Alphabetical
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May 27, 2009
Set:
Tuesday is always trash day. And on some Tuesdays, there seems to be very little good about the morning. Daily tasks often can become mundane, but not this one. Every Tuesday morning I am the member of the family who deposits the trash into the proper container. This morning, as I sat back at the table lamenting the fact that I had to take the trash out to the curb, I heard a song resonating from an upstairs bedroom. “I am C. I am C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N.” It was coming from my 7-year-old, who was joyfully ringing in the day.
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April 23, 2004
Set:
Our whole goal in sports is to finish first, to be at the top when the battle is over. We train day after day, sometimes for years to accomplish our goal of being number one. What happens if we don't succeed in reaching our goal? Can we handle the consequences?
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February 10, 2009
Set:
Today’s athletes are being pressured to be the best. More athletes are turning to whatever they can to get to the top or to stay there. Alex Rodriguez is one case. If you’ve seen his recent interview, you know that he said the pressure to perform drove him to take banned substances.
Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton was also one of those athletes. He was an amazing talent as the No. 1 draft pick in 1999, and he quickly turned heads in the major leagues. But it did not last long. The pressure and stress of staying on top took its toll on Hamilton, and he turned to drugs and alcohol to help him deal with everything. Eventually, he was suspended from baseball in 2002. He was no longer No. 1 in his eyes, let alone the eyes of those who loved him.
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April 26, 2007
Set:
They sat there and wondered how they got there: one player, one coach. All the games played, all the games coached, all the teammates and coached athletes, all the labels that had been given to them by fans and media--those thoughts all ran through their minds as they prepared for their championship games. Peyton Manning endured this in January. Billy Donovan did earlier this month. And it's a situation I know I could only imagine.
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March 31, 2010
Set:
As March Madness winds down, we can clearly see the parity that exists at the highest level of college basketball. It’s been excited to watch the thrilling overtime victories and the games that have been decided by three points or less. Teams have matched up toe-to-toe, scraped, hustled and competed to extend their seasons for one more game. At the end of every game, one team has been left celebrating while the other has left empty-handed, perhaps stunned, that the game got away in the final ticks of the clock.
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July 06, 2006
Set:
"I'd die for this. This is what we live for," said Pat Hurst. Any idea what she was talking about? Golf. Hurst made the comment after she and Annika Sorenstam were deadlocked after 72-holes at the 2006 U.S. Women's Open, forcing an 18-hole playoff the following day. Sorenstam won the playoff, and her 3rd Open title, by four strokes over Hurst.
Have you ever heard the saying, "Until you find something worth dying for, you're not really living"? Paul certainly understood that. Throughout the New Testament we see examples of the fact that his life was not only lived for Jesus Christ, but he ultimately died for Him, as well.
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March 06, 2014
Set:
My son’s “fifteen and under” AAU basketball team scrimmaged a “seventeen and under” team and were losing badly. Although it was painful to watch, I noticed two distinct styles of play that greatly affected the outcome.
Our team’s guards repeatedly dribbled through obvious traps in the opponent’s defense. Our coach switched players, changed the offense, and diagramed simple plays to run, but often the player with the ball tried to dribble into oncoming pressure. Each player had different mechanical problems. One dribbled with his head down and another wouldn’t use both hands. Our coach spent all his time trying to correct mistakes.
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January 08, 2004
Set:
One of the biggest conflicts I've had with teams that I've coached is how much they've said they loved the game. I would watch a game with them, and they'd tell me over and over how much they loved to play and how great the game is to them. I would immediately ask them, "When is the last time you were in the gym working on it?" I would get the same response, "I love to play, not practice."
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December 24, 2013
Set:
I have many memorable moments from my coaching days. I recall a pregame meeting that actually involved no talk about the upcoming game. Usually we reviewed assignments and our first series of plays, but in this particular meeting I took another direction. I told the players how I had been praying for them. I prayed for their safety on the field and that they would do well in the classroom. Most importantly, I prayed that if they were uncertain about their salvation that God would send them to me or some other Christian who would show them how to have a personal relationship with God.
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January 31, 2008
Set:
Remember the sports drink commercials that featured Michael Jordon? And who can forget the movie Space Jam? You would see ads for everything from shoes to t-shirts that screamed “I want to be like Mike!” There was a Michael Jordon craze when he won championships with the Bulls, and that was mainly because he was an incredible athlete. But even with all his moves, passes, dunks and accompanying fame, Michael Jordan has nothing on Caleb the Kenizzite.
