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Well, welcome to Truth Talk Live. I'm Dwayne Carson. Our ministry is Date the Word, and we want to welcome you to our show today. It's the weekend Friday, and it is a huge weekend for sports fanatics. We've got the Winter Olympics.
They are already taking place as far as some of the competition, the opening ceremonies tonight. And then this Sunday, it's Super Bowl Sunday. And we've got the New England Patriots taking on the Seattle Seahawks. And I'll just tell you, I'm pulling for the Seattle Seahawks. Uh I'm a Miami Dolphin fan, and they've been playing like minnows, but uh that means I can't pull for the Patriots.
Bottom line is it's a big athletic weekend and because of that, For our show today, we want to talk about how The Bible gives to us Versus From the world of athletics. To help inspire, to help instruct us in living out the Christian life. Um Yesterday Uh February the 5th 25 Uh we would have gone with 2 Timothy 2.5. Where Paul says to Timothy, If anyone competes in athletics, He's not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. In 2 Timothy chapter 2, Paul is looking for ways to inspire Timothy.
To encourage Timothy, to instruct Timothy, as he in chapter one, we find he's struggling with this faith. And so as he comes to chapter two, he says to Timothy, there's some. Um images. I want you to get in your mind about what the Christian life is like. I need you to be a disciple maker.
And for you to do that, you're going to need to think like, well, a soldier. And then it's going to be like an athlete, verse 5 that I just read. Then, verse 6. the farmer, and he gives him three images. Of what the Christian life is like.
Being a soldier, single-minded. You're not going to be entangled in the affairs of this life. You want to please your commanding officer. And then this athlete, this athlete that's competing. He's gotta do so.
with integrity. And we're going to talk more about that in a moment. And then the farmer, hardworking, you're not going to reap. You're not going to experience fruitfulness unless you are willing to put in the work. And it does take work to bring forth a harvest.
So, today, I want to hear your thoughts. 1-8-66-348-7884, that's the Truth Talk line. You call in and Tell me about how Bible verses Specifically, Bible verses about the world of athletics. Has impacted your life. Maybe you yourself are an athlete.
Maybe you've been an athlete. Maybe you're a coach. I'm looking for. People to call in today, and let's talk about how we can develop and grow our spiritual life. By drawing from the world of athletic competition.
I've got with me today Dan Davis. Dan is from up in New Jersey, but he lives now in Lynchburg, Virginia, outside of Lynchburg and Appomattox. And Dan does a lot of ministry with athletic teams. And Dan, welcome to the show today. Hey, Dwayne, it's great to be here.
Thanks for having me. Yes, sir. And I know that when you're doing these, we call them chapels for athletic teams, you draw from Bible verses. To bring about not just that they're going to do well athletically. But to do well with their lives.
And just curious right off the bat, what's been one of your go to verses when it comes to speaking to young men, young ladies about living out the Christian life From the perspective of athletic competition. Yes, a great topic. I often do talk with teams and try to incorporate scripture and And tie that scripture into How it can help them with what's right in front of them, the game, the task in front of them, but also how. how it can help them in life and help them grow as a follower of Christ. Uh if they are Christian.
You know, obviously, there are a lot of verses that I'm drawn to, but the Apostle Paul, his writings, just naturally kind of lead us into. Not just spiritual life, but athletics, because he uses so many athletic references, and it's quite obvious that he had a passion for sports. And I often say that. If football were a sport. When Paul lived, I I think he'd have been a big fan.
But one verse that that came to mind was Philippians 1.27. It says, only let your life only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ.
so that whether I come and see you or I'm absent, I may hear that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind, striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. Um, and you know, that verse has always jumped out at me, but when I think about athletic connections. Um First of all, it it gets our tension when he says only or Some translations say just one thing or most important. And so, you know, one of them says above all. Above all, you must live.
conducting yourself in a manner worthy So, yes, it's a verse that's grabbing a person's attention. You need to be paying attention to what's in this verse. Absolutely. And I think just the athletic connection there is like if a team's going to be successful, they have to have one goal, right? They have to have one thing that is That is above all, and that is the pursuit of excellence and the pursuit of winning.
And, you know, but here, Paul's challenging them to say something far bigger than athletic achievement, right? And then he says, above all, or most important, or just one thing, to let your life be worthy or of equal weight or equal value to the gospel of Christ, to live out. Right? Our salvation. Um To let our identity as a Christian and who we are drive our conduct.
And he's writing to the church at Philippi, which was a very proud Roman colony. Right. They they were very proud, the Philippians, of their Roman citizenship. And they were to represent you. If you were in Philippi, it was just to be like being in Rome and the values of Rome, those things.
And Paul takes that truth and he drives it home. to say, let your life be equal to the the gospel of Christ. You know, I think an athlete, you know, they don't just represent themselves, right? They represent their team. right, they represent their city, they represent their school.
And you know what? In the case of the Olympics, they represent their country. Yes, absolutely. And I think, you know, knowing that you don't just play for yourself, right? That you're playing for something greater.
And as a Christian, you know, boy, for all of us, it's so easy to be. self-focused and we want to be honest. And We don't even, most of us intend to be or want to be, but of course, Paul deals with selfishness later in this. that look but I think like remembering that I'm not here for just me. um and I'm here for something bigger.
Uh is is so It's so important and so valuable. You know, then you know, Paul talked about accountability. You know, he says, Whether I come or whether I'm absent, I want to hear, right, that you are. You know, that you're doing well. And so, you know, we need accountability in athletics, right?
You know, we need accountability that we are being disciplined. In what we're doing, not just when the coach is watching, not just when we're being pushed, but are we doing the right things? Am I training? Am I. You know, going through all those things.
Well, hey, Dan, we're going to have to take a quick break here. Listeners, we're going to be taking a break. But we're going to come back and keep talking because we've, Philippians 1.27, that may not have been on your bingo card. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live.
Your host today is Dwayne Carson, and it's my joy to be able to talk with you on this important. Sports weekend. And as we uh think about The Olympics, and we think about the Super Bowl. Lots of Bible verses speak to us about how to live out our Christian life. I love.
how the Apostle Paul, especially Paul, Incorporates the different words of the world of athletic competition, the wrestling, the fighting, the pressing on the finish line. He has run and disciplined so many words. I've got Dan Davis, Pastor Dan Davis up in Appomattox, Virginia. And Dan works with FCA, Fellowship of Christian Athletes. He's with other ministries where he's reaching out, doing chapel services for sports teams.
And Dan, you said something earlier about Paul. If there was a football team, he'd be a football fan. I think he'd probably be a football player, at least trying to. But I got to believe that if Paul was here today, he'd try to be getting a ticket to the Super Bowl. And he'd also want to go to Olympic events because.
This man just seemed to have first-hand knowledge. of uh what it took for an athlete to excel. And he gives these word pictures to Timothy, especially. I love how we're looking at you brought Philippians 1:27, and I'm not sure many people would have thought of Philippians 1.27, but he has the picture. of a soldier Military standing firm.
Don't don't don't let your post don't don't leave your post. You got to hold your post. But then he says striving, and that's an athletic word. And you were talking about that component of how important it is for the member of the team To be giving their very best. You want to elaborate a little bit more on that?
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, this verse does a great job of incorporating both military and athletic sort of illustrations. And obviously, as you apply them, there's some crossover to both. But Paul reminds them of accountability, and he says, whether I come or whether I'm absent, that he wants to hear, right, that they're standing firm in one spirit, that they're striving. Side by side for the faith of the gospel.
You know, that accountability i is important. You know, in fact, you I remember years ago when I was a student at Liberty and under your ministry, I you know, you would always say that accountability is integrity's best friend. Yes. And that has stuck with me all these years. And so I think that accountability is important.
And so whether it's an athlete being accountable to their coach or to their other players, it's good for us to obviously know that we're accountable to Christ. But that we need people in our life that hold us accountable, that encourage us so that we continue to not get distracted or to lose our focus. And I think it's easy for that to happen. But I just love how then he goes on and challenges them to stand firm, to not give any ground. Of course, definitely a military.
New connection there. And then there's a little bit of the athletic there, part two. You know, on the defense, don't give an inch. Don't give an inch. Or the offence in your Super Bowl, offensive line, you know, probably the most.
Underrated part of football. You have to have a great O-line, and you want them to lock in and not give up anything. And so.
Well, I think there's definitely that. Speaking of offensive line, I think I've got this right, but we've got a caller here. Yeah. Rick Powers. I think, Rick, am I right, you played on the offensive line?
I sure did, Pastor Carson. I was an offensive lineman and appreciated his comments. I love that comments about accountability basically evolves into integrity. There's no doubt about that. But yes, it's a very of underappreciated position.
No doubt about that, but it's very, very important. And to follow up, we're talking about favorite Bible verses. Mine is from 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 24, 27. But the one, I don't know if it's been brought up, I just basically started listening about 10 minutes ago. It says, Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize?
run in such a way as to get the prize. And it kind of reminds me, you probably remember the famous Major League pitcher from North Carolina, Jim Catfish Hunter. They used to say that winning isn't the only thing, but wanting to is. Mm, that's good. He pitched for the New York Yankees.
Yes, he did. He started out with Charlie Finley and the Kansas City Athletics, then went to the Oakland Athletics. But yes, I mean, it's it's my daddy was a was basically a teacher and a high school coach, and he always talked about desire. That you, you know, you want to do a good job for yourself and your teammates. And then we're talking about again about that accountability.
No doubt about it. Rick, I want to continue with you, but I also want to say this: hey, guys, I've got Dan, I've got Rick. I need your call. I need you to call in and let's talk about your favorite verse, athletic verse, if you will, that inspires you, encourages you. 1-866-348-7884.
This is a show where we want to hear your thoughts. And so I know you're out there listening. We've got listeners all over the country. Call us and, like, Dan sharing, Philippians 1:27, that again may not have been a verse you were thinking about, but that is a verse filled with athletic imagery striving together. And I love what, Rick, you're bringing to the table here.
Running that race. And I'm going to let you continue on because I think you're going to get to verse 27 as well. Yes, exactly, Doc. I mean, because you're running for the prize, but the prize obviously is our faith, our faith in Jesus Christ. I mean, that's the eternal prize.
There's no doubt about it. Yeah. And verse 27 tells, Paul says that you got to discipline yourself. Correct. How important is it as an athlete to be disciplined?
It's very important. I mean, that's why you practice. And every coach that's ever, I know Dan will probably agree with this. Every coach that's ever basically did a pep talk or spoke to athletes is that you've heard the definition of luck. And the definition of luck is when preparation meets opportunity.
There you go. That's right. Absolutely. I was just going to say, you know, discipline, you know, and even the little details can be the Make the biggest difference in winning or losing. And you know, as an offensive lineman, one false start at the wrong time, right?
One holding penalty at the wrong time could change the whole outcome of the game.
Now, Rick, you never got anything. They had been there and done that. Yeah. And I do know obviously in football, it's only holding you to get caught, but.
Well, unfortunately, the situation of I jumped offside one time inside of the five-yard line, getting ready to score. Oh, no. And it didn't go very well.
So I went back and stood in the huddle, and I felt a tap on my shoulder. And somebody came in to replace me.
So I didn't want to run back to my team's sideline. I wanted to run to the other team's sideline. That other side would appreciate you a little bit. Oh, exactly. In fact, we didn't score.
We ended up kicking a field goal. I'll never forget it. But, oh, yeah, you take care of the little details, and it takes care of the big details. There's no doubt about it. One of my devotion.
One of my devotions that I do when I speak to teams is how to get a first down, going from first down to second down, third down, fourth down. And that first down, you've got to play with character. You've got to play with character.
So when we come back, we're going to talk some more. We need your calls: 866-348-7884 versus. That comes from the athletic world that inspire you. Give us a call. We want your call today.
You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live on this Friday afternoon where the Olympics Winter Olympics in Italy have begun, and there will be the opening ceremony. But they've already started some of the competition. I'm looking forward to the hockey starting on February the 12th. We got the Super Bowl this Sunday, and uh Hundreds of millions will tune in, and that just causes us to think about our Bibles and how, especially the Apostle Paul, not just him, but the Apostle Paul.
uh used athletic language to develop spiritual lives, especially Timothy. He told him in 2 Timothy 2, 5, uh no one Is crowned in an athletic event unless they compete according to the rules. And I've got Dan Davis, he's still online with us. Rick Powers, both of you, thank you for staying on the line. But I also want your call: 866-348-7884.
Love to hear your thoughts about some verses. Guys, I just wanted to bring out that we were talking about character and how Rick, you know, he really messed his team up there because he jumped offside. And Rick, you got to obey the rules. Yes. When it comes to Paul, when he wrote that statement, I think Paul knew the rules of the Greek Olympics.
And I found this from history.com. It said athletes breaking the rules could be disqualified. And that was one of his great fears in 1 Corinthians 9, 27. And listen to this, and publicly whipped. Oh my.
And competitors and judges found guilty. It's not always the player that's found guilty that cheats. The competitor or the judge found guilty of bribery could pay hefty fines. And many times they use those fines to help build the statues that you would see around those stadiums. Evidently, there's a lot of cheating going on.
Victory, this was a statement that that the athletes would see when they came into the stadium. Victory is to be achieved by speed of feet and strength of body, not with cash. Um wow. It was expected of a Greek Athlete to compete with integrity. And Paul says: if a Christian wants to finish well, They got to live a life of integrity.
Talk to me guys. What do you think about that? Go ahead, Dan. Yeah. Yeah.
But you know It's uh such a neat thing to hear that bit of history, but how seriously They took the issue of integrity. And if in athletic competitions, integrity is taken that seriously. Uh how much more Should we, as Christians, take that seriously? And we all know. The The pain of seeing someone that maybe we looked up to, someone that we trusted, or really admired, but to come to find out that they.
Somewhere along the line, there became a gap. in their integrity. And while maybe it wasn't known at first, when it became known, it was very painful and very hurtful to people that look up to them. And I think one of the things that I always you know, connecting athletics to our faith, but our actions never just affect ourselves. Right.
And if I'm a poor teammate, if I'm not practicing right, if I'm not doing the things I need to be doing, if I if I'm not. Holding myself to that standard. I'm not just hurting myself, I'm hurting others. And as a Christian, Certainly it's my personal accountability before God and and and Yeah. My integrity or lack of integrity is going to impact my family, my children, my church, my community.
Probably more than I know. And maybe even. for people that I never meet. And so I I think it's it's a sobering reminder. Uh of the importance of that.
Rick, when we think about the component of character, there's also the component of cooperation. You played on the offensive line. How what are some things from the Bible that speak to us about how important it is to cooperate with one another?
Well, I tell you what, I think about that, Pastor Carson, and I've used this doing some devotions with teams, high school teams, football teams. Talk about 1 Corinthians 12, 12 through 27. Talking about the human body as a metaphor for the church, that there's while there might be many parts, All the parts have different functions. All the team members have different functions. They have to work together for basically the good of all.
And so that's very important. We unified but depend upon one another.
So we used to call the guys playing quarterback and the running backs, the receivers, they were the glory guys. But if we didn't do our job and what we were doing, there wouldn't be very much glory to it. That's good. And as you know, as we watch the Super Bowl, it does take 11 players, working together, coordination. And Uh Receivers have got to run the right routes.
Running backs have got to hit the right holes. But those blocks is so crucial. And Uh it When everybody is working together, I don't know if John Maxwell was unique with this one, but teamwork makes the dream work. And we can't get away from Jesus stressing the necessity of unity. Um When when there's division, the house falls.
So, I think from sports, we can learn a lot about how important it is to be working together. And, you know, you look at, I always think one of the most encouraging things to see in basketball: when someone misses a free throw, there's going to be a teammate that wants to encourage that teammate. Hey, I know you missed it, but. Get this one. Uh don't don't look back.
Look forward. Um Looking for your calls, listeners, 1-866-348-7884. Our Bible is just filled with this component of athletic competition as a way to encourage us, instruct us. I'm struck by the word, we are to run the race with endurance. Yeah.
Rick, you want to take up on that one for a moment? I know we speak with, we work with FCA. And uh a lot of times working with uh athletes We have to help them understand the importance of that word, endurance. Give us some thoughts there.
Well, Pastor Carson, endurance, it gets back again to basically how we practice. In that, basically athletically and spiritually, and doing the things that we need to do. And I think about it, it was always tough. For us, that we'd come back two or three weeks before school started for summer practice before the season started in the fall. And to get through, we would practice three times a day.
And that was tough. And you did have to have endurance. And I used to have an offensive line coach tell me, and he was right, said that your body can handle what your mind can handle. And so we got pushed, especially it's out there 90 degrees in the weather and you're basically in full pads, full gear in that, especially I did not enjoy the end of practice. where you're out there doing conditioning and that was cause but you had to do it so you could so you could basically the games are easy compared to the practices.
I've heard it, you know, you need to be your very best when your very best is needed. and usually your very best is needed at the very end of the game. And if you're not in great condition for that 59th minute, going into that last few seconds, who is the strongest at that point? And now the Apostle Paul says that I have finished my race. Um that idea for us as Christians He went right up to the finished line with everything he had.
There's that idea again. Dan from Philippians 1:27 about how they were striving. Paul talked about striving, there's an intensity. Um uh fervency Yeah, and that they were doing that picture doing it side by side, that they you know, uh which certainly like a soldier's, you know, locking their locking their Fields together and advancing, but I picture athletes being together. Going back to something you said a couple of minutes ago: the importance of caring about each other and loving each other and that unity on a team.
And I've never seen a team be successful that didn't love each other. In fact, I often tell football teams: one of the most important things to being successful is love. And it seems crazy for a game that's built on strength, on speed, on technique, on violence. And yet, if you don't love each other, you're never going to be successful. And how much more?
in the church. where we are commanded to love one another as Christ has loved us. Um And how are we going to be successful to advance the gospel and to fulfill the mission of making disciples that Jesus has given us if we don't love each other? And I just think that's so important.
Well, Dan, I don't know if you have used this from Vince Lombardi.
Now, for our listeners, come Sunday night, there's going to come a moment When the Super Bowl trophy is going to be presented to the winning team.
Well, that's called the Lombardi Trophy. Because Vince Lombardi was regarded as one of the greatest, if not greatest, coaches of all times back in the late 50s, early 60s. He's going to win Super Bowl I, Super Bowl II, but he won other championships, and that's why the Lombardi by the Super Bowl trophy is called the Lombardi Trophy.
Well, when you see that Lombardi trophy being presented, I want you to think about what Dan just said because this is what Vince Lombardi said to the Green Bay Packers, guys. If you're going to win, you've got to love one another.
Now here we've got what you just said, a football coach that's he you know, he he drives these men. This is a game of That's got violence in it. You've got to give everything you've got with your body. But he said, for you to be winners, you gotta love one another. And that's Jesus told us: we're not going to be successful as a church if we don't love one another.
Um We need your calls. We need your thoughts as we go into the beginning of the Olympics, the Super Bowl this Sunday. 1866 348-7884. You know, I love to hear your thoughts. Give us a call.
You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to this last section of our Proof Talk Live show today. I'm Dwayne Carson. We have a ministry, by the way, called Date the Word. And if you go to date the word.com, you can see a lesson like we did, been talking from 2 Timothy 2:5.
We do a daily devotion. We have a verse for every date. And we also have an app and verse, again, you can see where your birthday verse is. Today, I had a chance to talk about. Five different people and give them their birthday verse.
And we also use that for birthday, we call it birthday verse evangelism because after I find out when their birthday is, give them their birthday verse. I like to ask them: do you have a date? For your second birth. And that's opening for a gospel conversation. And I encourage you to check this out: date the word.com.
Get the app and find out what your verse is. And Rick Powers will tell you one of the things that we have on our app is verses for athletic jersey numbers. Because working with FCA, we wanted to be able to give to coaches and to huddle leaders the ability to let players know there are Bible verses out there that speak to you. If you've got that number 13, many times it's Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. But there's also 1 Corinthians 16, verse 13, that speaks of one who's going to be brave and strong and stand firm and never give up.
So I encourage you to take a look at the app, the website. You can see verses there that if you're an athlete or your parent of an athlete and you want to be able to give them a Bible verse, Uh How much how important is that, Rick, that like for a player to be able to have a Bible verse to go with their jersey number? Hey, Pastor Carson, I think it's very important because I can go back over the sports that I played, mostly football and baseball, and it can tell you the numbers that I wore pretty much from little league age on up. And I know a lot of our athletes today, our middle school, high school kids wear a necklace with their number around their neck.
So I've seen you do it and see you doing it in chapel devotion meetings with teams. That means a lot to the players to have a Bible verse that connects with their number that can become their verse.
So I think it's very important. It's very instrumental. And I think it brings the word home for them that, hey, it is for me. Yeah. Dan, have you been able to share verses with guys matching their numbers?
Yes, I've been looking for opportunities to do that more and making that a focus. I think it's a great it's a great tool to really make something personal for them. And you know, a lot of players, you know, their number, you know, for some of them, maybe it's just a number that was assigned to them, but a lot of them have chosen their number or it means something to them. And so being able to attach a verse to it that I think is really an awesome tool.
Now What do you think is just the best number ever to wear? I'm laughing because depending on how old you are, Pastor Carson, when I say the number seven, who do you think of? John Elway.
Okay. For baseball, who do you who do you think of baseball? Joe DiMaggio, am I right? Or is it Mickey Manel? Mickey Mantle, DiMaggio War Vietnam.
DiMano War Seven.
Now, I never got to see Mickey Mantle play. You're older than I am.
So you got some memories there. How about how about the number 23? Ha ha ha.
Well, what do you think, Dan? Number twenty-three, uh, if you're a North Carolina Tario fan, you you think about number twenty-three as one person.
Well, I love twenty-three because of um Luke 9:23, which I think if you really want to get down to the Christian life, Jesus said, if you want to be my disciple, you got to take up your cross, die, die. daily. If you're going to be who I want you to be. Follow me, take up a cross, and die daily. That's number 23.
And any of you out there with that jersey number, know that you're wearing a number that really reminds us of what the cost is to be a disciple follower of Jesus Christ. Um Number 12 is a great number for being an example. And that takes us back to that character thing, too, of how important it is to have that character, be an example. And Joe DiMaggio. A great story on him was he was shagging fly balls one day out in the outfield, and he was all out.
I mean just all out. And one of the players said, Joe, good heavens, it's just practice. And Joe Lynn. went up, put his arm around him, and pointed out that in the stands there were probably about 100 kids. that they let in to watch the practice, he said, Those kids are watching me.
and they can never see me being lazy. They need to see that I always give 100%, even in practice. And I thought, what a great example that is right there. Yeah. Absolutely.
When I think of number twelve, that's my growing-up years, that was Randall Cunningham. Of course, you know. I'm a Philadelphia Eagles fan. I was born that way. Former Super Bowl champions as of this coming Sunday night.
Yeah, we're still champions for a few more hours here, Dwayne. That's right. That's right. And when you when you said number twenty three, I I thought of a current player. I thought of Christian McCaffrey.
And I'm obviously not a Foydon Handers fan. I I do admire the way he plays. And neat little fact, I actually worked in the same hospital with his grandmother many years ago. She was a nurse. I worked in the kitchen.
And at the time, her son Ed was playing for the Denver Broncos, he won two Super Bowls with John Elway. But yeah, her name is Betty, and all of us guys that worked in the kitchen, we delivered meals to the patients.
So we always wanted to go to Miss Betty's floor because her son played in the NFL. Oh, that's cool. That is cool. Hey, another thing, Pastor Carson, back in the day for us when we think about twelve, it's a fellow named Joe Namath used to wear a number twelve.
Well, I like Bob Greasy better than I like Joe Namath.
Well, Bill Dolphins fan, and the last undefeated team in the NFL, that would be a led Bob Greasy team at quarterback. Yes, but Joe Namath, now he's the one that made a guarantee. Do you think anybody is making a guarantee for this Sunday? Yeah. Because while you think Seattle will win, that's what I'm hearing.
No one could ever count out the New England Patriots. As much as I hate to say that, um, we can still take your calls: 866-348-7884. As you guys think about athletics, what may be some lessons That you can be looking forward to learning as we go into the Olympics, as we go into the Super Bowl this weekend. Anything you want to share there? I've got one I want to share, but I want lessons to be looking to learn.
Um I think uh I call you Go ahead, Rick.
Well, I'm just going to say just you know, from early on, I mean, in all levels of sports, any time you get knocked down, you get up. I mean, you don't that's part of life, and we're going we're going to get knocked down. There's no doubt about that. So that's the first thing that comes to mind. How about you, Dan?
That was, you know, actually, that was basically the exact same thing that came to mind for me is that. Know in the Super Bowl, but in any athlete, you're going to hit adversity and you're going to make a mistake. You're going to, and what you do next. And I'm coaching youth basketball right now. And I was talking to our team last night, and I was talking to one of our players.
And I said, if you miss that shot, I said, you gotta just let it go. You gotta go get the next one, right? You can't live there. And so I think when the stage is magnified in the Olympics, in the Super Bowl It's very critical that if there is a mistake, that uh to have that poise to to move past that and to, like you said, to get back up and get after it. And so when it comes to change in life.
Yeah, when it comes to the Christian life, we're going to mess up, but we've got to get the forgiveness. Accept the forgiveness and move forward. Don't spend all your time looking at that rearview mirror. That's going to get you into another wreck. Absolutely.
And it's easy to feel defeated or to let Satan discourage us and to not avail ourselves of the forgiveness that's available and the grace that's available to move forward. I would want our listeners when they're watching the Olympics, there's going to be a lot of those competitions where there are going to be 10 judges. And when the score comes up, there's going to be 10 scores. And then all of a sudden you see two scores drop out. They take the highest score and the lowest score and they drop them out, average the eight for the score if they're doing figure skating, something like that.
And that taught me, always remember, you're not as good as people say you are. And you're not as bad as people say you are. It's just a great way of staying humble as you live life. And so, just a lesson that you might see there. And then during the Super Bowl, it's going to come down to the last second.
Dave Rowe, Rick, you may remember this. He was with the Oakland Raiders. He spoke to one of our breakfast of champions. We've got that coming up in the end of April. But his coach, John Madden, said, Dave, you want to come off the field?
He said, I don't want to come off the field until the clock says 0, 0, 0. And as we come to the end of this show, I hope you'll have the mindset: I am going to finish the race that God has for me. I'm not coming off the field until the clock says 0, 0, 0. Have a great Super Bowl weekend. Bye.
Amen.
