Stephen De La Vega

  The Stanley Cup . One of the most revered trophies in professional sports. The cup itself has never changed, and it is the only professional trophy to display the names of every player of the championship team each year. As a hockey fan, I’ve seen this trophy in person. Not as my home team skated around the ice with it after winning the Stanley Cup Playoffs. That hasn’t happened yet. I’ve seen it in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto where it stands protected and honored most of the year. One thing I appreciate about the great sport of hockey: There isn’t a lot of glory outside of teamwork. Don’t get me wrong, the sport has its share of superstars, but, in its typically low-scoring gameplay, even the superstars thrive only within well-managed, cooperative team play. Teammates continually support and assist each other with humility as they work in unison to get the puck past the opposing goaltender. I imagine most hockey players are not in the game for individual glory. Maybe t...

  Leave your rifles in the rack. You won’t need them when the battle is insurmountable. Has anybody ever told you that? Sometimes we can go to battle without breaking a sweat or calling upon those heroes who are somehow larger than life. But, of course, we should call on the Almighty Hero. God will be our Hero when we let Him. This is the 3rd  post about kings and kingdoms within our larger series of New Years Resolutions based on every 20:24 and 20:25 verse in the Bible. Regarding kings and kingdoms, we first resolve to stand for God’s government . When we do so, we support His choices for who sits in office, and we ultimately trust and obey His commands. Then we are prepared to step forward, and follow Him through the highs and lows of life, including battles we can't win. We can remain committed to His plan despite any difficulty or hardship because our battles are God’s battles when we lean into Him. He will go before us and do the heavy lifting if we let Him, which is...

  Why are we still here on earth? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a grand get-together in Heaven with our God? Yes, but wouldn’t it be better if it were grander, with more of our friends and family present, and others we may meet? Well, that’s why we haven’t had our grand gathering yet. God wants more people to enjoy it with Him ( 2 Peter 3:9 and 15 ). This really speaks to our purpose on earth: As a unified body, preach and teach the gospel, and help people follow Jesus well, so they in turn will do the same ( Matthew 28:19-20 , Acts 1:8 ). The Disciples wanted to head straight to the grand get-together, too. They’d been waiting for God’s kingdom for far too long. They were ready for the resurrected Jesus to begin His great reign and free them from their uncomfortable lives after generations of war and oppression. “Yes, Jesus. Let it be now,” they yearned. But it wasn’t now. This is what Jesus told them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his...