You Are Here > Popular content / Popular content
At twenty-seven inches tall and dressed in his sleek-fitting evening attire, the adeli penguin looks like a million bucks. A good day for a penguin is a day of “non-event.” It is a day where he has eaten a few fish, slid around on his belly to conserve resources, and has not been eaten himself! A good day for a penguin is one where he is able to wipe his brow at the end of it and proclaim, “I made it.”
Are you honest about your finances? Jesus spoke more about material things and how we handle them than anything else. Why? Because how we handle material things is an indicator of how much we really trust God. We all need material things to survive—money, food, water, and clothing—all of which God promises to provide for those who seek Him. People everywhere believe the more of these things they have, the happier they will be. That is just not true. In America, we have more things than any nation in history, but we are not a happy nation.
Alexis is a talented basketball player. As an eighth grader, she played on the varsity team at one school. Others quickly saw her ability and soon began mistreating her. Coaches and teammates beat her down mentally, and she began to grow a root of bitterness deep inside of her. She suffered several injuries and even transferred schools, but her situation did not improve. The root grew deeper and deeper.
It happens all the time: As an athlete or coach, you are confronted with a situation in which your attitude will dictate your altitude. Someone does you wrong; a promise is broken; a ref makes a horrible call in a game; you are treated poorly. Whatever the circumstances, does your attitude show that God is in your life?
In his letter to the Philippians, Paul urged the believers to stand firm in their faith in Christ. Paul wanted everyone to stay focused on Christ and the glory of the cross, no matter what happened. In every situation we are under the authority of God, and we should act and react accordingly. Though we may be wronged, mistreated or severely tortured, we must stand firm, knowing that God will provide the victory.
When I was a youngster, I used to play basketball with my older brother and his buddies. They were high school seniors when I was in fifth grade. Many times I was simply the kid that evened up the teams—an extra body.
Because I played with older guys, the trials I went through on the court were tough, and I often got discouraged. Eventually, however, I was able to handle the ball well enough to hold my own, and I developed enough game that, when I was left open, I could knock a shot down. When I went to play “bitty ball” at school against guys my own age, the game seemed much easier and I enjoyed success. Looking back, I realize that the experiences with the older players helped improve my basketball skills.
Hockey Chat: There is a main component of hockey skates that is ultimately most important but always over looked. The laces. Without them you have a wobbly unresponsive skate. But when tightened you have a controlled skate that is inline and reacts to you. Skates only work if under control.
Hockey Chat: One of the greatest things about winning the Stanley Cup is that each member of the winning team gets to spend a day with the cup. They get to have all their friends over to show it off personally. They get to share the great reward they have with everyone.
Hockey Chat: Have you ever tried to skate on dull skates. No edge means no go. When you have a nice blade you can stand firm, be sure of your turns, and move quick.
To humble ourselves under God means to be subject to Him. Because we can’t see Him, we forget He is watching. Sometimes we can’t hear Him, so we forget He is speaking. We can’t always feel Him, so we forget He never leaves or forsakes us. Just because we can’t always see, hear, or touch God doesn’t mean He isn’t mighty. He is able to destroy entire nations if He desires, as is often illustrated in the Old Testament. God is all-powerful. When we live in accordance to His will, we will experience His abundant blessings. As 1 Peter 5:6 states, He will exalt us in due time if we remain humble to Him.
How can we humble ourselves under God? We can start by listening to His advice, searching His Word, and spending time with Him.
One of the common questions posed to sports fans is, “Who do you follow?” Most people answer with a city, school or mascot: “I’m a Denver fan.” “I follow the University of North Carolina.” “I’m a Hoosier.” No matter how you phrase it, we all follow one team or another. This applies to our lives in Christ as well.
It is not uncommon today to hear believers ask, “What are you?” Some say, “I am a Baptist.” Others claim to be Methodist, Lutheran, Catholic and so on.
It was 5:56 in the morning, and I was barely awake. I knew this was going to be a challenge, but I couldn't remember the last time I woke up this early consistently. Maybe four years ago in college? See, for quite some time, I've been a slacker, a poser. I'd get up to head to work, and if I had time I'd cram down some Bible verses, toss up a few prayers and start the routine to the office.
Every team has them, and every team needs them—warriors. They display it on their faces—they’re ready to play! Their game faces are on, and they take the field ready for battle.
Zephaniah encouraged the people of his day to gather and pray. What great advice. I recently had the opportunity to see FCA warriors in action at a staff retreat. These warriors met early in the morning, some on their knees, some standing, most in chairs. They were prayer warriors—mighty men and women of God who truly knew what it meant to gather and pray.
Hockey Chat: In 1896, the Ontario Hockey Association stated the role of the goaltender in the rules: "The goalkeeper must not during play lie, sit, or kneel upon the ice” These rules held until goalies were given permission to drop to the ice with the start of the NHL in 1917. The new rules gave them freedom from being penalized for dropping down and allowed them to better protect their goal.
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.
Hockey Chat: Coaches have the important job of figuring where to play his skaters. All six players on the ice play an equally important role regardless of the position that they’ve been placed in. They are all there with the common goal, “keep the puck out of our net and get it into theirs.” Whatever they can do to play a part in getting to that goal, makes a winning team.
While I sat by my computer on Wednesday, the FCA Daily Impact Play popped up. Every once in awhile FCA will rerun a devotion from the past if it still relates to the present. To my surprise, a devotion I had written two years ago resurfaced. And as I read what I had written, I immediately started to weep.
Our small town high school football team had a record-breaking season last year. We finished 11–1, and ranked eighth in the state. This year our record is 0–6.
As coaches, we have all had the dreaded “rebuilding” season, the one where the most you hope to gain is respect for your efforts and sportsmanship. Even the best programs have rebuilding years. The best teams experience slumps. As coaches, we find this is a frustrating time. We get angry. We do not understand how we can do well one year and so poorly the next. We vent our frustrations on the players, our assistants, and even our families.We say and do things we later regret.
I’ve been out of college for two years now. I haven’t changed much (at least I’d like to think), but there is one aspect of my life that I’ve let slip: my physical workouts. I did all right in the summer and fall, but once the winter months came, I wanted to stay inside where it was warm. After a long day at work I didn’t want to exert any more energy than I already had. Unfortunately, this way of thinking became a habit, and I could feel my body losing all the muscle and stamina I had worked so hard to gain. Still, I made excuses. “I’ve done my time,” I reasoned. I gave my body everything I had for eight years straight, pushing it through multiple sports in high school and college.
I grew up in east Texas. Texarkana, to be precise. If I were to sum up my east Texas experience for someone unfamiliar with its culture and people, I would simply tell them about Gary Mills. He was a man who worked for my dad. Sort of. Gary worked when Gary wasn’t in jail.
Gary Mills owned a van that he’d bought at a pawn shop. Now, only in the piney woods of eastern Texas and portions of rural West Virginia can vehicles be acquired from pawnshops, for like two dollars. These are my people.
The college baseball season is in full swing, and I am spending many hours on a bus and away from my family. Unfortunately, my daily devotionals usually take a hit during this time of the year.
One night in the spring of 2008, God called me on it. I relish the opportunity to read to my daughters. My wife and I make it a priority to read at least one Bible story to them each night. One evening, as we finished reading, my oldest daughter noticed me closing the Bible and setting it on the night stand next to her bed. She asked why I closed the Bible, and I told her that we were done reading for the night and that it was time to go to bed. She said, “Daddy, I know but I would like the Bible to stay open. Please don’t close it.”
Do you have a favorite sport? Maybe, maybe not, but regardless of the type of game we enjoy, our favorite aspect of any sport ought to be respect. We owe respect to our opponent and to ourselves, as well as to the sport we are playing. The name for such respect is sportsmanship, and it also includes courtesy and fairness. I’ve discovered a sportsman-like attitude in golf and in track more than in other sports. Golf is typically played with honor. Winning first place in track isn’t crucial; a runner can earn points for finishing third, fourth, or even fifth place.
Hockey Chat: Goal judges were first used around 1877 in Montreal and stood right behind the goal (a brutal job for someone with no pads). Years later, they sat in elevated cages behind the glass and when they would see the puck cross the line, they’d turn on the bright red goal light to signal to everyone that a goal has been scored. The red light is a hockey icon now being a symbol of scoring a goal.
Hockey Chat: When a player gets double teamed up against the boards they know their in trouble. As they battle for the puck, they’ll often hear a familiar voice of someone on their team calling out instructions on a safe place to pass it. They would stay in trouble and lose the puck if someone didn’t call out to them.
It’s not from the world of sports, but it is what we’re all talking about today: the shootings at Fort Hood in Texas. There are so many questions to be answered, so many emotions to be addressed, so much pain to be endured. Our prayers are with the families of those killed and wounded today as they pick up the pieces and begin life under very new circumstances.
Ministry
Sport
Book of the Bible
FCA Bible Topic