Character Coach / Sports Chaplain Blog

This is the final in a long series of posts featuring  excerpts from my new book,  Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople .  https://www. crosstrainingpublishing.com/ shop/soul-training Challenge If your ministry role has you serving elite level, professional, high-profile competitors or the coaches who lead them, you are in a unique position. You are among a select few people who will be allowed into their circle of friends, teammates, and colleagues. Yours is a place of remarkable privilege and immense responsibility. Further, if this person has shown interest in growing his or her relationship with Christ Jesus, you are given a tremendous opportunity. As you step into this unique and transformational role, may I remind you of these simple points of emphasis? ·      Respect their time constraints. ·      Embrace their sport’s culture. ·      Communicate directly. ·      Demonstrate g...

For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book,  Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople .  https://www. crosstrainingpublishing.com/ shop/soul-training Faith Development Exercises  for Elite Sportspeople To begin the development of one’s faith I simply show the prospective disciple the diagram, explain that one’s life in Christ is developed through a vertical relationship with God in prayer and study, as well as horizontal relationships with other believers (Christian community) and with people yet to believe (the sharing of one’s faith). The stronger one’s relationship with God grows, the shadow cast among the people surrounding him or her will be stronger and broader. Then I ask them, “Where would you like to start?” This question allows the disciple to indicate his or her greatest interest up front, leading to a greater likelihood of success and long-term development. I believe hunger is the coin of the realm for t...

For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book,  Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople .  https://www. crosstrainingpublishing.com/ shop/soul-training Faith Development Exercises for Elite Sportspeople Since 1980 I have been engaged in the process of making disciples and since 1985, I have been using the same approach to this process. I learned it from my mentor, Fred Bishop of No Greater Love Ministries. This approach is very simple but allows for tremendous depth and flexibility for both the faith development leader, and the disciple. Having now served people in the sporting world since 1994, and continuing to make disciples along the way, this approach has proven to be quite effective. Please consider using this model or modifying it to suit your purposes. It can be used in one-to-one settings, with small groups, or even large groups. If you are an elite level person of sport, I believe this process and its exerci...

For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book,  Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople .  https://www. crosstrainingpublishing.com/ shop/soul-training Teach, Mentor, or Coach Faith Development? In my earliest years of helping sportspeople develop their faith, I used a teaching approach. Having gone to schools in the USA, and having been raised in a Baptist church, teaching was the primary and only available model for intellectual and spiritual development. I started with the swimmers who attended the Sunday School class I was teaching in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many years later, after having succeeded a little and failed a lot, people began to seek me out for wisdom and for mentoring. They seem to value my experience and expertise, though I largely discount it. We sit and chat over coffee, I listen, tell stories, and offer options for their growth. Most recently, I have begun coaching people who are seeking to dev...

 For the next number of weeks, I will be sharing excerpts from my new book,  Soul Training - 7 Keys to Coaching the Faith of Elite Sportspeople .  https://www. crosstrainingpublishing.com/ shop/soul-training Serve selflessly. Whereas elite and professional sportspeople and coaches grow accustomed to people asking them to do things, we must be the ones to serve them with no thought of receiving anything in return. They find this both refreshing and endearing. This builds trust. This opens hearts. To perform the most menial tasks with and for them is a profound relationship builder. Serve without fanfare. Don’t take selfies with them and post them online. Don’t ask for autographs, free tickets, or sideline privileges. Such presumption is the essence of selfishness, and they find it repulsive. Give yourself away in helping them and you will find a loyal friend and an inquisitive heart. Ministry to sportspeople is selflessly serving them and God's purposes in them with no ult...