Alphabetical
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February 28, 2007
Set:
In today's devotion, I intentionally capitalized PRAY in the title. I want to emphasize that I am not talking about the act of praying, but about one who prays. Are you a pray-er? I often talk to coaches and athletes who feel limited by the public school system in regards to what they can do with their faith. The school system can regulate what you say and do, but they cannot touch your prayers. Do you want to have an eternal impact on your players and teammates? Pray for them, often and by name.
I recently came across a verse I have read many times: Colossians 4:12-13. Sometimes it takes a different Bible translation to bring it to life. Since FCA is now using the Holman Christian Standard Bible, I was struck by a few things in the passage:
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August 16, 2010
Set:
A man named Guy Dowd was once given the National Teacher of the Year award. One of the turning points in his career came, he said, when he was frustrated and couldn’t seem to reach his students. God impressed upon him that he should pray more for them. Each morning Guy would arrive early to pray with his students, sitting down with different ones each day. Over time Guy began to notice a difference not only in the way the students responded to him, but also in the way he taught and responded to the students. Prayer changes our attitudes and helps us see people as God sees them. When we can see people through God’s eyes, it makes all the difference.
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February 16, 2012
Set:
Over the past several years, our family has joined in the annual FCA challenge of picking a word of the year. Every January, FCA sends out a series of Impact Play devotions asking readers to pray about a one-word theme for the year and letting God work through it in many ways.
In 2012 my word was prayer. I thought perhaps God would grow the depth of my prayer, bring people into my path who needed prayer, or maybe answer a big prayer, but I had no idea that He would bring me to my knees in a whole different way.
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December 11, 2012
Set:
One of my favorite parts of sports, as a player and later as a coach, is the pre-game locker room speech, especially those given before a big championship game.
As you know, there are several famous pre-game speeches from great coaches, and I'm sure you can recall bits and pieces of some of them. One of my personal favorites is from Herb Brooks, head coach of the 1980 USA Hockey Team. Prior to one of the team's biggest games, Brooks said, "You were born to be a player. You were meant to be here at this moment. You were meant to be here at this game." And as you probably know, that USA hockey team went on to defeat the Russian hockey team in one of the great wins of all time.
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January 28, 2008
Set:
In reviewing results from New Year’s road races this year, I noticed a few that were prediction runs. Unlike typical road races, the awards in a prediction run do not go to the person with the fastest overall time or for an age group. The winner in a prediction run is the one who finishes with the time closest to what they listed before the race started.
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August 18, 2010
Set:
It’s only a few minutes before tip-off. We hear the band playing to get the crowd excited for the game, and we look around the locker room and watch our players trying to get into the zone. We’ve worked hard to get them prepared, but something isn’t clicking because the team has the pregame jitters. Maybe they think they aren’t as skilled as the opponent, or perhaps they lack confidence in the game plan. It could be fear of failing while fans and media are watching, or fear of not measuring up to personal expectations. Whatever the reason, the result is the same: worry and a lack of focus.
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March 27, 2013
Set:
A college coach once said, “The will to succeed is important, but what’s more important is the will to prepare.” As coaches, we do everything we can to make sure our teams are prepared for the game. We give them training, exercise, motivation, uniforms, and equipment. We want them to succeed and win when they face the opponent. Nothing would be worse than to show up to face an opponent without being prepared.
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August 25, 2006
Set:
On August 11-12 I traveled to Camp Randall Stadium on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison to watch one of my favorite activities: the Drum Corps International World Championships. For those of you who may not be familiar with the activity, I will describe it as "the ultimate intensity of marching music." While not an official sport, I can tell you from experience, both as an athlete and as a former participant in this activity, that you work just as hard during a summer on tour with a drum and bugle corps as you do during an athletic season. These young people, ages 15-21, spend 2.5 months traveling across the country in a bus, sleeping on gym floors, marching and playing outside 10-12 hours a day and for what? Perfection.
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August 22, 2010
Set:
As long as we are involved in athletics, we are going to encounter adversity on a daily basis. An athlete will come face to face with failure, mistakes, and errors. As coaches, we will come face to face with pressures to win, compliance issues, ineligible players, and recruiting battles. As people we are tested on and off the field by sin and Satan. In almost all sports, there is a certain degree of defense needed in order to win the game. How do we as Christian coaches defend against Satan to become a champion in heaven?
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February 17, 2013
Set:
Coaches face pressure on a daily basis. Whether it’s your won-lost record, player’s academics, boosters, parents—the expectations placed on coaches are never-ending.
What a comforting truth Matthew brings us! Jesus was declaring His willingness to stand in the gap for us. He liberates us to focus on Him, producing a pressure-free response to His Spirit and truth.
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