Alphabetical
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March 14, 2007
Set:
Every year, coaches will ask their teams what their goals are, what they hope to accomplish, how far they want to go, what their destiny is that season. The answers to these questions will help decide what is important to a particular team, but each player must fill in his or her own blanks as an individual and for the team. And not everyone will have the same answers or goals.
In life we face some similar questions that require us to fill in the blanks. In the book of Philippians, Paul challenges the people with four questions:
1. Who/What are you devoted to?
2. Who/What is your destiny?
3. Who/What is your desire?
4. Who/What is on display in your life?
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January 19, 2012
Set:
Are you honest about your finances? Jesus spoke more about material things and how we handle them than anything else. Why? Because how we handle material things is an indicator of how much we really trust God. We all need material things to survive—money, food, water, and clothing—all of which God promises to provide for those who seek Him. People everywhere believe the more of these things they have, the happier they will be. That is just not true. In America, we have more things than any nation in history, but we are not a happy nation.
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May 08, 2009
Set:
All my friends and I are turning 16 this year and, let me tell you, that’s a big one. I always know who’s just had a birthday, not because their school locker is decorated or because of that faint scent of butter cream frosting on their breath, but because of something far more significant: that shiny new driver’s license burning a hole in their wallet! Hey, that is a milestone in a kid’s life. And that little piece of plastic pretty much tells it all. I mean, it tells your height, your weight, your eye color—everything you’d need to know about a person. But, if you ask me, even with all that information, a lot of kids in my generation are having a serious identity crisis!
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February 27, 2012
Set:
The context of the verse above indicates a rather materialistic place. Jesus had just addressed being concerned about food, clothing and drink. The issue, though, is greater than “all these things” being added to those who seek and find the Kingdom.
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June 28, 2012
Set:
The other day I had the morning off from work, so I headed out to my "quiet place." It’s a place about a half mile away from my house and is right near a pond with a beautiful landscape. I go there as often as I can because it gives me a chance to get away from the world and its distractions. No matter how many times I go there, I still can't help but marvel at how beautiful it is.
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June 29, 2006
Set:
Being a soccer player and longtime fan of the sport, I get excited every four years when the World Cup roles around. This year it seems that there are more people watching the competition. One of my teachers had the game on at school during the United States' crushing loss to the Czech Republic. For the rest of the day people kept coming up to me and commenting about the team's poor performance. It bothered me to see people who had never followed the sport making such judgmental comments after watching the team play only once. I didn't think that it was fair for them to pass judgment after watching a single competition.
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January 15, 2010
Set:
Hockey Chat: We’ve seen it at every level. From the pee-wee’s up through the professionals. As much as skaters on the same team try to move fluently and work together, there is always some moment in some games where two guys on the same team cross paths and trip each other up. The lack of proper communication or the way they communicated caused them to run into each other. One misjudged the other and they both wound up in the same space and down on the ice.
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April 02, 2010
Set:
As an English teacher, I instruct my students to look for symbols in literature. As a basketball coach, I often use symbols from literature to teach my players, such as in Genesis 3:11 where God asks Adam and Eve if they have eaten the forbidden fruit. Instead of telling the truth and asking for forgiveness, Adam blamed both God and Eve. When God asked Eve the same question, she blamed the snake. Since then, mankind has been pointing fingers and playing the blame game.
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November 01, 2008
Set:
At the college that I attended, we referred to long-distance runners as “jar heads.” We figured that each day they would unscrew their heads, take out their brains, and then run an unbelievable amount of miles before returning and putting their brains back in their heads.
I say this all in good fun, obviously. I have always admired distance runners and think that distance running is an amazing ability. When these runners race, they set their minds on finishing the race. Lap after lap they strain through sore muscles and tough conditions to finish what they started.
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January 04, 2013
Set:
Several years ago when Bobby Dodd was the coach at Georgia Tech, Tech was beating Alabama by five points with only seconds remaining in the game. The coach told the quarterback to fall on the ball, but instead, he dropped back to pass. The pass was intercepted by an Alabama defensive back who was very fast. He got by everyone, but the quarterback chased him down from behind to tackle him. Tech won the game. Afterward, Coach Dodd was asked how the slow quarterback outran the fast defensive back. Coach said, “The defensive back was running for a touchdown, but the quarterback was running for his life.”
