Church on a Hockey Bus

A little Q and A:

"Due to the demands of your hockey schedule, how do you keep your relationship with the Lord vibrant when you can't attend church as frequently?"

"Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?"
- 1 Corinthians 3:16.

During the hockey season, we typically play or travel on Sundays.  This makes it difficult to attend church services regularly.  However, it's important to know that you don't have to be in church to experience God.  When we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are beginning a personal relationship with him.  Like the 1 Corinthians verse explains, we have the Holy Spirit living within us.  Therefore, we can meet God anywhere, anytime.

In the Canadian Women's Hockey League, we (Boston Blades) spent a huge chunk of time on a bus.  Weekend series at Montreal required 14 hours round-trip and the Brampton/Toronto games meant a solid 10 hours there and 10 hours back.  Even though I missed the majority of Sunday services due to my hockey schedule, God provided countless ways for me to meet regularly with Him.  Writing was one such way.  Below is an example of congregating with Christ on a bus ride back to Boston.

February 11, 2012

10 hour bus ride...why not write a brief article about a question I was recently asked?  Enjoy:

Question - Where is God when Africans are starving and dying?

By asking this question, a person acknowledges that there is in fact a God and that He must represent good.  They also imply that not only does He represent good; but, He can make good things happen.

By acknowledging this, they allude that God is present or has the ability to be present in Africa.

So, God is in Africa.  Who else resides there?  Humans.  Can humans perform both good and evil acts?  Well, first off, can they recognize good and evil?  Again let me bring you back to the initial question...is it not implying that something bad is happening to those in Africa?  Taking it further, then is it not also implying that this bad can be changed by something good?

Based on the question, humans can recognize good and evil and can distinguish between the two.

Therefore, humans live in Africa and have the ability to not only recognize good and evil, but to carry it out.

Google Africa outreach, war against starving children, or war against African poverty and you'll find amazing organizations funneling billions of funds, expertise, medical attention, resources, etc. to help these people.

Google Robert Mugabe.

Striking examples of humans exercising their freedom to choose to follow good or evil.

God loved us so much that He gave us free will.  Every person has the ability to listen to Him.  Every human is given the choice to pursue good.  Every living soul can make a decision out of unconditional love.  But we can also run from instruction, turn a deaf ear, and harden our hearts.  We also have the power to inflict pain, rage, anger, hurt, suffering, and every other monstrosity.

Question - where is God when Africans are starving and dying?

Answer - God is present.

My question - Why aren't people choosing good?

---------

This is an example that we can encounter God everywhere, all the time.  Whether we are sitting in a pew or a hockey bus, we can grow in faith.  How is this possible?  "God's Spirit lives in you" (1 Corinthians 3:16).

God bless,

G.I.G.I.

Being Rebuilt

I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt” - Jeremiah 31:4.

When we are knocked down, the Lord promises to build us back up.  There are countless verses throughout the Bible that refer to this healing power.  If you flip through the four Gospels, you will see endless references to Jesus’ power in healing, casting out demons, raising people from the dead, and curing sickness.  For example, I was reading my Bible on the banks of the Charles River and the wind acted as my own personal page turner… which was such a blessing because my arms/shoulders/really everything was beyond sore!  Anyways, as the wind slowly blew page after page, the “Jesus Heals” message kept jumping out:  “Jesus Heals the Blind and Mute,” “Jesus Heals Many,” Jesus Heals a Paralytic, Jesus Heals a Demon-possessed Man, etc.”  (Let’s take a moment to let all that sink in and send up praises that Jesus heals!).

One of the ways that I was taught to study the Bible is to observe, interpret, and apply.  We’ve observed that God rebuilds us through healing, so now let’s interpret the verse.  In order to get the full understanding of a word's meaning, I usually google its definition.  Therefore, the prefix “re” is defined as “used with the meaning ‘again’ or ‘again and again’ to indicate repetition.”  How fitting!  Let’s revisit Jeremiah 31:4:  “I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt.”  Already Jesus is explaining that He will not only build us up one time; but again.  Then he promises “you will be rebuilt” and we just found out that the prefix “re” means that God will build us up again and again and again and again and again times infinity!

Now it’s time to apply the verse.  The word “rebuild” reminds me of my experience with my concussion.  October 17, 2012, was the date that I received my first diagnosed concussion.  Due to the symptoms, I was restricted to spending the next days and nights in my bed.  As I lay there, I vividly remember having this conversation with myself:  “Geez my head hurts, I need to stop thinking because the pain is ridiculous…Well Geeg, why don’t you stop thinking through your brain and start thinking through your heart?”  I smiled and instantly sent up praise:  “Thank goodness brain power doesn't get me to heaven!”  This led to the Ephesians 3:19 verse to come across my heart:  “to know this love that surpasses knowledge.”  God used my concussion to remind me that knowledge means nothing without the love of Christ.  Yes, my brain was injured and hurt, but my heart was protected.  It was protected by the love of Christ.  I repeated the phrase “love surpasses knowledge” over and over and dwelled on how thankful I was for Jesus' love. 

God blessed me with absolutely brilliant people to help me recover from this injury.   It’s evident that he guided me to these gifted functional neurologists as they constantly used the exact same word:  rebuild.  “Gigi, your brain is injured but it will heal.  We are going to rebuild the pathways of your brain.”  They spoke of re-teaching, retraining, and rebuilding my brain. 

Jeremiah 31:4 promises “I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt.”  Rebuild is exactly what God did.  He promised and he delivered.  He always does.  God took my concussion and rebuilt the pathways in my brain.  Most importantly, God rebuilt my heart.  My desire to exalt my knowledge over His love was broken down.  God built me up again with a stronger foundation:  His love.

Take heart when broken down.  Why?  Because God will build us up again and again and again and again and again………..

Be built up on God’s love today!

G.I.G.I.

Playbook for Life

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work" - 2 Timothy 3:16-17.

Last winter, I traveled with the Boston Blades to play a series in Calgary.  While a TSA agent searched my bag, he came across my bible and asked if I knew what the Bible stood for.  I responded, "Yes I do.  The Bible shares the great news of God's love for us and how His Son died so that we may have life."  Shafat (the TSA agent) smiled, shook his head, and said "no."  Hmm, now it was my turn to smile as I welcomed the opportunity to find a different way to share the same message.  After reciting and explaining John 3:16, he stopped me and declared, "I believe in Jesus Christ as well and this is what the Bible stands for:  Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.  Now I have told you.  Go and share this with others."  He smiled, handed me my bag, and left me standing in awe of God's wisdom.

God is the greatest coach ever and he provided the Bible as our playbook for life.  All teams have playbooks detailing systems, coverages, matchups, rules, etc.  We study these game plans so that we know what's expected of us in various situations.  For example, if the opponent runs an overload power play, the penalty killers (PK) must know how to kill against this set-up.  If we forget, we can return to the playbook that explains our PK coverage.  This is exactly what the Bible does for us.  It is God's game plan for life.  The Word contains plays for every single situation that we will experience.  Struggle with judging?  Go to Matthew 7.  Not sure how to escape temptation?  Find the answer in 1 Corinthians 10:13.  Consumed with worry?  Exchange it for peace with Philippians 4:6-7.  

God knows all the challenges we will encounter while on Earth.  We are able to navigate these by following the Godly wisdom provided in the Bible.  The more I immerse myself in the Bible, the stronger I grow in faith.  It's simple:  if i don't read the playbook, I will struggle mightily.  However, if I continually refer to God's game plan to receive Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth, I will be "thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:17).

Team Jesus Christ has the greatest coach in the world with the greatest playbook in the world.  Enjoy opening God's game plan and training in righteousness today!

Strength in Christ.

G.I.G.I.

Crushing Satan Step by Step

"The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" - Romans 16:20.

This verse is a powerful reminder to persevere through trial and trust in God's promise.  His promise is that we will always overcome what the devil throws at us.  We will overcome because Jesus overcame. God also ensures that not only will He deliver us from evil; but, He will do it soon.

One of our off-ice tests is the rear foot elevated split squats.  We hold kettlebells (or dumbbells) in each hand, elevate one leg on a bench behind us, and do as many squats as possible with our leg that’s on the ground.  We did a “practice” test set last week so that we could gauge our actual test numbers.  I knew the weight I would hold in each hand; however, I wasn't 100% certain how many reps I hit last week.  This uncertainty led me to search for my workout sheet to quiet my doubts.  I couldn’t find my sheet anywhere and therefore continued being in a state of frustration, fear, and insecurity.  What a blessing that my workout sheet was missing!  If I'm looking to a workout sheet for comfort then I'm looking in the wrong place.  The source of our strength, peace, and identity comes from God alone.  After recognizing this, I prayed that God remove these negative thoughts and fill me with peace about the situation.  Instantly God transformed my heart by laying this promise on it:  "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" (Romans 16:20).  How awesome that not only did He calm my heart instantly; but, He gave me a verse that specifically applied to my situation!  God provided me a verse where I literally got to act it out:  every time I squatted down, I drove my heel into the ground and crushed the frustration, fear, and insecurity.

After getting a heart transformation, I was now prepared to take the test.  My heart grew stronger with every crushing step as I repeated this verse over and over and over.  Like God always does, He blew the test right out of the water.  Yes, the reps were more than doubled from last week’s practice test; but that’s not even the greatest part.  The greatest part is witnessing God at work.  I called to Him in prayer and he answered.  He provided the peace I asked for and supplied a verse that perfectly applied to my needs.  What a blessing that He cares, answers, and delivers us!

Initially I was focused on my strength, my abilities, my numbers…myself.  Well that kind of game plan is always going to result in failure.  Let's revisit Romans 16:20, "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet."  Who will crush Satan?  Gigi?  Nope, not a chance.  God will.   Instead of looking to myself; I need to look to Jesus and what he already did for us:  died so that we might have life through Him.  

Through Him we overcome our struggles.  
Through Him we have the strength to absolutely refuse to give up.  
Through Him we crush Satan.

Strength in Christ.

G.I.G.I.

Play To Win Hockey New Testament

Need a new bible?  Order the Hockey Ministries International "Play To Win Hockey New Testament."  This bible is filled with hockey players who share their thoughts about faith, the bible, and the game of hockey.  Players such as Jarome Iginla, Eric Staal, Ryan Smyth, and Mike Fisher provide testimonies.  My coach, Laura Halldorson, and teammates Anne Schleper and Whitney Naslund also share how God has transformed their lives.

Click on the link below and it will direct you to my page in "Play To Win Hockey New Testament."  You will then be able to purchase the book off that website.

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product_slideshow?sku=701434&actual_sku=701434&slide=11&action=Previous

Enjoy reading the Word!

Just Keep Running

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” - Hebrews 12:1.

In the first verses that I blogged about (1 Corinthians 9:24-25), Paul explains that this life is the equivalent to running a race.  Everyone competes in the race and will receive one of two prizes at the finish line:  one “that will not last” and one “that will last forever” (1 Cor 9:25).   Through Jesus, we can receive the everlasting crown of life.  As I mentioned, I have already received this amazing prize; however, every day I get to continue sprinting toward this crown of life. 

The Hebrews verse calls us to not only run with our eyes on the eternal prize, but to run with “perseverance.”  Simply because we have Jesus doesn’t mean the devil isn’t going to stop attempting to wreck havoc on our lives.  The devil is constantly trying to bring us down through lies, deceit, addiction, doubt, worry, temptation, and a whole slew of other methods.  No matter what roadblock, obstacle, or pothole is on our road, Jesus instructs us to keep the faith.  My bible defines perseverance as “standing firm in the faith.”  When a seemingly insurmountable obstacle is put in our path, we are called to press through by leaning on Christ’s strength, power, and hope.

This morning we began our off-ice testing with the shuttle test.  The shuttle test is designed to simulate our on-ice conditioning test and there’s no question it’s also designed to cause our body a ridiculous amount of pain.  The pain, fear of failure, and comparing ourselves to others are a few of the thoughts that can cripple us.  Even though we ran this exact test last Monday, I still felt these thoughts creeping in my mind as we walked in the gym.  But as we began our testing, I witnessed God’s strength shine through and was reminded, once again, of how we are free to run our race.

It was powerful witnessing my teammates “throw off everything that hinders” (Heb 12:1) and just run.   An awesome example of this was Kate.  As she stood on the line, her eyes were absolutely locked in on the task at hand.  It literally looked like an eagle’s eyes as it hunts its prey.  It was evident that she let go of everything that could hold her back and she was focused on sprinting full steam ahead.  And you know what?  She crushed it.  I felt Christ’s power by watching her sprint, push through the pain, and refuse to quit moving her feet.  The relentless determination that flooded from her was exactly what the Hebrews verse is talking about.  Persevere.  Keep the faith.  Just keep running.

That last sentence reminds me of Dory’s hilarious Finding Nemo quote, so I edited it for this message:  "Hey there, Mr. Grumpy Gills.  When life gets you down do you wanna know what you've gotta do?  [singing] Just keep running.  Just keep running.  Just keep running, running, running.  What do we do?  We run, run."

:)

My heart grew stronger today by practicing the skill of persevering.  The skill of letting go of negative thoughts and letting God free my heart to run towards Him. 

Let go, let God, and just keep running!

G.I.G.I.