Author Archives: Brett Honeycutt

Devotional of the Week — Dwelling on joy

Posted on by
Reply

“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.” Psalm 126:3

Major League Baseball knuckleball pitcher R.A. Dickey had the best year of his career last season. He made his first All-Star Game appearance, had career-bests in victories (20), ERA (2.73) and strikeouts (230), and he won the National League Cy Young award—the highest achievement for a pitcher. And all of that came after releasing his autobiography, Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball.

In his book, he talked about going through abuse as a child and other difficult things, yet, he was able to understand his worth through a relationship with Christ.

Because of that, his accomplishments were handled with a healthy perspective and he is able to embody Psalm 126:3 (“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”) and see the positives despite the negatives.

Dickey said in an interview with Sports Spectrum: “If God calls me away from baseball tomorrow, I would gladly walk away knowing that He has given me an incredible story to tell and an incredible journey where He has taught me so many different things.”

What has God taught you? Are you dwelling on the bad things that have happened to you and allowing your joy to be stolen, or are you focusing on the “great things” that God has done for you over the years and receiving the joy He has waiting for you?

By Brett Honeycutt, Sports Spectrum

Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor at Sports Spectrum magazine. This devotional is taken from our most recent Training Table, a compilation of sports-related devotionals included in each print magazine. Log in here to access our most recent Training Table.

Airing It Out — Disagreement equals hate?

Posted on by
15

It’s official. The media is the new czar of morality.

Your Bible? They say it’s no longer valid. And what you individually believe? It’s no longer relevant either.

If you go against the media’s moral code, whether you are a liberal or a conservative, you are now bigoted and hateful.

It’s scary out there.

Why am I jumping to all of those conclusions? Well, apart from the fact that they are true, I’ll explain. Recently, some in the media targeted Tim Tebow for merely saying he would speak at a church that the media deemed anti-Semitic, hateful, intolerant and bigoted.

Because they deemed it that way, it was so.

Then, they directly targeted the pastor of the church, Robert Jeffress.

Tebow, in turn, called Jeffress and told him he wouldn’t be able to speak.

The church, First Baptist of Dallas, and its pastor aren’t anti-Semitic, hateful, intolerant or bigoted, unless we have now decided that disagreement equals anti-Semitism, hate, intolerance, and bigotry, which is what the media is doing.

Want proof? The Senior Religion Editor for the liberal-leaning Huffington Post, Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, wrote, “Just to be clear, First Baptist Dallas is not an outlier church. It is headed by Pastor Robert Jeffress, a very influential conservative Christian voice, who leads an 11,000 strong congregation connected to the Southern Baptist Convention. The theology and the constituency is squarely within the mainstream of contemporary right-wing Christian thought. But what has changed is that the views of the right-wing Christians are now officially out of step with the growing majority of Americans—including, apparently, Tim Tebow.”

So, if you disagree with the media’s form of morality or philosophy, you have exhibited hate and spewed hate speech—regardless that their logic is contradictory. How is it contradictory? Because, since they are equating disagreement with hate, when they disagree with someone else’s belief, philosophy, or ideology, they are, in essence, admitting that they hate and spew hate speech each time they make claims against others, too.

In a society where individuality has made us great, we are now being told that we must conform to the media’s standard or they’ll label us, intimidate us and, in essence, bully us into a corner until we do what they want us to do.

Tebow found out this the hard way.

The odd thing is that Christians have been told not to push their views on others for years, so why is the secular media doing that very thing to Christians?

Because, they don’t care.

The people, namely some of the free-thinking, liberal-minded ones who have championed open-mindedness and condemned what they call close-mindedness, are now close-minded. It’s their way or else. And the else comes with a price tag, which involves condemnation, bullying, lies and the twisting of facts to fit their belief.

If the media’s outrageous claims were true, then why did The Associated Press write a story about Jeffress several weeks prior to all of this controversy saying that Jeffress was one of the most compassionate preachers toward gays and lesbians?

And, if the media’s assertions were right, why did evangelical heavyweights rush to Jeffress’ aide? Lending support were James Dobson (Focus on the Family founder), David Jeremiah (who heads Turning Point Ministries and pastors Shadow Mountain Community Church outside of San Diego), Jack Graham (who served two terms as head of the Southern Baptist Convention), Dr. Al Mohler (President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) and Mike Huckabee (former pastor, Governor of Arkansas, a 2008 U.S. presidential candidate and current-host of Huckabee on Fox News TV and The Huckabee Show on the radio).

David Jeremiah said it best, “We now, as Christians, no longer have the right to believe what we believe without being painted as almost religious terrorists—and it’s just ridiculous.”

I agree, and I also agree with the spirit of what Dobson said, “You know what Robert? If these critics are going to get to you, they’re going to have to come through me first to get to you.”

Although I don’t have a choice who critics come through first, I stand with Dobson’s willingness to defend everyone’s freedom to disagree.

Disagreement doesn’t equal hate. If it did, then the media hates Jeffress, Dobson, me and everyone else merely for having a differing opinion than theirs.

By Brett Honeycutt

This column was published in the March 2013 Sports Spectrum DigiMag and Volume 27, No. 2 print magazine. Print and digital subscribers, log in and view the issue here. Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor of Sports Spectrum magazine. His column addresses topics from a biblical perspective. Follow him on Twitter-@Brett_Honeycutt. 

Devotional of the Week — Sovereign control

Posted on by
Reply

“Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?” Lamentations 3:37-38

Los Angeles Dodgers star Adrian Gonzalez realizes that God’s sovereignty, His control, can’t be usurped.

But he doesn’t use that as an excuse to not work hard, as he told Sports Spectrum in an interview.

“My relationship with Christ allows me to take a step back from things and not put too much pressure on myself,” said Gonzalez, a four-time All-Star who represented Mexico in the World Baseball Classic in March and will star for the Los Angeles Dodgers this season. “I know that, once I put in all the effort and the time into my work, the results are up to Him and I can’t really control what happens to me on the field. God controls that. I just try to do the best I can every day I come to the ballpark and, at the end of the day, if my relationship with Christ is good, then I’m good.”

It echoes what Lamentations says about God’s control—that we can’t make things happen apart from God’s help.

It’s comforting, because it helps us see that God understands what is best for us and that we don’t have to worry about the details. We do our part by working hard at whatever God has given us, and God will work out everything for His glory.

By Brett Honeycutt

Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor of Sports Spectrum magazine. This devotional is taken from our most recent Training Table, a compilation of sports-related devotionals included in each print magazine. Log in here to access our most recent Training Table.

Airing It Out — Sharing our hope

Posted on by
200

We heard the same sermon twice on the Wednesday night we went to West Monroe, La.—and both were unexpected.

We had just finished our interview with Miss Kay, Al, Willie and Phil Robertson, cast from the popular TV show, Duck Dynasty. It was interesting listening to Phil talk about sex and relationships, Willie talk about his early days when he and his wife, Korie, ran a Christian camp, Al add nuggets to almost every story, and Miss Kay laugh and talk honestly about her relationship with Phil in the early days (it was tough) and how God had brought each of them to Christ.

It was as if we were part of the Duck Dynasty TV show. Why? Because what we had seen on TV, is what we saw in person. It was refreshing and also spiritually uplifting because their deep faith was evident as they talked about how they viewed the show as a platform to share their faith—and, as I learned, sharing their faith is what they’re about.

After we were finished, Miss Kay invited us to church. I was already looking forward to going (Al had already invited us earlier when we were setting up the interview).

I was excited because I enjoy going to church, but I was really excited because they invited us and because of what I knew about the Robertsons’ faith (and had also just experienced); my thought was since they’re strong spiritually, then their church, White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ, must be strong, as well.

But the idea of going to church was made even better because they invited us. It was personal. It showed they cared. They wanted us to be there, and we wanted to be there.

We were running a little behind because the Robertsons were gracious enough to give us more time to ask questions. We really just listened and watched them interact like they do on TV.

Because of that, we came in to the service near the beginning. There were a hundred or two hundred people there, including all of the Robertsons (we sat behind Jep and his wife, Jessica, and Justin Martin).

The songs we sang and listened to were a cappella and familiar because I had heard them on my first mission trip with Athletes in Action in 1992 (I later bought tapes of those songs and have enjoyed them for years). The songs brought back great memories, but more than that they reminded me of who God is, what He had and has done for us, and they were leading me to worship Him.

I began to wonder if the sermon would be as good. It was faulty thinking because God is always present when His Word is opened and shared, but that was what was going through my mind.

The pastor, Mike Kellett, came up to preach. The sermon was based on I Peter 3:15, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.”

He talked about “The Hopeful Community” and sharing our faith. But instead of saying “sharing our faith,” he appropriately said, “sharing our hope.”

He talked about the false narrative that only certain people can share their faith and listed reasons people think this: I am not good at it; I am embarrassed to try; I am afraid I will offend someone; I feel like a hypocrite because I am not perfect; I am afraid they will reject me; I am not educated enough.

But he reminded us that the true narrative was that all Christians share their faith, and he reminded us of “The Story That Inspires Hope”—Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension and return.

And then he talked about “Hope in Action,” referencing Romans 12:10-18 and II Corinthians 2:15, and “Hope in Words,” referencing I Peter 3:15-16.

He concluded by encouraging each of us to pray, watch, reach out, listen, connect, share and invite so that we could share the hope that we have because of Christ. He did so much for us and we have so much to look forward to after this life. Why wouldn’t we be excited to tell others?

I knew the message had sunk in, not because I thought or felt it had, but because it was already being lived out in the members of the church. It’s exactly what the Robertsons have been doing with their lives—sharing their hope with excitement and immediacy to a world in desperate need of hearing something that is truly life-changing.

I walked away encouraged, hopeful, and thinking that we had just gotten out of one church service (our interview with the Robertsons, who talked about sharing their faith) and went into another one (at White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ, which talked about sharing our faith).

It is the type of hope we all should desire to spread.

By Brett Honeycutt

This column was published in the April 2013, All-Duck Dynasty DigiMag. Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor of Sports Spectrum magazine. His column addresses topics from a biblical perspective. Follow him on Twitter-@Brett_Honeycutt. 

What You Don’t Know About Duck Dynasty

Posted on by
108
  • Willie and Korie ran a church camp before Willie became the CEO of the family business, Duck Commander.
  • Si’s blue plastic cup that he drinks tea out of was given to him by his mom while he was stationed in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
  •  The tea mentioned on the show and made famous by Si, is unsweet—not the usual sweet tea of the South.
  • A&E asked the Robertsons to wear different bandanas on the show so that producers could tell the brothers apart. Willie chose one that looks like the American flag and rarely wears it in public.
  • Willie originally began wearing a bandana to keep his hair out of his eyes.
  • Although Si’s wife is never mentioned and has never appeared on the show, Si has been married (to Christine) for 43 years.
  • Phil and his son, Al, are elders at White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ.
  • Miss Kay was 16 years old and Phil was 20 when they were married. They began dating when Miss Kay was 14. Korie was 19 and Willie 20 when they were married in college at Harding University in Arkansas.
  • Phil and Miss Kay hosted a house church and led weekly Bible studies for 20 years before Phil’s speaking schedule picked up and began taking him out of town to share Christ all over the country.
  • Phil started ahead of future Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Terry Bradshaw while the two were at Louisiana Tech.
  • Miss Kay’s real name is Marsha Kay, Si is Silas Merritt, Jase is Jason Silas, Jep is Jules Jeptha, and Mountain Man is Tim Guraedy.
  • Al, the only Robertson brother not on the show, was a pastor for 20 years at White’s Ferry Church of Christ. He and his wife, Lisa, have two girls (Anna and Alex).
  • The rest of the brothers’ family tree: Willie and Korie have five children (Rebecca, John Luke, Sadie, Will and Bella); Jase and Missy have three (Reed, Cole and Mia); Jep and Jessica have four (Lily, Merritt, Priscilla and River).
  • Mountain Man, known for talking slow, owns his own air-conditioning repair business and is co-host of The Patrick and Mountain Man Show on Mondays from 3-6 p.m. on Z-107.5 in Ruston, La. The show’s website says, “You’ll hear a little good music, a little outdoors report, a little good Word and plenty of common sense from The Mountain Man!” Mountain Man, originally from Portland, Tenn., studied at Volunteer State Community College in Gallatin, Tenn. To watch the video stream of his show, go to this link: http://www.citylinktv.com/ruston-red-peach-media

By Brett Honeycutt

Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor at Sports Spectrum magazine.

Who’s Al?

Posted on by
193

As Willie Robertson sits at his desk, signing what appears to be posters or lithographs, his oldest brother, Al Robertson, stands behind the desk, casually placing a new poster or lithograph in front of Willie each time Willie finishes signing.

It’s a perfect picture of who Al is, a behind-the-scenes (or behind-the-camera) guy who helps to keep things moving.

He is married (to Lisa) and has two daughters (Anna and Alex), he is the oldest of the four Robertson brothers (Jase, Willie and Jep) and he is the only brother not on the hit TV show, Ducky Dynasty.

He is also easily distinguishable as he’s the only Robertson brother who is clean shaven; there is no trademark beard like his brothers, father, uncle and other Duck Commander employees have. And, until about a year ago, he was the only brother not in the family business; he had been a preaching pastor at White’s Ferry Church of Christ (where the Robertson family attends) for 20 years before leaving to help with the ever-growing family business.

Even when we interviewed Willie, Phil and Miss Kay for Sports Spectrum’s special Duck Dynasty issue (an interview that Al set up), Al sat out of the view of the camera. When he thought of things to add to the interview, he would help fill in the gaps by offering anecdotes, facts or asking his family to share stories with us about certain events in their lives.

He was the glue that held things together, yet he stayed inconspicuous and seemed fine with that.

In a society, and in a reality TV world, where people are constantly looking to bring attention to themselves, it was refreshing to see someone who seemed comfortable just serving, helping and wanting to keep attention on others.

It was also refreshing talking to him on the phone and through email because we sensed a genuineness, goodness and trusting nature about him even though he didn’t know us and we didn’t know him.

At the end of the interview, when we were getting directions to attend Wednesday night church with the Robertsons, Al was getting ready to drive down the road to attend a viewing of someone from the church who had died. The following day he was going to the funeral.

He said, even though he had left being a pastor full time, that a pastor never truly relinquishes roles like trying to provide comfort to others in times of need.

It’s easy to see how his time as a pastor prepared him to be a servant leader—even as the oldest brother in the family.

It’s also easy to see that he took Jesus’ words in Matthew 20:26-28 to heart when Jesus said, “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Mandid not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

By Brett Honeycutt

Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor at Sports Spectrum magazine.

Madly In Love

Posted on by
73

The note on the headboard of the bed is simple, “Kay, I love you; I always have; I always will; Phil.”

But there was more to it than the words on the paper; it had more to do with who Phil and Kay are as people and as a couple than just some sentimental, sappy note written in the emotional bliss of marital happiness.

With Phil and Miss Kay, one wouldn’t expect anything less.

“I was asleep on my bed, looked up and saw Miss Kay looking at me,” Phil says. “She said, ‘Phil do you love me?’ I said, ‘Yep.’ She said, ‘Write it down.’ She’s standing over my bed. I said, ‘Okay, I’ll write it down.’ Next morning, got up to get my coffee, there was a piece of paper with a pen, and I said, ‘That woman is gonna hold me to this.’ I wrote down, Kay, I love you; I always have; I always will; Phil. It’s been many, many years ago, but she taped that to the headboard right above her head. So every time I get into bed I look over and see that note.”

As Phil finishes the story, Miss Kay interjects, “So that helps remind you of what you wrote yourself right?” She says, her mouth open and laughing in a playful, joking manner.

“And that’s when I realized that women are very strange creatures,” says Phil in his dry wit.

Their relationship, which began when Kay was 14 and Phil was 16 (that’s when they began dating), has survived high school, college, some pretty dark times (as we talk about in the main story), and the good times (with business flourishing).

“We’re still here,” says Phil, as he throws his hand up and messes with a piece of paper.

“High school sweethearts,” says Miss Kay grinning.

Then the conversation goes back and forth as if they were on the show.

Says Al: “High school quarterback and the head cheerleader.”

Miss Kay: “I wasn’t the head, I was just a cheerleader.”

Al: “You were at the top of the pyramid.”

Phil: “Oh you were the head cheerleader.”

Miss Kay: “I was the shortest cheerleader.”

Al: “You were at the top of the pyramid, Ma, back in those days.”

Miss Kay: “That’s right.”

Says Phil, as he slaps his knee emphatically: “Miss Kay is an exact replica of Sarah, Abraham’s wife: kind, gentle-spirited—”

Miss Kay: “And I call you Master.”

Phil: “Which is a great woman in God’s sight, you are her daughters if you do what’s right. Don’t give way to fear. That’s Miss Kay. She’s like Sarah. She treats me like a King. She literally treats me like her Master. And I don’t force her to, she’s just that type of woman.”

Miss Kay: “I’m glad you didn’t say I was a Proverbs 31 woman, because I sure don’t like getting up early.”

Their relationship, full of humor, full of love, full of family.

Exactly what the show portrays, and just the way God intended.

By Brett Honeycutt

Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor at Sports Spectrum magazine.

Welcome All

Posted on by
115

Fans of Duck Dynasty may not know that Willie and Korie Robertson are the proud parents of five children (John Luke, Sadie, Will, Bella and Rebecca), that one (Will) is adopted and another is a foster child from Taiwan (Rebecca).

The couple, who have known each other since the third grade when Willie asked Korie to go on a moonlit hike at summer camp, had the desire to adopt even before they were married (a year after high school).

“It’s something we wanted to do ever since we were dating,” Willie tells Sports Spectrum. “We both wanted to adopt a child. Take a kid put him in a good home, a Christian home. We just thought why not?”

“We didn’t plan on having a lot of money, nothing to do with that, we just thought it would be great. We tried to pursue it and hit a few road blocks, and the Lord provided…It’s the best thing I’ve ever done on this earth.”

Their adopted son, Will, is biracial, and americanadoptions.com’s website says there is a “strong need for families to adopt African-American children or biracial children that are part African-American” and that there is also a “vast shortage of families seeking to adopt children of an African-American descent.”

After adopting, Korie became pregnant a month later.

“So we had two together,” says Willie. “It was wild and it was fun. The other situation came about as an exchange student and she pretty much said I want to stay here.”

Willie says if more Christians got involved in adopting children, the impact would be great. With an estimated orphan population between 143 million and 210 million throughout the world, one can tell the impact would be huge. And even though 250,000 children are adopted each year, there are more than 14 million children who grow up as orphans and age out of the system each year (an average of more than 38,000 children per day).

That’s why the need is great and can impact someone for a lifetime.

“That’s what God did with us,” Willie told a crowd of people at a recent speaking engagement. “He took us in. Jesus is his son and we are his adopted children and so I can look at my two sons that I have and literally see the New Testament unfolded right there. Because I have the same love for him, no different. “

By Brett Honeycutt

Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor at Sports Spectrum magazine.

Devotional of the Week — Enduring Love

Posted on by
193

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” I Corinthians 13:4-7

Enduring Love

My mom and dad would drive my brother and I to Little League practice and games a lot when we were growing up. They seemed to never tire of the early Saturday mornings or the late practices during the week or the hours spent practicing with us.

But that’s what true, deep, committed and sacrificial love does. It allows people to do extraordinary things. It is patient, kind, it isn’t easily angered, it always protects, hopes and perseveres. Those are attributes I think of when I think of my parents, especially my mom. She cares, gives and loves (and I’m not just saying that because she’s my mom). She willingly gives anything and everything.

It’s a love I hope I will display more regularly to her, my wife, my friends, my colleagues and others I come in contact with. It’s a legacy she leaves and, though my dad passed away nearly 15 years ago, it’s a love that he shared through his actions, as well.

Today, check yourself and see if your love matches the love that Paul mentions in I Corinthians. If not, pray and ask God to help you love like He desires you to love.

By Brett Honeycutt

Brett Honeycutt is the managing editor at Sports Spectrum magazine. This devotional is taken from our most recent Training Table, a compilation of sports-related devotionals included in each print magazine. Log in here to access the March 2013/Volume 27, Number 2 Training Table. 

Uncommon Challenge