The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers have made it to the finals of the College World Series in their first CWS appearance. The school’s baseball program had fallen on hard times when coach Gary Gilmore arrived there in 1996. The previous year the Chanticleers won only 17 games, compared with 53 wins so far this season.

Part of the reason for the team’s lack of success was the questionable commitment of some of the players. Gilmore says that a player on his first team informed him that he couldn’t come to practice the next day because it conflicted with his job as a bartender on the beach.

Perhaps it is a lack of commitment on the part of its members that keeps many churches from succeeding. Fill in the blank: “I can’t participate in the worship and ministry of my church because it conflicts with my ______________________.”

Excuses, excuses!

In Luke 9, Jesus questions the commitment of some people who say they want to follow him. Verse 62 says, “Jesus replied, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.’”

Are you fully committed to your church?