With the 2010 World Cup underway, many fans have noticed that some of the world’s greatest stars have been left off of their respective countries’ rosters. Many factors went into the decisions to leave these incredible players off their teams, but the underlying concept behind their omissions is the same: their presence on the team simply would not have increased their country’s chances of winning the World Cup. While each player is likely talented enough, those making the roster decisions understand that talent doesn’t always translate into success. Each position has a role to play, and, if the men in those positions don’t play it correctly, not only would their teams be unsuccessful, but there would be a certain level of chaos on the field.

Death is always a difficult topic to grasp. Whenever someone dies we always wonder, where was God when they died, and why did He let it happen to them? From movie stars, professional athletes, and other celebrities to firefighters, police officers, and loved ones; our hearts are filled with grief and for a while everything pales in comparison to our loss.

At the end of the game, the win or the loss falls on the coach. The coach receives the glory or the blame associated with the game. In the game of life, Jesus is our Coach. But, unlike in sports, Jesus can only receive glory. No blame is associated with Him because He is perfect. He is holy. He is everything that we are not.

We are all familiar with the story of Jonah being swallowed by the giant fish. But, what is intriguing to me is that in the four chapters in the book of Jonah, he goes through four different phases with God. In chapter 1, Jonah is running away from God. In chapter 2, he is running to God. In chapter 3, he is running with God. And, in chapter 4, he is running ahead of God. I believe that in our Christian lives we all go through these phases as coaches and athletes.

Hockey Chat: Martin Brodeur was a one great forward of his young age, skating hard and scoring goals.  Those of you that know Marty as the goaltender from the New Jersey Devils think I’ve got the wrong guy, but not at all.  He started skating when he was 3 years old and played to put pucks in the net.  He was a forward for the early years of his hockey days.  That all changed one day when he was 6 and the goal tender for his team didn’t show up for a game.  Coach asked told him to get in net and he’s been stopping goals ever since. 

Each new season starts out with a team meeting. The coach gives the team rules and goes over the expectations for the upcoming season. The coach makes sure that there is no question about what will be expected out of the athletes.

God is the ultimate head coach. Just as a good earthly coach goes over the rules, so does He. God gave His “team rules” to the Israelites through Moses, and He expected them to be followed.

When our earthly head coaches expect us to follow the team rules, they generally set out a reward. The reward might be a letterman’s patch or pin, or it could be lessened conditioning in practice. Whatever it is, the head coach makes sure that we know the rewards for following the team rules.

Coach Sleepy Thompson coached football at my high school for 32 years. His teams boasted 29 winning seasons, 12 conference titles and three undefeated seasons. Coach Thompson had a gift for taking whatever boys came through the door (including myself) and turning them into winners. He coached in such a way that took the entire team to a higher level of competition.

Personally, I’m fascinated by what makes a great coach like Sleepy Thompson. The word “coach” actually comes from the word “stagecoach,” implying that they take passengers from Point A to Point B. Coach Thompson knew where he wanted his teams to go, even though players like me didn’t have a clue. His Point B was very well-defined, and we had a clear destination.  

The first race I ever ran was a marathon. Talk about starting with a bang! I always played team sports and raced until I ran the dreaded 26.2-miler. It was an incredible experience my body will never forget. I learned firsthand the four key aspects to every race, and they all can be related to our spiritual life.

The race is against the competition. There were thousands of competitors I wanted to beat and who wanted to beat me. In the same way, when we run the race for Christ, we have three main competitors: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Each one intends to prevent us from crossing the finish line.

Hockey Chat:  We wear all kinds of gear when we’re on the ice.  We put our trust into engineered plastic and padding to be our shield.  Knowing that it’s there, we feel stronger and braver.  When we get hit with a puck or stick in that area, we are so thankful that we have that protection!