Wicked people live life with their heads on a swivel—looking for anybody or anything that might be after them. They might even sleep with one eye open! They live restlessly and peace is a foreign object. On the outside, these people may look like they have it all together, but inside their lives are complete messes. They only know wickedness, so they suspect everybody is just like them. Hence, they run even when no one is pursuing them.

Hockey Chat: A goalie’s skill is part physical and part mental.  The better physical shape they are, the better they can make quick moves to cover the net.  But the most important thing to do is to keep focused.  They keep in control and keep their mind clear of all the commotion going on all around them.  If they give into it, they’ll be off their game and out of place.

“Do you have fire in your belly?” was a question I often heard from coaches. It was never intended as a question, but as a challenge to play harder. Coaches want to know if an athlete has the passion and determination to play with a competitive edge. As an athlete, I never had others’ natural ability, but I did have the fire in my belly—a hustle, grit, and tenacity to get the job done—whatever coach asked of me.

Stronger than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, faster than a speeding bullet . . . Who is this? You know it’s Superman. Or is it referring to what is expected of athletes today? The push to get bigger, faster, and stronger is quite evident around teams and weight rooms across the country. We see athletes who weigh 300 pounds running and jumping like guys nearly half their weight. How impressive is that? Yet if it isn’t used properly, all that talent and strength can go to waste.

Often times, a victory might be determined by the game within the game. Can our left tackle keep their defensive end off of our quarterback? Can our closer strike out their best hitter? Can our off-guard shut down their "go-to" guy?

We spend a lot of time in practice doing individual drills and one-on-one drills. In our one-on-ones we want to go "best-versus-best"; we don't want one of our starters going against a second-string player because he is not challenged as much. He does not improve from the situation.

When we go best-versus-best, we quickly find a player’s weaknesses--the flaws in his technique--so that we can correct them. We also see who is going to rise to the top, whom we can depend upon when the game is on the line.

Anyone who has been either a player or a coach knows the value of encouragement, yet all too often we are quick to point out the mistakes and failures of others rather than their successes and the things they do well. Barnabas, whose name means “Son of Encouragement,” was a person who grasped the enormous value of blessing others with words. He came alongside believers in the midst of trials and troubles of all kinds, and he encouraged them to press on and to be all that God had called them to be.

In the height of his playing days, Charles Barkley claimed that he was not a role model. The University of Colorado claimed that the troubles with its football program were not as bad as they seemed. Coach Nueheisel claimed that his gambling was no big deal. The people involved in these situations did not want to be held to a higher standard. Why? Because they felt that athletics and off-the-field issues should be kept separate.

The first race I ever ran was a marathon, an incredible experience my body will never forget. I learned there are four key aspects to a race, and they all relate to our spiritual life.

We race against competition. There were thousands of runners I wanted to beat and who wanted to beat me. When we run the race for Christ, we compete against the world, the flesh, and the Devil. We race against the clock. Every mile a clock declared I was nearing the end. People say since we only go around once, live it up. Christ says since we only go around once, make it count.

We race for a prize. I received a medal for completing the marathon. As Christians, our prize is heaven and eternity with God!