Looking at the lives of many friends it seems as if most of them are in races of endurance. For some the race revolves around personal matters – dealing with current financial drains, the loss of the love of their life or keeping their spiritual or emotional ‘head above water’.

Greater love has no one than this that someone lay down his life for his friends. – John 15:13

The final command that Jesus gave His disciples as he returned to the Father was, and remains, crucial to the salvation of the world: “…make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them…and teaching them to observe (practice) all things I’ve commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28: 19-20).

Tsunamis…Hurricanes…Floods…Fires… Earthquakes…Most of us have found ourselves watching the nightly news, moved by the heartbreaking calamities around the world. In the midst of it questions are asked: “What in the world is going on…and what can we do?”

In Old Testament times, military and nation security was an important aspect of individuals, tribes, and cultures. For example, Joshua defeated the Amalekites (Exodus 17), Moses sent out leaders from each tribe to spy out the land of Canaan (Numbers 13), Gideon freed Israel from the Midianites (Judges 6-8), and David bravely confronted the Philistine champion Goliath (1 Samuel 17). Just as in OT times, the need to have men and women of God involved in military and nations security is essential to Kingdom Building.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth...And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:1, 9)

Did you know that the second leading cause of death among males between the ages of 25 and 34 in Florida is suicide? It’s becoming a trend across our country, revealing the severity of the pain that people seem to be dealing with physically, mentally and emotionally.

Webster defines a missionary as “a person who is sent out on a mission.” For some of us, our mission field is the corporate business world.  With His work life as an independent businessman in the carpentry business, I picture Jesus relating to the everyday work struggles of too much or too little work, dealing with challenging clients, and building a successful business.

According to statistics from George Barna, only 9% of Christians within the USA make their decisions based upon a biblical worldview – meaning 91% of those who have “given their lives to Jesus” don’t actually think like Jesus, have attitudes like Jesus, live out of the values of Jesus, and consistently demonstrate the love, obedience and priorities of Jesus in their daily lives!

As an athlete, your whole life consists of learning the fundamentals of your sport: strength, speed, agility, hand-eye coordination, shooting, passing. As a hockey player, I found myself doing the same things playing in the NHL that I was taught growing up as a kid first learning the sport.