Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Nick Foles throws during the first half of Super Bowl 52 (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” — Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT)
Move Forward
As an athlete, you’re sometimes told to have a short memory. The idea of having a short memory is most prominent when a big mistake is made (strikeout, turnover, error, missed free throw, etc.). We learn from the mistake, make an adjustment and move forward. Otherwise, carrying the weight of your mistake into your next opportunity almost always sets us up for failure.
How about carrying your past successes? What if Eagles quarterback Nick Foles stopped practicing because he led the team to a Super Bowl victory last season? He can’t just hang it up, he still has a job to do! Constantly basking in the “good ole days” keeps you tied to the past as well. You’re actually making the agreement that God has nothing better for your future when you’re unable to let go of a past success.
Dr. Tony Evans, a chaplain of the Dallas Mavericks, says, “God is calling you forward. He’s calling you to take hold of your inheritance, authority and domain. But you’ll never get there if the past is weighing you down. It’s time for you to have a funeral for yesterday.”
Whether you’re following Jesus for the first time or have known Him for a while, leave your past failures behind. You’re forgiven! Jesus gives you the ability to repent and be a new creation. Let your past blessings only serve as a beautiful memory that pushes you toward His future faithfulness.
— Ryan Noelte
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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” — James 1:2-4
If you’ve ever been cut from a team, you know how devastating that feeling can be. You start to ask questions of yourself and wonder if you’re good enough or worked hard enough. Feelings of inadequacy and comparison start to take over. For pro athletes, their sport is how they support themselves and their families. Getting cut can put them in a desperate situation where they’re scrambling to land on a roster somewhere else.
It’s a tough time for any athlete at any level when they get cut. I remember not making the freshman baseball team in high school and being so despondent that I immediately called my dad in tears to deliver the news. The embarrassment I felt the rest of the day at school was immense, and I just wanted to crawl into a hole and seclude myself from my friends who made the team and were celebrating.
Something I love about sports, though, especially as an activity for young people, is how often the lessons we learn from them are directly applicable to life. When you’re cut from a team, you’re faced with a decision to give up or to keep persevering. You can let being cut define you and decide your future, or you can let it motivate you and persevere through it by becoming a better version of yourself.
The same is true in life when you lose your job, a relationship fails, or anything else doesn’t go your way and you experience loss and disappointment. We know these things will come in life, and thankfully we have a playbook for how to respond.
The Bible is full of teaching about perseverance, such as in James 1:2-4 (above), which tells us to consider our trials as “pure joy.” We know our suffering produces perseverance, and our perseverance produces character. That character produces hope, which does not put us to shame (Romans 5:3-5).
Hardship is never fun in the moment, but as Christians we can embrace them differently than those who aren’t in Christ. We’re promised that our suffering will ultimately be for good so long as we persevere through them.
I decided to hang up the cleats after being cut and instead poured my effort into tennis, which ended up being a good choice. I recognized baseball may not be in my future, but I kept the faith that God had something else planned for me to use my athletic ability in some way. More than 20 years later, I’ve made a career out of tennis by coaching at the high school level. God worked it all out for His good.
My prayer is that you’ll persevere through your trials and continue trusting in God’s plan. Your story may end up looking different than you hoped or imagined, but a lot of the time that ends up being a great thing.
“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you — if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.” — Titus 1:5-6 (ESV)
Emma wasn’t the best player on her volleyball team. There were girls with better stats, more experience, more natural talent. Emma was a utility player — filled in wherever the team needed her, didn’t complain, just did her job. She’d play middle blocker one game, outside hitter the next, libero if they needed it. She wasn’t a star. She was just … there.
Entering her senior year, the team was talented but fractured. Cliques. Drama. Players who wouldn’t talk to each other off the court. The kind of toxicity that kills teams from the inside out.
And they needed a captain, as the previous one had graduated. The coach had a decision to make. She could pick the most talented player — the girl with the best vertical, the one colleges were recruiting. Or she could pick the person who could actually bring the team together. She pulled Emma aside after practice one day and said, “I want you to be captain.”
In Titus 1:6 (ESV, above), there are a few words most people skip right over, and some English translations even leave them out: “If anyone is.” The apostle Paul is writing about who should lead in the church. He doesn’t say “only the most experienced” or “only the most talented” or “only those who have it all figured out.” He says, “If anyone is.”
The invitation is open. Not to the elite. Not to the perfect. To anyone. God doesn’t wait for you to have it all together before He invites you into His work. He invites you first, and then transforms you along the way.
My wife was a two-time All-American in track and field at the University of Texas at Arlington. When we met working for the same urban ministry in 1996, she was attempting to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials. Though she qualified for and competed in the long jump at the 1995 U.S. Track and Field Championships, she narrowly missed qualifying for the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials.
She never made an Olympic team, but she still holds the school record in the long jump. She has been in the record books at UT-Arlington for more than three decades. She is also third in the triple jump and 4x400m relay.
But my wife is a follower of Jesus Christ and she cares more that her name is recorded in the Book of Heaven than in her college’s record book.
In Luke 10, Jesus sends out 72 of His followers to go tell others about Him. When they come back, they have amazing reports of what they’ve accomplished. Jesus tells them not to rejoice that demonic spirits submit to them, but instead to rejoice that their names are registered in Heaven (v. 20, above). Their standing before God in eternity is secure.
Today, are you rejoicing in your athletic accomplishments or school records? Or maybe you have nothing to rejoice about. If you’ve placed your faith in Christ, rejoice that your name is recorded in the Book of Heaven! Rejoice by telling others about Jesus and His love for them.
Carolina Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan points Heavenward after one of his touchdowns, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)
Carolina Panthers second-year wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan chose a great time to have his best game as a professional, as he snagged 14 receptions for 192 yards and two touchdowns to lead Carolina past the Detroit Lions, 32-26, on “Sunday Night Football.” The performance set career highs in both receptions and yards, and it tied a career high in receiving TDs.
Later, the Panthers added another touchdown and a field goal to hold on for the victory, which moved them to 2-2 on the season and guaranteed they’ll be tied atop the NFC South after Week 4 (the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints — both 1-2 — play Monday night).
“Obviously, it’s a good feeling,” McMillan said of his performance in Sunday’s postgame press conference, with his characteristic eye-black crosses still on his face. “It’s just in that moment, I just feel the trust from obviously the coordinators making the call for me, getting the ball in my hands, and obviously [Young] just giving me the opportunity. Just super grateful, for sure.”
McMillan’s two receiving touchdowns under the Sunday night lights were the first two of his 2026-27 season, although he did reach the 100-yard plateau in Week 2 against the Atlanta Falcons. His scoring drought to begin this season nearly mirrored his rookie campaign a year ago, when he didn’t catch a TD until Carolina’s sixth game.
“I’m not really worried about it, man,” McMillan said last year after being asked about his lack of touchdowns early in the season. “God never makes a mistake. When the time comes and it happens, it’s meant to be.”
Despite the delay, McMillan finished last season with seven touchdowns and 1,014 yards on 70 receptions, a performance which earned him NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors in February. In his acceptance speech at NFL Honors, McMillan made sure to credit his Heavenly Father.
“God has just been so amazing to me,” he said while wearing a cross necklace and a traditional Hawaiian lei. “He has blessed me with amazing opportunities. He has surrounded me with such incredible people who have invested in me and impacted my life. God is just so amazing. Without Him, none of this would be possible. I’m just so grateful, so blessed, man.”
McMillan was born in Hawaii, and family is central in Hawaiian culture. The McMillans are no different. Tetairoa’s mother, Shawny Dutro, introduced him at NFL Honors wearing a lei of her own. Meanwhile, Tetairoa credits his grandmother, Blanche McMillan, with inspiring him in all areas of his life.
“She inspires me in her faith,” Tetairoa said of his grandmother last season, via Panthers.com. “She’s so strong in her faith. She’s always been the rock of our family. … I feel like she taught me a lot about humility, hospitality, just having a big heart. Even to this day, she still surprises me with how big her heart is.”
Shortly after Tetairoa’s NFL dream came true when Carolina selected him No. 8 overall in the 2025 draft, the McMillan family threw him a party in Hawaii with many friends, such as Fifita, and family in attendance. The party featured worship music, and McMillan even came on stage to lead the crowd in a song.
At one point during the party, Fifita told McMillan, “It’s just amazing to see that as far as you’ve come, as much limelight as you’ve gotten, the attention, all the accolades, you’ve never forgotten who your identity was. You always identify in Christ. You give Him all the glory.”
Praising the Lord is something McMillan did often in the aftermath of the draft, including on social media.
As he seeks to continue to honor God on and off the field, McMillan will have a few extra days to enjoy Sunday’s performance; Carolina is now on its bye week. The Panthers are back in action for a road matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Oct. 18, at 1 p.m. ET.
