Every year I look at my team’s schedule of games during preseason and start to calculate wins and losses. One game I’m certain we’ll win, another we probably won’t, and still another will be a toss-up. Though each season is filled with uncertainty and challenges, the majority of coaches still dream about championships and most valuable player awards. What’s exciting to me is that God can do immeasurably more than all of those expectations combined.

History always repeats itself because man fails to learn from his failures. Therefore, we do well to remember historical events such as the Holocaust, the Civil War, and the Israelites’ forty-year wilderness wandering. The Bible tells us why the world is like it is: sin. The Bible has much to say about the blessings that come as a result of obeying and the curses, or consequences, that occur as a result of sin. We find these truths from Genesis to Revelation. God certainly forgives the sin of those who belong to Him through Jesus Christ; however, there are still consequences to be faced. Are God’s people today settling down comfortably in the society in which we live, casting out our distinctive Christian focus?

The first thing anyone asks a coach is, “How are things with your team?” When someone meets me and finds out that I am a coach, he usually asks, “Is your team good?” When I walk down the street after a game, people stop me to say, “Great win coach!” I always have a quick response, sharing all of the positive things that are going on in our program and painting our team in the best light.

Hockey Chat:  A battle for the puck is what the game is all about.  What teamwork is about is getting in there and helping your teammate win the puck.  There is that thankful feeling when the play moves on because of the support that your buddy gave in a time of need.

Hockey Chat:  Part of being on a NHL team is meeting up to high standards of play.  Those who do not perform up to that level are separated from the major league team and sent away.  Part of being a great team is maintaining a great group of players.  Those that are not, are gone.

Every team has them, and every team needs them—warriors. They display it on their faces—they’re ready to play! Their game faces are on, and they take the field ready for battle.

Zephaniah encouraged the people of his day to gather and pray. What great advice. I recently had the opportunity to see FCA warriors in action at a staff retreat. These warriors met early in the morning, some on their knees, some standing, most in chairs. They were prayer warriors—mighty men and women of God who truly knew what it meant to gather and pray.

Man, I am a workout-aholic. Can I get an amen from anyone else out there? Ever since I was in high school I’ve lived by a motto I read on a t-shirt: “Somewhere, someone is working out. And when you meet her in head-to-head competition, she will beat you.” I think somewhere along the line I adopted that as my personal mantra (especially when I started running), and I have been a gym rat ever since.

As athletes, coaches, and sports fans, how often do we strike up conversations about our favorite teams or sports? If you’re like me, I could talk for hours about my passion for endurance sports or even my love for the Atlanta Braves. But how often does the Lord creep into those same conversations with friends, coworkers, teammates and family members? The truth is that many of us like to stay in our little boxes and only speak about the Lord on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. I have to remind myself that the “Great Commission,” given by Jesus Himself, didn’t give any timetable or day of the week.

As coaches and athletes, we put all of our hearts, bodies, and emotions into our endeavors. We’re instructed to “give it all we’ve got,” and as we do, we begin to understand what Paul was saying to the Colossian Christians.

Hockey Chat: In 1896, George Merritt of the Winnipeg Victorias was the first goalie to sport ordinary crickett pads during the Stanley Cup playoffs to help him stop pucks. Soon after, crickett pads were used by all goalies.

I was reading a statement by Tom Glavine recently. He said, "I went through the 'don't do this' syndrome at certain times in my career when facing certain batters. I told myself not to hang a curve ball. Sure enough, I did. Now I focus on 'Do this.' It's a significant difference."

How many times have we been done in by the "don't do" mindset? When we diet, we mess up by thinking so hard about what we can't eat that we crave and then give in to the foods we are trying to avoid. Hitters go up to bat thinking, "Don't strike out!" only to have their minds so laser-focused on what not to do, they forget to tell the mind what to do. In the end, what they were trying to prevent becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.