One of the most humiliating days of my short golf career was the first day of my freshman high school tryouts. All year I’d competed in tournaments, taken lessons at least once a week, played a round or hit balls every day, and even pounded balls at an indoor driving range during the winter. The preparation was there.

But at tryouts, something terrible happened; my confidence went down the drain. I started shanking the ball. I felt as if I was in a nightmare and fought to hold back tears. I was preparing to get cut, thinking that everything I’d worked for was a waste.

My coach approached me as I walked off the green. I’ll always remember what he said to me: “Stephen, I believe in you.” Those five words were incomprehensible to me because I didn’t believe in myself. “You’ve put in the work, and you are going to make the team,” he continued. “Now keep working hard. Keep grinding. And believe in yourself.”

Even after my humiliation, my coach discarded the awful number on my scorecard and pardoned my nightmare of a round. In a nutshell, he told me I was going to make the team regardless because he valued my work ethic.

In Colossians 1:21-23, Paul tells his readers how Christ has pardoned his Gentile readers. The abhorrent number on their scorecard had been wiped clean. Paul, just like my golf coach, also tells them to keep grinding—to keep working hard.

We’ve been pardoned. We’ve been rescued from hell, a punishment that we deserved, because Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us. Let’s press on in our faith.

This devotion was taken from the Summer 2011 edition of Training Table.

Get the Training Table today with a subscription to Sports Spectrum magazine www.sportsspectrum.com/subscribe

Back in 2001 and 2002, I jumped on the Pitt Men’s Basketball bandwagon when Coach Ben Howland turned the Panthers into a winning team. But when he decided to leave and take the coaching position at UCLA in 2003, Pitt had to look for a new leader. His assistant, Jamie Dixon, was one of the coaches being considered. At that time I knew very little about college basketball, but I remember someone else was being interviewed, someone whose name I recognized. “Bring in the well-known name,” I thought. “He would surely do better than someone untested.” Fortunately, Pitt didn’t do that and hired Jamie. Since he has been part of the program, Pitt has had 10 consecutive seasons of 20 wins and 10 conference wins—the only team to have ever done so—and in his first eight seasons as head coach, Jamie has won more games than any other college basketball coach.

We often think we know what’s best in situations, but we often don’t have a clue. We should trust the decisions about coaching choices to the athletic departments, and the choices regarding our spiritual paths to an even higher authority—God.

This devotion was taken from the Summer 2011 edition of Training Table.

Get the Training Table today with a subscription to Sports Spectrum magazine www.sportsspectrum.com/subscribe

Every sport has an origin. Dr. James Naismith invented basketball in 1891. Golf, in its modern sense, was first played in Scotland in the 1400s. FIFA says soccer was first played in China in the second and third centuries BC. Tennis originated in France in the 12th century. The list goes on. Things of this world have beginnings.

In Colossians 1:15-16, Paul teaches an essential theological concept regarding the beginning of Christ Jesus. There was none. It’s easy to think that Jesus had a beginning because he was born that night in Bethlehem. But if we believe that was Christ’s start, we miss a significant theme of theology.

Paul says that Jesus is “the firstborn of all creation...All things were created through Him and for Him.” Unlike basketball, golf, soccer, and tennis, Christ doesn’t have a beginning; He has always been.

In Genesis 1:26, we see what could be the first reference to the Trinity: “God said, ‘Let us make man in our image.” In Micah 5:2, the prophecies about the Messiah identify Jesus as the One who has existed from eternity. Throughout scripture, this truth is backed up: Jesus existed as the second person of the Godhead for all eternity.

That’s what makes Christ’s coming to earth so amazing. He left His heavenly domain to live among us in a fallen world to die for us and provide eternal life. The second person of the Godhead became a sinless human being for our benefit.

The eternal state of Christ is just one trait of Jesus found in Scripture. As believers, we need to constantly delve into the traits of Christ and try to see Him in all of His glory. The bigger our picture of Christ, the more we will radically live for our Savior that died for us.

This devotion was taken from the Summer 2011 edition of Training Table.

Get the Training Table today with a subscription to Sports Spectrum magazine www.sportsspectrum.com/subscribe

On Aug. 11, 1962, one of the strangest protests in the history of sports was made – the Los Angeles Dodgers accused the San Francisco Giants of wetting down the area around first base so that Maury Wills would have difficulty stealing bases.

Wills wasn’t just any player or base stealer. He would go on to steal 104 bases, and earn the All-Star MVP and the Major League Baseball and National League Player of the Year awards. In his career he led the league in stolen bases six times, won two Gold Gloves and helped the Dodgers win three World Series, as well.

Although he was fast, it seems a strange tactic in today’s sports culture, but we’re talking about that era when hitters used corked bats, and pitchers threw spitballs or used Vaseline, turpentine, resin, emery boards, and sandpaper on balls.

Either side would have cried foul if any of those things had been done to them, and rightly so.

It’s a great lesson to remember when we’re acting in a way toward someone else. Does it mirror how we would want to be treated, but more importantly does it please God?

This devotion was taken from the Summer 2011 edition of Training Table.

Get the Training Table today with a subscription to Sports Spectrum magazine www.sportsspectrum.com/subscribe

In the summer of 2002, Mike Shannon, radio broadcaster, told this story during a television special about the late Jack Buck, the Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Cardinals.

Jack heard of a young boy bound to a wheelchair by a terminal disease who was a Cardinal fan. He contacted the boy’s parents and invited them to a game at his expense. They were seated up in the broadcast booth section behind Jack and Mike.

This frail little boy was given a hot dog and a drink and Jack asked him what else he would like. The boy chirped, “I’d like to catch a foul ball.” Jack and Mike wished him success, well aware that in 30 years of broadcasting together, they had NEVER seen a foul ball enter the booth.

Somewhere in the middle innings, a batter fouled a fast ball high up behind home plate. It entered the booth, hit the ceiling and floor, hit the ceiling and floor again, and then landed squarely in the boy’s lap tray. At this spot in the interview, Mike’s voice broke from emotion as he said, “That little boy’s grin lit up the whole room.”

The boy died a few months later. His parents buried him holding the ball.

Mike Shannon said later that no one would ever convince him there is no God.

Does God exist? Does He care for people? You bet He does, and He cares for you. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

This devotion was taken from the Summer 2011 edition of Training Table.

Get the Training Table today with a subscription to Sports Spectrum magazine www.sportsspectrum.com/subscribe

Each year when the Major League Baseball All-Star Game rolls around, I am taken back to memories of my childhood—back when the games were played during the afternoon. My dad loved baseball and got me interested in it, too. He usually would take the week of the All-Star Game as vacation, and the day of the game we might go out to run some errands in the morning, and then watch the game together. My dad passed away 20 years ago, but I still have fond memories of spending time with him watching those games.

But he taught me more than a love of baseball. As a child, I remember him gathering the family around the kitchen table for devotions every evening; and as I grew older, I saw, through his actions and his demeanor, an excellent example of a godly man. Similarly, God, our heavenly Father, wants us to enjoy spending time with Him in prayer and storing up fond memories. And He sent His Son, Jesus, to be our earthly representation of Him. What a blessing to be part of God’s family!

This devotion was taken from the Summer 2011 edition of Training Table.

Get the Training Table today with a subscription to Sports Spectrum magazine www.sportsspectrum.com/subscribe

University of Southern Cal quarterback Matt Barkley is a great example of a faithful man. After being highlighted in our Spring 2010 issue, an NCAA investigation on the USC football program resulted in a two-year ban from all post-season play and a reduction in scholarships. This crushing blow led several Trojan players to transfer to other schools. But one big name player remained: Barkley. Being steadfast is becoming a trend for the SoCal native. After signing with USC, head coach Pete Carroll left the school along with offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates. But in January 2010, Barkley announced that he would stay. 

“I came to this school because I wanted to be a Trojan, and nothing about coaches leaving would change that for me,” he said. And the NCAA ruling that was announced in June 2010 didn’t make him change his tune. 

His steadfastness is a great example for us in life. When life throws unfair obstacles your way, how do you handle them? Sometimes it’s easy to turn and run, or take an easy way out. Being faithful has its rewards though. Barkley has thrived as the quarterback for the Trojans and has the makings of an NFL play caller, with or without a trophy in his hand.

This devotion was taken from the Summer 2011 edition of Training Table.

Get the Training Table today with a subscription to Sports Spectrum magazine www.sportsspectrum.com/subscribe

I was at Busch Stadium in St. Louis when Larry Walker joined the Cardinals in 2004.  When announced as a pinch-hitter late in the game, he got a standing ovation.  After he struck out, he got ANOTHER standing ovation returning to the dugout.

Later, he hit his first home run at Busch (he hit one earlier on the road).  The fans cheered until he made a “curtain call,” doffing his hat to the crowd.  He said afterwards it was the first curtain call he had ever received in his major league career.

Also, his wife and family were so warmly welcomed to the St. Louis area that, a short time after they arrived, she said to Larry, “Honey, we have arrived in baseball heaven!”

We, too, will receive a warm reception when we enter heaven.  The Bible doesn’t say a lot about heaven, but it will be better than anything our eyes have ever seen, our ears have ever heard, or what has ever entered into our hearts.

Do you want to go to heaven?  Believe that Jesus paid the penalty for your sin and confess Him as your Savior, and you will have your seat reserved in heaven.

This devotion was taken from the Summer 2011 edition of Training Table.

Get the Training Table today with a subscription to Sports Spectrum magazine www.sportsspectrum.com/subscribe