Every Saturday in the fall, young men don their helmets and pads and suit up for their days of glory on the gridiron. They play with unyielding determination, heart and passion. They are RELENTLESS!
This fall, we interviewed college football players around the country who are passionately pursuing more than just worldly trophies and treasures. Beginning with Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd, each answered the question, “Considering your relationship with Christ, what does it mean to relentlessly pursue Him?”

Katelin Peterson wanted so badly to play field hockey for a Christian coach that she left her home in sunny Escondido, Calif., and moved across the country to Richmond, Va., where the winters are hardly California-like. But for Peterson it was a choice that she knows was best. Now a senior forward at the University of Richmond, she can look back on her college career as being one of both athletic achievement and spiritual growth thanks largely to the influence of her coach, her teammates and FCA.

I recently downloaded an app for my iPhone called “Eat This, Not That!” It’s the official app for the bestselling weight loss book series by the same title, which offers simple food and drink swaps we can make when eating out, grocery shopping and cooking. While not all of their swaps are necessarily “healthy.” they are always better options than the popular choices listed.

This was not good.

Training camp was less than a month away, and Reed Doughty’s right hand resembled one of those oversized “We’re No. 1” foam fingers.

Last June, the Washington Redskins’ safety arrived as the keynote speaker at the Metro Maryland FCA Power Camp in Gaithersburg, Md., with a heavily bandaged hand that kept his index finger perpetually extended. A day earlier while weightlifting, he had pinched his finger between two dumbbells.

Hang around the Syracuse campus long enough, and you’ll likely run into a young lady in Orange athletic gear hanging up fliers, chatting it up with fellow athletes and, if around a big crowd, letting out an occasional shout. “FCA tonight!” A year earlier, Jenna Rickan would have cringed at the thought of sharing her faith so visibly. Back then, the Syracuse soccer player was living out the beginning stages of her Christian walk.

If you want to perform better on the field—and in life—sleep might just be your secret weapon.

I recently came across a study conducted by sleep expert Dr. Bill Dement from Stanford University in which he evaluated 11 players from the university’s men’s basketball team. For the study, the athletes were asked to sleep normally according to their habits for two to four weeks and then spend the next five to seven weeks sleeping 10 hours per night. While most of the athletes still slept fewer than nine hours per night, the results were eye-opening.

He didn’t even know what he’d said. He hadn’t prepared for it, and, truthfully, the whole thing was just a blur. He’d had enough on his plate at the moment without trying to recall what he’d said in front of the cameras.

As University of Texas quarterback Colt McCoy sat in his hotel room after losing to Alabama in the Jan. 7, 2010, BCS National Championship game, he thought long and hard about what had happened. The loss itself was painful enough, but it was just one battle he was fighting inside. The other was why he’d not even had the chance to compete in the game.

It all started a few short years ago. I was frustrated by looking at the culture of the United States and its moral digression. I couldn’t help but think about my three kids who were about to become teenagers, and I was particularly struggling with the fact that we had so many great Christian resources in America — more than at any other time in history — and, yet, we still seemed to be losing the moral and spiritual battle. Everywhere my wife and I went, we were, as parents, always on the defense against the culture and the media. And anyone who knows anything about sports knows that if you’re always on defense, you’re not going to win. At some point you have to go on offense.

Every comeback starts with a single play and then grows with momentum and belief. Start your health comeback today!

Life is a lot like dominoes. Our small decisions often lead to rippling consequences that we never expected. We tend to think single, small choices are stand-alone decisions and that they won’t affect our futures. Over time, though, these decisions lead us to make other decisions just like them and eventually result in either tremendous negative consequences or outstanding positive patterns.

Below are a couple of email responses I sent recently to a college baseball coach when he asked me, “Does the Bible have anything to say about failure?”

Coach,

I’ve been thinking through the issue of failure and the Biblical examples of it, they’re all over the place.

In the state of Oklahoma, being the starting quarterback at Tulsa’s Jenks High School is like wearing a crown of royalty. Just ask actor/filmmaker Brian Presley, who held the position for three years as a teenager. But, as part of a Christian home, Presley knew his role was about more than football, so he maximized his platform by standing for his faith, even being named the state’s FCA Athlete of the Year as a senior in 1996. Even then he knew he was called to make a difference in the world for Christ.