For as long as I can remember, I wanted to play soccer for Baylor University. We moved to Waco, Texas, when I was in sixth grade, but I had heard stories of the Green and Gold’s glory way before then.

I need You, Jesus...To come to my rescue...Where else can I go...  From the streets you could hear their song. The collection of voices grew louder as the sound of worship drifted down the newly cemented driveway and floated into the humid summer night breeze. Within the walls of the recently erected Gulf Coast home gathered a group of young adults from Church of the Good Shepherd — a group whose lives one year earlier had changed as quickly as the flood waters rose on August 29, 2005, the day Hurricane Katrina hit.

Mike Minter and Mike Rucker, two longstanding pillars in the Carolina Panthers’ defense, are the best of friends. But there’s one thing Minter, a safety, just can’t understand about his chum, a hulking defensive end.

Each year, FCA recognizes servant-leaders who have faithfully served Christ through FCA by inducting a select few into the ministry's Hall of Champions. This year's class is as outstanding as ever.

Far away from the adoring fans and the harassing media, the smooth-talking agents and the lure of the NBA, Alabama point guard Ronald Steele withdraws to quiet places to pray.

A preseason All-American, the 6-foot-3, 185-pound Steele has high expectations for his junior year with the Tide. He dreams of an SEC title for his team and All-America honors for himself. He dreams of next season, too.

“I wasted a lot of years not giving God any glory,” says FCA’s Amy Marino as she reflects on her own college athletic career. “I didn’t want players on my team telling me about Christ. I didn’t feel I needed Him.” But seeing the joy that radiates from her face, you would never know there was a time when Marino’s heart wasn’t pursuing Christ.

Since her “Saul to Paul” conversion, Marino has dedicated her role as an FCA representative at the University of Illinois to leaving a mark on a new generation of athletes.

Depression has been called an "elephant in the room" in the Christian church. The black sheep of all medical conditions. The one thing no one wants to acknowledge. Yet, it seems to be the one thing everyone is dealing with, either personally or through friends or family members. Everyone knows someone who is currently or has previously battled this disorder. And that's not just an assumption; it's a statistical fact.

In the United States alone, 18.8 million people (close to 10 percent of the adult population) are affected by a depressive disorder in a given year. That's almost one out of 10 people.

Perhaps more than any other sport, Major League Baseball often becomes a family business. It’s not unusual for sons to follow in the footsteps of Major League dads or for brothers to pursue similar dreams on the diamond. What is rare, however, is for those Big League dreams to be realized by all of the sons in one family. The story of the three Drew boys from Hahira, Ga., is one of baseball’s current legends in the making. J.D., Tim and Stephen, who grew up playing front-yard baseball games in southern Georgia, all pursued that risky career path of baseball. And all three made it.

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, because He cares about you.” – 1 Peter 5:6-7

I can’t remember the last time I had a definite end time to my daily responsibilities. You know, like when the whistle blows and you grab your lunch box, clock out, go home, eat dinner and just hang out? More often than not, things that I need to get done stretch far beyond a normal 24-hour day.

This year’s Winter Olympics in Vancouver promise to be truly exciting and inspiring. Nations will both unite and collide as they
compete for medals, honor and their countries. Some athletes, however, will be competing for a higher purpose: the glory of the Lord. Take some time to get to know eight of them here, then cheer them on and pray them up when the Games begin!

If you gave him just 30 minutes to share his vision for the Denver FCA urban ministry, you’d be captivated. And at the end of those 30 minutes — if he could speak fast enough to squeeze in his passion and strategy — you might sink slowly back into your chair, exhausted at the thought of what God has called him to do, yet energized to see his vision come to fruition.

To Rick Parros, white and black are just the colors he sees when he opens his morning newspaper. And race is just something sprinters do when they speed to the finish line.

Our defeats are seldom instantaneous. In reality, most of them have been long in the making. And, unfortunately, we often supply the means for our own self-ruin.

There is an old fable about an eagle and an arrow that concludes with the magnificent creature being shot down by a hunter. It is with great pain that the eagle realizes the arrow was made with one of its own feathers. It had essentially brought about its own death.