Alphabetical
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April 16, 2013
Set:
My very first day of coaching high school girls’ tennis fell on a hot August afternoon. As our practice was about to end, the only thing left was the distance run. I had my stopwatch ready to call out the time of each player as she finished. I knew this was going to be tough that first day; nobody was in great shape at the end of the summer after too many afternoons spent lying on the couch in air-conditioning.
After our fastest runner crossed the finish line, she immediately turned around to see how far back the other players were and saw one young player far behind everyone else. Without hesitating she sprinted back to that last runner and began to run alongside her for the last leg. Our fastest runner did not want anyone to have to finish last or alone.
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March 29, 2013
Set:
Becky was the best player on her team. Every one wanted to play like Becky. She was a hard worker, but there was more to her than what people could see. On a road trip, the last freshman selected for the team that year broke her foot during a practice before a game. When they arrived at the hotel that night, Becky carried her teammate's bags to her room and asked her to stay with her. For the rest of the trip, Becky helped this little freshman with everything she needed.
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May 02, 2009
Set:
Ever notice how easy it is to stop a treadmill? All you have to do is press the “stop” button. It’s right there in the center of the panel in bright red. It’s genius! But that simple red button is also a glaring source of temptation. It begs to be pushed when the run gets too long, the legs get heavy, or the mind gets bored. In fact, that tiny button can do major damage to a training program if we give in to the temptation to push it.
Every day, we as Christians face temptations from the enemy. Generally, he doesn’t waste time hiding them from us. He throws them right in our faces—kind of like red stop buttons in the middle of our running path with Christ.
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March 10, 2014
Set:
Competitors love to have goals, and they pursue them with everything they have. Nothing will get in their way! They will give their all—all the time. They will not give up or give in. And they will not give out. They are relentless.
“It’s hard to beat relentless.” – Jay Bilas
Relentless is everywhere these days. There is a Relentless energy drink, Relentless Nike running shoe, Relentless movie, “Relentless” country album, and even a Relentless steak and lobster restaurant.
As we unpack this concept of relentless competitor, there are several good one-word definitions of relentless:
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October 07, 2005
Set:
What does it take to win the game? The answer to this question often dictates the primary philosophy that coaches use as the basis of their decisions. Under ever-increasing pressure to win, every coach and player has been encouraged to bend or break the rules. In the world of sports, why is it so difficult to discern what constitutes cheating?
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February 19, 2010
Set:
Olympic speed-skater Chad Hedrick was part of a two-medal finish in the 1,000-meter finals Wednesday night, winning a bronze medal. After winning gold in the 2006 Olympics, Hedrick is one of the most prominent figures in Olympic speed-skating today. Yesterday, Hedrick was featured on the radio broadcast of Haven Today with the key line of the intro, “Chad Hedrick is not the same Chad Hedrick of four years ago.”
During this interview, Hedrick discussed his recent conversion experience. He admitted that most people knew him as a guy who worked hard and played hard. In describing his commitment to Christ, he said, “Now I find myself…really living a godly life now. I feel like I’m going in the right direction.”
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November 04, 2013
Set:
It was the biggest race of the season. All the runners were ready to go. The rugged course was full of hills and rough terrain, but it was THE race of the year. Every runner was excited to go. With a single shot the runners raced toward the opening in the woods. Early in the race seven runners broke from the pack and came to a fork in the path. The lead runner made the choice and each runner followed in stride.
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November 23, 2004
Set:
Every Wednesday night at about 6 p.m. I hear these words: "We need to get in the right place before Saturday!" This is the charge given to his team by Coach Randy Walker, head football coach at Northwestern University. He challenges his team, staff and everyone present to get in the right mindset mentally, physically and spiritually before they play on Saturday. He is constantly encouraging his team to get in the right place.
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April 11, 2006
Set:
The first race I ever ran was a marathon. Talk about starting with a bang! I always played team sports and raced until I ran the dreaded 26.2-miler. It was an incredible experience my body will never forget. I learned firsthand the four key aspects to every race, and they all can be related to our spiritual life.
The race is against the competition. There were thousands of competitors I wanted to beat and who wanted to beat me. In the same way, when we run the race for Christ, we have three main competitors: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Each one intends to prevent us from crossing the finish line.
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January 17, 2012
Set:
The first race I ever ran was a marathon, an incredible experience my body will never forget. I learned there are four key aspects to a race, and they all relate to our spiritual life.
We race against competition. There were thousands of runners I wanted to beat and who wanted to beat me. When we run the race for Christ, we compete against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. We race against the clock. Every mile a clock declared I was nearing the end. People say since we only go around once, live it up. Christ says since we only go around once, make it count.
We race for a prize. I received a medal for completing the marathon. As Christians, our prize is heaven and eternity with God!
