In the tight-knit community of Middleburg, Fla., residents have a history of showing support and commitment to their neighbors. So when Middleburg High School Volleyball Coach Carrie Prewitt got word that one of her players and her two younger sisters were headed for foster care, she knew what God was calling her to do.

Los Angeles has so many potential distractions and pitfalls for young kids growing up there. But, in my own life, because God had blessed me with a solid faith in Him through the instruction of my mother, I was able to avoid most of them.

On Oct. 10, students across the nation will pack their local football stadiums, standing shoulder to shoulder on a cool fall night. The crowds won’t be drawn in for matchups against big rivals, but for a far more powerful and important cause—the salvation of their classmates and the opportunity to share Jesus’ love at a Fields of Faith event.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

MidAmerica Nazarene University volleyball coach Kristin Steele’s favorite verse from Scripture is Jeremiah 29:11, in which the Lord declares, “For I know the plans I have for you…” She’s living proof, as she followed His guiding, not her own, from standout collegiate volleyball player to collegiate volleyball coach years ago. Now in her third season at MNU, Steele is pushing her Pioneers to new levels of success on the court and deeper relationships with the Lord away from it.

Year after year, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide battles for college football’s national championship, and this season should be no different on the field. But this fall, life itself is different in Tuscaloosa.

A passionate pursuit of the Lord ultimately led Sue Semrau to Florida State and forever changed the course of the Seminole program and players.

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” – Ephesians 6:10 (NIV)

This season hasn’t exactly turned out the way Iowa State volleyball player Rachel Hockaday planned. As a junior outside hitter, Hockaday was set to be a key component in the Cyclones’ success but suffered a season-ending knee injury just 12 points into the first match of the year. As STV’s November “Heart of an Athlete,” Hockaday had fielded our interview before the season, but, after the circumstances changed, she was kind enough to give us a few more minutes on the phone and tell us how the Lord has worked through this new challenge.

I was thinking overnight about some of the qualities that enable sports chaplains and sports mentors to be most effective in their work with coaches and competitors. One of those is empathy. Empathy is the ability to see situations from another’s point of view, to even feel what the other is feeling.  Empathy shapes our attitudes and aligns our hearts and emotions to be most effective at communicating God’s heart in any given situation.

Failure threatened to expose Coach Scott Glabb. He slumped against the door frame of the Santa Ana High School wrestling room and watched the last of his wrestlers exit the school after practice. But could he even call it a practice? He’d wasted the first 15 minutes searching for the keys to his office after his athletes had locked him out … again. And when he’d finally gotten to the wrestling room, he’d found that half of his team was missing. Of the few who had shown up, two were set to exchange blows over allegedly stolen wrestling shoes, and one appeared to be intoxicated.

The circle on the Morehouse College football field spanned from the 10 yard-line to midfield. Locked arm-in-arm were football players, cheerleaders, coaches, administrators and volunteers from both sides of the rivalry.

Morehouse and Clark Atlanta. They’re two of Georgia’s 10 Historically Black Colleges and Universities and, even more specifically, two of the four undergraduate colleges seated on a single 200-acre lot on the west end of downtown Atlanta.

Rigo Lopez sounded tired, but satisfied. It was a crisp November evening in Palo Alto, Calif., and Lopez, an upbeat Bay Area FCA area representative, had just concluded two long days of camps. Coordinating a four-hour baseball clinic at Santa Clara University that featured major leaguers, minor leaguers and college players as instructors would have been plenty of work by itself. But the next day, Lopez and the local FCA saff hosted a similar four-hour softball camp 30 minutes away at Stanford University.

The single most foundational truth of the Christian faith is what the Bible refers to as the gospel; that is the good news of Jesus Christ.  It is quite possibly the most overlooked part of our relationship to God, or lack there of, yet is absolutely the most essential aspect of knowing and connecting with Him. 

Without the good news of Jesus the Bible has no validity.  Without the good news of Jesus our faith is worthless. Without the good news of Jesus we have absolutely no hope of ever entering God's kingdom, learning His ways, knowing Him, going to heaven, or enjoying the life God intends for us to have.  (1 Corinthians 15:12-28; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12).