Blog post #12

This is a picture of Mom and I after one of my games... enjoyed having her here, it was about 2 months ago but seems like yesterday, time flys...

The weekend of June 18 and 19 started a tough 3 week stretch of double headers, where we played 6 games in 16 days...
The first game was on June 18 we played the Perth Redbacks... it was a tough way to start the six game stretch by loosing 86-87... we were ahead the whole game and just lost it down the stretch... I finished with 24 points and 9 rebounds...
the next night we played at the Cockburn Cougars... It was a good night for us, kinda tough to play double headers but it was nice to get right back at it after loosing the night before... we won pretty easy that night 104-82, I finished with 24 points and 3 rebounds...

The next weekend we continued with double headers by playing on Friday at home vs Eastern Suns, a team that defeated us earlier in the season... We defeated them this time around 120-103... I finished with25 points and 9 rebounds...
The next night we traveled up to Stirling to play the Senators and we beat them in a sloppy fashion... We nearly let them back into after leading the whole game, it was a big learning experience for us, learning how to finish games better, winning 95-88... I finished with 24 points and 5 rebounds...

On Sunday June 27 after waking up, going to church coaching my WABL team, I was fortunate to be able to preach at the Sunday night service at Lakeside... I preached over Hebrews 11-12:2... was another great experience and loved the opportunity to share God's word with so many people... its also online on the Lakeside website, I will put the link on here for you to check out if you want...
http://lakeside.asn.au/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=132

The next weekend we had yet another double header, playing at Rockingham on Friday night... we played well this night and were in control from the beginning, winning 133-97, I had a career night scoring 50 points and having 8 rebounds...
the next night we played at home vs Kalgoorlie Giants, it was a hard fought game and we came out on top winning 101-90, I finished with 26 points and 3 rebounds...
after the weekend was over the league awarded me with the player of the week honors...

The next day was the 4th of July, was a great day of celebration... I woke up really early and went fishing on the ocean with a couple buddies from Lakeside... the Plenty brothers took me out on the ocean to see the sunrise and maybe catch a couple fish... we ended up catching a couple fish, but just hanging out with those guys was more important... here is a picture from that...


After fishing and help the guys clean up the fish... I went home, gathered myself and went to the Chegs house for a 4th of July get together... It was a great time becasue most of the AIA guys came over and we got to hang out for the first time in a while... we sat around had great food and drink and celebrated our nation in another coutry... great time of fellowship... here is a picture of the brothers in Australia...


this is it for now, up to this point in the blog there is only 2 weeks left in the season... lots tp talk about but that will be for another time... just want to leave you with one thing...

Matthew 5:19-Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

In my classes this verse has come up a lot... It really hit me today that we have a poor few of the Law of God, the Jews love the Law, that is why David in the Psalms says I delight in the Law and think about it all day and night... so much to say about this verse and the law but the professor in my classes puts it this way, the Law is grace to us, it leads us in the way God wants us to interact with Him and others, there is nothing evil about other than it exposes our sin and ultimately our need for a Savior because we fall short... that is were Jesus comes in he is the fulfilment of the Law, and I have hope in that because He lived the life I could not live and died the death I should have died in my place... Praise be our God and King and His Law...

Much love,
Ben

Blog post #11

Friends and family, this is gonna be long will try and keep it short...
First off, the picture is of my host family and a couple others, we have dinner every Monday night at my house... From left to right in the picture is Bobby Kempf, have mentioned him before he is a friend from the US playing in the same league, Simon Lokan, he is from South Australia playing for Lakeside, my host brother Micheal, he works as a personal trainer, Rachel, Micheal's girlfriend, Jane, my host Mom, she deserves much thanks and praise for putting me up, giving me a place to sleep and cooking food and being someone is always there, thanks you Jane!! then next is Luke Payne, he plays with me at Lakeside and is a good friend, he is from South Carolina...

The date I last reported goes all the way back to the end of May, a lot has happened since then...
on May 29 we played at Wanneroo, it was a tough night, we ended up loosing the game 103-97, partly because we didn't have Luke who was out that game with an injury, we were down most of the game and came back in the 2nd half... I finished with 35 points and 11 rebounds...
the next day my WABL team had to play down in Bumbury, which is over an hr drive south of Perth... was a bit of a long trip but enjoyed seeing the countryside and listening to a sermon on the way down there while drinking some coffee... also was able to visit and hang out with my friend Trey Clarkson who plays on the team down there... here is a picture from a tower overlooking the ocean with Trey...


The next weekend of June 5, we played at home vs the Geraldton Buccs, we won that game, 98-94, it was a tough game I finshed with 22points and 8 rebounds...
the next day I went down to Harvey, WA with my friend Casey Crevalone and his family, it was about a 2 hr drive to get there... it was in the country, on the farm they raised sheep and oranges... loved every second of it, we went down there and helped work the sheep, we docked their tails, put tags in, gave shots, and put bands on the males... also got to eat a ton of fresh oranges and had a bonfire at night with some of my buddies and the family from down there... great people!
here is a photo of me with the people we were helping...


The next weekend of June 12 we played at Perry Lakes, where my friend Bobby plays... I was not sure if I was gonna play in that game, I really hurt my ankle the week before, eventhough it didn't stop me from working sheep, haha... it was really swollen and in a lot of pain... but I fought through it and our team ended up winning 104-85, we played great as a team... I finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds...

more to report later.. still have a month to catch up on...

One thing to think about... Just a quote my friend said to me yesterday...
"it's easy to act like a Christian, it's hard to react like one."

Much love
Ben

Blog post #10

Friends and Family,
Here is the continuation from my last blog, this blog with tell about the days when my Mom came to visit...

Mom arrived on Thursday around noon, I know she was exhausted from the long trip here, so we came back to my house, got her settled in and let her shower and relax... Thursday are a pretty busy day for me, I have practice with my WABL team(Picture at the top), team time with my team, and then practice, which after this practice we had set up for the game we had the next night...
she planned a good time to come visit, we played 4 games in 2 weeks, which is a tough schedule but works well for the spectators...
The first game of the weekend was against the Cockburn Cougars... I didn't play a ton of mins, for one because I was in foul trouble and fouled out but also my back was still bothering me form the week before, it just felt really stiff... we ended up winning 106-95, I finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds...
The next night we played on the road at the Perth Redbacks... the game the night before must have loosened up my back, because it felt great... It was a great night for our team, we played really well as a unit and to be completely honest I shot the ball really well... we won 112-95 and I finished with 46 points and 12 rebounds... I want to give a shout out to my teammate Jarrad Prue who finished the game with 30 rebounds, the most amazing rebounder I have ever played with and one of the best I have ever seen...
The next day was my day off, like usual on Sunday's I coach my WABL team, this week it was at home so I was able to take Mom to church at Lakeside... then after I coached mom and I met up with my friend Casey and went down to Fremantle, walked around a bit then grabbed some food...
On Monday, Mom and I went to the Perth Zoo... really enjoyed going there, it was great to see so many native animals, and it was crazy because the Roos are just walking around the you can basically just go up and touch them... Mom took a ton of good pictures and enjoyed the zoo a ton...



On Tuesday I went to the gym and worked out then we went up to Kings Park... Kings Park is one of those places in Perth that is a must see... It has a great view over the city, lots of great paths to walk on, trees and plants that are so different to what we have in US, just an overall great place to walk around...

Wednesday we went around Fremantle again to hit some the things we missed... then we went up to Cottesloe Beach for some fish and chips and to check out the sunset... it was great, such a beautiful night, only one problem was the amount of seagulls around was ridiculous, like I thought they were gonna gang up and steal our food... I know my sister's would not have been to pleased to be sitting there so close to so many birds(Kirst, haha)

On Thursday we kind of took it easy because it was the same thing as the week before with coaching, team time, training, and setup, and I wanted to rest up my legs a bit for the game the next day..

On Friday we played Williton, who beat us just a couple of weeks before this... I did not want to loose to them again and by beating them it would put us on top of the standings... It was a dog fight, one of the most physical games I had played in... we won the game, thanks to some fine play by my friend and teammate Luke Payne who scored 39.. We won 104-93, I finished with 27 points and 4 rebounds...
Just want to quote Dave Preston, who is an amazing man, close to my heart, the man is the chaplain of our team, runs our team time often and has become a dear friend... Dave, "Man who tames tiger, is no pussycat".

The next night we played at East Perth, for those who don't know they are the team with 3 guys who are 7 foot or taller... again this was a really physical and hard fought game and we came out on top, 85-76... I finished with 25 points and 5 rebounds...

The next was Sunday and basically did what we did the Sunday before, went to church in the morning, then coached my team after that... leading to a bit relaxing and letting Mom get her stuff packed up... that night we went out to eat with the Chegs, they are the family I stayed with when I arrived and where Luke is staying, the are wonderful people and enjoy being around them, also am thankful that they help feed and take care of me while being so far from home...
Came back after dinner and let Mom get her stuff all packed up, because she had to fly out really really early in the morning, her flight left at 5:45am so we got up and got there plenty early...
It was tough to see her go, so thankful for the time we got to spend together and that she was able to take some time get away from Victor to travel and spend time with me in a land far far away... Glad she got to meet many of the people I interact with daily and put faces with names... I know it was a big sacrifice on her part to come down here but for me it was a pleasure having her down here...

my next posts will be from after she left til up to date... thanks again, hope you enjoyed it... Gonna leave you with this....

In Gen 1:27- So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
As humans we are made in the image of God, we are image bearers of the Almighty... Just walking around Perth and for me visiting countries all over the world I can see the vastness of God... It blows my mind that all these people from different tribes tongues and nations all the the image of God... To me that points to the goodness of God, every person is important to Him, not one is without His mark...
Francis Chan has this great quote,
"Isn't it a comfort to worship a God we cannot exaggerate?" -Francis Chan

Much love,
Ben

Blog post #9

Friends and Family,
Been a long time since I have written on here so it could be long... Sorry for the delay, life just got busy and it hasn't been a priority... but I'm back to it... this next post will be my time before my Mom came down to visit and during and post visit... lots to do, thanks for your patients

My last post went all the way back to April, and it was after a loss to the Eastern Suns... the week after the we had a double header, Friday and Saturday April 30th and May 1st.... On Friday night we played Mandurah Magic, that my friend Casey Crevalone plays on, he is another one of those Athletes in Action guys that I meet with weekly and have become close friends over the time here and going back to the fall tour last fall... Anyway, we won that game pretty well off, 118-72 and I finished with 35 points and 9 rebounds...
The next night was the big test tho, we played one of the top teams in the league the Williton Tigers... they are one of the most physical teams I have ever played against, and it was an all out battle... the game was very low scoring, neither shot the ball very well and it went down to the wire... what led to our demise was the we only scored 6 points in the 4th quarter and shot 35% for the game... we lost 69-62, I finished with 14 points and 9 rebounds... after the game I was just beat up, both physically and mentally, really disappointed in how it turned out but I went to bed that night thanked the Lord for allowing me to play the game to suffer a little because though that stuff I get to know Him better... went to bed woke up the next day for church and a new week began...
The next week was a normal week of activities keeping myself busy with classes, workouts, practices, and studying... we played at Kalgoorlie on that Saturday, May 8... for those who don't know where Kal. is, it's about 6 hrs inland from Perth, and is home to the largest gold mining pit in the world... will have pictures of it on the post... I really enjoyed the trip there, enjoyed getting to see the country, aka bush, of Australia... the country we drove through to get to Kal is such a vast open country with a lot of nothing, I found it beautiful, but a lot of people think I am crazy which is fine... I did enjoy getting to see the farm land and all that the openness of the Australian bush consists of...
It was also great to get out to Kal a day early, to see the sights and get prepared for the game the next day... Also was fortunate enough to visit with my friend John Vaudreuil who plays out there and is another one of those AIA guys... got to visit with him and see where he is staying, was thankful for that...
The game was hard fought, we won 100-94... So glad we could come out of there with a win despite the fact that I thought I was gonna be done for a while... In the first half of the game I got hit against the wall and hurt my back... played most of the game in pain and finally couldn't play anymore with 5 mins left... the guys fought hard and pulled it the win... I finished with 21 points and 4 rebounds...
after the game we drove back to Perth, it was a long trip back, bc my back was so sore.. I was suppose to coach my young kids the next day but someone filled in for me, thankful for that... I woke up the next day visited the physio and was able to visit with my buddies from AIA that afternoon... got to talk, catch up and pray for one another... despite being hurt it was a great day...
That leads me to the week when my mom arrived... She arrived on May 13 and was here for 10 days, they went by really really fast but they were enjoyable... more to report on the next blog...

Just want to leave you with one thing... Been thinking a lot the last couple weeks, where do I find my joy... This morning I was reading in the book of John 15:8-11 and Jesus says

8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full

So this morning Jesus spoke to me saying, find your joy in Me, following Me, being obedient to My words, loving Me and people, and staying close to Him... I continue to be puzzled by myself, because I know these things to be true but continue to find pleasure and joy in things of this world, whether it's watching to much TV, movies, food, talking about basketball too much, relaxing to much... what it is, those are good things, but I can elevate them to god things way too often... I pray for myself and you that strive after obedience to God, give Him the glory and your joy will be full... that's true hedonism, finding pleasure and joy in the God of the universe not of things in this world...

Shalom,
Ben

Blog Post #8

Family and Friends,

Here is a picture of my friend Bobby and I, from a couple of weeks ago when we played his team...

Probably going to be a little shorter this week... was a busy, and the week went by really fast... I hope everyone is doing well.. please fell free to email me any concerns or prayer requests, it would be an honor and delight to pray for anyone... ben_beran@hotmail.com

This week we played one game on Friday night April 23 at Kalamunda Eastern Suns... I knew it was going to be a tough fight... We were on top of the league standings before the game, so that means every team is going to be gunning for us... esp this team, bc we have a lot of connections to these guys either through players or coaches...
with all that aside they had been having a tough season, but have the talent to be a good team... A couple of their players had been hurt and are now back, making them full strength... with all that said, it was a battle...
after the first quarter we were up 30-21, we came out really well got after it right away...
at half time it was 62-51... the end of the third it was 91-85... we had chances to put them away, but didn't and it would cost us in the 4th...
we ended up loosing 119-114... we struggled to stop them in the 2nd half... they have one of the best players in the league and he had 41 points...
As you can imagine I was really disappointed after the game, we had it won and just didn't finish well down the stretch... I personally made a lot of mistakes and know it's going to be a game to learn from... just had to get back to work this week and get ready for a big upcoming weekend...
I finished 34 points and 7 rebounds...

this week I really kept busy with studying and preparing for the weekend...
I took a couple tests for my classes, haven't got the results back yet but know I did well on them...
Also along with studying for the tests, I spoke on the Sunday night service and gave a sermon on the word Shalom... it was a great experience and am really thankful for the opportunity to share and preach the Gospel... I guess they put it up online, here is a link for anyone who wants to listen to it...
http://lakeside.asn.au/index.php?option=com_docman&Itemid=132
I was nervous at first and I know I talked really fast... I just pray that in spite of all my failures that the word of God shined through and that the message was clear to all about the Shalom we have because of what Christ has done on the Cross...

I did have a great weekend... Saturday after the Friday night game, I got up early to see the sunrise, read and have a little coffee and get ready to go out on the water with a friend from Lakeside... He owns a boat and wanted to take Luke and I out... we did a little wake boarding, which was a blast... even though I could never get up and ride... maybe next time... It was just a beautiful day tho, sunshine, calm waters, and most all great people...

Back to Sunday... After the Sunday night, I went and hung out with a couple buddies that came up to listen to me preach... these are the same brothers that I do Bible study with once a week... was really thankful to see them and hang out with those guys...

all in all it was a great week... Have a tough few weeks ahead, with double headers and a long trip out to the middle of no where for a game...

want to leave you with one thing, Colossians 1:19-20... Didn't have this in my sermon but would have fit well...
19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

So this Jesus is God, as it says in vs 19, and the fullness of God dwelt in Him... so when you read or see Jesus, that is God in the flesh... on to verse 20, so we as humans are separated by God, bc of our sin nature and that we sin by choice, are separated by God... and bc of that Christ came to reconcile us back to God... reconcile means to make things right, restore a broken relationship... so through the cross of Christ we have restored fellowship with God, by placing your hope In Jesus and giving your life to Him we have restoration... and we are accepted in His sight as sons and daughters of God...

Shalom,
Ben

Team Huddle, our new jerseys are sweet, especially compared to the lightning bolts, haha

 

Blog Post #7

Friends and Family,

Sorry it's been a couple of weeks since I have last written to you... I have had a very busy, couple of weeks... summary, 2 games, a couple basketball camps, a couple fun weekends of activites and friends to meet up with...

I have been craving biscuits and gravy for the past couple of weeks... which causes a problem when you are in Austalia, because they don't have that here... also what they call biscuits is what we call cookies... so to say do they have biscuits and gravy sounds a little odd to them... so today I decided to embark on a journey to see if they had what it took to make B&G in austraila...
First, at the store they don't have the grands biscuits in the grocery... So I had to make my own, looking up a recipe on the internet I made my own biscuits... then I was looking for sausage, they don't have pork breakfest sausage in stores here... so I had to go with the next best thing, but probably better anyway, bacon...
needless to say when it was done it was a hit from both American and Aussies alike... its only a matter of time before it comes a custom down here, haha...

The Friday after Easter we played the Perry Lakes Hawks... my good friend Bobby Kempf plays for them, but he is out right now due to some knagging knee issues... Hope he is back playing in a couple of weeks for his sake, I know it's hard to not doing anything and being in another country... for those who don't know I hurt my knee last season in Germany and was out for 6 weeks, it was a long hard six weeks, but the Lord was faithful during that time and grew closer to Him because of the hard times...
back to the game... so it wasn't much of a game, we lead 34-19 at the end of the first and just kept control of the game the rest of the time... they didn't play great but we came out with a lot of energy and got right after them from the git-go... we ended up winning 117-78... I had 27 points and 13 rebounds...

the saturday after the game, i didn't have anything going on so I went with Bobby down to Fremantle to see some sights... we went to a few of the tourist places, and since its a sea port they have a lot of things about boats there, like museums and things of that nature... but also in Freo they have a shut down prison that you can tour... so we did that... its a pretty cool tour but also really eery...
I really wanted to watch Shawshank Redemption after touring the prison... one of the best movies ever made...

on sunday, April 11 I woke up went to church and then starting in the afternoon for the next 3 days we had a basketball camp at Lakeside... they have a league here called WABL, so these kids will play in that league and I am a coach of the 14 and under boys team, it's great opportunity to be an influence on some kids and meet a bunch of new people...so kids, coaches, and supervisors brought sleeping pads, clothes and gear for 3 days of excitement... I had to stay over for 2 nights and was busy most of the day with the team and working out when I had the chance to... i wasn't really looking forward to it before it started, but as most things go, once I was there and saw how great the opportunity was to be with a bunch of kids and be around the game of ball and share life with people, basically I was humbled quickly and enjoyed the days with my team and people at the camp...

So the camp ended on tuesday at 4 then had practice at 6 that night... so i was shot at the end of that, came home went to bed and woke up on wednesday and helped out at a basketball camp that the Perth Wildcats were putting on... earned a little money for working there and that night went out to eat with Allie Fredricks and her friend Frank... I still find it crazy that I am on the other side of the world and have so many friends here and especially one that I grew up with... the saying is true, it really is a small world...

Had a game on that Friday verses the East Perth Eagles... the crazy thing about that team is that they have 3 guys that are 7 foot or taller... one guy is 7'3", I'll try and get a picture up of us, I am tiny compared to him... we had a game plan to run them and just out work them... turns out it worked right from the beginning... our team is in pretty good shape and we run well, and guys that big can't do for 12 mins a quarter let alone 48 mins a game... so jumped out to a pretty good lead 34-24 at quarter time... then at half were up 56-43 and we finished really well and won 106-84 and our starters didn't play much in the 4th... i finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds... didn't play that well, but did what the team needed me to do to win... our gaurds had a hay day, was great to see them play well...

The day after the game, I woke up early to help a group of people that were going to serve at a families home that just lost their father in December... the church was getting together to help finish some of the repairs to the home and help paint and just fix up some things around the house... was a great opportunity to see the community of beleivers at work... also that passage in James 1:27, helping widows and orphans, that's true religion, it's expressing the relationship I have with Jesus in a real way to others... I don't say any of this to boost myself... I was honored to help out a family and show the love of Jesus to people who are hurting in ways I can sympathize with...

to end the weekend, I went to church on sunday morning and then drove down to mandurah with Bobby to meet up with my AIA guys, it had been a couple of weeks since we had seen each other, so it was great to catch back up with them... we got together and talked about ball, life, studied the Bible and prayed for one another... was a great time of fellowship and was a great way to end the weekend with some brothers...

My prayer lately for myself and to people I meet with and pray with has been "open the eyes of my heart or their heart." I know the song and so do many people, just never knew where i came from or really what it meant... It comes from Ephesians 1:18 and it was penned by the Apostle Paul who was praying for the people at Ephesus and around the world...
Ephesians 1:18-"I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints"
I guess what I was getting to is that my prayer is to know Jesus more everyday and that is my prayer for you... that's the gist of the song and this verse, what Paul is saying I pray you understand the hope you have because of Jesus, what He has done for you, what you have coming to you, your inheritance by being a son of God, by knowing Jesus you have that hope, we have been redeemed by Jesus, our relationship has been reconciled back to the Father by Jesus, we get heaven because of what Jesus has done, our sins are forgivin because of what Jesus did on the cross and rising again to new life for us... Open the eyes of our hearts to understand how great it is to have Jesus, we get heaven things of this world won't and don't meet up to that because it's where Jesus is... It's perfect...

Love you all, have a great week...
Ben

My address

Ben Beran
1 Dickenson Way
Booragoon, WA 6154
AUSTRALIA

Just thought I would send this out to those of you who asked for it...
God Bless
Ben

Blog post #6

Friends and family,
Hope everyone had a great Easter celebration!

Sorry I am late getting this weeks blog out.. been a crazy weekend and Monday is a public holiday in Australia so I spent some time with friends and my host family on Monday day and night...

Been a crazy past week... just gonna talk about my last game on thursday and the Easter weekend... want to put up a couple pictures but not gonna be able to bc the internet conection is slow... but will as soon as I get the chance... got some great photos from our last game, also a couple video clips, thanks to Kym Chegs, aka mama Chegs...

We had a homegame last Thursday vs Wanneroo Wolves... it was a tough game for us... I could tell from the opening tip that it was gonna be a battle the whole night... for us i think we were just a step slow and didn't take them serious enough... at the end of the first we were down 26-22... at halftime we were tied 49 all... at the end of the 3rd we were up by 2 76-74, but just couldn't put them away... i think we led by as many as 8 but they were shooting well and our defense was a step off the whole night and they stuck right with us... becasue at the end of regualtion it was tied at 98... we had the game won but didn't take care of the ball down the stretch or excute and they hit a couple big shots to send it into overtime...
in overtime we again had it won, we were up one with the ball and 8 seconds left and turned it over they made a layup and got fouled... the ball went out after the missed free throw and we called a timeout and got the ball at half but didnt get a good look loosing by one... 110-111... it was a very discouraging night, because there was a lot of things that could have been done differently to seal the win... just didn't think defense was great and rightly so bc they shot 50% on the night and 60 from the 3 point land...
I finished with a career high 47 points and 8 rebounds...

The loss on a thursday night kinda put a damper on the weekend... but got up early on friday morning because I couldn't sleep and got ready for the Good Friday service at Lakeside... I really enjoyed the service and was super excited because my host family all came with and heard the Gospel message, my friend Anthony Palmeri, who is one of the pastors at Lakeside gave the message... He talked about what really happened that Friday some 2000 years ago... and how Jesus was beaten almost to death, one lashing from death in fact... had to carry a used dirty cross covered in other filth, then at calvary hill was nailed and hung on the cross for 6-7 hrs and finally gave up His life, and assure His death they peirced Him in the side... the crazy thing is He did that for us, becoming our sin, taking away our sin, on that day... it was a very humbling morning after a night of playing ball, so wake up and see how little the night before actually meant in light of eternity and Gospel message shared that morning...

I was able to go to the beach that day and enjoy the wonderful weather and water that helped my sore body from the night before...

on saturday I kinda took it easy, since I didn't sleep much the night before I slept in, also it was cloudy and rained a bit that day so I kinda lounged all day and read and watched a little tv... that night I went out to eat at a friends house and then picked up my friend John Vaudreil, who played for Kal, one of the other teams in the league... thankful that I got to spend time with him and share about how things are going where he is in Australia...

On Sunday, we woke up early to read and pray and ate some brekky(breakfest in Aussie)... we read through the dead, burial, and resurrection story in book of Matthew, and talked thru a couple things...
Then we went and picked up a friend who plays for Geraldton, Ryan and his wife Stacy, had a great time taking them to church and spending time with them all sunday and monday showing them around Perth... also great to get to know their stories... just really thankful for the friends and families down here that are taking care of me and open their homes to us, not just me but all the american guys that are alone on holidays...

it was a great Easter weekend, really missed home and spending time with the family... Easter has a really special signifigance in my life because it brings up what Jesus did for us on that day 2000 years ago... but also during college and when I was growing up it was time for family to get together and I loved how the weather was warming up and the grass would be turning green and life was starting back up with planting and calving...

love you all, Shalom..
Ben

Game online, live

Friends and family, live game online is at either/or...
http://sbl.asn.au

on the website go to the interactive dropdown list and then click on SBLtv... or...


Here is the message I received in an email about the game being online...

SBLtv will be broadcasting the Lakeside Lightning vs. Titan Interactive Wolves game on Thursday April 1 LIVE from the Lakeside Recreation Centre. Join the LMSCtv.com
crew and watch all of the action when the reigning Champions do business with the Wolf Pack.
The Lightning are sitting on top of the ladder with an undefeated 4-0 record, while the Wolves are in 11th spot with a 1-3 record.
Make sure you tune in from 8:20pm and catch the pre-game interviews with coaches, followed by the live broadcast.
Click here to go to the LMSCtv.com schedule where you can view the game tomorrow night.

our game is at 8:30pm in Perth... so would be 7:30am in Iowa...

can watch it live or come back to it later on and watch it anytime...

we are playing the Wanneroo Wolves at home, so it would be a good chance to see where my 2nd home is while I am in Perth... the place where I workout, practice, and worship on sundays...

much love
Ben

Blog Post #5

Hello friends and family,

Another weeks has past in Australia, here is what it entailed...

The week really doesn't consist of much exciting stuff, but a lot of things that I really enjoy... Honestly it's really laid back here, not just people as a whole but also for me... I wake up at a decent time most days, so I can read and pray before I get going on with my day... After I eat and do some stuff on my computer I head out the door to the gym to shoot and lift or sometimes to run some errands... So i do that most of the week until Friday when we play or travel like we did this week...

Every night I seem to have stuff going on... Monday nights, my host mom, Jane Weir, cooks a huge dinner for anyone that wants to come... this week I invited my friend and brother Bobby, who is playing for another team in the league, and we were able to talk about our time here and share about life here and sharpen each other in the Lord...
Tuesday nights, we have practice and it's also cheap movie night, so Luke and I often try to hit up a movie after practice... got to watch the new Alice in Wonderland, which brought me back to my childhood, haha...
Wednesday nights, I often go to a small group Bible study with some people my age from Lakeside... The past couple weeks as a group we have been going through the book of Philippians...
Thursday evenings, we have later practice because before practice we have team time... during team time right now we are going getting to know everyone better by going over a list of questions about the person's life and expectations for the season, just basic stuff like that... if we have a weekend home game then we have to set up for it after practice...

That pretty much sums up my week and evenings...

This Friday we left for our game up in Geraldton on Saturday night... which is nearly a 4-5 hr drive north of Perth... it was great to get up there a day early so we could get over the long drive and most of all it was a great opportunity to get to know the guys a lot better and bond as a team...

The game of one of the most fun games I had played in years... bold statement but it was a special night for us as a team... we had to battle the whole night and we flat out played our tails off... we were down 21-22 at the end of the first and down by 6 at half time, 47-53...
so we really had our work cut out for us in the 2nd half... and in the 3rd, we down by as much as 12, then cut it back to 4 and then they pushed it back out to 10 but we fought back and were up one at the end of the 3rd, 76-75...
the 4th quarter we continued what we started in the 3rd and pushed and fought our way to a victory... winning 106-97...
Just something special for me to be around a group of guys that were down but didn't shut it down and fought our way back into it and played hard the whole time, which is how we got back into the game, we really turned up the defense and climbed back into it... I have been on so many teams that have been down and just didn't give it all to win, but the guys on this team are different, they play hard and fight the whole time, we might not make the shots we need to win, but we will play hard the whole time... love that about this team, something special about a group that doesn't quit, especially when it looks bleak...
I ended with 28 points and 11 rebounds...

right after the game we left and made the long trip back to Perth, wasn't as fun as the trip up there, since it was dark... on the way up there I was able to see a lot of the Aussie countryside... it's just so different than anything I have ever seen, so much land that is undeveloped and unsettled... we drove for 4-5 hrs and went thru 1-2 towns that weren't really towns, mostly just a gas station... the land was a combination of cattle, sheep, wheat, bush(undeveloped land), vineyards, and ok a lot of nothingness, haha... still loved it, love being and seeing new places...

Just got one thing I want to leave you, this week I did some studying on the word Shalom... In English we translate that peace, but in Hebrew it means so much more than that... the word Shalom has more of the meaning and idea of wholeness, perfection, togetherness, harmonization, complete, perfect... to put it this way our God is the God of peace, called that often in the Bible equals, the sum of perfection, praise be His holy name...

In Isaiah 9:6- For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

The One, the Messiah, the Savior, will come from a virgin, everyone knows the Christmas story, right? but often forget the story of what we are celebrating on this coming weekend, the Easter story... the peace that comes through Jesus...

the Prince of Peace, Jesus, came to earth from His throne in Heaven, on a mission to save sinners from their sin... let me put it this way, sin leads to death, we all sin so death is coming for all of us, it's part of life we all have to go through, death is the enemy...

but in Jesus there is no death, He didn't commit any sin, so when He was on the cross on Black Friday some 2000 years ago and died, it didn't work, because He was sinless, so 3 days later He comes back to life and defeats all the dark powers, Satan, sin, and death... Hope you are still following me... because I am going to make a point that involves peace...

so what does this have to do with Shalom, that peace, perfection, wholeness, completion I was talking about...

since Jesus gave Himself for us and did what He came to do, live the perfect life and die on the cross and rise from deeath on the 3rd day, the Gospel(good news), we have peace with the Father, the penalty of death caused by sin has been taking away... we can have a relationship with God, because of the cross of Christ, there is peace(shalom) between us and God, we are restored, we are reconciled back to God, we are made perfect in Christ, we are made complete in Jesus, where before we were enemies, we are now welcomed into His family, and the thing that kills me is it's nothing that I did, nothing, Jesus did it all!!!

In summary Shalom is a very important word, not only to Jews but it should be to us, because it points us to Jesus, the one who game us Shalom with God, assured eternity with Him... and it's because of this truth that I and many others live differently, I do and don't do things becasue I have different desires and passions and all that stems from what Jesus did for me...

love you all, Shalom
Ben

Blog Post #4

Hello Friends and Family,

Another week has gone by in Australia, so enjoy...

Didn't do much during the week, basically spent the week working out and getting ready for the weekend, having games on both Friday and Saturday...

Highlights from the week consist of: Monday morning- met up with a couple AIA teammates and we did a Bible study, prayed for one another and shared some things that have been going on... Really thankful for the opportunity to share with those guys and know it will be beneficial for all of us to have some accountability and support while being down here, away from family and into a lot of temptation often times...
As a group we are going through the book of 1 Timothy, and putting it in view that Paul is sharing with us the things written in there... Find it really helpful to view it in relational way, that we are Paul's disciples and he loves and cares for us and wants us to share the Gospel and grow into men of God...

Also this week I spent a lot of time working on my classes... the class I am taking right now is Jewish Culture 1, the last few classes have been discussing the early church and it's origins... the greatest difference between the early church and the church today is the role of pastor... the pastor in our day has often times taken what a large number of people have done in the early church and combined them all into a job that is nearly impossible for one man to do... the early church had many people and positions, that were not necessarily their job but did it for the community as a whole... Ephesians 4, contains a list of functions that many people had and now a days we have basically put it into one or two people to run when in that day it was many up to 20 or so...
for me it was eye opening to see that and how much I just go to church and use it, not intentionally but because that's part of our culture... wanting to get away from that and back to making it more of a community effort... God has given us all special abilities for us to serve in our local church and community, some of those abilities are unique and needed for equipping the church and the body of Christ so people will be served, loved, and cared for...

Basketball...
On Friday we played the Rockingham Flames... we started out the game pretty well and got right after them from the get go, leading 33-25 at the end of the first quarter... the second quarter we really took over and lead 60-38 at half time and didn't look back... ended up winning 109-77... I didn't play the 4th quarter and only played half of the 3rd or so... during the 3rd quarter I landed on a defenders foot while landing after a shot and hurt my ankle... so since we had the game in hand coach decided not to play me after that and just rest and get ready for the next nights game... I ended up with 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists...

I was a little/lot nervous about my ankle, but it didn't swell up really at all, plus the next day I went to our personal Dr./massage guy and they worked on my ankle, got the little swelling out that was there and loosened it up for the game that night...

On Saturday's game, it was pretty much the same story as the night before, we started the game out well with a 28-21 lead at the end of the first and then added to that lead by halftime, 57-42... and didn't let them have a sniff in the 2nd half... we ended up winning 101-75... my ankle felt great during the game, part of that had to do with it being a game and you just go out and play, plus I taped it and the added support helped... on Friday night, that was the first time I had hurt my ankle in nearly 3 years, I am thankful for that, also am thankful that it wasn't very bad, because today i worked out and it was just like normal...
I ended the game on Saturday with 24 pts, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists...

Stats and articles from the game are on www.sbl.asn.au

Our next game is on Saturday, March 27 at Geraldton Buccs... I guess that is a 5-6 hr drive away so we are leaving on Friday afternoon, getting there the night before and playing Saturday night and leaving after the game... gonna be a long trip but a little excited because it's gonna be a great chance to see some of the Australia countryside...

Speaking on countryside, that's my goal for this week, is to take a drive out of the city and see the land away from the city and maybe just drive up to a farm and see what they have and just talk to a farmer... could be interesting, haha...

I leave you with this, I have been reading thru the book of John and today in John 13:1, Jesus just before He was to be taken as a prisoner, to be beaten to a bloody pulp, and eventually die on the cross for not reason, but because He loves us... on the feast of Passover, said to His disciples I am going to wash your feet... and at the end of 13:1 the Bible states, HE loved them to the end... just found that amazing today, how after all the bad I have done, not just to myself, and to others and most of all to God, that He would love me to the end, fulfilling it all, dieing the death I should have died, by living the life I could not and can not live... going to death as the sacrificial Lamb of God as what He will be celebrating with His disciples after He washes their feet... in that moment Jesus, who is God in the Flesh, shows humility, but the ultimate humility is Him coming as a man to the earth for us dieing for us...
Praise be to God, who loves us to the end...

love you all
Ben

Blog Post #3

Family and Friends,

Been another week and now time for another blog post... Want to apologize for not being a great writer, I'll continue to do my best write about my time in Austrailia and share my life with you...

This past week has flew by...
It was a week of waiting and spending time with friends...
Last week I shared about being in limbo about playing in our first game, all week we waited, we as in the team, coach and I waited to see if whatever paper work that needed to be done got done...
I spent the week preparing as if I would be playing... I worked out daily, with shooting and lifting and practice... and finally friday came along, I did the normal things I would do, ate brekky(Aussie word for breakfest), read, did one of my classes, read somemore, practiced some guitar... then went to gym around one o'clock to shoot... since the whole week had passed and we still haven't got any confirmation about playing or not, coach said we would probably find out by Friday(gameday) at 2:00... so after I shot, I went up to one of the offices to visit with my friend and pastor at the church Anthony... while visiting I received a call from Coach saying "go get a pregame meal, your suitin up tonight,"... found out at that time also that my american teammate Luke, for the last couple weeks had been told that he didn't have a chance at playing for at least a couple weeks, because of compications, that he is playing too... needless to say I was over joyed and thankful that it all came through and it was offically GAMEDAY!

That night we played vs the Stirling Senators... I didn't know anything about them til right before the game... which is normal for playing overseas, becasue that's the way it was when I was in Germany... unlike college where we spend 1-3 days preparing for the next team we play...
I approached the game just like I do every game... i try to give it my all, not for myself but for my teammates and that I am playing for a greater Audience than the scoreboard and fans but as a worship act to the Lord for His glory not my own... because it's an honor to serve a loving God, even while playing a game...
We play 12 minute quarters, which might not seem like a lot but it adds up when you are only used to playing 10 or 20 minute halves...
we started out the game well, leading 29-18 at the end of the first quarter... 51-42 at half time... and in the 2nd half we really took control and got but by 16 quickly in the 3rd and controlled the game the rest of the way... we ended up winning by 20, 101-81... can check all our stats on the SBL website... http://www.sbl.asn.au
I had 27 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists...
Was a good start for our team, great to start off the season with a win... back to work this week!

Other things that are goin on for me...
On wednesday nights, I was invited a few weeks ago to go to a Bible study with a group of people from the church that are around my age... that group has been goin thru the book screwtape letters by C.S. Lewis... havent had a chance to read that book, but hope to sometime... I gone once and we have gone thru 3 chapters and discussed part of the book and discussed questions that are part of a study guide... most importantly we go thru Bible verses and how they relate to parts of the chapter we just went thru... It's been great getting to know some more people and to share life, prayers and knowledge with each other... very thankful for this group of new friends that I have...

On saturday i relaxed some, being a little sore from the game the night before... didnt have the chance to go back to Rottness, but hope to someday during the week... that is one of my favorite places I have ever been... lifted some on saturday and right at sunset I went back to my house showered and drove down to the beach to have tea(dinner in aussie) with my host family on the beach and watch the sunset... it was wonderful and beautiful... it was alittle cloudy so couldn't really see the sunset, but one time the clouds broke and the sun peaked thru and the sun reflected off the ocean right toward us on the shore, a beautiful orange bouncing right as us... one of the prettiest things I have ever seen... when I was there on the beach it made think of Psalm 8, only 9 verses of beauty, but my favoriteis vs 3-5,

3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.

after the beach I went to watch a couple of my AIA teammates(Kasey and Bobby) from the fall tour play... got to visit with them after the game and went out to eat with Bobby and caught up with him... took him to church with my the next day... was great to catch up wtih those guys... its great having friends in the area... Especially fellow followers of Jesus, becasue we have it planned to get together once a week on monday mornings to have a Bible study, prayer, and some accountability amoung brothers... there should be about 6 of us AIA guys that live close and know each other pretty well that we can do this... very excited about being able to do this with these guys and take some of what I have been learning and share it with these guys...

just a prayers request for my friend John Farwell and the group of AIA guys goin to Kyrystan(not sure on spelling) they were exspecting 7 guys a couple days ago and only 2 have arrived... they have had lots of issues with flights... so just pray that those men make it there saftly but most of all that God would get the glory thru all these tough circumstances...

love you all
Ben

Blog post #2

Friends and family...

thanks for those who read and responded to my last post... this works out very well for me to share and tell lotsof people whats goin on with me over here... because lets be honest I am terrible at replying to emails and facebook messages, i figure this is the best way to get to everyone...

So anyway,
It's been a week since my last post and it has flown by again, I have been here for a month and it really doesnt feel like that at all... so far it has been all i have hoped for, this doesn't just involved basketball but the people I get to interact with daily and the amount of time I get to read and study God's Word and share that with people...

the highlight of the past week was on Saturday Feb 6, when Luke, Al, and I went out to Rottness Island... its an island that is a 40 min ferry ride out off the coast of perth... we had just an amazing day! we went out snorkeling and rode all over the island on a bus to get from place to place... that was the first time I had been snorkeling, now that is all Luke and I have talked about all week, we want to go back out there again next Saturday to see some things we missed... Bc i guess there are some ship wrecks not too far from the shore that you can see... also the spots we went to were just beautiful, the fish and plants and coral were just beautiful... just an amzaing day, i will try to post some pics on here from that day bc its just a beautiful place...

we have our first game on friday Feb 12, vs the Stirling Senators... I hope to be playing in it, not that I would be benched or anything, but found out in the last week that all the visa stuff takes a long time to get thru... so i guess its technically not legal for me to play yet... so if i do have to miss this game for legal purposes I should def be playing next week...

One thing I am excited about is, now that the season has started as a team once a week we will be doing team times on thursday nights before practice... should be a great time to get to know the guys a lot better and share life and Jesus with some of the fellas... so pray for some of teammates and that our time would be profitable for changed lives with the Gospel...

wanted to put a list of books I have read in the last month or are reading now...

"Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus" Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg
-really recommend this book, great step into the life of Jesus, when God was on earth this is how He lived and shares the culture and lifestyle He would have lived

"A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" Donald Miller
- Entertaining and a can't put down book, first time I have ever read a book in less than a week

"Yeshua, A guide to the Real Jesus and the Original Church" Ron Moseley
- Pretty in depth study to how things looked and the culture of the time Jesus was on the earth, this is who I am taking classes from and he recommened to read this book..

"Vintage Jesus" Mark Driscoll
-This is the best book I have ever read! really recommend everyone to find and read this book... One of the guys I listen to on podcasts and I highly respect him and his teaching of the Bible... cant say enough about this book, please read this one above all the books on here...

"our Father Abraham: Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith" Marvin R Wilson
- Workin on this book right now, enjoying it! will fill you in more when this is over... but it a great indepth study on the Jewishness of our faith in Christ, should be finished in a week or so...

"buffalo for the Broken Heart" Dan O'Brien
-Been told this is a good book, only on page 40, so far its been really entertaining

Want to leave you all with something to think about,
one thing that I have heard over and over lately, is that there is no seperation between sacred and secular... It's all God's domain! He created it all, gives life to all things and people... this idea was never more present than in the Hebrew mind and culture, they viewed everything as theological... the good things and especially the bad things in life come from God, He is sovereign over all domains....
that was the heart of what Paul said to the Corinthians when he said in 1 Cor. 10:31"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." there is no seperation between work during the week and worship on sunday morning, its all worship... so if I am playing ball or studying God's word or talking with a friend, eating lunch, or out scooping the sidewalk it's all worship done before the Lord... so dont think that well since I am not speaking in front of people or as spiritual as the other guy don't thik you arent worshipping... all of life is to be worshipful and done withreflecting on what God has done in our life by creating it and esp. by sending His Son to die for us in our place...

thanks to all who read this... love you all
Ben

Hello friends and family...
this is my first attempt at doing a blog... I told people i would do it and so I am goin to use this tool to keep people who want to know about whats goin on with me and what I am doing to check here... i hope to update this once or twice a week... plan on sharing things about bball and things i have been learning and experiencing while in Austrailia...

I have been in Perth, Aus for just over 3 week, left Iowa with a few inches of snow on the ground and nearly at 0F to temp around 100F... really quite a swong but knew it was coming... dont know if it was the weather change or travel, but was sick for the first couple days here... made it kinda hard for practice, but slept a lot and got adjusted to the time change pretty quickly... which is 14 hrs ahead here...

This past weekend the 26-28 of Feb we played in a preseason tournament vs some of the teams we will play this season... In our first game on friday night we laid an egg and ended up getting beat by around 15 or so... it was a tough start for the weekend and season, bc i have been through enough of this loosing by a lot crap... the rest of the weekend we played pretty well and won all three of the rest of our games...

our first game is march 12 at home vs the Senators...

I do have quite a bit of free time down here, bc we only practice around 3 times a week... usually tuesday, thursday and sunday... everyday during i spend time working on my game, shooting and other stuff with the other import Luke Payne from South Caolina Upstate... also lift during the time at the gym...

i fill my freetime with some seminary classes from the American Institute for Holy Land studies... right now I am taking a class on the Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith... it has been really helpful to tie the modern church and its beginnings with how the Jewish synagoue was ran in the days of Jesus... also put together a few things to how Jesus grew up and the environment in which he was raised.. also knowing He was a Jew, came as the Jewish messiah first, then the rest of the world and what that means for us and how we should view the Bible...
really have enjoyed studying about that, bc it really has helped open up the Bible to me bc it's a real story with real people and a real God who came to earth to be with His people and save them from their sins and giving them a new life and restore the lost relationship with God which was shattered in the beginning...

the team I am playing for is Lakeside Lightning, we have a couple websites the best one is probably the SBL league website- www.sbl.asn.au the other is the church website is- http://lakeside.asn.au

for those who dont know, my team is owned by Lakeside Baptist Church, its one of the only church organizations in the world that own a professional team... its a very unique and special opportunity to play ball and use the sport of basketball as a platform for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ...

if you have anyquestions feel free to ask...
Love you all more than you know...

"If I find in myself a desire which no experience is this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another World" ~C.S. Lewis
End of the book of Eccelsiates ends this way, Ecc 12:13-"Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all" true living and true satisfaction comes from Jesus not this world