Stick to your guns. Don't Jump Ship. (With Jesus and with Sports)

July 1, 2016 marked a tough day in my OKC Thunder fanship.  Kevin Durant left my beloved OKC Thunder to join the Golden State Warriors.  I admit it was tempting as anything to jump ship and join the bandwagon as the Warriors now have my two favorite players (Durant and Curry) and will surely win many rings in the near future.  Many people asked me would I join the Warriors bandwagon, which looked all the more enticing with the Warriors skyrocketing and the Thunder plummeting in talent.  To be honest, every bone in my body was tempted to take the easy way out and jump ship from the Thunder to the Warriors.  But then I sat down and really thought about it.

I have been a Sonics/Thunder fan since 1994.  That is 22 years of loyalty.  Ups and Downs.  Good times and bad times.  Even though we were going through a rough time and it wasn't enjoyable losing Durant, the thought of abandoning those 22 years together made me sick to my stomach.  It made me want to throw up.  How could I so easily be tempted to jump ship when things got tough?  How could I abandon this 22 year relationship because it didn't seem to benefit me as much with the abilities of Durant and winning a ring in the near future?

Taking time to remember the importance of loyalty and commitment,  I told my friend, Mike, that without a doubt I was sticking with the Thunder.  Even if we never make it to the NBA Finals again.  Even if Westbrook leaves too.  Even if we suck forever.  I just couldn't jump ship and leave the 22 years of time together with the Thunder.

Although allegiance to a sports team may seem superficial to some.  I think it has parallels and relates exactly to a man's loyalty and commitment to God through thick and thin.  Just as things got tough with the Thunder two months ago, life got tough for me this week and I was tempted more than anything to jump ship and abandon everything I have been following for 12 years in Jesus.

In my life, something happened that didn't go the way I wanted and I was a little bummed.  I was entirely down for a day and just a complete grump.  I admit when life goes South, the first thing I am tempted to do is jump ship on Jesus.  I am tempted to blame God that things in life aren't going well and I am not happy.  I want to take the easy way out and abandon following Christ because sometimes it flat out hurts.  Sometimes life just hurts.  Things happen and we go through ups and downs, and during the downs it is so easy to blame God on them and walk away from the very relationship that is the only thing that gives life meaning.

Yesterday I was an absolute grump.  I was struggling with temptation, struggling with the flesh, struggling with everything that doubts God when life doesn't go as planned and hurts.  I was tempted to just walk out on this 12 year relationship because I wasn't happy with something that happened in my life.  I was tempted to blame God that I was suffering and hurting.  I was really tempted to sin and take the easy way out on following Christ.  For about a day, I was really angry and frustrated with God and with life.  I didn't read my Bible. I didn't feel the presence of God.  I was just pissed.

I woke up today feeling just as pissed as yesterday.  Then to be honest I wanted to bail on God because I was moody and emotional.  Crazy enough, I felt God speaking to me as a long-time Christian friend accepted a Facebook friend request.  Even though I was grumpy and mad at God about life not going the way I planned, I felt God saying that He wouldn't abandon and give up on me.  I was a mess and life wasn't going as planned, but God promises to never give up on me through the ups and downs.  It's crazy when the Spirit of God speaks in the seemingly small things of life.

Like it or not, I couldn't avoid God.  I finally just surrendered my day long temper tantrum with God and basically said, " Fine.  Even though things didn't work out.  I'm not gonna check out into atheist land and live a life full of selfish sin.  I'm not gonna jump ship and bail on Jesus because life is really hard right now."

It is wild how much this experience with God parallels my experience with the OKC Thunder.  When things get tough and the chips are down, we as humans are so incredibly tempted to jump ship from commitment and loyalty because they make our life tougher and don't always bring joy and happiness in the moment.

Loyalty and commitment in a relationship, whether it is with God, a sports team, a spouse, speaks volumes.  It means you will be there through thick and thin.  In a way, I'm disgusted with my sin that is so tempting when the chips are down in life.  My flesh/sin appeals so much to me through temptation the second life gets hard.  It's like the little devil on your shoulder grows and looks all the more appealing because it doesn't appear that God is working everything out for our good in the exact moment of despair in life.  However, this is a lie.  It isn't true.  God promises to work all things for our good (Rom 8:28.)  He promises he will never leave or forsake us.  Through thick and thin, God marries us in a relationship that He will never ever abandon us.

Looking back now, I'm sickened that I even thought of jumping ship on Christ for a day because life hurt.  I'm sickened that I even was tempted to jump ship on the OKC Thunder because Durant left.  Loyalty and commitment lasts forever with certain things and I need to do a better job of always honoring that through thick and thin, through ups and downs.

The James Harden Trade

When I first saw that Harden was traded on twitter, I was furious with the OKC Thunder front office.  Harden looks like one of the most promising young talents in the NBA.  Few people can drive to the hole like him and he has the sweetest beard in the NBA.  I feared when the Thunder extended Serge Ibaka this summer they would not be able to offer a max contract to Harden and that is exactly what happened.  The Thunder offered Harden a reasonable deal for his talents, but Harden wanted a max contract.  Knowing they could not keep Harden long term, the Thunder traded Harden (and Daequan Cook, Cole Aldrich, and Lazar Hayward) to the Rockets and received Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, and two first round picks.

Although I hate to see the Beard go, this trade may work out very well for the Thunder.  Kevin Martin is not James Harden.  BUT he is close.  He can shoot better than Harden and has scored more this year than Harden did last year for the Thunder.  This year Martin has shown he is an excellent shooter but not quite as good on defense as Harden was.  Jeremy Lamb also sounds like a promising young talent.  Add that to two first round picks and this trade could work out for the Thunder.  Remember, one of those first round picks is from Toronto, who sucks.

#Thunderup

OKC Thunder Offseason Predictions

I am proud of my boys for a great season!  Making it to the NBA Finals is a huge accomplishment.  I hope they can win it soon!
Priority number 1 for the Thunder this offseason is to get James Harden to sign an extension.  Harden is too good to let go.  Westbrook and Durant are locked up and now it is time to lock up Harden long term.  When Harden had a bad series against Miami, the Thunder had a bad series against Miami.  Just sayin'.

After Harden, it is critical to figure out what the Thunder do with Serge Ibaka and Derek Fisher.  I would love to see Fisher return but he isn't vital since we have Eric Maynor and Reggie Jackson as backup PG's.  Shoutout to Maynor for representing the 804!

Finally, OKC needs to draft an offensively talented Power Forward.  Perkins and Ibaka are great.  They stop two big men on the other team.  However, they are not an offensive threat (at least Perkins isn't) underneath the hole.  I'd love to see a big man who can score at the 4 position come to OKC in this draft.

Western Conference Champions

Congrats to OKC Thunder for beating the Spurs and becoming the Western Conference Champions!  We're going to the NBA Finals!  #Thunderup

Fear The Beard

Check out the OKC Hipsters...I Mean Thunder

OKC Thunder

I am really stoked about the Thunder's success in the NBA this year.  Ever since my 4th grade girlfriend, Kalina Goodwin, moved to Seattle in 1994 I have been a Seattle Supersonics fan.  The 1996 finals were the glory days of the Sonics with Shawn Kemp, Gary Payton,  Detlef Schrempf, Hershey Hawkins, and Sam Perkins.  There was a rough patch of 10 years where the Sonics/Thunder did horrible and got amazing draft picks.  Eventually Sam Presti used those picks to make up the current Thunder roster of Kevin Durant, Russel Westbrook, James Harden, Kendrick Perkins, Serge Ibaka, etc.  I think we have an amazing trio in KD, Westbrook, and Harden.  I love that Kevin Durant is one of the best players in the NBA, but he is actually humble about it.  You also gotta love Harden's beard (#FeartheBeard.)