Does the Holy Spirit actually lead us into tough situations??
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Amazing Grace
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Last weekend, at FCA's "Weekend of Champions," Pastor Nick Orduna spoke to almost 600 Nebraska high school students about God's amazing grace. He explained how God's grace is marked by His goodness, mercy and never-ending love for us, even though we deserve nothing but judgment and condemnation. How are we fortunate enough to receive God's grace?
Romans 3:23-24 says that we all have fallen short of God's glory, but only by God's grace through the redemption of Jesus Christ can we be saved. It is often easy for us to lose sight of how amazing God's grace really is. We take forgiveness and mercy for granted, and don't even realize the love that God shows through His grace. Can you fully grasp the true meaning of grace?
On The Clock
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With all the rain in the Chicago area this spring, I had plenty of time to watch the NFL Draft. It always intrigues me how it takes so long for teams to make their selections in each round. A team is on the clock until the final player is chosen. What a process.
Renting or Owning
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When I first moved to North Carolina a number of years ago, I was blessed with a fine home. It sat on a beautiful river and was surrounded by mountains. It was idyllic in many ways, but I didn’t own it. I enjoyed its many amenities, but it wasn’t mine. And that made a big difference.
Prior to moving to Boone, I had owned my own home for many years. Renting is much different. Instead of spending a lot of time working on home improvements, as I had before, the closest thing I did to home improvement was mowing the lawn. Why? Because I wasn’t going to invest in something that was not mine. Look at any rental district, and you will see I am not alone. Rental properties are well known for the lack of care shown to them by their tenants.
Staying in the Draft
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In cycling, riders will follow closely behind the cyclist in front of them to decrease the effects of wind resistance. This is called drafting. Drafting allows for faster speeds at an easier effort level. When drafting, you fix your eyes on the back tire of the cyclist in front of you. This requires you to have a great deal of trust in the rider in front of you to pick a straight line, keep a steady pace and to point out pot holes and debris on the street.
Ownership
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One of the greatest things I have experienced as an athlete and now as a coach is the development of a team by the groups that have truly understood this concept. A true team does not happen simply because a group of players are organized into a unit. The true team consists of individuals who take ownership of their responsibility to work together and strive for the same goals. In this situation, individuals place the team above their individual aspirations.
Biggest Loser Diet - Is it Extreme?
Let’s take a closer look at the diet behind the success stories!
Anger Woes
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Anger. It's something everyone deals with every day. It may be slight (i.e. being fouled in a basketball game) or significant (being robbed). There are various degrees of anger, but it all carries the same danger of sin.
Making Excuses
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One of the easiest things to do in sports is to make excuses for a bad performance. Usually, the officials get blamed for our poor performance or lack of execution. Making excuses is an easy way for us to not take responsibility for our actions.
In the same way, as Christians we sometimes make excuses for the sins we commit. It is easier for us to blame others instead of taking responsibility for our actions. Let's look at some common excuses Christians make and what we should do instead of making excuses.
(a) "I won't get caught."
Encouragement from the Stands
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This weekend Michigan State University’s men’s basketball team pulled off an upset of the UCONN Huskies to advance to tonight’s NCAA national championship game against North Carolina. Now, I don’t know if you saw the game or not, but it certainly seemed to me that there was a lot of green in the stands in support of the Spartans. With the Final Four being held in Detroit, which is only about 90 miles from MSU’s campus, it would be safe to say that the Spartans were at a great advantage. And I have no doubt that it helped them keep momentum as they went on to victory on Saturday night.
Staying Fit
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As a recent high school graduate, I realize that sports are over for me. But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't still stay in shape. I have to continue to workout in order to maintain my physical fitness.
The same is also true for our spiritual lives. We must continue to workout our faith, even after we leave church and are no longer in fellowship with believers. We must exercise spiritual fruits in order to gain spiritual strength.
In Pursuit Of
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Championships, money, grades, trophies, recognition. These are all things we are pursuing these days. On the surface, these things are not inherently bad, but are we consumed by these pursuits? I see nothing wrong with wanting good grades, to be good in sports and ultimately to win a championship, but those should not be our end-all pursuits.
Never Give Up
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Imagine an athlete lying outside a doctor’s office for 38 years, unable to walk because both legs are broken. For nearly 4 decades he waits for his name to be called. Then some guy comes up and says, “You’re next. Do you want to get well?” My first response would be, “Duh! Why do you think I’ve been sitting here for so long?” Then I would probably say something like, “I’ve been here so long I’ve read every sports magazine published since 1970, had 13,870 cups of coffee (one a day), and watched 38 World Series. I’m still waiting for the Cubs to win. Of course I want to be healed!”
Unrealized Dreams
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It was the final game for the eighth grade I.H.M.-St. Casimir Eagles boys basketball team, one in which they could capture the league championship of the City-Wide Catholic Youth League. For the previous three seasons, this talented group of young men and their devoted coach had achieved success but had always narrowly lost in the final games of the tournament. But this year, in their final game together, their hopes were high. It seemed to be their year, and everything seemed to be lining up for the perfect ending to their basketball career.
Team Jesus
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The NFL Draft is coming up in April. This year, the experts say that the number one pick will be either Arkansas' Darren McFadden or LSU’s Glenn Dorsey. Could you imagine being the number one pick? Well, surprise… You are!
You are a top recruit! God is recruiting you for His team, but the enemy is trying his best to keep you from joining "TEAM JESUS." Psalm 51:5 says that we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity (or evil). That means that we have to make a decision to join God's team. If we leave this world without accepting Christ, we cannot enter His Kingdom.
Travel - Surviving the Road
Travel takes us out of our normal routines and causes some to throw off restraint!
Labor
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Do the implications presented in this verse grab your attention? Do you labor or stay alert in vain? Perhaps you’ve heard the statement, “Where there is smoke; there must be fire.” The unconditional love of God is the “smoke” that demands a response of obedience, especially when it comes to our daily labor.
God, in His infinite wisdom, allows us to choose between doing things our way or His way. There are painful lessons to be learned from laboring and staying awake in vain, without the residing power of God’s Spirit. God’s preference is for us to enter into that quiet place of rest and abide in Him. He commands us to cease striving and know that He is God!
Someone Is Always Watching
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Jeff, a young man preparing to go to college, is new in his faith in Christ. Before heading off to school, Jeff went on an FCA mission/work trip to New Orleans with his former high school’s Huddle. The trip included many of Jeff’s friends and former teammates, but the most significant person on the trip to Jeff was his younger brother, Dan. And everyone was curious to see how Jeff would live out his new faith in front of his brother.
Living Against the Grain (Integrity - Chapter 5)
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Ask anyone associated with the American Basketball Association (ABA) or National Basketball Association (NBA) throughout the mid to late ’70s and the early ’80s about the hardest-working players in professional hoops and inevitably one name will come up time and again: Bobby Jones.
Legends such as Julius Erving, Charles Barkley, Larry Brown and Dean Smith—men who all played alongside or coached Jones—all give the same glowing praise of his blue-collar work ethic, his respect for the game and its rules, and his virtuous life of integrity.
The Eternal Prize
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As a member of the sports media, I hear quite a few stories about athletes who build their entire lives around their sport. They eat, sleep, breathe and live specifically to achieve their personal athletic goals. It consumes so much of their mind that they don’t focus on anything else.
But then something unexpected happens. It could be a variety of things: injury, illness, or whatever. Suddenly, they are stripped of the sport that had occupied so much of their time and energy. And when it’s gone, they’re left with nothing. Complete emptiness.
It is at this point that many athletes realize they need something more—something that can’t be found in trophies or medals, something that is eternal. And this is exactly where God wants them.
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