Rick and Linda Reed

Graduation weekend has arrived!

Today we officially launch into graduation events at Heritage.  We’ve prayed and prepared.  Now we are anticipating a wonderful weekend of consecration and celebration.

Tonight is our Grad Banquet, where grads from the college and seminary are joined by family and friends for a memorable evening.  After a buffet dinner, we will hear from valedictorian speakers (one for the college and one for the seminary).  Our academic dean will hand out a number of awards to graduates who excelled during their time at Heritage.  We’ll close the evening with a special time of consecration and commissioning.

Tomorrow (Saturday, April 29th) is Graduation Day.  This year we have 66 students graduating from the college and seminary–one of our largest groups ever.  Dr. Rick Buck, lead pastor at Emmanual Baptist Church in Barrie will be our guest speaker.  We’ll also hear from some of the talented musicians who have trained at Heritage.

On Monday evening and early Tuesday morning, students who are part of our SERVE Experience will fly out of Toronto for their summer missions trips.  Half the group is headed to Japan; the others will fly south to Brazil.

Please pray that the Lord will be honoured in our graduation ceremonies.  Also, join me in praying that each Heritage graduate would be faithful and fruitful servants of Christ and His Church.  We evaluate our effectiveness as a school by the value we bring to the churches.

Thank you for being part of our prayer team throughout this school year.  The Lord answered so many of our petitions and worked in powerful ways in many lives!

As we go deeper into the Stanley Cup playoffs, here’s a question that Christian athletes (as well as Leaf and Sens fans!) have to face: Is it O.K. to pray for your team to win?

My answer is that it’s a great idea for athletes to pray to win—as long as they keep in mind what winning really means.

When we talk about winning, we usually mean coming in first. We see winners as those wind up in first place and walk away with the Stanley Cup, a gold medal or a championship ring.

While this kind of winning is exciting, it’s not enduring. Today’s winners are soon forgotten. Do you remember who won the Stanley Cup five years ago? Or who won the World Series two years ago? When winning is defined as coming in first, it doesn’t last.

But there is a kind of victory that endures. There is a kind of winning worth praying about. Here are three ways Christian athletes can pray to win.

First, they can pray to win in giving their best effort. 1 Corinthians 9:25 observes that “everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.” It’s a personal victory when an athlete gives his or her best effort in both practice and competition.

Second, they can pray to win against the temptation to cheat. 2 Timothy 2:5 reminds us that “if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.” It’s a moral victory to play fair.

Finally, they can pray to win in bringing glory to Christ. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” So shooting a puck or throwing a fastball can be done with a desire to bring honour to Jesus’ name. Christian athletes can compete with a passion to please Jesus and to bring Him praise. I admire athletes like Oral Hershiser, Reggie White or Tim Tebow who have aspired to honour Christ in the way they played.

Winning is not ultimately about coming in first; it’s about putting Christ first. When athletes have this attitude, they simply can’t lose.