You Are Here > Popular content
Hockey Chat: Have you ever tried to skate with your hockey pants around your ankles. It doesn’t work. It’s happened before to Marc Savard when during a game in Calgary when his belt broke. When your belt fails, the essential protection in your hockey pants doesn’t do much good slipping down your legs will you’re trying to skate. Little strap of fabric has a very important purpose.
There had not been an undefeated Kentucky Derby winner since Seattle Slew did it in 1977. Fans watching the 2004 Kentucky Derby saw a Pennsylvania-bred horse named Smarty Jones, with a trainer and a jockey who were both rookies, end the 27-year drought by winning the race, running the horse’s record to 7–0. Jockey Stewart Elliott later said:
"It is just unbelievable. We bunched up a bit on the first turn but things turned out great. It was a good trip. I crossed the wire and I can’t explain it; there aren’t words to describe it. At the three-eighths pole, I knew I had a loaded gun underneath me. I was just going to sit until he straightened up and switched leads. He really went to running."
As Christians, our ultimate purpose on earth is twofold: to bring honor and glory to our Lord and Savior, and to share His goodness and love with others. So often we forget that people are watching us and that God has commanded that we be a light to a lost and dying world. When I think of “letting my light shine,” I think of three ways that, as a coach and Christian man, I try to do that every day.
The life of a young person today is much different than it was 10-20 years ago. But as our campers share this week with their Huddle Leaders, it is obvious that the same problems are still there and are big as ever. Trying to figure out what life to live proves to be troublesome for many of them.
I fell in love with my wife in 1993. In 1999, I fell in love with our first child, Jaycee. Then, in 2002, a new love entered my life when I was tricked into running a marathon. And I have been addicted to long-distance running ever since. I have completed the Oklahoma City Marathon and the Gardens of the Gods 10-Miler. What is significant about this addiction is that I had absolutely no running history before 2002. In college I was an All-Conference, 305-pound offensive lineman. I once told a running back that if he ran more than 40 yards, he better have some sort of moves because I was done blocking after 40 yards. But, oddly, the running addiction has gotten a hold of me.
“I was telling myself 20 times a hole (to) keep my focus, keep my focus, keep my focus,” Michael Campbell said, “and it worked.” Michael Campbell began the final round of the 2005 U.S. Open at Pinehurst four shots behind the leader. However, he was one of only four golfers who shot under par on the final day, while those atop the leader board crumbled, giving him a two-shot victory over Tiger Woods.
Campbell’s focus on the golf course paid off—to the tune of $1.17 million. “I worked really hard for this, ups and downs from my whole career,” Campbell said. “But it’s worth the work. It’s just amazing.”
When you see a glass half-filled with water, what do you think? Is it half empty, or is it half full? It all depends on your perspective. So many different circumstances and situations happen in life. Uncertainties and challenges make life difficult, but attitude or perspective can make a positive difference. If you have the right perspective you can experience God's presence, power, promises and peace.
In Philippians 4:9, Paul said to learn from him, to put into practice the right perspective of faith in God no matter what your situation. There are three things we can learn from Paul when it comes to proper perspective.
Hockey Chat: Some guys know just how to get under the skin of their opponent. Sometimes it’s with a discrete cheap shot. Maybe a whack of the stick. All for the purpose of getting the guy to swing back. With retaliation comes consequences. Those couple minutes spent in the box might cost the team a goal. All because they had to get ‘em back.
Before He was ever crucified, Jesus gave the perfect summary of the foundation of Christianity. I just saw this in His Word for the very first time. I was thinking about Easter and thinking about the cross, when I remembered something Jesus said in Matthew 22:34-40.
In the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, sprinter Bob Hayes tied the Olympic record on his way to winning the gold medal in the 100-meter dash. Just a few months later, Hayes was dashing past defensive backs as a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. Turning a world-class sprinter into a football player was a radical concept at the time, yet Hayes’s success altered defensive strategy and changed how football is played.
“Back in ’82, I used to be able to throw a pigskin a quarter mile. How much you want to make a bet I can throw a football over them mountains? Yeah. If coach would've put me in fourth quarter... We'd have been state champions, no doubt. No doubt in my mind. You better believe things would have been different. I'd have gone pro...in a heartbeat. I'd be makin' millions of dollars and...livin' in a... big ol' mansion somewhere.” - Uncle Rico, “Napoleon Dynamite”
Every new year my wife buys me a running journal. It's a great little book that allows me to log in my weekly mileage, my times and even the weather conditions. If you were to glance through my book you would learn that it tells a story about me.
Three years ago I was in great shape, and the pages of that journal reflected that in all of the entries. Nearly every page was full. Last year's journal, however, told a different story. Many of the pages were empty, and they revealed my decline in fitness.
All athletes need to go through this, but most would probably rather skip it if it were possible. It’s probably the part of sports that is the least fun. Yet this is also the part that separates average athletes from top athletes.
Have you figured it out yet? It’s training. Athletic training involves many different things. Proper eating, weight training and practicing are all necessary in order to get into top playing condition.
As Christians, we need to be training ourselves spiritually. This involves getting sin out of our lives and removing those things that may not be sin but are a hindrance in our respective walks with Christ. An example of this is when sports in your life begin to take away from time that you need to be devoting to God.
Hockey Chat: Have you ever seen a guy who looked like the puck glued was to his stick. It may have looked like it from his puck handling. Those guys frustrate every defenseman. They have such control of the puck that it’s nearly impossible to take away. A poor puck handler will leave the puck behind every time.
Ok, so you’re an athlete. You’ve probably read or heard this verse before. But when was the last time you stopped and thought about it? What was Paul trying to say? Is the athlete the metaphor, or how the athlete trains? My take on this passage is that every Christian is an athlete; so, that leaves the training in this verse to be the focus.
Hockey Chat: Wayne Gretzky said it best when he was quoted, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take”. To win those scoring titles he had to press on and take those shots, even though not all of them went in. Continually pressing on makes winners
Hockey Chat: There are so many terrible players that we skate with. They miss the open net. They bobble the pass that was right to them. They can’t skate fast enough to make the play. And one more thing…….they are just like you and me. Give them a break when they goof and maybe they’ll cut you some slack next time it’s your man you should’ve been defending that scores or you shoot wide of the pipes. NOTE: The worst thing about wanting to be on a perfect team is that they will only take perfect players. Where would that leave you?
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.
We need people in our lives to push us to make us better. If we surround ourselves with people who don't require us to give our best, we are being cheated. Going one-on-one with the worst player on the team won't help you get ready for the big game, and it's the same in life. Surround yourself with people who will challenge you and who will require you to be honest, trustworthy and faithful. Do the same for them.
No featured resources found
Ministry
Sport
Book of the Bible
FCA Bible Topic