Know the Playbook. Talk to the Coach. Win the Game.

Rev. Dr. Marvin Wamble  ·  BWC UMM Annual Prayer-Revival: Peace on Earth

BWC Mission Center  ·  June 13, 2026

✦  ANCHOR SCRIPTURE  ✦

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith."

— Hebrews 12:1b–2a

When Rev. Dr. Marvin Wamble stepped up to speak at the BWC UMM Annual Prayer-Revival on June 13, 2026, he did what seasoned preachers rarely do: he laughed at himself first. He had prepared scriptures and points, he said — and the men who spoke before him had already covered nearly every one. "I felt like a pastor who shows up to do a eulogy," he said with a grin, "and everyone who went up during acknowledgments already said everything in your notes."

What followed was anything but unprepared. It was, as he put it, Holy Ghost-inspired — a message drawn from decades of men's ministry, a career in sports journalism, a doctoral dissertation on bringing men to Jesus through athletics, and a lifetime of watching what happens when men of God refuse to open the playbook.

Meet Lorenzo — And Maybe Yourself

Rev. Dr. Wamble introduced the men to a friend from his college days: Lorenzo. Lorenzo came to California from South Carolina, was physically gifted beyond almost anyone on the team, and became a starting middle linebacker as a sophomore — something almost unheard of. He led the team in tackles. He led the league in tackles. For three games, he was an absolute monster.

But Lorenzo had three habits that would cost him everything. He refused to study the playbook. He refused to watch film. And he refused to take the coach's advice. They played him anyway, because no one else on the field compared.

Then the opposing coaches watched the film. They discovered something Lorenzo's own team already knew: he was playing entirely by sight. So they ran the Counter — a play designed specifically to use a defender's instincts against him. Fake the action one way, hand off the other. Lorenzo bit every single time. By midseason, one of the most gifted athletes on the team was sitting on the bench.

"We are all on Team Jesus — intentionally positioned by God exactly where we need to be."

— Rev. Dr. Marvin Wamble · BWC UMM Prayer-Revival, June 13, 2026

The parallel was unmistakable. God has given every man in that room gifts, talents, and experiences placed with divine precision. The question is not whether the gifts are there. The question is whether we will do what Lorenzo refused to do: study the playbook, watch the film, and listen to the Coach.

The Playbook: Read It, Study It, Live It

Rev. Dr. Wamble made a distinction that landed hard: there is a difference between reading the Bible, studying the Bible, and living the Bible. He had met brothers who were proud to say they read the Word every day — and in the same conversation, they were saying things that revealed they had never truly understood what they were reading.

"I love that you read the Bible," he told the room, "but I want to see actions. Words are cheap. Only what you do for Christ will last."

"Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do."

— Joshua 1:8

He urged every man who does not already own a study Bible to get one — a translation they can actually understand. Not to perform literacy with a version they cannot follow, but to genuinely wrestle with the Word until it becomes part of how they think and move and decide.

The playbook, he said, is not decorative. God has given us clear, strategic, game-winning instructions on how to live, how to fight, and how to finish strong. It is all in the book. The question is whether we are treating it that way.

Talk to the Coach: Prayer as a Daily Conversation

If the Bible is the playbook, then prayer is the relationship with the Coach. And Rev. Dr. Wamble was direct about what that means practically: every morning, before the day gets away from you, ask God one question.

"Lord, what do You want me to do today? Not what I want — what do You want?"

— Rev. Dr. Marvin Wamble

This is not passive waiting. It is active, daily positioning — placing yourself before God as a servant ready for an assignment, trusting that He will position you somewhere, with someone, to do something that matters. And here is how you know the assignment came from God: it will be too big for you.

"God doesn't give you little stuff," Wamble said. "Little stuff — go back and pray again. When God gives you an assignment and you feel like you've got the wrong number, that's the confirmation. That means it's from Him."

He also gave the men a spiritual weather gauge: if you step out in obedience and things fall apart — opposition, confusion, resistance — do not retreat. That is the signal that the enemy is nervous. If you are doing something and there is zero opposition, you have not gone far enough.

"The fervent, heartfelt, and continuous prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available, dynamic in its working."

— James 5:16b (AMP)

When you are tapped into that kind of prayer — not a quick check-in but a living communion — you are accessing a power you have never accessed before, to touch lives you have never touched before.

The Enemy Knows Your Weakness

Just as opposing coaches studied Lorenzo's film and found the one move that undid him, the enemy has been studying you. He knows your history. Rev. Dr. Wamble called them the "easily entangled sins" — the patterns that were in your life longer than you have been following Jesus. They know your name. They know your address. They know where you keep the key.

This is precisely why the armor of God is not optional equipment. When you do not read the Word, when you stop praying, when you step outside of God's covering — the enemy notices immediately. He is not going to announce himself. He is going to drop a thought right into your spirit at the exact moment you are most vulnerable, to test where you really are.

The countermove is not willpower. The countermove is the Word and prayer — knowing the playbook so thoroughly that when the enemy runs the Counter on you, you are not fooled by the fake.

Men, We Need to Step Up

Rev. Dr. Wamble has been doing men's ministry since at least 2008, and he was candid about one thing that has not changed in all those years: getting men to show up, step up, and lead remains the central challenge of the church.

He described church councils with no men on them. Trustees who send in their reports rather than attend meetings because they do not want to deal with the conflict. Men who have made peace with doing the minimum — moving tables, parking cars, serving food — and calling it faithfulness.

"The church will not reach its full potential without men stepping up to be the head and not the tail."

— Rev. Dr. Marvin Wamble

He challenged every man in the room to commit to doing at least two things in the coming year that he has never done before. Two bold, new acts of faith. And here is how you know you have chosen correctly: when you announce it, the room gets quiet, or someone tells you that you cannot do it.

"If it gets real quiet," he said, "you know you're doing the right thing."

This is not an invitation to recklessness. It is an invitation to the kind of courageous leadership that prayer produces — the boldness that comes from knowing the Coach has already called the play, and your job is to run it.

Get Young — And Get Together

Rev. Dr. Wamble closed with a challenge about the future of men's ministry: every championship team is trying to get younger. The greatest combination in any organization is young energy meeting mature wisdom. When those two things come together, there is nothing that cannot be done.

The call to the men of BWC UMM was clear: be aggressive about bringing younger men in. Let them speak. Let them lead. Turn your head at some of the things they do — not in disapproval, but in deference, because they are operating in a different era and the church needs their voice.

But they also need yours. They need the experience and the knowledge that only comes from years of walking with God through real fire. The mix is the miracle.

✦  THE GAME PLAN  ✦

Four takeaways from Rev. Dr. Wamble's message

🏈  PLAY 1 — STUDY THE PLAYBOOK

▸  Read the Bible. Study the Bible. Live the Bible. All three — in that order, always.

▸  Get a study Bible in a translation you can understand. Stop performing. Start applying.

▸  Joshua 1:8: meditate on it day and night, and obedience follows naturally.

🏈  PLAY 2 — TALK TO THE COACH DAILY

▸  Start every morning with one question: "Lord, what do You want me to do today?"

▸  When God's assignment feels too big for you, that is not a mistake. That is the confirmation.

▸  Opposition when you step out is not a stop sign. It is a green light — the enemy is nervous.

🏈  PLAY 3 — KNOW THE ENEMY'S SCHEMES

▸  The enemy has studied your film. He knows your easily entangled sins by name.

▸  The whole armor of God is not optional. When you leave it off, he notices immediately.

▸  The countermove is not willpower — it is the Word and prayer, every single day.

🏈  PLAY 4 — STEP UP AND LEAD

▸  Commit to two things this year you have never done before. Announce them boldly.

▸  If the room gets quiet or someone says you can't do it, you are on the right track.

▸  Bring younger men in. Let the mix of young energy and mature wisdom do what neither can alone.

The Final Word: We Win

Rev. Dr. Wamble closed where every great coach closes — with the scoreboard. He did not minimize the difficulty of the game. He did not pretend the opposition was not real or the road was not hard. But he left the men with a truth that changes everything:

"Team Jesus is undefeated. Never lost a battle. Not once."

— Rev. Dr. Marvin Wamble · Closing Appeal

No matter how far behind you feel. No matter how long you have been sitting on the bench because you stopped studying the playbook. No matter how many times the enemy ran the Counter and you bit. God is on your side. He is for you and not against you. And through the Holy Spirit already working within you, you have the power to do things you have never done before.

Do not stop. Do not be discouraged. Fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith — and run.

✦  CLOSING DECLARATION  ✦

As spoken by Rev. Dr. Wamble at the BWC Mission Center, June 13, 2026

"Lord God, we declare victory because God is on our side. We declare victory because King Jesus has never lost a battle. And we declare victory because God called us to be the leaders and not the followers. In the name of Jesus — Amen."

AMEN.

Baltimore-Washington Conference  ·  United Methodist Men  ·  BWCUMM.org

Annual Prayer-Revival: Peace on Earth  ·  June 13, 2026  ·  BWC Mission Center

Message by Rev. Dr. Marvin Wamble  ·  Scripture: Hebrews 12:1–2