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All Archive - May 2012
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Lessons on the Field
Set:A godly coach is a rare but valued blessing in American sports. Our son’s little league coach is one such blessing. His coaching overflows with life lessons that will bear fruit far beyond the baseball diamond. As I listen to his challenges, I know that I am hearing the wisdom of the Holy Spirit right along with the kids.
“There are no spectators here. Everyone has a job.” - Just as each member of a baseball team has a position, each individual has a role to play in life. Our words, our actions and our attitudes all have an impact on the hearts of the people around us. God has given each of us the job of sharing His love with others. There is no time to sit around watching others; our work is ongoing and has eternal consequences.
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Freedom in the Lord
Set:During his Major League career, New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira has established himself as one of the premiere players in the game. The switch-hitting slugger lists two-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove award winner, three-time Silver Slugger award winner and World Series champion among many other records and accomplishments on his résumé.
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Building Your Ark
Set:We all think about the fun and excitement of a big game, but we are at our best only if we have been committed to working hard in preparation beforehand. In baseball, we like to dream about getting the game-winning hit or throwing the rally-ending strike out, but that will likely only come true if we put sweat and practice into making ourselves better. Baseball success, like any other sport, comes when we do the behind-the-scenes work. This means that when we are at home, we need to be running, doing the exercises our coaches assign and getting enough sleep. And in practice, we must work on mechanics, think through game situations and do all the repetitions of batting, running the bases and backing up throws. All of this preparation gets us ready for game time.
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Choose Obedience
Set:Football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Winning means you're willing to go longer, work harder, and give more than anyone else.” That's so true. To be a winner you must make a commitment to sticking with a task and following through with it. We all want to be winners, but many things, including the many temptations to make bad choices, stand in our way. Those choices often keep potential winners on the sidelines.
Life is full of trade-offs. The bad choices you make today are the down payments on your problems tomorrow. It's all a part of living under God's law of sowing and reaping (Galatians 6:8).
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The Dash
Set:One thing I love about FCA is how it ties our athletic lives into our faith. A lot of similarities can be drawn between Christianity and sports.
I own a funeral home, and I therefore attend a lot of funerals. One sermon I’ve heard a few times that I really like is about the dash. The dash that is talked about is the dash put on a headstone between the date of birth and the date of death. The point the pastor makes is that what is important is what is lived out in that dash between your date of birth and your date of death.
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Getting in Shape
Set:As spring has brought warmer temperatures to the Midwest, many people, including myself, are trying to get fit, lose weight and get in shape. As I get my road work in, I cannot help but think of years ago when, as a basketball player, I went through the personal torture of pre-season conditioning. I used to hate it. All that running before basketball season seemed senseless.
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Walkie-Talkie
Set:More than thirty years later there is still evidence that my front tooth took a chunk of wood out of my mom’s furniture. When my two older brothers and I were kids, we invented a game called “Walkie-Talkie.” I know a walkie-talkie is a portable, handheld communication device, but we hijacked the name because it perfectly fit our game. When I think back on it, I’m pretty sure it was really just a game that allowed my brothers to inflict bodily harm on me, but I wasn’t smart enough to figure that out. I was just thankful they wanted to do something with their youngest brother. (Do I hear an “Amen!” from all the youngest kids out there?)
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ConGRADulations! Class of 2012
With over 1,200,000 copies given to graduates by 25,000 churches, ConGRADulations! is the #1 grad gift of the decade, and this year you are going to love the line-up of hard-hitting, powerful music and advice for your grads.
It's Music (21 songs from the top names in Christian music including Switchfoot, tobymac, Lecrae, Jamie Grace, Skillet, Jeremy Camp, Owl City, Newsboys).
It's Media with over 1 hour of video with artist, author-speaker, and fellow grad video greetings and advice, grad books and more.
It's a 48 page Grad Gift Book and a Personalizable Gift Package. -
S.E.E. the Light
Set:Back when I played “ankle-biter” football as an 8-year-old, I remember how parents would pull their cars up next to field and shine their car lights
when the practice was running late and it was getting too dark to see the ball. Our coach needed more light to teach us that big play that would win
it for us on Saturday. Four cars (eight lights) lit the practice field up like a Christmas tree! As little football players, we saw the light.
As athletes we need to S.E.E. the light. Not the car lights, but another kind of light. This light deals with our physical bodies that God created
for us to take care of, not abuse. S.E.E. stands for Sleep, Eat and Exercise. I meet so many competitors who train hard on the field of competition,
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Just a Rabbit’s Foot?
Set:When I was playing professional lacrosse, I was the only Christian on my team (as far as I knew). I was outspoken about my faith during my four years of playing, and I never had another player share with me about their faith in Jesus. I felt God had placed me on the team to be a light. As the token Christian player, my teammates selected me to do the team prayer. Usually, if it was a big game, I would have a player say something like, “Pray a GOOD one Dan. This is a huge game!” The mentality was that a “good” prayer would lead us to victory; a “bad” prayer would lead to defeat.
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Competence and Confidence
Set:One of the biggest hindrances to an athlete's performance is doubt. Wondering whether or not he or she is capable of doing the job. From the hitting drills of football to individual at-bats of baseball to the weight lifting of everyone, a major factor of success is being confident in the ability to do something.
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Dedication
Set:Years ago, when I ran track in college, I had the privilege of doing workouts with several elite athletes who trained at the same facility in California. One of the athletes in my workout group was a promising college freshman named Mark Crear. Three years later, I watched his career take off after he finished third at the NCAA finals in 1990. Over the the next 14 years, Mark emerged as one of the top hurdlers in the world. An Olympian with two Olympic medals, he held the No. 1 or 2 ranking in the world several times during that span. He is remembered most for taking the silver medal in the 1996 Olympics with a cast on his broken arm.
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In the Zone
Whether gliding gracefully across the cavernous outfield of PNC Park or sprinting between bases to avoid a sweeping tag, Pittsburgh Pirate Andrew McCutchen’s game is predicated upon his ability to move quickly from one place to another.
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Heart of a Coach: Andy Lopez
As one of just three coaches in Division I history to guide three different schools to the College World Series—including one national championship—University of Arizona baseball coach Andy Lopez is considered among the game’s all-time elite. But past accomplishments aren’t what drive this veteran coach. Rather, it’s the God-given responsibility he feels to teach values and life lessons to his players.
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Heart of an Athlete: Stephanie Steinweg
As a young girl, William and Mary lacrosse player Stephanie Steinweg looked up to female athletes. She loved watching them on the field and tried to learn what she could through observing their skills. Years later, the senior midfielder is returning the favor from the opposite end, inspiring young girls—specifically at FCA Camp—to give all they have on the field, not for their glory, but for God’s.
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Faith in the Philippines
In the 1970s, Swiss biologist Hermann Brandt created a game called tchoukball (pronounced “chook-ball”)—a teamwork-heavy mashup of more well-known sports, including volleyball, jai alai and handball. The goal was to allow players of all ages and walks of life to experience the thrill of competition without the aggressiveness and violence that commonly permeates athletic events.
Four decades later, tchoukball has increased so much in popularity that it now boasts junior, women’s and men’s world championships at the international level. And today, it is helping a passionate group of FCA International missionaries and partners in the Philippines reach athletes and coaches for Christ and share a love that transcends creed, culture and competition.
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Faith in the Philippines
In the 1970s, Swiss biologist Hermann Brandt created a game called tchoukball (pronounced “chook-ball”)—a teamwork-heavy mashup of more well-known sports, including volleyball, jai alai and handball. The goal was to allow players of all ages and walks of life to experience the thrill of competition without the aggressiveness and violence that commonly permeates athletic events.
Four decades later, tchoukball has increased so much in popularity that it now boasts junior, women’s and men’s world championships at the international level. And today, it is helping a passionate group of FCA International missionaries and partners in the Philippines reach athletes and coaches for Christ and share a love that transcends creed, culture and competition.
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Fit4Ever: Be Aggressive
Cancer is a powerful enemy, and I believe God calls us to be aggressive as we fight it–both in prayer and action. At one moment we are called to trust and surrender, and in the next to take up arms and fight. That’s what it means to be aggressive: daily doing battle in the heavenly realms, prayerfully asking God to move and do what only He can do. During our fight, we need God to do surgery inside us at the heart and soul level. We need Him to change our internal environment, both spiritually and physically.
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Home Stretch: Scott Stallings
My faith story begins like many others with my parents taking our family to church when we were kids. As I got involved at our church, youth group and FCA, my faith began to take root. I attended my first FCA Camp in eighth grade and went every summer through my senior year in high school. FCA perfectly blended my faith and my love for sports. I’d started playing golf when I was just 3 years old and had continued to play it, along with other sports, throughout high school.
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