Author Description

In today's society, many Christian athletes are having a difficult time living a spiritual life while continuing to play sports. When this is the case, more often than not, athletes tend to just stop living as Christians and begin focusing on their individual sport and what it has to offer. Usually, and unfortunately, when the two ways of life do not seem to fit, the first thing to go is the emphasis on being a Christian. We usually begin to feel that the Christian life was not meant for us in the first place, or we feel that it requires more than we can give in order to live it right. I've seen numerous athletes walk away from their faith time and time again. This sight began to discourage me, and I wrestled with it in my heart almost daily. In most situations, it wasn't an overnight thing, but a slow, painful, spiritual death. Why? What was the reason that so many Christian athletes were losing their hope in God? I later began to realize that it wasn't their hope in God that was leaving; it was their hope and belief in themselves that they were losing. They were losing faith that they could live a life that pleased God, with all the challenges and temptations they were facing as athletes. The purpose of this book is to inspire and teach Christian athletes how to stay close to God and glorify Him through both their sports and their daily lives. Tommy Shavers starred in football all through high school. He received many football scholarship offers, but turned them down because of the negative business aspects of recruiting. Tommy was made to feel by one college coach that the only way he would ever go to college was from a football scholarship. As a result, Tommy gave up sports completely and attended college on academic admission. Tommy and wife Tomica both attended the University of Central Florida. They found God their freshman year and joined the Orlando Church of Christ in 1996. Tommy walked on at UCF and played football for 3 years, earning a full scholarship.