Faith In The Game
STORIES BY ATHLETES OF FAITH
Faith in the Game is a blog containing submissions by athletes of faith. Each of them was asked one question: Tell us a story about a time when your faith was most present in your life. Rather than tell us about their faith, we asked them to show us.
These stories are oftentimes uplifting, and at all times profound, raw, honest, introspective and heartfelt. These are not the sort of stories you hear in a press conference. Some of them take place on the field; others, off it. They are presented without agenda or judgment. On many levels, we think you'll find them fascinating, as they pull up the veil on a side of sports that is rarely revealed but very often present.
This blog is moderated by author and father Ben Petrick, a former Colorado Rockies catcher thought to be the only professional athlete to have his career shortened by Parkinson's Disease, along with writer and father Scott Brown. In addition to their professional and family lives, both men are also coaches of youth sports. A selection of the stories they've collected will soon appear in a book, and together they're also working on Ben's autobiography.
If you'd like us to email you when new stories appear on the blog, please send us a note at info@imagine-books.net.
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LIFE.
DO IT.
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Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle is a great friend to Faith In The Game, providing us with thoughts to pass on to our readers. They’ll be shared periodically on this blog. Here is today’s:
Something quick this week from Los Angeles Angeles super-scout Bo Hughes, a man who is a mentor to many:“Believing gives hope. Hope provides a will. Where there is a will, there is a way — always.”
Make a difference today.
Love,
Clint
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Please click here for a behind-the-scenes look at Urban Meyer’s decision to leave his post as head football coach at University of Florida to focus on faith and family.
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“One of the most impactful lessons I learned over the course of my career was the difference between a goal and a plan.” — Tom Landry
“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, ‘and will bring you back from captivity.’” — Jeremiah 29: 11-14 -
Great video, just because it’d be awesome even with the sound turned off … But also some interesting lessons here, by the by, not just on leadership, but also on the guts it takes to follow.
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Broader Shoulders, by Ben Petrick
On Monday, I had the privilege of participating in the “Shake It Till We Make It” golf tournament benefiting the Brian Grant Foundation, which supports people like myself who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
Grant, who had a 12-year NBA career, has been diagnosed with the disease for approximately two and half years. We live close to one another, and he has become a friend through this horrible disease, but I’m thankful that it has brought us together. Brian, as his NBA fans can attest, is a warrior and has that fighting spirit.
(Here’s a speech Michael J. Fox gave about Brian at last year’s event. In it, Fox says of Brian, “With this disease, you don’t pray for a lighter load; you pray for broader shoulders. And (Brian has) the broadest shoulders I’ve ever seen.”)
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This video is a little old, but just came to our attention. A defining moment in South Africa’s history wasn’t an uprising or a coups. It was the formation of a soccer league by political prisoners during apartheid. These same men who lost their freedom but found hope in a game they loved, would go on to govern the new South Africa. It’s a beautiful demonstration of what sports reveals about the human spirit.
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Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle is a great friend to Faith In The Game, providing us with thoughts to pass on to our readers. They’ll be shared periodically on this blog. Here is today’s:
“Every name will bow to the name of God.” — Philippians 2:9-10
Servants resist stubbornness. A man watched two goats traversing a narrow path from opposite directions, one ascending, the other descending. At one point the narrow trail prevented them from passing each other. When they saw each other, they backed up and lowered their heads, as though ready to lunge. But then a wonderful thing happened. The ascending goat lay down on the path. The other stepped over his back. The first animal then arose and continued his climb to the top. The goat made it higher because he was willing to bend lower. Didn’t the same thing happen to Jesus?
God made his name greater than every other name so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus.
Make a difference today.
Love,
Clint
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“A Life In The Year,” by Adrian Gonzalez
It’s amazing what a year can contain.
When the 2003 season began, I was supposed to be a rising star with the Florida Marlins. Out of high school, I’d been taken first in the draft in 2000, and with the exception of an excruciating wrist injury in 2002 (and the surgery that followed), things had gone well. I’d hit 17 homers in each of the two previous seasons, with around 100 RBI, even with the injury at the end of the second year. I was very excited about the future — so much so that I owned a house in South Beach, anticipating the day I’d get to the majors. -
The Jackson 7: A Week’s Worth of Word
We’re excited to welcome respected broadcaster and new Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson as a contributor to Faith in the Game. An ordained minister, Jackson and his wife, Desiree, founded True Love Worship Center in Southern California.
Every week, Jackson will provide some “assigned reading” for the week, along with his thoughts. You can follow him on Twitter at @JacksonMark13.
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Day 1
Romans 8:8: “…and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Those who are living the life of the flesh cannot please or satisfy God, or be acceptable to Him. Look to please God.
Day 2
James 1:8: “…being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways”
A double-minded man is unstable in ALL his ways. Get your mind right!
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Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle is a great friend to Faith In The Game, providing us with thoughts to pass on to our readers. They’ll be shared periodically on this blog. Here is today’s:
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WE MUST ALWAYS CONFRONT REALITY. HERE IS A QUOTE I LIKE FROM U.S. ADMIRAL JAMES STOCKDALE, WHO WAS AN 8-YEAR POW IN VIETNAM AND ONE-TIME CANDIDATE FOR VICE-PRESIDENT …
“You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”
Make a difference today.
Love,
Clint
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The Jackson 7: A Week’s Worth of Word
We’re excited to welcome respected broadcaster and new Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson as a contributor to Faith in the Game. An ordained minister, Jackson and his wife, Desiree, founded True Love Worship Center in Southern California.
Every Sunday, Jackson will provide some “assigned reading” for the week, along with his thoughts. You can follow him on Twitter at @JacksonMark13.
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DAY 1
Proverbs 11:25: “A generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.”
The generous soul will be made Rich! You want more? Start giving more!
DAY 2Peter 5:7: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
STOP carrying luggage that you shouldn’t!
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“THESE DAYS WE HAVE THE LUXURY OF EXPERIENCING A SADNESS OUR PARENTS NEVER HAD TIME FOR.” — “Beginners”
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“Crash,” by Ben Petrick
Ben Petrick is co-editor of Faith In The Game. A former Major Leaguer with the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers, Ben has Parkinson’s disease and recently underwent an aggressive surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation to alleviate his symptoms. A television news story on Ben’s amazing recovery can be found here. Ben chronicles his progress, along with stories of faith, family and baseball, in this blog.
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Like many sports fans, as a kid, I grew up idolizing players and praying that one day I could be a professional athlete. I had my idols: Don Mattingly, Roger Craig and Clyde Drexler — all men of character, though not men of outward faith.
Ironically, if they had been, I might have been less apt to follow them.
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You can’t say, “I can’t.” You can say, “I’m having trouble, but I’m not done yet.” — “The Tree of Life”
“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, for Him.” — Psalm 27:14
