Vol. 12, Issue 3   July 1, 2011

"Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come." 

1 Timothy 4:8 (NLT)

Todd Oakes delivers the "open fist" fastball

What a wonderful golf tournament we had this year. It was great to meet some new people and see so many of our friends and supporters come together to invest in our ministry with FCA. Hearing our program speaker, Todd Oakes, pitching coach at the University of Minnesota, was the highlight of the day. Todd said that for many years, he was not willing to give everything to God, especially his baseball career. One day after Todd had a particularly tough day on the mound, he finally made the decision to fully give his life and baseball to God and put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. It made all the difference in the world for him.

Todd said that we cannot come to God with a clenched fist. We must not hold anything back - we must open our hands and give our life totally to Him. Todd described himself as a "closet Christian" until God challanged him to be more open and bold about his faith in Christ, even in his coaching. He went on to explain how God has used the biblical coaching study, "Legacy Builders - Coaching to Win God's Way" that Todd and I went through, to take him to a new level of faith.

At a recent Gopher baseball team banquet, two senior University of Minnesota baseball players publically said the Coach Oakes taught them about more than just being a great baseball player. He taught them about being good husbands and fathers, and about faith. Todd concluded by challenging all of us to open our hands and give everything to God, and boldly live out our faith in all areas of our life.

Michelle and I want to thank all the particapants and volunteers who helped make this year's tournament a success.

Biblical coach is leaving a legacy at the youth level

Not long ago, I received an e-mail from a friend of mine. He is a youth baseball coach in our community and is coaching with another friend of ours who had been in one of my Legacy Builders biblical coaching studies last year. The coach reported that the friend who went through the study has been sharing the biblical coaching principles he learned, and is helping him integrate them into his coaching. I received the following e-mail from him which demonstrates how Jesus' principles of coaching and leadership help make an impact in others lives:

"Ron, I wanted to share with you a note I got from a mom of one of our Rookie Baseball players this morning. We are doing our best to employ many of the biblical coaching principles in our coaching of this team. She is of course referring to the "Put-Up Game" * we do at the end of practices and games.

Also on the traveling team that Jon coaches, a parent from the opposing team approached me following one of our games last weekend and mentioned how fun it was to play against a team that was so encouraging and positive toward its players and the other team.

I am far from perfect in doing this all the time and it is great for me to have Jon to keep me in check when occasionally I start to go down a path that isn't consistent with these principles. Thanks for providing these resources to me and I just want to let you know that we are having an impact on these kids we are working with and their parents"

Coaches at all levels can leave an eternal difference in the lives of coaches, athletes and parents if they simply coach and live God's way. If you want to learn more about our Biblical Coaching study and resources please contact me.

*The "Put-Up Game" teaches athletes how to personally give sincere compliments to their teammates. This promotes an others first attitude and positive attitude on the team.

Thanks for all your support!
Michelle and Ron Backes

Ron & Michelle Backes
P.O. Box 111
Lindstrom, MN 55045
651-271-8986
rbackes@fca.org
mbackes@yahoo.com