You Are Here > Popular content / Popular content
During his Major League career, New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira has established himself as one of the premiere players in the game. The switch-hitting slugger lists two-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove award winner, three-time Silver Slugger award winner and World Series champion among many other records and accomplishments on his résumé.
The context of the verse above indicates a rather materialistic place. Jesus had just addressed being concerned about food, clothing and drink. The issue, though, is greater than “all these things” being added to those who seek and find the Kingdom.
When five-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe retired from competitive swimming at the age of 24 he said, “breaking records wasn’t as inspiring as it should have been.” As a teenager, Thorpe splashed into the swimming scene and swam to 13 world records from 1999 to 2002, becoming an international star after dominating at the Sydney Olympics.
Even with all the success, he realized the medals, titles, records, and accomplishments did not last long. The fans went home. The cameras were turned off. And Ian was left with an empty feeling that success cannot fill. The external stuff fades quickly. It is never enough.
For this activity, you need ten non-permanent, washable ink pens. Have five guys each remove one shoe and one sock. They have three minutes to collect as many female signatures as possible on the soles of their feet. You might want to limit each girl to signing the foot of only three guys.
Ron Brown and Les Steckel talk about the radio program. Ron interviews Tony Dungy and John Wooden. Then Les talks about cooperation and its importance to a team (or family).
Here’s a heart check—do we do what pleases our coaches all the time or only when they are watching? Do we do the right thing just to win their favor or because it’s right? In Ephesians 6:6, Paul was rather direct with the people of Ephesus about their work ethic.
I often watch teams closely during practice and as they warm up prior to competitions. I see players who give a great effort when the coach is watching, but as soon as the coach’s head is turned, some of those players immediately start cutting corners and cheating on drills. Their hearts are not fully with their coaches or their teammates. They fail the heart check.
Ever since Leslie Frazier was born on April 3, 1959, in the midst of many personal and social complexities in the segregated South, life has been a trade-off of big trials and big successes. But in each instance, the truth of Romans 8:28—Frazier’s favorite verse—has been validated. He knows that God truly does work for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.
He knows because he is living proof.
For this activity you need balloons (not inflated), two oversized pairs of sweat pants, two oversized sweatshirts and one needle. Break into two teams. Each team has two minutes to inflate and pass the balloons to a teammate who is wearing the oversized sweat pants and sweatshirt. This person stuffs the balloons into the oversized sweats. When the two minutes is up, a leader counts the balloons by popping them with a needle (carefully!) while the person is still “wearing” them. The team who is wearing the most balloons wins.
This summer, thousands of world-class athletes will descend upon London to represent their countries at the Olympic Games. Among them will be a group of believers who will also be representing Jesus Christ as they square off in competition. some of these Christian athletes shared what it means to compete for Christ on the world’s greatest athletic stage.
As Christian competitors, we realize that God has called us to serve, but do we understand that we should be consumed to serve? Is there a consuming fire that burns in us to serve others around us who are hurting and to help those who need to experience the love of Christ through us? We serve because the ultimate purpose of serving is to glorify Christ. Rick Warren said, “We serve God by serving others. The world defines greatness in terms of power, possessions, prestige, and position. In our self-serving culture with its ‘me first’ mentality, acting like a servant is not a popular concept.” In the athletic world, everyone struggles to some degree with the “me first” mentality.
As a girls’ basketball coach, I remember one game last season in which my best player was having difficulty making lay-ups and playing defense. When I pulled her out of the game and asked her what was wrong, she said she hadn’t eaten anything and was hungry. I quickly sent an assistant coach to purchase a candy bar and a sports drink for her. Once she ate the snack, she was able to come back in the second half and perform well for a few minutes. Before long, however, the hunger pains returned. The snack hadn’t been enough.
When my player was hungry, I thought that giving her a convenient snack would satisfy her enough to make it through the game. What I didn’t consider, however, was that the quick fix was not enough to sustain her energy.
Every Friday morning at Hardee Junior High School in Wauchula, Fla., more than 750 students can be found crammed into the auditorium for an FCA Huddle meeting. In a little more than half an hour, school will begin for the day. But for now, in the junior high auditorium amid the backpacks, textbooks and hundreds of sixth, seventh and eighth graders, praise music blares, and the message of Christ's redeeming love is preached.
Almost 200 students have given their lives to Christ during the morning meetings.
When Matt Barkley decided to attend and play football at the University of Southern California, visions of conference and national championships surely ran through his mind. But rather than seeing those dreams become reality, he was instead thrust into the role of the man who would lead the cardinal and gold through the darkness of NCAA sanctions. Given the opportunity to transfer or pursue NFL stardom, Barkley instead chose to remain at Southern Cal and now, in the midst of his senior season, he’s rewriting the Pac-12 Conference and Trojan record books.
I can still remember the smell of my first baseball glove. I remember begging my mom and dad to let me play ball. I remember getting the call from my coach to let me know what team I would be on and putting my uniform on as soon as I received it. I remember opening day, the first game, the sno cones, Frito pies for supper, talking about the upcoming game with my friends at school, facing them the next day after a loss, and my mom and dad never letting me blame anything on the umpires, teammates or coaches. I remember my parents staying late after the game and visiting with friends, going to the ballpark even when we didn’t have a game, and the end-of-the-year party.
In our house, it has become a family tradition to watch the Little League World Series. We start checking the calendar in early July to see when the games will start, and, by the end of August, we are on a virtual first-name basis with most of the kids we watch. Heck, we still talk about Kyle Carter, and that was six years ago!
As a baseball family ourselves, it’s heartwarming to see the camaraderie, sportsmanship and pure joy of 12-year-olds playing baseball. Even though they are playing in front of crowds of more than 40,000 and under the spotlight of ESPN coverage, these kids muster up the courage to play because they love the game!
There is quite a bit of setup to make this work right, but it is really funny. Place a couple of tables or card tables beside each other (leaving 8 inches between them) and cover with table cloths that hang down to the floor. Overlap the table clothes together leaving just enough space for someone’s head to come up between the two tables. Place four boxes on the table and ask one person to kneel on the ground between the two tables (now slightly spread apart) with their head above table level under one box. Put different kinds of balls under the other three boxes.
Do you like to speak in public? What about in front of many adults? What about speaking in front of your school board? Three students at a local middle school did just that the other night to defend why they thought FCA should be allowed in their school. For three months, this school board tabled the decision to allow FCA to start, but these students stood their ground and continued to pursue the school board until they allowed them to speak. These brave students had to stand tall for their faith.
Growing up and well into my adult years, I was a dancer. I’m sure some of you are thinking, “This is the Fellowship of Christian ATHLETES, not dancers.” But let me assure you, as a dancer, you have to be an athlete. We had to practice, commit to conditioning, eat right, get enough sleep, and compete. Dancing definitely took hard work, diligence and teamwork.
Practice isn’t always a player’s favorite thing to do. At times there are two-a-day practices or extra-long exercises to get a team organized. In the beginning, practices are hard and exciting, then when the squad is picked, the coaches focus on teaching plays.
We’ve all heard “practice makes perfect.” A better way to say it is, “practice makes permanent.” How a player performs in practice is how he or she will play in a game, thus, the player who gives a half-hearted effort in practice becomes ineffective at game time. That is why setting specific goals for practice is important.
The Apostle Paul said that every athlete should go into strict training to compete for a prize.
Two friends are visiting. The Christian friend tries to persuade the sinner that he needs Christ. The sinner is not ready for that and walks away. (Play the song here.) He runs into one demon at a time who burdens him with a sign (sin) of alcohol, sex, rebellion, etc. He acts confused and weighted down. Then he runs into Satan who calls his demons and they torture the sinner. He calls for help from his friend, but he can’t help and yells, “Only Jesus can help you.” The man being tortured realizes Jesus is the answer and yells “Jesus, I need you.” Jesus comes and slays the demons. Then he takes the sins off one at a time and stands on them and holds the sinner (till the end of the song).
Have you ever turned your TV on to a ball game and witnessed a coach or player saying words you did not want your children to repeat? Foul language is common in athletics today. What makes using these words so attractive? Some say it motivates or is necessary to get a point across. If this is the case, how do teachers and preachers teach lessons of life without using these words? If this type of language is used to motivate, then why is over 90 percent of it used in a negative context?
Ministry
Sport
Book of the Bible
FCA Bible Topic
