Go for the Goal – Mark Johnson

The 2014 Olympic winter Games open in Sochi, Russia on February 7, 2014.  Exactly one month later, following the 17 days of initial competition, the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games open for 10 days.  What better time to use Mainstay’s Go for the Goal sermon series.  As support material for our Go for the Goal series, we continue our series of stories that spotlight Winter Olympians whose Goal is to honor Jesus Christ.

Mark Johnson was a Devil when he came to Christ.  Some astute readers might be thinking, “You shouldn’t capitalize ‘devil,’” but the fact is that Mark was a capital ‘D’ Devil.  He was a New Jersey Devil professional hockey player.  It was while he was playing for the Devils he traded his personal accolades for the glory of God, trusting Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord.

Before turning professional and becoming a Devil, Mark had actually been part of a miracle when he was an Olympic athlete.  It was during the 1980 Winter Olympics.  Mark was part of what has been widely acclaimed as “The Miracle on Ice,” when the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team stunned the world by winning the gold.  It was a singular moment in Olympic history that could best be described by the first half of ABC’s Wide World of Sports slogan at the time – “The thrill of victory!”  In 2002 Sports Illustrated called “The Miracle on Ice,” “The Greatest Sports Moment of the Century.”  But, as Mark Johnson would tell you today, even though he led that team with 11 goals, “The truth is the happiness of victories fades.”

Click here, to learn more about the product.

Click here, to learn more about the article.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stay Alert to Self-diminishing Compromises

Image
I believe that when most of us think about Daniel our mind and memory immediately go to him and the Lion’s Den!  Yet, there is so much more about Daniel that we need to know!  In fact, the story that first introduces him to us is one that allows us to see how Daniel was able to  Stay Alert to Self-diminishing Compromises . Daniel 1:1-20 tells us that he was taken captive from his homeland and wound up in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar.  While there, he and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, along with the other young men who were taken, were to be fed the king’s delicacies preparatory to serving in the king’s palace.  You, I am sure, remember that they choose to eat veggies and water instead and, when they were examined, were in as good, if not better, health than those who had chosen to eat what the king provided. Daniel and his three friends recognized that eating the delicacies would have been detrimental in the long run, making it beneficial that they were ab...
Read more

Reference the Culture to Share God’s Love

Image
When we contemplate the ministry of Apostle Paul we see a man who was a zealot from the very moment we are introduced to him.  Though playing for “the wrong team” at the time, he pursued the Christians all over Jerusalem, and  then  made arrangements to go to Damascus and pursue them! After being converted on the road to Damascus his zeal, if anything, grew in intensity.  It caused him to be stoned.  It caused him to be imprisoned.  And, it caused him to be ingenious!  That’s why Paul was the first one who was able to  Reference the Culture to Share God’s Love! You probably remember the story.  Paul is hanging out in Athens when his spirit is terribly troubled by all of the idolatry that was taking place.  Acts 17:16-34 tells us that members of a number of different philosophies were gathered there, Epicureans and Stoics to name a few.  “Pleasure” was one of their main life goals, and one of the things that pleased them the most was...
Read more

Stay Spiritually Connected and Directed

Image
I was talking with a good friend one day and he said, “You know, I struggle with making sure I am doing God things and not just good things.”  I nodded that I understood, but, since then, I have pondered that statement a lot.  Since it is accepted that “Christian” means to be “Christ like,” it is important to see if Christ did differentiate between the two to help us determine if we should  Stay Spiritually Connected and Directed . In Mark 1:29-39, we find that Jesus does make this distinction and that He did, in fact,  Stay Spiritually Connected and Directed .  After raising Peter’s mother-in-law from a bad fever and healing a host of others and casting out demons, Jesus retires for the evening.  Rising before daylight the next morning, He goes off to pray.  When His disciples come and tell Him that folks are looking for Him, he advises them that they need to go to other towns in the area for,  “this is the purpose I have come forth.” We all know...
Read more