The movie "Invincible" tells the true story of former Philadelphia Eagles fan-turned-NFL-pro Vince Papale. After losing his job and his wife, Papale was told that he would never amount to anything, that he wouldn't make any money and that he wasn't going anywhere.

Has a coach ever told you, "You're not talented enough. You just won't make it."? Has a co-worker, spouse, friend or parent buried you in doubt?

In 1 Timothy, the Bible says that Jesus gave Himself as “a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time."

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!

Recently, my teenage son had to do something that was way too grown up. He had to get up, put on a suit and head to a local church for a funeral. It was the funeral of a friend, another teenager. It was not an easy thing for him to do or to face at such a young age.

Sadly, he has walked this path before. Several years ago, another of his friends lost his life in a four-wheeler accident. In that service, my son and his eighth-grade football teammates served as pallbearers. They all wore their football jerseys to the service and stood at the casket with so many questions running through their minds. “Why? Why him? Why now?” It was an awfully young age to struggle with such questions and to endure the sadness of never seeing that friend again—at least not here on earth.

Have you ever noticed that, when racing, runners tend to wear the lightest outfit or the least amount of clothing possible? From the weight of their shoes to the amount of hair on their heads. Why is this so important to them? The answer is easy: because the less you have weighing you down, the faster you will be and the more endurance you will have.

The same principle applies to the Christian life. Several times in his letters, Paul relates our lives as Christians to running a race. When running this race as Christians, God wants us to run with perseverance because He has so much set out for us to do. But, when we allow sin to cling to us, it slows us down.

Recently while I was fasting for a major FCA event we were hosting, I came to the realization that fasting was much like carbohydrate loading. As a marathon runner, I have used various forms of this tactic before my races. One way to “carbo load” is to deplete your body of energy-producing carbohydrates (sugars) for a few days, and then on the day before the activity, consume primarily carbohydrates. The idea is to use your maximized energy sources when you need them for your competition.