Alphabetical
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April 02, 2004
Set:
I love baseball! It is an individual sport that relies on a team for a successful outcome. It also is the only sport where, during a stoppage in play, a manager/coach can approach an umpire to dispute a rule or argue the umpire's judgment on a call. We all have seen the highlights of a manager throwing a tantrum, kicking dirt on the plate or verbally abusing an umpire. But we also have seen the umpire retaliating in anger and, in some cases, losing control. It's hard to have someone yell at you or challenge your character in any setting, but especially in front of peers and spectators. How are they to respond?
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January 29, 2010
Set:
When the weather finally breaks after a long winter, everyone gets busy fertilizing the lawns, dusting off the golf clubs, cleaning up the patio furniture, and lighting up the grill. There is a genuine excitement in the air! If we stay in the house too long or if winter stays too long, we get cabin fever. Cabin fever is a condition of increased anxiety, tension, and boredom caused by living for some time in a confined space or an isolated area, especially in winter.
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September 22, 2010
Set:
I like to think the writer of Hebrews was a sports fan.The analogies he uses would certainly lead one to support this idea. Just as the writer referred to great numbers of witnesses, we athletes often compete in front of an audiences of great numbers.
This is also true in the Christian walk. Both believers and nonbelievers comprise our audience. There are those who encourage us: our pastors or our Sunday School teachers; and then there are those who "boo" us, ones who are opposed to any semblance of commitment to our Lord.
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April 02, 2012
Set:
A few years ago, while coaching at a small college, I recruited a young man named Luke. I had several knowledgeable people tell me that Luke would not make a good basketball player for our team. To my knowledge, Luke may not have had any other schools approach him about playing college basketball. I was told there were several other players that would serve our program better.
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October 11, 2013
Set:
Momentum is the one thing that can turn a game completely around. This game-changing element can happen in any sport, but the one that comes to mind immediately is basketball. How often, while watching a game on television, do you hear the announcers start screaming, “Coach so-and-so better call a timeout soon”? They realize that if coach so-and-so doesn’t stop the game and allow the team to regroup, things will soon go from bad to worse. The same can happen to us as coaches when situations catch us by surprise, making a timeout needed. What’s a surprise situation? It’s one of those situations where nothing is going the way we’d like and our emotions get the better of us, causing us to react in a way we later regret.
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March 30, 2009
Set:
Caleb, a small quiet boy who was new to his school, was invited to an FCA game night. The time came to pick teams for basketball and two of the school’s top athletes chose sides. Bryan, a great athlete, looked for people just like him. Josh was a great athlete as well, but had another plan.
Jesus chose all kinds of people—not always the biggest, best looking, and strongest—to carry out His work. One such man was Zacchaeus. The Bible tells us he was a little man, so small he had to climb a tree to see Jesus. As the Lord passed by Zacchaeus, He stopped and chose him to spend time with. Jesus did not just say He loved others; He showed it every day.
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June 04, 2004
Set:
Twenty-two years old and a varsity basketball coach in the great state of Indiana. We were playing for the conference title in the mecca of basketball: Marion, Ind. Ok, maybe we weren't the three-peat Marion Giants of the 80's, but I was coaching the mighty Lakeview Lions in the state Christian school league. So maybe our roar wasn't that great, not even bigger than our gym — the city armory's gym where there were more dead spots than the local cemetery. But nevertheless, we were playing for the championship against Faith Christian.
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August 11, 2009
Set:
Almost every week this summer, I have been working with junior high boys trying to help them improve their basketball skills. The range of ability between sixth and eighth graders is pretty wide, and their physical size can be an even bigger gap. But we have one boy, Max, who doesn’t let his size bother him at all. In every drill and scrimmage, he uses what the Lord has given him to the best of his ability and tries to improve. It is such a joy to watch him play because he wears out his opponents with his speed and quickness. As an athlete, Max refuses to let what he can’t do get in the way of what he can do.
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October 29, 2013
Set:
We’ve seen the commercial more than once—the one where the guy walks around with his cell phone, pausing every couple of steps to ask the question “Can you hear me now? Good.” We are reminded that some companies go to a lot of trouble to keep their communication lines open. We have all experienced areas where cell phone communication breaks down, when we can’t hear at all.
Stop for a moment and think about the effort God has made to communicate His unending love for us. His message is clear. He loves us and wants us to respond by living our lives in the truth—a truth that honors our Creator and loves and serves our fellow man. The problem is that we don’t listen. We are too wrapped up in ourselves to notice His call.
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February 11, 2010
Set:
It happens all the time, even to the best of them. Athletes reach the goals they have pursued for years, maybe even a lifetime, and then they do it. Maybe they feel they deserve it. They think, “I’m now successful, so I can let up and compromise in a certain area of my life. It’s small, and it won’t impact me very much.”
