All you need is #1Mic

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”—Matthew 22:37-39

You have heard this verse. You have probably listened to someone teach or preach on it, but has it grabbed you? Has the depth of its meaning really impacted your life?

There is one God in heaven that created you for His glory.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.—Psalm 19:1-2

You have been given life so that your life may preach the goodness and greatness of God. If the first and greatest commandment is to love God with your all your heart, mind and soul than you should strive to make your life one giant microphone for God. Every day and your every step should proclaim the glory of God. The things you do and the way you conduct yourself should be one continuous proclamation of God’s infinite worth.

They Can't Stop You!

Every competitor has a game plan, a strategy, a checklist. Whether you are an athlete or coach or compete in a team or individual sport you have a plan that must be executed in order to perform at the highest level possible. Good coaches structure practice around the plan and well coached athletes can recite the plan in their sleep. When it comes time to compete for championships coaches and athletes know the plan and have total confidence in the plan.

The problem is, as we know, that often what takes place in championship competitions looks nothing like the plan. Athletes fail to concentrate or trust the plan and coaches stray from the plan suddenly fearing it won’t work. The question is why. Why does this happen? What keeps us from executing the plans we have established?

Two birdhouses, the sovereignty of God and Compete4Christ

A few weeks ago I was reminded of a great Compete4Christ principle in a very unique way.

My Grandpa, who passed from this life into the next on April 19^th, was an impressive gardener and loved working in his wood shop in his basement. He crafted many things in his basement wood shop, but most often he built birdhouses for his yard and for the yards of those he loved. Several years ago he built me a schoolhouse birdhouse.

As a teacher I was thrilled to receive the gift. Grandpa had thoughtfully picked out the schoolhouse theme and taken lots of time to perfect the details of his gift. You’ll notice in the picture that he cut out framework for the door and windows. The shutters are glued on just right and the window boxes have little flowers in them.

Does excellence matter as we Compete4Christ?

The glory of God transcends all circumstances. God can be honored and adored in victory and defeat, by starters and bench-warmers, in world records, seemingly meaningless personal bests and the disappointments. If you follow Compete4Christ I think you get that. Helping you see that is a big part of what I hope to accomplish with Compete4Christ. We should rest in that and find comfort in it.

I have noticed, however, that an understanding that God is glorified win or lose can create a sense of apathy. A firm trust in the sovereignty of God can cause some to no longer give proper respect to the pursuit of excellence. The realization that God is glorified in all outcomes may have caused some of you to quit pursuing your very best. In making God’s glory your goal you have given up, in varying degrees, on maximizing your potential.

When it isn't easy to #RiseAndGrind

September 11, 2004 was the most difficult day of competition in my life. The fact that it was the third anniversary of the 9/11 attacks was just the tip of the iceberg for me that day. I was in my senior year as the quarterback for Concordia University Nebraska and we were playing at conference rival Nebraska Wesleyan. It was the second game of the year and we had gotten off to a great start in week #1. After the walk-through on Friday I was confident our team was poised to dominate Wesleyan, but by the time I went to bed Friday night my confidence had been severely shaken.

Friday evening I learned my 20 year-old cousin had committed suicide. Zach was young man who had tremendous potential coming out of high school. He was excited to continue playing football in college and his future looked promising. Through a series of events, some he had control of and some he didn’t, Zach’s life took an abrupt and drastic turn for the worse.