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