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...

  How are we doing with our first resolution:  I will worship God alone ? That resolution was from  Exodus 20:24 . In  Exodus 20 , the Israelites promised to worship only God. They did that for a while until their faith leader Moses was gone too long. Then they crafted and worshiped a golden calf instead. A statue. They were too comfortable worshiping in the manner of their captors, the Egyptians, from whom God rescued them. After they misplaced their allegiance onto the statue, they quickly slipped into feasting and carousing – carousing in ways that dishonored the true God. This felt more familiar to them. Worshiping the true God was a promise that quickly faded from their hearts. They had resolved to worship God and only God, but the reality of His presence was not a present reality in their hearts.     Yet God was present.   ****  Click to tweet  ****   Is the reality of   God's presence   a present reality   in our he...