Atlanta Dream guard Shalee Lehning has a favorite example of teamwork from the Bible. It’s found in Mark 2, and it tells the story of a group of men who were dead-set on bringing their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing.

One of the first things Kylie Miraldi learned as a student at San Jose State University was the meaning of dehydration. Miraldi the nutrition major had studied it in class. Miraldi the athlete had experienced the physical symptoms. But it was Miraldi the Christian who faced it in a spiritual showdown.

If you want to perform better on the field—and in life—sleep might just be your secret weapon.

I recently came across a study conducted by sleep expert Dr. Bill Dement from Stanford University in which he evaluated 11 players from the university’s men’s basketball team. For the study, the athletes were asked to sleep normally according to their habits for two to four weeks and then spend the next five to seven weeks sleeping 10 hours per night. While most of the athletes still slept fewer than nine hours per night, the results were eye-opening.

I recently downloaded an app for my iPhone called “Eat This, Not That!” It’s the official app for the bestselling weight loss book series by the same title, which offers simple food and drink swaps we can make when eating out, grocery shopping and cooking. While not all of their swaps are necessarily “healthy.” they are always better options than the popular choices listed.

Every comeback starts with a single play and then grows with momentum and belief. Start your health comeback today!

Edwin Etienne has a favorite phrase: God Over Everything. That “everything” includes fear and nerves, which—for a kid of Etienne’s stature—you wouldn’t think would be much of a problem.
But sure enough, when the football star and state champion wrestler was asked to speak at Riverdale (Fla.) High School’s Fields of Faith event last year, the butterflies were in his stomach.

It all started a few short years ago. I was frustrated by looking at the culture of the United States and its moral digression. I couldn’t help but think about my three kids who were about to become teenagers, and I was particularly struggling with the fact that we had so many great Christian resources in America — more than at any other time in history — and, yet, we still seemed to be losing the moral and spiritual battle. Everywhere my wife and I went, we were, as parents, always on the defense against the culture and the media. And anyone who knows anything about sports knows that if you’re always on defense, you’re not going to win. At some point you have to go on offense.

The story of how God is using Alex Hagler and the Memphis FCA staff to reach a new generation of female athletes.

Below are a couple of email responses I sent recently to a college baseball coach when he asked me, “Does the Bible have anything to say about failure?”

Coach,

I’ve been thinking through the issue of failure and the Biblical examples of it, they’re all over the place.

He didn’t even know what he’d said. He hadn’t prepared for it, and, truthfully, the whole thing was just a blur. He’d had enough on his plate at the moment without trying to recall what he’d said in front of the cameras.

As University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy sat in his hotel room after losing to Alabama in the Jan. 7, 2010, BCS National Championship game, he thought long and hard about what had happened. The loss itself was painful enough, but it was just one battle he was fighting inside. The other was why he’d not even had the chance to compete in the game.

The moment arrives in chaos.

Electricity saturates the atmosphere, as if the air itself is a conduit of high voltage. The crowd noise starts to swell like a massive breaker off the coast, cresting with awe-inspiring force. Indeed, the fate of the free world seems to hinge on what happens next. At least, that’s how it feels when the score is tied, a base hit would drive in two, and the screams of 37,000 fans are echoing off every green-hued corner of baseball’s oldest cathedral.

Hamilton College (NY) hockey forward Drew Jelinek is familiar with 2 Corinthians 12:9, which says that his Savior’s power is made perfect in weaknesses. The Great Falls, Va., native gained that knowledge last year as a sophomore when he spearheaded the effort to bring FCA to Hamilton despite his admitted fear of leading a Huddle. Now in his second year of facing that fear, Jelinek has discovered that the impact God is making on the campus is well worth it.