Earlier this season, I took my middle school baseball team to practice with the high school varsity. It was good for my kids to practice on a higher level and to see how high school differs from middle school. At the end of practice the varsity coach gave them a "pep talk" about life and baseball using five key points of competition. While I had used some of the same points in my own speeches, I found that they captured my attention in a new way when I heard them from another coach and saw how they got the attention of the kids. The points that this coach made would work for any sport, and they also translate well to our spiritual lives.
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All Archive - May 2011
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Dirty Paws
Set:I once overheard of a group of coaches discussing what they were going to do with a certain player who had problems following the team rules. He’d had plenty of issues, but the final straw came when they found out he was caught up in drugs. Some of the coaches wanted to kick the young man off the team, but the head coach did not. He justified keeping the young man on the team by telling this story…
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Sweet Sugar
Set:As a competitor at heart, I love sports video games. I used to play one that involved boxing, and there was one fighter whose nickname was "Sweet Sugar." In this particular game, the system would remind me every time my opponent would knock me out. Truthfully, I didn’t think there was anything “sweet” about that!
I was thinking about Sweet Sugar the other day and thought about a personal dilemma. Sometimes in life I find myself confusing love and grace with the act of “sugar-coating.” What that means is that I gloss over a situation and refuse to deal with the truth about what is going on.
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Ready. Set. Stop.
Set:Competing is about performance. We prepare hard and we quickly learn there are two outcomes: perform or perish! As competitors, we step onto the field or court, set everything aside and perform our best! Regardless of what is going on inside, we are expected to play well. We train ourselves to not let the inside struggles affect the outside performance. We are still expected to compete at a high level.
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Defeating the Pressures
Set:It’s finally over. I just completed my first tax season as an accountant. It was a huge transition for me as last year at this time I was competing in a baseball season. This year, it was tax season.
In baseball we all look forward to opening day. We can’t wait for the day when we finally get to quit scrimmaging our own teammates and suit up against another team. As opening day draws nearer, we all get those pre-game jitters. We know are ready to play, but the fact that it’s something new causes us to be a little bit nervous and anxious.
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The Game Plan
Set:In all my years of watching sports I’ve seen quite a few game plans. There have been trick plays, last-minutes heroics and the tremendous execution of skills in amazing victories.
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God Uses Second Chances
Set:God gives second chances. Actually, God gives us more than just second chances; He gives us millions of chances, because despite our endless mistakes and sins God still loves us. I don’t know about you, but I mess up a lot. Whether it is by having pride, judging others, denying God’s will in my life or giving into temptation, I just cannot seem to stop feeling like I am failing God. After seeming to let God down so many times it is hard to understand that God still has a plan to use me to do His will. But, boy, does He have a plan.
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Nothing without the Cross
Set:Imagine playing your sport without a ball when one is needed. You walk 18 holes swinging a club aimlessly without once striking a golf ball. You shoot baskets without feeling the ball release from your fingertips. You drop back to throw a 50-yard bomb to a wide open receiver for a game-winning touchdown, but there’s nothing in your hand. Yes, it sounds ludicrous to do these things. It would eliminate the game itself. Most sports require a ball in order to fulfill the goals and objectives of the game. Simply put, a game without a ball is not even a game at all.
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Mission-Minded
Georgia FCA’s Joey Potter believes in a simple philosophy: Build a church and send a missionary, and a hundred people might come. But build a sports field and put a coach or pastor on it, and you can attract thousands.
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Linked
Since the beginning of time, love stories have been told and retold. Typically, they go something like this: Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Boy and girl get married. Boy and girl live happily ever after.
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Hollywood Hero
One by one, the children came.
They came from ramshackle villages and tarp-covered homes, their gaunt frames running barefoot through unkempt fields of grass to a skinny dirt road on the outskirts of town. Temporarily leaving behind their hardscrabble reality of hunger, disease and death, they lined both sides of the path to marvel at a new sight.
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Home Stretch: Denard Span
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)
My story began in Tampa, Fla., where my mother, Wanda, raised my older brother, Ray, and I by herself. Like most boys, Ray and I both loved sports, especially football, basketball and baseball. He was four years older than me, and, being typical brothers, we were always competing with each other. While he won most of our driveway basketball games, he was no match for me on the Super Nintendo.
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Heart of an Athlete: Thomas Wood
“…the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 4:7
North Carolina junior attackman Thomas Wood developed a love for both lacrosse and the FCA ministry at an early age. Looking back over his life so far, he is able to see how the avenues of sports and faith have always been connected. In fact, according to Wood, his spiritual journey with Christ has made a direct and tangible impact on his lacrosse career, shaping him both as a player on the field and a leader off of it.
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Heart of a Coach: Gessica Hufnagle
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” – Matthew 6:33
Add Gessica Hufnagle’s name to the ever-expanding list of former players turned coaches. As a four-year letter-winner at Notre Dame, the Indiana native officially joined the coaching ranks in 2008 after a standout career at both catcher and outfielder for the Irish. Now in her third season as an assistant softball coach at the University of Southern Mississippi, Hufnagle is learning more each day about what it takes to be a godly coach and spiritual guide for her players.
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Fit4Ever: Training Aimlessly
“...I do not run like one who runs aimlessly…Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.” - 1 Corinthians 9:26-27
“Living without a purpose and a plan is like sailing a ship without a rudder—you’ll float aimlessly in circles and go nowhere.” – Unknown
Don’t you just love that quote? Personally, I believe it paints a great word picture for life, especially as it pertains to our physical health.
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