Character Coach / Sports Chaplain Blog

During the recent PowerUp Sports Ministry conference in Indianapolis, Indiana (USA), we heard twice from San Francisco Giants chaplain, Mark Mitchell. Mark is also a pastor and he delivered a couple of talks that day. The second of those talks is outlined below from the notes I took. I hope his challenge is of value to your soul. Supply-Side Ministries As Jesus and His disciples journeyed toward Jerusalem, they arrived in Bethany just as their physical and emotional tanks were approaching empty. They stopped in to stay at the home of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, siblings to each other and among the dearest friends of the Lord Jesus. The first moments of this occasion are chronicled in Luke 10:38-42. Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.   She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word.   But Martha was distracted with all her prepar...

During the most recent PowerUP Sports Ministry conference in Indianapolis, Indiana we heard several excellent presentations. Among them was “Strategies and Challenges of Accountability in Sports Ministry” by David Gittings. David serves with FCA at the Campus Director at Virginia Tech University. He serves as the chaplain to Hokies Football. Below are the notes I took from his presentation. Galatians 6:1-3 – “You’re not that important.” Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.   2  Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.   3  If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. For what are you accountable? ·         Your relationship with God. ·  ...

Miraculous moments are wrapped in daily mundanity. We must embrace the latter to experience the former. When we read the Bible, we are amazed at the miraculous works of God through people like Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Samson, the apostles, and certainly by Jesus. What we often overlook is the daily mundanity that envelopes all of those miraculous moments. Not featured in those stories are the daily tasks of gathering firewood, building fires, removing ashes, preparing food, cleaning utensils and dishes, taking out the garbage, and all the other mundane, ordinary, and essential elements of daily life. They are there, but are harder to see. If we measure ourselves by the miraculous moments and wonder where they are in our lives and ministries, we can get pretty depressed. However, if we can embrace the mundanity of our daily existence and grasp the certainty that our heroes of the faith had to wade through similar daily tasks, we can find courage and affirmation. I would chal...

A couple of months ago I was brainstorming ideas to fill this space week to week, and I had several good ideas. I have sent those items along over the last seven weeks. As I was writing those ideas on a piece of paper, I had the thought, “Who cares for your soul?” I thought about so many of our colleagues who serve in isolation, with few colleagues nearby, and whose service is seldom met with the degree of success that most would judge to be worthy of their time and energy. That could easily lead them to loneliness and despair. That thought brought to mind this verse from Psalm 142 - “For there is no one who regards me; There is no escape for me; No one cares for my soul.” I am sure some of our coaching friends experience that sort of emotion, and surely some of the sports chaplains and character coaches in our networks do as well. Again, I ask, “Who cares for your soul?” The more I thought about that, I remembered that I had written a note in a similar vein...