I have a handful of life principles. One that I see played out over and over again is just how much competition reveals a person’s heart. In the heat of competition, true colors are shown. It is hard to hide your heart when you are sweating and giving it your all. Everything seems to come out, and sports have a way of exposing the truth. That can be really good or really bad, depending on what is in your heart.
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Be There

Imagine fielding a ground ball, throwing it to first base, and no one is there. Imagine running the bases, coming into third wondering whether to keep running, and no base coach is around. We depend on our teammates and coaches to be there. When we commit to a team, we commit to be there—win or lose, good or bad. We depend on our teams, and they depend on us.
Off the field, life is similar. When times are tough, we expect our friends to be there. When we arrive home—needing a meal, support, and love—we expect our parents to be there. When I come home at the end of the day, I expect my wife to be there. More importantly, when life is good or bad, I expect God to be there.
Shalee Lehning Study Series – Part 3

After an All-American college basketball career at Kansas State University, Shalee Lehning experienced a breakout rookie season in the WNBA as a guard for the Atlanta Dream. Not only did she help the team set a franchise record in wins, but also ranked individually among the top 10 in the WNBA in total assists. Now between pro seasons, Lehning is serving as an assistant coach at her alma mater under Coach Deb Patterson.
Self-Fulfillment

Last summer, as I sat in Yosemite Valley looking up at the famous El Capitan rock formation, I realized that I needed to come to grips with some things that I did not like about myself. I took out a piece of paper, and on it, I made three columns. At the top I wrote “Who am I,” “What do I want to change,” and “How am I going to get there.” As I started to write, I found if difficult to be honest with myself. But after I was done, I realized two vital things: (1) Nothing could happen without Christ, and (2) my days of self-fulfillment needed to end.
Following the Rules

Each new season starts out with a team meeting. The coach gives the team rules and goes over the expectations for the upcoming season. The coach makes sure that there is no question about what will be expected out of the athletes.
God is the ultimate head coach. Just as a good earthly coach goes over the rules, so does He. God gave His “team rules” to the Israelites through Moses, and He expected them to be followed.
When our earthly head coaches expect us to follow the team rules, they generally set out a reward. The reward might be a letterman’s patch or pin, or it could be lessened conditioning in practice. Whatever it is, the head coach makes sure that we know the rewards for following the team rules.
Worship

One problem with us today is that we often forget we own nothing. Talent, leadership ability, and even the very lives we live are God’s property.
Job lost all he had through no fault of his own. As he struggled to understand why, it became clear that it was not meant for him to know the reasons. How he reacted is paramount—He worshiped God! Today we tend to worship depending on how well life is treating us. Job exemplified a very valuable principle—worship is the lifestyle we lead, not the momentary prevailing mind-set.
Walk it Out. We have to live out our theology through action.
Obey. Every Christian has been called to obedience. Job was known as a man of integrity because he obeyed God.
Micah 7:8

Hockey Chat: In the 95-96 NHL season something incredible happened. After not even making it to the playoffs the year before, the underdog of the season was a team in a state that didn’t have many hockey rinks and was hardly a place any NHL’r would imagine a good team would develop. Other teams may have laughed at the thought of this club being a contender but the Florida Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup finals only 3 years after they started up, a record at the time for start up teams to make it that far.
Goals

In the Zone

How many times have you heard it said that an athlete is “in the zone”? You know exactly what that means. Every athlete wants to get in that zone. When we’re there, we don’t feel any pain. We don’t feel exhaustion. We feel pretty close to unbeatable.
Lessons from a Bowl Breakfast

How do I smell?

Last week I got to go to Austin, Texas, to interview Colt McCoy for the December issue of Sharing the Victory magazine and our online video ministry. In my line of work, I get to sit down with Christian athletes and coaches on a regular basis and talk about their faith. It’s a dream job, of course, and one that I thank God for every day.
In all of these interviews, I meet a lot of different personality types. There are hard-nosed, intense guys who convey that in their passion for the Lord. Some are more reserved and shy, yet incredibly sincere. Others are just straight-forward, no-nonsense athletes who tell you like it is. It’s such a unique opportunity to see how God’s body has many different parts that function as a whole unit for His glory.
Luke 6:32

The Lady Bing trophy is awarded to a player for the most sportsman like conduct. This is the only sport that actually gives an award for playing within the rules. Sounds ridiculous? Not really considering it’s the only sport where fighting is generally expected and only punished by 5 minutes of offsetting penalties. The point is that to play in such a tough field, and still keep courteous to those who generally don’t deserve it, deserves to be acknowledged and rewarded.
Stay in the Huddle

FCA Camp was awesome again this year. If you’ve never been to one, I highly encourage you to check one out in the future!
What makes FCA Camp so great? What is it about camp that we miss when we leave? Why do we want camp to last longer than a week? Think about it: FCA Camp offers an environment in which we are encouraged to be in God’s Word, to freely Worship Him, to enjoy fellowship with His people and to spend time with Him in Prayer. For one short week it seems that we can push away the things of this world and focus entirely on Him. We are truly abiding in Him. And when we abide in Him the things of this world fade away. Relationships are sweeter, worship is more focused and prayer seems richer.
DETOX: Oprah-Style

While a health “detox” can help restore vibrant health, don’t follow in Oprah’s footsteps!
Don't Defeat Yourselves

The Ultimate Goal

Coaches challenge players to set goals, both for themselves and for the team. One way to reinforce this practice is by maintaining a written journal or list of expectations. The great Apostle Paul had goals, too, one of which appears in his letter to the church at Philippi. Paul’s goal was to know Jesus more. If we made Paul’s goal one for ourselves and our players, what would be the result? Would the daily challenges of our jobs, the pains of failed relationships, or the sorrows of daily tragedies seem as unendurable if we knew “the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings”?
Trusting God

We live all of our lives by faith, whether we realize it or not. We have faith that a light will come on when we flip the switch. We have faith that our friends and spouses will be faithful to their relationships. Managers have faith that players will perform as they hope. Players have faith that everyone on the team will perform. The Bible describes faith as “the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” (Heb 11:1).
Titus 3:8

Hockey Chat: You can feel effects being out on the ice for the first time in a while. You can also feel the effects from working out or keeping active in preparation for game time. Devoting the extra effort helps you be a better skater. That helps the whole team win. Individual dedication leads to team victory.
Romans 2:13

Hockey Chat: You can be a great skater, shooter, and puck handler but that all means nothing if you don’t know the rules of the game. You’ll spend all your time in trouble for illegal hits or in the face off circle for skating offsides. Of course you have to follow the rules. It’s those who can a play good game within the rules are real hockey players.
Ephesians 6:10

Hockey Chat: Could you imagine what the scores would be like if goalies weren’t allowed to wear any equipment. We’ve got some talent between the posts during our skates but they thank much of that to the equipment they put on. Not only does it help to stop the pucks, it stops the pain as well. Going out there unequipped would be disastrous. Sure they would stand there for a few minutes and maybe even grab a slow sliding puck with their bare hands. But as the attacks keep coming, their lack of preparedness would leave them broken down. Every player has equipment to keep them safe. It helps them stand their ground and play hard.
Throwing the Bomb

During this past off season NFL quarterback Brett Favre found himself in the middle of a sports controversy. As the events played out regarding Farve and the personnel of the Green Bay Packers, it became apparent that Favre harbored some hurt feelings and resentment toward his former team.
Sometimes we can be offended by what someone asks us to do or by what they say to us. How are we to respond in times like these? Well, as I watched Brett Favre hurl a bomb downfield to a speeding receiver this weekend, I gained a little more understanding of what God wants us to do in these situations.
Be Ready!

Baseball immortal Ty Cobb, one of the greatest hitters of all time, was also a base- stealing “demon” during his playing days. In his autobiography, My Life in Baseball, the True Record, Cobb admitted that often he would use trickery to fool his opponents and steal a base.
Living in a World of Complainers

If you listen to people, being thankful is not a very common attitude. They complain about their classes, their jobs, their practice schedules, their parents (or kids), their friends, the weather, their teammates, and on and on it goes. In the world, it is easy to complain because everybody does it. Yet, as followers of Jesus, we are called to be thankful. That is no easy task when everyone around us is doing the opposite. It is just easier to fall in with them and do the same thing.
Trial by Fire (Integrity - Chapter 9)

When Laura Wilkinson says she used to be a very quiet and shy person, it’s a little hard to believe. That’s because these days, the outgoing, personable world-class diver is one of sport’s most outspoken Christian athletes.
Wilkinson is also very articulate when it comes to matters of faith. She strives to live with integrity in an effort to maintain solid footing on the broad platform that worldwide notoriety as an Olympic gold medalist has afforded her.
“I’ve had to learn to speak up for God in my life,” Wilkinson says. “I’ve realized that if He has a presence in my heart, He needs to have a presence in everything. If He’s really the center of my life, He’s really going to be involved in everything.”
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