A Living Faith

Those of you who know me know I enjoy sports. I enjoy playing them, watching them, or talking about them. I also like discussing religion, theology, and faith. And when the two mix, I'm "on top of the world."

People like former head coach of the Indiannappolis Colts Tony Dungy inspire me. Dungy is not afraid to speak about his faith. In fact, he's clear with everyone he comes into contact with that God has priority in his life. I look forward to his upcoming book Uncommon: Finding Your Faith to Significance.

There are other coaches or sports figures that have this kind of class. One of those was Coach Kay Yow. Yow coached the women's basketball team at North Carolina State for 34 years. Coach Yow passed away last week after battling breast cancer. According to those around her, Coach Yow had a way with people. She made huge impacts on her assistant coaches, her players, and others in life.

At the funeral, a video was played that was pre-recorded by Yow. Let me encourage you to watch it here. The most important thing for Coach Yow was her faith. Even at her funeral, she took the opportunity to encourage those around her with truth. Even though this wasn't the first occurence of cancer for Yow, her faith was so strong that despite a reoccurence, Yow's faith remained strong.

Sometimes, we think we'll know how we would act if tragedy struck close by. Truth is, we don't know how we would act in particular situations. I pray that when I pass away, people will look at my life and be able to say, "He really lived the way he taught. He really had faith. etc."

That's what will happen with people like Dungy and Yow. What about you? Is your faith strictly for Sundays? Is it something that your ashamed of? Do you know the message of the Gospel and yet you've never allowed it to change your life?

Perhaps today will be the day to allow God to restore you.