches and players and a press conference from earlier in the week. I hope you will watch the game and support us as we try to pull together as a team and play with honor for Porvoo, our friends, families and fans. Thanks for your prayers and support over this season.
Kiittos.

For more information on the Maple Bowl click here:http://www.sajl.fi/sarjat/miehet/vaahteraliiga/vaahteramalja_xxxi/

Loving People

Post game interview

Loving People!

I recently read this article on Leadership Journal's website by Gordon MacDonald in which he looks at  methods of evangelism in our times. In it he relates how we used to determine a persons faith status by whether they had said the sinners prayer. Our goal was always to lead someone to that point through such means as the four spiritual laws or an invitation by the pastor after a service. When someone could point to that time when they were saved then our job was done and we could move on to getting another person to say the prayer and mark that point when they also were born again. While he notes that in the past this was effective in some measure,  he had come to question that process. In this article he relates how he chose a different method with stranger who had visited his church. (To read the full article click on the link)
What to Do With a Stranger | LeadershipJournal.net

After meeting with this man a few times over breakfasts MacDonald decided to ask him to follow him around for six weeks at church on Sundays. "Meet me at church each Sunday at 7:45 a.m. and shadow me until Gail and I leave the church at about 12:45. Sit next to me on the front row, eavesdrop on every conversation unless I have to ask you to step aside, follow my sermon with a copy of my notes that I'll give you. Ask me any question you can think of during the morning. Oh, and I might occasionally ask you to do some little thing for me like getting a drink or carrying a message to someone. Let me know if you'll do it."

The man agreed and at the end of the six weeks asked if he could continue. He did and MacDonald noted that

"His scope of observation increased. He noted Gail's efforts to encourage me throughout the morning. He became aware of the difference between those who were really seeking after God and those who simply came along for the ride. He watched some of us pray for the sick and the suffering, lay hands on those who needed a blessing, and intercede for those whose lives were ruptured by the cruelties of life in the larger world."

 Over the course of the year MacDonald never asked
 about when he had sealed the deal he "just created the circumstances in which he began doing it: giving his life to Jesus." Macdonald noted that

"In one sense his and his wife's view of the Christian life—my opinion—was not that of joining an organization but rather a choice to immerse themselves in the Jesus way, whatever that meant. They liked what they were learning; they were drawn to emulate certain people and attracted to a community of real, not perfect, people who all shared a similar struggle to be faithful to the Lord. A community that fits the description of Jesus, who said, "where two or three gather together in my name, I am there in the midst."

Church in Vassa

Being here in Finland with a very limited grasp of Finnish or Swedish it has been a struggle to engage in extremely deep conversations about faith at times. At others it has been wonderful with those who speak English fluently. Regardless I have begun to understand that it is not really my words or convincing arguments that make any difference. It is my life. Jesus never sat with any of his disciples and went through the four spiritual laws with them and had them pray the sinners prayer in order to follow him. He simply gave an invitation, "come, follow me." These simple words are so powerful in their application. In three years of living, eating, sleeping, traveling, and following Jesus the disciples still struggled to understand fully his mission. I find it humbling to think that I could somehow come to a full understanding of who Christ is just by a simple understanding of spiritual points. Confessing our sins acknowledging our sinfulness and accepting the grace of Christ poured out through his blood on the cross are all essential elements to understand, but following him and experiencing life with him is a completely different thing.

Butchers!

That Jesus understood that and simply asked these men to follow him and to observe him as he ministered to others and take part in that ministry has opened up a whole new viewpoint for me. My calling here has been to live in this community of Porvoo and to love the people Christ has brought into my life. To live out his love in practical ways and try to serve this team and the people I have met in this community is what he has asked me to do.

Do I feel like I have been successful in evangelism? That is for God to determine, but I have done what I can to be open, obedient and to challenge my players and coaches to serve others while trying to live out the gospel in a manner that is relevant and compassionate. In that sense we were able a few weeks ago to have our players help with a ball drive for kids in Malawi, where one of our players mom has a mission that she has established.  We did the ball drive in conjunction with our game vs. the Jyväskylä Jaguars who also brought some balls to contribute. Through a partnership with A Champion's Heart and the Butchers we were able to share the vision that we have as a ministry and send over 50 balls to Malawi. We also were able to live the life of Christ and ask these guys to follow us as we love people for Christ. The openness of players has been amazing and I am so thankful for the relationships that I have been able to establish. I have been able to pray with people in the community over intense personal hurts, with guys on our team regarding deaths in their family, births of children and financial and emotional issues. But even more I have been able to be here and let them know that Christ loves them in a tangible way. Living the life of Christ through the power of his resurrection is a daily event. As Dallas Willard explains "the resurrection was a cosmic event only because it validated the reality and the indestructibility of what Jesus had preached and exemplified before his death-the enduring reality and openness of God's Kingdom. It meant that the Kingdom, with the communal form his disciples had come to know and hope in would go on." (1988, The Spirit of the Disciplines, p. 37)
I hope that we can know that communal sense and find hope in it as the early disciples did.

Finnish Sunset