Alphabetical
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December 02, 2011
Set:
Last year, for the first time in 15 years, I found myself without a soccer team to coach. The Christian school where I had been teaching and coaching shut their doors, and, with the late notice of the closing, it was too late to find another team. Instead, I found myself on a different team—a team that was completely divided. I ran for State Representative in my town, and the eight candidates from my party chose to run as a team.
Throughout the election, I found myself praying to God for guidance and wisdom. I also spent a lot of time shaking my head and wondering, “What have I gotten myself into?” But through my years of sports training, I knew what teamwork was, and I knew what it was like to be a team player.
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June 01, 2010
Set:
Have you ever walked into a Sam’s Club or Costco and, all of a sudden, something comes over you? It’s like you are magnetically pulled to these beautiful rectangular boxes with vibrant colors showing on them that make the pictures look almost real. You are drawn closer and closer, and down deep inside you, the feeling arises that one of these things needs to be yours. OK, maybe it’s a guy thing, but the innate desire for earthly possessions can consume us from time to time. The gifts in our lives can overtake us if we’re not careful.
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January 01, 2013
Set:
The NBA Finals are always a blast to watch. I don’t know about you, but I love to see the key match-ups these games bring with great teams and great players.
Even though lacrosse was my primary sport, I loved to play basketball as a kid. I loved to invest hours in front of our driveway hoop over the garage. At 6-foot-1, I didn’t have much height for a forward, so I quickly learned the art and importance of posting up against the defense.
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December 30, 2009
Set:
Our power lies not in our perfection, but in our pursuit. We are a results-driven people, especially athletes. Perfection is the goal and we do what it takes to get there, even if that means sacrificing what really matters. There is much good in wanting to perform well. However, tunnel vision comes when we place our worth, security, and joy in our idea of perfection. But we can never arrive at perfection. Perfection has no power because it leaves us empty. Pursuit, on the other hand, holds what is real. Pursuit says, “I’m not perfect, but I will do what I can with what I have in the moment I have been given, in the midst of where I am.” In pursuit we find God.
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January 15, 2010
Set:
Hannah made the varsity tennis team as a sophomore, eventually beating Mindy, a senior, for the number two singles spot. Hannah became very arrogant in her new position of power, bossing her teammates around and telling them to do things for her. When Mindy did not budge, Hannah became angry. She would do anything to make Mindy look bad in front of the coaches. Mindy did not retaliate; she went about her business playing doubles in her final year. Hannah would not let up. Her dislike for Mindy turned into hate, and she tried to get Mindy kicked off the team. Does this sound familiar?
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February 17, 2014
Set:
I accepted the Lord at thirteen years old and had no problem sharing my faith with friends in junior high and high school. Not only was I a Christian, but a wrestler too. Wrestling gave me an audience to spread the Word, so I made a T-shirt that would show evidence of my faith.
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February 22, 2013
Set:
Practice isn’t always a player’s favorite thing to do. At times there are two-a-day practices or extra-long exercises to get a team organized. In the beginning, practices are hard and exciting, then when the squad is picked, the coaches focus on teaching plays.
We’ve all heard “practice makes perfect.” A better way to say it is, “practice makes permanent.” How a player performs in practice is how he or she will play in a game, thus, the player who gives a half-hearted effort in practice becomes ineffective at game time. That is why setting specific goals for practice is important.
The Apostle Paul said that every athlete should go into strict training to compete for a prize.
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June 02, 2013
Set:
Very few people love to practice. To most, it is just a means to an end. Only if we practice will the coach allow us to play in games. Even if we loathe it, practice is irreplaceable as the best way to improve skills. Athletes at every level must train. In fact, professionals only get where they are through hard work. How hard we work in practice may predict our game-time performance.
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January 18, 2012
Set:
As a young and inexperienced basketball coach, I was a little worried about my practices and if they would be effective. My mentor encouraged me to always make a practice plan and stick to it. My first attempts at planning were disorganized and often resulted in my practices looking more like a fire drill than a basketball practice. This complete chaos led to a junior high team that did not have a prayer of winning. After much trial and error, I have finally learned what it takes to make my practices both efficient and organized and what it takes to make my teams successful. This applies to our lives as well.
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October 07, 2005
Set:
We’ve all said it: The secret to success is practice, practice, practice. Sometimes we’ll put the word “perfect” in front of all of those “practices” to nail down an even more effective plan. We all know that without practice we’ll never reach the level of play that we desire.
When I was in high school, I trusted my coaches completely, so I practiced whatever they told me to. I desired success, which helped me to listen to them and heed their advice. In the same way, when we read that Paul urges us to “do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me,” we would be wise to heed his advice. A quick scan of the context reveals some of what Paul would want us to put into practice:
